I'm back! Hello lovely readers! I am finally ready to begin posting this, the long-promised continuation of Consequences! It's time to go to Gallifrey to fix Donna's head! This will be a rewrite of the 12th Doctor episode "Hell Bent", sort of. Let's just say that if Hell Bent was a tomato, I chopped it up and mixed in garlic and onion and salt and a lot of other stuff to make some yummy Hell Bent salsa. Enjoy.
Since it's the 9th installment of my Consequences series, this contains many (HUGE) spoilers for the previous stories. It also relies quite a bit on prior plot elements I've created, so if you're new to the series, there may be things you don't understand. However, if you'd like to read this anyway (or if you have read the series but would like a refresher), check out the notes at the end of this chapter before you begin. I've compiled a handy little guide for you.
Years down the line, and somehow, he still hadn't learnt. Incredible.
With the way Rose was glaring at him right now –the very picture of appalled disbelief– the Doctor couldn't even recall what the word for it was in English. The term for what he should have used when expressing a new and potentially divisive idea to his wife.
Oh, right.
Tact.
"What do you mean, 'just you and Donna'?" Rose crossed her arms as she echoed his words back to him. Almost like a dare. Humph. Like he could ever resist those. She ought to have learnt that by now.
The Doctor held her gaze without blinking, folding his own arms. It was brave of him, he knew. Brazen, even. It went to show how strongly he stood by his idea, even though it had solidified into conscious thought less than a minute ago.
Palpable silence stretched between them, until Rose broke it with a sarcastic little laugh. "Your first trip back to your home planet, and I'm not invited. Your own wife."
Blimey. It sounded sort of bad when she put it like that.
A rattling knob and a drawn-out creak interrupted as, a room away, the back door of the Smith's house opened. The Doctor exhaled in relief. 6:57 pm, so that'd be the always-punctual Martha, the one who'd suggested they all reconvene here by seven. If he was lucky enough, maybe Rose would get so distracted she'd forget about this argument entirely. He was realising that swanning off, sans wife, to one's dangerously prejudiced home planet, was what people who didn't respect their mate might call 'a better-to-ask-forgiveness-than-permission' sort of thing. Yet another strike against it.
From the kitchen came a paper-y rustling, like Martha was setting down grocery bags. Any second now she'd call out a greeting.
"So you're ashamed of me?" Rose did not bother to moderate her volume, and the movement in the kitchen ceased entirely. The Doctor gave it a moment, but it quickly became apparent that Martha was not about to be his rescuer. Just a dirty eavesdropper.
"Don't be ridiculous, Rose," he huffed. "You know that's not it. That's never it."
Rose wrinkled her nose, her expression softening. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. 'S just, I don't get where this is coming from all of a sudden. Just this morning, you accepted Amy's offer to mind our girls whilst we're away on this trip. You can see why I've assumed we would handle this thing together. Like we always do."
"Right, I know. It's just…well." He glanced to the archway leading to the kitchen. Beyond it, noises started up again, little clinks and thuds and rustles. "It got real, I suppose," he continued, stepping close to Rose and lowering his voice. "Arranging childcare and things with Amy, it hit me that this might actually happen. We might actually find our way to Gallifrey."
"I do hate that it won't be a happy visit home for you."
He sighed. "I'm not worried about me. If we're discovered, you and Donna will be given the opposite of a welcome. I've told you what the Time Lords are like, and I've not exaggerated when I said they see themselves as far superior to every species. If the High Council finds out why I'm back, that it's to save a human's life by upgrading her biology to Time Lord, they'll likely react in the extreme. Perhaps with violence. I don't want you involved in that."
"They won't find out."
"Right, but…" He shook his head. "If they even see you, Rose, they'll reject you on sight, and as soon as they notice we're bonded they'll be shocked and appalled, and they'll condemn our marriage, and…"
His lungs were empty, his throat tight. Dragging in a breath, the Doctor paced over to the picture window and stared blankly out.
Compassion began to pulse through their bond, and he knew Rose had grasped the immensity of his worry. "You can't avoid all that by leaving me behind, love," she said, coming up behind him, running her hands down his arms. "You've got no choice but to take Donna along, and she's human too. At least for now she is. They'll treat her just as badly."
The Doctor spun to face Rose. "Donna isn't you."
"Oh, Doctor." Her eyes glistened. "I know you want to protect me. But the Time Lords can't hurt me."
"Maybe not physically. But they might try to separate us, to exert pressure on me."
"I thought it was wrong to do that to a bonded pair."
"You think they care about wrong?" He let out a mirthless laugh. "Rassilon was willing to destroy the entire universe to achieve his own ends."
Rose was all sympathy. "There's not really much chance they'll separate us, is there?" she stated quietly. "You're mostly worried about their judgement."
He swallowed. "For good reason."
"Our marriage has been judged before. I've been looked down on right here, on my own planet. Since when do we care what bigoted people think?"
"We don't, of course we don't, but… I don't know, this is just different."
Taking notice of his anxiously twisting hands, Rose reached out to thread her warm fingers through his cold ones. He could feel her attentiveness, how she took advantage of the skin-to-skin contact in order to tune more fully into his feelings. "Oh," she exhaled, her eyes lifting. "I get it. It's like when your family disapproves of the person you love. It's extra hard not to let it get to you, even if you don't really respect them."
"Yes," agreed the Doctor, latching onto this eagerly. "Yes, that's exactly what it's like. So you'll stay home, then? You'll let me protect you?"
Amusement lit up their link, and a snort came from her pretty nose. "Yeah, right. It would drive me mad, sitting at home while you cope all alone with all their high an' mighty rubbish. They're not gonna be kind or welcoming to you, either. I mean, if Rassilon finds out you're back, he'll probably try'n have you executed, yeah?"
"Probably," he admitted grudgingly.
Letting go his hands, Rose gave his coat lapels a fond tug before sliding her arms around his neck. "Let me support you." Her nose nuzzled his, her tone was irresistibly wheedling. "And you'll support me. We're always strongest when we're together."
He felt the whisper of her last sentence more than he heard it, and she punctuated it with a firm, lingering kiss that he full-well knew was meant to prevent him replying. Clever and manipulative, his girl. Blimey, he loved her.
Of course, that's when Martha finally announced herself. "Incoming!" she called out, entering the lounge with loud and deliberate footsteps just as the Doctor was deepening the kiss.
Breaking away, he kept his eyes fixed on Rose's lips. "Go away, Martha. We're snogging."
"Like that's anything new. You can snog on your own time. Come help put groceries away before Mick gets home. He texted to say he's bringing dinner."
"Ooh, love it," replied Rose. "Hello, by the way. Doctor, let go."
"Fine." The Doctor tried to keep his petulance to a minimum as he pried his hands off the warm, bare skin they'd found at the small of Rose's back, so easily accessed beneath her cropped black jumper. Rose made to follow Martha, but the second Martha's back was turned, she spun back to plant a surprise kiss on his lips. It was sneaky and heated and a little bit wet, teasing in a way that left him unable to think about much else for the time-being, including Gallifrey-related stress.
"Blimey, you two look pleased with yourselves," commented Martha as he dazedly followed Rose into the kitchen. "I'm hoping it's because you made some progress in the Jack search today."
"I wish." Rose lifted a bag of apples from one of the tall brown sacks sitting on the kitchen island. "We checked several of his favourite pubs in the Castor system today, but the most recent sighting anyone had had of him was from years before. So it's unlikely to be the Jack we need, the one from our current timeline."
Martha stretched toward a high shelf in an open cabinet. "Have you heard from Sarah Jane?"
"She phoned," replied Rose, "but only to say there'd been an error with Mr. Smith's latest scans and she'd had to start them over."
"But Clara had good news when we stopped," the Doctor chimed in, spinning an apple on the worktop and watching Rose unpack fresh lettuce and beans and peppers, all in his least favourite food colour. "She's finally convinced Kate Stewart to press Torchwood for information on Jack's whereabouts. Kate's been quite reluctant to do it, you know, since UNIT and Torchwood have never played well together. But you know Clara, she's nothing if not persistent."
"Wow, really?" Martha turned around to face them. "If Kate Stewart can actually get Torchwood talking, that's the gold. I'd be surprised if they haven't kept tabs on Jack. That news is almost worth celebrating, in my opinion."
"Oh, yes, let's celebrate," drawled the Doctor, because he was practically obligated to be sarcastic on this subject. "Since having Jack lurking around again will be such a joy."
Rose began to giggle as she shoved a few dairy products his way, gesturing for him to put them away. "I dunno, have you imagined how badly he'll scare the Time Lords? You might enjoy that."
When the Doctor blinked in real confusion, she laughed harder. "Oh my gosh, you didn't think of that, did you? We've been searching for Jack for weeks, Doctor. You never realised that if he helps us get to Gallifrey, he'll be there with us on Gallifrey?"
"No, I did not," he retorted after gathering himself, "probably because the thought is too frightening for my brain to allow it entry."
"Cheer up, Doctor," said Martha with a laugh. "Jack wasn't totally useless the other time he brought you to the far end of the universe. His inability to die came in handy, for one thing."
"Yes, I remember." The Doctor stacked yoghurts in the fridge with more force than necessary. "I also remember that he spent most of his time flirting. Maybe we need a new plan."
Closing the fridge, he turned to see Martha looking at him thoughtfully. "I know you're joking, sort of. But…well, what if Torchwood doesn't produce the information you need? Mick and Sarah Jane and Clara and I are happy to keep helping you search for Jack for as long as you want, but he might not be on Earth, and so far you and Rose haven't found him in any of his old off-planet haunts. Might there be a way to reach Gallifrey without his help? I know you don't want to keep Donna in stasis much longer."
"We have a plan B," Rose said before he could answer, and began to fold up a grocery bag.
The Doctor tapped the granite worktop. "No, we don't."
"We do. I've been suggesting it for weeks."
"Yes, I know that, and you know I don't like plan B."
"Do you like it less than telling Donna she's got to go home without her most important memories again? Only half a person?"
"Rose," he groaned.
"What is plan B, exactly?" Martha cut in.
The Doctor heaved an enormous sigh. "Rose thinks we ought to fetch an earlier version of Jack, from a point in time where we're certain to find him. But, and this is a big but, if we do that, he'll have to give up his memories of it afterward. I can't let him remember us –this us, I mean– or anything we might do together, because it could muck up all our pasts. Removing memories wouldn't normally be a big deal, but the Time Agency has tampered with his mind. If I go in his head and find an enormous mess, removing specific memories may prove impossible. And then we're done for."
Disagreement radiated from Rose, but as she opened her mouth to argue, the door obligingly opened again.
"Oh good, you're all here." Mickey's cheerful voice preceded his big form as he strolled into the kitchen, two big, bulging, grease-spotted paper bags clutched in each fist. "This stuff's not nearly as good if you've got to reheat it."
Rose eyed the bags, then shared a dismayed look with Martha. "You brought McDonalds for dinner?"
"Yep!" Mickey smiled as he dropped the bags, each emblazoned with a distinctive golden M, onto the table. The scent of deep-fried deliciousness was strong.
"Oh, that's brilliant," said the Doctor, pleased. "I haven't had their chips in ages!"
"Well, you can thank your daughter. An advert for it came on telly when all the kids were watching this morning, and Suzy begged me to buy some." Mickey looked at Martha. "Where are the kids? It's awful quiet in here."
"They're still at Rory and Amy's."
"That's actually perfect, hold on." Mickey opened the least-stuffed bag, peering in, then he crumpled down the top again and handed the bag to the Doctor. "That means you can give this to Rory. Figured feeding his family was the least we could do, since he watched our crazy kids all day."
"Oi, I thought I told you I can't be the Ponds' temporal Door Dash all the time."
"At least McDonalds takeaway isn't anachronistic," Rose said as he gave her the paper sack to carry. "It existed in the fifties."
"Almost forgot." Martha shoved two cases of raspberry-flavoured La Croix into his arms. "I picked this up for them. Amy mentioned they were nearly out, last time I visited."
"We'll be right back," said Rose, laughing, and she dragged the weighed-down Doctor out the door before he could protest further.
"You don't have to come along," the Doctor said as Rose unlocked the TARDIS with her key. "I can fetch the kids myself. Go back inside and rest for a few minutes, you've had a long day."
Warm light fell over Rose as she pushed the door open, making her long, sleek blonde hair gleam. "Thanks, love, but I'm alright. If I don't go along we'll likely have to make two trips, since Suzy always manages to leave something vital behind when I'm not there to prevent it. Sometimes I think she does it on purpose."
They parted as they reached the console, Rose typing in coordinates while the Doctor set the cases of sparkling water on a jumpseat, only to circle toward each other again as each pushed buttons and pulled levers. The Time Rotor pumped, the ship rocked gently, falling still within a few seconds.
Picking up the boxes of drinks and the bag of takeaway, the Doctor followed Rose to the doors and braced himself as she recklessly threw them open. It was always a lottery, what they'd walk into at the Ponds' house. It was while his children were in it, anyway.
Hazy darkness greeted them, though a sliver of bright sunlight streamed in through the lounge's partly open drapes. Suzy's knapsack and Millie's lay on the hardwood floor near the small television, Suzy's on its side and open, her favourite toy squid and a few other items spilling out of it. Pillows were askew on the sofa, toys were scattered about; half-drunk glasses of juice sat abandoned on the squat coffee table. The house was overly warm and weirdly silent.
"Hello?" the Doctor called out. Rose fanned herself, shoving up the sleeves of her jumper.
"In here!"
They found Amy half inside the refrigerator, their nine-month-old daughter DJ crawling across the kitchen's black-and-white linoleum near the table, clad only in her nappy. The windows were open, letting in a breath of a breeze and the sound of the other children playing out back. A squeal came from the baby as she spotted her mother.
"Hello, my darling!" cooed Rose, going to scoop her up.
Emerging empty-handed, Amy slammed the heavy refrigerator door shut. "I can't decide what to make for dinner," she informed them, dabbing perspiration from her face with her apron. "Why does this chore need doing every bloody night?"
The Doctor squinted at her. "Doesn't Rory do most of the cooking?"
"And it's so hot," moaned Amy, ignoring him. "The last thing I want to do is hang over a cooker for an hour."
Cuddling the half-naked baby, Rose beamed at her friend. "You're going to like us, then. We come bearing gifts."
The Doctor handed the bag of fast food to Amy with a smile, then thumbed to the raspberry-red boxes he'd set on the kitchen table. "From the Smiths."
"Dear god, I love them," exclaimed Amy dramatically, and then went over to an open kitchen window. "Rory!" The Doctor jumped a little, though he ought to be used to the volume of her shouts. "Dinner!"
Rory's faint answer floated in. "Give us five minutes, love!"
Amy turned around, wiping her hands on her apron. "He and the kids have been kicking a football around. It rained earlier, so let's just say they all had energy to burn."
Grimacing, the Doctor glanced at Rose, finding she wore a similar expression. "We ought to have brought you more gifts," she said.
Amy laughed. "Nah, they were good. Rory loves having all the kids here, and so does Anthony, my poor little only child. Besides, you know Suzy never gets into too much trouble when Charlie's around." Pulling out a chair from the table, she sank down onto it. "How'd the Jack hunt go today?"
"Not too bad," Rose replied, shifting DJ onto her hip. "Kate Stewart finally agreed to talk to Torchwood, so that's something."
"Huh." Amy popped open a can of sparkling water. Her gaze went to the Doctor. "So why do you think they'll disclose confidential information to her when they wouldn't give it to you?"
He snorted. "They probably won't."
"Oi," said Rose. "They might. She's nicer than you."
From her mother's arms, DJ stretched a hand to Amy's drink, and Amy helped her take a sip from the can. "Stop being so adorable," she ordered, when the baby crinkled her nose at the carbonation. "Anthony's been asking us to adopt a baby sister for him, and I blame you, little girl."
"Really?" Rose smiled. "Are you thinking about it?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe. I'd rather have him meet the sister he already has." Amy nudged the Doctor's shin with her bare toes. "Don't know why River can't figure out how to come see us, if you did."
"That wasn't my doing," he reminded Amy wryly. "It was all Rose."
"Right. Well, even so, River is clever enough to do it too." She brightened, as if struck with an idea. "That vortex manipulator River had- she got that off Jack, didn't she?"
"Most likely. Why?"
"Well…what if you switched things up, and did a search for River? You could contact her in some clever way, I know you could, she did it to you all the time. River could probably lead you to Jack, and, as a bonus, her mother would get to see her again too." Amy's dark gaze bore into him. "Win win, am I right?"
"No," the Doctor declared, horrified. "No. There are zero wins."
Rose tapped her chin. "I wouldn't mind meeting River."
"Well, I am fairly sure she would mind meeting you," the Doctor told his wife, shaking his head. "Amelia, I know you miss your daughter, and I do believe she'll find her way to you again eventually. But I cannot be involved in that. It might hurt River if she had to see me with Rose."
Amy pursed her lips, unconvinced. "It would be just a tiny interaction, it's not like you'd have to tell her you'd gotten married. Besides, at this point you're running out of options. Nobody else has helped you find Jack."
"She's got a point, Doctor," said Rose.
"We are not going to bring River into this."
Slumping back with a big sigh, Amy smoothed her apron over her knees. "Yeah, yeah, I figured you'd be all unreasonable about that. Well, if you don't want River's help, it's probably time for you to implement plan B, then."
The Doctor threw his hands out. "I don't like plan B. Why do I have to keep saying that?"
"Because Plan B is what you do when plan A isn't working," Amy retorted, staring him down as she took another sip from her can of water. "Besides, you're guaranteed to find Jack if you fish him out of his past."
"I know all that, that's not the issue. I explained this already, Pond, I don't care to debate it again."
"Fine, no need to get your knickers in a twist." Sniffing, Amy turned in her chair to smile brightly at DJ, giving her bare side a tickle to elicit baby giggles. It was so cute the Doctor's scowl curved into a smile.
Until Amy spoke again. "What about a hybrid plan, half A, half B? You want a current version of Jack so you don't risk messing up the timelines, I get it, but it's impossible to find him. So." She paused for dramatic effect. "You let him find you."
"Oh, go on," said Rose, with an eagerness that made Amy's head swell almost visibly. Great. Now there'd be no reasoning with her, no matter how ridiculous her idea turned out to be. Fixing his gaze on the door, the Doctor willed Rory and his little circus to come marching through it. Now would be nice.
"Here's what you do." Eyes gleaming, Amy clunked her drink down on the table. "You do find the earlier Jack, but only to hand him a mysterious invitation. Inside, it would say where he needs to be, and when. It's mysterious because the date is, like, sixty some years off. But not too mysterious, since the envelope is TARDIS-blue."
Rose looked at the Doctor, her eyes big and bright. "He'd have no doubt it was from you, Doctor," she explained, as if she figured his own lack of enthusiasm was due to lack of understanding. "He'd be wherever we asked him to be, I'm sure of it. He wanted to find you so badly back then."
"No," said the Doctor flatly. "It's too risky."
Amy, who was getting his other girl in on the excitement by pretending to eat her tiny toes, scoffed. "The risks are miniscule."
"You've never met Jack," the Doctor retorted. "Much less young Jack, who was a con-artist and far from trustworthy. We can't just hand him such sensitive information. Not only would he have to keep track of it for decades, he'd have to not show it to anyone, not brag about it in every intergalactic pub he steps foot in, which is asking the impossible. We'd have no clue who or what might be waiting for us!"
"Don't be silly. Rose said Jack once visited her estate in the 90's, just to check on her, and he never said hello because he knew he had to preserve the timelines. The man was a Time Agent, for god's sake."
"So we should put an insane amount of trust in the sort of man who would spy on a young girl?"
"That's unfair, Doctor," said Rose. "Jack wasn't spying, he just missed me."
Amy examined the bright red varnish on her fingernails. "Well, you're gonna have to trust Jack, Raggedy Man. He's already been invited."
DJ was reaching for him, half hanging out of Rose's arms. As the Doctor lifted her he stared at Amy. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me," said Amy, exasperated. "I gave Jack an invitation that told him to be at Roald Dahl Plass by noon on the thirtieth of March, 2023. So now all you have to do is sit back and relax for the next few days until it's time for him to show up. You're welcome."
DJ's fingers found his bottom lip, which made the Doctor realise his mouth was hanging open. "Oi, I don't think I thanked you! How could you even manage such a thing, anyway? Jack lived in Cardiff during this decade and you're in New York!"
"There are planes in the nineteen-fifties, moron."
"Doctor," Rose interjected, touching his arm, "is this really such a bad thing? Amy figured out a way for us to find the version of Jack who's in sync with our personal timeline. You won't have to worry about removing any of his memories. I see no downside."
Amy beamed. "Thank you, Rose."
"Oh, right, no downside, so long as we don't count all the spaceships lying in wait for the TARDIS that day, each full of aliens with grudges against me who got a look at that invite, thanks to Jack waving it around for over sixty years!"
"Or maybe everything will work out beautifully," retorted Amy.
"Or maybe-"
Rose playfully put DJ's hand over his mouth. "Doctor, Jack is not stupid. He cares about you. It will be fine."
Giving the little palm a kiss, the Doctor subsided into petulance. What was done was done, no use getting into a big row over it. At least there was a sweet-smelling, soft baby in his arms. Burying his nose in her downy blonde hair, he gave her a cuddle, but his fickle child only squawked and flailed her arms out to Rose like she hadn't seen her in years.
"So when were you in the UK?" Rose asked Amy as she took DJ back from him.
"Last weekend. I had a meeting for my upcoming book release. When I was there I got to thinking how Jack was a short train ride away, how it would be so easy for me to find him when it's been so difficult for you. And then I remembered how the Doctor went back in time to give Rory and I a TARDIS-coloured invitation once. To his death." Amy gave him a daggered look, apparently still holding a grudge over that one.
Rose chuckled. "See, Doctor? She learned it from you."
"Oh, ha ha."
"I just wanted to help," Amy said, earnestness filling her eyes and voice. "Like the rest of the gang has been helping you, not just by watching everyone's kids. It's hard sometimes, living here in the past. I get feeling left out. The adventures are over for Rory and I."
The Doctor looked at her in concern. "I thought you were happy here?"
"We are. But I'm a retired time-traveller. Sometimes I miss the timey-wimey stuff."
"I suppose one would," conceded the Doctor. "But next time you get a craving to muck with the timelines, ask me first, yeah?"
"If I think of it," said Amy, grinning.
The backdoor cracked open and seven-year-old Millie Smith slipped in, as delicate and graceful as a ballerina. Her eyes lit up as she spotted the Doctor across the room. "Doctor!" she squealed, dashing over to throw her arms around his waist.
He laughed and swung her up for a hug. "Here's my miss Millie! Did you have fun outside?"
"I kicked the ball into the goal!" she told him, beaming with pride.
"You did? Blimey. I wish someone would teach me how to do that."
"I will!" Millie wrapped her arms around his neck.
The two older boys strolled in next, Anthony first and then Mickey's son Charlie, who was tossing a football up and down. Amy flinched as he suddenly chucked it to Anthony. "Oi, don't throw that in here."
As if deaf to his mother's voice, Anthony held the ball up, obviously preparing to lob it back. As it left his hand Amy flew from her chair, deftly snatching the ball from midair.
"Mom," moaned Anthony, trying and failing to get it back from her.
"Anthony," Amy replied mockingly. "Go wash your hands."
"Charlie-boy!" The Doctor set Millie down. "Will you help your sister collect her things? We've got to scram-"
Right as he said this, his eldest daughter burst in, followed by Rory. Suzy's braids were loose, her cheeks pink with exertion, her eyes aglow with fun.
Then she saw her parents, and the light in her eyes went out like a blown candle. "NO!" she yelped, her pretty face dark as a thundercloud as she ducked to hide behind Rory.
The Doctor and Rose shared a look. Life with a seven-year-old was a roller-coaster, all ups and downs and unforeseen twists.
Although, this particular twist wasn't too unfamiliar.
"At least Mickey's daughter likes me," he said to Rose under his breath. She snickered.
Looking both amused and gratified, Rory reached back to pat Suzy. "Now remember, Suze, if you don't go home, you can't come back. And guess what? Your mummy said you'll get to stay overnight next time you visit. Maybe even for two nights."
Suzy peeked around Rory's legs to eye her mother, as if looking for verification. Rose nodded at her, but her expression was stern. "But you will not be rude to Daddy and me when we come to pick you up. Okay?"
"Okay," agreed Suzy easily, coming out from behind Rory and looking happy for one entire second, until she spotted the takeout bag on the table. "You get to have McDonalds for supper?"
This was directed (quite accusingly) at Anthony, who was wiping his hands on a towel.
"Yes, they do, Susan," the Doctor said in a chastising tone, "and so do the rest of us. Uncle Mickey brought some for everyone, but we're eating at his house. So hurry up and pack your things, we've got to go."
"Are Charlie and Millie coming with?"
"Oh, I suppose so," he replied, shooing Suzy toward the lounge. "Since they live there, silly girl." He gave her a tickle as she went through the doorway and she shrieked.
"Well, hopefully we'll be back soon with good news," said Rose to Amy a few minutes later, standing in the TARDIS doorway while the Doctor secured DJ's infant carrier and the three other kids buckled themselves into the jump-seats.
"You will be." Amy spoke with immense confidence. "I made sure of it, didn't I?"
The return trip to the Smith's was pretty short, so the Doctor's scowl far outlasted it.
"How were Amy and Rory?" Martha asked as they filed into her brightly lit kitchen. The microwave's clock showed a single minute had passed since he and Rose had left.
"Brilliant," said Rose emphatically, just as the Doctor said, "Presumptuous."
Martha paused in her chopping of romaine lettuce and raised her eyebrows. "Sounds like there's a story here."
"Um, yeah." Rose paused theatrically, pumping up the drama and intrigue. "Thanks to Amy, we can basically call off the search for Jack."
"What?!"
Numerous chairs scraped the floor as, amazingly, Suzy and Charlie and Millie got themselves seated without having been told to a dozen times. Mickey joined them, passing out paper-wrapped burgers and packets of chips, letting the wrapping serve as plates. Neither mother noticed this, one of them too busy describing Amy's audacious act and the other too enthralled with hearing about it.
The Doctor sat down too, DJ on his lap, watching her feed herself the diced sweet potatoes he'd warmed with the sonic, half-heartedly eating a few of his chips. If only he could tune out Rose and Martha's conversation. The worry-knot in his stomach was tight again.
"Sounds convoluted," commented Mickey once Rose had concluded, chewing a bite of his burger.
The Doctor looked up. "Yes, it really is–"
"Could work though," Mickey went on. "Man, it's been a lot of trouble trying to find Jumpin' Jack Flash. After all that, wouldn't it be awful if he can't even help you get where you wanna go?"
"Why, thank you, Mick, that is so encouraging," drawled Rose, adding some cold salmon to the tops of the salads she and Martha had been putting together. Then: "Suzy, stop. That is way too much ketchup."
"Geez, Rose, I didn't mean it bad. The plan's just a bit bonkers, is all I'm saying." MIckey shoved a few chips in his mouth. "It'd be one thing if you were asking the guy to help you figure out how to get to the Boss' home planet. But you're just hoping Harkness can scare the TARDIS there."
"That's your own wife's bonkers plan, if you recall," Martha said, setting down the bottle of wine she'd been pouring into glasses so she could point a finger at him.
"Was it? Oh."
"Mick. It's how the Doctor and I once ended up billions of years in the future, when we travelled together. How many times have you heard me tell the story of the people who were trying to build a rocket to Utopia?"
"Jack's a temporal anomaly, Dad," said Charlie authoritatively. "The TARDIS is a time-sensitive being, so that's why she was scared of him and tried to get away. She ran so far into the future that the universe was pretty much over."
"See, Charlie remembers." Martha smiled at her son.
"The universe is too big for anybody to find the end of it on their own, even Time Lords," added Millie, not to be outdone.
Mickey rubbed Charlie's hair, a retort on his lips, but the Doctor was too quick for him. "No way, mate, the TARDIS isn't gonna do another runner like that," he quipped, miming Mickey's voice and accent. "She's got used to Harkness."
"Rose's TARDIS hasn't met Jack," answered both Charlie and Millie at once. Everyone laughed, and Charlie leaned across the table to high-five his sister.
The Doctor was beginning to enjoy himself. "That's right. She's young and impressionable."
"Oi, you lot think you're so clever. I know all of that," protested Mickey, though he was laughing too. "And I still say your plan is bonkers. For example, how do you know you won't–"
"Stop, Mick," said Martha, who was sitting at the kitchen island, on a barstool next to Rose. She swirled her wine glass. "You're just digging yourself into a hole."
Mickey considered her, and then took a huge bite of his burger, seemingly deciding to take his wife's advice. But then: "You could wind up anywhere," he said, through his mouthful of food. "Isn't it just as likely to be a second trip to the planet of the pointy-teeth people?"
Touching his lips to DJ's head, the Doctor psychically prodded the baby to say 'no', which would've been hilarious (she did do it, sort of, by mentally rebuffing her daddy's request, but sadly no one else could hear that).
His Suzy helped him out. "That can't happen," she said in her little girl voice, without looking up from the chip she'd been swirling around and around in a lake of ketchup. "The default time-stream always belongs to a TARDIS. For example, if you went back in time and gave Martha and Daddy the young TARDIS to use, she'd still run off to Gallifrey, because Gallifrey is what's located at the far end of the future in the young TARDIS' personal timeline."
Mickey swallowed his mouthful, lifting wide eyes to Martha.
"Just couldn't stop yourself, could you?" she asked him.
"Gonna shut up now."
"Probably for the best," said Rose, sipping her wine.
30 March, 2023
11:57 a.m.
Two minutes, eighteen seconds to go. Shoulder-to-shoulder, the Doctor and Rose gazed intently into the TARDIS' monitor, revelling in these last few moments of peace and safety before Jack showed his face and everything rocketed off to hell.
Well, the Doctor was revelling, anyway. Anticipation coursed from Rose's side of their link, but, like a clear stream trickling into a muddy swamp, it made no real impact on his dark dread. He had to do this, yes. But he felt not a spark of excitement about it.
One minute and twenty-five seconds.
Being that it was a weekday and nearly lunchtime, bundled-up passersby hurried through the Plass in increasingly greater numbers. That was unfortunate. An attractive, well-built man clinging tightly to a vanishing Police Box was not going to go unnoticed.
"Amy did her best," was Rose's only reply when he groused about it.
"She should've known to set the meeting time for after dark."
"But then we couldn't be sure there's no spaceships overhead, lying in wait with their lights off. Right now the sky is nice and clear and bright, and there's nothing up there but a few clouds." Grinning, Rose gave his nose a tap. "See, Jack can keep a secret."
He let out a humph. "Don't relax yet. There's still more than a minute to go."
They went back to watching the monitor. Every dark-haired man the Doctor saw was Jack, yet none of them were.
Sixty-eight more seconds passed by, each tick like the jab of a needle.
No Jack.
They waited another seventy-eight seconds. Eighty-eight.
"He's not coming," the Doctor announced, once Jack was exactly eight-hundred and eighty-eight seconds late. It was impossible to keep the triumph out of his voice, though it did come out a bit thin. There was a funny mix of emotions flooding his system; they made his whole body go sort of trembly. Weird. "Should we go pick up the girls now, or let Suzy have her overnight at the Ponds'? It's been ages since we had a date night."
"It's only fifteen minutes past noon. We ought to give him a bit."
It surprised him, how her words lit a flare of anger in his belly. "I don't wait around for people. Harkness knows that."
Rose's hand curled over one of his and squeezed. He hadn't realised how tightly he was gripping the edge of the console.
"We'll still have to do this eventually, Doctor. Putting it off means you'll only have to worry about it longer. And we haven't come up with any other way to find Jack."
"I don't want to find Jack," he replied shortly, pushing away from the console. "Haven't you picked up on that?"
She tilted her head, her eyes full of hurt.
"Sorry," he said immediately, genuinely contrite. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I don't know why I'm so upset."
"Darling, you know Jack's not really the problem. You're worried about going on this trip."
As soon as she said it, he could see how right she was. Well, mostly right. "I'm not worried about this trip, I'm worried about taking you on this trip. Won't you please, please stay behind?" he pleaded, unable to stop himself. "Just think about it?"
"Doctor." Rose picked up his left hand and brought it to her mouth, kissing the knuckle above his wedding ring. "On Gallifrey, you may need to be cleverer than you've ever been, and stronger, and braver. You may be pushed to your limits. But when I'm with you, it's our brilliance that's tried, our strength, our courage. When we're together, we're more. Yeah?"
He went quiet, taking that in. "You're saying it's not a battle I ought to enter with an empty gun, eh?"
Rose put her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
After a bit, the Doctor gathered himself with a sniff. "Alright, then. I get it. You're right. About going along with me to Gallifrey, anyway. But you're totally wrong about the other thing."
"What other thing?"
The Doctor thumbed to the monitor. "Jack is not coming. Somehow, Amy's plan went wrong. So now what do we do?"
Rose's smile had not a trace of worry in it. "Plan B."
"What? Rose, you know we can't–"
"Of course we can. We just talked about this, love. Jack isn't the problem. Early Jack isn't the problem. I mean, I know with pulling him out of his timeline you'll need to remove his memory of whatever happens when he's with us, and it might be tricky. But you'll find a way around that. It's a detail, that's all. What matters is that we get to Gallifrey so we can help Donna."
By the time she finished speaking, every muscle in his body was tense. All he could see was the handsome young(ish) Captain in his braces and great coat, con-artist charisma oozing out of every orifice. Trauma and sorrow not yet having muted his swagger.
"Jack might not be the problem, but he's still a problem," the Doctor muttered sulkily, gaze fixing on the console's blinky buttons. "In fact, I'm pretty sure he's legally recognised by that term in several galactic systems."
"Like you can talk," Rose shot back, lifting one shapely eyebrow. "Or are you just worried he might steal your title as the biggest problem on Gallifrey?"
The Doctor did not laugh. "That might happen," he warned her darkly. But it made no impact. As he began to mentally work out the complex calculations needed to implement 'plan B', it was to the sound of Rose's laughter.
Here's a few things you'll want to know (or remember) going into this:
•The Doctor and Rose are married and bonded telepathically. Their bond is called a "soul-bond", which means they can communicate telepathically over nearly any distance and their timelines share an endpoint. If one dies, so does the other.
•Over years with the Doctor, Rose was dosed with regeneration energy, so not only does she have an extended lifespan, she heals almost immediately from any wound.
*The Doctor and Rose have two children, Suzy (7) and DJ (9 mos).
*The Doctor and Rose also have two TARDIS's (the second was grown from TARDIS coral by Rose and Tentoo).
*The Doctor and Rose saved (and hid) Gallifrey when Suzy was a baby (Three Doctors and a Baby, my DOD rewrite.)
*Rose reestablished contact with Amy and Rory. She and the Doctor visit them regularly in 1950's New York. They also own a house next door to them. Amy and Rory have a son, Anthony (13) (this is canon btw).
*They also visit Martha and Mickey regularly. The Smith's live in modern day upstate New York and have two children- Charlie (12) and Millie (7).
*Contact with Donna was re-established in the prior story (Definitely Not Nothing). Special injections and a stasis pod are currently maintaining her life and preventing the Time Lord knowledge she acquired in the metacrisis from burning up her human brain. She is divorced from Shaun and has a daughter, Reese (17.)
*Jack has been missing for years.
*Clara and Sarah Jane are both alive and happy and in regular contact with the Doctor and Rose, though they won't really make an appearance in this story.