Twists in Time

Chapter Twenty-Three: When, Where, and How: Correcting Time

By Lumendea

AN: Sorry for the delay. I suffered that foul tragedy known as the summer head cold and had no energy for anything beyond keeping myself alive for a couple of days. Updating early because I've got a crazy busy weekend ahead of me. And I've given up on controlling the length of this season. One more chapter for this episode with some Tylers, Martha, and Mickey.

…

Rose thought the Doctor might be forcing himself to smile for her sake as the latest crewmember shifted back into the pocket of time they were in. All of them were in shock and Rose's body was shaking. She wasn't sure how many more she could do and how many patients Martha could take. Jack had stepped in to help her, using the supplies from Rose's bag to give them something to eat and wrap them in blankets. But it didn't feel like enough.

"They're alright," Martha said. She was somehow the calmest of all of them. "You're doing great."

Rose almost snorted. Martha had come up with Jonas and found her making a figure glow before pulling them back into this time. She had to be freaking out. Rose, if she wanted Martha to stay, would have to try and explain. She'd have to find some words to say what had happened to her. But Jackie didn't even know yet. Or Shareen, or Sharon, or Mickey. She'd never had to explain it.

"Easy, Darling," the Doctor said softly. He stepped up behind her, speaking into her right ear and putting a hand on her hip. "It's alright. You're doing great."

"You should help the others," Rose managed. "They're in shock and-"

"They're recovering. Jonas is rallying and has started pulling up the crew log." The Doctor shifted so Rose could see the sonic screwdriver. "I've almost isolated the signal. Then I can make something to help. Just hold on a little longer."

Good. That sounded good. Sounded great in fact. The current figure was flickering back into the world, but the odd feeling on Rose's skin was becoming overwhelming and a dull headache was forming at the base of her skull. She didn't feel tired exactly, but Rose did have the sense that she was about to fall over. Glancing towards Martha and Jack, she found them diligently helping the people. They were out of blankets, but they were speaking with them. There were signs that more of them were coming out of their shock. At least for now.

"Almost there," the Doctor said. "You're doing great."

Rose almost snapped at him. She didn't feel like she was doing great. This was, what, the sixth or seventh person on the entire ship. They didn't even know yet just how there were. The mere thought of how many there could be made Rose feel light-headed. Then the sonic screwdriver beeped and the Doctor made a happy squeak just before her latest target came back into focus.

This one looked female to Rose and gasped for air, falling against Rose while they shuddered. Rose's knees merely buckled under the sudden weight. The Doctor jumped forward and helped Rose rest the figure in a nearby chair. Then the Doctor shifted back and focused his attention on the sonic screwdriver with a thoughtful sound. Rose smiled softly at the person.

"Easy, just breathe," she said softly. "My name is Rose. My friends and I are here to help."

"What- what happened? Everyone vanished and…." The woman furrowed her brow and frowned, looking lost and nervous.

"May I touch you?" Rose asked softly. The woman gave a confused nod and Rose took her hands. "You were caught in a strange disruption in space. We're getting the rest of the crew free and then we'll get your ship on its way. It's gonna be alright." She smiled softly. "What's your name?"

"Daphero," she answered. Then she shook her head. "I'm one of the helmspeople, but I'm a trained medic. I can't help the others." She started to stand only for their legs to crumble. Rose guided them back to the chair. "Oh."

"Easy, easy. The others are doing alright. Just give yourself a moment. You'll feel stronger soon."

"Rose," the Doctor whispered. "I'm going back to our ship. I have the frequency I need now."

Rose nodded without turning to the Doctor even as her heart swelled. That was good news. Better than good news. "We'll help up here," Rose promised.

The Doctor paused to say something to Jack. Rose was pretty sure that it was about her. Martha appeared at her side with more water a moment later. This wasn't a bottle from their packs though and instead was some sort of soft metallic package.

"Here," Martha said to Daphero. "Drink some water. If you're doing alright in a bit, I'll give you something to eat."

Rose shifted back, letting Martha take charge of their newest patient. Two of them were back on their feet and doing something with Jonas. Jack hurried over to speak with them, hopefully, to keep them from realizing that the ship was still out of time. Jonas kept glancing at one of the three remaining flickering figures. Rose felt lost. Exhaustion was starting to claw at her which didn't make sense. She'd restored all of Karn. This shouldn't be an issue. Then again… she had used the lifeforce of the Eternals to do that. Was she using her own energy this time? Was that how it worked? She sighed softly. Sooner or later, she needed to make a list and just call on White for some answers.

…

Martha could tell that Rose wasn't doing okay. It wasn't just exhaustion from… whatever she was doing. The usually confident woman was a little too withdrawn. The Doctor and Jack had noticed and tried to help where they could around helping the ship. Martha wished she understood enough of what was happening to offer support. But right now, the crew who were coming out of some sort of time warp needed her help more than Rose.

She glanced Rose's way and found her speaking with another of the crew. Marius is Martha was remembering correctly. They were so similar to humans, but the odd shine in their skin was throwing her off a little. Marius was more animated now than he had been before. At least they were recovering quickly from what had happened to them.

Another thing that Martha lacked background on. And apparently, their ship could translate in her head. Just… what was she doing? Her conversation with Sarah Jane had been a bit mad too, but it was nice to know that there was a little community out in the world of people who had traveled with the Doctor. Though, if she went home now, she wouldn't be able to talk to them for a couple of years. At least not openly though Sarah Jane had slipped Martha her number and hadn't confirmed or denied anything. Martha was a bit impressed.

She wasn't sure. All she'd wanted to do was get away for a bit. From the constant sleep deprivation of medical school and the constant tugging from family members. Yet, here she was again acting as a medic. She'd done that on the moon, obviously, with Peter Street, and she'd helped Nyssa. And here she was again. Martha was almost inclined to take it as a sign from the universe.

But that didn't help her decide. As her current patient started to relax and another two began talking across the bridge, helping the space feel more alive, Martha felt a surge of pride. It was nice to know that she was good at this. Really good at this. Staying calm and helping where she could. She just wanted to be better prepared. And she wanted to know what was going on with Rose Tyler.

"Here," Martha said with a gentle tone. "Drink some more water. You need your strength."

…

The Doctor returned within an hour with a strange humming device in the palm of his hand. It was an odd mash-up of a few pieces that Rose was familiar with and others that she wasn't. Attached to it was a tiny satellite dish that she was very tempted to ask about, but she feared the techno ramble that would follow. She was going to assume that it would help boost the signal.

"It's working," the Doctor cackled. On the far side of the bridge, the remaining flickering figures were coming into focus. "I just need to walk through the ship and make sure we get everyone. Then I can plug it into the comm system of the ship to boost the signal."

"That's…" the captain of the ship, an older woman with curly black hair staggered forward. She'd been one of the last that Rose had pulled back before deciding to wait for the Doctor. "Are you sure?"

"Yep, trust us. It's gonna be fine."

"Who-" the captain cut herself off. "I have so many questions, but if you can help the rest of my crew, please do. We're missing over a dozen still." She glanced over to where Martha and Daphero were helping the latest people pulled in. "And the ship…"

"We'll get you sorted," the Doctor promised. "Just a bit of roadside assistance."

He was enjoying this a little too much. Rose almost giggled. She was sure that he was trying to lighten the tone both for her and the crew. It was working. Surprising, but it was working. Or maybe exhaustion was catching up with her. When one of the crew stood up from one of the small chairs that lined the bridge, Rose took a chance and sank into it.

"Do you need anything?" Martha asked, crossing the room to her. "Rose?"

"Huh? No, I'm alright. Just a little tired."

Martha frowned at her and turned to the medical bag that she had gotten from the ship's med bay and pulled out one of the bags of water. She shoved it at Rose who took it without a fight. Judging from the look in Martha's eyes, there was no point in arguing. She took a long drink from the corner to satisfy Martha.

"Good, drink all of that," Martha ordered with a nod. "I don't think we'll be much longer."

As she moved off, Rose caught the Doctor watching her and held back a sigh. He was still talking with the captain and only looking at her in the corner of his eye, but his gaze was still heavy on her. Rose understood. She'd worried about him plenty of times and recognized that it was only fair, but she still hated worrying him. Taking another drink, Rose took a deep breath of the dry air and wiggled her toes, urging the blood to pump in her legs. When they were done here, she had a visit with her mum and friends to be ready for.

A full crew roll confirmed that everyone was back in the proper time. Most were still shaky, but the crew of thirty-two seemed very used to rallying and helping each other. The ship, as it turned out, was a small merchant cruiser that had been taking a shortcut. The Doctor gave the captain a warning about some of the oddities in space that were known to pop up around Earth. Rose really wished that it wasn't so true.

…

The Doctor kept an eye on Rose as he ripped open part of the navigation system. The captain and one of the helmspeople made a sound of alarm but made no move to stop him. They hadn't really done much of anything if he was honest. All of the crew still seemed to be in lingering mental shock even if they were recovering from the physical shock. He supposed arguing with your rescuer who seemed to know what he was talking about wasn't a very rational thing to do.

To distract them and himself, the Doctor started a long rambling explanation of what had happened. Maybe three percent of it was true. Normally, he didn't like lying to people about what had happened to them. There were usually too many chances that it might impact them down the road, but today he felt it was fine. Justified even. The Black Guardian would probably approve.

So far the universe didn't know about Rose and the Doctor wanted to keep it that way. Shakespearean London had certainly been a public show, but Rose had been on the stage and the humans had assumed it was part of the show. These people wouldn't and he wasn't interested in allowing some random people to go off talking about Rose.

"Wait," the captain interrupted. "So… a person in the right time stream just had to touch us?"

"Yep," he lied easily. "Though, as you can tell there was a bit of backlash." He nodded towards the exhausted Rose that Martha kept checking on. "It's why I didn't try it. Still, it was good of her to try, but then again, that's what she's like." His affectionate smile was at least real. "Gave you a grounding or maybe a grappling point to grab onto. Course, that was a bit dangerous for her which is why I recorded the frequency that your spectral bodies were reacting to. Much cleaner! Now we have to do the same with your ship."

"Will the same frequency work?" an engineer asked. The Doctor thought his name was Derin. He'd come up from the lower decks not long after the medic and Martha checked on things down there. "If it's a whole ship and not people?"

"Should." He thought about it another moment and nodded. "I'm 99.9999% sure at least."

"How…" The helmsman started to ask, but then they shook their head.

The Doctor liked them more than the captain. Less suspicious, more willing to just go with what he said and not ask questions the Doctor didn't want asked. He glanced at Rose again. She was looking a little better, but he wanted to get her back to the TARDIS and then to Jackie's for some distraction and relaxation. As much as he was tempted to linger in the Time Vortex, he doubted Rose would be able to rest without some cheering up first and her friends were good at that.

…

Rose wasn't sure what she had been expecting. A flash of light or a hum or a distinct feeling of something changing. There wasn't anything big. Her stomach stopped feeling quite so out of sorts and that was it as the flickering lights stabilized. She looked back at the Doctor and found him smiling beside the ripped-apart secondary navigation panel. Hopefully, the crew would be able to fix that before anything went wrong with their main system.

"Did that do it?" Martha asked.

"Yep," the Doctor replied, popping the p. "That did it. I can feel time moving normally again!"

Closing her eyes, Rose exhaled and tried to feel… something. It felt normal. But maybe that was it. Maybe she was expecting something to feel wrong that was just… off. And it was likely tied to her powers so maybe it couldn't have felt off. No matter how upset she was about it. Rose really wished that she could just call her older self and start asking questions.

There was a brief thought that she should have gone with Black and White, but Rose immediately dismissed that. It would be alright. Eventually. And she didn't want to be another person who left the Doctor. Not until she truly had no choice. But it did make her wonder about her future disappearance once again.

The Doctor beamed at her and stepped close to pull her into a hug. "You were brilliant," he assured her. "You helped them and helped me find the right frequency."

"You would have found it."

"Yeah, well, this was faster than trial and error."

His confidence and vanity made Rose smile. They probably shouldn't have. She probably should at least tease him, but his confidence was welcome. If she'd failed then he would have been able to save them. He could have still helped. Rose did have confidence in that.

"What's the plan now?" Jack asked, stepping over to them. "Are we hanging around or….?"

"No, no I think it best that we get Rose away from here before too many questions start being asked."

"Maybe a good idea," Martha said softly. Rose could feel her curious gaze.

They wrapped up what they needed to. It felt like too quick an attempted exit, but more of the crew were looking her way. Rose hated the idea, but she knew too well how quickly gratitude could turn into something else. This was a merchant ship and that meant that profit motivated them to some extent. Information had value and they knew that she'd pulled some of them out of whatever they had been caught in.

She stayed close to the Doctor at the main controls alongside the captain as he did his final checks. All the screens throughout the bridge had lit back up and the crew's body language had shifted towards triumphant. Rose heard a clatter of voices as the crew spoke amongst themselves. One of the older members announced they had sent a message through a nearby relay to let their home port know they were safe.

They'd lost time. They'd been lost in time. Rose was grateful that the system had released that loud sound when it had. If they hadn't been on Earth… Spock wouldn't have found it. He was good, but his sensors were human technology. He had limits.

"Come on," Jack said softly, pulling Rose out of her musing. He wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm taking you back to the TARDIS."

"But-"

"No." Jack's voice was firm. "You're done here. You're done for the day." His smile was a touch too forced and he nodded at a crewmember. "Using yourself as an anchor was reckless. You need rest."

Jack's solid presence was one that Rose wasn't interested in arguing with. She was clearly missing something, but she decided to go with it. Today had been rough. There hadn't been some enemy to focus on to distract her, just the grinding reminder of her failure with regard to her powers. At least the situation was fixed, but the crew had still lost a chunk of time and would be dealing with the aftermath.

The TARDIS hummed in greeting when they stepped inside and Rose went to the pilot's chair, sinking down with a grateful sigh. Already she was feeling a little better just from being in the TARDIS which was a welcome surprise. Jack lingered at the doorway despite the doors being closed and Rose frowned.

"Are you expecting trouble?"

"Expecting, no, but just keeping an eye out. The Doctor tried to throw them off the scent of you being anything special. Hopefully, they'll be fine with leaving things at that."

Rose suspected that they would be. Who would want to try and cause trouble after that? And as much as the Doctor and Jack might be trying to provide the veneer of a 'totally normal' rescue, she hadn't heard any excuses for how they'd even found the ship and gotten onto it. Yawning, Rose slumped in the chair and closed her eyes, listening to the gentle hum of the TARDIS. It was deeply soothing and she was feeling much better. A vague thought that the TARDIS' connection to the Time Vortex might be helping crossed Rose's mind before she put it to the side. That was a more serious thought than she wanted to do right now.

Sometime later, Rose had no idea how much longer later, the TARDIS door opened and Martha walked in closely followed by the Doctor. Martha was no longer carrying her backpack and Rose had long since left hers behind. She didn't think there was anything in it that would be a problem to leave behind. And she still had her shoulder bag.

There was a moment of silence as the Doctor moved around the controls and they took off with a shudder. The Doctor glanced her way and Rose gave him a soft smile. Not a beaming smile. He'd never believe it, but she was doing okay. Not great, but okay. The Doctor offered her an understanding nod in response. Rose loved him a little more than before for that.

"So…." Martha started. "Do I get to know or is there a certain number of trips I have to be on first?"

"No, nothing like that," Rose replied. With a soft huff, she forced herself to sit up all the way.

"Rose, you don't have to tell her," the Doctor said softly. "You haven't even told Jackie yet."

"Wait, your mum doesn't know?" Martha's eyes widened in surprise. "I mean- you don't have to-"

"It's… well, it's hard to explain. Some days it's hard to even wrap my head around," Rose admitted. "So there is a group of six beings that are connected differently to the universe. There isn't really a good way to describe it." Martha was staring at her and Rose once again felt radically out of her depth. "They're called the Guardians of the Universe and basically they're job is to keep things working at least semi-functionally. I say semi because the universe is a really strange place and total functionality is definitely asking for too much." She chuckled a little. "Uh, anyway, I'm one of them. The Guardians that is. It's a pretty recent thing. There's some powers and a lot of responsibility that I'm still figuring out."

"And Jack's your bodyguard?" Martha asked. When they looked at her in surprise, Martha shrugged. "He tends to hang pretty close to you. Closer than is normal for anyone except a boyfriend, at least."

"You're not far off," Jack agreed. "Though mostly I'm her friend."

Rose smiled at the words and inhaled deeply. "So, that's what is going on with me. It's part of how I scared the Carronites and stopped them, and why I don't die. But don't go spreading that information around. It's not something I'm ready for a lot of people to know about."

"Yeah…."

Martha appeared a bit dazed at even that bit of information. Rose wondered if she'd stay around long enough to meet one of the other Guardians. Then again, that might make things even weirder. Rose didn't imagine that she came off much like her fellow Guardians. The idea made a soft laugh escape her. Martha looked at Rose like she was mad. Honestly, it wasn't a bad assessment. Then the Doctor chuckled and reached out for her. Rose took his hand and stood, meeting him by the console. She leaned against him and buried her face in his coat to smother her giggles, breathing in the smell of time that was finally settling into the brown material.