It was awkward, to say the least. No one seemed very comfortable with the other around, so they barely talked to one another. It was frankly a coincidence that they all got to the console room. It wasn't planned. The TARDIS had called them all individually, tired of seeing them walk around in circles. Literally.
Then they all silently agreed to go somewhere. The Doctor got to drive her, as much as he could, and a few (wobbly) moments later, they landed.
Rose stretched her arms. "Any idea where we are?"
The Doctor grunted negatively as he walked around the TARDIS, looking at a few meters of this and that. Corin stared out from a bit further, also looking at the readings, but not willing to approach it too much, fearing the Doctor's wrath a bit. He, out of all people, knew how protective he was of the TARDIS.
At the Doctor's 'everything seems safe' Rose went to the doors, excited to once again be out and about on a different planet. It had been so long, bar that one junkyard planet. To be out there, in the stars, meeting new species and seeing new sights… She'd never get used to it. And she didn't have to, because once again she was free from Earth, free to go wherever.
"However—" the Doctor started as she opened the door and went out.
A loud splashing sound got both of their attention. They both stared out silently at the open door of the TARDIS, Rose not in view anymore.
A beat passed before Corin ran to the doors, barely catching himself and holding the doors tightly to not fall into the ocean spread before them himself. "Rose?" he yelled. He frantically looked around. Her head resurfaced and she gasped for air, pushing her hair out of her face.
The Doctor put a hand on Corin's shoulder, preventing him from recklessly jumping in the water after her. As Corin helped Rose back in the TARDIS, the Doctor looked at the ocean before them.
It was an Earth ocean, and based on the smell, this was the early 1900s. He couldn't see well, but hopefully they weren't too far from shore, and they could—
Everything shook for a second. The TARDIS hit something. Or something hit the TARDIS. The doors were still open, but nothing was in view, so the Doctor went back to the scanner. It didn't help at all, but while he was losing his time on that, Corin held on by the door and leaned out. "We seem to have landed in cargo. Deck's right here."
"Cargo?" Rose asked, shaking off what water she could (to the annoyance of the Doctor) as Corin took a step out, the water reaching his knees.
"Yep. It's completely fine." He blanked at something out of their view. "Oh. Rose, you'll want to change." He scratched the back of his head. "More, like, 1900s."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I was totally planning on going out with these." She made her way back to the hallways, leaving both men behind.
The Doctor joined Corin in the shallow water. People were walking along the peer, minding their own business, yet frequently stopping amidst the crowd to stare out at something out of their view. They both continued further, managing to get on the wooden deck without entirely getting soaked.
They walked up the stairs silently, bar a few curses here and there, and arrived at the top. Now they saw what all the fuss was about. As the Doctor was checking out his boots, Corin stared at the giant cruise ship labelled 'Titanic'.
"Oh," he said, grabbing the attention of the Doctor.
The Doctor looked up and followed his gaze to the giant ship in front of them. He chuckled at the sight. "No way."
Corin pointed at it like an idiot. "It's—" He stared at it. He felt like an idiot for not noticing the giant cruise ship that was right in front of him, and the sight of it made him feel weirdly nostalgic.
"It is! Fantastic." The Doctor grinned widely at it. Had Corin been less self-centred, he'd have found it weird to see him smiling so genuinely at a rather normal occurrence, but he didn't notice it.
They both stared at it, giddy. Rose looked at it, not very impressed.
…Wait— Rose?
Corin flinched at her sudden appearance. She had put on a dress that wasn't really 1900s at all, carrying her socks and boots in her hands. She looked at him oddly.
"Well," the Doctor said, clapping his hands. "Shall we?" His grin was infectious, but after smiling like a goon for a few seconds, Rose's smile faded.
"Wait, where?" she asked.
The Doctor stared at her like she was an idiot. "The moon," he said, sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Obviously, the Titanic."
Corin blinked at him. "...What?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at him before reaching into his pocket and taking out the slightly psychic paper, waving it around. "We're invited."
Corin shook his head. He didn't think it was very funny, especially with Rose included in that group. "We're not going on the Titanic . D'you have a death wish or something?"
Now the Doctor was just confused. "How is that even remotely relevant? You guys scared of fun?"
Rose and Corin shared a look. Corin ran a hand through his hair. "Titanic? April 1912?"
The Doctor took a moment. Whether to ponder his sanity or check, Corin wasn't sure. "Yeh," he agreed. "Titanic, 1912. Not sure about April, definitely a bit nippy for that."
The ship made a giant, blaring noise. It was leaving soon, and the Doctor wanted to get a move on. If not for on the ship, then at least to his ship, the TARDIS.
"Does it not sink?" Rose asked.
"What?"
"Does it not sink," she repeated.
He blinked at her. That was…an unusual assumption. "No, it doesn't. Why would it?"
Corin butted in. "You're telling me, April 14th in 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, doesn't sink?"
"D'you wanna keep showing off?" He ran a hand over his face. "No, it doesn't. I don't know why you're—" He stopped suddenly, and it clicked. "Wait, you're telling me that in your universe, it did?"
As Corin was mildly surprised that he knew that they were of different universes, Rose agreed.
"What?" The Doctor asked, exasperated. He didn't believe it, for a second. "Were you there?" he asked Corin.
He nodded shortly.
"Well, that explains it." As the Doctor shrugged it off and went to go back towards the ship, Corin stayed behind a bit. How much had Rose said? How much did this Doctor know? He had no idea how much time they had spent together, so he didn't know at all what range he was thinking in. Yet, parallel universes would be something she'd bring up rather quickly, it's not like they had been here for a month, right? That was insane.
"What were you doing there?" Rose asked him, barely snapping him out of it.
"Waterboarding," he answered mindlessly. He stared at the back of the Doctor, who was casually walking off, not caring much about his two fellows. Suddenly, again, Corin was too overwhelmed to think anything through. He hated how little his human brain could handle, especially with preposterous amounts of sleep.
Rose made a face at him, and only then he realised what he said.
"Ah—, er." He laughed. "I'm kidding. Stopped a family from going on the Titanic, because the daughter would be an incredibly important figurine in pathology. She, subsequently, is the reason why diseases aren't particularly rampant in your time." He cocked his head thoughtfully. "Well… if you ignore all the nonsense later. That overwhelms you a bit, but, y'know, human race. You manage. The economy takes a drastic hit, though, especially when Rach—"
He would have asked Rose why she was looking at him like that if he didn't already know the answer. He shrugged, trying to appear as if he didn't care about it as much as he did, and went to follow the Doctor. Corin, unlike the Doctor, did check behind him to make sure she was following. She was, if at a distance.
The Doctor waited for them at the front of the bridge. Most people had already boarded, so it was empty, bar all the people at the side waving back to the people on the Titanic. He had his psychic paper out, waiting with a surprisingly calm face. Rose and Corin rejoined him and he got them on.
Corin thought it was rather odd to board the Titanic, again. He assumed the Doctor hadn't been here before, and he didn't have the glorious experience of almost drowning for a few hours.
That was an interesting day.
He shook it off as they got on properly. He looked back at all the people waving. He felt some odd recognition for some of them, even if he couldn't place where he had seen them before.
What they were doing didn't even settle in until they were off and he couldn't see the land they came from anymore. I mean, for all he knew, the Doctor lied about it and was trying to kill them. Unlikely, yes, but, if he were to, it'd be perfect. Rose and Corin couldn't survive this, but he could.
But he wouldn't do that. Surely. He looked over at the Doctor talking with Rose. He didn't have any reason to think that the Doctor would do that. Next to them invading his space.
Alright. Yeah. They were on the Titanic. Another Tuesday, quoi.
Isn't that just wizard?
As the Doctor was explaining some history thing or other, Corin zoned out and looked at the waves, instead. Rhythmically tapping against the hull. He wondered if he'd get seasick now that he was human.
The air felt weird. It was too simple to be Earth air, but they were definitely on his beloved planet.
It was a bit chilly. He'd have to get back to the TARDIS and get a coat. He wondered if he could find his James Hopskin coat, or if it wouldn't exist here.
He wondered if he'd still like it. He had loved that coat so much, but now it might be tainted.
Corin barely withheld a flinch when the Doctor put a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to explore," he said, "You wanna come with?"
Right. He wasn't a bad guy or anything. He was still the Doctor. "No, that's—" He stopped himself. He was still the Doctor. Could he really leave Rose alone with him? He knew what effect Rose had on him. Even if it wasn't exactly the same thing, or story, or… person. For all he knew, he would lose Rose to himself. Again. For the third time.
He grinned and hoped neither could tell it was forced. "Yeah, actually. Thanks."
The Doctor nodded at him and walked off. Rose raised an eyebrow at him before following the Doctor.
Although Corin knew most of what the Doctor was saying, he humoured him as a guide. It was surprising to hear about all the improvements they'd make in the future, considering their Titanic never had a future.
It was also weird, considering he'd been on this exact boat, but last time he knew for sure it was going to go down and most people would die. Now, all of these people would live, and the atmosphere—at least, to him—was starkly different.
He still remembered the icy water on his tough skin, his respiratory bypass system kicking in every so often despite him trying to repress it, and the heaviness of his clothes weighing him down further. He also wasn't here for the same reason, at all.
He still has no idea how he survived that. He wasn't meant to. It had been the perfect way to go. Painful. Physically, mentally, and psychically. It being a fixed point in time had made everything so much worse. It was the perfect—
"Corin?"
A flash of yellow. So bright. The harsh grating of the TARDIS underneath his face.
"Corin?" A different voice asked.
A rough breath. Gasping, feeling the water and bile forcing itself out of his throat.
"Corin…?" That tentative voice repeated itself.
Despite being out of the water, he still thought he would die, his hearts feeling like they were constricting in his chest. Someone patting on his back as he sat up. But when he looked, no one was there.
Someone… patting on his back. He turned around. Rose was looking at him weirdly. Why was she worried? "Yeah?"
She stared at him for a bit before shaking her head and taking her hand off. He looked back around him, noticing they were in a whole other room than he remembered. The Doctor was staring at him with a sympathy he didn't appreciate.
He shrugged it off and moved on.
They walked into a large recreational room. People were playing games, drinking, and generally having fun. It was like a normal cruise. Corin looked over at Rose, but she was talking to the Doctor, so he waited politely for them to stop.
"Not like this, though," Rose responded to his question. "Some high-tech thing in the future. The cruise was actually in space, along the..." She looked over at Corin. "What nebula was it?"
Oh, that? "Jellyfish?"
"Yeah, Jellyfish. I don't know if you know where that is or whatever."
The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know if they have the same names. It doesn't really matter. A nice one, I assume."
"Yeah, I guess…" She cocked her head to the side. "Was sweet, until, y'know. Half the ship blew up."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, that shouldn't happen this time. I can guarantee that."
"How?" Corin asked. Even if historically it didn't happen, this place didn't feel like a fixed point in time. Theoretically, it could still happen—and he should know that. Especially with all three of them here… ms and mr jeopardy friendly.
"I know what I'm doing," the Doctor answered.
"Uhm, right." Corin laughed sarcastically. Like every other time, huh? "From personal experience, no, I do not."
"Maybe you don't."
Rose elbowed him, and the Doctor stopped in his tracks and stared at her. Right, maybe too familiar. Rose thought it was so odd, because it was both the Doctor, and at the same time, neither of them were the Doctor she knew. She couldn't just pick up where she left. She hunched over and humbled herself.
As the Doctor went his own way, Corin and Rose stayed behind. Corin was still rather nervous to be anywhere near Rose, in fear he'd do something wrong. Maybe this trip wasn't exactly the best idea, because it seemed like the plan was for them to have fun as a group. It seemed like no one really wanted to be, well, a group.
Rose was looking around. She must not really know what to do, which was fair. They had only ever gone on one cruise, and that one was mostly for dancing, anyway. This ship was much more diverse in its activities, it could be quite overwhelming…
"There's a lot to do, isn't there?" he asked rhetorically. Despite all the noise around them, everything felt so quiet, especially when she looked at him blankly before walking off.
He followed her. "These cruises are quite special. We haven't really been to one, so I could show you around…if you want."
She silently continued walking, not giving a single sign that she even knew he existed.
He could feel his heart beating against his ribcage as if it were trying to come out of his chest.
Suddenly, his whole perception of self faltered slightly. Even if it was just for a moment, he wondered if he was real. If he was even there. It seemed like he was a gust in the wind, incomprehensibly unnoticeable, unless he—
"Corin!" the Doctor called from further away.
He stopped in his tracks and watched Rose walk further away as his heart dropped. It wouldn't go anywhere, but he felt so intrinsically called to follow her, make sure she was alright, have her in his vision as if she'd disappear—
He'd have to learn eventually, right? He gathered all his courage and walked towards the one that called him.
The Doctor was sitting at a small table, with a prepared chess board. Corin sat down opposite of him. Oh, boy. Now here was something he hadn't done in a fat while. The Doctor smiled at him impishly.
Alright, he was white. Thankfully there weren't any timers going off, that was already a good thing… He knew e4 was the normal starter move, but he didn't want to seem like he didn't know what he was doing, so he put up his knight, instead. Nf3 it was.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at it, but responded semi-naturally with e5, advancing a centre pawn.
It seemed like a free pawn, so Corin took it. Now a bit cocky, he moved his knight back when the Doctor advanced another pawn to attack it. The Doctor's bishop sniped it from the other side of the board. Right.
He swallowed his pride. There goes his advantage. He moved a few pawns up, not really knowing what to do.
The Doctor ran a hand over his face. "What is this, the shenanigan gambit?"
A few more blunders and losing a few knights later, Corin somehow managed to pin the Doctor's queen with a rook. The Doctor stared at it, trying to figure something out, but it wouldn't work.
Corin had no idea how he noticed it. He might not know that much about chess, but he did realise that the Doctor also sucked at it. Same man, after all.
A move later, Corin took his opponent's queen with a pawn. He smiled in his fist.
The Doctor's face was blank, and he clinically moved his next few pieces. And with every piece, Corin realised that he had fallen for his trap. He was surprised to see he had a strategy behind it all.
"Strategy?" The Doctor smiled, but it held no warmth. "I prefer psychological warfare. Keep you on your toes." He moved another piece, and Corin knew it would soon be over. "You never know."
The Doctor gave him a few seconds before his smile turned more genuine, and he put a hand out, offering to end the game before he'd lose his dignity.
Corin reached out and moved the queen.
The Doctor blinked at him.
"I'm a stalemate kinda guy," Corin explained.
He lost a few moves later, but he still felt confident for sticking his neck out. To be fair, Corin was still referring to the knight as the 'horsey', so of course he couldn't have won.
Rose was terribly exhausted. She wasn't sure what it all was, but somehow it seemed like every move she did took massive amounts of strength that she inexplicably got from…well, somewhere.
She sat down on one of the seats at a counter. There was a lady behind it, cleaning a glass. The typical outfit made it quite obvious she was one of the staff. They made eye contact and Rose sighed dramatically.
"Tired, miss?" the lady asked.
"You can say that again. Some days." Rose propped her elbows on the counter and held her face in her hands. "Can't imagine it's much better for you, though. Working while everyone else is having fun."
She shrugged as she moved on to another glass. "It's alright, really. I like to keep busy." She gave her a look. "Plus, you'd be surprised at how little fun-having is going on."
Rose frowned. Was something going wrong on this ship already? "What's that mean?"
She placed the glass down and picked up three other ones. "People." She turned around and placed the glasses away.
Rose stared at her. Alright, yes. It's not because she and the Doctor were there that something would immediately go wrong. She calmed down. "What's your name?"
"Lily," she gave.
Rose blinked at her and chuckled. "I'm Rose."
"Oh." She smiled. "That's funny."
Rose half turned back to where the Doctor and the other one were playing chess. She'd say something about how childish it was, but chess seemed like a sophisticated enough game not to warrant that comment. She wasn't even sure how to play it.
"They with you?" Lily asked after a long bout of silence.
"Yeah," she answered simply. She turned back to Lily and nodded. "Yeah, they are."
Lily took the towel and threw it over her shoulder. "Family?"
Rose gave a hearty chuckle. At least something stayed the same. "No." She let her hands fall from the counter. "What makes you say that?"
"Just weird that you travel with two men." She eyed them. "Especially one so attractive."
Rose ran a hand over her face. "He's not so attractive once you get to know him." Never mind the fact that she still fell in love with him when she knew him. That wasn't important.
"Blimey." Lily laughed. "What makes you say that?"
Rose looked back at the two men still vigorously playing chess. If their faces were any indication, they were both losing. "I could write a book about it." She took a breath. "Selfish and self-centred. Arrogant. I'm starting to think narcissistic. Only cares about his own skin," she spat. She looked back at Lily. "Y'know the type."
Lily looked more confused than anything. "He doesn't look that bad."
Her face turned a bit more dark than she'd have liked. "They never do."
Lily leaned a bit over the counter to get closer to Rose. "Why still travel with him, then? Can't you leave?"
Rose blanked for a moment. She'd slightly backed herself into a corner. She could leave, technically, but she didn't want to. It made them sound like abusive narcissists she couldn't get away from, which wasn't the reality at all. "No, I can. I'm…" She shrugged. "No, you're right. He's not that bad. I'm just being dramatic."
Lily raised an eyebrow.
Rose smiled. "I mean it." She put her hands together, folded in her lap. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Would've whooped him out of here."
Rose laughed. She probably could've, considering how lightweight he was. "Don't doubt it."
Lily winked before leaning back and returning to her post. "Oh, how terribly rude of me. Do you want anything to drink?"
"That's alright, thanks."
Corin thought he would pop a nerve in a few minutes if he kept this up.
And just like always when he needed a refuge, he turned to Rose. She had been talking to someone, but considering they were both looking his way, they were absolutely talking about him. That was either a good thing or a bad thing, but at least it meant he existed in her world.
On that note, losing multiple chess games in what was probably record time was starting to do irreversible damage to his psyche.
"Checkmate," the Doctor said, smirking. "14-0."
Corin didn't give him the dignity of another word and stood up and left. He didn't even look back to see what the Doctor would do. He didn't want to know. He walked over to Rose, who rolled her eyes as soon as she noticed Corin heading her way and sat down in a chair next to her. "I am going to kill him."
Rose stared at him, unimpressed. "Uh-huh."
He put his head in his hands and groaned. As Rose turned back to Lily, Corin realised this probably wasn't the best course of action for him. Going to Rose, sure, but then just coming here and complaining? He raised his head again. "Anyway, how's your adventure going?"
"Corin," she said, raising her hand and pointing it to the woman behind the counter. "This is Lily."
He stared at her. She was ginger. Beautiful long hair contained in a braid that rested on her shoulder—and she was ginger. She smiled at him, and he nodded back.
"Jealous?" Rose remarked. To his contained surprise, she was even smirking at him.
He put his head down in defeat dramatically. "I'll never be ginger." He could feel the confused stare of Lily, but he liked that he still had some sense of mystery, so he ignored it.
Rose tapped the counter to grab his attention, not realising she already had it to the fullest. "How come you're so much worse than him if you're…" She trailed off, knowing she couldn't exactly reveal that in front of Lily quite yet. "Y'know." The same person.
"I guess I forgot. Too much stuff. Had to forget some things." He didn't show it, but he was so incredibly happy that Rose was talking to him. It felt a bit forced, and almost like a fever dream, but he was glad it was reality.
"You are a terrible loser," the Doctor said from behind him, making him jump up and his fight-or-flight response activate.
"Darn bastard," Corin started, "You think you're—"
The Doctor started laughing, effectively shutting Corin up by humbling him severely.
Right. Corin sighed and returned to his seat. No need to salt the wound.
"That bad, huh?" Rose commented.
The Doctor kept laughing. "He kept falling for the exact same trap. It's like he didn't even know what the game was."
"I'm right here," he reminded them.
The Doctor burst out laughing again. "Who does Queen c3?" He almost started cackling as he moved to sit down next to Rose.
Corin felt his face turn red. Alright, yeah, he wasn't great, but that didn't mean he had to be ridiculed for it.
The Doctor calmed down. "Sorry. Hello," he greeted Lily. He took a breather. "That was an experience."
"Lily," Rose started, putting her hand towards the Doctor, "This is the Doctor."
"Doctor who?" she asked.
While Rose snickered, Corin put his hands up, exasperated. The Doctor just smiled. "Just the Doctor."
"No one will ever say that to me again," Corin muttered mournfully.
"Aren't you a doctor?" Rose asked.
"Definitely not in chess," the Doctor said, his voice wavering. He covered his mouth with his hand as his eyes filled with glee.
Corin glared at him.
"You are an odd bunch," Lily commented. They all looked at her, and she smiled warmly at them. "It's refreshing."
The Doctor was about to say something, but she spoke before he could. "I should go. I have an actual job to do." She looked kindly at Rose. "Hope I can catch you later."
Rose smiled back and gave a small wave as Lily left.
"Mhm," the Doctor gave. "Maybe it's time to move along, then?" He tapped his fingers on the counter, already impatient.
Rose chuckled. "You really cannot sit still for five minutes, huh?"
"Well, you should know that. Don't you?" the Doctor said, a bit harshly in Rose's opinion, and left.
And now, once again, she was alone with Corin. Ugh.
She got up. Maybe if she was lucky, he would go another way. She passed by a hiccuping man to go outside, back for some fresh air. It was surprisingly cold outside.
"Ça caille," Corin said, hugging himself. "You sure you wanna stay? I'm sure the Doctor managed to get some cabins to stay in, instead."
What did that even…
"Don't get sick."
She held the bridge of her nose.
"Y'know, this was one of the coldest days in the month of April. We-ell, it was, back in the other universe." He stepped closer to the railing, somehow failing to notice the building anger on his talking partner's face.
When her annoyance got the better of her, she walked away.
Corin just followed her. "I assume it's the same here. Not sure if that is a reasonable assumption, however. Although weather seems trivial, it is in fact a rather big deal, always. The butterfly effect is even a play on it. Imagine, if you could, that you could control the weather. What would happen if you changed it by even one kilometre is inconceivable to the—"
"Shut up," she mumbled under her breath.
"—human mind. Which is quite normal, such a shift in anything would change things that humans haven't even discovered yet. I mean," he said, laughing, "you guys have very limited information. You can't even predict the weather properly because you have no idea how it works. Which is fine, you'll find out in a few—"
"Corin!" She yelled. "Shut up!"
His kicked-puppy face made her even angrier. "Do you not understand? I don't like you! I want you to leave me alone! Is that too 'inconceivable' for your tiny human brain?"
He took a step back like that was going to do anything. "My brain's not tiny," he mumbled.
She wanted to punch him in the face. She'd always had a small part of her hate him, but now she wanted to rip off his head. Of course that's all he had to say for himself. Nothing on her part, it didn't matter at all how she felt. Just like the good ol' days. Just like before.
Just like always.
"You're being unreasonable, Rose. I'm not that different from him. You're acting like a kid who just…"
He continued, but she didn't hear a thing next to the ringing in her ear.
She was obviously at fault.
And his mouth kept moving. Defending himself, defending his ego—his pride. Because our little not-so-Time Lord could never be wrong. She couldn't stand it anymore.
"...a gift, and I accepted it. You still refuse to, because you, for some reason, think that it'll all just—"
She took a deep breath, advanced on him, and slapped him in the face.
Finally, he shut up. Finally, it seemed like for once he didn't have anything to say anymore.
She grabbed him tightly by the arms, interlocked in their gazes. She wanted him to understand how much she hated him. She stared at him with all the wrath she had to show and hoped it would finally reach him.
All he did was stare back like a deer in her headlights.
She let go of him, took a step back, and looked up at him one final time before leaving.
She hoped it would do the trick.
It did.
He was, frankly, barely holding on. Both to his sanity and the railing.
Why did she look at him like that? Surely, he wasn't that different from his Time Lord self, and she had loved him. Hadn't she?
He wasn't sure at all what to believe anymore.
She was the sole reason he was there; in every sense. In this universe, on this boat… alive.
He really thought she'd warm up to him. It seemed like she had just a few moments before.
What was going on?
He'd been doing everything he could, no?
Did she want him to do more?
"Corin?" a voice called.
Fuzz.
"Are you alright?"
He snapped out of it. "Huh?" Lily was staring at him queerly. Right, the Titanic. "Oh. Yeah."
"Did you fall?"
He had no idea what she was on about. "Yeah."
She looked so worried. "Maybe you should get that checked out."
Corin stared at her. His brain was barely holding on and he did not have the capacity to understand her nonsense. "What are you on about?"
She pointed to her cheek. "That."
He rubbed his cheek. Yeah, she slaps like her mother. The thought was meant to cheer him up, but instead, he just wanted to cry.
For a moment, he wanted to let himself. But then he remembered who he was. It wouldn't help anyone to cry about it. It wouldn't fix a darn thing. He had to…
"Corin?"
He had to…
"Corin?"
"What?"
"I think you should go to a doctor."
He chuckled. Alright, that one was funny.
"You might have a concussion," she continued.
"No," he said. "I'm just…"
Just what?
What was he supposed to do now? Throw himself off the ship? No, that was a bit too brutal.
Go back to the TARDIS. Fix her up so they could all leave and go home.
Home.
He gave a good laugh again. Somewhere along the way, tears started mixing in. When he wiped his eyes, Lily was gone.
He blinked. Great, he was also hallucinating now?
It didn't matter. None of it mattered.
He just had to make a plan to get Rose back.
He had the whole array of tools in the TARDIS, too.
He wondered where the line was. Not that he ever kept by those.
Something in his brain made him feel queasy. Right, he'd sleep on it. Human brains could be…weird.
Corin was right, Rose hated to admit, even if it was trivial. The Doctor somehow managed to get them cabins, as unannounced as they came here. "Just two," he said, "Figured you didn't want to share a room with 'im."
"Thanks," she gave, weakly. She stared at the potted spider plant on the table. This Doctor had given her Hector. Hector, who was now torn apart somewhere in her apartment.
Her life had been a mess, and it didn't seem to get any better. Stupid Corin. Stupid Time Lord. He had ruined it all.
"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked, surprisingly tender.
She turned to look at him. At least some of it was still familiar. Even though he didn't look at her exactly the same way, it was alright. She didn't need him to do that all again. This was enough. After a second, "Yeah. I'll be fine."
"Good," he gave, weakly. He nodded, once, and turned to leave.
It made her smile. She wondered if she'd ever get to a point with him again where she could just hug him out of nowhere for no discernible reason.
And just like that, she was alone again. She stared at the potted plant.
She didn't like self-pity. She tried her best to avoid it.
But man, she wanted nothing else than to mourn her life. They were all right. You touch the Doctor, and your life will never be the same.
It will be a living hell.
She was at least glad to get out of the tripping hazard that was her dress.
"Lily," the Doctor called as she walked down the hallway.
"Oh, thank God. I found you." She continued her hurried steps to him. "I think Corin needs help."
He raised an eyebrow.
When the Doctor found Corin, he had to run towards him to make sure he didn't fall to the ground. Poor guy was barely standing on his own feet. His cheek was slightly red, and although Lily said he had fallen, it looked more like a slap than anything. It was here that he realised he had no idea who he was dealing with.
He wasn't entirely sure what happened, but he pieced a few things together as he carried Corin along on his arm to the cabins. He sobbed quietly, managing to stop when they reached his. The Doctor opened the door and carried him further, oddly making the connection that this felt like carrying home your drunk friend.
As soon as he let Corin fall on his bed, he promptly made himself into a ball and buried his head in his knees.
The Doctor stared at him for a bit. It was weird. Normally he'd want to mock him, rile him up, or relish in being superior. Now, he just…felt bad. "Corin?"
"Leave me alone."
So he did; and left him on his own.
He didn't want to be part of it anyway, so he went his own way.
Rose couldn't sleep. She didn't even know why she was trying. Utterly wide awake despite the utter exhaustion. She hated when this sort of thing happened, and it happened a lot more often than she'd like to admit.
At least the nightgowns were a lot easier to put on.
She went through the silent hallways. She thought it'd feel creepy, but she felt oddly at ease. Nothing was alive; she didn't even hear snoring. For a moment she could pretend she was on an abandoned ship, hundreds of years into her future, and exploring part of it while the Doctor was exploring the other part. She'd run into him in a few, and they'd share a laugh and then go home. That is, after running into tons of trouble.
Her feet softly hitting the ground grounded her to reality. She had been dreaming of the future and past for so long. Her longing had ended up getting longer than the time she'd ever spent with him. Her memories were likely not even accurate anymore. She'd written some down in a book somewhere to make sure that she wouldn't forget, and based her memories off of it. But now, there was a pretty big chance she'd never see that book again.
Which was alright. She knew she had to stop living in the past. But it was the only part of her life that wasn't a total mess-up; at least, if you didn't go too far into the past.
She got outside again, onto the deck. It was really cold, but she ignored it best she could.
She noticed someone else outside. The entire figure was dark, like a silhouette. Yet, somehow, even in this darkness, she knew who it was.
She went up to him and leaned on the railing next to him. It reminded her of a few days ago, when they were in front of the London Eye. Thankfully, this time, The Doctor didn't look that surprised or angry. He just looked at her in acknowledgement for a second before turning back to stare at the sea.
They quietly stood there.
She had hoped this would calm her, but it didn't. Neither his presence or the biting cold were calming her nerves. She just felt exhausted and overwhelmed, and she didn't know what to do anymore. Were the TARDIS fixed, she would've asked to go home. She was actually starting to miss her mum and dad. And Tony. She'd likely never see Tony again. He had lost his big sister, and she would never be by his side as he grew up.
She was, ironically, too tired to mourn any of that. It was easy to deceive herself and say that she was already detached because she was never meant to go back here, anyway.
She was always meant to go back to the Doctor. And in a way, she had. Just not what she'd hoped. But at least she had this.
(She really did not want to think about Corin.)
Looking down at the soft waves, she hugged herself. Maybe it was stupid, but in a way, she wished Corin was here. She hated his presence, but she knew he would've given her his jacket in a heartbeat. And she could really use that right now.
"Maybe you should go easier on him," The Doctor said.
Rose looked at him. He looked back, his eyes oddly tired. She wasn't sure what had prompted him to say anything remotely like that, considering she wasn't sure if the two were on amicable terms at all.
"You don't know the story," she answered weakly.
"No."
She blinked, and waited, but he said nothing further. No, he didn't know. Maybe he didn't have to. He wasn't stupid, which isn't something she could say for Corin.
…Corin wasn't stupid. If anyone was stupid, it was her. She'd somehow gotten into this mess by trusting the Doctor. That was on her.
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he was holding back. She smiled kindly at him. His eyes showed something odd for a moment, and he retaliated, straightening his back, and looked back at the sea.
She followed his gaze. She had so much she wanted to say; to ask. She had no idea what all the differences were between this Doctor and her Doctor, and she really wanted to know. But she knew she couldn't just push it all through—she'd have to wait. And if he was anything like hers, she'd have to wait a pretty darn long time.
It was alright, though. Hopefully, Corin would cool off and leave her alone, and that tin dog would eventually lay off. Then it'll just be her and the Doctor, again, and hopefully build something up again.
"You should go," he said, his voice low.
She hadn't noticed it yet, but she was shivering. It was cold, after all, and she was barely wearing anything. She nodded softly. "Yeah."
The Doctor stared at her as she left.
Everything was so weird. He had no idea what he got himself into, but oddly, he found himself…hopeful. He wanted to help these two, as much of a trainwreck as it was. It seemed like a book that needed to be read and edited before you could publish it.
He hoped he could help them, even just a little bit before they would leave.
There was a spider plant in his room. Of all things he had to wake up to. He remained in a haze for a few minutes before remembering who he was and what he was doing. He shot up, and in front of him—boom. A spider plant. He almost started sobbing as he thought about poor Hector, torn up and tossed away in her apartment. It would rot there for a while before anyone came in and cleaned it up.
Hector was dead, and so it seemed any chance he had to ever be with Rose. Considering that was his number one life goal, it all seemed a bit gloomy.
He had no idea where he got the strength to get out of bed, but here it was. His suit smelled darned awful, so he'd just run around in his shirt. He didn't really care anymore. He could pop by the TARDIS to get a new suit or something, but for now, suitless as a man could be.
Pressing his palms so hard into his eyes he thought they would pop out, he readied himself mentally for the day.
He laughed.
Yeah, right.
It was surprisingly bright outside. His eyes narrowed in reflex and he had to cover them with his hand.
Now, where was going?
Oh, right. Food. Breakfast, even.
A few steps here and there, a turn, and there he was. Of course, the first thing he had to have noticed was that Rose and the Doctor were already there.
He stared at them both, and Rose was the first to notice it. As the Doctor was putting way too many slices of bread on his plate, Rose gave Corin a tiny, almost unnoticeable wave.
A pang to his stomach. He didn't let the hope shine in his eyes. Maybe if he ignored her, she would feel guilty enough to try to amend things. He looked away. He found a seat somewhere, inconspicuous, and sat down.
And as far as Corin was concerned, it worked. Rose felt sick to her stomach. She expected something, but not to be shunned completely. Yes, it was fair, but it wasn't at all what she had expected. He seemed to act like she was the most important thing to him, so seeing that being so fragile…
She remembered what her Doctor had told her. How he had blatantly lied to her, and… ' equivalent' .
She swallowed thickly.
"Let's go," the Doctor called, clearly walking in the direction of Corin.
She started her protest, "Wait, but—"
"But what?" the Doctor asked. "Can't just leave him alone, can we?" He walked over to Corin like it was his birthright and put his overflowing plate between them, sitting down with a grin.
Rose stayed behind for a few seconds. Well, no, she couldn't just ignore Corin back, but it didn't seem appropriate to just sit next to him like nothing had happened.
The Doctor shoved his plate further to Corin. "Eat up, brother."
Corin crossed his arms and looked away. What a ridiculous thing to say. "Not hungry."
The Doctor turned his back to him and called Rose over. He took a breath. "You didn't eat yesterday," he said quietly.
Corin rolled his eyes. He was hungry, sure, but he had his ideas. He could eat later, but if Rose was coming to sit with them, that would be perfect to guilt her further. He was pretty hungry, but he could afford to wait a while.
Someone was hiccuping behind him. Man, that was such an annoying sound. He could hear someone else hiccuping further back, too. People apparently never learned how to swallow properly or something.
A third one, even, he noticed.
Rose joined them, timidly. Corin had to keep the smirk off his face. Of course, she couldn't say no to the Doctor, huh?
"I love bwead," the Doctor cut off his thoughts, shoving a slice in his already full mouth. "Best human invention in a long, long while."
"Are you eating that dry?" Rose asked.
"Of course I am. It's fresh." The Doctor looked like he was having the time of his life. He took another slice and Corin stared at him queerly.
Rose was staring at her bread with droopy eyes. Shoot. Would she not eat because he wasn't—? He wanted her to feel guilty, yes, but…not like that.
Another darn person was hiccuping, he noticed. What's up with that?
"What's up with what?" the Doctor asked. Both Rose and the Doctor were staring at him.
Darn mouth. "The hiccuping," he explained. "It's so annoying."
The Doctor looked around the room at the several hiccuping people. He put his slice of bread down and frowned. Corin took a slice from the massive pile the Doctor had brought. No reason why Rose shouldn't eat.
"Odd," the Doctor said. "Eight. That's a lot of people."
"Something wrong with the air?" Rose offered.
Corin munched on the bread like his life depended on it. If he chewed loud enough, maybe he wouldn't hear all the hiccuping.
"Not that I'm aware of," the Doctor responded. He turned back to the group.
Darn, the Doctor ate this without anything? It was so bland.
"Could still be a coincidence," Rose gave. "But with you two here…"
Tsssk. Most of the trouble was because of you, Rose. Corin was, frankly, tearing this slice apart. The hiccuping was really pissing him off, and he needed some outlet.
"Well, I think it was a combination of us, " Rose argued back, but it held no heat.
Could he stop saying things out loud?! "Mhm." At least she had talked to him. That was something. Maybe it was working.
The Doctor took another slice of bread and stood up. "Let's go check it out."
"Check what out?" Rose asked
"Dunno," the Doctor answered, and walked along.
Rose looked at Corin. Corin didn't show how deeply this put him over the moon and merely looked away, acting hurt.
"I'll go with you," she said.
Corin felt proud of himself. It seemed like his plan had succeeded. He looked at her to say something, but then saw that she was already leaving; and that she wasn't talking to him at all.
What, she just ran off? Without—
What?!
He sat up and grabbed a slice before following them. No way he'd leave them on their own. He felt a bit butthurt now. He thought his guilt-tactic would work, but it seemed like she didn't care at all.
He cursed under his breath. He caught up pretty quickly, and suddenly the three of them were on the move again. The Doctor, incomprehensibly, smiled at him when he noticed him. What was up with that guy? He wasn't even smiling to mock him, the smile seemed genuine. It was beyond Corin why the Doctor of all people would be kind to him.
Oh, right. This Doctor had no reason to be jealous of him.
…Alright, that made sense. It was still weird how kind he was. Then he realised he didn't know anything about him. For all he knew, the War never happened. That didn't seem likely, though, since that regeneration was made through the fire of said War. It was odd, and maybe he should try to figure it out.
Not that he cared. He didn't care at all about him.
"Doctor," Rose called. She stopped in her tracks and pointed at a sign. Medical Center. "Maybe?"
"Maybe," the Doctor gave. "You think this is a ship-wide medical issue?"
"I don't know." Rose shrugged. "Maybe someone went there with complaints about their hiccups?"
"Good point," he said, and went to knock on the door.
No one answered. He knocked again, a bit louder.
"Yes, yes!" someone's muffled voice could be heard from inside.
"They sound busy," Rose said. She didn't think much of the hiccuping. It seemed like such a trivial issue, but at least she had something to do. She didn't have to be alone with Corin, and she could be with the Doctor. Even if it was only a few minutes walking around in circles to find absolutely nothing.
The door finally opened. A nurse in a mask looked them all up and down. "Yes?"
She was met with silence. Rose looked at the Doctor, the Doctor looked at Corin, and Corin looked at Rose.
"Were you—"
"I thought—"
"Didn't you—"
They all shut up. Alright, who does the talking? The Doctor shrugged at Rose, who in turn looked at Corin. Corin blinked back at her.
…Are you guys serious?
"Um," the nurse said, "Can I…?"
"Yes," Rose cut in quickly. "We had a problem. I feel ill."
The nurse looked back inside the room. Corin nearly flinched at Rose's words, but before he could say anything about his worry, the Doctor elbowed him in the side.
"Ill how?" the nurse asked.
"Stomach," she lied, not as fluently as she wished.
The nurse sighed and looked at the two men. "Who are you two? Family?"
Before anyone could protest, the Doctor proclaimed loudly, "Yes. That is my daughter." He pointed at Corin like an idiot. "That is my son."
"O-okay, sir." The nurse said, giving him the same look that Corin wanted to give. "Let me check something, I'll be right with you all." She closed the door.
Corin moved his hands about, exasperated. "Why did y—"
"It works! Shut up!" the Doctor whisper-yelled. "I panicked!" He exhaled. "Not my fault you look alike, okay?"
"HOW—"
"Shut up!" Rose yelled quietly. "It—It works. It doesn't matter."
"Why did you—" Corin started, but Rose grabbed his arm forcefully to shut him up as the door opened again.
"We're a bit packed," The nurse explained. "We don't have a lot of space. Do you two really need to be here?"
They all looked at each other. I don't know, did they? They didn't even know what they were doing.
Rose grabbed the Doctor by his arm and put on her best poor-peasant-voice. "Please, let my father in, at least."
The Doctor did his best to keep a straight face.
Corin just failed.
"Alright, yes," the nurse gave in, "but I warn you—It is packed."
"Wait, but—" Corin protested, but the door was shut on him. He stared at it for a while. Wow.
"Please do wait a bit." The nurse once again left them.
Rose still held his hand, but he let go to flex it, as his hand felt oddly strained. "This might be the worst undercover mission I've ever done," the Doctor said quietly.
"Three's a crowd." Rose sighed.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at that.
The nurse—the Doctor asked, her name was Anna—led them through a compartment or two. No one was necessarily hospitalised, or incapable of standing on their own two feet, but there were a ton of people. They looked awful. Tired, exhausted, and their hands purple-ish.
All were hiccuping, which the Doctor found the weirdest part. He clutched his sonic tightly in his pocket. If Rose made the proper distraction, he could analyse them and figure out what was going on here. Apparently, the problem was worse than he had thought. It wasn't just a few people hiccuping; it was a lot of them, and it got worse.
A disease? A virus that was spreading? Some bacterial infection in a food?
He racked his brain but in 1912 no new disease (at least of this sort) broke out. As soon as the ship hit land again, it would spread to the main continent. Or, he noted darkly, the ship never hit land, and it would die out in the sea.
Where did it come from, though? He tried to estimate the chance of an alien purposefully trying to wipe out the human race with a disease. Or, also possible, it just mutated drastically by chance. He would have to analyse someone to check.
Bringing Rose in here was a bit dangerous, but it was a risk he had to take. Knowing him, he was likely immune, so it didn't matter. Corin also seemed human, despite the odd qualities here and there.
Wait, where was—
They arrived at their settlement and the nurse left them. Before he could tell Rose to stay back from the others, Rose called out "Lily!" joyfully.
One of the people there, hiccuping, was Lily. "Lily," Rose repeated again, this time less joyfully, considering her being here wasn't good news.
Lily smiled at her. She, much like the others, looked surprisingly terrible, like she hadn't slept a wink in the night. "Rose. Doctor. What are you doing here?"
Rose went to move towards her, but the Doctor put an arm in her way. "Investigating," he answered. "Cases like yours."
"Yes, peculiar, isn't it?" She hiccuped in the middle of her sentence. "Never thought hiccuping could be contagious."
He took out his sonic screwdriver and moved towards her, the familiar buzz ringing. "D'you mind?"
She shook her head, even if she seemed rather confused. He apologised quietly as he checked her with the sonic.
"So you are a doctor?" Lily asked.
"It's in the name," the Doctor said. He frowned. "Did you eat anything? Did you… what were you doing?" He looked at his sonic like it was alien.
She shrugged through a particularly painful hiccup. "Just cleaning dishes. Didn't think much of it, but then it kept going for an hour. Hasn't stopped since."
"That was when?"
"Maybe 10 minutes after I left you off with Corin."
Rose perked up at that.
"Sorry for leaving, by the way." Lily hiccuped. "I assumed you'd be fine, and I had to… well, work."
He shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He shook his screwdriver. "Doesn't make any sense though. There's just nothing." He looked at Rose. "Nada."
She moved closer but the Doctor warned her. She was getting a bit frustrated from having to sit back and watch, but she understood. Kind of. It was just hiccuping, it didn't seem like a big deal. She wanted to be useful, though. Not like those first few adventures where all she did was get her life saved by the Doctor. No need to repeat any of that.
"Normally it's irritation." The Doctor sighed. "There's just… nothing. Weirdest part is that it seems transmissible. So something is causing it. And it's permanent, insofar we can tell."
"It could just stop, couldn't it?" Rose gave.
"It could." The Doctor moved on to another person and started checking them with the sonic. "Don't know if you want to bet on that, though."
Rose sat back down on the opposite side. "It's just hiccups."
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "No. Well, yes. But, no. I'm going to guess our friend Lily here didn't get a wink of sleep last night, isn't that right?"
"Y—Yes," she answered.
"And humans particularly need an abundance of sleep. Things already go wrong after three days. Granted, it's not an immediate death, no." He straightened his back. "But the diaphragm gradually breaks down. Breathing goes worse, eating gets harder. Fatigue, you name it."
As Rose thought about it, Corin walked in. "Uh," he said. "So, when are we—"
"Corin!" the Doctor called, moving over to him and giving him a slap on the back that was a bit too forceful. "You finally joined us, did you?"
He huffed. "You just left me behind." He tried not to take it too personally, despite the fact that it was personal. "Anyway, when are we leaving?"
"Leaving?" Rose repeated. She could barely believe that something like that could come out his mouth. "Since when do we leave?"
Corin merely shrugged.
"Muscle relaxers," the Doctor mumbled under his breath. He went through the cabinets quickly.
Lily greeted him tentatively and he nodded back quickly. He turned back to Rose. "Something's wrong here, so we should leave."
Rose stared at him, but he ignored the anger building up in her eyes.
"Leave?" Lily asked.
"You came here just for that?" the Doctor asked, busy inspecting some things here and there.
"Okay." Corin put his hands up defensively and took a step back instinctively. "There's no reason for everyone to gang up on me. I'm just saying, we should leave."
The Doctor put something down a bit more forcefully than he had to. "Yes, I agree. There's nothing here anymore." He turned to Rose. "We could try looking somewhere else."
"No, I meant—" Before Corin could finish his sentence and make his claim, the Doctor snatched him by the arm and pulled him along, resulting in a few protests from him. Once they got a bit further, the Doctor pulled him roughly to a standstill.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked. Knowing he didn't have a lot of time, he put a hand on his shoulder and held it tightly. "Get yourself together."
He let go, and before Corin could voice any defence, Rose showed up. And her presence combined with the Doctor's look in his eyes, he decided to shut up.
"So," the Doctor called loudly as Rose caught up with him. "Very little we can do. We're stuck here for weeks, so maybe the best bet is a quarantine." He put his hands together. It wasn't a situation he often found himself in, and despite his title, he didn't know how to deal with it. He didn't have enough yet to figure out how to cure it, so he'd have to work around it.
"What's that?" Rose asked.
"We're not stuck," Corin said. He continued despite the daggers the Doctor was throwing at him with his eyes. "We have the TARDIS."
The Doctor was getting angry at Corin, now. He didn't understand the cowardice of the man in front of him. He should be a Doctor, like him, yet he acted so unlike him it made his blood boil. And it certainly wasn't helping his situation with Rose, either.
He almost wanted to admit he understood Rose's anger. But he knew that was unfair. He ignored Corin, but Rose didn't.
Rose looked at Corin in a way he deserved. Yet, he still didn't want this to escalate. He still wanted to try, despite it. He wasn't sure why anymore. "A quarantine," he said, "is separating the sick from the rest. And whoever was in contact with the sick."
"Oh, like that." Rose said. Good. At least she wasn't thinking about the mess that was Corin.
He'd have to have a proper talk with him. Maybe. If he found a good bone in him, he might. He clasped his hands together. "Let's go."
He should have known that humans were an obsolete little bunch. It would be bad for their reputation, or there wasn't even a real problem in the first place, and that's not how hiccuping works, and how did you get in here, all of those stupid excuses not to listen to the one voice in the room that made any sense.
Well, actually. He was not the only one.
"Can't you see what's right in front of you?" Rose raised her voice. "We don't know what could happen. If we don't do this now , you could be responsible for hundred of people's lives!"
He was glad he had someone by his side. He was rather impressed with her, but whether that was inherent or from years of experience was hard to say. It didn't really matter.
Corin wasn't passionate enough to follow them to their battlefield. He wouldn't be surprised if he had gone back to the TARDIS. He should probably be more worried about that, but for some reason he was certain Corin wouldn't leave without them. Well, at least without Rose. And in the first place, the TARDIS shouldn't be able to open her doors again, like last time. Still an oddity to him how that happened, since Corin admitted to not having a key.
It didn't matter for now, though. They had to convince this thick-skulled ape to make a life saving decision.
It wasn't going well.
"Exactly! You don't know!" The man before them yelled back. "This is a luxury ship, there is no reason to prohibit these healthy, innocent people—"
"That is best case scenario," Rose cut through his words. "D'you want to take the chance? Be known in history as the man who couldn't have a backbone to stand up and do what's right for the sake of hundreds of people's lives?"
He slammed his hands on the desk. "How dare you speak to me that way?"
"We are trying to save the lives of everybody here," Rose answered, calmly. "That's why."
And although the man's resolve seemed to falter from time to time, ultimately, the answer was always the same. Well, except for when he started yelling for security.
They were now, all three of them, back in some far off room they hadn't seen before. Oddly enough, they were free. The lad let them go on one condition, not go back and convince anyone of their conspiracy theory.
It was half and half.
Corin seemed as disinterested as the sun cared on who her light fell. He had expected a smug face or something, but he just didn't seem to be there. It simply didn't matter to him.
The apathy made him rage.
"What now?" Rose asked.
Of course she did. Brilliant girl, always looking on how to go forward. The Doctor let himself fall into one of the chairs. "Not sure. Maybe figure out a cure."
"Can't figure out a cure if you don't know what for," Rose said. She put a hand on her forehead. "And so far, that's a dead end."
"I doubt we can go back to the medical wing without being apprehended," the Doctor said. And if they couldn't get to someone ill, they couldn't continue looking for anything, and they were stuck. Just stuck. And the staff would be on the lookout for anyone who's hiccuping and take them in, so they wouldn't find anyone, either.
And Corin certainly wasn't about to help. He clutched his hands tightly. Not the point.
"What else?" Rose pondered to herself out loud as she walked over to the singular window in the whole room. She stared out. There had to be something, and the answer couldn't be leaving.
They never just left. Even if it seemed hopeless, they'd still try. Maybe bar that one time, but even then, they didn't just leave at the first sign of something.
To imply that they could leave so simply?
"What about—" Rose started, but she cut herself off in the middle of it after she hiccuped loudly.
Everything seemed to stop for a moment. The second passed by too quickly. Corin turned to her, and the Doctor slowly stood up.
Shoot. Corin felt the blood leave his face. That odd feeling at the back of his neck creeped up again. Rose, of all people—
"Corin, get away," the Doctor commanded, surprisingly tender.
He balled his fists. Rose. This whole darn thing. He had told them, too. They could've left, but no. Nobody listened to him the whole time, and now Rose was paying for it. For their incompetence. That stupid Doctor's pride. "I can't just—"
"Corin," The Doctor said, leaving little room for argument. "You're human."
"Let me—" he tried again. He couldn't give up like that. Not Rose. She hiccuped again and the world continued for another second. He didn't know what to do. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth. "I can't…"
The Doctor started moving towards Corin, and he knew he had little time left to make a decision. If only that stupid brain of his could work when he wanted it to.
Another hiccup, another ripple through his body. Every hiccup like chinese water torture, unpredictable and not painful on its own, but the dread was keeping him from breathing properly.
Rose.
She didn't even look particularly worried. A timid look, not meeting anyone's eyes, but still determined. Of course she would be.
The Doctor, however, was equally determined for him to go away. Because he was human or some bogus reason, meaning he couldn't stay with Rose for fear of his own health. Like that mattered at all in light of this new case.
Yet, the choice was quickly out of his hands, and once again the door was shut on him. Again with the doors shutting infront of his face. A mere afterthought, a mere decoration to their group. He swallowed, almost choking on his own spit, and made up his mind.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. He rubbed his eyes and sat down with surprising weight. "I'll do everything I can."
"I know," she responded, like there was never another answer. The amount of trust she held for him pained him. Her version must've been a real bloke with the amount of trust she had, and he wondered if he'd ever compare.
That was a worry for another day. For now, he had to make sure there would be another day. They hadn't gotten anywhere, and no one wanted to listen to him. It seemed rather bleak. Corin was gone, and Rose…
Another hiccup, which he used as his diving board. He got up and took out his sonic. There had to be something. He had just missed it, it was well undercover, but there had to be something.
Every 22 seconds with a minimal deviation of 5 seconds, it just seemed like normal hiccups. Nothing made sense.
They had time. These people wouldn't just drop like flies. The process would take at least a little while, but if it was truly a viral thing, it couldn't reach the shore.
"Doctor," Rose started. He could see it in her eyes. Not scared, but not quite at ease. Surprisingly calm. Maybe it hadn't set in yet.
"It's…" He wanted to say that it would be fine. It probably would be, but something in him held him back from saying it. Lying wouldn't help anyone in this situation.
He couldn't even meet her eyes.
Something about her just felt…important. Somehow, her death would ripple through all the timelines. He could feel it around her.
Then he remembered he had no idea who she even was. He thought 'a friend of a parallel version of him' was quite an understatement. Obviously something important, but not only to him.
For a brief moment, he felt scared of her. Like reality bended around her every move. Why was it only appearing now? What had changed?
"Doctor, what's—"
Well, that had changed. But was this not always going to happen? What happened specifically here that ruptured the—
The feeling disappeared in an instant; it made him uneasy on his feet. Sudden withdrawal of such an intense feeling left him blinking blankly. And… then he noticed it. He almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity. "It's been an awful long while since you've hiccuped, no?"
She took a second to think about it and he could see a light turn on in her brain. "Now that you say that…"
He sighed. Darn thing was just…normal hiccups. Yeah, that's what that was. Probably just imagining things in his head. Some human girl wouldn't do much. "I'll go get Corin."
"No," she said, so quickly he felt bad for him. "No, I'm… glad he's out of my hair."
Well, he certainly couldn't argue with that. He seemed like a handful, and he was, for some reason, sure he'd only ever seen part of it.
"At least that's not a problem anymore." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can't stay around, though. We have to figure something out."
"Right. You go do your thing, I'll…" She felt exhausted. "look around."
He nodded once. "Be careful," he said, and not awaiting a response, he parted with her.
"You too," she whispered softly under her breath.
He did his best to put that memory away. Either there really was something going on, or he had an episode. His mind hadn't been particularly stable since he woke up in this body, although it had calmed down when Corin and Rose joined him. Too distracted to be traumatised. It didn't mean it was gone completely. Far from it. He dreaded the day he'd knock down asleep again. Shiver.
He found a room he knew he could use as a makeshift laboratory. For now, he'd have to use the readings he had on his sonic screwdriver and—
"I told you we should have left."
Corin? The Doctor turned around. Corin stared at him with an odd resolve. A moment or two passed and he hiccuped. And as surprised as the Doctor was and expected him to be, Corin didn't show a shred of surprise.
The Doctor couldn't believe it. "What did you…?"
"Lower blood concentration." Another hiccup, and he swallowed it uncomfortably. "Causes muscle spasms throughout. Diaphragm is the most noticeable one."
"But… You…"
"Sweat and saliva." He pointed to a flask a while further, filled with a small amount of almost clear liquid. He hiccuped again and coughed. "Now, let's get to it."
The Doctor blinked for a moment before he followed Corin to the already made make-shift set-up. He was almost impressed by how much he had done in little time, but it worried him more than anything. He shook his head and sighed. "You're so stupid."
"Yeah, and?" He picked up a thin piece of plastic. "What are you going to do about it?"
The Doctor chuckled. "How far are you?"
"Reduced growth. I managed to slow it down a— hiccup —mere 30%, give or take. Nothing yet to kill it, though."
"Eh, that's a start. What you got?"
Corin handed him a piece of paper with nearly indecipherable chicken scratch. He narrowed his eyes at it.
"Don't judge the process." Corin held the flask tightly as he hiccuped. "I know it's a bit, er, brutal."
A focus on interleukins IL-6 and IL-1β wasn't what he would have done, oddly enough. Tropomyosin, especially? "Whatever works," he muttered.
Whether it worked or not, he'd find out soon enough.
They continued working on it together, silently. They still managed to work in sync, together, despite all their differences. The Doctor was rather glad of it, because Corin had been acting out of what he'd think of a Doctor to be. They tried a few things, here and there, but nothing seemed to improve on Corin's original 30%.
After an hour, they started losing hope a bit. Maybe it was impossible, and maybe it would be something that simply wasn't available in the time available.
They kept on despite the grim outlook. And then… "It's working," the Doctor said. "Look at it." He beckoned Corin over, who walked over hesitantly.
After looking at it for a second, Corin meticulously took one of the syringes, put in a part plasma and part of the serum, and jabbed it into his own leg. The Doctor stared at him. He stared back. Before the Doctor could say a thing, Corin put a finger up, beckoning him to shut up.
Another hiccup briefly made him despair, but he straightened his back and returned to the chicken-scratch filled paper. And while he was looking at that, the Doctor waited. Timing it in his head.
And when 45 seconds passed, he took out his sonic screwdriver and turned it to Corin. He raised an eyebrow at the noise.
6 more seconds and it'll be 99% probability of working.
Corin blinked, and it passed.
"Bingo."
He frowned. He opened his mouth briefly, but he didn't ask. He felt like he should know, considering they were the same man. So he thought about it. "You calculated it? It's over?"
He nodded once, and once was enough. Corin shot up from his chair and grabbed the oddly purple substance. "Where's Rose?"
Oh, right. "Actually," the Doctor said, "I'll go bring it to her. You bring it to the rest. You made it, you deserve the credit."
Corin briefly froze at that. "Screw credit." It sat weirdly that he'd even mention caring about something like that. Since when did they care about that?
But he didn't give him much of a choice and left before he could get another word edgewise. He'd just have to entrust Rose to him.
…It seemed like a bad idea. He didn't really have a reason to suspect him of anything foul, even if he was the Doctor.
Yet, he couldn't shake it off. So he followed his gut and went after him. He couldn't see him anymore, so he ran to the last place they were all gathered. He thought it unlikely that Rose would be put in the hands of these medical people.
He found them exactly where he thought they would be.
"What are you doing here?" the Doctor asked incredulously. "Did you already—"
"No," he responded. "No, I just wanted to check."
The Doctor blinked at him. He put a hand out to Rose. "Well, she's fine. So, go."
Rose looked at him in a way he didn't appreciate.
So, he went. He went to the stupid people to show them their stupid thing. They didn't believe him at first but he was so angry he kept going, trying to convince them. In the end, probably out of fear, they tried it. When they saw it worked, it didn't take long for them to apply it to everyone. They were glad it was over, and only one person died.
And just like that, the crisis was over. Not that the average joe here even knew there was a crisis, but now it was over with. He dragged his feet back.
Surprisingly, he didn't want to face Rose at the moment. He wasn't even sure what was keeping him, since he was so eager before. He just felt exhausted and wanted to sleep.
Not that he could do that properly. Every blink of sleep was filled with nightmares. But that wasn't important, for now. He'd face that when his body would collapse.
Rose… Rose and the Doctor.
That thought made him want to bolt towards them. He had no idea how this Doctor, er, felt about her. Even he had been enamoured after a few days, lonely as he was. He couldn't let that happen again.
Imagine if he lost her to himself. That'd be ridiculous. He'd never let that happen.
Then he saw Rose. She was talking with Lily in a hallway. Both looked rather disappointed for some reason. When Rose saw him, she smiled at Lily and left. He continued walking her way, following her. Lily told him goodbye as he passed, and he gave a mindless wave.
Finally, Rose stopped in her tracks, turned around, and glared at him.
"What?" he said. She rolled her eyes at him and continued walking. Alright. That was odd. He wasn't sure what it was all about.
Wait, where was she even going? He followed her to a place where it was so dark she could've easily killed him and disposed of the body. Yet, at their arrival, a door opened, finally shedding some light in this darkness, revealing the console room of the TARDIS, with the idiot face of the Doctor staring back at them.
"We're leaving?" he asked. Rose's gaze snapped to him and she glared so hard at him he thought she would lunge at him. She visibly clasped her hands so tightly, preventing aforementioned murder, and practically ran in the TARDIS before she would change her mind about violence.
What was her deal?
"I thought you wanted to leave," The Doctor responded in place of the runaway Rose. "But, er, yes. We're leaving because the mood is slightly ruined," he said, in a vast understatement.