Twists in Time
Chapter One: Tylers and Jones: Back to Earth
By Lumendea
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any spinoff material, and I gain no income from this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
AN: Welcome back to Guardians of the Universe! Quick warning, we have veered so far away from canon that you're going to see fewer and fewer rewrites as many of the series arcs no longer work going forward. I'm telling you right now that the Master is not returning for the Year That Never Was plot. I was really happy with the emotional arc that he and the Doctor went though and I'm not throwing that out the window just for the drama of the Master coming back. Hopefully you'll enjoy the new stuff I've cooked up for you.
….
The door of the TARDIS swung open, and the Doctor stepped outside, inhaling deeply. Then he frowned, paused to consider it, and then nodded in acceptance. Rose Marion Tyler, who really didn't know her age anymore, watched the Doctor's actions with an amused smile.
"Well?" she called out in a sing-song voice as she stepped out beside him. "Looks like Earth."
"Smells like London," the Doctor said.
"Oh, you don't mind London. You aren't fooling anyone," Rose laughed. She looked around where they had landed. "But… you missed Mum's house."
Jack stepped out next and glanced around with critical eyes. He'd settled for a simple white shirt and a leather jacket. It was a good look for them, and a woman walking past glanced at Jack with a smile. He winked in response, and the Doctor sighed loudly.
"Honestly, Jack."
"I didn't say anything," Jack protested. He glanced around. "So, are we going to hop over to Jackie's house or walk there."
"Actually," the Doctor said slowly, drawing out the word. "The air tastes off." He poked his tongue out quickly as if licking an ice cream cone. "Can't you taste it?" He looked at Rose, who shrugged. "No? Huh? Must have better taste buds this time around. That would explain why your banana bread tasted even better than it used to this morning." The Doctor grinned at the revelation. "Excellent."
"Doctor," Rose interrupted softly. "What is it?"
"High levels of ozone," the Doctor said quickly. He grinned and grabbed her hand. "Shall we take a look? Seems strongest that way." He nodded down the London block.
"Alright," Rose agreed. She gave the Doctor a tongue-touched smile. It was nice to see him jumping into a mystery, even if this hadn't been the plan. "Just a peek."
The Doctor's grin widened even further. Jack chuckled warmly behind them and muttered something about besotted Time Lords that Rose didn't completely catch. Glancing back at their friend, Rose shook her head as Jack beamed at her and followed along after them.
It was a reasonably warm day for London and very sunny. Rose figured it to be spring and not quiet summer, as there was still a hint of a chill in the air. People were busily moving around them on the pavement, and she glanced around for any landmarks to identify exactly where they were.
Then she caught sight of a television in a shop window. The date flashed across the bottom as a reporter read off a news story that Rose only vaguely remembered. It was 2007. She stopped, bringing the Doctor to a halt.
"Rose?"
"Got the timing a bit wrong." Rose nodded at the television and then pulled out her phone. She watched with amusement as the TARDIS updated the date to the correct year. "It's 2007."
"Well, then we definitely can't head to Bannerman Road," Jack said helpfully.
The Doctor huffed and looked around again. "High levels of ozone. We can do domestics later." He grinned and gently tugged Rose along the pavement once again, making her chuckle and shift closer to him. "There's a couple of things that could cause elevated ozone levels."
"Yeah," Jack said cheekily. "Like a thunderstorm."
"This isn't natural," the Doctor said firmly. With his free hand, he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and activated it for a moment. "Nope," he said, popping the p. "Definitely not natural."
"Did you just scan for alien technology?" Jack asked. Rose didn't even have to look back at him to know that the former Time Agent was grinning. "Isn't that a bit Spock for you."
The Doctor glanced at Rose, but she beamed at him. His lips quirked into a smile that quickly bloomed into a grin. It was nice. This was their first outing together. First proper outing, at least. The Doctor shrugged a little and just kept smiling, leading them forward down the block. They didn't have to go far before the Doctor stopped again. He nodded towards a tall building and quickly pointed up to an odd little device that had been perched on a lamppost close to the hospital. Rose glanced around and noted that there were several around the tall building. Then Rose turned her attention to the building itself.
"A hospital," she said thoughtfully. "Royal Hope Hospital."
"Interesting, isn't it?" the Doctor was still grinning. "Little mystery to investigate!"
"Are we avoiding going to see my mum in my home time?" Rose asked with a chuckle.
"Maybe." The Doctor didn't look at her and kept studying the coils. "I'd rather settle into this body a bit before seeing your mum."
"You know that she's alright with us, Doctor, don't you?"
Now he turned to look at her with a soft smile. "Oh, Rose, someone accepting that they'll never stop you and being alright with it are two different things." His expression turned more mischievous. "Besides, no reason to give her another chance to slap me so soon."
"You literally gave up a life to save me. That'll earn you some points." She squeezed his hand. "I… did I ever say thank you for that."
He turned to her with wide eyes and honest shock on his face. "You never need to." The Doctor squeezed her hand and cleared his throat. "Now come on, 2007 and a mystery in a hospital. Should make for an interesting day."
2007 and a hospital. Something about that rang a bell, but Rose couldn't pinpoint it. Not without her journal. It was weird to realize that her younger self was a few hundred miles away and working on her last year of school. Nibbling on her lower lip, Rose tried to remember the circumstances. There had been a call from Benton, so she'd need to call him.
"Rose?" the Doctor asked. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, I know something about this," Rose admitted. "My younger self is…." Then she snapped her fingers. "Oh, I remember! She's crowning Alenica!" Rose let out a soft exhale, so grateful that everything had snapped into place. "And then they'll drop me off in Paris."
"Paris?" the Doctor grinned at her and stepped closer. "Would that be the day that you were a bit naughty?"
"It is." Rose smirked at the Doctor and watched his grin widen. "Try the food and kiss strangers."
Jack coughed to draw their attention. "I hate to interrupt. I really hate to, but we need a plan. Those coils are charging up fast." He nodded at the coils with a slight frown. "Maybe twenty-four hours until they're fully charged and I don't see anything here that indicates why they would be here."
"Right." The Doctor looked both disappointed at the end of the flirting and excited by the mystery. "Well, they are clearly set around the hospital, so it has to be the priority." The Doctor studied them again for a moment before pulling out a pair of glasses that Rose knew all too well. He pulled them on, and she swallowed while Jack caught her eye and whistled softly. "What?" the Doctor asked, looking at Jack.
"Nothing," Jack said quickly. "the coils."
"Well, they're set street level around the building. I can't tell from here if they're set to take the whole building or just the street level up," the Doctor said. "Probably the whole building. Hopefully. A hospital like this must have lower levels." He shook his head. "So I'm not sure what they'd be planning. We best go inside and take a look around."
"You can't just wander in a hospital," Rose said. "Not in this decade, at least."
"We check in as patients, of course," the Doctor said. He nodded at the hospital. "That'll give us access."
"What do you think?" Jack asked as they peered over at the hospital. "Multiple patients going in, or should I keep watch out here?"
"Keep watch?" Rose asked.
"Never know who or what else might come poking around," Jack replied with a shrug. "My internal structure reads human enough that I won't have issues." He nodded towards the building. "And the pair of you could probably pass as a patient and spouse to keep close to each other. A third person doesn't work great with that."
"Rose and I inside then, and you keep an eye out here," the Doctor agreed. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "I can't tell who set this up, so we need to keep an eye on the hospital, just in case."
And apparently, that decided everything because after Rose gave Jack a quick hug, she and the Doctor walked towards the front door of Royal Hope Hospital hand in hand.
"Alright, I get checked-"
"Really, Doctor, I should be the patient," Rose said with a chuckle. "I do actually have an NHS card."
"With you?"
"No." Rose rolled her eyes. "But I do exist in the system. Makes more sense."
"Yes, but your younger self-"
"Won't know. It isn't like there's an alert system for the use of our information. Maybe someday, but not yet." Rose shrugged. "It will be fine."
"But Alistair and Benton probably keep an eye on if you check into a hospital," the Doctor pointed out. "And we're in your past."
"Doctor, that's alright," Rose said quickly.
The Doctor peered at her. Rose wondered if he could tell that she knew something. Not much, but she vaguely remembered a call from UNIT regarding an incident. There'd been news coverage of a hospital being transported to the moon afterwards. Sarah Jane had asked her about it, but Rose had tried to mostly ignore it due to knowing it was in her future.
"Look… timelines," Rose sighed. "I'm not sure, but I think I remember hearing something about something happening to a hospital."
"Something?" the Doctor's mouth quirked into a smile.
"Hush. Not all of us have perfect recall. Little human brain remember?"
"Hardly. Beautiful human-plus brain," the Doctor countered. He squeezed her hand, and Rose felt a soft telepathic brush against her shields. "But alright. As long as it's safe."
"Safer for me than you, Mr Two Hearts. Honestly, what would you do then?"
He didn't answer. He just smiled widely at her. Unable to contain her own smile, Rose shook her head fondly and kissed him quickly. The worry about the future hadn't faded exactly, but Rose was doing her best to focus on being with him now. She didn't want to risk him not believing she loved him. She did. She had. She always would. Rose Tyler loved the Doctor.
They made their way into Royal Hope hospital, and Rose used the psychic paper to help her check-in. While she was a UK citizen and had an NHS number, she didn't exactly carry the card with her anymore. Or any sort of wallet. The Doctor peered over her shoulder as Rose sat to complete the paperwork. So far, nothing in the hospital stood out to her.
"We should probably say that we're married," Rose suggested carefully. His last self had rolled with that assumption plenty of times. "That way, you can stay with me."
"Dr and Mrs Tyler," the Doctor agreed easily. He was glancing around reception and grinned at the gift shop that filled one corner of the area. "Look, Rose, they have a shop."
"So they do. What symptoms should I have?" Rose whispered.
"Pardon?"
"What symptoms should I have?" Rose repeated. "I don't think we want anything too worrying, but I'm not sure we want them poking at my brain too much. I have no idea if it would scan normal. And we don't want anything too invasive with my healing ability."
"Not really." The Doctor grimaced and leaned closer to her. "It's human in structure," he assured her. "Mostly… bit more developed and active in places which would draw attention. Telepathy does that. So nothing neurological. Stomach cramps?"
"They'd immediately want to check to see if I was pregnant," Rose said thoughtfully. "But that could work. Waiting for them to confirm that I'm not via a blood test would keep us in the hospital for a while. And that wouldn't draw too much attention to my fast healing."
"Right…" there was a strange tone to the Doctor's voice. "Not possible anyway. Not compatible, so we know that couldn't be it."
Rose wasn't sure what to make of that. "Are you sure?" she asked softly. "Sounds like you have some thoughts on that topic."
"Different species, Rose." The Doctor chuckled. "Might look the same and have the same basic parts, but not close enough for that. Mind you, humans with a bit of jiggery pokery do mix well with a lot of species."
"Knew that already." Rose finished filling out the paperwork. "Here, love, since I'm the sick one, you should take this up."
He nodded and snatched the paperwork from her hands. Rose released a long breath. They had stumbled onto a minefield of a topic. Rose was tempted to ask him if he wanted kids. Had he been thinking about it? Now that she knew she was the Gold Guardian, Rose was pretty sure Astra and her siblings existed because Rose decided that, yes, she was going to have children with the Doctor, thank you very much. But he'd been surprised in the future when he'd met Astra, which meant there was a limit to this conversation. She chuckled as she remembered his dawning realization that Astra could, in fact, exist. That was probably when he'd realized the whole 'Gold Guardian of Life wanted kids' thing.
She smiled at the memory and at the Doctor as he sat back down. He took her hand again despite the topic they'd stumbled into. Shifting closer, Rose leaned her head onto his shoulder and closed her eyes, breathing in his new scent. It wasn't exactly what she remembered yet, but the coat and suit were very new to him still.
"So," she started slowly. "How's the new body doing? Everything still working alright?"
"Yep, just needed rest," the Doctor agreed. He brought up his free hand and flexed the fingers. "Mind you, I don't think these hands are as suited for tinkering."
"The TARDIS will be thrilled."
"Hey, now. She needed a lot of work before," the Doctor protested. Then he nodded a little. "But needs less now."
"That's good. She's healing, too," Rose said.
"Yes, the Doctor agreed softly. He kissed the crown of her head. "She's healing too."
They didn't talk much after that. Rose wasn't a fan of waiting rooms in general, and the Doctor started twitching impatiently only a few minutes into the wait. She chuckled when he picked up the stack of magazines and flipped through him, reading at a rapid rate before tossing them to the side with a sigh. That got them a couple of annoyed looks from others who were waiting.
"I love you," Rose murmured. "But try to calm down, love, before you aggravate all of the nursing staff before I'm even fully admitted."
His chuckle was warm, and Rose smiled into his shoulder at the sound. The Doctor settled a little, dropping his voice and telling Rose about the development of stethoscopes. It really was amazing some of the random things he knew. Her smile widened, and thankfully the Doctor had just enough time to finish his rambling tale before her name was called.
Rose kept a tight grip on the Doctor's hand as they were led upstairs. The nurse gave Rose the usual explanation of what was going to happen, and Rose braced herself for a lot of questions and at least one blood draw. She found herself glancing back and searching for Jack before remembering that he was keeping watch outside. When they were shown a small area for Rose to change, she handed her phone over to the Doctor.
"Keep an eye on any calls or texts from Jack," Rose instructed. "Since you're so bad at using your phone."
"I've been travelling for nine-hundred years," the Doctor grumbled. "I didn't need to use mobiles until you."
"You can't tell me that it wouldn't have been convenient before me."
The Doctor grumbled to himself but didn't argue. Before picking up the dull hospital gown, Rose leaned over and kissed the Doctor firmly on his lips. That served to both cheer her up and stop his grumbling. She sat on the bed to wait for the nurse to return and for the questions to start. Sooner or later, she'd finally learn exactly what was going on with this hospital.