Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a cloudy day in late June when the TARDIS appeared among the rose bushes in the front garden of 13 Ignatius Road, Dulwich.

None of the neighbours really batted an eye at the sudden breeze or the wheezing, groaning sound caused by the arrival of the blue police box. They were used to the box and the strange man who accompanied it, but this was London, and people didn’t much care as long as the neighbourhood remained peaceful.

Besides, the person residing at the house was quite beloved in the neighbourhood, so the odd and unexplained things around her were sort of brushed away.

The resident in question was currently inside the police box, saying a thorough goodbye to the strange man who accompanied the box.

Rose sighed as the Doctor’s fingers combed through her hair, his touch somehow equally soothing and electrifying. They had been kissing for what felt like hours but it had only been a few minutes, and she was glad her back was currently resting against one of the metal scaffolding pillars around the console because her knees would have given out otherwise.

She was also grateful for the strong grip the Doctor had on her waist, practically keeping her upright as he thoroughly explained without words that he would miss her.

“It’s only a month,” assured Rose, when they paused for breath.

“Only, you say,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

Rose flushed. Two weeks prior, after a harrowing encounter with brain sucking aliens known as the Kantrofarri, the two of them had sort of crossed the line between being friends to…being whatever they were now. They hadn’t gone much farther than kissing, but it had been a pleasant time regardless.

After the Kantrofarri incident, Rose had returned to Oxford. The fortnight had passed quickly - between the Moderations, the end of year parties, and packing up to finish up her first year at Oxford, Rose had barely noticed the passage of time.

Then, she’d been back at her Dulwich home, and the Doctor had come to visit.

They’d gone to the leisure complex on the planet Nestra, investigating why guests had been checking in but never checking out. It turned out to be the fault of a misprogrammed AI, which was now resolved.

Then, they’d travelled to Canvey Island in Essex in the summer of 1953 where the TARDIS had indicated there would be alien radiation, and they’d found radioactive alien corpses.

After that, it had been visiting Athens to watch a play by Aristophanes, which turned sour when they found a crashed alien spaceship and the ship’s pilot nearly burning up Socrates’s brain to repair the ship.

And on and on it went, as they spent almost a month running all over time and space until the Doctor had now brought her home only a day after she’d left it.

The reason had been simple - they were making up for lost time, and also preparing for a prolonged goodbye once more.

In less than a week’s time, Rose was supposed to go up to Dunstanton Lake to commence her month-long fieldwork component under the supervision of Dr Freda Mattingley.

While Rose was reluctant to be away from the Doctor for that long, especially when they were navigating this new aspect of their relationship, she knew she couldn’t risk vanishing in the middle of her fieldwork. So, she’d told the Doctor to give her the month needed to do her fieldwork study uninterrupted.

He had agreed, though rather reluctantly. Rose had discovered that the Doctor was quite…well, eager for her company. It was like the confession of love had let him drop the walls he’d built between them, and if she’d thought he was handsy and flirtatious before, it was nothing compared to now. In public, he’d kept it quite sedate, though their hands had seldom remained apart (not that had been anything new).

When they were alone, however, it was a different story entirely. Rose hadn’t quite experienced intimacy like she was experiencing with the Doctor. It wasn’t as if he was doing something overtly sexual, if anything, he was almost chaste around her. But his palm would brush her waist as he walked past her, lingering just long enough to set her heart racing. He would let his lips brush the shell of her ear when he whispered to her, his fingers would play with the ends of her hair, and his eyes would look at her with such warmth and love, that Rose would frequently find herself quite breathless in his presence.

And when they did kiss, he did so with such intent that Rose had never felt so desired in her life. Every kiss felt like a proclamation of love, like something far more important than just the physical touch. Rose felt like he could see right through her, and far from driving him away, whatever he saw in her drew him in ever so closer. The emotional intimacy easily outweighed the physical one, and Rose had never experienced that before.

Mickey had been her first boyfriend, and while they’d kissed and fooled around briefly, it had felt like a bit of fun, nothing quite intimate about it.

She’d lost her virginity to Jimmy, and he’d been all about physical intimacy, but Rose had never quite felt treasured or appreciated when being with him. She’d felt replaceable, as if it could have been anyone else in her place, and Jimmy would have enjoyed it just the same.

With the Doctor, for the first time, Rose was learning what it really meant to be loved. And it only made her love him more.

She was wary, of course. She felt like she was vastly out of her depth in terms of experience, and she was still a bit too hesitant to really ask the deeper questions that had been bothering her. The nonlinear aspects of their relationship were not ideal, and the lack of her memories was something that she was still trying to understand. The more she thought about it, the less sense it made to her.

“You’ve got a time machine,” Rose said now, shaking away her thoughts. “You could just jump forward a month.”

“Yes, but the TARDIS refuses to let me do it,” he frowned, and Rose laughed. “She refused to let me jump two weeks ahead after the Kantrofarri incident too.”

“Well, she’s holding you to the whole linear meeting bit,” said Rose.

“Seems so,” he agreed with a smile. “What am I supposed to do for a month without you?”

Rose shrugged. “Did you ever end up going back for Sam in that junkyard?” she asked, curiously.

He scowled. “Yes,” he admitted. “And then, she hopped right into the TARDIS and demanded to be taken on a trip like I’m some sort of a tour bus.”

Rose’s lips twitched; she had to admire Sam’s gumption. “Did you?” she asked. “Take her on that trip, I mean?”

He rolled his eyes but nodded. “I took her to a Greenpeace rally in New York City, circa 1997,” he said.

“Why 1997?” asked Rose.

“It’s the year she’s from,” he said. “I dropped her off there, and told her to find her way back to London on her own.”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” she asked.

“We did stop by her house so she could pack a bag and take her passport and some cash. Sam’s a tough girl, she will manage,” he said. “Besides, I-” He paused.

“What?” prompted Rose, when he didn’t continue.

He shook his head. “There’s something about her that I can’t shake,” he admitted.

Rose stared at him. He hadn’t said it like it was a good thing, more like he was wary of her. “What is she like?” she asked, her curiosity burning even brighter now.

“She’s inquisitive, smart, has a lot of heart, and is very brave,” he said.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” said Rose, noticing how he frowned.

He met her gaze. “It’s not,” he admitted. “It’s…it’s unnerving.”

“Why?” asked Rose.

“I don’t know, I can’t explain it,” he said. “Under different circumstances, she is exactly the kind of person I would want to travel with.”

“But you don’t want to travel with Sam?” asked Rose.

“I’ve got you,” he said, and that earned him a bright smile.

“That’s sweet,” said Rose, and she meant it. “But I don’t want you to be alone either when I’m not around.”

His eyes softened. “I’ll be alright, Rose,” he said.

She bit her lip doubtfully but nodded, sensing he didn’t want to talk about it. “I should go,” she said, though she made no move to leave the circle of the Doctor’s arms.

“Could I tempt you away for one more trip?” asked the Doctor, giving her an extremely persuasive look.

Rose inhaled shakily and chuckled. “I’m sure you could tempt me plenty,” she said, which made him laugh. “But I should go. Besides, it’s a short goodbye. We will see each other in a month.”

He sighed and agreed with a nod. Rose placed a hand on his cheek, bringing his face down to hers for a soft, gentle goodbye kiss.

“I’ll miss you,” whispered Rose, when she pulled away.

“As will I,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her temple in a lazy kiss. “Perhaps, we shall learn whether absence really does make the heart grow fonder.”

Rose chuckled. “I don’t think it could grow any fonder, if I’m honest,” she admitted, hesitating only a little.

He flashed her a grin. “That’s what you think now,” he said, and his eyes promised the truth of his words. He slowly let go of her, but kept a hold of her hand as he walked her to the TARDIS doors. “I’ll see you soon, Rose.”

Rose grinned at him. “Not if I see you first,” she said. She lifted his hand that was holding hers and kissed the back of it. The Doctor’s eyes fluttered slightly, and Rose bit her lip coyly. “See ya.”

She started to let go of his hand, only to let out a startled squeak when the Doctor tightened his grip and yanked her close to him. She looked up at him in shock and he grinned wickedly before bending his head to press a lingering kiss to the side of her neck. Her eyes closed involuntarily and she groaned low in her throat as the Doctor’s teeth bit lightly into the skin of her neck and his lips sucked an obvious love bite on her neck.

Rose couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed by it, though, not when her entire body arched into his immediately. She tilted her head back to give him better access, her fingers sinking into those gorgeous long brown curls, drawing him closer. He expertly worried the skin of her neck with his teeth and lips, and pressed a kiss to the blooming bruise as he pulled back, looking slyly at her.

“What was that for?” asked Rose, unable to help the breathlessness of her voice, her fingers still buried in his hair.

“In case you do see me before I see you,” he said.

Rose’s eyes widened. “You think I’ll have an out of time meeting?” she asked.

“It’s likely, jeopardy friendly as you are,” he said.

Rose ignored the remark and gave him an exasperated look. “And you’re what? Marking your territory?” she asked.

“Hardly,” he grinned, unperturbed by her look. “Just leaving you a memento to remember me by.”

Rose rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched with a smile. “As if I could ever forget you,” she said, and then her breath caught as the Doctor’s smile froze as well. “Sorry,” she added, hastily.

“No, don’t,” he said, pulling her into a hug. “It’s okay. I know what you meant.”

Rose hugged him back, hoping to convey her apology for her thoughtless words. “I have so many questions, you know,” she confessed into his cravat.

“I know,” he said, lips glazing the top of her head. “I know you wish to know the truth, but, Rose…”

“It was my choice, and you’re respecting it,” she completed before he had to say it. “I know. Doesn’t make it easier though, does it? For either of us?”

“No,” he sighed. “Nothing worthwhile is easy, though.”

Rose smiled and pulled back to look at him. “I love you,” she said.

He smiled back. “I love you,” he replied.

She gave him a small wave and finally left the TARDIS. The blue box vanished moments later and she sighed deeply.

“That was quite the sigh.”

Rose’s heart jumped at the familiar voice and she saw River Song sitting on the front step of Rose’s house. She was dressed in tightly fitted black trousers and a maroon tunic-like top, her curly dark golden hair in a high ponytail on top of her head.

“River,” whispered Rose, staring at her in disbelief.

River stood up slowly. “Hello, sweetie,” she said.

Rose ran to her and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. River laughed and hugged her back tightly, and Rose exhaled heavily, absolutely overjoyed to see her.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” said Rose, pulling back and looking at her with shining eyes. “You look amazing!”

“So do you,” grinned River, before her grin turned sly. “Hickey and all.”

Rose flushed and glanced away sheepishly. “A lot has changed in a year,” she said.

“I can see that,” said River. “Won’t you invite me in?”

“Yeah, of course, come in,” said Rose, brushing past her to unlock the door. She walked into the kitchen, with River behind her. “Tea?”

“Please,” smiled River, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

Rose set the kettle boiling and smiled at River in wonder. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Thought I’d pop in for a visit,” said River. “Been a year, has it?”

Rose nodded. “How long has it been for you?” she asked.

“About a decade or so,” said River.

Rose’s eyebrows shot up. River definitely did not look a decade older, she hardly even looked a week older.

River smiled at the look on her face. “Long story,” she said. “And not one I can tell you yet.”

Rose eyed her thoughtfully but nodded. The water finished boiling, so Rose made them both a cuppa, and they retreated to the living room to drink their tea.

“So, how have you been?” asked River, looking at Rose.

“Good,” nodded Rose. “Finished my first year at Oxford. Remember Sibyl?” At River’s nod, she smiled. “She passed away last year, and she paid for my education in full as part of her will.”

“That was nice of her,” said River, with a small smile. “How are you finding Oxford?”

“Challenging, but I love it,” said Rose, honestly. “And well, I met the Doctor and…” She trailed off, realising River would have definitely seen her walk out of the TARDIS sporting a fresh hickey.

“And how’s that been going?” asked River, with a sly grin.

Rose shrugged, blushing a little. “It’s all very new still,” she said. She paused and stared at River. “Did you know?”

River nodded. “I did,” she said. “That’s why I was pretty careful about what I shared with you about the Doctor. I didn’t want to unintentionally influence you one way or another. Which incarnation is he in?”

“Linearly speaking? His eighth body,” said Rose.

River chuckled. “Look at you, spoken like a true time traveller,” she said.

“Learned from the best,” she grinned, with a look at River. “What about you, River? What have you been up to?”

“Well, I took some time to travel around after I left here,” she said. “Then I went back to teaching, like I said I would.”

“And where were you teaching?” asked Rose.

“I still am,” she said. “I’m a tenured professor at Luna University in the 51st century.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding,” she said.

“Nope,” said River. “I studied archaeology briefly on Earth, but the majority of my education occurred in the 51st century and I did most of my post graduate work, including my Ph.D at the Luna University. And a few years before I came to this time, I was offered an academic position there.”

As she was speaking, Rose noticed a ring on her left ring finger with a fire red stone that she’d never seen before.

“That’s new,” said Rose, nodding at the ring.

River smiled softly as she glanced at the ring. “Yes, the person who gave me the ring isn’t new, just the ring,” she said. “She insisted I needed it for this trip.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “Do I get to ask who she is?” she asked.

River grinned. “Spoilers,” she said. “But speaking of this trip, I admit I have ulterior motives.”

“Oh?” asked Rose, finishing her tea. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, well, I think so,” said River. She chuckled when Rose gave her a confused look. “You told me to come here and take you with me on my expedition.”

Rose frowned. “Future me?” she asked.

River nodded slowly. “You don’t often do things like that, so when you do, we tend to listen,” she said.

“We?” asked Rose, sharply.

River blinked and then smiled sheepishly. “Spoilers?” she offered.

Rose rolled her eyes. “So, I asked you to come here,” she said. “And what expedition is it?”

“Have you heard of the Library?” asked River.

“Which one?” asked Rose.

“No, not a library. The Library. The definite article, you might say,” said River. “The whole core of the planet is the index computer. Biggest hard drive ever, with every book ever written. The Felman Lux corporation has commissioned me to lead the current chairman and a team inside the Library.”

“That does sound amazing,” nodded Rose, before her smile dimmed. “But I can’t, River,” she added, regretfully. “I’m headed up to the Lake District in five days to start my fieldwork.”

River smirked and tapped the vortex manipulator on her wrist. “I can have you back in a flash,” she said.

Rose bit her lip. It was definitely tempting, and her future self had clearly made the request. Besides, she had missed River, and any opportunity to spend time with her was welcome.

“Right,” nodded Rose. “Give me an hour to shower and get changed, and then we can go to the Library.”

“Well, first we have to go to Luna University,” said River. “Then we’ll take a shuttle to the Library.”

“Sounds good,” nodded Rose. She smiled at River and went upstairs. After a shower, she changed into a pair of dark blue jeans and an emerald green camisole, and wore a denim jacket on top. Her hair was now brushing a good length past her shoulders and Rose was planning on growing it out, mostly because she enjoyed the way it felt when the Doctor ran his fingers through it. She put it up into a ponytail before starting on her makeup.

The love bite on her neck was obvious as it could be, and she shook her head and used some concealer to cover it up. Satisfied with her appearance, she checked she had everything she needed in her archaeologist’s case, and returned downstairs.

River had cleared up their tea things during the time that Rose had been getting ready. She was fiddling with the vortex manipulator on her wrist when Rose walked into the living room once more.

“Ready to go?” asked River.

“As I could ever be,” smiled Rose.

River stood up and held out her arm. “Hold on tight,” she said.

Rose gripped her arm tightly, and watched as River entered in a series of numbers (what she could only assume were coordinates) into the vortex manipulator and pressed the switch. In a blue flash of ozone, the living room around her vanished, replaced by a traditional study with wood panelled walls and a large ornate mahogany desk.

The travel had been less jarring than Rose had expected, as she released River’s arm and looked around at the study. It reminded her a lot of the inside of the Luna Detective Agency, and she suspected it was because most of these things had been in the shop at one point, including the desk. The study was round and it had a skylight right above the desk, and Rose smiled when she saw Earth in the distance.

“Very you,” said Rose, with a smile at River. “Mess, included,” she added, laughing at the messy bundles of papers and notes strewn about her desk. It had been a familiar argument when Rose had worked for her, with River insisting she knew exactly where everything was, and Rose trying to get her to clean up some of the mess.

River shrugged unrepentantly, as she handed Rose a manila folder. “Here,” she said. “A mission briefing.”

Rose took it eagerly and settled down into an empty chair to read.

“I’ve got a call with the shuttle pilot,” said River, picking up a PDA-like device which looked more advanced than the one Rose had. “Team meeting is in an hour, and we’re leaving soon after that.”

Rose nodded and opened the file. The briefing was fairly straightforward. The Library had been built by the Felman Lux Corporation, and had been the greatest collection of books and knowledge in this corner of the Milky Way, until 100 years ago, when something had gone wrong. Determining the exact nature of this incident was the reason for the archaeological expedition.

One moment, over 4000 people had been in the Library, and then…nothing.

A single message was beamed out of the planet.

The lights are going out.

Rose shivered as she read it. There was something else in the message but it was redacted with a black marker in the file Rose was reading.

Following the message being sent out, the computer sealed the planet and it had taken 100 years for the seals around the planets to be decoded. Theirs was the first expedition group who would venture into the Library since the planet was unsealed.

River returned and Rose closed the file and stood up.

“What’s in the rest of the message?” asked Rose, quickly.

River smirked. “Noticed that, did you?”

“Of course,” said Rose, with a shrug.

“Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors,” said River.

Rose’s eyes widened. “B-but that makes no sense,” she said.

“Hence the expedition,” said River. “The planet was scanned for humanoid life signs and none were found, so we can sufficiently assume those four thousand odd people are dead. But the message contradicts it somewhat.”

“I guess the one way to truly know what’s going on is to go down to the planet and see it in person,” said Rose.

“Exactly,” grinned River. “So, come on. I’ll introduce you to the team.”

Rose followed River out of the study, and their surroundings slightly threw her off. Like River’s study, the hallway outside had wood panelled walls, shaded lamps, and worn carpet on hardwood floors, reminding Rose so much of the older buildings at Oxford. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting a university in the 51st century to look like, but it was definitely something a lot more futuristic than this.

There were a few people around, and while she did see a few aliens here and there, the people were mostly humans (or looked humanoid). River led her down a maze of similar hallways until they reached an antique elevator with old-fashioned metal grate doors, and a wood panelled interior once more.

“It’s a bit more old school than I expected,” said Rose, as she and River went inside the elevator.

“We’re in the midst of a revival period,” explained River. “Besides, the Archaeology department at the Luna University is unique. We are the only ones to collaborate with the Time Agency for our expeditions.”

“Time Agency?” asked Rose, her interest piqued.

“Humans have somewhat mastered time travel by this point in history, and the Time Agency was established to regulate it,” said River. “Access to time travel outside of the Agency is nigh on impossible, but our Archaeology department has been granted privileges, which means we are well-funded, and well-supported.” She eyed Rose, before typing a series of numbers on the keypad in the elevator which was rather out of place in the old-fashioned piece of mechanism. “If you want to pursue Archaeology beyond Earth, I would highly recommend this place for your graduate studies.”

Rose listened earnestly, committing that to memory. She hadn’t really dedicated any time to think about what she would do once she had finished at Oxford. It was insufficient to merely have an undergraduate in a field like hers, and no doubt she would need to study further, and perhaps River’s suggestion was worth considering.

The elevator stopped at a floor, and when the doors opened, a woman in her mid-forties stood outside. She was about Rose’s height, with high cheekbones, short dark hair in a messy bob, wearing a pair of slightly too-short grey tweed trousers, a white button-up shirt, a red tie knotted messily around her neck, and a beige blazer that was too big for her petite form. Her eyes lit up when she saw them.

“River! Rose! Didn’t expect to see you both today,” she said.

“Erm, early point in her timeline, Benny,” said River, at once.

The woman, Benny, glanced at Rose and looked slightly askance. “Ah, so it is,” she said. “Sorry, time travel. You know how it is.”

Rose couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I do,” she said, before she remembered something. “Benny? The Doctor’s friend?”

Benny laughed. “Well, yeah, but I like to think we’re friends too,” she said, stepping into the elevator. “Professor Bernice Summerfield,” she added, holding out her hand.

Rose shook her hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said.

“Rose is accompanying me on the expedition to the Library,” said River.

“Ugh, better you than me,” said Benny.

“Why?” asked Rose, curiously.

Benny grinned and glanced at River. “She hasn’t met the charming Mr Lux, has she?” she asked, before smiling at Rose. “He wants every person on the expedition team to sign an airtight contract saying anything you see and hear during the expedition is the intellectual property of the Felman Lux corporation.” Rose wrinkled her nose. “Exactly,” grinned Benny. “We’re academics doing this in pursuit of knowledge that will be shared with the universe. Not to become property of some inflated capitalist corporation.”

“Benny has very strong opinions about Mr Lux hence why she passed over this opportunity,” explained River.

Benny shrugged. “Benefits of seniority,” she said. “I’m getting too old to put up with arrogant dickheads.”

Rose chuckled; she liked Benny. The elevator came to a stop, and Benny disembarked.

“I’ll see you both around,” grinned Benny. “Oh, and Rose, please act like you don’t know me when you do meet me for the first time. I was pretty new to time travel, and it’d just complicate things.”

“Got it,” nodded Rose. “See you.”

Benny waved goodbye, and with a grin at River, she left down the hallway. The elevator doors closed once again, and it continued to descend.

“Benny travelled with the Doctor in his seventh body, but she has met some other incarnations as far as I know,” said River.

Rose nodded. “When I told the Doctor I worked with a time travelling archaeologist, he assumed it was Benny,” she said.

“Makes sense,” agreed River. “It’s too early in his timeline to know me. Come to think of it, I’m not exactly sure when he met me for the first time but it hasn’t happened to me yet.”

Rose couldn’t help but laugh. “Is it mental that what you said actually made sense to me?” she asked.

River laughed as well. “Just means you’re getting used to being a time traveller,” said River.

“Sure would be nice to be on the other end of it,” said Rose, wistfully. “I mean, so far, I’m the one in the dark.”

River’s smile was knowing. “I’m not sure the grass is greener on the other side,” she said.

“How couldn’t it be?” asked Rose, curiously.

“Well, take Benny for example,” said River. “You’ve met her, spoken to her, and from what I can see, you liked her, didn’t you?” At Rose’s nod, her smile turned slightly melancholic. “But when you meet her for the first time, the first time for her, I mean, you will have to pretend not to know her. You can’t joke about how Mr Lux is indeed a dick, or laugh about how she pulls rank to avoid expeditions she doesn’t want to go on. That’s all the foreknowledge you have now, which you can’t reveal to the younger Bernice Summerfield.”

Rose frowned deeply. She could see what River was saying. She had already started to experience it to an extent, when she had the out of time meetings with the older Doctors, and then having to keep it from her Doctor. The more that she time travelled, the more secrets she’d need to keep. She looked at River, and wondered how many secrets River was keeping from her, because they simply weren’t hers to know yet.

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened once again.

River turned to her with a smile. “Enough about that for now,” she said. “We have an expedition to prepare for.” She linked her arm with Rose’s and led her out of the elevator. “Let’s go meet the team.”

Chapter Text

Out of the elevator, River led Rose down a hallway with frosted glass doors. This hallway looked much more like what Rose had been expecting - cold, metallic, and futuristic. The lighting was bright white, almost clinical, and the floors and walls reminded her of the inside of a spaceship.

River stopped at one of the doors and entered a series of numbers into the keypad next to it, and the door hissed and slid open with a swish sound. Inside, was a conference room of sorts, with a glass-topped long table and plush white chairs on chrome frames.

Rose vaguely registered a few people at the table, but her attention was arrested by the large, glass window which was nearly the size of the wall, beyond which was a sophisticated open-air spaceport station. There were various spaceships docked, a few taking off and coming in, all-in-all looking like a very busy hub.

“Luna University is an assured stopover for a lot of ships going to and from Earth. The main spaceport on the moon can get quite congested, so this is an effective compromise,” said River, probably because Rose had been looking at the sight in shock. “Everyone, this is Rose. She’s joining us on the expedition.”

Rose tore her eyes away from the view outside and looked at the people in the room. There was a dark-haired man with a long nose in his late thirties, a younger man with dark skin and dark hair, and a young woman with dark skin who immediately smiled at Rose.

“I’m Anita,” said the woman, holding out her hand. “So glad to have another archaeologist on the trip.”

Rose shook her hand, noticing she had a slight American accent. “Oh, I’m not-”

“She’s still studying,” said River. “But she is just as good as you and me, Anita.”

Anita nodded. “That’s great. For a moment, I thought it’d just be me and River. The Library is a massive site, so it’ll be amazing to have another pair of hands,” she said.

Rose frowned slightly, wondering who the men were if Anita and River were the only archaeologists.

“I’m Dave,” said the man with the long nose. “I’m the pilot for the expedition.”

Rose smiled at him, and shook his hand when he offered.

“Oh, and I’m Dave too,” said the dark-skinned man. “But since he was the first to join the expedition, he gets to be Proper Dave.”

“You’ll just have to make do with being Other Dave,” chuckled Anita, as Rose shook Other Dave’s hand.

“I’m the engineer and field tech expert,” said Other Dave. “Are you a student at the university, Rose?”

“No, I’m studying at Oxford,” she replied.

Other Dave nodded with an impressed look. “Must be nice to be studying in the tropics,” he said.

Rose’s eyes widened and she nodded quickly, remembering it was likely the continents had shifted, and Earth’s climae may not be what it had been three thousand years ago. It still seemed drastic that England was now a tropical location, and she made a mental note to ask River when they were alone.

“Any sign of Mr Lux?” asked River, as she and Rose took a seat at the table.

“His assistant sent a message saying they were running late,” said Anita, rolling her eyes. “Something about misreading the campus map.”

“Wonderful,” said River, rolling her eyes. “Are we cleared for takeoff, Dave?”

Proper Dave nodded. “Pre-flight checks are done. Once we’re on board, we’ll be right at the front of the queue,” he said.

“And the journey can’t be any faster?” asked Anita. “Moore-class ships are not great for long haul flights.”

“It’s hardly a long haul flight,” said River, rolling her eyes a little. “It’s only four days, and we’ve got stops along the way.”

“Just two stops,” chimed in Proper Dave. “Conditions favouring, we shouldn’t need any more than that.”

“Good,” nodded River.

The door slid open and a middle aged man with thinning sandy blond hair in an expensive suit strode in, followed by a pretty young woman with long black hair in a lopsided ponytail.

“Mr Lux, good evening,” greeted River. “And this is Miss Evangelista, I presume?”

“Yes, hello,” said Miss Evangelista, at the same time that Mr Lux started to say something, and he shot her an annoyed look.

“If you’re quite done,” he snapped at Miss Evangelista, who practically wilted under his cold glare.

Rose immediately felt sympathy for Miss Evangelista, who cowered behind Mr Lux, avoiding eye contact with everyone else in the room.

“How long before we leave?” demanded Mr Lux, snootily.

“Just waiting on you,” said River, with a sharp smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Mr Lux, however, was now looking at Rose. “You must be the apprentice Professor Song insisted be brought along,” he said, eyeing her like he didn’t get the big deal.

Rose bristled inwardly; she could see why Benny disliked the man so much. “I’m Rose,” she said, politely enough despite her feelings. She was not about to start off this expedition on the wrong foot.

“Miss Evangelista, the form,” said Mr Lux, not bothering to respond to Rose.

Miss Evangelista fumbled with one of the two bags she was carrying, and they all waited awkwardly until she pulled out a printed document and held it out to Rose.

Rose tried to smile at her, but she was avoiding her gaze, so she took the document and glanced at it briefly. As she had suspected, it was the same form Benny had mentioned earlier, and Rose rolled her eyes before looking at River.

“Do I have to sign it?” she asked. Mr Lux sputtered and said something but Rose ignored him. “River?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, but whether you do or not will not stop you from going on this expedition,” said River.

“Great, I’m not signing then,” said Rose, looking back at Mr Lux, who frowned but didn’t say anything else.

“Well, now that it’s all sorted, let’s be on our way,” said River. “Proper Dave?”

“Right, this way, come on,” he said. He hefted a white backpack onto his back, and led the way out. Mr Lux and Miss Evangelista followed after him, and Anita and Other Dave followed suit.

“Grab one of these,” said River, nodding toward the two backpacks left in the room.

“Did you pack one for me?” asked Rose, picking up the bag which was lighter than she was expecting.

“I did,” said River. “It’s just a few sets of clothes and some toiletries, because I’m assuming you’ve got your archaeologist’s case?”

“Never leave home without it,” nodded Rose, as she and River followed the rest of the crew.

At the end of the hallway was a pair of glass double doors which swished open, and they all stood on a travelator which led into the spaceport. Rose admired the high ceilings and curved walls of the hallway, chuckling inwardly at the holographic advertisements being displayed on numerous screens. It reminded Rose of an airport terminal.

Proper Dave led them out of one of the gates, and Rose briefly saw a large space capsule parked just outside the gates before they stepped outside into the open air. Rose had a brief moment of panic wondering if they needed spacesuits for this part, but she was surprised to realise she could breathe quite easily.

“Atmospheric shield around the entire moon,” whispered River.

A ramp led the way inside the spaceship, and the group boarded the ship in an orderly manner.

“There are three cabins, so better decide roommates quickly,” said Proper Dave.

“I assume Mr Lux and Miss Evangelista will be sharing one,” said River, and Mr Lux nodded. “Anita, you and Other Dave okay sharing?”

“Sure,” grinned Anita.

“That leaves you and me, Rose,” said River.

“What about Proper Dave?” asked Rose.

“The bridge comes with an adjoining bunk,” he replied. “I suggest everyone offload their belongings. Dinner can be in the galley in ninety minutes, once we’re past the Kuiper belt.”

The inside of the ship was pretty standard. The door opened into a bridge that had a pilot’s chair in the centre with a viewing screen and mainframe in front of it. There was a door off to the side marked ‘Pilot’s Quarters’.

Another door behind the pilot’s chair opened into a hallway which held the galley, bathrooms, and storage rooms. At the very end of the hallway, a spiral staircase led to the floor above, where the cabins were.

Mr Lux immediately went into one of them, leaving Miss Evangelista to carry their things after him. Anita and Other Dave waved goodbye to Rose and River and went into the other cabin.

Rose and River went into their cabin. It wasn’t massive, but it had enough room for single bunks against two of the walls, parallel to one another. There was a tiny desk and chair squeezed between the beds. The cabin came with a tiny ensuite with enough room for a toilet and a shower, and while there wasn’t much by way of storage, there was a cupboard by the door for hanging clothes and a locker under the bed. The beds had plain white sheets - in fact, the entire interior was white and chrome, looking as futuristic as Rose had expected.

There was a wide window above the desk with a view of the outside, and Rose was quite thrilled. She hadn’t really experienced space travel quite like this. The TARDIS was the best, of course, but it wasn’t so much about the journey as it was about the destination. She was quite looking forward to the journey part of things.

Rose dropped her backpack onto one of the beds and sat down. “Do we have to be strapped in for takeoff?” she asked.

River was already unpacking her backpack. “No need,” she said. “Artificial gravity will kick in once the doors are closed.”

Rose nodded, and opened her backpack. It contained a few stretchy plain black trousers and leggings in her size, with an assortment of tank tops, as well as several pairs of socks and underwear. The bag of toiletries had a new toothbrush, hairbrush, and little bottles of soap, shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser. Rose followed River’s lead and put her clothes away into the storage locker under the bed, and hung up her denim jacket in the cupboard by the door. The toiletries went in the bathroom, just as Rose felt a slight jolt.

“That’s just us taking off, don’t worry,” said River, in the process of organising documents and books on the desk.

Rose expected to feel something more but apart from their initial jolt, everything remained steady which she supposed was because of the artificial gravity.

“It will be slow until we get past the Kuiper belt,” said River.

“That’s near Neptune, isn’t it?” asked Rose.

“Yes,” said River. “No doubt Dave will engage the warp engine after that, which will be much faster.”

Rose sat down on her bed and smiled at River. “Thank you, River,” she said, sincerely.

River looked at her in surprise. “What for?” she asked.

“For bringing me along, letting me experience this,” she said, waving a hand at their surroundings.

River beamed at her. “You’re welcome, sweetie,” she said. “Do you want a tour?”

Rose nodded eagerly, and they left the cabin to explore the rest of the ship. There wasn’t a lot more to see, but Rose really liked the aft deck which had wide windows with spectacular views of space.

The galley was small, and there was a food machine similar to one in Star Trek. Rose was thrilled when she could make fish and chips in the machine that tasted just like the real thing. The two Daves and Anita joined her and River for dinner, but there was no sign of Miss Evangelista or Mr Lux.

Toward the end of dinner, Miss Evangelista arrived in the galley clutching a piece of paper.

“Are you joining us for dinner, Miss Evangelista?” asked Rose, a bit glad to see her without Mr Lux around.

“Uh, no,” she replied, awkwardly. “Mr Lux has sent me to get his dinner.”

She hurried toward the food machine, looking a bit intimidated at the numerous buttons on it. Rose had had a similar moment before, but the machine was quite intuitive.

Miss Evangelista kept looking between the machine and the piece of paper she was holding, before she started to press a few buttons. After the fifth button she pressed, the entire machine started beeping loudly and obnoxiously. Miss Evangelista panicked and stepped back hurriedly, her hands fluttering nervously.

Proper Dave and Anita rolled their eyes discreetly, and Other Dave downright smirked into his dinner. Rose gave them all a hard look before rushing to Miss Evangelista’s side.

“Hey, it’s alright,” assured Rose, giving her a gentle smile. “Happens, right? Machines can be temperamental.” She looked at the machine and spotted the reset button, and hit it quickly. The beeping stopped, and the machine began to reboot. “There we go,” she said, looking at Miss Evangelista who still seemed embarrassed but relieved. “Give me the list. I’ll help you put together a tray for Mr Lux.”

“Thank you,” said Miss Evangelista.

“Don’t mention it,” grinned Rose, and quickly had the steak, potato mash, sausages, and peas prepared by the machine and arranged onto a tray. “What about you? Aren’t you going eat something?” she asked Miss Evangelista.

Miss Evangelista looked at her with wide eyes, as if expecting Rose to make fun for her. When Rose just waited expectantly, she smiled hesitatingly. “Just some chicken and salad,” she said.

“Great,” said Rose. “Why don’t you take the tray up to Mr Lux and I’ll have your dinner waiting for you when you get back?”

Miss Evangelista nodded eagerly, and picked up the tray of food and hurried away. Rose made the chicken and salad from the machine before returning to her now cold dinner.

“You don’t need to baby her, Rose,” said Anita. “She’s older than you and ought to be more than capable of working a food machine, for heaven’s sake.”

Rose bristled, ready with a retort about their behaviour toward Miss Evangelista being tantamount to bullying, but River responded before she could.

“We’re a team, and that includes Mr Lux and Miss Evangelista,” said River, like that was the final word on the matter. “A team needs to work together and help one another, otherwise we risk leaving someone in the cold. I will not have anyone jeopardise this expedition with pettiness or childish behaviour. Am I clear?”

Anita looked surprised, but nodded. The two Daves followed suit, and Rose couldn’t help but smile admiringly at River. While she’d had opportunities to observe River in her role as an archaeologist, she’d never really seen this side of her as the leader of an expedition, and Rose was already taking mental notes.

The rest of the dinner passed without incident. Miss Evangelista returned briefly to grab her dinner but she went back up to the cabin with her food. Once dinner was finished, everyone cleared their trays, and retreated to various parts of the ship.

Rose was quite tired, and now full of food, she returned to the cabin, and got ready for bed. She fell asleep as soon as she was in bed, waking up only briefly when she heard River come upstairs a few hours later.

The first day on the ship was fairly dull. Rose ate breakfast with Other Dave and then spent the rest of her morning writing about the last day or so in her journal while she sat alone on the aft deck.

River and Anita joined her for lunch, and they spent the better part of the afternoon reading about the Library and looking at schematics, deciding the best point of entry.

The whole team (except Mr Lux and Miss Evangelista) met for dinner once again, and Proper Dave told them they’d be stopping off at a spaceport on Cobbi the next day. The stop was for the passengers to step out of the artificial gravity and regain their equilibrium to avoid space sickness.

They arrived at the spaceport just after lunch the following day. It turned out to be similar to other spaceports, so Rose wandered around the duty free shops with River, and bought two novels that looked very much like airport reads so she could keep herself occupied for the rest of the journey.

Proper Dave had asked them to be back in one hour exactly, so Rose and River returned about forty five minutes later.

“Spaceports don’t really change much, do they?” remarked Rose, as she put her books down on the desk in their cabin.

“Never does well to mess with the classics,” grinned River, sitting on her bed.

Rose, on the other hand, was frowning at the books. “You know what I’ve been thinking?” she said, looking at River.

“What?” asked River.

“Books,” she said.

“What about them?” asked River.

“No, I mean physical books, paper, hardcover, the whole thing,” said Rose. “The Library also has physical books, doesn’t it?”

“For the most part,” said River. “They also have holovids, fiction mists, optical spheres, as well as direct to brain downloads. But primarily, they are physical books. Real paper and all.”

“Isn’t it a bit outdated by this time?” asked Rose, curiously.

“It is, in some ways,” nodded River. “But the physical books never quite went away. Traditionalists clung onto them when electronic books first became popular, but then corporations that owned those ebook platforms started abusing the privilege which meant that physical books had to return to counteract the encroaching monopoly.”

“Capitalism, fun,” said Rose, rolling her eyes. “We don’t outgrow human greed, do we?”

“No,” said River, ruefully. “That one sticks around, unfortunately. But enough about that, I’ve been meaning to ask about something.”

Rose looked at her curiously, but they were slightly distracted when the ship jolted, indicating they were in flight once more.

“Tell me about Oxford, about everything you’ve been up to this past year,” prompted River, with an expectant smile.

Rose smiled back softly and reached for her journal near her pillow. As she opened it, she remembered that River was the one who’d given her the journal. “I never thanked you for this one, did I?” she asked.

“Thank me?” asked River, looking confused.

“Yeah, you gave me this journal when I started at Oxford…” she trailed off and bit her lip. “Ah, you haven’t done it yet, have you?”

River laughed. “No, but I’ll add it to my to-do list,” she said, pulling out her own forest green journal which was a lot more pages deep than Rose remembered.

Rose grinned and started with Lynn’s disappearance and the mystery of St Matilda’s College. River listened with interest, and Rose saw her stifle a smile once or twice, though Rose couldn’t be certain what that was about. As she was getting to the end of the story, she realised with a start that River had smiled anytime she’d mentioned Miranda or Jenny, prompting Rose to wonder if River knew more about the Barrow sisters than she was letting on.

She was about to ask when there was insistent knocking on the door of their cabin. River’s brow furrowed and she opened the door to find Other Dave.

“Miss Evangelista is not on board,” he said, sounding a bit out of breath.

“What?” asked River, shocked. “Didn’t she come back on board after the stop on Cobbi?”

“I’m not sure,” shrugged Other Dave. “We thought she was with Mr Lux, but he just came to the galley asking if we’d seen her. Anita’s searching the rest of the ship.”

“For heaven’s sake,” muttered River, and hurried downstairs. Rose and Other Dave followed her to the bridge.

Mr Lux was standing behind Proper Dave, who was frantically pressing some buttons on the mainframe.

“Have you scanned the interior?” asked River, going over to Proper Dave.

“Just finishing up now,” he said, looking visibly frustrated.

River turned to Mr Lux. “Why didn’t you raise an alarm sooner?” she asked.

“How was I supposed to know she wasn’t on the ship?” he demanded.

“She’s your assistant, and you haven’t let her out of your sight since the beginning of this expedition,” said River. The mainframe beeped and she turned to Proper Dave. “Well?”

He sighed with frustration. “She’s not onboard. She must be back on Cobbi,” he said.

River sighed as well. “Reverse course,” she said.

Proper Dave nodded, and started pressing some buttons, setting the course to take them back to Cobbi. Thankfully, Miss Evangelista was waiting at the docking port and looked visibly relieved when she saw their ship return.

“I-I-I’m so sorry,” she said, as soon as she was back on board. “I lost track of time, and when I came back, the ship was gone, and I-I wasn’t sure who I should call and…”

“Enough,” snapped Mr Lux. “We’ve wasted enough time. I’ve got a conference call with the board in five minutes. Let’s go.” He turned around and retreated upstairs. Miss Evangelista glanced around apologetically before hurrying after her boss.

“Can you believe this nonsense?” demanded Anita in a furious whisper.

“Nothing to be done about it now,” said River, placatingly. “Proper Dave, let’s leave as soon as we have clearance.”

He looked as frustrated as everyone else, but nodded at River. The tension lingered in the air for the rest of the day, though thankfully they didn’t see much of Mr Lux and Miss Evangelista.

The following day was much the same, and Rose spent her time reading the new books she’d purchased while lounging in her favourite aft deck enclave. Toward the end of the third day, they had another stop on Lionera, one of the twelve moons of Glia.

Unlike the outpost of Cobbi, the stop on Lionera was an open air spaceport adjoining a massive botanic garden. It was a tranquil expanse of lush greenery with flowering shrubs, elaborate water features, and various birds and butterflies flittering through the warm air. It was the perfect spot to stretch their legs and breathe in some fresh air away from the confined space of the ship.

Rose had an enjoyable walk with River, as they continued to speak about the rest of Rose’s time at Oxford.

“I’m still not entirely sure how to handle the UNIT situation,” said Rose, as they strolled through a section dedicated entirely to lilies.

“What do you want to do?” asked River.

“I mean, I want to help,” said Rose. “But…I don’t like being manipulated.”

“Well, think about it from a different perspective then,” said River. “What do you like about UNIT?”

Rose frowned as she considered it. “I think UNIT does do a lot of good,” she said, finally. “Yes, they are very military-minded, but science has a heavy presence alongside it. And I like the people I’ve met so far.”

“Tell me more about them,” said River.

“I mean, I already told you about Jenny,” said Rose. “She’s extremely brilliant, and very good at what she does. I trust her. And well, there’s Mels.”

River smiled softly. “Yes, you said,” she replied.

“I don’t know her very well, but she is sincere, in a way I can’t describe,” said Rose. “And she’s very good in a crisis.”

“And does it appeal to you, knowing you’d be helping them if you do end up helping out UNIT from time to time?” asked River.

“Of course it does,” said Rose. “Besides, UNIT has come through in a crisis before. With St Matilda’s, with Godrin, with Ilmatar, even with the mess created by Rees. And yes, I disagree with the bureaucracy of it all, and I don’t like being lied to, but I think Jenny is right. I need to sit down with General Lethbridge-Stewart and have this conversation before making a decision.”

“Sounds like you’ve already decided the path forward,” smiled River.

“Guess so,” said Rose, smiling back.

River checked the time. “Should be about time to head back,” she said. “Speaking of which,” she said, pulling out her PDA-like device, “I need to send a message to our backup.”

“We have backup?” asked Rose, surprised. It was the first she was hearing about it.

“Not the team, backup for you and me,” said River, with an enigmatic smile. She typed out a message that read - ‘The Library. Come as soon as you can x’

“With a kiss?” asked Rose, slightly amused.

“He’ll find it funny,” chuckled River.

“Who?” asked Rose.

“It’s a surprise,” winked River.

Rose rolled her eyes, as they reached the ship. Proper Dave was stepping outside and he waved at them when they approached.

“Everyone else is on board already,” he said. “I’m just going to head to the gift shop. My little girl wants this bad wolf figurine, and this shop has them in stock.”

Rose’s heart leapt and she glanced at River to see if she reacted to the words, and saw a small enigmatic smile on her lips.

“Alright, we’ll see you soon,” said River, and she and Rose went inside the ship.

Rose was determined to finish her book, and she went to the aft deck with it, not even quite registering the slight jolt a few minutes later when the ship took off. About forty minutes later, Other Dave ran up to the aft deck and deflated when he saw Rose.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I was hoping she’d be here,” he said.

“Who?” asked Rose, standing up.

“Miss Evangelista,” he said.

“Don’t tell me,” said Rose, shocked. “She’s not on board again?” At his nod, she raised her eyebrows. “I thought Proper Dave said everyone had been back on board this time.”

“Everyone was, but then she must have gone back out for something,” said Other Dave, rolling his eyes. “I swear that woman would confuse the escape hatch for the bathroom.”

He turned and left, presumably to report to the others they had to go back for Miss Evangelista again. Rose hurried downstairs, to find an extremely frustrated group of people, with River telling Proper Dave they had to turn back around and return to Lionera.

Suffice it to say, the mood on the ship was tenser than ever by the time they were in orbit around the Library the following day.

“Our best strategy is to land near the equator,” said River, as the team gathered on the bridge. “The east entrance will be the best way into the primary structure.”

“Will we need spacesuits?” asked Proper Dave.

“Yes,” said River. “We have no idea what atmospheric conditions will greet us on the surface, so until we know there’s no cause for concern, we will suit up. I suggest we ready our backpacks, suit up, and meet back here in an hour. Make sure you pack a lunch.”

The group dispersed, and Rose followed River to their cabin. The suits were made from a lightweight white material and it was easy enough to put on over her fitted black trousers and black tank top. The boots were sturdy but not heavy, and there was a plastic ring around the neck of the suit which would be used to connect the helmet to seal the suit.

“They come equipped with a neural relay unit in the communicator,” explained River, as she helped Rose into the suit.

“What’s that?” asked Rose, curiously.

River tapped the left side of the plastic ring where there was a tiny panel with a row of green lights. “The neural relay connects with your brain waves, makes communication easier,” she explained. “With helmets on, we’ll only be able to communicate via the suits.”

“Right,” nodded Rose. “Do we need anything else?”

River shook her head, handing Rose her helmet. “Have you got your lunch?”

“Yeah, chicken and some salad,” nodded Rose, indicating her packed backpack. Her precious possessions were in her archaeologist’s case, tucked into the inside pocket of her suit, but the backpack contained her lunch, a change of clothes, and miscellaneous equipment needed for surveying the Library.

Like River, Rose pulled her hair into a high ponytail before she and River went down to the bridge. The team was waiting already, and Proper Dave was sitting in the pilot’s chair.

“I can take us down to the planet whenever you want,” he said, glancing at River.

“Go ahead,” nodded River.

The ship descended, and Rose was fascinated as the surface of the planet came into view. From orbit, it had looked nondescript, a bit grey, and it wasn’t too different when they got down to the surface. Tall, spire-like buildings in a steel grey colour were built all across the surface of the planet, and Rose was fascinated to see some kind of a monorail connecting various buildings, though none of them were in motion at the moment. Golden sunlight filtered over the planet, and the ship descended on a landing dock built into the side of an extremely tall building with a huge dome-like structure in the centre.

The ship gave a slight jolt when it touched down, and River glanced around at everyone.

“Helmets on,” she said.

Everyone popped on their helmets which clicked in place automatically. Rose was expecting it to be stuffy and uncomfortable but the helmet was surprisingly comfortable.

“Comm. check,” said River, and Rose jumped slightly when the voice came out of a built-in speaker by her left ear.

“Check,” replied Proper Dave.

“Check,” said Rose, and everyone else followed suit.

“Good, visors dark, torches out,” said River, and waited until everyone was ready. “Well, everyone, let’s go to the Library, shall we?”

Chapter Text

The silence on the surface of the Library was entirely unnerving.

Rose followed closely after River, with Anita behind her, followed by Mr Lux and Miss Evangelista, and the Daves bringing up the rear.

There was an outdoor walkway leading from the docking port, where Proper Dave had parked the ship, to the main dome, and apart from the sound of their boots, the place was silent. River had her PDA-like device in her hand, and she peered at something on it, and Rose swore she heard her chuckle.

Rose almost asked her what that was about, but they reached a pair of double doors that would lead inside the Library. River reached over and pushed the doors open, and they swung open noiselessly in the silence.

The interior was dimly lit with old-fashioned shaded lamps, and Rose was surprised at the vintage look of the place. It reminded her a bit of the Bodleian, and wondered briefly if the Library had been fashioned after it. The long hallway was lined with many bookshelves but River continued to lead the way straight down toward another pair of double doors.

As the group approached the doors, Rose was shocked to realise she could hear frantic voices speaking beyond the door.

River held up a hand, silently telling everyone to stop. She tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge.

“Other Dave, we need to open up this access point,” said River.

“Right,” said Other Dave, slipping past the others to join River at the door. He set his backpack on the floor and pulled out a little metal square which he placed right in the middle of the two doors. “Stand back.”

Everyone obligingly stepped back, and the square glowed briefly for a moment before blasting the doors apart in a flash of bright light.

River was the first one to move, and she patted Other Dave’s shoulder in thanks as she went toward the room beyond the breached doors. Rose hurried after her, as the rest of the group followed suit.

A male voice was speaking, and Rose’s brow furrowed at the words.

“Reminder. The Library has been breached. Others are coming,” he said, and there was a slight mechanical quality to it. “Reminder. The Library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The Library has been breached…” It kept repeating the words, but as they stepped into a large dome-like chamber, Rose’s eyes widened behind the darkened visor of her helmet.

A man and a woman stood in the middle of the dome, looking shocked to see all of them.

Rose recognised the man, and her lips parted in shock.

He was tall, slim in a foxy kind of a way, with really, really great brown hair, dressed in a tight blue suit over a burgundy Oxford shirt, and a floral patterned tie around his neck. He wore bright red plimsolls, and he turned to their group with a look of utter shock.

River was the first to reach him. “Hello, sweetie,” she greeted.

The backup, realised Rose. No wonder she hadn’t told Rose that she’d invited the Doctor to the Library.

The Doctor, on the other hand, looked at her with an unfriendly look. “Get out,” he said, flatly.

Rose’s eyes widened at the rudeness, before she narrowed her eyes.

The woman with him was in her thirties, with dark red hair in a ponytail, dressed like she came from the early twenty first century. At his words, she gave him an admonishing look. “Doctor,” she said, with apparent exasperation.

The Doctor ignored her, brushing past River to look at the rest of them. “All of you. Turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away,” he said, and Rose was torn between fascination at meeting another version of the Doctor and shocked at how rude he was being. “Tell your grandchildren you came to the Library and lived. They won’t believe you.”

River appeared to be unperturbed. “Pop your helmets, everyone. We've got breathers,” she said.

Rose hastily fumbled for the latch, and started to take her helmet off.

“How do you know they’re not androids?” asked Anita.

“Because I do,” replied River.

The Doctor turned to River in exasperation but just then, Rose finally managed to get her helmet off, and his eyes swivelled to her. She saw his brown eyes widen impossibly and his mouth dropped open in apparent shock.

“Hello,” she said, with a small smile.

In two quick strides, he was standing right in front of her, and he shocked Rose by grabbing her by the arms, just above her elbows, in a shockingly tight grip. He was quite tall but he lowered his face to look at her, still with that astonished look on his face.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” he whispered, his voice sounding a bit hoarse.

Rose’s eyebrows shot up, and she would have protested at the way his fingers tightened on her arms, if she hadn’t seen the look in his eyes.

He looked utterly devastated, abject sorrow etched into the depths of those brown eyes, staring at her with utter pain emanating from his very being. Rose was stunned into silence because this had never happened.

The Doctor had never been sad to see her. Not even the Scottish silver-haired Doctor, who’d had to deal with her not recognising him right away, had looked this heartbroken when he’d met her. Rose swallowed roughly, searching his eyes for answers she was sure she had no right to just yet, as a pit of anxiety started building in her stomach.

Mr Lux’s voice cut through the air like an unwanted intrusion. “Who is this?” he demanded, as he rounded on River. “You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives.”

Rose heard River respond with something snarky which had Mr Lux barking for Miss Evangelista, but she ignored it.

“Doctor?” she whispered.

She saw his eyes flutter slightly, as they dropped to her mouth, before drifting to the fading mark on the side of her neck.

His grip loosened and he stood up straighter, but he didn’t let go of her. “Rose,” he whispered, brokenly.

Rose hastily removed her gloves and shook his grip off briefly before grabbing both of his hands with hers. His eyes widened and he looked down at their hands as a shuddering breath escaped him.

“Rose,” he said again, his voice stronger this time.

“I hate to interrupt,” came River’s voice, and she genuinely sounded apologetic. “But you came through the north door, yeah?”

The Doctor heaved an annoyed sigh. “Please, just leave,” he said, clearly speaking to River judging by the cant of his head but without taking his eyes off Rose. “I'm asking you seriously and properly, just leave.”

Rose gave him a questioning look, but he simply tightened his grip on her hands. He seemed to have gotten over the shock of seeing her, but now that he had, he didn’t seem to want to look away from her or stop touching her. Usually, around other people at the very least, he was a bit more discreet, but either this version of him had less inhibitions or it was something else entirely. What that something else might entail made Rose’s anxiety grow.

“What’s going on here?” asked Rose, trying her best to focus on the issue at hand.

He blinked and tilted his head in the group’s direction once again. “Hang on. Did he say expedition?”

“My expedition,” replied Mr Lux snootily. “I funded it.”

“Archaeologists,” said the Doctor, seemingly to himself. Rose felt his grip on her left hand loosen slightly and his fingers pressed against the inside of her wrist in a touch that was too deliberate to be casual. “Early in your timeline,” he murmured to her.

“I’m tagging along,” said Rose.

The Doctor released her right hand but kept a hold of her left hand, palm sliding back down to entwine their fingers in a well-practised move. He finally looked away from Rose to glance at River, and the rest of the people in the room. His gaze lingered for a moment on the redheaded woman who’d been with him, and Rose saw that the woman was staring at Rose with a shocked expression on her face. The feeling of anxiety grew worse again.

River smiled at the Doctor. “Professor River Song, archaeologist,” she said, holding out her hand.

He raised an eyebrow. “River Song, lovely name,” he said, ignoring her extended hand. “As you’re leaving, and you’re leaving now,” he added, in a tone that brooked no argument, “you need to set up a quarantine beacon.”

“What?” asked Rose, glancing at River who was looking at the Doctor with an inscrutable expression.

He squeezed her hand briefly but continued speaking to River. “Code wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again,” he said, and Rose felt a shiver climb up her spine at the seriousness of his tone. When the Doctor said something like that, the smart thing to do was listen. “Not one living thing, not here, not ever,” he added, and his gaze snapped to Anita who had moved slightly. “Stop right there. What’s your name?”

Anita blinked in shock. “Anita,” she answered.

“Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you’re safely back in your ship,” he said, gravely. He looked at the rest of the people in the room. “Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand.”

Rose tugged on his hand because she could see everyone was torn between being nervous and sceptical. “Are we in danger?” she asked.

His gaze snapped to hers and lingered. “Yes,” he said, finally. “Yes, we are in danger. All of us!” he added, looking around at the group once more. He paused when he got to Other Dave, who was at the rear of the group and closest to the door they’d come from. “You. Who are you?”

“Er, Dave,” he replied, with a nervous glance at Rose. “Well, Other Dave, because that’s Proper Dave the pilot, he was the first Dave, so when we…”

The Doctor interrupted his babbling pointedly. “Other Dave,” he said. “The way you came, does it look the same as before?”

Rose’s brow furrowed and she looked at River, whose eyes had narrowed sharply.

Other Dave glanced down the hallway. “Oh,” he said, as a worried expression crossed his face. “It’s a bit darker.”

“How much darker?” asked the Doctor.

“I could see where we came through just like a moment ago,” said Other Dave, nervously. “I can’t now.”

The Doctor nodded grimly. “Seal up this door. We’ll find another way out,” he said.

Mr Lux had evidently had enough. “We’re not looking for a way out,” he snapped, with a glare at the Doctor. “Miss Evangelista?”

“I wouldn’t bother,” said Rose, before Miss Evangelista could bring out the forms.

Miss Evangelista stopped and nodded, which seemed to infuriate Mr Lux. “Oh? You’re taking orders from her now?” he demanded.

“Bureaucracy is not our concern at the moment, if everyone here is in danger,” snapped Rose, and she saw the redheaded woman’s eyebrows shoot up as a small smile lifted the corner of her lips.

Mr Lux turned his glare on her. “My family built this library. I have rights,” he said.

“You have a mouth that won’t stop,” said River, sharply, before turning to the Doctor. “What’s the danger here?”

The Doctor glanced curiously at River, but Rose didn’t see any recognition in his eyes. Either he was pretending not to know her (which wasn’t unlikely given they were both time travellers), or he didn’t know her.

“Something came to this library and killed everything in it,” he said. “Killed a whole world.”

“That was a hundred years ago,” said River. “The Library’s been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here’s long dead.”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. “Bet your life?” he asked, archly.

River, on the other hand, grinned like it was the best thing she’d ever heard. “Of course,” she said. She gave a nod to Other Dave, and he went over to begin sealing the door.

“Unbelievable,” said Mr Lux. “You’re taking orders from him?”

Everyone ignored him, and the Doctor looked at Rose. “Torch?” he asked.

Rose nodded and picked up the torch she’d dropped along with the gloves to hand it to him. He smiled at her in thanks and shone the torch all around the round room, and Rose suppressed a slight shiver at some of the dark recesses of the room. Something about the darkness was frightening, and the Doctor’s warning about staying in the light was ringing in her ears.

“Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark,” murmured the Doctor, as a hush fell over the room. “But they’re wrong, because it’s not irrational. It’s Vashta Nerada.”

“What’s Vashta Nerada?” asked the redheaded woman.

The Doctor didn’t answer immediately. “It’s what’s in the dark,” he said, eventually. “It’s what’s always in the dark.” He shook his head. “Lights!” he shouted, and Rose jumped at the sudden change in his demeanour. “That’s what we need, lights. You got lights?” he asked, directing the last part at Rose.

“Yes,” nodded Rose. “What do we do?”

A small, proud look passed over his face. “Form a circle, safe area. Big as you can, lights pointing out,” he said.

Rose glanced at River, who nodded immediately.

“Do as he says,” said River. Mr Lux sputtered indignantly but River ignored him. “Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door’s secure, then help Anita. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the Library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago.”

Rose couldn’t help but smile at how quickly and efficiently River put the team to work, and how easily they obeyed her. Over the past four days, she’d learned that the expedition team had come with quite strong personalities, and River’s ability to lead them had impressed Rose like nothing else. She could only hope to be half as good as River some day.

River wasn’t done though. “Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor,” she said, before looking at the Doctor and Rose. “You two, with me.”

“Give us a moment, River,” said Rose, and River nodded and hurried behind the large circular desk in the middle of the room underneath the massive skylight.

Rose turned to the Doctor. “Tell me what’s going on,” she whispered. “I don’t mean what’s going on here,” she clarified before he could respond. “I mean, with you.”

He stared at her, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

Rose sighed and squeezed his hand. “I know it’s an out of time meeting, so you’re limited in what you can tell me,” she said, making sure to keep her voice low enough for only the two of them to hear. “But you’re not alright.”

He sighed softly. “No,” he admitted, and Rose was struck by how utterly exhausted he looked. “No, I’m not alright. I-” He paused and took a breath. “I’m not sure how much I can tell you.”

“That’s okay,” said Rose, gently. “We will figure it out. Let’s get everyone here safe first, alright?”

He released the breath he was holding and nodded, before slowly tilting his head down until his mouth was right near her ear. “God, I’ve missed you,” he murmured, and Rose flushed at the achingly sweet longing in his voice. “So much.” His lips brushed against the shell of her ear, and Rose shivered.

She pulled back slightly to look at him, as a hundred questions rose in her mind, questions she knew she couldn’t ask. Because the Doctor looked heartbroken to see her, and his eyes refused to look away like he hadn’t seen her for so, so long.

The implications weren’t promising, so Rose was the first one to turn away, and her gaze caught onto the redheaded woman who had been staring at her and the Doctor unashamedly like watching her favourite tv show.

When she noticed Rose looking, her smile widened and she walked up to the two of them.

“You’re Rose?” asked the woman.

“Er, yeah,” said Rose, slightly taken aback at why she looked so happy to see her.

“He found you,” she grinned, and Rose was surprised to see a sheen of tears in her eyes.

“Donna,” said the Doctor, with a note of warning in his voice.

“What?” she asked, turning to him. “I’ve had to put up with you moping ‘round for so long and now…”

“Donna,” interrupted the Doctor, sharply. “This isn’t Rose. I mean, yes, she is, but not…” He paused and looked at Rose with a slightly helpless expression on his face.

“What he means is,” said Rose, ignoring the anxious pit in her stomach. “I am from an earlier point in his timeline.”

Donna’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand,” she said.

“The Doctor and I don’t always meet in the right order,” said Rose. “This is one of those times, so whatever happens to me or wherever I am, that’s all in my future and hasn’t happened yet.” The Doctor’s grip on her hand tightened impossibly and she couldn’t mask the slight gasp of pain. His grip loosened immediately and he stroked his thumb over her hand in a silent apology.

“But you know now, so can’t you…” started Donna.

“No,” said Rose, quickly. “No, we can’t change it.” She looked at the Doctor, expecting him to agree but he was glancing away. “We can’t change it,” repeated Rose, staring at him until he looked at her.

His dark gaze met hers and Rose returned it fiercely, without backing down. With a deep sigh, he relented.

“We can’t change it,” he nodded.

Rose nodded, relieved. She could see River getting impatient and turned to the Doctor and Donna.

“We have to help these people first, and then we can sort this out,” she said.

Donna nodded. “I’ll go help set up the lights,” she said.

Rose smiled at her in thanks. “Nice to meet you, Donna er,” she paused.

“Noble,” replied Donna, with a smile. “Donna Noble.”

“Nice to meet you, Donna Noble,” smiled Rose. “I’m Rose Tyler.”

Donna grinned before hurrying over to where Miss Evangelista, Anita and Other Dave were huddled.

Rose turned to the Doctor, only to find him already watching her with a fond smile that made her blush.

“Come on, let’s help River,” she said, tugging on his hand.

The Doctor nodded, as he and Rose went toward River, who was unpacking her backpack behind the round desk.

“Thanks,” she told the Doctor when they approached.

“For what?” asked the Doctor.

“The usual,” smiled River. “For coming when I call.”

The Doctor’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, that was you?” he asked.

River paused and glanced at Rose, before looking at the Doctor. “You’ve been acting like you don’t know me,” she said, as if just realising it.

“There’s a fairly good reason for that,” said the Doctor.

River stared at him in shock. “Oh,” she said, sounding oddly hurt. “You don’t know who I am.”

Rose’s eyes widened and she looked at the Doctor, who stared at River impassively, confirming River’s words.

“Right, well, that complicates things,” said River, with forced cheer in her tone. She brushed a nonexistent strand of loose hair away from her face like a nervous habit, but the Doctor’s arm shot out and grabbed her wrist with lightning quick speed.

“Doctor,” began Rose, shocked.

“The ring,” said the Doctor, looking at the ring with the fire red stone on River’s left hand. “Where did you get it?”

River didn’t struggle against his grip. “It was given to me as a gift,” she said, her tone issuing a challenge.

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed. “A gift?” he asked sceptically. “That is not a ring someone hands out as a gift,” he snapped.

River smiled a borderline impudent smile. “What can I say, she’s very fond of me,” she said. The Doctor looked unamused, and River smiled and dropped the attitude. “I didn’t pry it from her cold, dead hands, Doctor.”

The Doctor glared at her, like he didn’t believe her. Rose decided it was high time she intervened.

She placed a hand on the Doctor’s arm, the one that was gripping River’s wrist. “Doctor,” she said. “Stop it.”

He looked at her, and slowly released River’s wrist, though he still eyed her mistrustfully.

“I’m guessing you know who the ring belongs to?” she asked. The Doctor nodded briefly. “Can you tell me who it is?”

“No,” he said, regret evident in his tone.

Rose was disappointed, but it hadn’t been unexpected. “That’s fine, but if River says it was given to her as a gift, I believe her,” she said, firmly.

The Doctor looked unconvinced but at Rose’s insistent look, he nodded.

The tense standoff was interrupted by a strange alarm. Everyone started looking around as the alarm kept ringing.

“Sorry, that was me,” said Proper Dave, waving them over to a terminal. “Trying to get through into the security protocols. I seem to have set something off.”

“What is that? Is that an alarm?” asked Rose, as they hurried toward Proper Dave.

Even as she spoke, the ringing was familiar.

“Doctor,” said Donna. “That sounds like…”

“It is,” nodded the Doctor. “It’s a phone.”

Dave shrugged helplessly. “I’m trying to call up the data core, but it’s not responding. Just that noise,” he said.

“But it’s a phone,” said Donna.

For the first time since he’d seen her, the Doctor let go of Rose, and stepped toward the terminal. “Let me try something,” he said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

Rose noticed that it was the same one that the Northern Doctor had had, and she supposed he hadn’t changed it between regenerations this time.

Whatever he was doing though, didn’t appear to be working as the words ‘Access Denied’ kept flashing on the screen.

“Okay, doesn’t like that,” he murmured. “Let’s try something else.”

The screen flickered to life, and Rose’s eyes widened when they saw a girl about eight or nine years old, sitting in an ordinary living room. She looked at them in surprise and moved closer.

“Hello,” she said. “Are you in my television?”

The Doctor hesitated. “Well, no,” he said, glancing at Rose. “I’m, I’m sort of in space. Er, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple grid security processor.”

The girl looked confused, not that Rose blamed her. “Would you like to speak to my Dad?” she asked.

“Dad or your Mum. That’d be lovely,” said the Doctor, in a gentle voice.

The girl frowned lightly. “I know you,” she said. “You’re in my library.”

The Doctor’s eyebrows shot up. “Your library?” he asked.

The girl’s frown deepened. “The Library has never been on the television before. What have you done?”

The Doctor glanced at Rose briefly before looking back at the screen. “Er, well, I just rerouted the interface,” he said. No sooner that the words were out, the screen blinked out and the words ‘Access Denied’ started flashing once more.

“So much for that,” said Rose. “Who was it?”

“I’m not sure,” said the Doctor, and ran a hand through his hair, somehow making it stand even more on end than it already was, which made it even better-looking. Rose felt the back of her neck flush and she glanced away, internally berating herself for getting distracted.

“I need another terminal,” continued the Doctor, running to the terminal on the other side of the dome. “Keep working on those lights. We need those lights!”

River and Rose followed after him, with River telling the rest of them to keep working on the lights.

“Could you have tapped into an unrelated frequency?” asked River.

“And the girl just happened to know we were in the Library?” asked the Doctor, sceptically. “I kinda doubt that.”

His speech patterns were a bit more casual than Rose was used to; if she really paid attention, she could almost think he sounded more like her. While her Doctor spoke in Received Pronunciation, he had a hint of Scouse deep in his posh voice. Both the Scottish Doctor and the Northern Doctor had quite distinct accents, but with this Doctor, there was no hint of an underlying accent - he sounded like he was from London. She remembered the Scottish Doctor telling her that his regenerations were often influenced by the people around him, and Rose wondered if she’d been around for this regeneration as well.

The thought was sobering. She was acutely aware of her human life span and she was concerned at how quickly the Doctor appeared to be burning through regenerations if she’d been with him through two regenerations at this point.

Then, she thought of the sense of profound loss in the Doctor’s eyes when he’d seen her earlier, and she wondered if it was because the end had already come, and she was dead.

Her dark thoughts were interrupted when random books started flying off the shelves, and Rose had to duck to avoid being pelted in the face by a heavy-looking tome.

“What’s going on?” shouted Rose, looking to the Doctor for answers.

“I don’t know,” he replied, as the books continued to fly. “I didn’t do that.” He rounded on Proper Dave. “Did you do that?”

“Not me,” said Proper Dave, as they all continued to dodge and duck from the flying books.

The Doctor had turned back to his screen which read ‘CAL ACCESS DENIED’. The books suddenly stopped flying around, and he looked between the screen and the group.

“What’s Cal?” asked the Doctor.

Mr Lux crossed his arms. “I don’t know,” he said, in a way that was obvious he definitely knew something.

Rose rolled her eyes and turned to the Doctor. “What’s causing it? Is it the little girl?” she asked, lowering her voice so only the Doctor and River could hear.

“But who is the little girl?” asked River. “Why did she say it’s her Library?”

“Whoever she is, Mr Lux definitely knows more than he’s saying,” said Rose, with a pointed glance at him.

Mr Lux wasn’t wearing his helmet and appeared to be staring off into the distance. Rose also noticed Donna speaking to Miss Evangelista, and she was sort of glad that Donna appeared to be making an effort to include Miss Evangelista. If Rose hadn’t been so busy making sure the Doctor and River didn’t start arguing again, she would have loved to join them.

The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “Let’s ask him, shall we?” he murmured to them. “Mr Lux, what’s Cal?” he asked, raising his voice.

Mr Lux sniffed. “Sorry, you didn’t sign your personal experience contracts,” he said.

The Doctor approached him with a narrow-eyed glare. “Mister Lux. Right now, you’re in more danger than you’ve ever been in your whole life. And you’re protecting a patent?” he demanded.

Mr Lux glared back stubbornly. “I’m protecting my family’s pride,” he snapped.

The Doctor’s glare intensified. “Well, funny thing, Mister Lux. I don’t want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important,” he said.

Rose’s eyes widened. Blimey, he was just as rude as he’d been in his previous incarnation.

Mr Lux stubbornly refused to say anything further. The Doctor shook his head in disbelief and he returned to Rose’s side, taking her hand and leading her away to a quieter corner, nodding at River to follow.

“Tell me exactly what happened here a hundred years ago,” he said.

River glanced at Rose, who nodded slightly. “There was a message from the Library,” said River, to the Doctor. “The lights are going out. Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years.”

“It has taken that long for the seals to be decoded,” added Rose. “And there was a second part to the message.”

“Which was?” asked the Doctor.

“Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors,” said Rose. “Yes, I know it doesn’t make sense,” she said, before the Doctor could.

He smiled, his eyes softening like melting chocolate and Rose couldn’t help but lean a bit closer to him, drawn in by him as always.

River cleared her throat, and they both jumped and looked at her. She was smiling like she wasn’t unused to this, and that only made Rose blush harder.

“I’d like to point out something obvious,” said River, before her mirth vanished. “We haven’t found any bodies.”

Rose frowned, and saw the Doctor do the same before a loud scream echoed through the air.

There was a split second when everyone froze, but the Doctor was the first to jump into action, and he glanced around quickly.

“There!” he pointed, and Rose noticed that a random wood panel in the wall had opened up.

The Doctor led the charge, and Rose followed closely behind with River and Donna right after, as the rest of the group trailed behind. There was a short passageway on the other side of the wall, and it led into a chamber that looked like a lecture hall picked right out of Oxford. There were books piled haphazardly throughout the room, and the dark, dusty room was otherwise rather silent.

Rose was too busy looking at the lecture hall and marvelling at how similar it looked to the ones at Oxford but she was startled when she heard Donna gasp, and her eyes swivelled to the chair in the middle of the hall, atop which sat a skeleton in rags.

The Doctor came to a stop a few feet from the chair, his eyes locked onto the skeleton. “Everybody, careful,” he warned. “Stay in the light.”

“You keep saying that,” said Proper Dave. “I don’t see the point.”

“Who screamed?” asked Rose, looking around at the group to see who was missing.

“Miss Evangelista,” replied Other Dave.

River reached for her suit’s comm. “Miss Evangelista, please state your current…” she trailed off when her voice echoed from nearby.

Rose’s eyes widened as she looked at the skeleton as a horrifying sense of realisation fell over the group. River bravely moved forward and touched the left side of the skeleton’s collar and Rose saw the neural relay unit, which made her feel sick to her stomach.

“It’s her,” said River, her voice grim.

“We heard her scream a few seconds ago,” said Anita, shakily. “What could do that to a person in a few seconds?”

“It took a lot less than a few seconds,” said the Doctor, ominously.

“What did?” asked Rose.

Suddenly, they all heard Miss Evangelista’s voice, echoing like warbly static around them. “Hello? Excuse me? Hello?”

“What the fuck,” muttered Rose.

River sighed. “She’s ghosting,” she said, her voice heavy. “The neural relay in the communicator lets you send thoughts, and sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Just brainwaves, not quite catching up to the rest of the body.”

Rose had to physically clench her fists to fight back the feeling of growing nausea. Having dealt with the Serapheem, her understanding of what life meant had expanded somewhat, and while those brainwaves were still around, it was still Miss Evangelista. They would continue to be her until those waves had dissipated into whatever the next matter form they took.

“Hello? Excuse me? I’m sorry,” she kept repeating.

“I don’t want to sound horrible,” said Other Dave. “But couldn’t we just, you know?”

River spoke before Rose could lose her cool. “This is her last moment. No, we can’t. A little respect, thank you,” she snapped.

“I can’t see,” said Miss Evangelista, and Rose’s heart clenched in sorrow at how lost she sounded. “Where am I? Where’s that woman? The nice woman. Is she there?”

“What woman?” asked Mr Lux.

Donna cleared her throat, and Rose could see that she was holding back tears. “I think she means me,” she said. She looked at the Doctor, and then at Rose and River. “What do I do?”

“Help her,” said River.

“But she’s dead,” said Donna.

“Yeah, help her,” said the Doctor, gravely.

“Hello? Is that the nice woman?” asked Miss Evangelista.

Donna swallowed roughly. “Yeah. Hello. Yeah, I’m here,” she said.

“What I said before, about being stupid,” said Miss Evangelista. “Don’t tell the others, they’ll only laugh. Not Rose, or Professor Song, but the rest of them. They’ll only laugh.”

Donna looked at them, and Rose had to hold back her own tears.

“‘Course I won’t,” assured Donna. “‘Course I won’t tell them.”

“Don’t tell the others, they’ll only laugh,” said Miss Evangelista. “Don’t tell the others, they’ll only laugh. Don’t tell the…”

She kept repeating the words despite Donna’s tearful reassurances that she wouldn’t tell anyone, until Miss Evangelista’s words dissolved into nonsense followed by a hollow, echoing silence as the last of the green bars on the neural relay unit went dark.

“She’s gone,” said River, finally. “She’s dead.”

Chapter Text

It was a subdued group that returned to the circular dome room.

The Doctor had led the way out of the chamber where Miss Evangelista’s remains were, and his grip on Rose’s hand was gentle but no less desperate. He met her gaze and pulled her to a quiet but still well-lit corner of the dome room as the rest of the group followed slowly.

“Tell me about River,” he murmured, his eyes flicking over Rose’s shoulder to where she presumed River was standing.

“She’s my friend,” said Rose. “I trained with a time travelling archaeologist, remember?”

He nodded slowly. “And you trust her?” he asked.

Rose met his gaze unwaveringly. “With my life,” she said.

His eyes bore into hers and softened. “Okay,” he said.

“What’s the Vashta Nerada?” asked Rose.

“I’ll show you,” he said. “You got a packed lunch?”

Rose nodded and took off her backpack, opening it quickly to hand him her container of chicken and salad.

He took it with a grin before turning to the group. “Right, you lot,” he said. “Let’s all meet the Vashta Nerada.” He squeezed Rose’s hand gently before letting go and going over to the edge of where the light ended and the dark began, and crouched on the floor with his sonic screwdriver to begin scanning.

Rose briefly admired the way that tight suit of his stretched enticingly against his slim frame but gave herself a shake and went over to Donna and River.

“Are you alright?” she asked Donna.

Donna shook her head. “That was the most horrible thing I have ever seen,” she said, in a slightly shaky voice.

Rose placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Donna smiled softly in response. “You’re not what I imagined,” she said.

Rose pulled back, slightly stung. She saw River’s eyes narrow, as if ready to jump to her defence.

“The way he speaks about you, makes you sound like you’re a dream, a little delicate dream that he longs for,” continued Donna. “But you…you haven’t flinched once today. Even when he was falling apart at seeing you, you remained steadfast.” Her smile widened. “It’s like you’re what grounds him. The centre of his universe.”

Rose stared at her, at a loss for words. She glanced at River, who smiled softly, as if agreeing with Donna. “I-I don’t know about that,” said Rose.

Donna shrugged. “It’s true,” she said. “And I’m starting to understand why he feels so lost without you.”

Rose swallowed roughly. “Donna,” she said, her voice low. “What’s happened to me?”

“Rose,” warned River, but Rose ignored her.

Donna’s eyes were sad. “I don’t know,” she said, and Rose believed her. “I met him right after he lost you. I tried asking - he never really says what happened. He just said you were gone.”

Rose tried to swallow against the lump in her throat and glanced away. Her suspicions were looking more and more likely. She was dead, she had to be. The way he’d looked at her, the way he had been speaking about her to Donna, he was acting like a widower. Rose knew their forevers would never match up, but this direct confirmation of the future was hitting her far harder than she had expected.

She couldn’t do this, she realised. She couldn’t go on, knowing her death would undo him in this way. That he’d be forced to see her in these moments out of time like some kind of a ghost, reminding him of what he had lost.

“Rose,” she heard River say.

Rose inhaled shakily and closed her eyes for a moment, reigning in the flood of emotions building within her. Rosewater and pistachio, she reminded herself. The Scottish silver-haired Doctor had assured her that nothing was as straightforward as she had assumed. She had to believe that, she had to trust him.

She opened her eyes and smiled at Donna. “Thank you for telling me, Donna,” she said, and glanced at River to reassure her she was fine.

But River was looking at Donna. “You’re Donna Noble?” she asked.

Donna blinked. “Yeah, why?” she asked.

River’s eyes were wide, filled with a soft sense of sorrow, and Rose could see Donna starting to get nervous.

Thankfully, the Doctor let out a triumphant yell, which broke through the tense standoff. Rose shot River a look, who quickly schooled her face back into a calm expression. They went over to where the Doctor was standing at the mouth of a dark hallway.

“Okay, got a live one,” said the Doctor, with a quick glance at Rose when she stood at his shoulder. “That’s not darkness down those tunnels,” he added. “This is not a shadow. It’s a swarm. A man eating swarm.”

He opened Rose’s lunch box and pulled out a chicken leg which he threw into the shadow. Before it could hit the floor, the meat had been devoured clean off the chicken leg, leaving only bone to clatter to the floor.

Rose blinked in astonishment, and the Doctor smiled grimly.

“The piranhas of the air,” he said. “The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh. Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I’ve never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive.”

“What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?” asked Donna, in a tone of slight disbelief.

“Mmm. Earth, and a billion other worlds,” shrugged the Doctor. “Where there’s meat, there’s Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams.”

“If they were on Earth, we’d know,” insisted Donna.

“Not necessarily,” said Rose, thinking of fairies and how few people knew of their existence.

“Every shadow?” asked River, sharply.

“No, but any shadow,” replied the Doctor. Rose was slightly relieved when his demeanour toward River wasn’t as frosty as before.

“What do we do?” asked Rose.

The Doctor met her gaze seriously. “This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere,” he said.

“Schematics,” said Rose, looking at River and Anita.

Anita brightened and nodded, reaching for her handheld device, similar to the one River had. “Okay, let’s have a look,” she said.

The group started to move toward her, but the Doctor held up a hand.

“Actually, Proper Dave?” he said. “Could you stay where you are for a moment?”

Dave stopped and looked at the Doctor in confusion. “Why?” he asked.

Rose noticed it before the Doctor pointed it out, and her eyes widened when she saw that Proper Dave had two shadows, at right angles to one another.

“It’s how they hunt,” said the Doctor, grimly. “They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh.”

Dave’s voice trembled slightly when he spoke. “What do I do?” he asked.

“You stay absolutely still, like there’s a wasp in the room,” he said. “Like there’s a million wasps.”

“We’re not leaving you, Dave,” said River, at once.

“‘Course we’re not leaving him,” said the Doctor. “Where’s your helmet? Don’t point, just tell me.”

“On the floor, by my bag,” said Dave.

Rose went to get it, making sure not to cross his shadow. She picked up the helmet and handed it to the Doctor, who slowly moved toward Dave to put the helmet on.

“Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We’ll need everything we’ve got,” he said.

As the rest of the expedition started putting their helmets on, Rose unzipped the suit and started to take it off.

“What are you doing?” asked the Doctor.

“Giving my suit to Donna,” said Rose, stepping out of the suit.

“I can’t…” started Donna, but Rose shook her head and held out the suit.

“It’s the best way, go on,” she said. “River, help her get it on, please.”

River nodded and moved over efficiently to help Donna into the suit.

Rose glanced at the Doctor and the annoyed look on his face which she returned with a stubborn one of her own. “I’m not getting into this right now,” she said. Her leggings and tank top underneath were fine enough.

The Doctor moved closer to her, leaning down to whisper into her ear. “We will talk about this later,” he murmured. As he spoke, his hand ran down the top of her shoulder, down her upper arm to curl possessively around her elbow, leaving goosebumps in its wake. He smelled almost citrusy this time around, like limes and oranges, but not in a sickly sweet way, more like a clean, sharp scent, that instantly reminded Rose of a lazy Saturday morning in bed.

Rose stared up at him, and his grip tightened around her elbow, and for a moment, she was certain he was about to pull her into a kiss, but he seemed to recognise they had an audience, and reluctantly let her go.

“Professor, anything I can do with the suit?” he asked, turning to River.

“What good are the damn suits?” demanded Mr Lux. “Miss Evangelista was wearing her suit. There was nothing left.”

River ignored him. “We can increase the mesh density. Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal,” she replied.

“Okay,” nodded the Doctor, and pointed his screwdriver at Proper Dave’s suit. “Eight hundred percent. Pass it on,” he added, tossing the screwdriver to River.

River caught it and nodded, and turned to adjust Anita’s suit.

The Doctor took Rose’s hand. “With me, come on,” he said, pulling her toward the little gift shop.

“Why are we going in here?” asked Rose, following him regardless.

The Doctor pulled the doors to the shop closed behind him, and then turned right around and pinned Rose to the door and his lips descended on hers in a furious kiss. Rose made a noise of shock against his mouth, but she melted into the kiss easily, her eyes falling close. He had beautiful long hands this time with lovely thin fingers and his hands were framing her face with such gentleness while his soft lips kissed her like he was starving for her.

Rose could hardly keep up, because there was a sort of franticness to his kiss, like that very first kiss in the TARDIS library. His tongue swiped across her lips, and Rose opened her mouth with a sigh, and he groaned and pinned her harder against the door, the entire line of his body pressed against hers from the chest down, and Rose couldn’t move an inch, not that she wanted to, not when his tongue was moving inside her mouth with such wanton need.

Her hands had been hanging limply by her side, but she made herself move them to grab at that delightful hair of his which was just as soft as she had imagined it would be, and he moaned a downright filthy moan against her mouth. He tasted like marmalade, sweet and tangy and delicious, and she wanted him closer, closer, closer…

Rose was getting lightheaded - the lack of air, the strong scent of the Doctor all around her, the way every one of her nerve endings felt like they were alight with lightning, she was sure she was about ten seconds from fainting in the Doctor’s arms. Her eyes opened as her vision started to narrow, and the Doctor pulled away briefly, and Rose let the back of her head thunk onto the door behind her, as she panted furiously to catch her breath.

The Doctor’s hands fell away from her face to grab her around the waist, holding her close while she tried to regain her bearings, and Rose’s hands dropped to his shoulders.

“Sorry, love,” he murmured, brushing his lips against the side of her jaw in apology. “I got carried away.”

Rose laughed breathlessly and looked back at him. “Didn’t see me complaining, did you?” she asked, still trying to catch her breath. “What is with us and libraries?”

He chuckled, a low, rich sound that almost made her lose her breath again. “Oh, you have no idea,” he said, and there was a lingering promise in his eyes.

Rose bit her lip when she saw how dark his eyes had gone, with only a thin ring of brown left along the black pupils. Her cheeks flushed and she saw his nostrils flare, which made her blush darken, wondering what his superior alien senses were picking up.

His hands slipped under the hem of her tank top and caressed the skin of her waist. Rose shivered violently at his cool touch and the possessive span of his palms against her body.

He frowned slightly as his hands paused. “Have we been to Paris yet?” he asked.

Rose blinked at him, her brain feeling like molasses. “Huh?” she asked, eloquently.

He smiled, and slowly retracted his hands from under her top. “Paris,” he repeated, his eyes sparkling with a bit of mischief that made Rose smile involuntarily.

“No,” she replied.

“Mm,” he nodded and took a step back from her, letting his hands fall away from her body.

Rose was thankful she had the door behind her, and her knees didn’t buckle embarrassingly as the Doctor stepped away. “Why?” she asked.

He just shook his head. “Where are we?”

“Summer after my first year at Oxford,” she replied.

He smiled then, a soft, nostalgic smile that had Rose smiling back too. “I see,” he said.

Rose pushed herself off the door to step closer to him. “See what?” she asked.

He cupped her chin and tilted her face to his to place a sweet kiss against her lips briefly. “Rosewater and pistachio,” he murmured.

Rose pouted at him, which made him smile and kiss her briefly once more. “Did you drag me in here to snog me?” she asked, when he pulled back.

He chuckled, looking years younger than when she had first seen him. “Yes, as a matter of fact,” he said. “I’m surprised I lasted a whole forty eight minutes and seventeen seconds without snogging you.”

Rose shot him an annoyed look which was ruined by the fact that she was blushing.

His expression turned a bit serious. “There has to be an exit teleport here,” he said. “I could send you back to the TARDIS.”

Rose’s brow furrowed. “What about the others?” she asked.

“The TARDIS wouldn’t recognise them. Only you and Donna, and Donna is safe for the moment in the suit,” he said.

Rose gave him a look. “You already know what I’m going to say,” she said.

“Yes,” he sighed, and then smiled softly with that sad look in his eyes again.

The questions she had rose to the surface once more. “Am I-?”

The insistent knocking from the other side of the door interrupted her, and Rose huffed in frustration.

“We can talk later,” said the Doctor, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Rose nodded and shot him a look that said quite clearly that she would be holding him to that. They left the shop and returned to the dome room, where everyone else was waiting. Rose wondered belatedly if she should have glanced at a reflective surface to make sure she didn’t look like she’d been snogged within an inch of her life, but figured her blush would have given it away regardless.

“Doctor,” said River, urgently. “Look.”

She was pointing at Proper Dave, and Rose had a brief moment of panic, but then she realised he only had a single shadow now.

The Doctor frowned. “Where did it go?” he asked.

“It’s just gone. I looked ‘round, one shadow, see,” said Proper Dave, in a hopeful voice. He was standing still with his back to them, and there was only one shadow left.

“Did you feel anything, like an energy transfer? Anything at all?” asked the Doctor.

“If it’s gone, isn’t it good?” asked Donna.

“They’re never just gone and they never give up,” said the Doctor. “Sonic screwdriver,” he asked, holding out his hand. River threw him the screwdriver and he caught it and twirled it around to point at the floor near Proper Dave. “Well, this one’s benign,” he murmured, with clear confusion in his voice.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” asked Proper Dave.

The Doctor glanced at Rose. “No one, they’re fine,” said the Doctor.

“No seriously, turn them back on,” said Proper Dave.

“They are on,” said Rose.

“I can’t see a ruddy thing,” he said.

The Doctor straightened up. “Proper Dave,” he said, in a calm tone. “Turn around.”

Proper Dave turned around to face the group and his visor was completely dark.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Why can’t I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?” His voice was growing more and more frantic.

“Proper Dave,” said the Doctor, sharply. “I want you to stay still. Absolutely still.”

No sooner were the words out, that Proper Dave’s entire body seized and jerked as if electrocuted.

“Dave!” said the Doctor, frantically, holding up a hand to the others so no one else would try to approach. “Dave? Dave, can you hear me? Are you alright? Talk to me, Dave.”

Silence hung in the library, before Dave finally spoke once more. “I’m fine,” he said. “I’m okay. I’m fine.” There was a pause. “I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m fine. I can’t. Why can’t I?”

Rose felt the blood in her veins turn to ice. “He’s…ghosting,” she said, remembering what had happened to Miss Evangelista.

“I, I can’t,” continued Dave. “Why can’t I? I, I can’t. Why can’t I? I…” The light on his comms unit started to blink.

“He’s gone,” said River.

“Then why is he still standing?” asked Mr Lux.

Dave’s body suddenly jerked again. “Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?”

The Doctor started to take a step forward and Rose grabbed his hand to stop him. He paused and met her admonishing gaze with a small sigh.

“Dave,” said the Doctor, not moving forward. “Can you hear me?”

Dave took a step forward, and the group collectively gasped when the light behind the visor turned on and all that remained visible was a skull inside the helmet.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” asked Dave, as he lurched forward like a demented puppet on a string.

“What the fuck,” muttered Rose.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” said Donna. “What do we do?”

“We need to run,” said the Doctor.

“Where exactly can we run?” asked Other Dave, with a slightly hysterical note in his voice.

Dave moved forward again, taking slow, jerky steps.

“Doesn’t move very fast, does it?” asked River, fumbling through her backpack.

“It’s a swarm in a suit. But it’s learning,” said the Doctor, narrowing his eyes.

“Well, we’re not sticking around for when it learns to run,” said River, pulling out the sonic blaster, the same weapon she’d hit Gabriel Sanders with. “The wall behind us! Duck!”

The group ducked as River fired at the wall, creating a perfect square hole in the wooden wall, opening up an escape route.

“Squareness gun!” said the Doctor and Rose at the same time, and then looked at each other, Rose in surprise, and the Doctor in delight.

“Come on, run, run,” said River, ushering the group toward the exit, as Proper Dave’s suit grew four shadows.

They took off running, ducking through the wall to emerge out into the passageway which happened to be somewhere in the middle of the library stacks. Once they were all through, River turned around and reversed the charge, sealing up the wall once more.

The passageway was dimly lit but there were spots of light, and the group converged on one such spot, as the Doctor tried to sonic the light fitting.

“Trying to boost the power,” he told Rose, when she looked at him questioningly. “Light doesn’t stop them, but it slows them down.”

“So, what’s the plan? Do we have a plan?” asked River.

Before the Doctor could respond, they heard a familiar ‘Hey, who turned out the lights?’ from down the passageway.

“Run!” shouted the Doctor, and the group took off running further down the passageway.

They could hear the swarm occupying Proper Dave’s body giving chase, repeating his words back over and over. They ran across one of the walkways and Rose could see the rose gold light of sunset approaching, and with a start, she realised it would be nighttime soon, which would mean the Vashta Nerada would have even more darkness to hide in.

She glanced at the tense set of the Doctor’s shoulders and realised he was likely thinking the same.

“Through here,” said the Doctor, turning down a hallway.

“Isn’t this the way back to the dome?” asked Anita.

“Yes, it is,” said the Doctor, coming to a halt and pointing at a random point in the wall. “Professor.”

River cut a square in the wall with her gun, and ushered everyone in, as they returned to the now-empty dome room. She sealed the hole back up, and everyone took a moment to catch their breaths, now that they had managed to give the Vashta Nerada the slip for the time being.

Rose glanced up at the skylight and saw a large moon hanging in the orange sky. She supposed the sky had been too bright to see it before, but now, the moon stood out starkly against the rapidly darkening sky.

“We need to check the shadows,” said River.

“Anyone got more chicken?” asked Donna.

River and Anita handed over their lunch boxes, and all three of them dispersed to different parts of the dome, remaining in the light but tossing the chicken legs toward the dark. All three chicken legs were devoured in an instant.

“We’ve got live ones,” said River, grimly, as they all backed up into the light once more.

“They won’t attack until there’s enough of them,” said the Doctor. “But they’ve got our scent now. They’re coming.”

The group took off their helmets while they waited, trying to catch their breaths.

“Finally,” said Donna, exhaling heavily. “These bleedin’ things don’t half drive you nuts.”

Rose could feel the apprehension in the room, and she cast a worried look at the Doctor. He was still scanning the air with the sonic screwdriver and frowning heavily.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered to him.

He glanced down at her. “There’s a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it,” he said.

“What could do that?” asked Rose.

“It’s very hard to interfere with my screwdriver. Practically nothing is strong enough,” he said.

“Apart from wood,” Rose couldn’t help but add.

He shot her a look, even as his lips twitched. “I’m working on that,” he protested. “So what’s new? What’s changed?”

“It’s getting dark,” said Donna.

“It’s a screwdriver. It works in the dark,” said the Doctor, almost dismissively. Rose shot him a look and he smiled sheepishly. “But good suggestion, Donna,” he added.

Donna looked slightly heartened.

“The moon’s clearer,” said Rose. “Could moonrise affect it? Natural satellite interfering with artificial ones?”

The Doctor gave her an impressed look. “Brilliant,” he murmured, and Rose flushed.

“It’s not real,” said Mr Lux. “The moon,” he added, when the Doctor and Rose looked at him in confusion. “It was built as part of the Library. It’s just a Doctor Moon.”

“What’s a Doctor Moon?” asked the Doctor, narrowing his eyes.

“A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet,” said Mr Lux.

“Well, it’s still active,” said the Doctor.

“After 100 years?” asked Rose.

“That’s nothing for a computer. It’s emitting a signal, and someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon,” said the Doctor.

“Could it be that little girl?” asked Donna.

The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “But who is she? How did she get here?”

Rose could see that River’s expression was shifting between worry, confusion and dread, and she broke away from the Doctor’s side to go to her. “River,” she murmured. “You alright?” She had never seen her quite so off her game before, and that in itself was worrying.

River shook her head. “This expedition was my responsibility, Rose,” she whispered. “And now two of our members are dead, and I don’t know what hope there is for the rest of us.” She fiddled with the ring on her finger. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Rose placed a hand on hers, stopping her from worrying the ring. “Tell me about her,” said Rose. “I know you can’t tell me who she is, but tell me about her.”

River met Rose’s eyes and exhaled slowly. “She is beautiful,” she confessed. “Completely out of my league. And so, so brilliant. I have never met anyone like her, and I am grateful everyday that she chose me when she could have had anyone in the universe.”

Rose smiled and squeezed her hand. “Sounds like you love her very much,” she said.

“More than anything,” admitted River.

“Then, we are going to get you back to her,” said Rose, holding her gaze steadily so River could know she was telling the truth.

“Professor?” called Anita.

“Just a moment,” said River. “What if-?”

“It’s important,” insisted Anita. “I have two shadows.”

There was a stunned silence as they all turned to Anita, who now had two shadows.

“Okay. Helmets on, everyone,” said Rose. “Anita, I’ll get yours.” She hurried off and picked up Anita’s helmet, being careful not to cross any shadows.

“It didn’t do Proper Dave any good,” said Anita, her voice shaking as tears gathered in her eyes.

“You’re going to be okay,” said River.

Rose forced herself to smile reassuringly as she put Anita’s helmet on for her. The Doctor came up to stand behind her and pointed his screwdriver at the helmet.

“Hang on,” he said, and with a buzz of the sonic screwdriver, the visor turned dark. “I’ve just tinted her visor. Maybe they’ll think they’re already in there, leave her alone.”

“Will that even work?” demanded Donna.

“Maybe, I don’t know,” said the Doctor, taking Rose’s elbow and pulling her away from Anita. “It’s a swarm, it’s not like we chat.”

“Maybe we should,” said Rose, turning around to look at him.

The Doctor’s gaze dropped to hers. She struggled to pinpoint what the look was, though. It was torn between pride and exasperation.

“River,” called Rose. “We-” She stopped when she noticed a figure at the back of the group.

It seemed like Proper Dave had caught up with them again. “Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Run!” shouted the Doctor, as the group took off once more.

The path was familiar to them now, though it was getting darker as the night approached. When they reached the walkway, the Doctor caught Rose’s hand and came to a halt. Rose met his gaze with a determined look, before turning to River.

“River, take them to safety,” said Rose.

“It’s a carnivorous swarm in a suit,” argued River. “You can’t reason with it.”

“River,” said Rose, as if that would be the final word on it.

River let out a noise of frustration. “Five minutes, no more. I mean it, Mother.”

Rose froze, but River didn’t seem to realise what she had just said. The Doctor’s hand on Rose’s tightened, and she looked at him in shock, but far from looking astonished, he looked almost resigned, as if River’s words had confirmed something he had suspected.

“I’m staying too,” said Donna, stubbornly.

“Donna,” said the Doctor. “Help River and keep the others safe. Rose and I will be right behind you.”

Donna looked exasperated but nodded. “Five minutes,” she said, repeating River’s words as she, River, Other Dave, Anita and Mr Lux ran ahead.

The doors at the other end of the walkway clattered open as Proper Dave ambled in, gaining speed.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

The Doctor stood up taller as he glared at Proper Dave. “You hear that? Those words? That is the very last thought of the man who wore that suit before you climbed inside and stripped his flesh,” he said, his voice full of disgust and loathing. “That’s a man’s soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don’t have the decency to let him go, how about this? Use him. Talk to me. It's easy. Neural relay. Just point and think. Use him, talk to me.”

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system, but you hunt in forests. What are you doing in a library?” asked the Doctor.

Something about the way he said it, triggered something in Rose’s mind. “Paper books,” she said, remembering the conversation she’d had with River on the journey over.

The Doctor looked at her in question, but just then, the Vashta Nerada spoke.

“We did not.”

“What?” asked the Doctor.

“We did not,” they repeated. “We did not come here.”

“Well, of course you did. Of course you came here,” said the Doctor.

“We come from here,” they said.

“But you hatch from trees. From spores in trees,” said the Doctor, still quite confused.

“Doctor,” interrupted Rose. “We are in a forest.”

The Doctor looked at her in confusion. “What?” he asked.

“We are in a forest,” repeated Rose, slowly. “Paper books.”

“Paper books?” he asked, before his eyes widened as the penny dropped. “Paper books. Paper books!” The last one was an exclamation as the realisation sunk in. “The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped and printed and bound. A million, million books, hatching shadows.”

The Vashta Nerada started ambling toward them, evidently not wanting to talk anymore.

“Guess that’s our five minutes done,” said Rose, and she and the Doctor took off running after the others. “Any ideas about what we do?”

“Yes,” he said, pushing open a door and pulling Rose inside. He soniced the lock on the door, and it clicked shut.

It was a reading room, smaller than the one Miss Evangelista had ended up in, but there was some light in the centre of it, and the Doctor and Rose retreated to it, listening out for the Vashta Nerada.

“The entire Library is their forest,” said the Doctor, exhaling heavily.

“Still doesn’t explain where all those people went,” said Rose. “No bones anywhere. If the Vashta Nerada devoured over four thousand people, we would have been tripping over skeletons.” She let out the breath she was holding. “Doctor.”

The Doctor sighed. “Maybe not now, Rose,” he said, tiredly.

She pulled her hand from his and fixed him with a stern look. “Yes, now,” she said, stubbornly. “We both heard her.”

The Doctor sighed again and ran a hand over his face. “She isn’t,” he said, finally. “She isn’t ours, Rose.”

Rose felt a modicum of relief followed by a flood of disappointment which she was determined to ignore. “I thought…Time Lords weren’t…you know, since the curse of the Pythia,” she said, wondering how to say it.

“We aren’t, or we’re not supposed to be,” said the Doctor. He shook his head. “We are venturing into dangerous territory here, Rose.”

Rose nodded slowly. “You still weren’t surprised though,” she said. “When she called me…when she said what she did.”

The Doctor glanced away. “The ring she has, it belongs to someone dear to both of us,” he said.

Rose stared at him, as her heart started to race. “Dear to us?” she repeated, slowly. “Like…a child?”

“Not just like one,” he admitted, reluctantly. “It belongs to our daughter.”

Rose exhaled heavily, feeling a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. Unfortunately, the door slammed open as Proper Dave found them again, and the Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand and they had no choice but to start running again.

She could feel her heart in her throat. They had a child, a daughter.

And River was…River was her daughter-in-law?

Rose briefly closed her eyes, trusting the Doctor to lead her to safety, as her mind raced.

So many questions, so many conflicting feelings.

And all Rose could do at that moment was run from it all.

Chapter Text

River paced the round area of light in the centre of the reading room where they had now taken refuge. It was structured similarly to the dome room, though smaller in size. The dark shadows loomed around them, watching, waiting for them to step out of the light, so they could devour them.

“You alright?”

River looked at Donna, who had approached her. “Yes,” she said, automatically.

Donna’s eyes were knowing and she perched herself onto the desk near River. “I have met their children, all of them,” she whispered. “You weren’t one of them.”

River’s brow furrowed. “Should I have been?” she asked.

Donna blinked in surprise. “You called her mother, back there,” said Donna.

River’s eyes widened as her stomach dropped in horror. She hadn’t even noticed it, but if Donna had noticed, then Rose would have too. God, that was going to be hard to explain.

“I’m,” said River. “I’m not one of theirs.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “When you say all of them…?”

“All five of them,” said Donna.

River smiled softly. “Ah,” she said, and then lowered her voice. “They have six of them.”

Donna’s eyes widened. “But that means…” she said, hope shining in her eyes.

River’s smile grew. “Yes, she does come back,” she said.

“When?” asked Donna, eagerly.

“I’m not entirely sure,” she shrugged. “But she does.”

Donna slumped in obvious relief. “I’m glad,” she said. “Mind you, if they’re going to be so loved up like they’ve been today, it will get old very quickly, but it’d be worth it, for them to be happy.” What had started out as a bit of a rant turned into something soft quite quickly, and River realised just how truly special Donna Noble was.

“Professor Song?” called Other Dave, from the other side of the room. “Do you think the Doctor and Rose are coming back?”

River exhaled softly and smiled at Other Dave. “Yes,” she said.

“How can you be so sure?” asked Anita.

River fiddled with the ring on her hand, and felt the wave of unimaginable power emanating from the fire red stone.

“Be careful with it, my love,” she had told River, as she had slipped the ring on her finger. “It is very powerful, and very fragile. Trust your instincts to guide you, and know that you mean everything to me.”

River had always admired her ability to say something so vulnerable, so openly. River hid her affections behind teasing and sarcasm, only rarely letting her mask slip, but her wife had no such qualms. So much like Rose, in so many ways. Sometimes River wondered how much of it was truly her, and how much belonged to the unimaginable power coursing through her.

“You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it’s from years before you knew them, and it’s like they’re not quite finished. They’re not done yet,” said River, with an enigmatic smile. “It’s a bit like that. The Doctor and Rose, I have seen them in so many ways, facing down entire armies, arguing over a crossword, holding their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren. I have seen time stop for them, the universe held in their palms…and the faith I have in them is unshakeable.” She smiled at Anita, then at Other Dave, Mr Lux, and finally, at Donna. “I believe in them.”

Donna smiled back. “Me too,” she said. She turned to the rest of the group. “We are all getting out of here.”

There was shuffling from the shadows and River tensed, then relaxed when she saw the Doctor and Rose emerge out into the light. They were both subdued, and River had no idea how much they had heard. She searched Rose’s face desperately but she appeared to be lost in thought, so she looked at the Doctor instead, who gave her a soft smile, as if to tell her to leave Rose be for the moment.

River took a deep breath and slipped her mask in place firmly. There would be time to talk later, they were all getting out of here.

“Learn anything?” asked River.

“This is the forest of the Vashta Nerada,” said the Doctor, and River’s eyes widened. “Paper books.”

River exhaled roughly. “Right,” she said. “So what do we do?”

The Doctor glanced at Rose, and squeezed her hand. Rose closed her eyes briefly then looked up at him. A silent conversation passed between them, the kind River had seen countless times. The Doctor’s eyes softened, and Rose’s lips tilted up into a small smile. Then, without caring they had an audience, the Doctor leaned down and kissed Rose. Softly, just a simple press of his lips against hers, but River blinked in disbelief. She could count on a single hand the number of times she had seen them do that in front of her, and she suddenly had the urge to hide, kind of like when you saw your parents kissing.

When the Doctor pulled back, Rose sighed and then closed her eyes briefly, and when they opened, they focused on River with such intensity that River felt her own breath catch. It had only been a year, only a year for Rose since she had left her side, but somehow in that one year, Rose had grown in leaps and bounds, already close to becoming the woman River knew she’d be in the future.

She searched her memories as Mels Zucker, tried to remember Rose through those eyes, wondering if she’d missed it back then, or maybe she had always looked up to Rose in one way or another, but River was no longer surprised she had slipped up and called her mother before.

“We need to get everyone here safe first,” said Rose, her voice coming out steady and determined, and that filled River with so much confidence.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “Safe,” he said.

“What?” asked Donna, getting off the desk and standing up.

“Safe,” repeated the Doctor. “You don’t say saved. Nobody says saved. You say safe. The data fragment! What did it say?”

“Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors,” said Rose.

“Nobody says saved,” said the Doctor, grinning wildly at Rose. “You say safe. You see, it didn’t mean safe. It meant, it literally meant, saved!”

“Oi, spaceman,” snapped Donna. “You’re not making any sense.”

“No, hang on, I get it,” said Rose. “The Library is a massive hard drive, you said. Could it have saved people? Literally, saved them into the hard drive?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” said the Doctor, hurrying toward a terminal with Rose in tow. River and Donna followed them, and the Doctor quickly got into the Library Archive File. “See,” he told them, pointing at a spike in the graph. “A hundred years ago, massive power surge.”

“It was the teleports,” said River, reading the data. “All the teleports going at once.”

“Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack,” explained the Doctor. “Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out.”

“It tried to teleport four thousand twenty two people?” asked Other Dave, sounding horrified.

“It succeeded,” said the Doctor, grimly. “Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole Library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They’re stuck in the system.”

“Like emails,” said Donna, her eyes wide. “Waiting to be sent.”

“Exactly,” nodded the Doctor. “So what’s a computer to do? What does a computer always do?”

“It saved them,” said Rose.

A loud alarm echoed around them and they all looked up, startled.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” asked Mr Lux.

“Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes,” chimed the computer in a cool voice as the word ‘Maximum Erasure’ flashed on the screen.

“What’s maximum erasure?” asked Donna.

“In twenty minutes, this planet’s going to crack like an egg,” said the Doctor, running a hand through his hair, ruffling it impossibly.

“No. No, it’s all right,” said Mr Lux. “The Doctor Moon will stop it. It’s programmed to protect CAL.”

“What is it? What is CAL?” asked the Doctor.

Mr Lux looked pale but swallowed and nodded in determination. “We need to get to the main computer. I’ll show you,” he said.

“Isn’t that at the core of the planet?” asked Rose.

“That’s fine,” said River. “There has to be a gravity platform nearby. Doctor?”

“Already onto it,” said the Doctor, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He scanned it around and then pointed it at the Library logo in the middle of the room. The logo unfurled like a flower as a round metal platform became visible, surrounded by a cylinder of luminescent blue light.

“Is it safe for me to move?” asked Anita.

“Perhaps, it’s safer if you don’t,” said the Doctor.

“We can’t leave her alone here,” protested Donna.

“I didn’t say we should,” said the Doctor, at once. “I meant, not everyone needs to go down to the core of the planet.”

“I’ll stay with Anita,” said Other Dave, with a brave look on his face.

“Dave, are you sure?” asked River.

“Yes, of course,” he said. “I trust them, just like you do, Professor Song.”

River smiled at him, and gave a determined nod.

“I’ll wait with them,” said Donna. The Doctor gave her a searching look but conceded with a nod.

“Alright, then,” he said, as he and Rose stepped onto the platform, followed by Mr Lux and River. “Back soon.”

The platform started to descend, and seemed to descend for another five minutes. They finally landed in the data core at the centre of the planet, and the Doctor led the way toward the globe in the centre of the core, with swirling energy crackling all around it.

Around them, the computer chimed in with a reminder that the planet would autodestruct in fifteen minutes.

“The data core. Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it,” said the Doctor, looking up at the globe.

“We need to hurry,” said Rose.

“Access terminal, need an access terminal,” said the Doctor, and hurried toward it. As it sprung to life, they heard a pitiful voice begging for help.

“Help me. Please, help me. Please, please help me!”

“Who is that?” asked River.

“It sounds like a child,” said Rose, at almost exactly the same time.

The Doctor was shaking his head. “The computer’s in sleep mode. I can’t wake it up. I’m trying,” he said, typing away furiously.

River, on the other hand, was looking at the readings going haywire, like synapses firing rapidly. “Doctor,” she said. “These readings…”

“I know. You’d think it was dreaming,” he said.

“It is dreaming,” said Mr Lux, quietly. He had been silent, still wearing his helmet, but now he sounded weary. “It’s dreaming of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written.”

“Computers don’t dream,” said River.

“Help me. Please help me.” The little girl was still begging.

“No, but little girls do,” said Mr Lux.

“What are you saying?” asked Rose.

“The little girl we saw before,” said Mr Lux. “She’s not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is CAL.”

“CAL is a child? A child hooked up to a mainframe?” asked the Doctor, looking horrified. “Why didn’t you tell me this? I needed to know this!” he demanded furiously.

“Because she's family!” snapped Mr Lux. “CAL. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather’s youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show.”

There was silence following his tirade. River looked at Rose, and saw understanding and sympathy in her expression. Things people did for their family. If anyone would understand, it would be Rose.

Rose had told her once how to kill a Time Lord, back when River had been much younger and much angrier.

“You have to stop both hearts, sever all three brain stems, and deliver a cellular shock that will permanently disable regenerative ability,” she had explained in the same tone she had used when showing River how to make a proper cup of tea.

Back then, River had listened like an eager student, not realising Rose was speaking from experience.

The things we do for family, Rose had told her, many, many years later, when she told her of the day the Doctor and Susan left Gallifrey.

River had cried, because Rose had looked so very tired, but there wasn’t an ounce of regret in her. Things we do for our family.

She glanced at the Doctor, and he appeared to be deliberately not looking at Rose. River wondered if his thoughts were similar to her own, and she had to admire his composure because River felt like bawling.

“So you weren’t protecting a patent,” said the Doctor, looking at Mr Lux. “You were protecting her.”

“And then the shadows came,” said Rose.

“And she saved them,” said the Doctor, finally looking at Rose. “She saved everyone in the Library.”

River wondered if he was thinking of the Abyss when he looked at Rose. Or perhaps, he was thinking of the day he left Gallifrey with Susan. Or the last day of the Last Great Time War. Or maybe, he was thinking of other times, times even River didn’t know about.

Rose was looking at the Doctor in slight confusion, and River didn’t blame her. The lack of memories had to be grating, forever knowing there was something out of reach of her own mind - River didn’t know how she could bear it.

The computer reminded them they had ten minutes to autodestruct and River made herself focus.

“What do we do?” she asked.

The Doctor paused and inhaled deeply. “Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core,” he said, like it was that simple. “The computer will reset and stop the countdown.”

“Does Charlotte have enough memory space for that?” asked River.

“No,” said the Doctor. “Which is why I’ll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space.”

“That’s ridiculous,” said River. “It’ll kill you stone dead.”

“Well, yeah,” he said.

“What?” demanded Rose, and glared at the Doctor. “Absolutely not.”

“Rose,” he said.

“Don’t even start,” snapped Rose. “Will you even regenerate?”

“No,” replied River. “It’ll burn out both his hearts.”

“Then, we find another way,” said Rose.

“We don’t have time to argue,” argued the Doctor. “The two of you and Mr Lux…” he paused, and glanced at Mr Lux and fell silent.

River turned around, and her face tightened in horror when she saw nothing but a skeleton beyond Mr Lux’s visor.

The Doctor sighed. “You know I was going to tell them to bring Anita down here so I could talk to you,” he said, stepping closer to the swarm in Mr Lux’s suit.

“Why?” asked the Vashta Nerada.

“Because I was going to make you an offer, the best offer you’re going to get,” he said, and River shivered at the power in his voice. She glanced at Rose, but saw that she wasn’t rattled, as if almost used to the Doctor being this way, and perhaps, she was. “Let them all go. Be kind.”

“These are our forests. We are not kind,” intoned the Vashta Nerada.

“I’m giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go,” he said, unwaveringly. “Don’t play games with me. I’m the Doctor, and you’re in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up.”

There was a long, silent pause. “You have one day,” they said, and the suit collapsed.

“Right,” said the Doctor. “Now to continue what I started…”

River reached into her pocket as she went toward Rose. “I’m sorry, sweetie,” she told her. Rose looked a bit confused, but River sprayed the little vial she carried with her into Rose’s face, and Rose’s eyes closed and her body slumped forward as she lost consciousness. River caught her easily, and lowered her to the floor gently, laying her down flat.

“What are you doing?” demanded the Doctor, glaring at River.

“Calling her,” said River, pulling the ring off her finger.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he looked down at Rose’s unconscious form, and back at River, nodding slowly.

River held the ring in her palm and focused with her eyes closed. My love, she called.

The air around them seemed to stand still, and the countdown for the autodestruct froze.

River smiled when she smelled the familiar perfume of lilies behind her.

“You took your time.”

River opened her eyes and turned around to look at Larna. She was wearing a ridiculously complicated red gown, entirely impractical for anything but laying dramatically on a fainting couch, but she somehow managed to pull it off. Her long golden blonde hair was in an intricate updo, the kind River enjoyed unravelling slowly in the privacy of their home.

“Hello, Father,” she said, turning her cerulean blue eyes to the Doctor.

“Hello, Forsythia,” he said, his eyes softening. “New body?”

She shrugged delicately. “It is quite far down the timeline where I am,” she said. Her eyes drifted to Rose’s unconscious form. “There will be hell to pay for that, I imagine.”

Both the Doctor and River glanced away guiltily, knowing how right she was.

“So, tell me what I can do,” said Larna.

“We need memory space, something more substantial than either me or the Doctor, because neither of us are built to survive it,” said River.

Larna nodded. “Why not Rose?” she asked.

“We can’t,” said the Doctor. “It’s too soon, she could awaken, she could regenerate…she could…”

Larna sighed and knelt on the floor next to Rose’s unconscious form. Her dress pooled like a red flower around her, looking remarkably like the rose brooch she wore, no matter the incarnation. Reaching out a delicate pale hand, she stroked Rose’s forehead. “The power I have is a mere fragment of her,” she said, her gaze soft as she looked at Rose.

“The mere fragment of you is more powerful than either of us,” said River.

“I am sworn not to interfere,” sighed Larna.

“If that were true,” said the Doctor. “You would never have given River your ring.”

Larna’s gaze was startled when she looked at the Doctor. His eyes were soft, looking so very similar to Larna’s when she knew she was right.

“Yes, well, the things we do for family,” she said, and then leaned down and pressed her lips to Rose’s forehead. “Isn’t that right, Mother?” The whisper was quiet, but enough for all of them to hear.

“Larna,” whispered River.

Larna stroked Rose’s forehead again and rose to her feet. She held her hand out toward River, and River handed over the ring. Larna put the ring on, and for a brief moment, the air around her form shifted golden and blazing red.

“I will plug myself into the data core,” said Larna, briskly. “If I time it for the countdown, it should work.”

“And you’ll be okay?” asked River, to be sure.

Larna turned to her with a pretty smile. “Of course,” she said. “I’m a Guardian, my love. It will take more than a power surge to kill me.”

This time, when Larna moved, the countdown to autodestruct resumed. River would never quite get over her awe at the unimaginable power of a Guardian. She glanced at Rose almost involuntarily and swallowed heavily. A fragment, one of six. River couldn’t imagine what the whole looked like.

Larna was gathering cables, stripping wires with a practiced hand, and when River came to help, she shook her head at her. So River waited patiently, trying not to stare at the Doctor as he folded himself into sitting on the floor, and pulled Rose up onto his lap, letting her head fall to his shoulder, long arms wrapped around her petite form possessively. He was whispering to her, too quiet for River to hear but she suspected Larna could hear him, based on the sad smile on the corner of her lips.

“Almost ready,” said Larna, as the countdown reached two minutes. She went over to her parents and knelt again, leaning forward to kiss the Doctor’s cheek, and Rose’s forehead. “I can’t stick around once I’m done, can’t risk her seeing me,” she told the Doctor.

“I know,” said the Doctor, and placed a kiss to Larna’s forehead. “Thank you, love.”

Larna smiled and stood up, before making her way to River. “I’ll see you at home?” she asked.

River nodded, and the two kissed briefly, before Larna grabbed the two ends of the cables connecting to the data core, and eyed the countdown. As the countdown reached zero, she touched the ends together and there was a bright white light which momentarily blinded all of them, as the power surged to enormous levels before quietening down.

“Larna?” asked River, as her vision adjusted.

“I’m alright,” she replied, and River slumped in relief.

Larna was standing exactly where she had been, and looked a bit unsteady on her feet, but after a few seconds, she seemed to regain her equilibrium. “Oof, wouldn’t recommend that,” she said, stretching her arms out in front of her, flexing her fingers slowly.

Rose stirred in the Doctor’s arms, and Larna smiled before she vanished in front of their very eyes.

River immediately knelt next to the Doctor and Rose, as Rose awoke slowly.

“Wha-?” she started to ask.

“It’s alright,” said the Doctor, pulling her into a hug. “It’s over now.”

~

Rose waited alone in the corner of the gift shop as River, Anita and Other Dave oversaw the teleporting of over four thousand people off the Library. Donna was talking to the Doctor just a bit further away, but Rose was content to be alone for the moment.

A child.

She had a child.

With the Doctor.

As much as the thought freaked her out, she wanted to know so much more. What was she like? How old was she? Was Rose a good mother…?

Rose sighed and let her head fall back onto the wall behind her, eyes falling close. Her life was beyond crazy, but this was more than even she could comprehend.

It wasn’t like Rose hadn’t thought about children. When you grew up on a council estate in south London, teenage pregnancy was more often than not the norm. If not that, people still married young and started popping out babies quickly. There were times in her life where Rose had been certain that would be the path for her as well.

But then she’d met Lia, met River, Jack, and the Doctor.

And the path had changed.

Rose supposed a part of her had folded away that old path and put it away, no longer intending to do any of it.

And another part of her hadn’t known if any of it would be possible with the Doctor. Involuntarily, she thought of the Curator. He’d had a wife, a family…now, Rose wasn’t so sure if he was married to someone else. The lost memories, the non-linear aspects of their relationship, the supposedly-not-straightforward nature of mortality were all starting to reveal a new picture. A new, terrifying, exhilarating picture, and Rose didn’t quite know what to do with it.

“Rose?”

Rose opened her eyes to see River standing in front of her. She looked apologetic, like an awkward child standing in front of her mother, expecting to be chastised.

When Rose had awoken, she had demanded exactly why River had knocked her out, to which both River and the Doctor had told her they would explain later and they had to return to the surface of the planet to help the survivors.

Rose had huffed but accepted the response, because there had been other pressing concerns then.

“I’m sorry, about before,” said River, looking genuinely contrite.

Rose sighed and gave her a steely look. “She was here, wasn’t she?” she asked. “That’s why you had to knock me out.”

River’s shocked expression would have been almost comical but Rose was happy for the confirmation. “How did-?”

“No ring,” said Rose, nodding at her left hand.

River chuckled. “Can’t get one past you, can I?”

“You do manage to, from time to time,” nodded Rose, and smiled softly. “She saved everyone, didn’t she?”

“She did,” nodded River. She sighed. “We expect everyone will be teleported off in the next hour or so.”

“And then?” asked Rose.

“Other Dave can pilot the ship. We can return to Luna University over the next few days,” said River, and then hesitated. “Unless, you’d prefer to go with the Doctor.”

Rose glanced over to the Doctor, and saw him staring at her already. When she looked, he quickly glanced away, tugging at his earlobe in an endearingly awkward gesture.

“I don’t know,” said Rose. “Let me talk to him first.”

River nodded, and then wrapped her arms around Rose in a hug. Rose smiled and hugged her back.

“I’m not mad, I promise,” said Rose, gently.

River didn’t say anything, but some of the tension seeped out from her shoulders. When she pulled away, she had a bright smile on her face. “I’ll be over there,” she said, nodding toward Anita and Other Dave.

As she stepped away, Rose caught the Doctor’s gaze and slipped out toward the empty reading room just off the gift shop. She heard his footsteps behind her, and when she turned around, it was just in time to see him close the doors behind himself, leaving them alone in the room with some privacy.

Like River, he was a bit hesitant, as if expecting Rose to be furious. And she was, a little bit, but mostly, she was worried about him.

“Come here,” said Rose, with a kind smile.

He strode toward her in quick steps, and Rose opened her arms just in time to be swept up into his arms. He held her tightly and lifted her off her feet, and twirled her around once, and then simply held her, her feet dangling in the air.

Rose sighed and turned to bury her face into his neck. She felt him shiver when she pressed her lips against the skin of his neck. “You know,” she murmured into his neck. “This whole time, I have been wondering if I am dead.”

His arms tightened impossibly around her as a pained noise echoed from somewhere deep in his chest.

Rose trembled in his grip. “Am I?” she asked.

He didn’t answer immediately. He set Rose down on her feet, but his arms stayed around her in a gentle embrace. “I don’t know,” he whispered, as if confessing a great sin.

Rose felt her breath hitch. “Tell me,” she said. She kissed his neck again when he didn’t speak, and felt him swallow roughly. “Doctor.”

He exhaled heavily and pulled away slowly to look at her. That expression of utter devastation was back, and Rose had to bite back a pained cry when she saw it. She bit her lip to stop herself from making a sound, as the Doctor’s eyes roamed her face with a hungry desperation.

“It was a temporal anomaly, a dangerous one, a remnant from the war,” he said, words spilling out like water from an overflowing glass. “There had been a few of them, a war like that one leaves scars all over the fabric of space and time, and we had dealt with others before. We went to investigate it, you and I, and…” He paused, seemingly unable to go on.

“And…?” asked Rose, her voice faint.

“And…you disappeared,” he said, eyes filling up with tears. “Right in front of me, like the anomaly absorbed you.”

Rose’s heart was hammering so loudly, she was certain the whole Library could hear it. “What does that mean?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said, sounding like it broke him apart to say it. “The anomaly was unlike anything else I have ever seen, but that wasn’t uncommon. A lot of things were unlike anything I had ever seen after the war. And when you…when I saw you…I couldn’t…” He swallowed and blinked as the tears rolled down his cheeks. “The anomaly vanished when you did. I searched, I called on every powerful being I know…no one could find you. No one can find you. You’re gone, Rose.”

Rose took a shuddering breath, and pulled the Doctor back into her embrace, letting him clutch her like a lifeline, burying his face in her neck as heavy sobs wracked his thin frame. Her mind was racing furiously.

“Did you see me die?” she asked, finally.

He shook his head, still holding onto her like he couldn’t bear to let go. “But I can’t…I can’t feel you,” he murmured. He pulled back slowly and tapped his temple. “In here. You’re not in here anymore.”

Rose’s eyes widened; she had no idea what he meant and all she could guess was some kind of a telepathic connection, like the one he had with the TARDIS. She remembered him telling her his people were telepathic, that Rose had inherent telepathy for a human as a result of the rift, so perhaps, they had a link of sorts?

“I’m sorry,” she said, tears streaming down her face as well.

“Darling,” he murmured. “What are you sorry for? I’m the one who should be apologising. I promised to protect you, to keep you safe…I let you down. It was me, Rose.”

Rose cupped his face with both her hands, wiping away his tears. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “You didn’t know it was going to happen.”

As she said it, her eyes widened. “But I did,” she said, slowly.

His brow furrowed at her in question. Rose met his gaze with a startled look. “I knew it was going to happen. You have told me now, so I knew it was going to happen.”

“Yes, but we can’t rewrite it…” he started.

“It’s not about rewriting it,” said Rose. “Tell me, what did I do before we went to investigate the anomaly?”

The Doctor looked confused. “What?” he asked.

“Humour me,” said Rose. “Did I do something different? Something out of the ordinary?”

“No,” he said. “It was a normal day. I came to pick you up, you gave me a rose, and we landed at the coordinates of the anomaly.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “I gave you a rose?”

“Yeah,” he said, like he was confused why she was so excited about that.

Rose, on the other hand, let out a whoop of laughter. “I gave you a rose!” she repeated, her eyes shining with relief.

“Rose, darling, you’re not making sense,” he said, like he was scared she was having a nervous breakdown.

Which wouldn’t have been unearned, given the day she’d had, but it wasn’t Rose who was missing the obvious.

“My darling Doctor,” she said, beaming at him. “Tell me, when do I give you a rose?”

“Everytime we’re away from each other,” he replied, automatically. The penny dropped as his eyes widened. “Everytime, we are apart.”

Rose was beaming so widely, her face hurt. “And why do I give you the rose?”

“To know when to come back,” he said, softly, like he was afraid it wouldn’t come true if he spoke too loudly.

Rose cupped his face again and stroked his sideburns with her thumbs in a gentle, soothing motion. “I have seen faces that come after this one,” she said, not mentioning she’d only seen one of them in person, and the other in a photograph. “But you were happy, Doctor. When you spoke of me, you were happy.”

A desperate noise escaped his throat, almost like a hysterical giggle. He surged forward to rest his forehead against hers. “Don’t give me hope, love,” he murmured. “I am not strong enough to survive losing it.”

“You are stronger than anyone I know,” said Rose. “I love you, Doctor. And I am coming back to you.” He opened his mouth, probably to argue, but Rose beat him to it. “I may not know much, but as long as I am alive, no matter how long it takes, I will find you. That I do know.”

He made that little desperate noise again and then he was kissing her, kissing her like she was his only reason for living, like he was a dying man and she was his ambrosia, and Rose kissed him back just as fiercely, searing her promise into him, until he would believe her.

“I miss you so much,” he murmured when they pulled apart for breath. “I can’t tell you how much…” He kissed her again instead of continuing, and Rose made a keening noise as he bit her bottom lip sharply. “Missed how beautiful you sound like this,” he added, and one of his hands left her face to cup the side of her neck where there was the fading bruise from his mouth from all those years ago for him, but barely a week ago for her. “Possessive bastard, aren’t I?” he chuckled, but Rose could only respond with a strangled moan when he latched his teeth onto the fading mark and bit down.

Rose’s knees felt like jelly, and she would have been embarrassed at how wanton she sounded, but all she could feel was the way the Doctor was sucking in the mark on her neck, and the obscenely desperate sound of his mouth against her skin.

“Doctor,” she shuddered.

He pulled his lips off her neck with a smacking sound, and then leaned back to give her a smug look. “Yep, still got it,” he said.

Rose contemplated slapping his arm but she couldn’t bring herself to, not when his eyes were shining with hope for the first time since she’d seen him. “Yeah, yeah, heard about how you’re so impressive,” she teased, her tongue poking out of the corner of her lips in a teasing smile.

He yanked her flush against his body, and for the very first time, Rose was knocked speechless because she could feel he was exactly as impressive as he’d told her. It was a bit of a shock to her to know he was aroused, that he could get aroused, even though she knew he was physically attracted to her.

Perhaps, she really should have clarified whether Time Lords were infertile or impotent, but that would have been an extremely insensitive thing to ask. Regardless, it was rather apparent he was neither infertile (as evidenced by their future daughter) nor impotent (as evidenced by the impressive erection currently pressed between their bodies).

He smiled and Rose had to wonder how many of her thoughts were apparent on her face, but the Doctor slowly pulled away. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll take you home.”

“You sure?” asked Rose. “I can go with River.”

“Rose,” he said. “I’ll take you.”

Rose swallowed and nodded, as he took her hand, nonchalant as anything as they left the reading room together.

“Doctor,” she asked, as they headed toward River and Donna. “What happened to the last rose I gave you?”

He paused and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand sheepishly. “It’s on the console,” he said.

“For how long?” she asked.

“Enough that it’s…wilted,” he admitted. He swallowed and looked at Rose, but she was smiling.

“Guess you were wrong then,” she said. His brow furrowed in question. “Seems you like you had hope after all.”

His eyes widened before he gave her the softest little smile that had her blushing. “Seems so,” he nodded.

Chapter Text

It was bright.

The kind of artificial bright that no doubt some scientists somewhere had done extensive research into, probably designed to keep consumers wandering the winding aisles, looking at shelves upon shelves filled with things they may or may not need.

The air was cool, smelled fresh, and the bright surroundings kept a steady drone of customers walking in and out of the doors.

Dotted among the customers were the employees.

All cheerful, all dressed in orange.

But the bright, cheerful exterior had a dingy underbelly, and in the employee breakroom, Lucas was getting ready for the start of his shift.

His orange shirt was slightly wrinkled and he sniffed the collar of the polyester blend button-up shirt discreetly, and made a face. He had grabbed the same shirt he’d worn last shift instead of a clean one from the other laundry bag. He was terrible at folding and putting away laundry, so now he had just decided to have two laundry bags - one for dirty clothes and one for clean ones. Of course, the problem was that he hadn’t labelled them.

He sighed and pressed his forehead against the cold metal of his locker.

“That was a big sigh.”

Lucas blinked and turned around to look at Sven.

Sven, who was definitely wearing a clean shirt, but looked no less exhausted than Lucas.

“Well, I am feeling a lot of big feelings today,” said Lucas, part sarcastic, and part heartfelt.

Sven’s eyes softened in sympathy and he clapped Lucas’s shoulder as he walked past him to go to his own locker. “You’ve got to stop fixating on this, Lucas,” he said, and then glanced around surreptitiously for watching eyes or listening ears.

Lucas glared at him and reached into the pocket of his wrinkled shirt to pull out a postcard that he thrust toward Sven. “You look at this and tell me it’s normal,” he hissed.

Sven glanced at the postcard which read -

Dear Lucas,

I am having a blast in the Capitol. The promotion to marketing has been beyond words. The parties, the events, the fashion, the food - you would have to see it to believe it! It’s like that beautiful company retreat back in East Ridge but even more decadent, if you can imagine it. The socialising in itself is amazing. I miss you, though!

Love, from Ingrid.

Lucas received a slightly pitying look from Sven, and it only made him angrier. “It’s not from Ingrid,” he hissed.

Sven sighed. “Lucas,” he said, lowering his voice. “You have to stop pining over Ingrid. She says it herself - she’s really enjoying her new job in marketing. Probably mingling with fancy socialites in the Capitol like the rest of the people at corporate.”

“Ingrid hates socialising,” said Lucas. “And look, here. She brings up East Ridge.”

“What about it?” asked Sven.

Lucas huffed in exasperation. “You know what happened in the East Ridge forest,” he said. “She wouldn’t call it ‘beautiful’.” His voice rose dramatically with his words.

“Shh,” said Sven, looking around quickly again. “You’ve got to stop saying things like that, Lucas. You’ll get us both sacked.”

Lucas ignored him. “We all had a massive row about corporate housing when we were in the East Ridge forest,” he continued, not bothering to lower his voice. “If this postcard is really from Ingrid, and that’s a big ‘if’, then it’s a coded message from her.”

“Lucas,” said Sven. “We owe ODIN everything. They have given us houses, a stable income, the life we are all privileged to live. You can’t go around accusing them of something heinous.”

Lucas barked out a bitter laugh. “Grow up, Sven,” he said, contemptuously. “Look around you, ODIN seems to be getting rid of anyone who says even a word against them. Ingrid hated ODIN, and she made no secret of that, and the minute she voiced it out loud, she received this apparent promotion to marketing that took her to the Capitol. And now, I can’t call her or see her, and all I get are these postcards that I know aren’t from her!”

Sven shook his head. “I’m not going to stand around and listen to this,” he said. “My family relies on me, and I rely on the life that ODIN has given me. I’m sorry, Lucas, but you’re on your own.”

He turned around and swiftly walked out, clocking in on his way out of the breakroom. As he stepped out, a sliver of bright light filtered into the dingy breakroom, and Lucas heard the annoying tannoy repeat ODIN’s mantra.

“Happily Ever After. That is the ODIN Way.”

Lucas slammed a furious fist against the closed door of his locker. The despair and hopelessness was apparent on his face but he knew his shift time was about to start. He had pushed his luck enough for today, he didn’t need to be late starting his shift, lest the all-seeing eye of ODIN fell on him.

Taking a calming breath, Lucas was about to leave when he heard an animalistic growl right behind him.

He turned around…

…and Rose woke up.

She lay in bed, eyes open as she looked at the ceiling of her bedroom back at home in Dulwich. A heavy sigh escaped her and she turned to grab her journal and biro from the bedside table. Shrugging off the thin blanket over her body, Rose sat up in bed, and slowly wrote down the details of the dream.

The dream didn’t slip away, like she half-expected, so she finished writing about it and snapped her journal shut, easing back to lie down. The house was quiet and it was only about six in the morning, which meant the oppressive summer heat hadn’t really started creeping in through the house just yet.

Rose knew she should get up, go for her run before it got too warm, but she was tired. The Library had only been two days ago, and she’d spent most of her time since she’d been back packing her bags for Dunstanton Lake and doing her summer reading.

The dream had come as a surprise.

There hadn’t been a lot of details of the supermarket-like store she’d seen, but it looked like nothing in the UK, if even on Earth. That would mean off-world, or at the very least, not in this time.

Which meant a potential visit from the Doctor. Or maybe River.

Rose groaned to herself and got out of bed. Thinking of River made her think of the Library, and she was trying very, very hard not to think too much about it. That trip had revealed a lot, and she hadn’t been ready to know most of it. And once she was back home, she knew she’d need to keep all of it from her Doctor, and Rose was not looking forward to that.

She was a terrible liar, and she was never good at keeping secrets. She needed more time to let the secrets settle in her mind before she faced the Doctor, but the dream meant she was going to run into the Doctor.

Rose stumbled to the bathroom to freshen up, and then brushed her hair into a ponytail, changing out of her pyjamas into her running clothes.

The run was quick, hardly twenty minutes, but the sun was beating down harshly on her while she ran, and Rose wanted to be indoors. She was not fond of London heat, something the Doctor had known before she had told him, so she supposed she would have to tell one of his earlier versions at some point.

Back in the kitchen, she spotted a basket full of large, bright lemons on the counter, and she smiled to herself. The Curator must have been in, and picked them for her.

She was kind of glad she hadn’t run into him either. That was a whole kettle of fish she didn’t want to deal with yet, either.

The good thing was that she had lunch plans with her mum, which would take her mind off things for a bit. She hadn’t really seen Jackie since summer had begun, in fact, she’d last seen her back in May after she and the Doctor had had their huge fight.

They had spoken since, of course, and Rose hadn’t said much but she knew her mum probably suspected that something had changed between the Doctor and Rose.

She made toast for breakfast and fresh lemonade, before getting things together for lunch. Having some disposable income now that she wasn't scrounging and saving every penny for her education, Rose had been to Sainsbury’s the evening before to get fresh chicken and salad to make lunch for her and Jackie.

Using the fresh lemons and some herbs, she marinated the chicken and left it in the fridge before showering and getting ready in a casual pair of blue denim shorts and a mint green camisole. She was careful when she did her makeup, meticulously covering up the bite on her neck that the skinny brown haired Doctor had ever so boldly given her.

It was one thing to tell her mother she was in a relationship with the Doctor, but it was something entirely different for her mother to see a hickey on her neck.

Rose returned to her kitchen and finished making pan fried lemon and herb chicken with side salad. She was making a fresh pitcher of lemonade when she heard the front door open and her mother call out a hello.

“In the kitchen,” called Rose.

“It smells wonderful,” said Jackie, beaming as she came in.

Rose quickly wiped her hands and rushed over to give her a hug, squeezing her tightly and laughing when Jackie did the same. “I missed you,” she said.

“Me too,” said Jackie, pulling away slowly. “Bloody boiling outside,” she added, setting her bag on the breakfast stool.

“You’re telling me,” said Rose. “Can’t believe I’m hoping for rain once again.”

“It’s right ‘round the corner, or so they said on the news this morning,” said Jackie. “Ta!” she added, when Rose handed her a tall glass of icy cold lemonade. “Mm, this is delicious.”

“Made from lemons from my garden,” grinned Rose. “You hungry? Chicken’s about done too.”

“Yeah, I’ll help,” said Jackie, and they quickly plated up the chicken and salad and retreated to the parlour with their glasses of lemonade.

“So, what’s been going on?” asked Rose. “You said you had news to share.”

Jackie nodded as she took a bite of her chicken. “Oh, this is marvellous, Rose,” she praised.

“Nothing fancy, just some chicken, Mum,” shrugged Rose, modestly.

Jackie hummed but gave her a piercing look regardless. “That Doctor of yours teaching you to cook?”

“No,” said Rose, rolling her eyes. “Just thought I’d learn the basics, is all.” Jackie raised her eyebrows. “Mum, didn’t you have something to tell me?”

“Oh, right, yeah,” said Jackie. “You won’t believe it, Rose.”

“What?” asked Rose, curiously.

“Astral Vow broke up,” she said.

Rose blinked in shock. “Since when?” she asked.

“Well, they haven’t announced it yet,” said Jackie. “It’s going to be all over the news in a few days.”

“What happened? I thought they were working on a new album,” said Rose.

“Apparently, the girls got into quite an argument during their recording sessions,” said Jackie. “The record company got involved and they’ve pulled the pin on the new album. And now, the girls no longer want to be working together either.”

“That’s a shame,” said Rose. “Just as things were going well for them.”

Jackie nodded. “Mind you, I noticed a bit of tension on tour, but thought it was just because of close quarters, you know,” she said. “But they’ll be officially done in a couple of days.”

“I’m sorry, Mum,” said Rose, genuinely sympathetic. “I know you really enjoyed touring with them.”

Jackie shrugged. “Not much I can do, really,” she said. She glanced hesitatingly at Rose.

Rose gave her a questioning look. “What’s going on? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Now, don’t get mad,” she said, with a sigh. “James, Mo and I have been talking.”

Rose’s brow furrowed. “About what?” she asked.

“About Great Nan’s old cottage back in Skerries,” said Jackie.

Rose blinked. She had forgotten all about it. Rose’s Great Nan, Jackie’s maternal grandmother, had been Irish and had lived in a beautiful cottage in Skerries (which was just northeast of Dublin) all her life until she had passed when Rose was ten. Her Nan had inherited the house, but had been much too ill to travel away from London, so her uncle James had maintained it off and on over the years.

“What about it?” asked Rose.

“James wants to sell it. Says it’s too much of a hassle to keep looking after it,” said Jackie. “Mo and I don’t want to, it’s been in the family a long time.”

“Right,” said Rose.

“Well, James said he’s happy if either me or Mo keep the house and buy the other two out,” said Jackie. “Mo and I had a look, turns out, it won’t be too much of a hassle for me to buy them out.”

Rose blinked. “Where’s the money coming from?” she asked, confused.

“Mum left her house in London to the three of us, but Mo has been living in it, and I said I’m happy for her and James to continue owning it, and for my share to be paid out, which I’ll use for the cottage in Skerries,” said Jackie. “I applied for a small loan to make up the difference, and it came through.”

Rose’s brow furrowed. “A loan?” she asked. “That’ll be expensive, Mum. Not to mention, flying back and forth between Dublin and London, and the upkeep of the cottage, too.”

Jackie visibly hesitated once again. Rose’s eyebrows shot up.

“Oh,” said Rose. “You’re thinking of moving there, aren’t you?”

She didn’t mean to sound accusing, but it came out that way regardless.

“Rose,” said Jackie, beseechingly. “I meant to tell you…”

“But you didn’t though,” said Rose, pointedly.

Jackie sighed. “I wasn’t even sure if it would work, if the loan would come through,” she said. “I didn’t want to say anything until I had something concrete.”

“And so you’re just moving to Dublin?” asked Rose. “What about work?” What about me, she didn’t ask.

“Spoke to a hairdresser there, her family knows ours, going back ages,” said Jackie. “She’s getting on in years and is happy for me to start working for her, and maybe even take over the shop after a few years.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out,” said Rose, grabbing their empty plates and going into the kitchen.

Jackie sighed and followed her with their glasses. “Rose,” she said. “This isn’t easy for me, either, you know.”

“Yeah?” asked Rose, and could hear the sarcasm in her own tone.

“Look, for a long time, I didn’t think I’d ever leave that little flat,” said Jackie. “And then for the last twelve months, I was able to go to all these places, some I hadn’t even heard of until I was actually there, and suddenly, I understood what you’ve been feeling all along. That flat feels tiny, compared to everything that’s out there.” Rose put the dishes in the sink and turned to look at Jackie, surprised to find her eyes shining and a content smile on her face. “And it’s made me bolder, made me feel like I deserve better things.”

It was Rose’s turn to sigh. “I know, and you do,” she admitted. “I’m not mad that you’re doing this, Mum, I’m just upset you didn’t tell me.”

Jackie eyed her shrewdly. “Do you tell me everything about what you do?” she asked.

Rose glanced away uncomfortably. “‘Kay, I see your point,” she said. She slowly looked back at Jackie and smiled. “I’ll miss you, though.”

Jackie huffed out a laugh. “I’m not leaving right now,” she said. “I’ll probably move around the time you’re due to return to Oxford. We’ve still got the rest of summer.”

Rose chuckled. “Okay,” she said, internally relieved. She had no idea why this was hitting her so deeply, when Jackie had travelled much, much farther than Dublin before, but it felt less like a chapter ending, and more like a book closing. It was satisfying, yet terrifying, and Rose was so, so happy for her mother, and yet the storm of emotions in her chest felt tangled, confused.

Jackie stayed for a few more hours, as she and Rose chatted more about Jackie’s move and Rose’s fieldwork. Rose didn’t bring up anything about her and the Doctor, not wanting it to lead into another fight.

Around 4.30, Jackie decided to take her leave, so Rose walked her out.

“It suits you, by the way,” said Jackie, as she hugged her goodbye.

“What does?” asked Rose, pulling away slowly.

“The hair,” said Jackie.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a bit longer, isn’t it?” shrugged Rose, fiddling with the end of her ponytail.

Jackie gave her a look. “Well, yeah, but I meant the new shade,” she said. “Thought you said you didn’t want to dye your hair anymore.”

Rose frowned. “What are you talking about? I haven’t dyed my hair for over two years,” she said. She glanced at the end of her ponytail as if trying to see the colour.

Jackie frowned as well. “It’s lighter than usual,” she said.

“I mean, it’s summer,” said Rose.

Jackie rolled her eyes. “Oh, and that accounts for the roots too, does it?” she asked. “I’ve got a trained eye, love, and that is definitely a different shade of blonde coming in. Just tell me you didn’t use some fancy alien dye.”

Rose forced a smile. “Yeah, you got me,” she lied.

Jackie nodded with a satisfied look on her face. “Knew it,” she said, and kissed Rose goodbye. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, Mum,” said Rose.

Jackie waved, and Rose waited until she saw her walk down to the bus stop, before she closed the front door. Immediately, she bolted to the downstairs loo, letting her ponytail down. The strands of hair cascaded down easily, and Rose looked at the mirror above the sink, looking closely at them.

Her eyes widened, her mother was right.

Rose’s natural hair was a dark honey blonde, which lightened a bit during summer, but now, it was more like a sandy blonde, lighter in shade than what her hair previously did during summer. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed it, but knew she’d been putting up her hair more than usual because of its length and the fact that it was warm outside. She checked her roots, and sure enough, they were a slightly darker shade of sandy blonde (still lighter than her hair had ever been), and Rose blinked at her reflection.

What was going on?

An overwhelming sense of panic filled her entire being, and Rose braced her elbows against the sink, fully prepared for her lunch to come right back up, but just then, she heard a familiar, wheezing, groaning noise fill the air, and Rose straightened up, her panic receding into shock, and she ran to the front door, just in time to watch the TARDIS materialise in the garden.

Rose threw the door open and ran toward the blue box, not caring that she was barefoot, as the doors to the box opened. Without even looking, Rose threw herself into the arms of the person at the door, closing her eyes tightly as she held on for dear life.

Strong, gentle arms wrapped around her slowly, and she could feel the double heartbeat under her ear, and she tightened her grip.

“I’ve got you,” an unfamiliar voice murmured as Rose was lifted into his arms easily with an easy grip around her waist.

Her feet dangled off the ground and she held on tightly with her arms around his neck, as the Doctor (because who else could it be, really) carried her back into the house. He smelled woodsy, almost like a log fireplace with an undercurrent of sharp, cold pine. Rose could feel tweed under her arms, and when he finally set her down on her feet, she exhaled heavily and pulled back to look at him.

Concerned jewel green eyes stared back at her, and Rose blinked at the unconventionally handsome face before her. He was young, younger than any of his faces she had seen, with dark brown hair that flopped to one side, a pale face with sharp cheekbones, and a slightly too-wide chin.

He was holding her too close for her to see the rest of his ensemble but she did see the bright red bowtie around his neck and the top of his tweed jacket.

Rose felt like bursting into tears - another out of time meeting, so soon after the last one. Her face must have done something because his green eyes widened in alarm, and he swept her up in his arms, this time carrying her like a bride, and he started making his way up the stairs.

“Hang on, sweetheart,” he said, and he did have a lovely voice. “Let’s get you into bed, and we’ll talk, alright?”

There wasn’t the least bit of inappropriateness in his tone, and Rose felt herself nod as he walked into her room, kicking the ajar door open with his feet with a sense of practiced ease.

He set her down on the bed gently and stepped back, allowing Rose to look at him, which confirmed it was the Doctor’s eleventh incarnation.

His lips quirked up into a gentle smile, and he started pulling off his boots, almost tripping and falling to the floor, but managing to catch himself at the last minute, before moving like a gangly giraffe to the other side of the bed and flopping down next to Rose.

Once again, the panic subsided in favour of shock and slight amusement, and Rose felt herself smile.

His eyes softened when she smiled and he laid down next to Rose, turning on his side to look at her. “Hello,” he said.

“Hello,” said Rose. “Thanks.”

“For what?” he asked.

Rose just smiled instead of answering, and his smile widened, and he cupped her cheek with his broad palm, holding her gaze. She felt calmer now, having him here, having him touch her, having him look after her - it was everything she had needed in that moment.

“Did I call to you?” she asked, and then pointed to her own temple. “In here?”

“No,” he admitted, softly. “I mean, you don’t have to. Haven’t you worked out a pattern to these out of time meetings?” Rose’s brow furrowed and his smile softened. “Think, when do we have out of time meetings?”

Rose thought back to an inescapable basement with encroaching shop window dummies, to a point in time when she was certain the Doctor didn’t even like her, let alone loved her, to a Doctor who was so devoid of hope that it made her ache just to think about it - oh.

“Oh,” she said, and blinked. “I needed you.”

“Yes,” he confirmed. “Just as you came, when I needed you.” His thumb stroked the apple of her cheek and Rose couldn’t help but lean into the touch. “What’s wrong, darling?”

Rose closed her eyes briefly. “I’m freaking out,” she admitted.

“Tell me,” he prompted.

Rose nodded and opened her eyes slowly. “Do I look different to you?” she asked.

He paused and searched her eyes. “You always look the same to me,” he said. “Do you look different to you?”

Rose nodded slowly. “My hair - it’s different,” she said.

His eyes flicked up to her hair briefly and he smiled softly. “Right,” he said. “Where are we?”

“I was at the Library two days ago,” she said.

The Doctor’s barely there eyebrows shot up. “Ah,” he said, his face relaxing slightly. He used his hand on her face to draw her closer, tilting her face up to his. “Shall we take a trip, darling? A picnic with a view, and a promise of answers?”

Rose stared into his eyes and nodded slowly. He smiled back and then ever so gently, he pressed his lips to hers in a featherlight barely-there kiss, and her eyes fluttered shut. It was unfair how easy she was for him, how much better it made her feel when he touched her so easily, and even in such a brief kiss managed to remind her how deeply he loved her.

She wanted to move into the kiss, deepen it, and learn the taste of this new him, but she wanted the answers he had promised more.

Reluctantly, she pulled back and looked into those green eyes for a moment to reassure herself. He was patient as he let her look her fill of him, before Rose reluctantly eased away from him and got out of bed. He didn’t immediately leave the bed, sitting up and looking at her with a slightly lazy smile, and Rose felt herself flush at how blatant he was in his desire this time around.

“We haven’t yet been to Paris, you know,” she said, intending to sound stern but it came out unsteady and breathy instead.

He chuckled and his eyes roved down her body and back up. “I know,” he said.

Rose wanted to grab him by that stupid bowtie and kiss him silly, and his smile widened, like he had heard that thought as clear as anything.

“Shut up,” she said, face flaming red.

“I didn’t say anything,” he said, and climbed out of bed, walking over to her slowly.

He was nice and tall this time around, so Rose was looking up at him once more.

Her eyes widened when he leaned down but instead of kissing her lips, like she thought he would do, he let his lips brush her right ear gently.

“Dress warmly,” he murmured in her ear, and a shiver shot up Rose’s spine at the intimate caress. He didn’t pull back right away, instead turning his head a little to place a lingering kiss to a spot behind her ear that made a slightly strangled gasp escape Rose’s lips. His lips curled into a smile against her skin and he pulled back, darkened green eyes now looking at her hungrily. “I don’t need to have gone to Paris to know what your favourite spots are,” he told her.

Rose stared at him in shock and he chuckled as he turned around and left the bedroom.

“See you in the TARDIS!” he called over his shoulder, leaving Rose to calm her galloping heart.

Chapter Text

Once the Doctor had left, Rose quickly went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her overheated face. She remembered his previous self smugly remarking ‘he’d still got it’, and she was loath to admit that this new him also definitely had it.

If ‘it’ meant the ability to turn Rose into a puddle of goo with barely any effort.

Wiping her face clean, Rose quickly reapplied her makeup, but wiped off the concealer she had used to cover up the bite on her neck. She changed out of the denim shorts, opting for jeans instead, and swapped out her green camisole for a black v-neck jumper with silver glittery stars on it.

Her hands shook slightly as she started to brush her hair back into a ponytail and then decided against it, leaving it loose and wavy. She expected it to make her look younger, but Rose was surprised to see that she looked slightly older, especially with the new shade. Turning away from her reflection, Rose put on her trainers, and grabbed her PDA and archaeologist’s case, making her way back downstairs.

Locking the house behind her, Rose went up to the TARDIS, noting once again the slightly changed shade of blue. She’d been slightly disappointed that he hadn’t changed the interior between his ninth and tenth selves, and she felt a glimmer of excitement at what awaited her on the other side of the doors.

Like the previous coral console room, Rose got a similar feeling of warmth as she entered. There were three levels to the console room, reminiscent of the silver haired Scottish Doctor’s TARDIS, but this room was much brighter in comparison. The main console rested atop a clean hexagonal platform with glass floors, and Rose could see visible circuitry under the time rotor on the lower level. It was tidier than the coral console room in terms of the various cables and wires, though still a bit messy.

As Rose walked up to the main console past the round barred and gold railings around it, she couldn’t help but notice that the instruments on the console were made up of antiquated mechanisms, including something that looked like a typewriter and a gramophone. The view screen hanging above the console had a trademark sticker from the 1950s, and there was a larger secondary viewing screen set in one of the round things on the wall.

Rose smiled at the Doctor who was waiting by the console with a small smile on his face.

“I like it,” she said.

“So do I,” he grinned. He readjusted his bowtie and turned around in a slightly exuberant circle, grabbing a lever on the console and flipping it, as the rotor jumped to life.

Rose’s smile widened and she leaned her back against the railing, watching the Doctor pilot them away. She briefly thought about her dream involving Lucas and Sven, and wondered if their picnic with a view was about to be interrupted but then decided not to jinx it. She really hoped it wouldn’t, she really would like the answers the Doctor had promised. Though, the plethora of answers she’d received at the Library had only led to more questions and even more secrets she’d need to keep, so she was in two minds about that still.

She must have zoned out, because the Doctor was suddenly right in front of her, his hand resting on the railing behind her, his body in close proximity to hers as he looked at her with hints of concern in the depths of his green eyes.

“I’m okay,” said Rose, in response to his unasked question.

His face softened. “No, you’re not,” he said, tipping her chin up with the tip of his index finger. “Do you trust me?”

Rose blinked. “Of course,” she answered, without hesitation.

The Doctor smiled. “Close your eyes,” he said.

Rose inhaled shakily and did as he told her. She felt a soft kiss against her forehead which made her smile but then he was taking her hand and leading her forward. It was hard to let him navigate her like this, but Rose kept her eyes closed, mentally noting that he was leading her toward the TARDIS doors.

“Wait here,” he murmured, bringing her to a halt right near the doors.

Rose nodded, and felt him brush past her to go back toward the console. She heard sounds of him rummaging around, and then he was back at her side.

“Won’t be long,” he said, kissing her cheek as he walked past her, out of the TARDIS through the doors.

Rose heard the doors close behind him, and she supposed she could have opened her eyes since she was alone in the TARDIS, but she didn’t want to ruin whatever the Doctor was planning. She counted to three minutes, and was starting to fidget when the doors opened and she felt the Doctor take her hand once again.

“I’m going to carry you, alright, love?” he asked, and Rose nodded. “Keep your eyes closed.”

He picked her up easily and carried her out of the TARDIS, bridal-style. The temperature outside was colder, and a shiver ran through Rose, and the Doctor’s grip tightened on her. She could hear his boots crunching against what sounded like gravel, and there was a strange hum in the air, like a ferocious storm brewing somewhere nearby.

Rose shivered again, this time not because of the cold. She had a strange relationship with storms. They weren’t uncommon in London, and while she wasn’t afraid as such, she wasn’t entirely fond of them. And she hated thunder more than anything - the sudden clap of thunder had been the source of more nightmares than she could count when Rose had been a child. She had outgrown the irrational, childish fear to an extent, but she still didn’t like storms.

She wondered if the Doctor knew that, and thought he must do, because he seemed to know everything else about her. It was a bit strange then that he’d brought her somewhere with a storm of some magnitude brewing, but he’d asked her to trust him, and she knew she did.

He appeared to be walking downhill, but despite the endearing clumsiness she’d observed in this version of him, he seemed to keep his balance just fine, barely jostling her as he walked.

The Doctor came to a halt, and then slowly knelt, lowering her down as he did. Rose kept her eyes closed, feeling the thick, fleece-like fabric under her. It was softer than anything she had ever felt, and despite knowing they had just walked down a gravel path, the fabric under her was thick enough that no gravel was digging uncomfortably into Rose.

“Lie down,” he told her, and Rose slowly stretched out and felt her head land on a soft cushion. Even with her legs fully stretched out, Rose could still feel the fabric under her, and she wondered if it was a very large picnic blanket that the Doctor had laid out.

She heard the Doctor moving around, but then felt him lie down next to her, his head resting on the same cushion as hers. She started to turn toward him, but he touched a hand to her shoulder to stop her.

“Stay on your back,” he said. “And open your eyes.”

Rose did as he was told, and as her eyes slowly blinked open, a loud gasp escaped her.

In the sky above them, hung a gigantic planet, occupying nearly the entire sky. Only a sliver of inky blackness of space was leftover at the edge of the planet’s curvature and Rose felt the breath knocked out of her at the sheer size of the planet above them.

It took her a brief moment to realise the storm she’d heard brewing was in the southern hemisphere of the planet above them, and Rose recognised it with a start.

“The Great Red Spot,” said the Doctor, as Rose stared transfixed at it. “A persistent anticyclonic storm, bigger than the entire Earth.”

Rose swallowed dryly. “That’s Jupiter in the sky,” she said, too afraid to raise her voice. She felt minute in comparison to the great gas giant above them, and the fear and awe filling her was unlike anything she had experienced before.

“Yes,” said the Doctor, his voice equally hushed.

Rose blinked and with great effort, managed to look away from the biggest storm she had ever seen to look at the Doctor.

“We’re on Callisto, one of the Galilean moons,” he said, smiling softly as he turned to look at her. “This crater has the best view of the Great Red Spot. It’s called Asgard.”

Rose didn’t feel quite up to sitting up just yet, but she glanced around at the non-descript quarry-like surroundings of the crater which would have been unremarkable if not for the spectacular view above them. The light of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot lit Asgard, and there was no sign of civilisation anywhere near them, and apart from the slight chill in the air, it felt like Earth, gravity and all. She also noticed that they were lying down on a red Gingham picnic blanket that was impossibly soft and comfortable, with a matching cushion that they were resting their heads on.

“Is it safe?” asked Rose, looking back up at the planet above them.

“The moon has recently been terraformed,” said the Doctor. “The settlers won’t be here for another century or so, but the shield around the planet is keeping the radiation away, and controlling the temperature to an extent. It’s safe as can be.”

Rose nodded, still mesmerised by the storm overhead. There was something so dangerously beautiful about it, drawing her in but terrifying her in the same breath. Without taking her eyes off it, she fumbled for the Doctor’s hand, and he took it easily, intertwining their fingers together.

“Okay?” he asked, softly.

Rose nodded. “I, uh, don’t like storms,” she said, her eyes locked on the storm.

“Yes,” he said, like he had known that. “How do you feel now?”

Rose squeezed his hand. “Safe,” she said. She turned to look at him. “But that’s because I’m with you.”

He smiled and edged closer to her, raising himself up on his elbow on his side. He used his free hand to caress the side of her face, and Rose smiled when he leaned down to kiss her. He started slow, letting his lips brush against hers in gentle strokes, more smiling against her mouth than kissing her, and Rose felt herself smiling back, feeling unbelievably safe and content, even though they were in an empty crater on a moon devoid of sentient life forms, with Jupiter in the sky above them.

She opened her mouth, and his tongue briefly swiped against hers before he pulled back and placed a swift peck on her mouth, smiling as he gazed down at her. His hand stroked her cheek, down the slope of her jaw and the side of her neck, coming to a halt near the bite on her neck.

For a moment, Rose wondered if he would do what his last self had done, but he merely smirked at the bite before looking back at her.

“Now, I believe I promised answers,” he said.

“Did I come back?” she asked, at once. She meant to ask about her hair, and whatever that meant, but she was more concerned about him. She knew she had told his previous self she would come back to him, but she needed confirmation.

He stared at her and then chuckled. “Of course you did,” he said. “You promised me forever, remember?”

Rose nodded, relieved beyond measure. “I’m glad,” she said. Now that she knew that, she could ask the thing that was bothering her the most. “What’s happening to me?” she asked.

He didn’t look surprised at the question. “The Library brought forth a lot of revelations for both of us,” he said, his demeanour serious in a way she hadn’t seen on this face of his yet, but it suited him just as well as his goofy little smile. “You are learning about the future, and in doing that, you are starting to venture into answers about the past.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “You mean my memories?” she asked.

He nodded. “You’re starting to get the puzzle pieces to reassemble those memories, whether you realise it or not,” he said. “And as your mind starts to connect the pieces, your body is responding to it.”

Rose stared at him. “You’ve lost me,” she said. She felt a sharp stab of pain at the centre of her forehead like the start of a headache and she ignored it, though the Doctor must have seen her wince.

“What hurts?” he asked, at once.

“I think it’s just a headache, but never mind,” said Rose, ignoring the pain that was intensifying slowly.

“It’s not just a headache,” said the Doctor, with a sense of urgency in his tone. “This is exactly what I’m talking about.”

“What?” asked Rose, confused. The headache was getting worse, and the urge to screw her eyes shut in pain was almost unbearable.

“Don’t fight it,” he said, stroking his palm over her forehead, letting his fingers comb through the hair on top of her head. It felt good, but she was trying to make sense of his words. “Close your eyes and let it happen.”

“Let what?” asked Rose, closing her eyes but still trying to focus. There were flashes of odd colours behind her closed eyelids, moving too quickly for her to understand.

“What you’re seeing, stop fighting it,” said the Doctor. “Rose, you’re safe here.”

Those turned out to be the magic words, because Rose tightened her grip on his hand impossibly and the headache suddenly stopped…

Lucas rolled over on a thin mattress and opened his eyes slowly. He looked confused at his surroundings but as his eyes focused, he let out a gasp of surprise.

“Ingrid!” he said, looking at the woman on the cot next to his.

Ingrid was sitting up in her cot, and looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes, and her blonde hair straggly and unwashed. “Careful, Lucas,” she said. “It can be disorientating. Don’t move too quickly.”

Lucas didn’t seem inclined to listen to her, and he eased himself to sit up, clutching his head and wincing, as if it hurt for him to move. “Where-? What-? Am I in the Capitol?”

Ingrid chuckled bitterly. “Does this seem like the Capitol to you?” she asked, waving her arm around.

Lucas slowly took in their surroundings and his eyes widened at the shabby hut they were in. There were a few more cots crammed into the tiny space, though it was just him and Ingrid in the hut for the moment. There was a high window and Lucas frowned when he saw there was a forest beyond the window.

“Are we on Arcadia Major?” he asked.

“No, don’t you recognise it?” she asked. When Lucas just looked at her blankly, she rolled her eyes slightly. “We’re in the East Ridge forest.”

Lucas blinked. “How did I get here?” he asked, before he frowned. “Hang on, I remember being at work. I-I spoke out of turn…”

“That’s when they get you,” said Ingrid, darkly. “When the ODIN tower opens…”

“...I saw a bright light,” nodded Lucas.

Ingrid quickly stood up. “Come on, we can’t dawdle,” she said. “I was waiting for you to wake up, but now that you’re awake, we have to get to corrective labour.”

“Corrective labour?” asked Lucas, with an aghast expression on his face.

Ingrid didn’t answer, just grabbed him by the arm and led him outside the hut. The hut was one among many, and past the little settlement, Lucas could hear the sound of logging equipment, and sure enough, as they broke the tree line of the forest, he and Ingrid came across a group of workers working to cut down the tall trees.

“Stick close to me, and watch out for the guards,” muttered Ingrid, as she led him toward the workers.

Lucas glanced around at the people felling trees and frowned at Ingrid. There weren’t any guards around. The forested area wasn’t even fenced.

“Ingrid,” said Lucas. “What guards? There’s no one here.”

“That you can see,” she said, darkly. “Just, whatever you do, never, ever try to escape.”

A nearby worker scoffed at her. “Scaring the newcomer, are you, Ingrid?” he asked, with a disdainful glance at her.

Ingrid rolled her eyes. “He’s my friend. I don’t want to see him fall prey to our captors,” she said.

“Captors,” the man scoffed again. “Not bloody around, are they?” He swung his axe over his shoulder. “I’ve had enough of your fear mongering…”

“Erik, listen to me…” started Ingrid, but Erik glared at her before looking at the rest of the workers who had paused working to stare at the argument happening.

“I’m leaving,” declared Erik. “If any of you have the balls to join me, come along.”

Without waiting to see if anyone else followed, Erik started making his way out of the forest. No one went after him, and as Erik went past the tree line and vanished out of sight, there was a blood curdling scream that sounded just like Erik.

And then there was a deafening silence…

Rose gasped, as cold sweat broke out on her brow, and her eyes opened. The Doctor’s concerned eyes looked back at her, and Rose tried to catch her breath, realising her throat had gone dry.

“Hang on, love,” said the Doctor, and he sat up hurriedly and reached toward the foot of the picnic blanket, and rummaged through the wicker picnic basket that Rose hadn’t really noticed before.

He pulled out a glass bottle of chilled water and uncapped it, as Rose hefted herself up to sit. Her head spun but the Doctor wrapped a strong arm around her, deftly manoeuvring her to sit with her back against his front, his legs bracketing her hips securely.

He held the water to her mouth, and Rose took a few greedy sips, sinking back into his grip, enjoying the way his arm wrapped around her middle, holding her gently.

“Okay?” he asked, pressing his lips to her temple.

Rose nodded, and took a few more sips, as she finally caught her breath. “What-?” she started to ask, but even without asking, she knew she had just seen her dream continue. “Dreams?” she asked.

“Not dreams, visions,” corrected the Doctor, capping the bottle of water and setting it aside before wrapping both arms around Rose. His nose skimmed along the crown of her head. “How’s the headache?”

“Gone,” she said, surprised despite herself. “I asked you before, back during the thing with Zodaal, if my dreams were prophetic.”

“Yes, they are,” sighed the Doctor. “Well, not exactly.”

Rose frowned and wanted to turn around to look at him, but his hold on her was secure, as he rested his chin on top of her shoulder. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Do you remember when I told you what it’s like to be a Time Lord?” he asked. “To see the threads of reality as easily as you can smell a flower or taste tea.”

“Yeah,” nodded Rose, remembering the conversation they’d had at the Hall of the Ten Thousand.

“Your visions are something similar to that, except, they are much, much stronger than a Time Lord’s timesense,” he said.

Rose didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Thought you had superior alien biology,” she joked, weakly.

He chuckled and pressed his lips to her shoulder in a brief kiss. “Naughty girl, don’t distract me,” he murmured. “Unlike Time Lords, who at their very best can see all kinds of potential timelines, you are capable of visions of everything that is, and everything that is to be, as easily as breathing.”

“Like a seer?” asked Rose, remembering she’d asked him that before, and he hadn’t reacted well to it.

“No,” he said, without hesitation. “Not just like one. Rose, you are a seer.”

Rose felt her breathing speed up. “What?” she asked, faintly.

“A seer,” he repeated.

“How?” asked Rose, finally turning around to look at him, and this time he let her, releasing his hold on her.

His face was serious as he met her gaze. “It’s something you were born with,” he said, honesty evident in his demeanour. “You are one of the most powerful seers in existence, if I am to get specific.”

“Who else-?” she started to ask.

“The Guardians of Time, for one,” he said.

Rose’s eyes widened. “Lia?” she asked.

The Doctor nodded. “Aurelia is one of them, yes,” he said. “But there are six Guardians in total - Black, Red, Azure, White, Silver, and Gold. The most powerful beings in existence.”

“The creators of the universe, you told me,” said Rose, feeling like her head was spinning. “I’m not-?” She paused and swallowed heavily. “I’m not…one of them, am I?” She felt stupid asking, but she felt like she had to.

“No,” he said, and she was glad he hadn’t laughed like she’d half dreaded. “You’re not a Guardian of Time, Rose.”

Rose exhaled heavily. “So, how come I was born a seer?” she asked.

He sighed. “That, my darling, is your secret to keep, and I won’t be disingenuous enough to blurt it out until you remember it yourself,” he said.

Rose nodded quickly. She was actually a bit glad he hadn’t told her, because the answers she’d received were already sending her mind racing a hundred miles an hour, and she didn’t want to push it too much.

“So those dreams have really been visions?” she asked.

“Yes,” he nodded. “It was probably easier for your subconscious to see them at first, until you were ready.”

Rose met his gaze. “How did you know I’d be ready?” she asked.

He smiled softly and then looked up at the storm overhead. “I was hoping the storm would jog your memory,” he said.

Rose frowned as she looked up at it. “Have we been here before?” she asked.

“No,” he replied. “But it was because of a storm that you had your first vision. There’s a reason you don’t like them.” Rose looked confused and he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “In the midst of a terrible storm, you and I had a terrible fight, neither the first, nor the last fight we will have, but I held you, and when the storm died, you had your first vision.”

Rose stared at him. His eyes were sad, thinking back to days long gone that Rose had no inkling about, and her heart broke for him. For a brief second, his eyes were blue, and his hair was black, and she could see a scowl on his face, as a surge of anger coursed through her followed by a spike of desire, and Rose blinked when his arms wrapped around her, and his eyes were green once again.

“Back with me?” he asked, flicking his floppy brown hair out of his eyes.

“What-?” Rose started to ask.

“You were getting lost in memories,” he said, with a small, sad smile.

Rose frowned. “The man that I saw, that was you?” she asked.

“What did he look like?” he asked.

“Tall, very tall, with black hair, and blue eyes,” said Rose, the answer coming to her easily.

The Doctor smiled softly. “Handsome bugger, isn’t he?” he asked. Rose gave him a look, and his smile dimmed. “Yes, it was me.”

Rose blinked in shock. “But…I haven’t seen that face before,” she said. “And I’ve seen all your faces…”

“Not all of them,” he said. She looked confused, and he smiled. “Spoilers.”

Rose almost rolled her eyes, but settled for a huff instead. “Is that why Lia found me all those years ago?” asked Rose.

The Doctor chuckled. “No, she found you because she’s a meddlesome little one. Benefits of being the youngest, I suppose,” he muttered the last part and Rose looked at him questioningly. “I shouldn’t say more, this is everything that you already can’t tell my younger self.”

“Why?” asked Rose.

“The me before the war is very different to who I was after it,” he said. “Different in several ways, some that still don’t make sense to this day. Better not confuse me.”

“So, what can I say?” asked Rose.

The Doctor smiled softly. “You’ll know it when you see me,” he said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, so casually that Rose was certain he did it all the time. “So, tell me, what did you see this time?”

Rose blinked, and realised he was asking about her vision. She had almost forgotten about the whole thing. In quick sentences, she explained her dream from the night before, and the vision she’d had moments ago.

The Doctor was frowning deeply. “Acadia Major?” he asked, referring to the part in her dream when Lucas had asked Ingrid where they were.

“Yeah,” said Rose. “Do you know it?”

“Yes,” he said, with a frown. “Acadia Major is a largely uninhabited planet. It’s a very resource-heavy planet, so the populace mostly resides on Acadia Minor, its sister planet.”

“But Ingrid said they weren’t on Acadia Major, they were in the East Ridge forest,” said Rose. “Is that on Acadia Minor?”

“I think so,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t been there since I was in my fourth body. Acadia Minor is home to the Barossi people. An excellent, thriving civilisation, who value trade, craftsmanship, individual thought and hard work.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “It didn’t look like that in my dream- er, vision,” she said.

“Keep calling them dreams,” said the Doctor. “At least, around other people. It’s safer that way.”

Rose felt a shiver climb up her spine at his warning, and she nodded. “Something has to be wrong, right, if I’m dreaming about it?” she asked.

“Usually, yes,” nodded the Doctor. “But, Rose, I know today hasn’t been easy for you. I could take you back home, let you get some rest.”

Rose met his gaze fiercely. “Something bad is happening on Acadia Minor, and anyone who talks about it is sent to ‘corrective labour’,” she retorted, indignantly. “I’m not a shrinking violet who can’t stop thinking about myself long enough to help them.” Her expression cleared when she saw the Doctor smiling. “But you already knew that.”

He laughed and planted a smacking kiss on her cheek. “My ferocious Rose,” he murmured. “Come along, let’s investigate Acadia Minor.”

Rose blushed but smiled and nodded. He started to get up, but Rose placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and leaned forward with a slightly shy look on her face. The Doctor caught on quickly and smiled fondly, as the two met in the middle for a lovely kiss. Rose closed her eyes, letting the sound of the storm overhead wash over her as she kissed the Doctor with all the gratitude and passion she could feel.

“Thank you,” she murmured, as she pulled away to breathe.

The Doctor’s eyes sparkled. “Anytime,” he said.

~

The TARDIS landed on Acadia Minor, near the planet’s largest bazaar which was the primary trading hub for the Acadian planets. The Doctor had told Rose it was a primitive but thriving place, where people bartered and traded their goods and services. The Doctor himself had grabbed a box of various electrical components for them to use to go shopping.

“The Barossi market loves a good bit of barter,” said the Doctor, as he and Rose started to exit the TARDIS.

“Hang on, is this where the Barossian lace is made?” asked Rose. She was very fond of the material, and had been using the Fab-ri-cator to make more and more of her clothes out of that lace.

“It is,” beamed the Doctor, opening the doors to the TARDIS and stepping outside. “Look, how busy…” He trailed off, as silence greeted him and Rose.

“What the hell,” muttered Rose, as she stepped out behind him and stared at the empty market stalls, devoid of any goods or people. “I thought you said it was an active bazaar.”

The Doctor frowned, as he put the box of electrical components back in the TARDIS and took Rose’s hand, leading her toward the empty bazaar. “I don’t understand,” he said. “It isn’t supposed to be like this.”

“It looks like it has been empty for a good long while,” said Rose, examining the dust and cobwebs gathered on the stalls. She heard a slight shuffling sound and she squeezed the Doctor’s hand to get his attention.

A few stalls up ahead, they saw an old woman manning a cart of wilted vegetables. Since she was the only person around, the Doctor and Rose exchanged confused looks and made their way toward her quickly.

“Hello,” said the Doctor. “I’m the Doctor, this is Rose.”

The old woman with silver hair, dressed in a brightly patterned muumuu-like outfit, eyed them blankly. “Hello,” she replied, her voice cracking, as if she didn’t get to use it very often.

“What happened here?” asked Rose.

The woman looked defeated. “Hygge,” she replied.

“What?” asked Rose, not knowing what that meant.

“Hygge,” repeated the Doctor. “It’s the concept of creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life, with good people.”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up. “Right,” she said, sceptically. “Looks like it,” she added, looking around at the empty bazaar.

“Hygge,” repeated the woman, but this time, she pointed to a tower on a nearby hill.

The Doctor and Rose followed her gaze and looked at the imposing tower which was shaped like a lighthouse, painted the same bright orange that Rose remembered from Lucas and Sven’s uniforms. The tower was tall enough to allow the perfect vantage point over the entirety of the Barossian market. The tower was surrounded by a complex of lower buildings painted white with an orange stripe across them, so they looked like they were a part of the main tower, or at least, part of the same property.

The rest of the hill was dotted with little houses and chalets, similarly painted with an orange stripe, no matter what colour the house was. Rose glanced at the Doctor, and saw an uneasy expression on his face, just like she was feeling on the inside.

The sight before them screamed of a weird, dystopian society where everything was monochrome, and it was entirely different to what the Doctor had described the Barossi civilisation to look like.

“Something’s wrong,” said the Doctor.

Rose nodded, and tightened the grip on his hand as she nodded toward the tower. “Let’s go,” she said.

Chapter Text

There was an automated walkway that led up the hill toward the tower. More precisely, there were several automated walkways, depending on whether the people wanted to go to the dwellings, the tower or the little outbuildings.

“ODIN Megastore,” read the Doctor, looking at the sign with an illustration of the tower next to it.

“It did look like a supermarket in my dream,” said Rose. “That has to be it, right?”

The Doctor nodded, and he and Rose got on the walkway that led to the ODIN Megastore.

They didn’t see many people on their way up, and the Doctor mentioned that it was quite early in the day, which meant that the workers had probably already gone to work, but customers were yet to start making their way in.

“It’s a small planet,” the Doctor informed her. “Could almost be classed as a moon, but the people insisted on it being named a planet. The whole thing is about the size of Britain.”

“What’s the population size like?” asked Rose, curiously.

“About half of what it was in Britain in your time,” he said. “But the customers are mostly off-worlders. Acadia Minor is on the way from practically everywhere if you’re heading to the Galactic Centre of the Milky Way.”

Rose nodded, and they stepped off the walkway at the foot of the tower. The entrance was over a hundred feet wide, with numerous automatic glass doors leading inside the store. The sign overhead proclaimed it to be the ODIN Megastore. There was a more official looking lobby off to the side, which Rose could only assume led to the floors above.

As they approached the entrance to the Megastore, they could hear some kind of generic folksy music playing over the tannoy, occasionally broken up by a voice saying ‘Happily Ever After. That is the ODIN Way.’

“We’re definitely in the right place,” muttered Rose, as they stepped into the store.

They passed by a group of employees having a team meeting. It would have been unremarkable, except the manager running the meeting beamed at everyone before making an announcement.

“And, finally, Lucas has now been promoted, so he will no longer be a part of the floor staff,” the female manager with the dark hair and a name badge proclaiming her name to be ‘Anna’ said. “He is currently liaising with a warehouse management team on Acadia Major. Let’s all congratulate him for his hard work and dedication to ODIN. He is a shining example for us all to do our best!”

The team applauded with bright smiles, too bright to be real. Rose wondered how many of them suspected that Lucas had been made to disappear for speaking out of turn, but to their credit, no one in the group gave anything away. Rose supposed that like Sven, they were thinking of keeping themselves and their families safe, and she could hardly blame them for it. The manager dismissed them, and the employees slowly dispersed.

Rose met the Doctor’s gaze, they were definitely in the right place.

The store was absolutely massive, and there were dedicated aisles to every conceivable product from fresh food and groceries, to clothes, medicine, furniture, gadgets, and on and on it went.

“It’s like having sensory overload,” said Rose, as she and the Doctor walked along the aisles.

“This store seems to sell everything the market did,” said the Doctor, with a frown. “But it’s all wrong.” At Rose’s curious look, he nodded at the furniture display that showed a few dressers, all of them fairly basic cookie cutter in design, and completely identical. “The Barossi people are known for their creative craftsmanship. This looks like it came out of a flatpack.”

Rose grinned, unable to help it. “And when have you had to deal with flatpack furniture exactly?” she asked.

The Doctor grinned back. “I’m a man of many secrets, Rose Tyler,” he said.

She was about to retort with something witty when she noticed a familiar man down one of the aisles. She squeezed the Doctor’s hand to make him stop, and then nodded toward him.

“That’s Sven,” she murmured.

The Doctor glanced down the aisle at the man with the bright blond hair. “Right, let’s go,” he said, leading Rose toward him.

Sven was stocking the shelves with identical crystal vases, and glanced up when he heard them approach.

“Greetings,” he said, with a bright smile.

The Doctor released Rose’s hand and continued walking toward Sven, and before Sven could look too bewildered, the Doctor rapped his knuckles on Sven’s chest twice in quick succession.

“Greetings!” returned the Doctor, beaming brightly, despite the embarrassed look on Sven’s face.

“Doctor,” said Rose, a bit taken aback at his odd way of greeting Sven.

The Doctor gave her a confused look. “But that’s the local greeting, Rose,” he said, and then looked back at Sven. “Isn’t it?”

Sven still looked highly embarrassed. “The traditional greeting is no longer used, I’m afraid, unless it’s for duels and debates,” he said, with a slight shrug.

The Doctor looked visibly disappointed at that. “Well, that doesn’t seem right,” he said. “It was my primary reason for visiting.”

Rose gave him a look, even as her lips twitched with amusement. “So, what’s the new greeting?” she asked Sven.

Sven beamed at her and then walked up to her and gave her an affectionate hug. Rose was a bit startled but chuckled and hugged him back briefly.

“This is how we greet one another now,” said Sven, pulling back and smiling at Rose. “We are also known for drinking grog by the fire, close harmony singing, and eating marshmallows.”

Rose raised her eyebrows, if it hadn’t been for the dystopian nightmare all around them, the things that Sven had mentioned would have been a very nice thing about the Barossi people.

The Doctor, on the other hand, looked quite irritated. He took Rose’s hand and pulled her closer to him, effectively putting a good amount of distance between her and Sven. Rose would have almost chuckled at his slightly possessive behaviour, but she rather liked how his hand was entwined around hers, seeming to fit just as well in this body as it did in his other ones.

“When did all this new stuff start?” asked the Doctor, narrowing his eyes at Sven.

Sven blinked, a bit of curiosity and wariness growing in his expression. “Since Director Thor came over from Scandinavia,” he replied, like repeating a company manual.

Rose exchanged a surprised look with the Doctor. “Thor?” asked Rose.

Sven nodded with a polite smile. “The Director taught us to relax and be cool,” said Sven, his words in sharp contrast to his tense expression which seemed to be growing ever so stronger. “This new approach to life is known as Hygge.”

“What rubbish,” declared the Doctor. “Just a Hygge bit of nonsense, if you ask me.”

Rose elbowed him, unimpressed at his dismissal and the silly pun.

The Doctor was on a roll, though. “All this Thor has done is turn all the colourful Barossi people monochrome,” he complained.

Sven chuckled humourlessly. “You would get along well with Lucas,” he said, and then his eyes widened as if he felt like he’d said too much.

“Lucas?” asked the Doctor, feigning ignorance.

Sven glanced around surreptitiously as if checking for watching eyes. “The company disappears anyone who criticises them,” he whispered. “Or so Lucas believed,” he added hastily.

“Do they? How interesting,” said the Doctor, with a quick glance at Rose. “So, where’s Lucas now?”

“Disappeared,” answered Sven, shortly.

“Should have seen that one coming,” nodded the Doctor.

“Where’s this Director then?” asked Rose.

Sven looked between them warily. “Why?” he asked.

“We’re carpenters, wanting the ODIN Megastore to stock the tables we have designed,” said the Doctor.

Rose was actually impressed with how quickly he’d come up with that. Sven nodded slowly, looking less wary, though still suspicious.

“Director Thor’s offices are at the top of the ODIN tower,” said Sven.

“Thank you,” said the Doctor, and he and Rose nodded their goodbyes to Sven before leaving the store.

The ODIN Megastore was at the base of the ODIN tower, and there was a magnificent lobby next to it that seemed to lead to the upper levels of the tower. The lobby was all about minimalism, with clean white walls, polished black tiled floor, and not an ounce of character to it. Rose could once again feel the Doctor’s disapproval about the monochromatic nature of the decor.

It was hard for her to imagine what this place had been like before the Hygge nonsense, because everything about it seemed ingrained in the very fabric of this entire society.

As they went through the lobby, Rose felt the beginnings of a headache and she squeezed the Doctor’s hand. He paused and his expression turned alarmed when he saw that Rose was trying not to wince in pain.

“Sorry,” said Rose, through gritted teeth. “I think I’m about to have another vision.”

He nodded quickly and spotted the bathrooms in the lobby. Quickly pulling Rose into one of them, he closed and locked the door behind them, as Rose held onto him for support, closing her eyes.

“Coordinator.”

The blonde woman, who looked like she would be in her late thirties, looked up from the device in her hand. It was like a laptop, but with no keyboard, just a flat screen. She was wearing a pair of dark red tapered silk trousers tailored to fit her long legs, and a tunic-like top in the same dark red, with gold figure eight symbols sewn along the collar and sleeves. She had magnificently golden hair delicately braided along the crown of her head and then put up in a chignon, designed to keep her hair out of her face, while still giving her the appearance of elegance, befitting her position.

The room she was in was a monochromatic white, with a long, glass desk and a white chair upon which she was sitting. She set the device in her hand down on the desk, and crossed her long legs at the knees, the heel of her long boots, tapping against the leg of her chair.

It was a young man with chocolate brown hair and olive skin who had spoken to her. Unlike her, he was dressed in swathing robes of light green, and an absurd hat with an elaborate collar, which looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Councillor Yuriss,” she said, with a small smile that didn’t quite reach her sharp green eyes. “I wasn’t aware we had an appointment.”

He clearly didn’t like that, and he puffed up a bit, clutching the ends of his collar indignantly. “I am a member of the High Council of Gallifrey,” he snapped. “I do not need an appointment to see you.”

The Coordinator rolled her eyes. She was spared having to respond when another young man entered behind Councillor Yuriss. He was dressed in a long full-sleeved robe colour blocked with white in the middle and black along the edges. His dark hair was long, brushed carefully into a quiff.

“I informed Councillor Yuriss that you were busy, Coordinator,” said the newcomer, with a trace of exasperation.

“Yes, but I suppose the Councillor was being rather impatient, wasn’t he, Ezra?” asked the Coordinator.

The man, Ezra, nodded and shot an irritated look at the councillor. Yuriss, however, ignored him.

“I need to discuss the matter of Acadia with you,” said Yuriss, importantly.

“Do you now?” asked the Coordinator, with a slightly amused smile. “Tell me, Councillor, do you wish to be tried for treason?”

Ezra snorted slightly, which seemed to annoy Yuriss. “I will not allow disrespect,” he snapped.

The Coordinator rolled her eyes. “Ezra,” she began. “Tell me, what is the matter of Acadia?”

Ezra looked amused. “The Barossi people of the Acadian system have been engaged in a prolonged war with the Morpetha,” he said. “If it continues, it will all but deplete the entirety of the resources on Acadia Major, destroying a valuable resource planet.”

“Hmm, yes,” said the Coordinator. “And what is the Division doing about it?”

“They are intervening to negotiate a truce between the warring factions,” replied Ezra.

“The key word being what, Ezra?” asked the Coordinator, with a sly smile at Yuriss, who looked uncomfortable.

“Intervening, Coordinator,” said Ezra, like it was a game the two of them had played numerous times.

“Very good, Ezra,” praised the Coordinator. “Now, why would Councillor Yuriss be facing a charge of treason?”

“Interference in the web of time is against the laws of Gallifrey,” said Ezra, sternly.

“Correct,” said the Coordinator. “Perhaps, you wish to rethink your visit, Councillor Yuriss.”

Yuriss went red but shook his head stubbornly. “Your little games will not frighten me,” he said. “I know what you do here at the Division. You flaunt our laws, and interfere in the web of time as it pleases you.”

The Coordinator rolled her eyes. “You’re new to the Council, so I’ll give you a piece of advice, Councillor Yuriss,” she said, getting to her feet. She walked around her desk and stood in front of the councillor. “Stay out of the Division’s way.” There was a sharp smile on her face, and in a blink, her green eyes went golden, and Yuriss lost consciousness and fell to the floor in a heap.

Ezra barely even blinked. “How long until he wakes?” he asked, looking at the unconscious Time Lord.

She went and sat back down in her chair. “Another minute or so,” she said. “Tell Brax I’m unimpressed about the leak. Someone on the council has been blabbing.”

“Larna suspected the same,” said Ezra. “Although she doesn’t believe the leak is on the council.”

The Coordinator sighed. “We’ll talk over dinner at the end of the week,” she said. “Inform Brax and Larna, and I’ll talk to your father when I see him later.”

“Yes, Mother,” he replied, and then looked down as Yuriss woke up slowly.

“Huh, what-?” he started to ask.

Ezra helped him to his feet. “You were just going to tell me who told you about this Acadian business,” he said, his tone perfectly level.

“Oh, uh, the President did,” replied Yuriss, like he was in a daze.

Ezra’s eyes widened and he glanced at the Coordinator, who looked furious.

“Thank you,” said Ezra, turning back to Yuriss. “You will now return to your quarters, and forget this entire encounter.” Yuriss nodded and turned around and walked out.

As soon as he was gone, the Coordinator looked at Ezra. “Talk to Brax,” said the Coordinator, coldly.

Ezra nodded, and hurried away. As he left, the Coordinator let out a sigh and popped open the top button of her tunic top. She was wearing a necklace underneath with a round, sapphire blue pendant, and she stroked it thoughtfully.

Her eyes were half closed as she murmured - “You will need to remember this.”

Rose gasped and opened her eyes as the vision ended.

“Okay?” asked the Doctor, cupping her face as he looked at her in concern.

Rose nodded slowly. This vision was different to the others, and she wasn’t entirely sure what was different about it just yet.

“Who are the Morpetha?” she asked.

The Doctor blinked, before a wary expression crossed his face. “Tell me what you saw,” he said.

“No,” said Rose, firmly, and for a moment, she thought she almost sounded like the Coordinator. “The Morpetha, who are they?”

The Doctor’s wariness seemed to grow. “They are a lycanthropic species, capable of shapeshifting into humanoids,” he said. “Highly vicious and territorial.”

“They went to war with the Acadian planets,” said Rose.

“They did,” said the Doctor. “But then there was a truce agreed, and a peace treaty signed.”

“Because of the Division,” said Rose.

The Doctor’s jaw dropped. “Rose…”

“Yes or no,” she snapped.

He exhaled heavily. “Yes,” he said. “The last Coordinator of the Division was…”

“Ruthless?” she asked, remembering that strange power she’d had and how she had knocked out the councillor and then made him forget about the whole thing.

The Doctor sighed. “I was going to say determined,” he said.

“Why was she the last?” asked Rose.

The Doctor glanced away. “The Division was a secret organisation created by the Time Lords, and they carried out sanctioned interferences in the web of time,” he explained. “Their goals were never revealed to the rest of the Time Lords, not even the High Council of Gallifrey. Plausible deniability, and all that.”

Rose’s mind was whirling. This was new information, but at the same time, it felt like it wasn’t. It was a very confusing feeling.

“The last Coordinator, she…” he paused and met her gaze briefly. “She betrayed Gallifrey.”

Rose blinked in shock. “What?” she asked. “What did she do?”

“She murdered the President,” he replied. “Unprovoked, and in cold blood.”

Rose’s eyes widened. Something about that didn’t seem to sit right with her, but she didn’t think the Doctor was lying.

“What happened to her?” asked Rose.

“No one knows,” he shrugged. “She fled Gallifrey, and no one has ever found her.” That didn’t sit right either, and this time, Rose didn’t believe he was being completely honest. “With her betrayal and subsequent escape, the Division was dissolved. Although a new organisation took its place, called the Celestial Intervention Agency, essentially serving the same purpose.”

“She had a necklace,” said Rose, looking at the Doctor closely. “I have seen it before.”

The Doctor nodded. “Yeah, I thought you might have,” he said.

Rose searched his eyes. “It was in Patience’s portrait,” she said. “The necklace she was holding was the same one the Coordinator was wearing.”

The Doctor slowly released her and crossed his arms, leaning back against the closed bathroom door. “What are you asking me, Rose?” he asked, calmly.

Rose inhaled slowly. “Are they the same person?” she asked.

The Doctor was silent for a moment. “Lady Patience existed ten million years ago. The Coordinator had only been around a few thousand years ago,” he said. “Time Lords don’t live that long.”

Rose thought that it didn’t quite answer her question but she nodded slowly. “Was she a descendant then?” asked Rose. “One of the thirteen children that Lady Patience had with the Stranger?”

For some reason, it made him chuckle and uncross his arms. “They didn’t have thirteen children,” he said. “It was a mistranslation, they only had three children. But thirteen is written as three-and-ten in circular Gallifreyan, and some overeager translator somewhere added that ‘and ten’ part to recorded history.”

“Right,” said Rose. “Was she descended from Lady Patience then?”

“No,” he said, and then sighed. “This vision was different from the others, wasn’t it?”

Rose blinked at him in shock. “Yeah,” she said.

He nodded slowly. “What felt different about it?” she asked.

Rose considered her response. “It felt like deja vu,” she said, finally. As she said it, her eyes widened. “You’re not…you’re not saying they were my memories, do you?” Her voice shook, and the Doctor pushed himself off the door to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her gently.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he murmured, kissing her forehead softly. “Now, you need to do exactly as I tell you to do.”

Rose looked at him and saw nothing but love and adoration in his gaze. She slowly nodded.

“Close your eyes,” he murmured, and she did so. “Remember what you told me at the Abyss?”

Before she could think about it, her mouth moved involuntarily as if the words were drawn out by muscle memory. “We will always find one another, beloved,” she said, and the posh accent sounded foreign to her own ears.

“Yes, we will,” he said, gently. “I’m here, you’re safe. Now, let the memories sleep, Patience.”

Rose blinked her eyes open. The Doctor was staring at her impassively. “Erm, what happened?” she asked.

“What do you remember?” he asked, calmly.

“You told me to close my eyes, and said something about the Abyss,” she said. “And…” She paused. “And I don’t think I need to know yet.” It felt odd that feeling, like it was something deep within her, a part of her she didn’t quite understand or comprehend just yet, telling her to let this go for now.

He smiled, and Rose thought he looked rather sad. “Thank you,” he murmured, and then kissed her ever so gently, like she was the most fragile thing in the universe.

It unexpectedly made tears rise in her eyes. “It’s okay,” she told him, sensing immense sorrow and guilt emanating from him. “I trust you.”

That turned out to be the right thing to say.

The Doctor exhaled heavily and crushed his mouth to hers, turning them around so that Rose was the one with her back against the door, as he kissed her with an intensity he never had before. His hand was in her hair, fingers tangled in the golden locks at the back of her head, rough and possessive in a way that made her breathless.

It didn’t feel like desperation, it felt needier than that, like she was the very air he needed to breathe, and Rose lost herself in the dizzying sensation of his mouth claiming hers possessively. The hand in her hair tightened and he pulled her hair, hard, hard enough to draw out a breathless cry from Rose. He smiled into the kiss when she made that noise, and slid his tongue into her mouth, making her practically forget her own name. Rose felt like she was burning, his touch setting her alight, and she was almost relieved when he slowly pulled back.

His hand left her hair and he cupped her face, brushing his thumb possessively down her bottom lip, his gaze sharp and wanting.

“I love you,” he told her, brushing his nose against hers in an affectionate gesture which was a sharp contrast to his frantic ardour from before. “So much,” he added, with a small kiss against her mouth.

Rose gazed at him affectionately, feeling so very loved, despite the extraordinary revelations brought forth by her latest vision. “I love you,” she replied.

He slowly let her go, but still held her gaze lovingly. “Come on, let’s see what we can find.”

~

It took a few missed turns and the Doctor flashing the psychic paper at a few people before they finally got to Thor’s office.

Thor turned out to be not what Rose would have expected. She didn’t know why she had expected a tall, muscled god of thunder lookalike, but Thor was a short, middle-aged man with bottle blonde hair that had roots coming in, dressed in an ill-fitted black turtleneck and a pair of jeans slightly too long for him.

“Oh, hello, I’m the Doctor, this is Rose,” said the Doctor, flashing the psychic paper. “We are carpenters.” He closed the little black wallet, switched it to his other hand and flipped it open. “Here are some of our prototype designs that we want you to look at.”

Thor blinked at them. “Who let you in here?” he asked, with an extremely fake Spanish accent.

Now Rose was really confused. She glanced at the Doctor, who had also raised his eyebrows at Thor.

“We presented our credentials and they let us in,” replied Rose.

“Right,” said Thor, slowly, his accent dropping momentarily before he seemed to compose himself. “Well, have a seat on the bean bags.”

The office really didn’t have any desks or chairs, just clusters of uncomfortable-looking bean bags in that hideous orange colour. The Doctor and Rose took a seat, and Thor smiled and lowered himself into a bean bag facing them.

“Would you like some cinnamon buns?” he asked.

“Er, no, thanks,” said Rose.

“So, about our sketches?” asked the Doctor, expectantly.

“Yes, er, they’re very interesting,” said Thor, his fake accent back with a vengeance. “But I’m not sure it’s our style.”

“How do you mean?” asked Rose.

“Well, we are all about Scandinavian minimalism,” he replied, with a bright smile.

“Right, and how did you come up with that concept?” asked the Doctor.

“Because that’s where I’m from, of course,” beamed Thor. “I’m from Scandinavia.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. The Doctor, on the other hand, kept smiling.

“Oh, I see,” said the Doctor. “Are you from the capital of Scandinavia? Berlin?”

“Yes, of course,” nodded Thor.

The Doctor rolled his eyes with a scoff. “What a load of rubbish,” he declared. “You are neither human, nor are you from Scandinavia.”

Thor’s eyes widened. “Shh, quiet please,” he said, his accent disappearing quickly.

“Tell us the truth,” said the Doctor, sternly.

Thor sighed. “Look, I’m not really from Scandinavia,” he said. “I got the anthropological date from a galaxy hopping entrepreneur, and I used it to rebrand myself as a ‘Scandinavian’ to set up this business.” He spoke in a hurry, and in a quiet voice, as if he too were afraid of listening ears.

Rose was surprised at that. She had expected Thor to be in charge, but it was becoming clearer by the second that he was as much a game piece as the rest of the workers.

“Please, I just wanted to run this company,” said Thor, looking between the Doctor and Rose. “Are you here to blackmail me?”

The Doctor and Rose exchanged surprised looks. “No,” said the Doctor, finally. “No, we’re just here to sell the design for our tables.”

Thor nodded, looking relieved. “I will put you in touch with our R&D team,” he said. “And you won’t say anything? About, er, the other thing?”

The Doctor smiled at him as he took Rose’s hand. “Not a word, we promise, don’t we, Rose?”

Rose nodded along, figuring he had some sort of a plan. Thor looked relieved, but became jumpy again when there was a knock at his office door. He stumbled to his feet, as the Doctor and Rose stood more sedately.

“Come in,” called Thor.

The door opened and a willowy woman with dark hair, dressed in a sharp pantsuit walked into the office. “Director Thor,” she said. “It’s time for the HR meeting.”

“Right, yes, of course,” said Thor, his fake accent returning once more. He looked at the Doctor and Rose. “You could both return tomorrow, and I’ll make that introduction to R&D as I promised.”

He was quick to usher them out of his office, and the Doctor and Rose were left standing outside the closed office door, as Thor and the woman hurried away to the meeting further down the hallway.

“Well, that was weird,” whispered Rose.

“Very weird,” agreed the Doctor.

“Why didn’t you ask him about Lucas or who he is so afraid of?” asked Rose.

“Because I didn’t want to scare him away,” said the Doctor. “No, if anyone will talk, it’s those people that have been sent to corrective labour.”

Rose nodded slowly. “East Ridge forest then?” she asked.

The Doctor nodded, as they headed back in the direction of the TARDIS. “That’s the plan.”

Chapter Text

Rose closed her eyes as the Doctor flew the TARDIS to East Ridge forest. The latest vision had given her a lot to think about, and despite knowing she shouldn’t examine the implications of it in too much detail just yet, there were aspects of it that were harder to ignore than the others.

The most pressing thing, however, seemed to be whatever was happening on Acadia Minor. Rose wasn’t entirely certain what triggered her visions, but they seemed to be connected to whatever was happening around her. She was also conscious that the Coordinator had said ‘you will need to remember this’.

Rose wasn’t entirely certain who she had been talking to, but felt like she had been addressing Rose.

Which meant that the Coordinator had wanted Rose to remember this, for some reason.

Opening her eyes, Rose pulled out her PDA. She searched up the Morpetha, and it gave her nearly identical information as what the Doctor had already told her. Lycanthropic beings, capable of transforming between human and wolf, vicious and territorial. She went on to read about their history with the Acadian planets, and her heart leapt when she saw that they were bound by the Treaty of the Bad Wolf, which was responsible for the truce between the Barossians and the Morpetha, and for their people to become a part of the galactic assembly. The treaty was new, only about thirty years old, and it made Rose’s head spin when she thought about time travel, considering the Coordinator had meddled in time several thousand years ago, relatively speaking.

She was intrigued by the mysterious Coordinator. She had exuded confidence and power, but there had been something so very emotional about her, that it had confused Rose a bit. She also hadn’t forgotten that her son seemed to work alongside her, and she had made reference to Brax and Larna. She glanced at the Doctor, and bit her lip. Not the time to ask, something within her murmured, and Rose tucked the information away for the time being.

“So, where’s East Ridge, exactly?” asked Rose, putting away her PDA.

The Doctor glanced up from the console. “It’s in the eastern hemisphere, one of the uninhabited parts of the planet,” he said. He frowned at the screen in front of him. “Well, supposed to be uninhabited, at least.”

Rose joined him at the console. “Something wrong?” she asked.

He pointed to the purple dots on the map on the screen. “The TARDIS is picking up life forms in the vicinity of East Ridge forest,” he said.

“My vision showed a collection of huts, and a logging crew,” said Rose. “Maybe it’s that?”

“Yes,” nodded the Doctor. “I find it interesting, though, that there is a logging crew on the planet when really, Acadia Major is the resource planet.”

“True,” agreed Rose. “Why aren’t they on Acadia Major? Why are they cutting down the trees on the planet they inhabit?”

The Doctor shrugged thoughtfully. “I suppose we should go and ask whoever is in charge,” he said, and flipped a lever as the TARDIS began to land.

Rose smiled when he took her hand as soon as they had landed and pulled her out of the TARDIS. The doors opened into a familiar forest clearing, and in the distance, Rose could see the little huts where she had seen Lucas and Ingrid in her vision. Beyond the little collection of huts was a path leading deeper into the forest where she knew the logging crew was working away.

She felt the Doctor squeeze her hand, and she looked to where he was indicating, and saw a watchtower-like structure close to where the TARDIS had landed. There was a man at the top of the watchtower, wearing white overalls with the ODIN orange stripes along the left side of his body, and the Doctor and Rose headed toward him by unspoken agreement.

He looked at them warily when they got to the top of the watchtower.

“Hello!” greeted the Doctor. “I’m the Doctor, this is Rose. What’s your name?”

The man narrowed his eyes. “Logan,” he replied. “I’m the foreman.”

“Logan the foreman,” said the Doctor, beaming away. He pulled out the psychic paper and flashed it. “We’re here for a surprise inspection. Surprise!”

Logan’s eyes widened, and despite the seriousness of the circumstances, the Doctor’s enthusiasm made Rose bite back a smile. She was growing rather fond of this body of his (as if there had been any version of him she had disliked). She squeezed his hand, because she figured it would really blow their cover if she kissed his cheek like she wanted to. His thumb caressed their joined hands, slowly, deliberately, and she smiled softly to herself.

“I wasn’t told about an inspection,” said Logan, and Rose made herself focus.

“That’s why it’s a surprise,” grinned Rose.

“Right,” said Logan, still looking a bit confused and wary.

“Well, now that’s all cleared up, we need to speak to the loggers,” said the Doctor, brightly.

“Why?” asked Logan.

“They’re the ones near the trees. They’d be the ones to pick up if the trees have been infected by the Dutch Elm disease,” bluffed Rose. She had no idea where the lie had come from, and she noticed the Doctor’s smile falter slightly.

“Rose is right,” he said, with a slightly stern look at Logan. “The entire forest might be infected, perhaps even other forest sites. You know, ODIN industries might sue you personally if you don’t cooperate.”

Logan’s eyes widened, and he nodded quickly. “Right, okay,” he said. “I’ll take you to the loggers myself.”

“Wonderful,” beamed the Doctor. “Come along, Rose.”

Logan led them back down the watchtower and into the cluster of trees in the distance. The Doctor and Rose walked a few paces behind Logan, and Rose leaned toward the Doctor.

“You alright?” she asked.

He glanced at her, and she could see he looked a bit torn. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

Rose smiled softly. “Worried, because you’re worried,” she replied.

He chuckled. “Can’t help myself,” he said.

“Neither can I,” said Rose. “You shouldn’t worry about me, though. I’m okay.”

He smiled and then kissed her temple as they walked. Past the treeline, they reached a familiar clearing where Rose had seen the loggers before, and sure enough, she saw Ingrid and Lucas, along with a handful of other workers. She squeezed the Doctor’s hand before letting go.

“Logan,” said the Doctor, drawing the man’s attention away. “Tell me a bit about this part here,” he added, putting an arm around Logan’s shoulder and drawing him away from the loggers.

Rose, on the other hand, slipped over to the workers, making a beeline for Ingrid. Ingrid looked up when Rose approached, and Rose smiled.

“Ingrid, wonderful to meet you,” she said. “I’m Rose. Lucas has told me all about your work in the Capitol.”

Ingrid’s eyes widened, and Rose hoped she picked up on the hint. Thankfully, Ingrid seemed to be sharp as a tack. “Of course, it’s wonderful to meet you, Rose,” said Ingrid, with a cautious smile.

“Keep smiling and pretending like I’m asking you questions,” whispered Rose. “My friend is leading Logan away. Look over my shoulder and tell me when they’re far enough away.”

Ingrid glanced over her shoulder, as seconds ticked past. “Who are you?” she asked, and Rose supposed the Doctor and Logan were out of earshot.

“I’m Rose, that’s the Doctor, we’re here to help,” said Rose. “We know that anyone who speaks out against ODIN is being sent here.”

Ingrid’s eyes widened. “You know?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Rose. “Can you get Lucas over here?”

Ingrid nodded and beckoned Lucas, who jogged over with a wary expression on his face.

“This is Rose, she and her friend are here to help,” said Ingrid, quickly.

“You said you saw a bright light when you were sent here,” said Rose.

Lucas’s eyes widened. “How did you know that?” he asked, and Rose realised she had repeated what she had seen in her vision.

“I’m a bit psychic,” she replied, and then wanted to laugh. She understood now why her Doctor said that, it was easier to explain than the alternative.

“Right,” said Lucas, as he and Ingrid exchanged a look. “I’m pretty sure I was sent by transmat.”

“That’s worrying, considering transmats are banned for any civilisation who is part of the galactic assembly,” frowned Ingrid.

“Never mind the law,” said Lucas, and looked at Rose. “What did you and your friend do about the guards?”

“Guards?” asked Rose, but was interrupted by the sound of loud growls from the forest.

She sprung into action, and looked toward the Doctor. He had also heard them, as had Logan and everyone else around them. The growls seemed to be emanating from all around them, rustling the fern-like shrubbery along the clearing.

“Everyone, in the middle of the clearing, go on!” shouted the Doctor, and the loggers hurried to comply.

Rose ushered Ingrid and Lucas ahead of her, before running to the middle of the clearing. “What the hell are those?” she demanded of Logan.

“I-I don’t know,” stammered Logan.

Rose glared at him. “Don’t lie,” she hissed, as the growls grew louder. “It’s the Morpetha, aren’t they?”

Logan’s eyes widened.

“Morpetha?” asked Ingrid, aghast. “But…”

“This isn’t the time,” snapped the Doctor. “Rose, keep an eye on them, and when I say run, lead everyone back to the TARDIS.”

“You’re not facing them alone,” argued Rose.

“Yes, I am,” said the Doctor.

A loud howl echoed from the ferns, before the rustling fell silent. The Doctor stepped forward, adjusted his bowtie, and Rose could see that the expression on his face no longer held any joviality.

“That’s right,” murmured the Doctor. “Show yourselves.”

Eight wolf-like beasts sprung out of the shrubbery, surrounding the group in the clearing on all sides. They were about seven feet tall, covered in grey and brown fur, with obvious lupine features, and menacing, glowing red eyes. They stood on their hind legs, almost humanoid in stature, except they were coiled, ready to spring, looking more like werewolves than actual wolves.

Rose felt the hair on the back of her arms raise, as she looked around at them sharply. Her skin itched with what felt like frustration, which was confusing in itself.

“I’m the Doctor,” said the Doctor, eyeing the one in front of him. “Who are you and what’s your business here?”

The wolf-like being in front of him growled, eyes glowing an angry red, before it sniffed the air in front of itself. “Not you,” it growled.

“Not me?” demanded the Doctor, eyes narrowing in disdain. “I am the one talking, so you will deal with me. Not anyone else here, just me.”

“Not you!” growled the wolf-like being, sounding angrier, before the glowing red eyes turned to Rose. “You.”

The Doctor didn’t even blink, it was as if he’d already known it. “I said no,” he said, his voice like ice. “I am a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. And you do not get to dictate terms here.”

The being in front of him shimmered and seemed to transform back into a human. To Rose’s shock, it was the same woman in Thor’s office who had come to fetch him for the HR meeting. Her suit was slightly tattered but her face was impassive as she glared icily at the Doctor.

“A Time Lord,” she said, looking at him with disdain. “You are not meant to be here.”

The Doctor grinned, sharp and wolf-like. “That’s my specialty, as a matter of fact. Being in places that I’m not meant to be in,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Agatha,” she replied.

“Agatha,” nodded the Doctor. “Why are you here? What’s your game?”

“Game,” scoffed Agatha. “The Time Lords were the ones who played the game. Muzzled our ancestors, domesticated us into the assembly like tame pets.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” snapped the Doctor. “The Time Lords stopped your indiscriminate slaughter across the galaxy.”

“Conquest is the only way,” snarled Agatha.

“Conquest leads to nothing but death and destruction,” said the Doctor.

Agatha’s eyes slid over to Rose. “Is that what you believe?” she asked her.

Rose took a breath and slowly stepped up to stand next to the Doctor. He opened his mouth to protest, but Rose took his hand and squeezed it to stop him.

“Why do you want to speak to me?” asked Rose, looking at Agatha.

Agatha shrugged. “There is something of the wolf about you,” she said, and Rose blinked in shock. “You would understand, you would…”

“I wouldn’t, and I don’t understand the way of conquest,” said Rose, firmly. “Answer the Doctor, why are you here?”

Agatha narrowed her eyes in response, but refused to answer.

“You have set up a base in an uninhabited part of Acadia Minor,” said the Doctor. “Are there others like this base?” He glanced at Logan, who glanced away guiltily.

“I’m guessing there are,” said Rose, and saw Agatha’s nostrils flare in anger. “What’s the point of it, though? Do you want to control the Barossians?”

“Yes, I think that is their aim to begin with,” nodded the Doctor. “Get rid of anyone who dissents, use them for manual labour. And build a facade of power, all the while they are weakening everything that made the Barossians and their industrial spirit so unique and valuable.” His eyes brightened. “But the Morpetha are not interested in industry.”

“Conquest,” realised Rose. “Weaken the population and then conquer them.”

Agatha let out a sharp laugh. “It’s a coward’s way but it is the only way to stay off the assembly’s radar,” she said.

“Yes,” said the Doctor, with disgust evident in his tone. “Because if the assembly knew what you were doing to the Barossians, the Morpetha would face numerous sanctions.”

“So, how does Thor fit in?” asked Rose.

“Weak-willed Barossian,” scoffed Agatha. “As is the one who cowers with you,” she added, with a disgusted look at Logan.

“Well, a nice little operation you’ve got going,” said the Doctor, with a roll of his eyes. “But it stops now. Take your people and leave the Barossians alone. You get one warning, this was it.”

Agatha laughed harshly. “You do not hold any power here, Time Lord,” she hissed.

The Doctor grinned, with a slightly mad look in his eyes. “Oh, you have no idea what kind of power I have,” he said, and pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

It was different to the one before, slightly longer, with chrome plating and a green diode on the end. When the Doctor flicked his wrist, the bits at the end opened like a claw, and a high-pitched whirring sound emanated from it. The Morpetha all howled and covered their ears.

“Run!” shouted the Doctor.

The group all took off, with the Doctor and Rose in the lead, as the Morpetha were clearly disorientated by the noise from the sonic screwdriver. It had to have been some frequency harmful to them, and as they emerged from the forest clearing, they could see the blue box in the distance.

The growls were right behind them, and the Doctor pushed Rose to continue leading the way while he hung back to urge the Barossians to safety. Rose reached the TARDIS first and unlocked the door and started ushering the Barossians inside.

“Go, go, go!” she said, glancing behind her to see the Doctor almost surrounded by the Morpetha again.

She ran back toward him, as the Morpetha growled menacingly at the Doctor. It was instinct, something buried deep within her, but seeing him so close to danger turned the itch under her skin into something hot and furious, and for a moment, the air around them seemed to fall stagnant, and everything went silent.

Rose took the Doctor’s hand, and he went easily when she pulled away, as the Morpetha looked around in confusion, as if unsure what had just happened. Rose wasn’t entirely sure either, but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and she and the Doctor ran inside the TARDIS with the last of the Barossians before the Morpetha managed to regroup.

The Doctor ran over to the console, brushing past the Barossians, as Rose closed the door and leaned her back against it. The TARDIS dematerialised in record time.

“Where’s Logan?” asked Rose.

“Here,” said Ingrid, and Rose saw that she and Lucas were holding Logan firmly by the arms. “Think he needs to start talking now.”

“Excellent idea,” said the Doctor, narrowing his eyes at Logan. “Well?”

Logan swallowed roughly. “Look, I’m just a lowly foreman,” he said. “I was told what to do by ODIN Industries, and I did it.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t fly, mate,” said Rose. “Where’s the transmat?”

“Transmat?” asked the Doctor.

“That’s how they’ve been getting prisoners to these correction camps,” said Rose, as Lucas nodded along.

“I don’t know,” said Logan. “I just know they’re sent to the tower, and then they come to the camp.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Knowing how they operate is only half the battle,” he said. “Thor’s popularity means that if we try to expose him, the rest of the Barossians may rise up to support him. He could concoct whatever story he wanted to persecute us.”

“We could mass communicate,” said Lucas.

“How?” asked Rose.

“The store tannoy,” he said. “It can broadcast to the whole planet. Has a channel for all planet-wide announcements.”

The Doctor grinned. “Well, that gives me an idea or two…”

~

The next morning, when the ODIN Megastore opened, the shelves were bare. None of the staff was in the store, and Director Thor was left aghast when he walked into the shop for his morning walkthrough with Agatha.

“What is going on?” he demanded. “Where is everyone? Where are all our products?”

Agatha looked equally confused. “We were unable to apprehend the Time Lord and his companions,” she said, reluctantly. “They took the Barossians they liberated from East Ridge and vanished.”

“Well, they can’t have made all our stuff vanish,” snapped Thor, and then cowered when Agatha glared at him. “Can they?” he asked, weakly.

There was movement out of the corner of their eye and they saw Anna, one of the store managers.

“Anna!” said Thor, in relief. “Thank the Allfather, you’re here.”

Anna beamed at him. “Have you seen it yet?” she asked. “It looks wonderful, doesn’t it?”

Thor blinked and looked at an equally confused Agatha. “What are you talking about?”

“The surprise, of course!” said Anna. “Come on.”

She led the way out of the store to the base of the tower which afforded a magnificent view of the old Barossian market. Instead of empty, broken stalls though, the entire market was full of products from the ODIN Megastore, with Barossians dressed in traditional clothing bustling around.

“W-what is going on?” demanded Thor, his accent dropping once more.

Anna looked confused. “But it’s what you wanted, Director,” she said. “Your message said that Hygge was out and Scandi-Barossian fusion was in.”

“I never sent such a message,” said Thor, as Agatha glared daggers at him.

“But the message came from your office, Director,” said Anna, looking bewildered. “It bore the company insignia, and I even verified it wasn’t a mistake by checking with my fellow managers. We all received the same missive, and Kel even checked it originated within the company servers.”

“T-the company servers?” asked Thor, aghast.

He looked at Agatha, and the two hurried away, leaving Anna behind. The servers were located underneath ODIN tower, where the transmat was hidden. Whoever had done this, whoever had used Thor’s credentials to send this message, would have had to manually bypass server security.

When they got to the base, they noticed a singular blue box in the middle of the server chamber. What was more surprising was that apart from Thor and Agatha, there were about thirty odd other employees from ODIN Industries, and coincidentally, all of them were Morpetha.

“What is going on?” demanded Agatha. “Time Lord! Show yourself!”

“Ooh, I think they’re playing my song.”

Thor whirled around and saw the tweed-wearing weirdo and his blonde companion standing on the transmat platform, looking entirely too at ease for being in a room full of people who wanted them dead.

“What is this?” demanded Thor. “A hostile corporate takeover?”

“Hardly, Thor, my man,” said the Doctor. “Think of it like a meeting of the minds to solve this little design crisis we’re having.”

“What design crisis?” demanded Thor.

“Well, to Hygge or not to Hygge, that is the question, isn’t it?” asked the Doctor.

“What is the purpose of this?” demanded Agatha.

“It’s quite simple, I want to hear it from Thor himself,” said the Doctor.

“Hear what?” asked Thor, warily.

“How you betrayed your own people for profit, how you’re colluding with the enemy who nearly decimated your planet, how you’re breaking the rules of the galactic assembly by operating this transmat,” listed the Doctor.

Thor felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. He looked at Agatha, who narrowed her eyes at the Doctor.

“We will-” she began.

“No, not interested,” said the Doctor, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the ceiling.

All at once, all the Morpetha cringed in pain and transformed into their wolf forms, and Thor jumped back in shock.

“Why are you shocked?” demanded Rose. “Are you saying you didn’t know what they looked like when you allied with them?”

“It was just business,” protested Thor. “I wanted to run a successful business, and if I had to break a few rules along the way and ally with the Morpetha, I was willing to do it!”

“And what about the correction camps? Did you know about those?” asked Rose.

“I delegated that to HR,” said Thor, weakly.

“Pathetic,” said the Doctor. He deactivated the screwdriver, and the Morpetha all transformed back, looking a bit disorientated. “Did we get all of that?”

“Loud and clear, Doctor.”

Thor looked over to see Ingrid and Lucas emerge from the blue box. He glanced at the top of the blue box and his blood ran cold when he saw the receiver for the tannoy neatly tied to the light on top.

“The entire planet just heard you,” said the Doctor. He turned to Agatha. “And they know you’re here.” He and Rose stepped off the transmat platform. “I have programmed this transmat with a one-way trip to your planet. I suggest you hop on board before the masses riot.”

Agatha bristled, her eyes flicking calculatingly between the Doctor and Rose.

“I’d take the deal if I were you,” said Rose. “Never does well to tangle with a bad wolf.” She said it almost casually, referring to the treaty, but Agatha’s eyes widened like Rose had just threatened her with something far more dangerous.

“We’re leaving,” said Agatha, with a glance at her people in the room.

“But-but what about,” began Thor, and Agatha glared at him.

“We have no use for a weak Barossian,” she hissed. “You made your bed.”

“Not like you didn’t bring the pillow and the sheets,” muttered the Doctor.

Agatha scowled, but was the last one through the transmat. Once she was gone, the Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the panel, breaking it beyond repair.

“What happens to me now?” asked Thor, his voice shaking.

“I would suggest talking to your people,” said the Doctor, as Lucas and Ingrid joined them. “Perhaps, they will have mercy.”

“As long as he helps us rebuild our society back to the way it was,” nodded Ingrid.

Thor nodded, and let himself be led away by Lucas. Ingrid smiled at the Doctor and Rose.

“We are very grateful for your help,” she said. “We will not squander this opportunity. And we will never let corporate greed get the better of us again.”

“That’s wonderful to hear,” smiled Rose. “Good luck.”

Ingrid grinned at them, and the Doctor and Rose returned to the TARDIS.

Back in the TARDIS, Rose smiled as the Doctor piloted them back to Dulwich. It felt nice to have a win like today. The Barossians were free, the Morpetha were back on their own planet, and they had saved the people in the corrective labour camps.

More days like these was what Rose hoped for. She glanced at the Doctor and saw his returning smile and figured he wished for the same.

The TARDIS started to land and Rose went to his side, already wrapping her arms around him before the final thud was heard. She felt him laugh with delight as he hugged her tightly and then pulled back just enough to kiss her, bending her back over his arm until it was almost like a dip at the end of a dance.

His eyes sparkled when he pulled back, still dipping her so she was looking up at him.

“So beautiful,” he murmured.

Rose went pink. “You can talk,” she said, a bit breathlessly.

He kissed her again instead of arguing the point and she wondered if that was his usual MO. If so, she could absolutely get used to it.

“Tempted to steal you away,” he said.

Rose blinked. “You’ve got me, haven’t you?” she asked, a bit nervously.

He smiled and straightened up, pulling her up as he did. He kept his arms wrapped around her waist, his grip nice and tight around her.

“Yes,” he replied. “But there’s something to be said about nostalgia.”

Rose smiled softly. “Tell me the truth about something,” she said. His expression didn’t immediately get wary, so Rose was encouraged by it. “Am I human, Doctor?”

His eyes widened. “Blimey, you don’t go for the easy questions, do you?”

Rose shrugged. “I’m just surprised I can still surprise you at all,” she admitted.

He chuckled and dipped his head to kiss the corner of her jaw. “It’s your superpower,” he grinned. “To answer your question, yes.”

“Oh,” said Rose, surprised despite herself.

His eyes softened. “You weren’t expecting that, were you?”

“Not many humans I know are born seers,” said Rose. “Also, I’m still with you. And you don’t look young to me.”

He chuckled. “Do you feel like a human?” he asked.

Rose frowned as she considered it. “Yeah,” she said. “I mean, I haven’t known anything different.”

“What we are, is not so important than who we are,” he said. “You have always been you, and if you feel like a human, you are one.”

“That’s not an answer,” said Rose.

He smiled. “Think about it,” he said. “And maybe the next time you see me, you’ll have the answer instead.”

“You, you? Or past you?” asked Rose.

The Doctor grinned brightly. “It’s all me, darling,” he said.

Rose stared at his eyes, and for a split second, saw the different shades she had seen before in other incarnations. “I know,” she admitted.

He grinned and the two kissed sweetly for a moment. “I’ll see you soon,” he said.

Rose stepped out of the circle of his arms, grinning over her shoulder as she left the TARDIS. “I hope so,” she said.

He laughed and blew her a kiss, and Rose was still chuckling when the blue box disappeared.

A lot of revelations had been brought forth, some she had been ready for, and a lot that she hadn’t.

But she felt in her bones that she was capable of handling whatever might come her way.

And she would have the Doctor with her.

All of him.

Chapter Text

Rose woke up, turning her face into her pillow to avoid the sun rays falling directly into her face. It was her least favourite thing about this new room of hers, and she wasn’t used to it, even after three weeks.

But she was the low man on the totem pole on this expedition, which meant she got the room with a large skylight in the ceiling, and no blinds covering it. The good thing was that she got the room to herself, even though it was little more than a dusty attic with enough room for a bed and nothing else.

The little lakehouse on the eastern side of Dunstanton Lake was currently occupied by the members of the expedition, and would be for a while. Rose was only here for one more week, but the excavation was intended to go on for at least two more months, probably longer.

With a sigh, Rose climbed out of bed, glad she had braided her hair before going to bed, keeping her hair less messy. She had the morning off that day, but their team was diving back under the lake later that afternoon, and it was expected they would be venturing inside the underwater structure for the very first time.

Dunstanton Lake was the largest inland body of water in England. In the deepest part of the lake, ArchaeoTech had discovered an odd underwater structure, which judging by the initial scans, looked like some kind of a building. ArchaeoTech was a private organisation, but they had substantial funding from various governments all over the world, and they had recruited Dr Freda Mattingley to lead the expedition.

Freda had put together the rest of the team which included three archaeologists, a Divemaster, and Rose as the only student on it. For the past three weeks, they had been surveying the area surrounding the structure, gathering various loose artefacts that had then been catalogued and stored away, awaiting authentication.

But their last trip under the lake had shown that the area was now clear, which meant they could proceed further, and venture inside the structure. Freda’s theory was that the building was from a time when the lake hadn’t existed, and the land had been dry. It would take further testing to narrow down a precise period in history, but Rose was excited.

She had been well and truly enjoying her fieldwork. The team had welcomed her with open arms, and though Freda was very strict and precise, Rose was learning loads from her. She had mainly been shadowing Freda, and Rose was fascinated to observe another archaeologist in action. Freda’s style was very different to River’s, but Rose could observe shades of similarities, and it was a very fulfilling learning experience. Her fieldwork journal was full of detailed notes and observations, and Rose knew Martin would be very happy with her.

Putting on a hooded sweatshirt over her pyjamas, Rose opened the hatch in the floor of the attic, and descended down the ladder. The landing was empty, but she could hear Jeff and Poppy bickering down the hall. They were a married couple in their mid thirties, both of them archaeologists and Oxford alumni. They had met at Oxford and married after graduation, and often worked on expeditions together. They also argued something fierce, but it was mostly fond bickering, and everyone on the team was used to it by now.

Rose therefore ignored it and went into one of the bathrooms on the landing, closing and locking the door behind her. Apart from Jeff and Poppy, the other archaeologist, Antonia, also had a room on the same floor, which she shared with Freda. Freda and Antonia had worked together for over ten years, and often co-authored their findings. Rose wondered if they had a personal relationship as well, but if they did, they kept it strictly behind closed doors, and Rose didn’t wish to pry.

It was sometimes jarring for her to be back in her own time, especially after travelling around so much with the Doctor. The obvious shortcomings of technology aside, what she really struggled with was the aspect of what was socially acceptable and what wasn’t. It felt like sometimes she should intervene, let people know that the future was brighter and more accepting, except the anthropologist in her protested deeply.

Cultures were meant to grow and evolve in their own time. The complexities of time travel aside, Rose felt like she couldn’t interfere in the delicate balance of the universe, like something within her knew better than she did about when to speak up and when to merely observe.

That instinct within her was growing stronger everyday, and so far, Rose hadn’t really examined it in great detail. She felt like it had always been a part of her, but since her last vision on Acadia Minor, the part had become more prominent, almost like a second voice of conscience, in her complicated life.

Even after putting her thoughts to paper in her journal, Rose was struggling to understand it all. But there was also an element of relief that had come with the most recent trip with the Doctor’s eleventh self - and Rose knew she believed in herself and the Doctor to navigate whatever might come their way.

She missed the Doctor quite a bit, and despite her excitement at being on the expedition, she was also counting down the days to when she would see him again. The out of time meetings were well and good, and she knew it was always him, but it would be nice to have a linear meeting once more and see her Doctor with his gorgeous long curly hair, and that enchanting voice.

Once she had freshened up, Rose left the bathroom and went downstairs to the kitchen to find something for breakfast. She ran into Johnny Repford, who preferred to go by his last name, sitting at the dining table with a plate of beans on toast in front of him.

“Morning, Repford,” greeted Rose. Repford was the Divemaster, a Scottish man in his late forties, with a cheeky sense of humour if he wasn’t in the middle of a dive.

“Morning, Rose,” he greeted. “Kettle’s still hot if you want tea.”

“Ta,” smiled Rose, popping some crumpets into the toaster and getting started on making tea. “Heard Jeff and Poppy going at it again this morning.”

Repford rolled his eyes. “Drivin’ us all bloody barmy,” he grumbled. “I’m starting to think they enjoy fighting.”

“Probably do,” shrugged Rose, stirring milk and sugar into her tea.

“What about you, Rose?” asked Repford, curiously. “You got a fella?”

Rose looked at Repford, going a bit pink. She wasn’t sure there was an appropriate way to describe her relationship with the Doctor. “Nope,” she decided to say instead.

Repford gave her a doubtful look, but seemed to accept her answer. “Excited about today?” he asked.

Rose put butter and honey on her toasted crumpets and carried her plate and cup of tea to the table. “Yeah,” she said, taking a seat. “I heard Director Pennard is coming down from London.”

Repford rolled his eyes. “Yeah, the high and mighty Director has deigned to join us,” he said.

Rose chuckled into her cup of tea. Paul Pennard, the current director of ArchaeoTech was a former archaeologist turned businessman. He was razor sharp and very intelligent, but he was also a massive dick, as Rose had learned in her first week. He disliked everyone on the expedition, tolerated Freda out of some level of professionalism, and treated everyone like they were dirt beneath his very expensive shoes.

“Not looking forward to that,” said Rose.

“You and me both,” said Repford. “I’d prefer to be under the lake for as much of his visit as possible, thank you very much.”

Rose shrugged in agreement. “Got any plans this morning?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I’ll call Sandra. Ronnie just lost his first baby tooth and he wants to tell me all about it,” he said, smiling fondly as he spoke of his wife and son. “How about you? Going into town for some shopping?”

“Maybe,” said Rose. “Haven’t decided yet.”

“Freda doesn’t need us until 2 in the afternoon,” he said. “Go, have a morning to yourself.”

Rose nodded, thinking she might just do that. Repford finished his breakfast and cleared his plate, before retiring to the downstairs bedroom where he was staying. Rose ate her breakfast at a leisurely pace, and once she had cleared up her things, she returned to her attic room to change into a pair of jeans and a turquoise tank top, brushing her long hair into a fresh French braid, noting her hair had grown lighter still, even from three weeks ago.

Putting her trainers on, she went back downstairs. She spotted Freda and Antonia at the table and waved at them as she walked out of the house.

Almost involuntarily, her gaze caught on the custom walkway that led from the shore to the ArchaeoTech dive centre control in the middle of Dunstanton Lake. The walkway had been commissioned specifically for this expedition and was out of bounds for the public, and everyone on the expedition had special clearance to access the lake that way.

It was a quiet day, the sun occasionally peering out through the cloud cover, and Rose smiled to herself. She loved London, but she could understand the appeal of living in a quiet village like Dunstanton.

She walked into town at an unhurried pace, determined to enjoy the morning. There were no days off as such during fieldwork, but they occasionally had time to themselves, but those occasions were far and few in-between, so Rose was planning on making the most of it.

The village of Dunstanton was tiny, with little houses, one main street with a small number of shops, and not much else. The lake wasn’t a tourist attraction as such, but with the current expedition leaving the site out of bounds meant that there weren’t many visitors to the area.

Rose was about to duck into the only coffee shop in town for a quick break after the nearly thirty minute walk when she heard her name being called.

She turned around and her eyes widened when she saw Jenny walking up to her. She was wearing tapered black trousers and a sleeveless white satin blouse, golden hair tied up in a loose bun, and a pair of large sunglasses on her face. She was carrying a black backpack slung over one shoulder, and she grinned as she hurried over to Rose.

“Jenny, what are you doing here?” asked Rose, surprised but not displeased to see her.

“I’ll tell you all about it,” said Jenny, and nodded toward the coffeeshop. “Come on, let’s sit.”

Rose nodded, and the two of them went into the coffeeshop, and snagged a table by the window after ordering iced coffees and a muffin each.

“How’s your summer going?” asked Jenny, taking off her sunglasses and setting them down on the table.

Rose raised her eyebrows. “Fine,” she replied. “I’m on the Dustanton Lake expedition, but something tells me you already knew that.”

Jenny shrugged unrepentantly. “The Dunstanton expedition is why I’m here,” she said.

“What’s going on?” asked Rose, curiously.

“The artefacts unearthed from under Dunstanton Lake have gone missing,” said Jenny, bluntly.

Rose’s eyes widened. “What?” she asked, shocked.

Jenny nodded grimly. “Once they were catalogued, they were supposed to be taken to St Luke’s to…”

“...await authentication, yes, I know,” nodded Rose.

“St Luke’s received the shipment but there are several artefacts missing,” said Jenny. “They notified Director Pennard at ArchaeoTech, and when the next shipment came with more missing artefacts, they contacted UNIT.”

“Why UNIT?” asked Rose. “These aren’t alien artefacts.”

“No,” agreed Jenny. “But ArchaeoTech is funded by a number of different governments, all of whom are demanding answers, so UNIT has been asked to step in. We’re a global organisation, and we have the jurisdiction to investigate.”

Rose nodded slowly. “What does Director Pennard think of it all?” she asked, thinking she had a good idea about his reaction.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Well, he’s being rather uncooperative,” she said.

“Not surprising,” said Rose. “What do you need me to do?” Jenny blinked at her in surprise, and Rose chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve been investigating for a while, but you didn’t approach me until now. I’m guessing it’s because you want something from me.”

Jenny went pink. “Sorry,” she said, like a child who had been caught out.

Rose chuckled again and shook her head. “It’s fine,” she said. “So?”

Jenny sighed. “My boss wants to sit down with you,” she said.

“You mean General Lethbridge-Stewart?” asked Rose.

“Yes,” said Jenny. “Look, when we spoke a couple months ago, you told me you needed time to think, and I didn’t want to push you…”

“Jenny,” interrupted Rose, with a smile. “I’ll talk to him.”

“...and I told him, you’re not someone who is easy to convince if you don’t want to do something, and he…” continued Jenny, before her eyes widened. “What?”

“I said, I’ll talk to him,” smiled Rose.

“Really?” asked Jenny, eagerly.

“Yeah,” said Rose.

Jenny looked visibly relieved. “Thanks,” she said.

“So, what does he want to talk to me about?” asked Rose, sipping her iced coffee.

“Not entirely sure,” shrugged Jenny. “UNIT has set up a discreet command centre at a short-term rental home down the road. So far, we’ve been gathering data on the artefacts and trying to determine how it was all catalogued and packed here in Dunstanton, and how only some of it arrived at St Luke’s. We have Director Pennard’s version of events, of course.”

“Which is what?” asked Rose, curiously.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “That it was mis-catalogued and the artefacts will, quote, ‘turn up’,” said Jenny.

Rose gaped at her in disbelief. “Mis-catalogued?” she demanded, furiously.

“Shh,” said Jenny, casting a sharp eye around them. “Pennard insisted that no one on the expedition needed to know about the investigation, and that he spoke for everyone as the director of ArchaeoTech. But, as you can imagine, UNIT is not satisfied by that response.”

Rose nodded, though she was still reeling. “The artefacts were not mis-catalogued,” she said. “Freda and I personally catalogued those. Every single piece. And we oversaw the packaging and shipping of the artefacts.”

Jenny nodded back. “Yes, I imagined it might be something like that,” she said. “Even though Pennard refused to divulge who catalogued the artefacts,” she added, with an eye roll.

Rose shook her head in disbelief. “I see what you mean about him being uncooperative,” she said.

“Well, he’s a bureaucrat and his funding hinges on this expedition’s success,” said Jenny. “If the investigation becomes public, ArchaeoTech is finished.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “So, it’s better to throw the archaeological team under the bus?” she asked.

Jenny shrugged. “Probably, in his eyes,” she said. “Look, Rose, this is why the General wants to talk to you. We knew you were on the expedition, and with Pennard being the way he is, you’re really our only way in to investigate this.”

Rose nodded slowly. “Yeah, alright,” she said. “Let’s go talk to the General.”

~

The house down the road was nondescript as could be. It was a single storey stone cottage painted a clean white with a cobbled roof, ivy climbing the outer walls, and a front door painted a polished caramel brown. There were flower boxes in the two front windows, full of bright wildflowers, and the front of the house had several rose bushes in need of tending.

Rose and Jenny walked casually to the front door, and Jenny produced a key from her trouser pocket and unlocked the door.

It opened into a large dayroom, and was full of people who fell silent when they entered. The centre of the room was dominated by a long dining table that had computers set up on either side, with various technicians, including Malcolm, working on them. There were additional screens lining the walls with data flashing across them.

“Carry on,” said Jenny, with a smile, and people went back to work, though a few of them stared openly at Rose.

Jenny led her down the hall and they passed a smaller parlour where several uniformed soldiers were sitting patiently, though relaxed by no means. She continued down the hall to a closed door, and she knocked sharply when she reached it.

“Enter,” replied a gruff, male voice.

Jenny opened the door, and Rose saw it was a makeshift office with a desk, and behind it sat an older, slightly heavyset man with silver hair, dressed in uniform, with a row of seals over his chest. His hat was on the desk in front of him, his face bearing many wrinkles but his eyes were sharp as anything, as was the silver moustache on his face. He stood up when Rose and Jenny entered.

“General, this is Rose Tyler,” said Jenny, closing the door to the office behind them.

“Miss Tyler,” he said, holding out his hand. “General Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.”

“It’s nice to meet you, General,” she said, shaking his hand.

He smiled politely in response. “Please, sit,” he said, indicating the visitor chair in front of his desk.

Rose sat down, and glanced at Jenny, who went over to stand at the General’s shoulder.

“Has Miss Barrow explained the circumstances we presently find ourselves in?” he asked, sitting back down.

“Yes,” said Rose. She glanced at Jenny before looking back at the General. “She also said I should sit down and talk to you, before then.”

He nodded. “I admit, our involvement during the Swindon incident was clumsy,” he said. He eyed Rose thoughtfully. “Name your demands, Miss Tyler.”

Rose raised her eyebrows, and took a bracing breath. She had discussed it with River at some length, so she had been prepared, even though she hadn’t quite expected the General to ask so bluntly.

“Bring me on as a consultant officially,” she said. “No cloak and dagger stuff, I need to be read into missions properly. In exchange, I will use whatever resources and skills I have at my disposal to fulfil the mission. I cannot guarantee the Doctor’s involvement, but if he happens to be around, he might become involved.”

The General nodded slowly. “And in exchange?” he asked.

“Access to intel relating to the mission,” said Rose. “And the ability to call on UNIT if I run into circumstances that require UNIT intervention.”

General Lethbridge-Stewart smiled. “What about compensation?”

Rose shrugged. “That’s up to you,” she said. “I’m not in this for the money.”

He nodded, and opened the desk drawer to pull out a contract which he held out to her. Rose blinked and took it. As she ran her eyes over it, she saw every single one of her terms set out neatly, alongside a generous compensation package. She looked up at the General, and her eyes turned calculating.

“We have met before, haven’t we?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Yes,” he said. “I admit, it took me a while to understand the whole time travel business, but over the years I have learned to listen very closely when you’re speaking.”

Rose was still in disbelief. “How long have you known me?” she asked, curiously.

“Longer than I am willing to admit,” he said. “The Doctor was rather secretive when it came to you, and I admit, my curiosity was piqued. But if you’re asking for specifics, your UNIT security visa was inherited from the LONGBOW database with Classification Level Alpha.”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up. “Right,” she said, wondering if Captain George Radlett had put her in the database. “And the classification, what does it mean?”

“It’s your security clearance,” said Jenny. “Alpha-level clearance is the equivalent to Top Secret.”

Rose nodded, her mind still reeling a bit. So she had run into General Lethbridge-Stewart before, probably at a time when the Doctor had been still working for UNIT. And at some point, she had told him on what terms she wanted to work with UNIT, giving him time to have that contract ready for today. Future her was simultaneously a blessing and a curse sometimes.

“Why not just hand me the contract as soon as I walked in the door?” asked Rose, looking at the General.

“It’s a question of choice, isn’t it,” said the General. “I could tell you how long I’ve held onto this contract, but I didn’t give it to you until you asked for it, and were ready for it.”

Rose nodded, with a small smile. “I can see why the Doctor likes you,” she said.

The General chuckled. “I admit, it took a while, but we got there in the end,” he said.

Rose grinned. “May I borrow a pen?” she asked.

“Certainly,” he replied, passing her an honest to goodness fountain pen.

Rose quickly read through the contract and signed, handing it back to the General. The General put it back in his desk drawer and pulled out a manila file stamped with ‘Clearance Alpha’ on the cover.

“This is everything we have thus far on the Dunstanton Lake incident,” he said, holding out the file to Rose. “As you can see, it is not much at all.”

Rose took the file and flipped through it, noting it had profiles on all members of the expedition teams, an extensive profile on Pennard and ArchaeoTech, a list of missing artefacts, and the various methods of enquiries being conducted to track down the missing artefacts.

“I kept my own records for every artefact we found,” said Rose, reading through the file. “As part of my fieldwork journal. It has a bit more detail than this list - including measurements and sketches.”

“That will be enormously useful,” nodded the General.

“Rose and Dr Mattingley were personally responsible for cataloguing and shipping the artefacts,” said Jenny.

“Could you run us through the general process of the excavation?” asked the General.

Rose nodded. “Have you seen the dive control centre on top of the lake?” she asked.

“Yes,” said the General.

“We begin our dive there,” she said. “All the archaeologists, except Freda, along with our Divemaster, make our way to the lakebed.”

“What about Freda?” asked Jenny.

“She remains in the dive control centre,” said Rose. “Our dive suits come fitted with a camera that transmits a live feed to the dive control centre. Allows Freda to see and hear what we are doing. We also have an Ex-Cav suit that accompanies us.”

“Ex-Cav suit?” asked the General, as he took notes.

“It’s an automated suit that Freda controls remotely,” said Rose. “Like a canary in a coalmine, it helps guide our way without putting one of us at risk. We surveyed and mapped the area on the first few dives, drew quadrants in the vicinity of the underwater structure, and scoured the lakebed for the artefacts. Any artefacts we found were then brought back up to the dive control centre for Freda to examine.”

“What next?” asked Jenny.

“Freda and I would catalogue,” said Rose. “We would sketch, measure and photograph each of them, and then prepare them for transport.”

“Where were they stored awaiting transport?” asked the General.

“At the dive control centre,” said Rose. “Freda and I packed them all personally, prepared the inventory for the team at St Luke’s and we oversaw the packages being picked up for transport.”

“How long between the artefacts being discovered to them being transported to St Luke’s?” asked Jenny.

“A couple of days,” shrugged Rose.

“Was there any security at the dive control centre?” asked the General.

“No, but it is restricted access,” said Rose. “The dive control centre has a security lock that can only be accessed with a key card.”

“Who has a key?” asked Jenny.

“Director Pennard, Freda, and Repford,” said Rose.

“Johnny Repford, that’s the Divemaster, isn’t he?” asked the General.

“Yeah,” said Rose. “He readies the Ex-Cav suit and other equipment for the dives, so he needs access to the dive control centre.”

“None of the other team members have key cards?” asked Jenny.

“We don’t need them,” said Rose. “Freda or Repford are usually there first, and they leave the door open for us.”

“What about Director Pennard?” asked the General.

“He is in and out of Dunstanton,” said Rose, managing not to roll her eyes. “He hasn’t really been around in the last week or so, but he’s expected back today.”

“What’s today?” asked Jenny.

“We are venturing inside the structure this afternoon,” said Rose. Jenny and the General exchanged a look. “What?” she asked.

“The artefacts that haven’t gone missing have undergone preliminary authentication at St Luke’s,” said the General, with a sigh. “They haven’t been able to pinpoint the origins accurately.”

Rose frowned. “What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means, they’re not entirely sure the artefacts are of Earth,” said Jenny.

Rose’s eyes widened. “They’re alien artefacts?” she asked, incredulously. “But that’s not possible! They looked like they were from Earth.” Even as she said it, she realised that didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t alien. A lot of them had been arrowheads, some were broken pieces of pottery, and some particularly well maintained round discs the size of a cricket ball with unidentified carvings on them had made up the artefacts unearthed from under Dunstanton Lake.

Freda and Rose had only given them a cursory examination, more focused on preserving the integrity of the artefacts until the authentication team could do their thing.

“At initial glance, yes,” said the General, with a sigh. “But you don’t get to my age by assuming the best.”

Rose nodded slowly. “You’re worried that the structure under the lake might not be of Earth origins either,” she said.

“Yes,” he nodded. “My plan was to initially only ask you for information, but we need to switch strategies here,” he said, glancing at Jenny.

“Send me in,” said Jenny, at once. “I could be a UNIT Investigator, sent to speak with Director Pennard. He is hardly likely to turn me away if I’m onsite. I could ask to speak to the rest of the team, too.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” nodded Rose. “And if you manage to be in the dive control centre during this afternoon’s dive, you will have a live feed of everything we see underwater.”

“I could even patch the feed through to the stations here,” said Jenny, looking at the General.

“Very well,” said the General. “Even if there is nothing sinister at the bottom of the lake, it will serve us well to keep an eye on it if it turns out to be of alien origins. It might also shake our thief a little into slipping up if they realise the artefacts they’ve been taking could be dangerous.”

“I think we have a solid plan, General,” said Jenny.

“I agree,” he said. “Get Malcolm to prepare your cover, and tell Captain Magambo I want to see her.”

Jenny nodded, and left the office quickly.

The General turned to Rose. “I would suggest returning to your base and preparing for your dive,” he said. “We will keep you in the loop.”

Rose nodded and stood up. “Thank you, General,” she said. “I’ll see you soon.”

Chapter Text

It was after midday by the time Rose returned to the lakehouse. She’d had some fish and chips for lunch in town, so she went directly to her room to rest until it was time for the dive.

The thought of the artefacts being stolen hung heavily on her mind. It made her angry, upset, feel almost violated, that someone had taken the fruits of their hard earned research and excavation to benefit themselves. General Lethbridge-Stewart seemed to think that the point had been to sell those artefacts on the black market for a profit, and it disgusted Rose like nothing else.

She thought about the General, and found that she really did like him already. She wasn’t entirely surprised they had a history - Rose was sure she was bound to run into the Doctor’s younger selves at some point, and from what she’d known, the General had been around for a fair few of the Doctor’s lives.

Rose was going to have to think about how she was going to handle meeting people in the wrong order. Perhaps, Benny had had the right idea, and Rose should pretend she was meeting people for the first time even if she might have known them at some point. Of course, that was on the assumption that it was their first time meeting her, otherwise it would be quite awkward.

She sighed. She supposed there was no way to really tell until she was in a situation like that.

Perhaps her visions would guide her. She hadn’t really had any of them since Acadia Minor, and most of her dreams had been mundane and run of the mill, not prophetic in the least.

She had tried searching for the Guardians in her PDA and it had returned no results. It had been surprising, until she considered it would be like googling ‘God’ and expecting a factual response.

The Doctor certainly knew a lot more about the Guardians than he was saying. Maybe it was something for her to ask him the next time they saw each other.

As the clock ticked toward 2, Rose changed into her dive suit, and made her way out of the lakehouse. She ran into Poppy in the kitchen, in her diving suit as well, and the two walked down to dive control together.

Repford, Freda, Antonia and Jeff were already inside the dive control centre by the time Rose and Poppy got there. As always, the interior of the dive control reminded Rose of the mission control centre for a space shuttle, with one wall entirely covered in screens, showing murky views of the lakebed.

The edge of the building structure was in sight, along some of the screens, and despite her apprehensive mood, Rose found herself excited at the prospect of uncovering the secrets held within.

“Well, that’s everyone,” said Repford, smiling at Rose and Poppy.

“Not quite,” said Jeff, and nodded to the door.

Director Paul Pennard was walking into dive control with a familiar blonde young woman in tow. Jenny was wearing a black blazer over the trousers and blouse from before, her hair in a more professional bun, looking official as could be, including a clipboard in her hand. Behind her was a dark-skinned woman in a military uniform, wearing a red beret.

“Director Pennard,” said Freda, her smile a bit fixed.

“Afternoon, Freda,” he greeted, and ignored everyone else. “This is Ms Jenny Barrow of UNIT. She is here to observe today. And that’s Captain Erisa Magambo.”

“What’s UNIT?” asked Poppy, curiously.

“Alien weirdos,” replied Jeff.

“Jeff,” admonished Antonia, as Rose also gave him a disapproving look. “UNIT is a branch of the United Nations, investigating unexplained phenomena.” She smiled apologetically at Jenny and Erisa, before frowning at Pennard. “Why does UNIT want to observe us?”

“Excellent question,” said Pennard, and turned to Jenny. “Well, Ms Barrow?”

Jenny smiled at him, with no trace of being intimidated by his less than friendly tone. “ArchaeoTech is funded by many world governments,” she said. “They want to make sure their money is being put to good use.”

Pennard scowled. “I assure you, this entire project is being run impeccably well under my close supervision,” he said, firmly.

Rose raised an eyebrow, but Jenny merely smiled pleasantly at Pennard. “That is wonderful to hear, of course,” she said. “However, I will still observe.”

Pennard rolled his eyes but didn’t protest further. Rose saw Erisa stifle a smile, which made her like her immediately.

“Well,” said Freda, clearing her throat and tossing a slightly impressed look at Jenny. “I suppose we better get started. Repford?”

“Right, thanks, Freda,” nodded Repford. “Jeff, Poppy, Antonia and I will head down, if that’s okay.”

“We’re setting up an access tunnel,” explained Freda, with a look at Jenny and Erisa. She pointed to the middle of the room which had a sealed metal cupboard with portholes. “The diving lift takes us right to the bottom of the lake from the dive control, and Repford and the others are setting up an air lock and access tunnel from the entrance of the building to the lift, to allow easier access.”

“And what do you know of the structure?” asked Erisa, curiously.

“Not much, I’m afraid,” said Freda. “I think it is a building from a time when the bottom of the lake was dry land, but we don’t know what’s inside it. There’s a door but it’s sealed, and it’s airtight. Which means it’s watertight.”

“Meaning whatever’s inside might have been preserved?” asked Jenny, as Repford and the others prepared to dive.

“That’s our working theory, yes,” nodded Freda. “Rose?”

Rose nodded and headed to the row of switches under the wall of screens. “Diving lift in position,” she said.

Repford and Antonia went into the two chambered lift which hissed open, and closed behind them, sealing itself up tight. Repford shot a thumbs up and Rose hit one of the switches, and the lift began to descend. It took just under a minute for the lift to hit the bottom of the lakebed. They couldn’t see inside it, but Rose knew they would be stepping into the outer chamber, sealing the inner chamber behind them, before swimming out so as not to flood the lift.

Sure enough, another minute later, Repford and Antonia swam out, and Rose brought the lift back up. Jeff and Poppy were the next to go, and once all four of them were underwater, Rose left the lift underwater.

Freda came up to stand next to Rose, and pressed another switch. “Control to excav team, come in,” she said.

“Control, this is excav team,” came Repford’s voice over speaker. “We hear you loud and clear.”

“Excellent,” said Freda. “I’m activating the Ex-Cav suit.”

She picked up a handheld remote, which had always reminded Rose of a video game controller. Moments later, a massive atmospheric diving suit swam up next to Poppy. It resembled a suit of armour; the hard suit was made of a neoprene material with extensive circuitry on the interior.

“Oh, hello Arthur,” said Jeff, and Rose suppressed a laugh at the absurd nickname the team had given the Ex-Cav suit.

“Behave,” chided Freda. “Director Pennard is watching.”

“Sorry, Freda,” said Repford. “Alright, you lot, let’s get the seal in place on the entrance.”

The four of them worked as a team to set up the access tunnel.

“You said the door was sealed,” said Erisa, and Rose glanced away from the screen to look at her. “Isn’t that quite advanced for a prehistoric building?”

“Well, I’m not entirely convinced it’s prehistoric,” said Freda.

“It could have been a lucky coincidence,” said Rose.

“That’s a possibility too, of course,” agreed Freda.

“Seal is in place,” reported Repford. “Can Arthur bring over the airlock cubicle?”

While Freda did that, Rose glanced at Director Pennard, who seemed a bit on edge. She wondered if it was merely because of UNIT’s presence or if there was something else at play.

“What are they doing now?” asked Erisa.

“We are fitting our own airlock over the entrance so we can get inside without flooding the interior of the building,” replied Rose. “Same as the dive lift, it’s designed to create an access point without the water interfering.”

It took a while, close to half an hour for the airlock cubicle to be in position. Rose prepared to dive, as she and Freda would go down to make their way inside the building.

“Could I go with you?” asked Jenny.

Rose paused and looked at Freda. Pennard cleared his throat pointedly.

“I cannot permit that,” he said. “Anyone who dives is authorised and has signed a non disclosure agreement with ArchaeoTech.”

“Well, I will not be signing anything, but I am an authorised diver,” said Jenny, pleasantly.

“I remind you that UNIT has authority,” said Erisa, plainly.

Pennard huffed and rolled his eyes but did not protest. Rose indicated for Jenny to follow her to a screen partition so she could change into a dive suit.

It was still in the same room, and there was no opportunity to discuss anything without being overheard, so Rose helped Jenny into the dive suit, making sure it was secure before they returned to the others.

“Make sure the fixings are secure and the base is on the level,” said Freda. “Repford, send Antonia and Poppy back up.”

Repford responded in the affirmative and the two women got into the sealed lift, and Rose brought them back up. While they recovered and stocked back up on their air, Freda, Rose and Jenny prepared to go down into the water.

“Bring Repford and Jeff back up to restock on air as soon as we’re down,” said Freda, and Antonia nodded at her. “Antonia, you are in charge of Ar-er, the Ex-Cav suit.”

“Of course,” said Antonia, though her lips twitched in amusement, apparently because of Freda almost calling the Ex-Cav suit Arthur.

Freda, Rose and Jenny stepped into the sealed lift, and a moment later, it descended underwater. When it hit the lakebed, they stepped into the outer chamber, sealing the other one behind themselves. They saw Repford and Jeff attach the airtight flexible access tunnel so that when the door to the outer lift chamber opened, it was to the inside of the airtight access tunnel, which was holding steady.

“Excellent,” said Freda, over the comms. “It’s holding secure.”

The three of them quickly made their way through the tunnel to the edge of the airlock fitted to the structure. They opened the outer airlock, stepped through and closed it, before Freda hit the door opening mechanism on the outside of the building which looked like a flat button, though with no apparent circuitry. The door swung open easily though, and Freda couldn’t help but grin in excitement.

“We’re through,” she said, turning on the flashlight on the front of her suit.

It turned out to be unnecessary because the interior of the building structure wasn’t entirely dark. The interior was dry and had breathable air, and there was some kind of stone with phosphorescent rocks set in the ceiling, casting dim light around it.

“This is quite advanced,” said Freda, as they closed the door behind them. “We’re going to proceed,” she told the others over the comms. There was no response, but none of them noticed. “Rose,” prompted Freda.

“Already on it,” said Rose, turning on the audio recording equipment in her suit. “Ready when you are, Freda.”

“First impressions, the structure is not likely to be prehistoric,” said Freda, as she looked back at the door. “The opening mechanism worked at the press of a button, almost like a sealed door, but with no obvious circuitry, so we cannot discount some kind of a lever and pulley mechanism.”

Rose glanced at Jenny, and saw the obvious scepticism on her face. Rose knew she agreed with Jenny - this was not an ancient structure. The corridor in front of them seemed to stretch out with chambers off it, all built with the same kind of stone with phosphorescent rocks built in so they didn’t need torches.

“Repford,” called Freda, over the comms. There was no response, and this time, they all noticed. “Huh.”

“We still have a signal,” said Rose, checking her comms.

“There could be something in here blocking the signal from leaving the structure,” said Jenny, astutely.

Freda’s eyes widened. “I see,” she said. “Well, let’s keep going.”

There was some water in the structure, but it was only about ankle deep. The first chamber was an empty room. Freda described it in detail, and Rose produced her handheld notebook and a pencil to quickly start sketching a map. There was another chamber to the left with the door closed, and it slid open automatically as they approached.

“I say,” said Freda, in wonder.

Rose and Jenny exchanged a look, and Rose knew it was likely an automatic door, which meant advanced tech. Freda, on the other hand, postulated that it might be some kind of a counterweight system or gearing.

The chamber beyond looked empty but as they entered, Rose was fascinated by the big, high vaulted ceilings. There didn’t appear to be an upper floor, and Rose was inexplicably reminded of the ship under St Matilda’s College. She wondered if this was yet another crashed spaceship, which would make sense. The ship under St Matilda’s had crashed in the 10th century and the college had been built over it, and eventually the structures had become part of one another. Perhaps, the same had happened with this ship and Dunstanton Lake. A spaceship would explain the airtight nature of the structure, of the tech on the inside.

“What’s that?” asked Jenny, pointing to the end of the chamber.

Rose followed her gaze and saw a pale stone statue glowing gently. It was the statue of a humanoid man, enlarged, almost eight feet tall and blocky, like made of building bricks.

“Oh, my word,” said Freda, as they approached it slowly. “This will change everything we know about the ancient world.”

As they approached, the statue suddenly moved, its head lifting up slightly and its eyes glowing faintly purple.

“Activate,” it muttered, in a rumbly, low tone with a mechanical undertone.

“What the hell,” said Freda, stopping in shock.

“Assimilate language,” it continued. “Defence Advocate 997, reporting with manifest. As ordered by criterion Alpha Six of the Federal Jurisdictory. Apologies for delays in transit. Systems deplete…” Here, the words started to slow down, like it was running out of power. “Depleted…shut down…inevitable.”

The statue went still, head dropping down once more, as the eyes went dull.

Rose was the first to recover, and she turned off the audio recording. “Jenny,” she said, sharply. “I think this is pretty much what UNIT needs to investigate, doesn’t it?”

Jenny nodded quickly. “Right,” she said. “Dr Mattingley, this site is now under UNIT’s jurisdiction. Please step back.”

“What?” asked Freda, shocked. “But-”

“Freda,” said Rose. “UNIT is here because a lot of the artefacts we recovered and catalogued have been stolen.”

Freda’s eyes widened. “That’s not possible!” she exclaimed. “You and I catalogued them ourselves. If anyone stole them…”

“It would have to be an inside job?” asked Jenny, and Freda nodded slowly. “Yes, that is our working theory as well.”

Rose gave her a sharp look, but didn’t say anything.

“Dr Mattingley,” said Jenny, her tone gentle. “As you said before, this may not be a prehistoric structure, and it seems like it could very well be an alien structure. A spaceship, to be precise. Which makes those artefacts dangerous, especially if sold on the black market.”

Freda nodded. “I understand, I do,” she said. “But you’re asking me to believe that someone on my team is responsible for that, and I can’t, I won’t believe that.” She glanced at Rose. “You know them too, Rose. You know none of them would have done something like this.”

Rose nodded back reluctantly. “I know,” she said. “But the artefacts are missing, Freda.”

“But why wouldn’t you just ask me or Director Pennard about this instead of this pretence of an investigation?” demanded Freda, turning to Jenny.

“We did ask Pennard, but he has been stonewalling,” replied Jenny.

“Well, there is a lot riding on this project,” conceded Freda. “An accusation of this sort will undo ArchaeoTech’s reputation.”

“To be perfectly honest, his reputation is not my concern at the moment,” said Jenny. “We need to investigate the rest of this ship, ensure there is nothing here that will be a threat to us or the planet, and then we can turn our attention to the theft.”

Freda pursed her lips and turned to Rose. “How do you factor into this, Rose?” she asked. “Do you work for them?”

Rose took a breath before answering. “I do now,” she admitted. “I didn’t before I joined the expedition. But I had worked alongside them in the past.”

Freda nodded slowly. “You know, there was a reason I chose you for this expedition,” she said. “Apart from your credentials, I mean.”

Rose frowned. “You did?” she asked.

Freda smiled a little. “Had a wonderful referral from an old friend of mine. I believe you know him,” she said. “Edward Perkins.”

Rose smiled in surprise. Edward Perkins had led the expedition into the City of Gold last year, an extraordinary journey that had first brought Rose into proper contact with UNIT.

“Edward had nothing but praise for you and your resourcefulness,” said Freda. She met her gaze squarely. “So I am trusting you to tell me the truth, and to do this in a way that is safe and does not destroy all our work.”

Rose nodded back, taken aback by the trust Freda had in her. “I promise to do my best,” she said. “Jenny and I will look around, and I will catalogue everything I can to the best of my ability.”

Freda gave her a searching look and conceded with a nod.

“Dr Mattingley,” said Jenny, and Freda turned to her. “When you return to the surface, could you let Captain Magambo know, in private, about what’s going on?”

“Yes, of course,” said Freda. “Will she know what to do?”

“We have protocols in place,” nodded Jenny. “She will know what to do.”

Freda nodded, and with an encouraging look at Rose, she turned and left. Jenny turned to Rose, when she was gone.

“Of course, this is all banking on the assumption that Freda isn’t the one stealing them,” said Jenny.

Rose chuckled but shook her head. “I doubt it’s Freda,” she said, and then glanced past the statue. “There’s a door through here.”

Jenny nodded, and followed after Rose as they went to the door, which opened automatically once again.

Rose stopped in the doorway, her eyes going wide. Like the chamber before, it had high vaulted ceilings, but the chamber itself was full of at least thirty glass coffins, all arranged in a grid of 5 x 6.

“What the-?” started Jenny, her eyes equally as wide.

Rose slowly approached the coffin closest to the door and looked inside.

A massive explosion rang around the distant planet’s surface, and the group of humanoids watching from the ship’s control room cheered loudly. Another explosive hit the other side of the planet, further destroying it, until the entire planet was a burning ball of fire and ash.

“Another enemy planet destroyed!” crowed one of them loudly. “Another victory for the Dastrons!”

Rose blinked and flinched back, staring at the humanoid in the coffin. It looked just like the ones cheering at the planet being destroyed - the same dark green skin, the 8ft tall, well-built body, and sharp teeth.

“Ever heard of the Dastrons?” asked Rose, turning to Jenny.

Jenny’s eyes widened. “Y-yeah,” she said. “Warrior race, extremely violent, with a long and bloody history.” She paused and looked at the coffin and then at Rose. “How did you-?”

Rose wasn’t about to say anything about her visions, but then she swore Jenny’s eyes glowed a bit golden, though she supposed it could have been a trick of the light, or maybe even a remnant of the explosion in her vision.

“Damnit,” cursed Jenny, to herself, rubbing her forehead.

“What?” asked Rose.

Jenny closed her eyes briefly and then looked at Rose. “I need you to not freak out,” she said.

Rose stared at her. “Okay?” she prompted.

Jenny took a steadying breath. “Give me your hand,” she said.

Rose still looked confused but held out her hand. Jenny took it, and brought it to Jenny’s chest, resting it over her heart. Rose stared at her, realising that the pace of her heart was familiar, and a sharp gasp escaped Rose when Jenny moved the hand to the right side of her chest, and Rose realised exactly why it was familiar.

“You’re a Time Lord,” whispered Rose, shocked.

Jenny nodded slowly. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out, but I have learned to trust my visions,” she said.

“Visions? You get visions?” asked Rose, faintly. Jenny stared at her, and Rose’s eyes widened as she stared back at her. There was something in her eyes, something achingly familiar, and Jenny was looking at her with open affection, as if knowing that her secret was about to be out in the open.

Rose could feel her mind racing, the answer, impossible as it was, rising to the forefront of her mind. “You’re not-?” She paused and cleared her throat.

“Hello, Mum,” murmured Jenny, with a small smile.

Rose gasped sharply. Jenny was looking at her apprehensively, as if uncertain how Rose would react. And in truth, Rose had no idea how she was supposed to react in this situation. But Jenny was still holding her hand, and Rose pulled her closer, and grabbed her in an instinctive hug. Jenny froze but then immediately melted when Rose wrapped her arms around her.

“Oh, thank God,” murmured Jenny, hugging her tightly. “I wasn’t sure how that was going to go.”

Rose’s heart was pounding viciously as she held Jenny. Snippets of visions flickered behind her eyes, a planet called Messaline, information that was as fleeting as anything else, and Rose closed her eyes briefly to stop feeling so disorientated.

Jenny was the first to pull back, and Rose slowly opened her eyes, still trying to wrap her mind around it.

“Okay?” asked Jenny.

“Yeah,” replied Rose, letting her go. “Yeah, just…wasn’t expecting that.”

“Sorry,” said Jenny, sheepishly, and now Rose could practically see the resemblance between her and Jenny. “I don’t know why it had to be now, but the visions…they…”

“Don’t worry,” said Rose, with a slight smile. “I know they can come out of nowhere, but they’re usually relevant.”

Jenny nodded. “Guess I don’t have to explain that to you,” she said.

“No,” agreed Rose. “Hang on,” she realised. “So Miranda-?”

“Yeah,” said Jenny. “She’s older than me, though looks younger.”

“Right,” said Rose, exhaling heavily. “Any more?”

Jenny bit her lip. “I am the youngest. Well, so far, anyway. Who knows with you and Dad,” she chuckled, and it tapered off when Rose stared at her in shock. “Sorry. Too much?”

Rose let out a startled laugh. “No, I mean…the whole thing is too much, and yet, it makes sense,” she said. Something else occurred to her. “So, you and River-?”

“Uh, not me,” said Jenny, at once. “And not Miranda either.” She bit her lip nervously. “That part is a bit complicated.”

“Right, okay,” nodded Rose. “So, clearly this situation is dire, because the middle of an underwater tomb isn’t exactly the best moment for these revelations.”

Jenny chuckled. “Yeah, I’m getting that,” she said, and then frowned. “Although, I’m not entirely sure it’s a tomb.”

“What do you mean?” asked Rose, with a glance at the coffins.

Jenny examined the coffin in front of them, and let out an exclamation. “Look at this,” she said, showing Rose a small holographic panel against the side of it.

“Life signs?” asked Rose, looking at the figures.

“I think this is cryo-storage,” said Jenny. “They’re in suspended animation.”

Rose reached for her PDA, stashed securely in her archaeologist’s case inside her suit. “Let’s look at what the Federal Jurisdictory is,” she said, quickly entering her query..

The Federal Jurisdictory was a galactic judiciary organisation, specialising in Andromedan war crimes. It went extinct following the Juneau Flares.

Jenny cursed as Rose read that out.

“What?” asked Rose.

“The Juneau Flares happened over three thousand years ago, relatively speaking,” she said.

“So, this ship is from before then?” asked Rose.

“Which lines up,” nodded Jenny. “That statue back there apologised for the delay. My guess is that this ship was on its way to the Jurisdictory, and it crashed here.”

“And in the time it remained crashed here, the Jurisdictory is gone?” asked Rose, and Jenny nodded. “Fantastic. What do we do then?” She paused. “Hang on, the Jurisdictory prosecuted war crimes. Which means these are all war criminals. Just waiting to wake up to be tried for their crimes.”

Jenny’s eyes went wide and she and Rose slowly backed away. “Well, I don’t want to state the obvious but the planet is so screwed if we don’t figure this out quickly,” said Jenny. “Ideas?”

“Short of blowing them up? Not really,” said Rose.

Jenny hummed. “Well, I think we can blow them up,” she said, and Rose looked at her in surprise. “What? UNIT is a military organisation, you know.”

Rose nodded, though she wasn’t entirely sure the plan sat right with her. They might be war criminals, but they deserved a chance to leave without being harmed if they didn’t plan on harming anyone in return. It was a long shot but Rose would feel much better about having given them the opportunity to walk away.

The sound of footsteps made them turn around, and Rose and Jenny saw Pennard, Freda and Repford entering the chamber.

Freda glanced at Rose apologetically. “Director Pennard insisted on seeing what we had found,” she said, and then she glanced past Rose to look at the coffins. “What-?”

“Everyone, out,” ordered Jenny, and Rose quickly joined her in ushering Freda, Repford and Pennard back out into the chamber with the statue. The door closed automatically behind them.

“What is going on?” demanded Pennard, angrily. “I need to see what’s in there.”

“You need to leave, right now,” said Jenny, sternly, glaring at him. She turned to Freda. “Did you inform Captain Magambo?”

“Yes, she said she will inform the General,” said Freda.

“A lot of soldiers in uniforms were turning up when we came back down here,” added Repford.

“I demand to know…” interrupted Pennard, but the statue which had been immobile until then suddenly sprung to life.

“Key…” it said. “The key…”

“What the-?” exclaimed Repford, as he jumped back, his eyes on the statue.

“Freda, you all need to leave. Now,” said Jenny. “It isn’t safe here.”

Freda nodded, and glanced at Repford, who immediately nodded as well and went to Freda’s side. It was clear, on the other hand, that Pennard was not going to go anywhere.

“I will sue you,” he spat angrily. “You have no idea what you are doing…”

“Oh, shut up,” snapped Rose, glaring angrily at him. She was about to lay into him, when she noticed that the Ex-Cav suit was in the chamber as well, just near the statue. “Why is Arthur here?” she asked, turning to Freda.

Freda blinked. “We didn’t bring him here,” she said, as Repford also shook his head.

The Ex-Cav suit took a step forward toward the statue, and Rose moved to Jenny’s side, putting the rest of the group behind them.

“Who is controlling it?” asked Jenny.

“No one can, the signal doesn’t penetrate the inside of the structure, remember?” pointed out Freda.

The Ex-Cav suit was almost next to the statue now, and as soon as it was in proximity, the statue reached out a blocky hand and grasped the top of its head.

“Recharging,” intoned the statue, as they saw visible energy start to flow from the Ex-Cav suit to the statue.

Rose and Jenny exchanged horrified looks.

“Run!” ordered Rose.

Chapter Text

The Ex-Cav suit was almost next to the statue now, and as soon as it was in proximity, the statue reached out a blocky hand and grasped the top of its head.

“Recharging,” intoned the statue, as they saw visible energy start to flow from the Ex-Cav suit to the statue.

Rose and Jenny exchanged horrified looks.

“Run!” ordered Rose.

Freda and Repford obeyed, running back toward the entrance to the chamber. Pennard remained motionless, even after Jenny turned around to glare at him.

“Jenny,” said Rose. “Get them all out.”

“What about you?” demanded Jenny.

Rose kept her eyes on the statue which was definitely recharging using the Ex-Cav suit as a power source. “I have some questions to ask our friend here,” she said, and then met Jenny’s gaze. “Go!”

Jenny looked impossibly conflicted but at Rose’s insistent look, she nodded, and started ushering Pennard to the exit. Rose heard indignant yelps from Pennard, but it seemed like Jenny was not letting him argue as she led him out.

The statue went still as the Ex-Cav suit crumpled uselessly to the ground, and Rose took a breath when the statue’s eyes glowed purple.

“Can you hear me?” asked Rose, her voice shaking slightly but knowing she had to do this.

“Yes,” intoned the statue.

“Good,” said Rose. “My name is Rose Tyler. Do you know where you are?”

“No, I do not,” it replied, and then checked its wrist where a holographic image burst to life. Unlike the life signs it was showing on the glass coffins in the next chamber, these readings appeared to be different. “I am unfamiliar with the galactic coordinates.”

“You’re on Earth,” said Rose. “Your ship crashed. Do you remember that?”

“What level civilisation is this?” asked the statue.

“Level 5,” replied Rose, remembering the silver haired Scottish Doctor saying it when speaking to the Nestene Consciousness.

“Primitive,” scoffed the statue.

Rose bristled but decided she needed to keep her cool. She heard footsteps behind her, and she saw Jenny returning with Freda, Repford and Pennard in tow. “What?” asked Rose, wondering why they hadn’t left.

“The door won’t open,” replied Freda, and then looked at the statue warily.

Rose turned back to the statue. “Did you do that?” she asked.

“Yes,” confirmed the statue. “It is of utmost importance that I report to the Federal Jurisdictory.”

Rose exchanged a look with Jenny. “Is the ship still functional enough for you to take off?” asked Rose, curiously.

The statue checked the hologram on its wrist once more. “The warp drive engines have sustained minor damage, but we have enough power to resume our journey,” it replied.

“Hang on,” said Jenny, as alarm bells started going off in Rose’s head as well. “Damaged warp drive engines are nothing to scoff at. Launching the ship could destroy this entire planet.”

“It is but a Level 5 civilisation,” said the statue dismissively.

“A Level 5 civilisation with seven billion people,” said Rose, her tone sharp.

“Your consent is not required,” said the statue. “The Federal Jurisdictory has been kept waiting long enough.”

“Yeah, about that,” said Rose, with another look at Jenny. “You have been crashed here for a while now.”

“Over three thousand years, to be precise,” added Jenny.

“So?” demanded the statue.

“So, the Federal Jurisdictory that you are so determined to return to no longer exists,” said Jenny. “They were destroyed by the Juneau Flares.”

“You lie,” said the statue.

“We have no reason to lie,” said Jenny. “You can verify it with your ship’s metrics.”

The statue checked its wrist again as silence lingered. Rose glanced at the rest of the group and saw fear and wariness on all their features. Her own mind was racing. She had no idea how the statue would react - if it would still insist on relaunching the ship. She looked at Jenny and supposed she was likely thinking along the same lines. And for the moment, there was no way to escape this ship or call for help, which meant they were on their own.

“Where is the key?” demanded the statue, suddenly.

“The key? What key?” asked Rose.

“The key to awaken my Dastron brethren,” said the statue. “Where is it?”

“We don’t have a key,” said Freda.

“And why do you want to awaken them?” asked Rose, getting a sinking feeling.

It confirmed her suspicions a moment later when the statue hummed. “If we are unable to return to the Federal Jurisdictory then we shall take this world for our own. The Dastron Empire shall rise again,” it said. “I demand the key!”

“We don’t have a key!” snapped Pennard, repeating Freda’s words.

“This key, what does it look like?” asked Rose, sharply.

The statue had ignored Pennard but its head turned to Rose when she spoke. The hologram on its wrist shifted, and turned into a picture of a round disc, the size of a cricket ball, with some carvings on it. Rose’s eyes widened as she recognised it to be one of the artefacts that they had salvaged from the lake. It was also one of the artefacts that had gone missing.

Rose looked at Freda, who had also seemed to recognise it.

“Look,” said Rose, turning back to the statue. “Even if we wanted to help you, which we don’t because you want to destroy this planet, we don’t have the key. It’s gone.”

“I detect residue of the key’s energy signature,” intoned the statue.

“That’s not surprising,” said Rose. “Freda and I both found it and we catalogued it, but it’s gone. It’s been stolen.”

“The key’s energy signature is still in this chamber,” said the statue.

Rose blinked in shock. “What?” she asked.

“The key’s energy signature is still in this chamber,” repeated the statue.

Jenny turned to the group. “Who has got it?” she demanded, furiously.

“Don’t look at me,” said Repford, and Freda shook her head as well.

Rose, on the other hand, was looking at Pennard, who was looking a bit shifty. “Director Pennard?” she prompted. “You wouldn’t happen to have the key, would you?” she asked, her tone calm but cold as ice.

“N-no, of course not,” he stammered.

“Director,” said Freda, sharply.

He glanced at her and then at the statue again, as if contemplating his next steps. “I may have the key,” he admitted.

“That’s why you’ve been stonewalling us,” said Jenny, as the rest of them gaped at him in disbelief. “You’re the one who has been stealing the artefacts.”

“I did not steal them!” snapped Pennard. “They belong to ArchaeoTech, I was merely examining them.”

“Really?” asked Jenny, with an expression of disbelief. “Do you actually expect any of us to believe that?”

He swelled in anger. “Well, I don’t know what you want me to say,” he said, with a look of contempt.

“I can’t believe it,” said Freda, looking betrayed. “You were the one preaching for integrity, for the pursuit of knowledge. Why would you do this?”

Pennard frowned at her. “Spare me the righteous act, Freda. We all have to earn a living somehow and government grants only go so far,” he snapped. “Surely you can’t be as sanctimonious as you pretend to be. This was business, no one got hurt.”

“That remains to be seen,” said Rose, as Freda just shook her head in disbelief. She turned back to the statue. “We are not handing the key over. We can help you and your people leave this planet safely, but we can’t let you ignite the warp drive engine. Or hurt any of our people here.” Even as she said it, Rose could feel that the chances of the statue agreeing were slim to none.

She glanced at Jenny, and saw the same conclusion on her face.

“I refuse,” came the stark response.

“That’s unfortunate.”

Rose whirled around at the sound of Erisa’s voice. To her surprise, it wasn’t her, but another Ex-Cav suit standing in the open doorway of the chamber.

“That’s Mark II,” said Repford. Rose looked at him in surprise; she’d had no idea that Arthur had a sibling, so to speak.

“Sounds like UNIT is in control,” said Jenny, turning back to the statue with a smug look.

“That’s right, Ms Barrow,” said Erisa’s voice as Arthur Mark II ambled forward, coming to stand in front of the group, putting itself between them and the statue. “I am Captain Erisa Magambo of Unified Intelligence Taskforce, using this Ex-Cav suit as a conduit from the dive control centre. We understand it is your intention to cause harm to our planet and its inhabitants. This is your one and final warning. Surrender now, or you will be treated as a hostile invading force, and we will retaliate with force.”

“A Level 5 civilisation cannot harm us,” said the statue, contempt evident in its mechanical voice.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” replied Erisa. “Ms Barrow.”

“It’s a warp drive engine,” said Jenny. “Ensure there is a neutraliser.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Erisa. “Whenever you’re ready then.”

“Run!” shouted Jenny, and Rose obeyed immediately as they ducked past Arthur Mark II and ran for the open door.

The statue lunged forward, and seemed to bypass the Ex-Cav suit, and aim straight for Pennard. Rose heard the sickening crunch of bones and she whirled around in time for the statue’s hand to crush Pennard’s skull and pick up his unmoving body. A wave of revulsion threatened to overcome her, but she knew why the statue had gone for Pennard; he’d had the key which would awaken the rest of the Dastrons.

The Ex-Cav suit tried to attack the statue, but it swung a massive, blocky fist, knocking it aside.

“Rose!” shouted Jenny, and Rose turned around and kept going, knowing there was nothing else to do. That crunch had been definite, Pennard had definitely not survived.

Out through the chamber, the lift was waiting, but Rose knew they could not fit four people in together.

“Go, go!” she urged Freda and Repford. They were in the lift and it was going up as Rose and Jenny turned to look at the structure down the access tunnel. They couldn’t hear the statue, and Jenny looked at Rose with a frantic expression.

“Do you think-?” asked Jenny.

“Yeah, it has to be waking the others,” said Rose. “Or worse, it’s going for the engines to relaunch the ship.”

The lift clanged as it reached up to the dive control centre, and Rose knew it took at least twenty seconds for it to calibrate before it could be sent back down. It felt like an eternity, and at the same time as the lift started to descend, they heard heavy footsteps coming their way through the access tunnel.

Jenny took Rose’s hand, and Rose squeezed it back and pulled her behind her, but thankfully for them, the footsteps didn’t belong to the statue.

“Arthur,” gasped Rose.

“Mark II,” added Jenny.

The suit’s helmet was crushed, circuitry frayed and slightly sparking, but it was still moving.

“Ms Barrow, Ms Tyler,” came Erisa’s voice. “The minute you are in the dive control centre, run for the shore.”

“Gotcha,” nodded Jenny, as the lift reached the bottom.

Rose pulled her into the lift. “Bring us home!” she shouted, and the lift began rising up.

The dive control centre was empty but for Erisa when the lift arrived with Rose and Jenny inside it.

“Come on, quickly,” said Erisa, moving away from the controls.

“What about those things under water?” asked Rose, as the three of them ran out of the dive control centre. Rose could see UNIT soldiers on the shore with the rest of the team and General Lethbridge-Stewart. Her question was answered when she heard a whirring noise overhead and Rose looked up to see a little flying machine, like a toy almost, with green lasers scanning over the lake.

“Drone,” explained Jenny.

“They’re scanning the building, and once we’re clear, it will fire shots into the lake to destroy the ship,” said Erisa.

“How big will the explosion be?” asked Rose.

“With the neutraliser, not much,” said Erisa. “Thank you for letting us know, Ms Barrow, we were able to amend our weaponry accordingly.”

Jenny nodded, and as they got to the shore, the General raised a hand. “On my signal!” he said. The whirring calmed down as a green grid-like pattern formed on the lake’s surface. “Fire!”

Unseen, quiet shots fired from the drone down into the lake. For a moment, it seemed like nothing happened, and then the ground beneath their feet shook for a solid five seconds, the lake’s water shaking violently like there had been an earthquake under the surface.

Rose held her breath the entire time, and as soon as the shaking subsided, she turned to look at the General.

“Dr Taylor,” he said, turning to look at Malcolm. “Life signs?”

Malcolm was examining the screen of a large laptop he was balancing awkwardly in his arms. “Threat neutralised,” he replied, looking at the General with a relieved expression on his face. “No life alien life forms detected, General.”

“Excellent,” nodded the General. “Very well done, everyone.”

Things happened quickly after that, as UNIT took statements from everyone on the expedition. There were mixed feelings about the death of Director Pennard, given the fact that they’d learned he had also been the thief responsible for the stolen artefacts. Apparently, UNIT had managed to track down one of his contacts who might have helped Pennard sell some of the artefacts so a team was dispatched to track down that lead with hopes of recovering some of the stolen artefacts.

An exhausted expedition group was then dismissed for the evening, but Rose didn’t want to return to the lakehouse just yet. Jenny had been dispatched to assist Erisa, so Rose sat on a fallen tree trunk by the lakeside, trying to gather her thoughts about the horrible afternoon she’d had. She was relieved she had given the Dastrons a chance, but it still put a sour taste in her mouth that they’d been destroyed, even though she knew that realistically, it was the best outcome possible. She was also conflicted by Pennard’s fate, no matter how furious she’d been at his callousness, right until the end.

Rose glanced up when General Lethbridge-Stewart walked over to her. He smiled a little before sitting down on the log next to Rose.

“Salvage teams will be here in the morning,” he told her, as they both looked out at the lake. The walkway still had a dozen UNIT personnel around, and there were lights being set up, presumably to monitor the site overnight. “Dr Mattingley has agreed to help catalogue anything we might salvage.”

“But she won’t be able to publish her findings, I’m guessing,” said Rose.

“No,” he agreed, with a sigh. “But UNIT will be grateful, and whatever technology we can salvage, I’m sure our Research and Development team will try and make strides with it.” He glanced at Rose. “Dr Mattingley has assured me your fieldwork component will not suffer as a result, but I would appreciate it if you ran the final copy of your thesis past me.”

Rose nodded, having sort of expected that. She wouldn’t exactly be able to include everything in the thesis, hell, even the details she had so far might not be appropriate, but she would find a way. She didn’t fancy having to redo this fieldwork component, and there was no way she was jeopardising her studies.

“Thanks,” she replied. “I’ll send you a copy before submitting it to Oxford.”

The General nodded back. “I know it isn’t ideal,” he said.

“No, but it’s necessary,” sighed Rose. “You think this saving the world business would get easier with time.”

He chuckled. “I’m not sure it’s ever meant to get easier,” he said. “But I hope you know that your work is never not appreciated.”

Rose turned to look at him. “I’ve done it often, have I?” she asked, sardonically, not actually expecting a response.

“Yes,” he said, without missing a beat. “More times than I can count.”

Rose blinked, before smiling softly. “That’s good, I guess,” she said. She paused briefly. “Could you tell me about it?” He looked at her in surprise. “Not the details, I know you can’t tell me that. But I’m…trying to understand myself.”

“How so?” he asked, curiously.

“I understand the nature of time travel, I do,” nodded Rose. “But my future self is doing certain things that I’m finding very hard to understand.”

The General’s eyes widened in understanding. “You mean Ms Barrow,” he said.

Rose looked at him sharply. “You know?” she asked.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m one of the only people who does know. She insisted on that, didn’t want any favours.” Despite everything, that made Rose smile. “You’re worried about why she’s here.”

Rose nodded. “Jenny is in my future, so is her sister, I suppose,” she said. “But they’re here now, in my past. And I’m having a hard time understanding why.”

“Have you tried asking her?” he asked.

“No,” admitted Rose. “And I’m not sure if I should. Certain things feel like I shouldn’t know yet, and I don’t know if this is one of them.” She frowned. “Sorry, that makes no sense, probably.”

“Not to me, no,” he nodded. “But if it makes sense to you, then it shouldn’t matter.” He sighed. “Could I tell you something you probably ought not to know yet?”

“Of course,” said Rose.

He smiled. “My first wife left me around the time I met you,” he said. “Military life demands a lot of attention, and she was unhappy that I kept choosing work over her, over our family.”

“I’m sorry,” said Rose, sympathetically.

He nodded in acknowledgement. “One day, she had enough, and she left,” he continued. “I was devastated, of course, but a man in my position, particularly back then, could not afford to express emotions in an open manner. It would have been…unbecoming.”

Rose frowned deeply. “That’s awful,” she said.

He met her gaze and nodded. “That’s what you said as well,” he said. “You sat me down and told me to allow myself those emotions, even if briefly, every single day. Whether it was a minute or an hour, once a day, I had to make myself feel what I was really feeling. I could do it behind closed doors, or over a cup of tea with a friend, but once a day, I had to allow myself the pain of those feelings.”

It made Rose smile softly.

“It was, and it remains something I stand by every day,” he said, solemnly. “You helped me at a point in my life where I thought I had lost everything. You didn’t tell me to bear it, or offer me false platitudes…you simply let me be, allowed myself to be who I am. It seemed almost simplistic when you said it, but it helped me tremendously through the years.” He smiled gratefully at her. “So, perhaps this is advice I should pass back onto you,” he continued. “Allow yourself to feel the feelings that you do. Once a day, every day, whatever those feelings may be, let yourself feel them.”

Rose stared at him, at the sincerity and gratitude in his demeanour and nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said, softly.

He nodded back. “And allow yourself to rely on the people around you,” he said. “Even if you may not be certain as to why they’re there, the important thing is that they’re there.”

“Thanks,” said Rose, gratefully. “I really appreciate this, General.”

He smiled and held out his hand. “Call me Alistair,” he said.

Rose shook his hand. “Thank you, Alistair.”

~

Rose sat at the same table in the coffeeshop where she and Jenny had met up only a couple of days ago. UNIT was still in town, but most of the command, including Alistair, had returned to London. Rose herself only had another two days before the end of her fieldwork, but she’d made herself take this time away from assisting Freda because she knew she had to do it.

The door to the coffeeshop opened and Rose smiled slightly as Miranda walked up to the table, with Jenny behind her. Both girls were wearing casual jeans and tops, and both bore similar expressions of nervousness on their faces. They weren’t too identical, realised Rose. The hair and eye colour aside, there wasn’t much they had in common in terms of appearance. Even then, Miranda’s hair was curlier, and the shade of blue in her eyes was darker than Jenny’s.

“Hello,” said Rose, as they sat side-by-side opposite her.

“Hi,” said Miranda, her nerves more obvious than Jenny’s. “Hi, Mum,” she added.

Rose smiled, despite the spike of panic that went through her. “Don’t look so terrified, it’s just me,” she said, and it worked because they both looked a bit less nervous. “Thank you for coming.”

“You asked,” said Jenny, as if that was all that was needed, and perhaps it was.

“We assumed you had questions,” added Miranda.

“I do,” nodded Rose. “Not sure how many of them I can actually ask, but I thought I’d try.” She had taken the time to think things through, so her first question was obvious. “You’re both Time Lords?”

They nodded. “Time Lords, with the ability to regenerate,” said Miranda. “And in case you were wondering, our father is the Doctor.”

Rose chuckled. “Yeah, I figured, otherwise it would be very awkward,” she said, and Miranda chuckled as well. “Does he know you two? Not the one in the future but…”

“Not the one in your linear timeline, no,” replied Jenny. “It’s too early, he’s too young.”

“Will he recognise you if he sees you?” asked Rose.

“No,” said Miranda. “He will likely sense something off, but he won’t realise we’re Time Lords.” She paused and glanced at Jenny. “Because that’s not all we are.”

Rose stared at her. “I’m guessing you’re not about to say human,” she said, softly.

“No,” admitted Miranda. “But you already knew that.”

“Yeah,” she said. “The Doctor insists that what I am is far less important than who I am, and I suppose I am still me,” she said.

“You are,” said Jenny, at once, as Miranda nodded in agreement. “We kept slipping up so many times because it is you. And it’s not in our nature to lie to you or keep secrets from you.”

That made Rose smile, despite everything. “I’m glad,” she said. “Look, I…I am trying, I suppose, to understand and the more I know, the more complicated it seems.”

Miranda chuckled. “You’re right about that,” she said, and reached into the satchel she’d been carrying to pull out a book. It was a thick, leatherbound book with no apparent title on the cover or on the spine, and she held it out to Rose.

“What is it?” asked Rose, taking it. She tried to open it but there was a gold clasp holding it close, and despite there being no lock on it, it didn’t budge.

“It’s a memory tome,” said Miranda, seriously. “Ancient Time Lords, before the invention of the Matrix, used these to store their memories.”

“Like a telepathic journal,” added Jenny.

“Right,” said Rose. “And whose journal is this?”

Miranda and Jenny exchanged a look. “We’re not entirely sure,” admitted Jenny, finally.

“These memory tomes have the name of its owner inscribed on the spine. As you can see, this one is blank,” added Miranda. She sighed softly. “This journal was given to me by my older sister, for safekeeping.”

Rose looked at her sharply. “Who-?”

Miranda was already shaking her head. “I can’t tell you,” she said. “But if there’s anyone I trust as much as you and Dad, it’s her.”

“Our brothers, on the other hand, can be very annoying,” added Jenny. Miranda shot her a look. “What? They are,” she shrugged.

“Be that as it may,” said Miranda, with a sharp look at Jenny. “I’m sure we don’t wish to overwhelm Mum with this knowledge.”

“Oh, trust me, I was plenty overwhelmed already,” chuckled Rose, humourlessly. “So, a sister and two older brothers?”

“Brother first, then a sister, and then another brother,” said Miranda. “Then me, and then Jenny.”

“So far,” added Jenny. “What?” she asked, when Miranda gave her another sharp look.

“Right,” said Rose, looking back at the journal. She ran her hand over the cover of the journal. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because that’s what she said to do,” nodded Miranda. “She said that when you know about us, I was to give this to you.”

“No other instructions,” added Jenny, before Rose could ask.

“Which, in her defence, she might not have known the reason herself if it was due to a vision,” said Miranda.

“Do all of you get visions?” asked Rose.

“Yes,” replied Jenny. “It’s a defining trait, with varying levels of effectiveness. Miranda is the strongest so far, her visions are almost as strong as yours.”

Miranda blushed slightly when Rose looked at her. “Lately, I'm out of practice,” she said. “I didn’t inadvertently want to tip you off, or trigger any memories for you before you were ready.”

“You don’t need to do that,” said Rose, shaking her head. “So, I should just hold onto this journal?”

“Yeah, maybe you’ll work out a way to open it,” said Jenny.

Rose nodded. “And what about you two? Why did I send you here back to my time?”

Miranda and Jenny exchanged a look.

“What?” asked Rose, when neither of them responded.

“You didn’t,” said Miranda, finally. “You didn’t send us here.”

“We sort of…did it on our own,” admitted Jenny.

Rose blinked in shock. She had assumed they were there because of a time loop, because she had sent them…and now, she was confused. “Why?” she asked.

“You, er, you’ve sort of…” said Miranda. “Disappeared.”

Rose stared at her. “The anomaly,” she realised.

They stared back at her in shock. “You know about that?” asked Jenny.

“Yeah,” said Rose. She almost said she also knew that she came back but stopped herself. By her estimation, Miranda and Jenny were approximately from the time of the Doctor’s tenth self. Which meant that the knowledge that she’d be back which she’d gained from his next self, was something from their future if she was yet to return.

“Through a vision?” asked Miranda, curiously.

“I can’t tell you how I know,” she replied, and then wanted to laugh at the irony. “Blimey, I’ll be so glad when the timelines line up. This is getting ridiculous.”

“They do line up from time to time,” said Miranda, with a slight smile.

“But if you know, then you must have come up with a way to deal with it,” said Jenny, her eyes wide as she looked at Rose.

“Not yet,” replied Rose, and the two of them deflated slightly. “But, if I know me, I probably will have by the time we get there.” She sighed deeply. “This was dangerous for both of you to come here,” she told them. “Complexities of time travel aside, it sounds like the two of you have had to tiptoe around me the whole time which I can’t imagine has been easy.”

“I know,” said Miranda, hurriedly. “Look, we…we really just missed you. And well, Dad…”

Rose’s eyes softened. “Yeah, I know,” she said, remembering the haunted look in his eyes. “If anything, now more than anything, he would need you with him.”

“We visit, from time to time,” said Jenny, quickly. “But…” she paused and looked at Miranda.

“But I think it’s worse for him when we’re there,” said Miranda. Rose’s eyes widened. “Not that he isn’t happy to see us or anything, it’s just…he doesn’t let us see how sad he gets, like he has to pretend to be happy for our sake.”

Rose felt the sting of tears and she glanced away, her heart breaking. She felt Miranda reach forward and take her hand.

“I’m sorry, Mum,” she said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, it’s fine,” said Rose, sniffing as she blinked back tears. “Look, I can’t say much, but everything will be okay.” She looked between the two of them. “I need you both to do something.”

“Anything,” said Jenny, at once, as Miranda nodded.

Rose smiled at them. “Go home,” she said. “Back to your time, to the right time.”

“Why?” asked Miranda, shocked, as Jenny just gaped at her.

“Because you’re not meant to be here,” said Rose, gently. “Be with your Dad, to the lives you let go of in order to come here.”

“But…” protested Jenny.

“I understand that you miss me, I do,” said Rose, interrupting her. “And I suppose part of you being here was to make sure I get this memory tome,” she added, with a glance at the journal. “But it’s done now. Holding onto me here in the past like this isn’t how I would have envisioned your future to be.”

She looked at them earnestly, and saw understanding and realisation dawning on their faces. Rose smiled softly, knowing she would miss them so much, but that she was right and they needed to live their own lives and not cling to her. She really was somehow getting the parenting thing, albeit in a very weird order.

“Are you sure?” asked Miranda.

“Yes,” replied Rose.

“Could we come and visit?” asked Jenny.

“Occasionally,” said Rose. “And I mean in a relative manner.”

They both nodded dutifully. “I’ll miss you,” said Miranda, as Jenny nodded along to her words.

“I’ll miss you too,” said Rose, and this time she didn’t bother blinking back tears. She reached across the table and took their hands. Brief snippets of visions blinked past her but she didn’t focus on any of them, keeping her focus on her daughters. “And I love you.”

“We love you, too, Mum,” they replied, with bright, beautiful smiles on their faces.

Rose squeezed their hands before slowly letting go. It shouldn’t hurt, but it did, and Rose knew she’d made the right choice.

“Now, go,” smiled Rose. “Make me proud.”

Chapter Text

Rose hit the button on her washing machine as it beeped cheerily and jumped to life. She smiled to herself and picked up the previous load of clean washing and went out into the backyard. The weatherman had said no rain for three whole days, so she was hoping her luck would hold out.

Gentle music played from her laptop in the kitchen as Rose started hanging up her washing on the line. The air smelled of lemons and laundry powder and Rose knew that while she wouldn’t miss the heat, she would miss summer.

The last of her fieldwork had been fine, if a bit tense because of the whole mess with Pennard and the Dastrons. Rose had returned home the day prior, though she had been too tired to unpack, which was why she had spent most of her morning doing her washing. Her thesis had been written out, Freda had signed off on it, and it had been emailed off to Alistair to await approval.

The thesis wasn’t due until the beginning of September, which was still three weeks away, so she had plenty of time if she needed to amend it, though she was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. She’d kept the information strictly to what had happened in the first three weeks, and she was praying it would be sufficient for her coursework. It was too late in the summer to join another expedition, regardless, and Rose didn’t fancy failing.

She finished hanging up her clothes and went back indoors, trying to decide what she should do for the rest of the day. She wondered if the Doctor would come to visit, but she was yet to pick the roses, and he had impeccable timing with that sort of thing.

Hoping the roses would summon him like a bizarre ritual, Rose went out into her front garden, with her gardening gloves, shears, and a basket. Ignatius Road was nice and quiet as Rose worked away and gathered the usual baker’s dozen of flowers before returning indoors. By the time she had dethorned and arranged the roses in a vase, the next load of washing was done, so she went into the backyard to hang it to dry.

The good weather seemed to hold out by the time afternoon came around, and Rose laid out a blanket in the shade of the lemon tree in the backyard, with a pitcher of homemade lemonade and a jewellery box she’d bought at a shop in Dunstanton. She had picked it out solely because of a complicated pin tumbler lock on it which would be perfect for her to practice her lockpicking skills. Running around with the Doctor a lot of the time with his sonic screwdriver had probably made her skills rusty and she was hoping to brush up on a few things.

The lock was quite hard to pick, and Rose had been sweating over it for almost fifteen minutes before she decided to take a break and regroup. She set the box aside and lay down on her back, huffing out a breath of frustration. The quiet afternoon breeze around her seemed to keep the lingering heat away and she felt the frustration seep out of her, replaced by syrupy sweet drowsiness. Rose felt herself relax, eyes falling shut, her breathing slowing down as well.

She felt more than heard the disturbance in the air and she slowly rolled onto her stomach, lifting herself up on her elbows, looking at the door which led into the kitchen. Sure enough, it only took a few minutes before the door slid open and a familiar man walked out into the backyard.

“Hello,” smiled Rose, sitting up.

The Doctor grinned back, blue-green eyes gazing at her with obvious fondness. “Well, you are a sight for sore eyes,” he said.

Rose laughed and got to her feet, crossing the distance between them. The Doctor met her halfway, green velvet-clad arms wrapping around her in an embrace of comfort and familiarity as Rose buried her head between his neck and shoulder, smiling as she was engulfed by the scent of honey and sandalwood. Blimey, she had missed him, missed him so very much.

She felt him hum in contentment, his arms holding her tightly. It felt like coming home, and after a chaotic summer, this moment felt calm, gentle, undisturbed. Rose closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of his fingers combing through her hair in a soothing gesture.

“I missed you,” he murmured against her ear, and Rose shivered.

“Me too,” she replied, and pulled back slightly to look at him. His eyes were soft as he looked back at her, and she was slightly thrown off by the obvious lack of the weight in his gaze that she had become used to in his older selves. It sent a sharp pain lancing through her heart, knowing there would be something inescapable behind those eyes one day, something he was yet to face.

She kissed him then, unable to help it, really, and he made a small sound of delight against her lips as he kissed her back. His hand in her hair tightened a little and with an ease that had her smiling into the kiss, he lifted her with an arm around her waist, without breaking the kiss, carrying her back to the blanket under the lemon tree. They reluctantly broke apart so they could sit down on the blanket together.

The Doctor sat down first, folding his legs under him without a trace of discomfort, and pulled Rose into his lap with an ease that would have surprised her even a month ago, but now felt as natural as could be. She grinned down at him, wrapping her arms in a loose grip around his neck. Her hair was loose and she had been wishing earlier she had tied it back, but she was glad for it now because the Doctor’s hands were spanning her back, occasionally petting the ends of her hair, and it was altogether a pleasant feeling.

“You look well,” said the Doctor, his eyes tracing her face.

“So do you,” she said, and meant it. “What did you get up to?”

“Oh, this and that,” he said, brushing a kiss against the edge of her jaw. “You look like you’ve had far longer than a month away from me.” Rose looked at him in surprise, and he smiled. “Didn’t think you could fool my eyes, could you?”

Rose chuckled. “Well, apparently, I always look like me,” she said, and his eyes widened.

“Out of time meeting?” he asked, looking intrigued and apparently picking up on the fact that he had said it to her.

“Yeah,” she replied.

“More than one?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she said, grinning impishly.

His hands settled at her waist, palms curving into a grip that tightened. “Well, now that’s just unfair,” he said, his voice low. Rose felt a shiver climb up her spine at the possessive gleam in his eyes.

“Turnabout is fair play,” said Rose, though her voice had gone a bit breathless.

He laughed and kissed her, and Rose felt herself smiling more than kissing back, but it felt good. It was more than just about missing him, it was the fact that he was where it had started. This summer had brought forth so many revelations, and she had been so worried about seeing him and having to keep those secrets, but it felt so right to be in his arms, for him to kiss her breathless because he was annoyed that another self of his had gotten to spend time with her instead of him, that the non-linear aspects of their relationship was something they could laugh and grumble about together, and Rose knew in that moment, she wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

“I love you,” she told him, as they pulled back.

His eyes melted and he placed a burning kiss on her mouth. “I love you,” he replied. “May I steal you away?”

Rose grinned and bit her lip as she nodded. “For as long as you want,” she said.

“Tempting, indeed,” he said, and Rose climbed off his lap and offered her hand to him. He took it and stood up, before glancing at the jewellery box and the array of lockpicking tools. “You’ve been practicing,” he observed.

“Yeah,” said Rose, letting go of his hand so she could gather her tools and the empty pitcher of lemonade. “I found the box in Dunstanton. Oh, and I met Alistair.”

“You did?” asked the Doctor, his eyes lighting up, as he deftly folded the blanket and followed Rose into the house. “How’s the Brigadier doing?”

“General, now,” she said.

“Oh, yes, I think I knew that, or knew it was coming,” he chuckled. “Has he been knighted yet?”

Rose looked at him with wide eyes. “No,” she said.

“Well, that’ll happen at some point, too,” he told her, with a twinkle in his eye. “Did you come across UNIT recently?”

“Yeah, a crashed spaceship under Dunstanton Lake,” she replied. “UNIT helped deal with it.” She paused. “I have agreed to work with them as a Consultant.”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, I thought that might happen,” he said. “How do you feel about it?”

Rose shrugged. “We cross paths often enough that I figured it would be good if I worked with them from time to time,” she said. “So, where are we going today?” she asked, grabbing the empty pitcher to put it in the sink.

The Doctor was leaning against the breakfast bar, examining the jewellery box. “I was thinking we could go to Paris,” he said.

Rose dropped the pitcher and it clattered to the floor. Thankfully, it was made of plastic so it didn’t shatter, but the Doctor looked up in surprise. Rose could see from his expression that he hadn’t the slightest clue about what he had suggested.

“Are you alright?” he asked, nothing but concern etched on his face.

“Y-yeah,” stammered Rose, quickly picking up the pitcher even as her face went red. “Butterfingers.”

He gave her a slightly confused look. “Well, I was going to take you to see the Belle Epoque, but if you’d rather…”

“No,” said Rose, her face still red. “No, that sounds great. It really does.”

“If you’re sure,” he said, with a doubtful glance.

“Yeah, yes,” nodded Rose. “Let me just get my things.”

She quickly escaped upstairs, hoping to calm the flush on her face. So much for being able to keep secrets, although this was something she hadn’t really prepared for.

Paris.

The Doctor hadn’t explicitly said anything to her, but his future selves had implied that Paris had greater significance in terms of their physical relationship.

Her Doctor now seemed to think nothing of it, and it was perhaps just an ordinary trip for him as far as he was concerned.

And maybe it would be, because Rose wasn’t entirely sure if she would be ready for something else.

That was a lie. She was ready, she definitely was ready. Except, she wasn’t entirely sure what she should expect. She had slept with a grand total of one person in her life, and even that had been three years ago. She had pretty much been celibate since she’d walked away from Jimmy, and regardless, her time with Jimmy hadn’t exactly been fulfilling.

Rose went into her ensuite and shut the door, closing her eyes as she focused on her breathing. She was sure she was being ridiculous. The Doctor was nothing like Jimmy; he had shown her time and time again that was true. He cherished her, loved her, his touch set her ablaze in a way nothing and no one else had before. She needed to calm down.

For all she knew, this trip would be just like any other.

And well, if something happened, then she would face it as and when it did.

She knew with absolute certainty, of course, that the Doctor would respect her wishes when it came to this, no matter what.

With some semblance of sanity returned to her, Rose decided against changing out of her leggings and tank top, and just brushed her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her trainers before going downstairs. The Doctor had mentioned the Belle Epoque so she would need to change her clothes in the TARDIS regardless.

He was waiting by the front door when Rose returned downstairs, and he still looked a bit uncertain though it fell away when Rose beamed at him.

“Ready to go?” he asked, holding out his hand.

Rose skipped down the stairs and took his hand. “As I’ll ever be,” she said.

Inside the TARDIS, she left him to navigate them to Paris while she wandered around the wardrobe room to find an appropriate outfit. The Belle Epoque spanned the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and instead of going right to the Fab-ri-cator, Rose decided to take a look around first.

She was glad she did when she happened upon an entirely enchanting silk sequined gown with a pouter pigeon bodice, sweetheart neckline, a shallow vee waistline, close skirt and a train. The dusty pink gown with lavender sequins looked absolutely beautiful when Rose looked at it on the hanger, but once she had used the Fab-ri-cator to make the undergarments to go with it, the gown fit Rose like a glove, hugging every curve enticingly, and flowing majestically behind her. She paired it with an elaborate lace choker, and put her golden hair into a twisty bun with some feathered pins, admiring the overall effect.

The heeled boots she found were comfortable and went well with the gown, and Rose heard the TARDIS land as she finished applying her pink lipstick. She grabbed the matching lace gloves and headed out into the console room.

The Doctor was in the process of examining the readings in front of him and didn’t immediately look up. But when he did, his eyes widened, before a slow, appreciative smile curled on his lips.

“Period accurate?” asked Rose, with an innocent smile even as her heart thudded in her chest at the desire evident on his handsome face.

He abandoned the console and sauntered up to her slowly, his eyes cataloguing every inch of her. “Close enough,” he replied, taking her hand and pulling her into the circle of his arms. “And entirely too enticing.”

Rose chuckled, but her amusement faded quickly, as the Doctor’s hand spanned the cinched waist of her gown and drew her against him before he leaned down and kissed her. She sighed against his lips, gloved hands resting against the green velvet over his shoulders. His questing tongue brushed boldly past her lips into a kiss that was quickly turning from gentle to full of ardour, and Rose closed her eyes, relishing the taste of him, and the sure strokes of his hand against her waist and her back. She couldn’t believe she’d been nervous before, when his touch soothed her and set her aflame in equal measure and in such delightful ways.

A small beep from the console made them both break the intense kiss, and the Doctor threw an annoyed look back at the console.

“Something wrong?” asked Rose.

He met her gaze and placed a swift kiss on her cheek. “The instruments have been a bit temperamental lately,” he said. “I’d say the old girl is overdue for some maintenance,” he added, taking Rose’s hand and leading her to the console. He frowned at the panel in front of him. “The space coordinates seem to be correct, but the time coordinates are a bit haywire.”

“So, we’re in Paris, but it may not be the Belle Epoque?” asked Rose.

He nodded. “Let’s try again, shall we?” he asked, reaching for a lever.

“No, wait,” said Rose, with an impish grin. “Let’s see when we are.” He gave her a surprised look. “What? Thought you were adventurous, Time Lord.”

His eyes flashed as a smirk formed on his face. “Careful there, Miss Tyler,” he said, wrapping a firm around her waist and pulling her in close. “I’m not a Time Lord to be trifled with.”

Rose laughed, relishing in his playfulness. She had missed him. “Prove it, then,” she said, with a glint of challenge in her eyes.

He shook his head, and tipped her back slightly over his arm and bent down to kiss her slowly, thoroughly, before straightening back up with her. “Come along,” he said, releasing her but holding out his arm.

Rose had to catch her breath before she could take his arm, and her face was still a bit pink by the time the two of them walked out of the blue police box.

The stench hit them as soon as they were out and Rose clapped a hand to her nose and mouth.

“The river Seine,” chuckled the Doctor, as Rose gave him a slightly disgusted look.

“Why’s it smell like sewage?” asked Rose, the sound muffled because of her hand.

“Well, the answer is obvious, I would think,” he said, and Rose’s eyes widened with realisation. “I think we’re on the left bank.”

Rose slowly lowered her hand, hoping she would get used to the stench in the air. It was an overcast day, probably mid afternoon, and the TARDIS had landed along the left bank of the Seine. There were a few people around, and judging by their clothing, the Doctor’s timing hadn’t been as far off as Rose had been expecting.

The Doctor was evidently thinking the same thing as they started walking along the bank, blending in with the crowd easily. “I should think we’re still in the nineteenth century,” he said. “Or maybe the late eighteenth.”

“Don’t say that,” said Rose, slightly alarmed. “I’m dressed too well to have landed in the middle of the Reign of Terror.”

He chuckled. “I doubt we’re in the midst of the French Revolution, Rose,” he said, indicating the passers-by who were a combination of well-dressed gentry and common folk.

“Who knows with our luck,” grinned Rose.

He grinned back, apparently agreeing. He walked up to a slightly well-dressed middle aged man. “Afternoon, good sir,” he said. “I’m the Doctor, this is Rose. What’s your name?”

“Le Roi,” he replied. “I’m a member of the French police.”

“Splendid, Le Roi,” said the Doctor. “What year is it?”

The man gave him a slightly odd look. “1841,” he replied.

“See,” said the Doctor, turning back to Rose. “Not in the midst of the Revolution.” He sniffed the air. “Smells like February.”

“It is,” said Le Roi, still looking at the two of them like they were slightly insane. “Are you here for the carnival?”

“Carnival?” asked Rose.

“The Carnival de Paris,” he said, and nodded at a nearby flyer advertising a carnival boasting of various exotic animals and feats of magic and mysticism.

“February 1841,” mused the Doctor, drawing Rose’s attention away from the flyer. “We’re about three months too late for Napoleon’s funeral.”

“I thought Napoleon died in 1821,” said Rose.

“He did,” said the Doctor. “But his body wasn’t returned to France until December of 1840. It was quite the spectacle, his funeral. A massive celebration for little old Boney.”

Rose chuckled, but Le Roi, who had apparently been eavesdropping on their conversation, went red in the face. “Little?” he demanded, clearly furious.

“Oh, no, no, don’t get me wrong,” said the Doctor, hastily. “I didn’t mean little in size. That was purely war propaganda, you know. He was perfectly proportioned, or well, I think he was, I hadn’t seen him since he was ye’ high,” he added, indicating about waist height.

“Insolent!” shouted Le Roi, drawing the attention of nearby passers-by. “This man is insulting the great Napoleon.”

A few other people stopped, muttering in anger as they fixed the Doctor, and by extension, Rose, with furious glares.

“Er, Doctor,” said Rose, tightening the grip on his arm. “Now might be a good time to run.”

“Good point, Rose,” he said. “Courir.”

The Doctor and Rose took off running, dodging the gathering angry crowd. The gown was surprisingly easy to run in, and as they happened upon a larger group of people, seemingly heading in one direction, they quickly blended in, hiding amongst the various people to avoid attracting any further attention.

“Well, that wasn’t smart calling Napoleon…well, that,” whispered Rose, disapprovingly.

“How was I supposed to know they'd still be so sensitive about it?” argued the Doctor.

“Let’s put ‘don’t insult Napoleon’ on our list of things to do while we’re in Paris,” said Rose, rolling her eyes, though her lips twitched in amusement. She glanced around at the crowd. “Where’s everyone going?”

The Doctor glanced up ahead of them. “I believe they’re going to the carnival,” he said.

Rose followed his gaze and saw a wooden archway not too far ahead of them. Beyond the archway was a large clearing, with various canvas tents, including a Big Top, several cages and stalls, and a fairly heavy crowd of people. As they got to the archway, they saw a man standing at the entrance, wearing an elaborate silk vest and trousers, black moustache trimmed impressively.

“Welcome, welcome to Carnival de Paris!” he greeted, in a booming voice. “Come watch our collection of exotic creatures, our acrobats who defy death itself, and most important of all…a real Pharaoh who saw the pyramids being built, and can tell you the story himself!”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up and she looked at the Doctor in shock. “How’s that possible?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” frowned the Doctor. “Shall we go and see?” he asked.

Rose was about to respond when she spotted three or four policemen pushing their way through the crowd. Le Roi was leading them, and when his eyes fell on the Doctor and Rose, his already red face went nearly purple.

“There they are!” he shouted, pointing in their direction.

“Come on,” said the Doctor, grabbing Rose’s hand as they started running once again, weaving through the crowd heading to the carnival, slipping past the archway and inside the clearing.

Knowing they had to get out of sight quickly, Rose let the Doctor pull her behind one of the larger tents that had bales of hay stacked outside. The two of them quickly crouched behind the haystack, watching carefully as the policemen dispersed all over the carnival, clearly in search of them.

“Maybe we should stay here until they get tired of looking,” whispered the Doctor.

Rose nodded, and they waited in silence as the seconds ticked past. She was marvelling at their ability to somehow (inevitably) always get in trouble, when something occurred to her.

“Earlier,” she said, turning to the Doctor. “You said ‘courir’.”

“Yes,” he said. “It means ‘run’.”

“Yes, I know what it means,” said Rose, rolling her eyes a little. “I just thought the TARDIS translated all languages.”

He smiled at her. “Try saying it now,” he suggested.

“Courir,” she tried to say but what came out was ‘Run’. She tried again, and the same thing happened.

“It’s because you’re doing it consciously,” said the Doctor, when she gave him a bewildered look. “The TARDIS has trouble if we switch languages on a whim. It has to be quick, before her telepathic circuits catch up with us.”

Rose tried to say something else in French but each time she tried, she heard it spoken in English. “This is weird,” she said, finally.

“Don’t overthink it,” the Doctor advised sagely. “Language is a lot more complex than some spoken words.”

Rose nodded, she was starting to really get that. The sound of applause made her jump and she realised it was coming from inside the tent they were hiding near.

“Shall we?” asked the Doctor, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and nodding toward the tent.

Rose grinned and nodded, and the Doctor carefully cut a swatch from the back of the canvas tent. It was barely big enough for the two of them to crawl inside the tent and make their way to a couple of empty seats. The crowd was too busy applauding to notice their less than orthodox arrival, and as Rose settled on the wooden bench seat, her eyes widened at the sight before her.

In the middle of the tent, was an empty sarcophagus and an elaborate wooden chair, almost throne-like in appearance. On the chair sat a mummified corpse of a man, unmoving and looking like he had been dug straight from his tomb. There was dirt covering the bandages, the material muddy, and to Rose’s trained eye, about as yellowed as it should be to warrant authentication as a genuine mummy from Ancient Egypt.

She dearly hoped it wasn’t about to be some kind of a demented puppet show with a real mummy - the archaeologist within her wouldn’t be able to stomach it. She felt the Doctor take her hand, and she released the breath she had been holding, smiling gratefully at him, though the tension in her shoulders still lingered.

“Welcome, welcome!” greeted the same man who had been at the entrance. “I am Cagliostro, and welcome to our greatest wonder!” The crowd applauded wildly as Cagliostro beamed and bowed at them. “I shall tell you the tale of the great Napoleon.” Rose slunk into her seat instinctively, watching the Doctor do the same. “Forty years ago, Napoleon led his army into Cairo. He had issued a decree - too long had the Egyptians insulted the French, and their insolence shall be met with force.”

“Is this true?” asked Rose, in a whisper.

“I believe so,” nodded the Doctor.

“And what shall he happen upon but the tomb of Nitocris herself, the last Pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty,” continued Cagliostro.

Rose’s eyes widened. “Nitocris?” she asked, awed. “The Messalina of the Nile?”

The Doctor gave her a slightly impressed look. “You’ve heard of her?” he asked.

“Of course,” said Rose. “I mean, there’s not much to know. All traces of her were scoured from history and no one really knows much about her, but she’s infamous. They said she had an insatiable appetite for murder and that she slaughtered her people mercilessly. Others believe her reign was cut short by disaster.” She paused and looked at the Doctor. “Did you know her?”

“I’m afraid not,” he said.

“From the court of Nitocris, here is Khaset!” declared Cagliostro, to wild applause. He held up a cattle prod to the crowd. “As Galvini himself who used electricity to convulse the recently hanged to life, watch as I awaken Khaset.”

The crowd cheered and Cagliostro thrust the cattle prod into the chest of the mummy, shouting at it to wake up.

“God, that’s a bit like Frankenstein,” said Rose, as the mummy convulsed violently.

“I did know Shelley,” nodded the Doctor.

Sparks filled the air and the mummy gasped loudly. Rose jumped as several people in the audience screamed and retreated. A few even walked out of the tent, while one or two fainted in their seats.

“Please, please, remain where you are,” said Cagliostro. “Khaset, can you hear me?”

The crowd fell silent, all eyes fixed on the mummy which slowly raised his head. “I hear you,” said Khaset, his voice deep and gravelly, as if from disuse.

“What,” muttered Rose, shocked.

“Good,” said Cagliostro. “Does anyone have questions for Khaset?” There was silence for a moment, and Cagliostro smiled encouragingly at the crowd. “Feel free to ask whatever you wish,” he added.

“How do you feel?” asked a woman from the crowd, fascination in her tone.

“I feel…old,” replied Khaset.

“Did you know Cleopatra?” asked someone else, as the crowd tittered.

“No,” said Khaset.

“You might be the only man who didn’t,” said the same man, and the audience laughed.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” grumbled Rose under her breath, unamused. “Cleopatra was a thousand years after Nitocris’s time, and Cleopatra was a brilliant strategist!” she added, shouting out the last part. “What?” she asked, when she noticed the Doctor smiling at her in amusement.

“Nothing,” he said. “And you’re right, she was brilliant. And much maligned by later historians.”

“Because they couldn’t bear the thought of a woman in power, no doubt,” said Rose, rolling her eyes. “She used what she possessed to her advantage. If she were a man, she would have been lauded as a hero.”

“Perhaps we should ask Khaset a question,” suggested the Doctor.

Rose nodded, knowing he was right. She knew she could go on and on about the unfair treatment of women in history, but there was an authentic mummy from Ancient Egypt in nineteenth century Paris, apparently talking like nothing was amiss. Whatever it was, it warranted a closer look.

She took the Doctor’s hand as they both stood up and stepped into the middle of the tent. Cagliostro stared at them with wide eyes as they approached.

The Doctor ignored Cagliostro and walked straight to Khaset. He opened his mouth, and what sounded like gibberish fell from his lips. Rose stared at him in shock, remembering what he’d said about speaking a different language to bypass the TARDIS’s telepathic circuits.

What surprised Rose even more was that Khaset seemed to respond in the same language, and it sounded like nothing but high pitched gibberish as the Doctor and Khaset spoke to each other.

“It’s an ancient language, not translated by the TARDIS,” murmured the Doctor, with a quick glance at Rose. “And you know it,” he said to Khaset.

“Yes,” said Khaset.

“Only someone who lived back then would have known this language,” said the Doctor, slightly awed.

“Does it hurt?” asked Rose, blurting out the question that had been plaguing her since she’d seen Cagliostro use the cattle prod on Khaset. “When Cagliostro uses the cattle prod on you, does it hurt you?”

“Shut up,” hissed Cagliostro, but Rose ignored him.

“Yes,” replied Khaset, slowly. “It hurts every day.”

The people in the audience began muttering in disapproval, and Rose saw more than one person throw disgusted looks at Cagliostro.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said Cagliostro, shaking his head in Khaset’s direction.

“I know what I speak of,” said Khaset, gravely, and his head turned in Rose’s direction. There were no visible eyes under the bandages, but Rose felt like he was looking right at her. “Please, release me from my torment,” he begged. “I would rather stay dead.”

Rose stared at him in horror but the tent opened, and they saw Le Roi with two policemen behind him. His gaze fell on the Doctor and Rose, and he glared darkly.

“Let’s go,” said the Doctor, taking Rose’s hand and leading her away, back toward their unorthodox way into the tent so they could run away from Le Roi.

“We’ll come back for you!” promised Rose, with a last look at Khaset.

Khaset didn’t respond, and Cagliostro muttered something angrily to Khaset, and that was all Rose saw before she and the Doctor ran out of the tent.

Chapter Text

The Doctor and Rose ran back out into the carnival, frantically looking around for an escape from the policemen, who seemed to be everywhere.

“This way, come on,” said the Doctor, pulling Rose in the direction of the cages. It was toward a section at the back and the cages contained various animals, including a tiger, a few monkeys, and a rhinoceros. Rose glanced at them briefly but focused on escaping.

They finally happened upon some crates near one of the cages, and the Doctor easily slipped through the gap between the cage and the crates, beckoning Rose to follow. Rose had to be more careful, her gown making it slightly harder for her to slip in through the gap and her hip hit the cage briefly as she stumbled after the Doctor.

There was a gorilla in the cage and he growled and turned to Rose, beady eyes fixing her with anger.

“No, no, no, I’m sorry,” said the Doctor, placing an arm around Rose’s waist and pulling her into his side. He was looking at the gorilla, and the apology seemed to be meant for him.

The gorilla huffed and growled back at him, though he didn’t sound as angry as before.

“Yes, I will,” nodded the Doctor, with a placating smile.

“Are you talking to the gorilla?” asked Rose, curiously.

“Of course,” he said, like it should be obvious.

“Why can’t I understand him then?” asked Rose.

“Well, it’s the same reason why you couldn’t understand me when I was speaking to Khaset earlier,” he said. “Some languages are beyond the scope of the TARDIS to translate.”

“Right,” nodded Rose. “Do all animals speak the same language?”

“Not at all,” he replied, like it was absurd.

“Then do you know all the languages there are?” asked Rose, fascinated.

“For the most part,” he nodded. “There are some languages, ones I am sure I have yet to encounter, that I don’t know, but languages have always been something of a specialty of mine.”

Rose smiled softly. “I didn’t know that,” she said.

He smiled back at that and placed a gentle hand on her cheek, drawing her in for a kiss. They kissed softly, hidden away behind the stack of crates. Rose heard a vague growl behind her, and the Doctor broke the kiss to shoot an apologetic look at the gorilla.

“Sorry, we are being rather indecorous, aren’t we?” said the Doctor.

“He doesn’t like us kissing?” asked Rose, confused.

The Doctor chuckled as the gorilla gave a screech in reply that even Rose could understand was annoyed. “He is discontent with being in captivity, and without a mate,” explained the Doctor, before he looked at the gorilla. “I can’t set you free, you understand? There are other human beings here.” The gorilla grunted in reply and the Doctor frowned. “Do you promise that?”

“What?” asked Rose.

“He says he will not harm anyone if we set him free,” said the Doctor.

Rose looked at the gorilla, and then back at the Doctor. “Okay, let’s do it then,” she said. The gorilla grunted again, and the Doctor chuckled. “What’d he say?” asked Rose.

“He likes you, says you are very assertive,” he explained. “And yes, she is,” he added, with a nod at the gorilla. He brushed past Rose and pulled out the sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the lock on the gorilla’s cage. “Here goes.”

The sonic screwdriver whirred and the lock clicked open. The gorilla pushed the door open and took a tentative step outside.

“Now, remember our deal,” said the Doctor. “No harming anyone.” The gorilla grunted in reply and the Doctor raised his eyebrows. “Really? You would do that?”

Rose gave the Doctor a questioning look, and the Doctor smiled in response.

“He says he will run rampant and cause a commotion so we can escape,” he said.

Rose’s eyes widened and she looked at the gorilla. “Thank you,” she said.

He grunted once more, and then he was off, running into the crowd, screaming and roaring loudly, but not actually hurting anyone. Chaos erupted immediately as people began screaming and running away, and in the confusion, the Doctor and Rose quickly made their escape, running out of the clearing with the carnival, until they were back near the Seine. They stopped running but didn’t stop moving as the Doctor ducked down roads and alleyways, moving with a clear destination in mind, though Rose had no idea where he was taking them.

Finally, he stopped near a stone building, and Rose’s eyes widened when she saw that it was an inn.

“We need to lay low,” said the Doctor, leading her inside.

“What about Khaset?” asked Rose.

“Well, I propose we break back into the carnival after nightfall,” said the Doctor, as they went over to the innkeeper. “Until then, let’s stay out of sight of Le Roi and his men.”

The innkeeper gave them a weird look, which wasn’t helped along by the six excruciating minutes that followed while the Doctor could find the appropriate currency in his dimensionally transcendental pockets. What he did find eventually was enough to get them a room on the floor above.

The room was fairly bare, with a bed, two straight backed wooden chairs, and a sooty fireplace. But it was quiet, and they were out of the cold, and unlikely to run into Le Roi, which Rose supposed was good enough.

She took a seat at the edge of the bed while the Doctor worked on lighting a fire. The hem of her gown was slightly muddied and she frowned, hoping the TARDIS had something to clean it. She wouldn’t want to ruin the gown after wearing it only once.

“There we go,” said the Doctor, stoking the fire as it slowly blazed to life. He glanced at Rose. “Are you alright?”

Rose nodded. “I mean, it’s very much like us to offend the locals and get chased by them, isn’t it?” she chuckled.

The Doctor laughed and sat down next to her. “Indeed it is,” he said. “But I meant about Khaset.”

Rose frowned. “Yeah, it’s concerning, isn’t it? Based on what you said, he is genuinely from the Sixth Dynasty,” she said. “So how does he end up here?”

“Good question, and one that I suspect Cagliostro knows the answer to,” said the Doctor. “He wasn’t very keen on us asking too many questions.”

“What kind of a being do you think Khaset is?” asked Rose, curiously.

“I don’t know,” said the Doctor, thoughtfully. “The end of the Sixth Dynasty is shrouded in mystery and I never had occasion to visit that particular time period. Our best chance is to ask Khaset himself, and perhaps he can shed some light on his own circumstances.”

Rose nodded in agreement. “Now would be a good time for a vision,” she said.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. “You know about the visions,” he said, not framing it like a question.

“Yeah,” said Rose. “They were persistent, and you had to explain. But I haven’t really had any for a while now.”

“I wish I could shed some light on that for you,” said the Doctor, shaking his head. “But that is entirely your wheelhouse, not mine.”

“Is there someone I could learn from? On how to control them, or even have them?” she asked.

“No,” he replied, sounding quite sure in his response.

“Not even the Guardians?” she asked.

The Doctor chuckled bitterly. “The Guardians are currently nowhere to be found,” he said. “The Old Ones, anyway.”

Rose stared at him. “What?” she asked.

He sighed. “I am not sure how to explain it,” he said.

“Starting at the beginning is usually a good idea,” said Rose. “I know there are six Guardians - Black, White, Red, Azure, Silver and Gold.”

He nodded. “And each of them commands an aspect of the known and unknown universes,” he said.

“You told me the Gold Guardian was the Guardian of Life and Death,” nodded Rose.

“Yes,” he said. “I have encountered Guardians in the past - the Old Ones, anyway. They have been around for…well, ever since Guardians have been around, and they were around since before the universe began.”

“Right,” said Rose.

“And then, less than two decades ago, they all vanished,” he said, his face grave.

“Vanished?” asked Rose. “What do you mean?”

“Just that,” he said. “Guardians cannot be perceived unless they make themselves known, but beings of a higher consciousness are able to sense their presence in the universe, like a certain frequency on the radio.”

“And that’s no longer there?” asked Rose, her eyes wide. At his nod, she frowned. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “Neither does anyone else, as far as I know.”

“But Lia?” asked Rose.

“She isn’t an Old One,” he said. “Not long after the Old Ones vanished, I began hearing whispers of new Guardians. Younger, different than the ones from before. I haven’t encountered any, except for Aurelia, and that too, very briefly.”

“Do you have theories on what could have happened?” asked Rose.

“Well, I have some thoughts, but the timing of it rather coincides with the advent of the War,” he said, and he looked pale as he spoke. “I don’t believe in coincidences on that scale. The Old Ones vanishing and new Guardians taking their place just as the darkest possibility seemed to come to fruition is hardly insignificant, as much as I tell myself not to jump to conclusions.”

“Yeah,” agreed Rose, swallowing roughly against her suddenly dry throat. “Do you think the Old Ones are dead?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what could kill a Guardian,” he said. “And I certainly don’t know how the new Guardians came into being. The power required would have to be on a cosmic level, beyond most things I have encountered.”

“Most?” asked Rose, shocked. “Not all?”

He smiled sardonically. “Do you remember me mentioning the Pythia?” he asked. At Rose’s nod, his smile widened. “The Pythia were the closest beings, cosmically-speaking, to the Guardians. No other race came close to attaining the level of power and influence that they did.”

“But the Time Lords overthrew them,” Rose pointed out.

“Yes, but they were never able to replicate the power of the Pythia,” said the Doctor. “It was Rassilon’s greatest regret, his greatest loss, that despite bringing the end of the Pythia, he only achieved a fraction of what they had.”

“Why was that exactly?” asked Rose.

“The last Pythia took her secrets to the grave,” said the Doctor. “Her followers who couldn’t flee were tortured, but they could shed no light on those secrets. Try as he might, Rassilon never entirely had his triumph over the Pythia.”

“Sounds like a charming man,” said Rose, disgusted at the mention of torture.

The Doctor chuckled. “Yes,” he said. “He was quite driven in his ambition, some say he still is.”

Rose stared at him. “He’s still alive?” she asked, shocked.

“Death, for a Time Lord, is a complicated thing,” he said. “Some Time Lords, powerful Time Lords, never truly die. Their consciousness can be contained within the Matrix, and in a sense, they’re still alive.”

Rose blinked at the mention of the Matrix. Miranda had said it to her, almost unthinkingly as if expecting Rose to know what that was. “Could I show you something?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said.

Rose reached under her gown and into the lace harness around her thigh to pull out her archaeologist’s case. Reaching inside it, she gently pulled out the memory tome and held it out to the Doctor. The Doctor’s eyes widened as he took it, and Rose knew he recognised it for what it was.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, sounding rather shocked.

“I can’t tell you that,” she said. “Do you know much about memory tomes?”

“Yes,” he said, still staring at it. “I gave this to…” He paused and looked at Rose.

“Hang on,” said Rose, her eyes going wide as well. “You know about that memory tome in particular? You know who it belongs to?”

He sighed. “Yes,” he replied.

“How?” asked Rose, looking at the gold clasp on it that had refused to budge despite her best efforts. “It doesn’t open, and there is no name on it.”

The Doctor smiled softly. “Well, they did call him the Stranger,” he said, and Rose’s eyes widened. “And,” he added, as reached for the clasp, and with a flick of his fingers, it popped open. “He was very secretive.”

Rose blinked in shock. “How could you open it when I couldn’t?” she asked. “Could only a Time Lord have opened it?”

“No,” he replied, and then looked at the cover of the tome. “No, only a particular Time Lord could have opened it.”

Rose gave him a questioning look. “What, like a descendant?” she asked.

The Doctor shook his head. “The Stranger never believed he would have descendants,” he said, sounding extraordinarily sure about that.

“But he did have children, didn’t he? With Patience?” asked Rose. “Three, not thirteen, like the stories say.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, looking only a little surprised that she knew that. “But he wouldn’t have made it possible for his descendants to open it either. There are things in here he would rather not have anyone know.”

Rose almost asked why he could open it then, before she remembered his earlier words about death being complicated for a Time Lord. She almost dismissed the thought off hand but it was in her head now and refused to leave.

The Doctor smiled, like he knew what she was thinking, and she wondered if he did. He didn’t say anything though, as if waiting for her to broach the subject.

Rose took a bracing breath. “Is it you?” she asked, finally.

“Yes,” he said, simply.

Rose’s eyes widened. “H-how?” she asked, before rethinking her question. “Why?”

“Excellent questions, and I promise I’ll answer them someday,” he said.

“But not today?” she asked, slightly disappointed.

“No, not today,” he said, and closed the clasp on the memory tome before holding it back to her.

“You want me to keep it?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes,” he said. “I don’t know who gave this to you, but there has to be a reason.”

“But I can’t even open it,” she pointed out.

“You will,” he said, and when Rose gave him a confused look, he shook his head again.

Rose huffed but took it back and put it away for safekeeping in her case once more. “At least it explains why you said I didn’t know all your faces,” she said.

“I said that?” he asked.

Rose realised her slip and blushed. “I mean, will say it,” she said, sheepishly.

He reached over and took her hand. “Darling,” he murmured. “I know this frustrates you, and…”

Rose sighed and squeezed his hand. “I know,” she said. “I understand, I do, because there are secrets that I am keeping as well. But I…”

“I know,” he said, and Rose knew he really did. He kissed the back of her hand gently. “Come on, let’s lie down.”

“Why?” asked Rose.

He smiled softly. “I just wish to hold you for a while,” he said. “Is that okay?”

Rose nodded, and removed her boots before easing back to lie on the hard, uncomfortable bed. The Doctor toed off his shoes and removed his frockcoat before joining her, and as soon as they were lying down, he threw the frockcoat over Rose as a blanket. With the Doctor flat on his back, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and Rose set her head on his chest, warm and comfortable in his embrace.

“I love you,” she told him, closing her eyes.

“And I, you,” he replied.

~

When Rose next awoke, the room was dark, though the fireplace was still providing some light. She was on her side, the Doctor spooning her from behind, and when he felt her wake, he brushed a kiss against the back of her neck.

“It’s almost midnight,” he murmured.

“Why did you let me sleep for so long?” asked Rose, startled.

He smiled as he slowly released her. “You needed the rest,” he said, sitting up. “Come on, it’s the perfect time for a nighttime infiltration.”

Rose chuckled but climbed out of bed. Her hair was a bit of a mess so she quickly redid her bun and used baby wipes to clean her face.

It was midnight by the time they snuck out of the inn and made their way through the dark streets of Paris toward the carnival once more. Rose was feeling a bit better after her nap, and while she still had a lot of questions, she let them sleep in her mind for the time being.

They thankfully didn’t run into any policemen on their way to the carnival, but when they got to the clearing, the Doctor quickly pulled her behind some crates near the entrance. Rose almost asked why but he silently pointed behind her, and Rose turned around in time to see Cagliostro loading up the sarcophagus on the back of a horse driven cart.

“What’s he up to?” murmured Rose.

“Excellent question,” said the Doctor.

They watched for a few more moments as Cagliostro secured the sarcophagus with some rope against the back of the cart, before climbing in the front. A moment later, he flicked the reins and the horses began cantering ahead slowly.

“Come on,” said the Doctor, pulling Rose along to another nearby horse cart. A young man with dark hair was sitting in the driver’s seat and looked up when they approached. “What’s your name?”

“Joseph,” he responded, warily.

“Hello, Joseph, I’m the Doctor, this is Rose,” said the Doctor, hopping into the back of the cart and lifting Rose up easily. “Follow that cart!”

Joseph gave him a bewildered look, but nodded and set off after Cagliostro. Rose had been expecting to follow him on foot, but the horse cart turned out to be a much better call as Joseph took them through the streets of Paris, in close pursuit behind Cagliostro. Cagliostro seemed to have a destination in mind, and soon, they were leaving Paris entirely. Rose wondered where he was going as they passed the one hour mark, but then Cagliostro began to slow down.

“What’s he doing here?” asked Rose, looking around at their surroundings.

It was dark all around, quite literally in the middle of nowhere, as Joseph slowed down the cart as well.

“Look,” said the Doctor, pointing just a bit further ahead.

Rose’s eyes widened when she saw a chateau in the distance. It appeared to be a well-kept estate, but there didn’t seem to be anyone around. Rose supposed the inhabitants could be asleep, considering it must be close to two in the morning.

“Just here should be fine, Joseph,” said the Doctor.

He and Rose hopped out, and the Doctor paid Joseph, before they proceeded on foot. Rose vaguely heard Joseph leaving and wondered if they should have asked him to stay but they happened upon Cagliostro’s cart, concealed in the trees around the entrance to the chateau, and all thought of Joseph left Rose’s mind.

Cagliostro wasn’t around, but the sarcophagus was still there. However, it was open, and quite empty.

Suddenly, two loud gunshots echoed from the chateau. The Doctor and Rose exchanged split second shocked looks before running toward the chateau. The doors at the entrance were ajar and as they pushed them open, they happened upon Khaset and Cagliostro in the dimly-lit entranceway.

Cagliostro was cowering near a pillar and Khaset was in the middle of the chamber, with two massive burn marks on his torso. Rose glanced past him to see an older nobleman standing at the foot of the stairs, pointing a blunderbuss at Khaset.

“Back, stay back, I say!” shouted the nobleman.

Khaset ignored him and closed the distance between them to wrap his enormous fist around the nobleman’s neck. The nobleman grunted in pain and the gun fell from his grip as Khaset started to strangle him.

“Khaset!” shouted the Doctor, as he and Rose ran up behind him.

“Let him go!” said Rose.

Khaset turned back to look at them, and then ever so slowly, released the nobleman, who fell to the floor, unconscious.

The Doctor immediately knelt to the floor to check his pulse. “He’s still alive, but he needs help,” said the Doctor. “His heart is fragile.”

“What’s going on here?” demanded Rose, looking at Khaset. “What are you doing?”

“I am doing as ordered,” said Khaset, heavily.

The Doctor stood up and glared at Cagliostro, who had emerged from his hiding place. Rose noticed that he was carrying an empty sack and a small wooden box.

“What I suspect is happening here,” said the Doctor, with a glare at Cagliostro, “is that Cagliostro is using Khaset to commit burglaries.”

“What?” asked Rose, shocked, as Cagliostro scowled.

“It’s a sound plan, send the mummy in to rob people, no one would believe them when they say a mummy did it,” said the Doctor. “But I suppose you didn’t expect him to fight back,” he added, with a glance at the nobleman.

“The Baron should have minded his own business,” hissed Cagliostro, all but confirming that the Doctor had hit the nail right on the head.

The Doctor shook his head with disgust. “What I fail to understand is what’s in it for you, Khaset?” he asked. “Why are you helping Cagliostro commit these burglaries?”

“I have no choice,” said Khaset. “Cagliostro has my heart.”

Rose blinked in shock. “You love him?” she asked, confused.

“No,” said Khaset. “He has my heart. Literally.”

Cagliostro cleared his throat and opened the wooden box he had been carrying. The Doctor and Rose peered inside, and were shocked to see a mechanical heart made of gold wiring and circuitry resting inside the box. It appeared to be beating, pulsing with golden electric energy.

“The Frankenstein bit was fake,” said Cagliostro, closing the box. “But he is still a monster made of parts.”

“As long as Cagliostro holds my heart, my will is not my own,” said Khaset, gravely.

“Why are you doing this?” demanded Rose, glaring at Cagliostro.

“What are you, simple?” asked Cagliostro, rolling his eyes. “It’s for money, of course. The carnival travels around, we have a smorgasbord of rich fat cats to choose from.”

“And do you think yourself so arrogant that no one has noticed the burglaries happen wherever the carnival goes?” demanded the Doctor.

Cagliostro shrugged unrepentantly. “If they have, they haven’t found me yet,” he grinned, smugly.

The sound of approaching horses made them all pause and look toward the entrance of the chateau in shock.

Cagliostro paled. “Someone must have followed you two idiots,” he said, and turned to Khaset. “Kill them!” he ordered.

He started to turn, however, a gunshot rang through the air, and Cagliostro yelped in pain as he fell to the floor. Rose glanced down at the Baron, and saw him holding his gun from where he was laying on the floor. He looked pale and weak, but he seemed determined to take Cagliostro down.

Cagliostro only appeared to be shot in the foot and he dropped the box with Khaset’s heart and began limping away. The Baron tried to shoot again but his eyes bulged unnaturally and he slumped to the floor once more, his grip falling slack. This time, Rose knew he was dead.

But there was no time to focus on it because the heart that Cagliostro had dropped was crawling on the floor by itself, moving toward Khaset. Khaset looked at it, and he swung his fist in a wide arc, catching the Doctor in the head and throwing him into the wall.

“Doctor!” shouted Rose. She heard a sickening thump as he slammed into the floor, his head bouncing as it hit the stone. She wanted to run to his side, but Khaset blocked her path.

The heart had reached Khaset and he bent down and picked up the heart from the floor.

“At last,” he murmured, and pushed it into his own chest. “Ahhh,” he groaned, as the golden electricity seemed to flare through his entire body before dying down. “I am whole once more. Now, my mission can continue.” He looked at Rose and bowed. “I thank you for your unwitting role in all of this.”

Rose ignored him and went over to the Doctor, and saw that he was knocked out cold. Khaset seemed to have said his piece and he walked right past her, following after Cagliostro, who also seemed to have escaped.

“Doctor?” called Rose, reaching to check his heartbeat but the sound of footsteps made her turn around.

Le Roi was leading the charge with six other policemen behind him. “Seize her!” ordered Le Roi.

Rose barely had time to stand up before two policemen grabbed her by the arm and hauled her away from the Doctor. “Let me go!” she shouted, struggling against them. “I need to make sure he’s okay! Doctor! Doctor!”

“Silence!” snapped Le Roi. “Check on the other one!”

One of the other policemen went over to the Doctor and knelt down. “He’s dead, sir,” he said, checking his pulse.

Rose stopped struggling, as she went pale. “What?” she asked, her own voice feeling like it was coming from very far away. She felt sick, like someone had reached inside her and was twisting her insides with a vice grip.

The Doctor couldn’t be dead; he just couldn’t be. He had told her he would regenerate if he were close to death, that death for Time Lords was complicated. She had just learned he was an ancient Time Lord from the time of the Founders, for god’s sake.

He couldn’t be dead. Le Roi and his men were mistaken, they had to be.

“Huh,” said Le Roi. “Guess that’s one less to worry about,” he shrugged, unrepentantly.

Rose glared fiercely at him. “Let me go,” she said, her voice cold as ice.

“You’re not going anywhere,” said Le Roi, glaring at her. “Did you really think you and your stupidly dressed friend here could deceive me? I have been tracking the carnival for months! And coincidentally, there have been robberies in every town that the carnival has stopped in!”

Rose glared at him. “It’s not us!” she said. “It was Cagliostro! He was controlling the mummy.”

Even as she said it, she realised how ridiculous that sounded. No wonder the Doctor had pointed that out earlier, and she ignored the spike of fear that pulsed through her heart as she thought of the Doctor. She glanced at him, and saw his unmoving form again, feeling sick to her stomach.

A couple of the policemen hid their chuckles at her outburst, but Le Roi looked unamused. “Do you think we're simple, girl?” he demanded.

“No, I’m saying you’re making a mistake,” said Rose, trying very hard to keep her cool. “Find Cagliostro. He’s the one behind the burglaries.”

Le Roi rolled his eyes. “I do not take orders from women!” he snapped. “And you have been caught red-handed. It’s a date with Madame Guillotine for you.”

Rose stared at him in shock. “What?” she asked.

“You heard me,” said Le Roi, firmly. “Your accomplice might be dead, but your head will still roll for this. Take her!”

Rose started struggling as the policemen holding her started dragging her out of the chateau. As she stepped outside into the cold, dark night, she heard Le Roi tell the others to transport the Doctor’s body to the morgue.

Chapter Text

Rose paced the length of her dark, dank prison cell, her mind working furiously to come up with a plan. There were thankfully no rats around, because her frazzled brain couldn’t remember if the Black Death was around during this time or not. There were definitely cockroaches around, but they were giving her a wide berth, which she was grateful for.

She was worried about the Doctor, obviously, but she was also trying to think of her own predicament and how she was going to find a way out of this situation.

Le Roi had thankfully not searched her so Rose still had her lockpicking tools and she had examined the padlock on her cell door and determined she could pick it. But the prison had a guard at the end of the hallway, and who knows how many more between her cell and freedom. Rose wasn’t confident she would be able to make her way through all of them unscathed.

She had her phone so she knew it was morning, though none of the sunlight even reached her cell. It was still early in the day and Rose wondered if there was a shift change she could take advantage of. The guard at the end of the hallways was the same since Rose had been brought in. She also had no idea where the morgue would be, though she supposed that was a problem for when she was out of the prison.

Rose heard a slight commotion above her and quickly darted over to her cell door, confused. The guard at the end of the hallway also looked confused. Wondering if this was the opportunity she had been waiting for, Rose quickly pulled out her lockpicking tools and started working on the lock on her cell door. The commotion was getting louder, drawing closer, and the guard was too busy looking at the door to even notice what Rose was doing.

The lock clicked open, but Rose didn’t open the door, not wanting to draw any attention to herself just yet.

A moment later, a dark figure in a dashing cravat and red waistcoat barrelled past the guard who screamed in terror as he was knocked away. The figure ran to Rose’s cell, and her mouth dropped open when she realised it was the gorilla she and the Doctor had released from the carnival the day before. She had no idea why he was wearing a waistcoat and cravat, looking like a parody of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but Rose wasn’t about to question it at the moment.

She swung the cell door open and ran out to meet him, and he turned his back to her and gave a quick jerk of his head, which Rose took to mean she should hop a piggyback ride on him.

“Thank you,” she said, as she climbed on his back, and secured her grip by wrapping her arms around his neck.

As soon as she was secure, he ran back out the way he had come in, pushing the guard away once more, along with two other guards who were stationed between the cells and the prison yard.

Out into the yard, the bells were ringing, heralding the intruder and the possible escape of an inmate, but none of the guards seemed to want to attack the gorilla, and were fleeing in the opposite direction. The gorilla seemed to know exactly where he was going, because he ran the length of the prison yard and climbed over the tall wall, easily jumping onto the other side. Rose was only slightly jostled as they landed outside the prison, and she was too busy staring at the gorilla in amazement to realise that the Doctor was waiting right there.

Once she realised that the Doctor was there, Rose’s attention was immediately drawn to him, and she looked him up and down, searching for any signs of injury.

He looked absolutely fine, not injured in the least, and as soon as Rose’s feet had touched the ground, the Doctor ran to her.

“Are you alright?” he asked, pulling her into his arms and giving her a big hug.

“Y-yeah,” said Rose, still stunned at the method of her rescue. She pulled back and looked at the Doctor. “Are you?”

He nodded quickly. “I’ll explain later,” he said. “Come on.” He took Rose by the hand and they ran to the next street over, and Rose almost cried out in relief when she saw the TARDIS parked there.

The gorilla had accompanied them and when they got to the blue box, he surprised Rose by pulling out a key from his waistcoat and opening the door.

“Thank you, Guy,” said the Doctor, ushering Rose through the doors that the gorilla held open for them.

“Guy?” asked Rose, confused.

The gorilla followed them in and closed the doors after himself.

“Well, it was that or Mavis, and he seems to prefer ‘Guy’,” said the Doctor.

The gorilla went to a spot in the gothic sitting room where a large divan-like seat was set up close to the Doctor and Rose’s armchairs, and sat down.

Rose stared at him for a moment before turning to the Doctor. “What happened?” she asked. “I thought you were dead.”

“I wasn’t,” he said. “That knock on the head did not help but I managed to put myself into a form of suspended animation.”

“You can do that?” asked Rose, shocked.

“Yes, it is a simple control over some basic involuntary functions,” he said. “Well, not quite involuntary, you understand.”

Rose was too relieved to even worry about whatever control he had over his body. She wrapped her arms around him, and he smiled and held her just as tightly.

“Thought I’d lost you,” she murmured into his chest.

“Never,” he said, and brushed his lips against the top of her head. “I did it to keep myself out of Le Roi’s reach.”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” said Rose, pulling back. She glanced briefly at Guy. “And, er, how did…you and Guy meet again?” she asked, asking the burning question on her mind.

“Guy came to find me in the morgue,” said the Doctor, with a delighted smile that made Rose chuckle despite the absurdity of the situation. “Turns out, Paris isn’t really Guy’s style.”

“Oh?” asked Rose. “Where does he want to go?”

“Back home, to the Congo,” said the Doctor, with a slightly wistful look on his face. “I said I would take him home if he broke in and saved you.”

“Right,” nodded Rose. Somehow, that all tracked. “But what’s with the waistcoat and cravat?”

“He likes it,” said the Doctor, like it should be obvious.

Rose looked at Guy, and she swore he shrugged in what looked like agreement.

“It took a while, mind you,” said the Doctor.

“Wasn’t that long,” said Rose. “Only a few hours.”

“For you, yes,” smiled the Doctor.

Rose gave him a shocked look. “Was it longer for you?” she asked.

The Doctor nodded. “Once I woke up in the morgue, I tried to pilot the TARDIS to the prison where they were holding you, but the TARDIS wouldn’t land,” he said. “It took several tries over a whole week until I managed to land her.”

“A week?” asked Rose, shocked.

“Yes, Guy and I got to know each other quite well,” said the Doctor, and then leaned in to whisper to her. “Between you and me, I rather think he got quite fed up with my moping.”

“Moping, were you?” asked Rose, slightly amused now.

The Doctor nodded, with not one ounce of hesitation. “You underestimate my affection for you, Rose Tyler,” he said, firmly.

Rose leaned in impulsively and kissed him. He chuckled against her mouth, but pulled her closer by the waist and deepened the kiss.

Guy made an indignant noise, interrupting their kissing.

“Yes, yes, I know,” said the Doctor, glancing past Rose to give him a patient look. “But our work isn’t done here. Khaset is out there still and he needs to be stopped.”

Guy huffed but didn’t protest. He stood up and ambled over to a dark corner of the sitting room that Rose hadn’t really focused on before, and picked something up, returning to the divan. Rose’s eyes went wide when she saw that it was Cagliostro, looking rather dishevelled but unharmed. There was a clean bandage on his foot, and his hands were bound behind his back.

“We found Cagliostro,” said the Doctor. “I healed him, but if we have any chance of finding Khaset, I knew we’d need him.”

Rose blinked at the Doctor while Guy set a disgruntled Cagliostro onto the divan like a particularly misbehaving toddler.

“So, for the last week, you’ve been travelling with a hostage and a gorilla in a waistcoat?” she asked, in disbelief.

“Well, we only found Cagliostro yesterday, but yes, I suppose,” nodded the Doctor.

Rose was torn between laughing and gaping at the Doctor in disbelief. She settled for shaking her head with a fond smile. “And to think things are weird when I’m around,” she said.

The Doctor laughed and walked over to Cagliostro. Rose followed after him, eager for answers as well.

“I told you, I’m not telling you anything,” said Cagliostro, sniffing grumpily.

“As you can see, he hasn’t been very forthcoming,” said the Doctor, rolling his eyes.

“Why should I help you?” demanded Cagliostro.

Rose, on the other hand, had had just about enough. She stepped up to Cagliostro and glared right at him. “Listen here, mate,” she snapped, her tone firm and unyielding. “I have spent the night in the grimiest prison I have ever been in, and that is saying something when I travel around with this one,” she added, nodding toward the Doctor. “So, instead of a romantic holiday in Paris, I now have to chase a mummy around before he does god knows what. The last thing I need is you acting like a right little twat, so you know what? Talk!”

Cagliostro stared at her, half in fear and half in awe. “I-” he said.

“I said, talk!” snapped Rose, and he nodded hurriedly.

“Er, what do you want to know?” he asked, cautiously.

Rose glanced at the Doctor, who was staring at her with open fondness, which made her blush a little. “Doctor,” she prompted.

The Doctor sighed wistfully, as if he really didn’t wish to stop looking at her admiringly, before he turned to Cagliostro and fixed him with a stern look. “How about you start with exactly how the mummy came to be in your possession,” he said.

Cagliostro nodded slowly. “Bonaparte invaded Egypt forty years ago,” he said. “The story goes that during the course of the invasion, three groups of soldiers got separated from the rest of the forces and were beset upon by jackals in the desert.”

Rose frowned, racking her brains, trying to remember if she had read anything about this, but kept coming up blank. By her own admission though, it wasn’t an area of history she was intimately familiar with, so she looked back at Cagliostro, waiting for him to continue.

“The survivors happened to uncover an ancient tomb as they escaped from the jackals,” said Cagliostro. “They didn’t read the inscriptions on the entrance of the tomb and broke the seal so they could take shelter inside.”

“That is never good,” said Rose, as the Doctor nodded in agreement.

“When they ventured inside, they found a plain sarcophagus with four jars placed on the cardinal points,” said Cagliostro.

“Let me guess, instead of leaving well enough alone, they decided to get curious instead,” said the Doctor. He turned to Rose. “What is it with human curiosity?”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t have done exactly the same thing,” said Rose, pointedly.

“Well, yes,” he admitted. “But I know better.”

“Do you?” laughed Rose, and he shot her an admonishing look, though his lips twitched with humour.

“Excuse me,” interrupted Cagliostro. “Can I continue with this story or are you two too busy flirting to pay attention to what I’m saying?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Go on, then,” she said.

“They opened the sarcophagus and found an immobile Khaset inside it,” said Cagliostro. “They next examined the jars and they found tiny, metallic beetles inside.”

“What kind of beetles?” asked Rose, her mind thinking back to the scarab beetles from ‘The Mummy’.

“I don’t exactly know,” admitted Cagliostro. “But as soon as the jar opened, the beetles rushed out and covered Khaset, who then came to life. He claimed they had been restored.”

The Doctor and Rose exchanged a look. “How do you know about this?” asked Rose.

He glanced away, slightly guiltily. “My father was the lieutenant in charge of the soldiers. When Khaset awoke, he acted quickly and reached into Khaset’s chest and removed his heart. He placed it in one of the empty jars, and as soon as he had, the beetles all retreated into the jars once more. Khaset did not become immobile though, and my father realised he could command Khaset, as long as he had control of the heart.”

“So how did you come to be in possession of it?” asked the Doctor.

“When my father returned to France, he entrusted Khaset and his secrets to me,” said Cagliostro. He shrugged. “I saw an opportunity to use Khaset to make my fortune. I just had to ensure that I never let all four pieces remain close at hand.”

“What did you do with the remaining pieces then?” asked Rose.

“I sold them. The jars, the beetles, all of it,” said Cagliostro. “I sold them to a collector in Paris. I kept the heart in a box lined with lead.”

“And who is this collector?” asked the Doctor.

“His name is Le Roi,” said Cagliostro. “He works for the police.”

“Of course it is,” said Rose, because it would be just their luck. She turned to the Doctor. “If Khaset is looking to be restored, he would be going for Le Roi, wouldn’t he?”

The Doctor nodded in agreement. “I would assume so,” he said, and turned to Cagliostro. “Anything else you want to tell us?”

Cagliostro shook his head. “That’s everything, I swear,” he said.

“Well, I believe you,” said the Doctor. “Guy will show you out.”

With a growl, Guy lifted a startled Cagliostro to his feet and frogmarched him out of the TARDIS. Guy undid the bindings around Cagliostro’s wrists when he got to the door and ushered him out, before firmly closing the door behind him.

“Thank you, Guy,” said the Doctor, pleasantly, hurrying over to the console. “Now, let’s track down Le Roi’s apartment, shall we?”

“Hang on,” said Rose, joining him at the console. “Have you forgotten that Le Roi wants both our heads to roll?”

“At the moment, I’m more worried about what Khaset might do to Le Roi’s head,” said the Doctor. “Khaset has a head start on us already, he could have killed Le Roi by now.”

“But why would he kill Le Roi?” asked Rose. “Surely, he’d just want to recover the jars and restore himself?” She paused. “Also, what exactly is Khaset?”

“I’m not sure,” admitted the Doctor. “It could be any number of species.”

“Do you think Khaset would harm Le Roi?” asked Rose.

“I think Khaset was entombed from around the end of the Sixth Dynasty and has spent the last forty years as a puppet and a thief for a showman,” said the Doctor, gravely. “Now, he is finally broken free of his control, and I don’t know what he is capable of doing.”

Rose swallowed roughly and nodded. As sorry as she felt for Khaset, she understood what the Doctor was saying. She also hadn’t forgotten that Khaset had attacked the Doctor and nearly killed him.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s find Le Roi.”

~

Le Roi’s apartment building was quiet when the TARDIS landed on a nearby street. Rose shivered as she and the Doctor stepped outside, and she realised it was evening once more. She spotted the gorgeous twin towers of Notre Dame across the way, gleaming against the starlit sky and smiled softly.

“Beautiful, isn’t it,” commented the Doctor, looking at the Cathedral as well.

“Yeah,” said Rose. “You know, I’ve never actually seen it properly.”

He took her hand and squeezed it. “We can stop by for a visit sometime,” he said. “You deserve to see it in its glory before the fire.”

“Fire?” asked Rose, startled. “What fire?”

“There was a fire, or rather, there will be a fire in 2019,” said the Doctor, his voice grave. “It will take nearly half a century to restore Notre Dame after the fire, though it will never quite be the same.”

“That’s horrible,” said Rose, her heart breaking. “But I suppose that’s what time does, doesn’t it?”

He smiled gently at her. “Yes,” he said. “The longer something stands, the more it endures, the more it endures, the more it changes.”

Rose looked at him. “Are we still talking about Notre Dame?” she asked, with a shrewd look on her face.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think change is the most constant thing there is,” said Rose. “I’m not afraid of it, Doctor.”

He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You never have been,” he said.

Before Rose could ask what he meant by that, the Doctor pointed at the broken window two floors up. “Look,” he said.

“Maybe Khaset already broke in?” she asked, startled.

“Let’s find out,” he said.

It was surprisingly easy to scale the side of the building to climb in through the broken window, and despite Rose wishing she’d thought to change out of her gown, she was easily able to climb in after the Doctor. The room they landed in was a study of some sort, and it was like a dusty backroom of an Egyptologist’s homegrown collection.

“Blimey,” muttered Rose. “Someone’s obsessed,”

They heard the click of a gun, and the Doctor and Rose stopped in their tracks as Le Roi walked into sight, a gun pointed at them.

“Ah, good evening, Le Roi,” said the Doctor, carefully stepping just a step forward, enough to shield Rose if Le Roi did decide to shoot, much to Rose’s chagrin. “You didn’t happen to see a walking, talking mummy named Khaset, did you?”

Le Roi glared at him. “I did, as a matter of fact,” he sniffed. “He broke in, stole a bunch of my artefacts and then left.”

The Doctor nodded. “Well, that was quite the lie,” he said, pleasantly. “Why don’t we try again?”

Rose gave the Doctor a confused look, but found him staring shrewdly at Le Roi.

“Whoever or whatever you are,” said the Doctor. “You’re not Le Roi.”

“He’s not?” asked Rose.

“Not anymore, he isn’t,” said the Doctor. “You were Le Roi until someone broke your neck.” Rose looked startled and she flinched when a grotesque grin lit up ‘Le Roi’s’ face and his neck snapped to one side, hanging off to the side like it had been broken. “Is this your doing, Khaset?” demanded the Doctor, his tone cold.

Rose blinked as Khaset emerged from behind some haphazardly stored crates, seemingly unhurried in his actions.

“Yes,” said Khaset, standing next to Le Roi’s animated corpse. “Yes, this is my handiwork.” He eyed the Doctor with an almost contemplative air about him. “What are you, Doctor?”

“I’m a Time Lord,” said the Doctor.

“Indeed?” asked Khaset, sounding almost impressed. “I have heard stories of your kind.”

“I wish I had heard stories of yours,” said the Doctor. “What are you, exactly?”

“We are the Hatchell,” said Khaset.

“Oh,” said the Doctor.

“What?” asked Rose, at once.

“The Hatchell are parasitic beings, a collective hive mind that inhabit recently dead creatures,” said the Doctor. “You are very far from home.”

“We came to Earth,” said Khaset. “We prefer well-preserved dead, and the Egyptians methods of burial made for ideal hosts for us.” He shook his head. “We made our way to the court of Nitocris and asked her to surrender her dead.”

“Let me guess, she told you to kick rocks?” asked Rose.

“She did, indeed,” said Khaset. “We threatened to unleash our plague upon her people, but she refused to bow. We destroyed nearly all of her kingdom before she finally, finally surrendered.”

“But she didn’t go quietly, did she?” asked the Doctor.

“No,” said Khaset. “While we wreaked havoc, she learned about us and worked out that lead shielded the signal we used to communicate with one another. She separated us in lead lined jars and entombed us.”

Rose was extremely impressed with Nitocris and her bravery and resourcefulness. It was a shame that her heroic victory had been lost to history, and she had only been left with an undeserved moniker of a murderer, in spite of her achievement of stopping the Hatchell and their invasion.

“So, what do you want now?” demanded the Doctor. “I assume you have restored yourselves.”

“We were merely the Emissary,” said Khaset. “Our remaining brethren are still in orbit in subspace. You, Doctor, will help us summon them onto this planet.”

“Would I, now?” asked the Doctor, narrowing his eyes. “And why exactly would I do that?”

Le Roi pointed his gun at Rose.

“We will kill her if you do not cooperate, Time Lord,” said Khaset.

The Doctor glared at him, stepping out completely in front of Rose, shielding her with his body. “I would like to see you try,” he said. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at Khaset. “This contains an ion emission tube. One press and I will scatter you into atoms.”

“You’re bluffing,” said Khaset.

“Try me,” said the Doctor, and Rose shivered at the cold anger in his tone. “You come to this world, you aim to kill and enslave their people, and you threaten my beloved. I don’t take kindly to threats, especially not from a leech like you, Khaset. So I give you my one and only warning - leave this world, or I shall tear you apart.”

Rose looked at the Doctor, floored by his words. There was something different about him, something darker than she’d seen before, but she could tell that he was not bluffing. She wanted to know what had changed, even as she was scared of the answer. She could see the tense set of his shoulders but his hand holding the sonic screwdriver was steady, unyielding, unmoving, just like his resolve.

“Doctor,” she murmured.

“It’s okay, my love,” he murmured, without looking away from Khaset. “I’m still me.”

For some inexplicable reason, that reassured Rose, and in an almost involuntary gesture, she placed her left hand on the Doctor’s left shoulder and tapped it twice. He tensed when she did that before he relaxed.

“I’m here, darling,” he said, his tone so very full of affection and so much lighter than it had been moments ago, as if Rose’s touch had reassured him somehow, even if Rose wasn’t entirely sure why she had tapped his shoulder like that and why he had relaxed because of it.

“Enough of this,” snapped Khaset. “If you will not help us, Time Lord, then we shall destroy you and your beloved.”

“Well, if you must know, destroying me or my beloved will take a bit more than some parasitic metallic insectoids and their dead puppets,” said the Doctor, with a sharp grin. “Rose, close your eyes.”

Rose obeyed instinctively and closed her eyes, as the whirr of the sonic screwdriver echoed around them. She heard the thud of something heavy falling but she kept her eyes closed as she heard Khaset scream loudly.

The Doctor took her hand. “Come on,” he said.

Rose opened her eyes and let the Doctor pull her back toward the window where they had come in from. She turned around briefly to see Le Roi collapsed on the floor, but Khaset was still standing, though he had covered his ears with his hands and was swaying as if dizzy.

“What just happened?” asked Rose, as she and the Doctor started climbing out of the window and back down the building in a hurry.

“The sonic screwdriver doesn’t have an ion emission tube,” said the Doctor, as his feet touched the ground and he lifted Rose down quickly. “But when Khaset mentioned subspace, I got an idea.” He took Rose’s hand and began running toward Notre Dame.

“So you were bluffing about destroying him?” she asked.

“Partly,” he said. “The Hatchell are sensitive to sound but none of the frequencies on the sonic screwdriver would have been sufficient. We need something stronger, something louder.”

Rose followed his gaze and looked at the twin towers of Notre Dame. “The bells?” she asked, astonished.

“The bells,” he nodded, with a grin.

They heard a roar of anger and saw Khaset land on the street, having jumped out of Le Roi’s window. The Doctor and Rose broke out into a run, making their way inside Notre Dame and toward the top of the towers.

“You know,” said the Doctor, while they ran. “The taller the structure, the better chances we would have had, but until Gustave Eiffel gets a complex, there won’t be anything taller in Paris.”

“Good to know,” said Rose, as they finally got to the top of one of the towers of Notre Dame. They could hear Khaset behind them and she turned to the Doctor. “Why did we need to come up here instead of going to the bells?”

The Doctor just grinned as the bells of Notre Dame began ringing. “Because Guy is there,” he said. Rose stared at the Doctor in wonder. “What? You didn’t think he would miss all the excitement, did you?”

Rose would have laughed, but Khaset caught up to them and ambled toward them slowly, the sound of bells clearly weakening him as he swayed.

“Doctor,” said Khaset, with hatred in his voice. “You will not stop us. We will become whole once more.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Khaset,” said the Doctor, his tone full of remorse. “Even if you survive, your people would not have survived 3000 years in subspace. I’m afraid they are long dead.”

Khaset stared at him and stopped moving. “You are telling the truth,” he said, as if coming to the realisation himself.

“This time, yes, I am,” nodded the Doctor.

Khaset stumbled as the sound of bells echoed all around him. “Perhaps, I have lived too long,” he said, falling to one knee.

“A wise woman told me that change is the most constant thing there is,” said the Doctor, with a small smile at Rose. “And the moment we cease changing, we cease existing.”

“Yes,” agreed Khaset. “Then, perhaps it is time I cease existing, Doctor.”

“Perhaps,” said the Doctor, softly.

Khaset bowed his head, and in the next moment, the bandages around his form unravelled as a hundred, thousand metallic insectoid creatures fluttered up into the air, like silver confetti or scattered petals, dispersing into the sky, disappearing into the darkness, becoming one with starlight. It looked mesmerising, haunting, and ultimately, so very sad.

Rose held the Doctor’s hand, and felt him pull her into his arms, tapping her shoulder twice, the gesture warming her up on the inside, even as they watched the end of Khaset.

The bells fell silent, and the Doctor pressed his lips against her temple. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

The air around them had grown colder by the time the Doctor and Rose had climbed down the Notre Dame Cathedral. A crowd was starting to gather outside, no doubt drawn in by the untimely ringing of bells, but it was easy enough for the two of them to slip away to the blue box on a quiet street corner.

Well, that, and the subtle glint of the perception filter on the Doctor’s silver pocket watch, which he remembered to hold in his hand as he and Rose hurried off to the TARDIS. He kept forgetting he’d put a perception filter on it, knowing his physical appearance drew more attention this time around, but the flaw of putting it on the pocket watch meant that it didn’t work unless it was touching his skin, which it didn’t often do considering it was attached to his waistcoat.

He couldn’t remember if he had told Rose about it, but figured he probably hadn’t. His memory wasn’t the best in this incarnation, thanks to the extremely traumatic regeneration and the subsequent amnesia.

The disproportionately high number of knocks to the head in his short life so far absolutely didn’t help either.

Rose was shivering slightly, and the Doctor was all too happy to usher her into the TARDIS and out of the Parisian cold. He really ought to recalibrate the TARDIS’s navigation systems so he could be better with his timing. Landing in February, over half a century before he’d wanted them to land, wasn’t at all conducive to his plan of courting and wooing Rose the way she deserved.

“Thank you for your assistance, Guy,” he said, smiling gratefully at the gorilla who was sitting in his divan-like seat.

“I was merely doing my part,” replied Guy, nonchalantly, and the Doctor’s smile widened. He glanced at Rose. “Are you going to continue lying to your mate about how long it has been?”

The Doctor’s smile turned a bit fixed and he shrugged as if to say ‘yes’. Contrary to what he had told Rose, it had been just over a month between him waking up in the morgue after Khaset had attacked him to him being able to land the TARDIS outside the prison. He suspected the reason was to balance out the discrepancy in his and Rose’s time apart. Rose had clearly been away from him for far longer than a month when he had come to her at the start of this trip, and the TARDIS was likely compensating for the difference.

It seemed that now they were truly as linear as they could be, even the slightest deviation required course correction from the universe. His past self would probably have theorised complex equations to explain it, but the Doctor merely wrote it off as just one of those quirks of the universe and how it loved to deal with him and Rose.

Speaking of Rose, she looked quite exhausted, and the Doctor understood the feeling. He could hear her single heart, could feel the faint thrum of her pulse even when he wasn’t touching her, and just out of his reach, her beautiful mind sang quietly, drawing him in like a moth to the flame, just like the rest of her.

As if sensing his longing, she turned and looked at him, full lips quirking up into a soft smile. He couldn’t help but return the gesture, content as always to lose himself in those soulful eyes of hers.

A sharp grunt from Guy drew his attention, and the Doctor reluctantly looked away from Rose.

“I would like to go home now,” said Guy, pointedly.

“Yes, I know,” sighed the Doctor, going over to the console. He saw Rose give him a questioning look. “Guy wants to go home.”

“Oh,” said Rose, as she turned to look at Guy. “Are you sure?”

“She is kind,” said Guy. “But there is something of the wolf about her.”

The Doctor didn’t outwardly react, but felt chills up his spine at Guy’s words. “Yes, he’s sure,” replied the Doctor. He entered coordinates almost absently, his mind still on Guy’s words. The wolf motifs that surrounded Rose weren’t lost on him, but he didn’t know what they meant, just that Rose had assured him it was okay. Well, future Rose had, anyway.

The faith he had in Rose was nothing to scoff at, but this was one of the things that made him uneasy. It always felt like a warning, like he would lose her.

Almost involuntarily, he brushed a hand against her waist as he passed her to go to the other side of the console, calming himself down with touch. She was here, and she wasn’t going anywhere.

It had to be enough for now.

“You alright?” she asked, because of course she didn’t need an active telepathic link to know when he was brooding.

He met her gaze and smiled softly. “Yes,” he lied, and saw the slight tightening of her eyes that told him she hadn’t bought it. He glanced at Guy before looking back at Rose. “Perhaps later?”

She nodded, and he knew she would hold him to that. The Doctor set the coordinates for the area that would become the Virunga National Park and sent the TARDIS flying through the vortex.

He felt a bit melancholy, for reasons he couldn’t quite describe, but he was also prone to those moments in this body, as he had in his last body. While his last body had sought to control the things around himself to control those feelings of melancholy, he was yet to find the appropriate coping mechanism in this body.

Although, during one of his and Guy’s attempts to get to Rose, the Doctor had run into Paganini, and he’d been inspired to try his hand at the violin. He could be utterly terrible at it, for all he knew, but he wouldn’t know until he tried. Or so he was telling himself.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he started the landing sequence. Guy perked up with interest, and the Doctor smiled internally at his excitement, even as melancholy pulsed through his veins.

“Here we are,” said the Doctor, pulling what Rose called the ‘handbrake’.

“Thank you,” said Guy. He gave a nod in Rose’s direction before looking at the Doctor. “I wish you well.”

“And I, you,” smiled the Doctor.

Guy nodded and slowly ambled out of the TARDIS. The feeling of melancholy worsened, and he didn’t realise he was still staring at the closed doors that Guy had walked out of, until he felt Rose take his hand.

He turned to look at her and saw a gentle kind of understanding in her eyes.

“You miss it,” she said. “Travelling with someone,” she clarified, when he looked confused. “You miss it.”

“I have you,” he replied, like he always did, but this time, there was something unconvincing in his own tone.

“Yeah, you do,” she said. “But when I’m not here, you miss having someone.”

He sighed and considered denying it but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. He rather suspected she was right. No matter how worried he had been about getting back to Rose, he knew he would have been worse without Guy around.

And yes, perhaps, he had never really done well with being alone.

“I suppose, I sometimes miss the company,” he admitted.

Rose squeezed his hand and smiled beautifully at him. “You know, I wish I could be with you all the time,” she said.

“You do?” he asked, smiling back almost involuntarily.

She nodded, nothing but sincerity in her eyes. “Can I suggest something?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said, pulling her into his arms. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer until his forehead was resting against hers.

“When you take me home, go and find Sam in New York,” she said.

He blinked and pulled back slightly, not having expected that. “Why?” he asked.

“Because, I can’t always be here, and you shouldn’t be alone,” said Rose.

“Rose,” he sighed, already shaking his head.

“Look, I know you’ve got me, but admit it, you liked having Guy around as well,” said Rose. “Especially since I wasn’t around. Please, Doctor, I don’t want you to be alone.”

He looked into her eyes, at the beseeching pull of her gaze, and sighed. “Alright,” he agreed, reluctantly. “If you say so.”

It was worth it for the way her face lit up before she kissed him. He smiled into the kiss, holding her close by the waist, marvelling at how very right she felt in his arms.

“Mm, I need a shower,” said Rose, when she pulled away. “I can still feel the prison on me.”

“Go on then,” he said, letting her go. “I’ll make some tea and meet you in the library.”

She beamed at him and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and left in the direction of her room. Knowing how much Rose liked her showers, he could say he comfortably had an hour before he had to start putting together their tea. So he ventured off into one of the many storerooms in the TARDIS to try and find a violin. It took a good twenty minutes until he found a violin he remembered procuring in his second body on a trip to Tyrol back in 1790.

It had been new for the time, but would be considered vintage considering the centuries he’d had it since, but it had kept well and he gently pulled it out of its case.

Setting it aside, he picked up the bow and tightened it. He couldn’t remember the last time he had played the violin but his muscle memory served him well as he prepared the bow. The violin appeared to be tuned so when he lifted it up and placed it against his shoulder, he felt himself smile.

It took a couple of tries to find the correct position for his hand, but like before, muscle memory aided him and when he pulled the bow along the strings, a gentle sound emanated from the instrument. The sound was a bit too scratchy and he tilted the bow toward the scroll and a clear note rang out.

He could have played open strings, something to dip his toes into, but he had always been the sort to jump headfirst into things and this was no different.

Taking a breath, he launched right into Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1. He played it from memory but his fingers moved skilfully along the instrument without missing a note, eyes closing as he let the music draw out the frustration and melancholy building within him. It felt cathartic, even as he cursed Paganini for his challenging notes and daring music, intended to draw out complex compositions from other violinists.

He thought of a storm rolling in, of returning to Gallifrey before the dark rains, of a library where he had expected solitude, only to find something infinitely more precious, and he felt sweat beading on his brow.

How poetic, he thought as the song was coming to an end. He was thinking of the first time.

When the final note rang out, he opened his eyes and stared up at the dark ceiling of the storeroom for a few long seconds. His hearts were racing and his fingers ached, unaccustomed to the strings, especially for a song as complex as this. With a heavy exhale, he set the violin back in its case along with the bow and snapped the case shut. He ran a hand over his face, wiping off the sweat and exhaled heavily once again.

He felt better.

He felt lighter.

Smiling softly to himself, he walked out of the storeroom and hurried to the kitchen, knowing he wouldn’t have long before Rose would be in the library. He was quick as he fixed up a pot of Earl Grey and a plate of biscuits but Rose still beat him to the library, and he found her sitting on the rug by the fireplace when he walked in with the tea.

She had changed out of her lovely gown, into soft ivory-coloured satin pyjamas, her hair combed shiny and straight halfway down her back. He took a moment to watch her, to admire her, especially since she looked so content and relaxed as the firelight danced across her features. She was yet to notice him, gazing off into space, her mind galaxies away, no doubt, and he felt envious of the distance between them. There had been a time when their minds were as intertwined as they were, and he longed for those days, even as he knew he would bear anything when it came to her.

One step at a time.

Taking a breath, he focused on the mild euphoria he had been feeling since playing the violin, and walked toward Rose.

She turned to look at him when she heard him coming, and smiled blindingly at him, and he couldn’t help but beam back.

“Interesting choice to sit here,” he said, sitting down on the rug next to her and setting the tray down. “You know we have comfy sofas, don’t you?”

“The rug is comfy too,” she said, and he knew it was. Rose had also arranged a few soft cushions to make a cosy nest of sorts. “What took you so long?”

“My thoughts wandered,” he answered, lightly, pouring her a cup of tea and handing it to her.

She gave him a slightly piercing look but nodded and took her tea. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?” she asked.

He smiled at her. “Yes,” he said. She gave him another look. “I wouldn’t say anything is wrong. I suppose I can best describe it as…melancholy.”

To his surprise, she nodded slowly in response. “I get that way sometimes too,” she said. “But,” she added, with a secretive smile. “I have been told the best thing to do is let myself feel all the things I don’t want to feel, at least once a day.”

He stared at her and then smiled brightly. “Repeating my advice back to me?” he asked, amused.

Rose blinked. “Oh,” she said. “Well…”

His smile dimmed. “Ah, I haven’t said that to you,” he said.

“Not yet,” she said. “But I will say it to a friend of ours, and he told me, because I was dealing with something difficult.”

He ignored the flash of envy he felt at her words and nodded. “And you can’t tell me what it was that you were dealing with?” he asked.

“Not yet,” she said, again. She finished her tea and set the cup aside and scooted closer to him. “Doctor,” she murmured. “Do you dislike meeting me like this?”

He stared at her, almost at a loss for words. “Darling, there is nothing I dislike about meeting you,” he said, shocked that she would even think that.

“No, but it must have hurt, maybe it still does?” she asked, a gentle frown on her face.

He set aside his half drunk tea and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her flush against his side. “Sweet girl,” he murmured, brushing his lips against her temple. “Nothing compares to the agony of not seeing you at all.” He heard her breath hitch and he nuzzled the side of her cheek. “I consider myself privileged to have the time I do with you.”

“Me too,” said Rose. “I know it might be easier if things were straightforward, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world, you know.”

He turned to look at her and saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. She looked ethereal, like she used to, but not because of some cosmic power running through her veins, simply because she was looking at him with such love that he could die a final death happily looking at her.

The Doctor exhaled slowly, unable to look away from her enchanting eyes. The library was quiet around them, punctuated by the sound of the crackling fireplace, and despite all his superior senses, Rose was all that existed in that very moment.

He could feel it - one of his many finely honed Time Lord senses was screaming out, they were on the verge of something - but he ignored it. He obeyed Time, he respected her rules, but sometimes, he needed to make it clear that the Laws of Time did not bind him like they did most beings.

“Doctor,” murmured Rose. “Would you-?” she trailed off, her voice going quiet as she continued to stare at him.

“What do you want, Rose?” he asked. He would give her anything she asked for, anything.

She inhaled shakily and looked away, her cheeks going pink. “I love you,” she said, almost shyly.

He swallowed dryly. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, I know.” He smiled gently. “Lie back.”

Rose nodded and slowly eased back to lie down on the bed of cushions behind her. The Doctor took a brief moment to admire her laying across the burgundy cushions, golden hair splayed out like spun gold against the fabric. He reached a hand out and stroked her hair from root to tip, watching Rose’s eyes flutter at his touch.

He slowly crawled to her, lying on his side next to her, and smiled down at her. “Are you sure?” he asked, brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek.

“I am,” she said. “But, um…could I ask you something first?”

“Of course,” he said, at once.

“I know you…must have…before,” she said, going a delightful shade of pink, which made him smile. “But have you, I mean, have I…”

He chuckled softly. “I haven’t,” he said. “Not with these hands,” he added, stroking her hair with his hand. “Or these eyes,” he continued, running his gaze down the length of her body. “Or,” he started to say as he leaned closer to her face.

Rose cut him off by capturing his lips into a needy kiss that made him sigh with relief and delight. She was hesitant in her movements, but he didn’t feel it came from a place of uncertainty, moreso that she was inexperienced.

He smiled into the kiss and grabbed her closer by the waist, encircling her in his arms as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. She followed his lead marvellously, mouth opening to welcome his tongue as her hands clutched at his shoulders to hold him closer. He was mindful to pull back earlier than he would have, remembering she didn’t have a respiratory bypass at the moment.

She stared at him with dark eyes, her cheeks pink as she caught her breath. He catalogued every bit of her facial features, intent to not take this monumental moment for granted.

Rose gently pushed against him and he obligingly sat up as she followed suit. Without breaking eye contact, Rose started pushing his velvet frockcoat off him, and he helped her along, discarding the garment behind him. Rose seemed unsure as to what was next, so he began untying his cravat. Rose caught on quickly, pulling the piece of silk from his collar and casting it aside. Her earnest expression made him lean in for another kiss, and they continued kissing as Rose unbuttoned his waistcoat and helped take it off.

“Always thought you should be wearing Mr Darcy’s shirt,” said Rose, chuckling as she began unbuttoning his shirt.

He laughed. “This is what I had at hand when I regenerated. Didn’t regenerate with clothes,” he said.

Rose stared at him and he shook his head, not wanting to spoil the moment by discussing his traumatic regeneration.

She finished unbuttoning his shirt and he took it off and threw it to the side. He turned back to Rose and found her staring at his torso. He glanced down in confusion, wondering if he’d forgotten about some hideous mole or other, but judging by the way her breathing sped up, he realised this was something else. He almost made a joke, something suggestive so he could watch her blush, but this was the first time in a long time he remembered invoking such a lustful look from her. Not that she didn’t find him attractive, she always did, but he understood it was because she loved him beyond superficial things like appearance.

This reaction, however, was borne of pure lust, and he had forgotten how powerful it made him feel when she looked at him like that.

He slowly lay down, pulling Rose on top of him so she could gaze at him to her heart’s content. She straddled his waist, her hands tracing the muscles in his arms as she stared at his firm pecs and the defined muscles on his abdomen. He licked his lips and her eyes snapped to his face. He smiled gently, almost as if to let her know it was okay, and she blushed delightfully and leaned down to kiss him. She was smiling as she kissed him, and he stroked her back, holding her to him as they kissed.

“It’s so unfair,” she murmured, smiling at him.

“What?” he asked, as she sat up, still straddling him.

“That your clothes hide the fact you’re built like Michalangelo’s David,” she said, tracing her fingers over his shoulders.

He laughed. “Shall I contemplate a wardrobe change to show off?” he asked.

“No,” she said, firmly. “Your face shows off enough. I wouldn’t stand a chance if anyone else could see you like this.”

He held her gaze. “No one but you will see me like this, Rose,” he said, gently.

“Yeah?” she asked, lightly enough but he saw the uncertainty in her gaze.

“Only you,” he promised.

She smiled and slowly reached for the buttons on her pyjama shirt. “If it means anything, I plan on you being the only one who sees me as well,” she said, starting to unbutton them.

“Just as well,” he said, his eyes tracing the movement of her hands as she deftly undid the buttons on her shirt. She hesitated to remove the shirt once she had finished unbuttoning it and he looked at her in concern.

“I, um, I’m not…” she began and then stopped. “I am not a virgin.”

He stared at her. “I see,” he said.

“I-Is that alright?” she asked.

His eyes softened. “Yes, darling,” he said. “Of course it is.”

She looked heartened but the hesitation in her eyes didn’t fade. “The bloke I was with…he wasn’t…” she paused. “He wasn’t very nice when he saw me, you know, without clothes the first time.”

Fury boiled under his skin and he clenched his jaw. How dare he, whoever he had been, not realise the absolute privilege of getting to see Rose in all her glory. He almost demanded to know his name so he could go back in time and knock some sense into him, or maybe just knock him out entirely, but he focused on Rose.

“There is none more beautiful in my eyes, Rose,” he said, fervently.

She smiled at him and then slowly took off her shirt. He felt his gaze grow heavy and he looked at her with unashamed arousal, relishing in the blush that graced her face at his look.

“So beautiful, my Rose,” he said, sitting up slightly, keeping her in his lap.

He kissed her slowly, his hands tracing the bare skin of her waist and back. As his kisses drifted along the side of her neck, he cupped her left breast, smiling when he felt her shudder in his arms.

“Touch me,” she murmured, her lips brushing against the shell of his ear, and it was his turn to shudder. If only she had any idea about the hold she had on him.

He let some of his restraint slip and yanked her flush against him, his teeth sinking into the soft skin of her neck, and she gasped and clutched at his shoulders, no doubt surprised at the sudden display of strength.

She didn’t seem opposed to it though, and she made a delightful noise of appreciation as he bestowed hungry kisses along her neck and shoulder before capturing her lips with his again.

He rolled them over so she was laying back on the rug again, her head resting back on the cushions, and he slowly kissed his way down her porcelain neck, along the softness of her breasts, his hands framing her like the divine sculpture she was, loving how his name fell like a litany from her lips amongst gasps and little, familiar moans.

It was difficult to stop himself from moving too quickly, his own eagerness was about to get the better of him. Rose deserved slow, careful, loving attention, not a hasty fumble in the dark. His muscle memory knew every spot on this body of hers in a way that he knew how to make it good, even if they went fast, but he made himself slow down.

“Doctor,” she murmured, arching her body into his touch, her hand buried in his hair, pulling him closer.

He sat back slightly to divest her of the pyjama bottoms that she was wearing, and saw her visibly hesitate when he touched the garment.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked gently.

“No,” she said. “But…could I see you first?”

“Of course,” he smiled and undid his breeches and stood up briefly to take them off and add them to the growing pile of discarded clothes around them.

He heard Rose gasp as he knelt over her once again, and though her eyes were wide, he could feel the arousal emanating from her.

Rose nodded at his unasked question and he slowly pulled off her pyjama bottoms, throwing them behind him. Her legs shook slightly as she parted them, and he gently grasped her right knee, stroking the warm skin to reassure her. It worked like a charm and her gaze grew heavy as she relaxed back against the cushions, beckoning him closer.

He situated himself between the cradle of her hips and kissed her, slowly, softly, his hands stroking her hair as firelight danced across their bodies. She let out a delightful gasp when his fingers touched the growing wetness between her legs and she kissed him harder, teeth nipping at his bottom lip in a way that was all too familiar.

Muscle memory guided him to push two fingers inside her as his thumb found that sweet spot that made her cry out and arch into him and he smiled against her neck before kissing down to her breast, letting his tongue map out the rosy tip of her nipple.

“More,” she murmured, and he sucked a mark at the top of her breast while his fingers pumped in and out of her expertly.

He obligingly used his free hand to grasp her other breast, stroking and cupping the soft flesh, his thumb tracing tight circles around the nipple. He could hear her heart racing, the blood rushing through her veins, the heat and sweat building between their bodies, and he twisted his fingers inside her, catching her mouth with his as she came with a cry of his name on her lips.

Rose let her head fall back as she rode out the wave of her orgasm, and he admired how blindingly beautiful she looked. He slowly withdrew, watching her shudder when she opened her eyes and met his gaze with something akin to awe in them.

“Alright?” he asked, smiling contendly at her.

“Never better,” she grinned, and then bit her lip and glanced away shyly. “I never have…before…”

His eyebrows shot up. “Even by yourself?” he asked, shocked.

She shook her head ruefully. “Makes me sound like a right daft one, doesn’t it,” she said.

“Not at all,” he said, at once. He cupped her cheek and met her gaze. “I’m honoured I was able to do this for you, Rose.”

“Yeah?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

He nodded with nothing but sincerity on his face.

“Then,” she said, going a bit more pink. “Would you-?”

“Would I what?” he asked, slightly teasingly.

She rolled her eyes even as her face reddened. “You know what I mean,” she said.

“Perhaps,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose. “Or, perhaps, I want you to tell me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and then brushed her lips against his. “Doctor,” she murmured, against his mouth. “Make me yours.”

He groaned and kissed her hard, tongue brushing hers in a wild, dirty kiss. Of all the ways to say it, she had chosen the most effective one, somehow without even knowing how it would make him feel.

The Doctor couldn’t have slowed down even if he tried, and he placed one firm hand under her lower back and lifted her up enough to enter her slowly, his mouth still joined with hers. She made a small noise when she felt him inside her but it was one of wanting and not of pain. Still, he made himself pause once he was inside her and met her gaze to ensure she was okay.

Rose looked up at him with nothing but trust and awe shining in her eyes and she beamed at him brightly.

“I love you, my Rose,” he told her, loving how her eyes softened at his admission. “Are you ready?”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, dragging him down into a kiss. He began moving his hips, swallowing her gasps and cries, unable to help a few gasps of his own. Muscle memory was one thing but the sensation was still brand new for this body of his, and he hadn’t known he was so sensitive, or perhaps it really had been too long since he had felt her, because he felt his own breathing speed up and he was actually starting to perspire as well.

Rose’s legs wrapped around his waist, drawing him in further and he rested his forehead against hers, wishing desperately he could join their minds. It was the one missing piece of this perfect puzzle but he held himself back through sheer willpower, focusing on the physical pleasure, hers more so than his own.

Pressing a kiss to her temple, he sped up the rhythm of his hips, one hand venturing between their joined bodies to help Rose along as well. He was determined to make this mind-shatteringly pleasurable for her, but it seemed like she had the same idea about making it good for him because she was tightening around him deliberately, making him lose his train of thought until they were both moving hard against each other.

“You first, come on,” he grunted, ineloquently.

“No, you,” she argued, stubbornly. “Please, Doctor, want to feel you.”

He groaned into her neck and felt himself go, his rhythm stuttering slightly as he emptied himself inside her. She gasped and tightened around him and he had enough presence of mind to urge her along by stroking his thumb along her sensitive clit so she was following closely after him.

Rose came with his name on her lips, her nails digging into his back hard enough to leave marks and he panted in satisfaction as he rode out his own high.

“I love you,” she managed to gasp out before she melted bonelessly against the cushions.

“As do I,” he whispered, kissing her temple again. He fumbled for his shirt and used it to clean them both a little as he pulled out of her.

He was about to lie down next to her when Rose gasped sharply.

“Should we have used something?” asked Rose, looking at him with wide eyes.

His brow furrowed and he glanced at the dirtied shirt before his expression cleared. “No,” he said. “We are not biologically compatible in that way, Rose.”

Rose, on the other hand, looked far from comforted, which was a fascinating reaction. Stifling the hope that rose in his heart at her reaction, he took her hand and entwined their fingers together. “We are not compatible, Rose,” he repeated. “Not right now.”

She searched his gaze warily but nodded. “But we will be sometimes?” Though she asked it like a question, he got the feeling she already knew the answer to that.

“Rose,” he said, and then sighed as he lay down next to her, turning on his side to look at her.

“Look, I know things are complicated,” she said, turning to face him as well. “And don’t think I have forgotten about our conversation about the Stranger, either.”

He nodded and drew her into his arms, holding her head against his chest. She sighed and burrowed deeper in his embrace.

“I trust you,” she admitted.

“I know, love,” he said, stroking her hair. “I trust you, too.”

She kissed his chest, between his hearts. “Okay, then,” she said, snuggling into him once more.

He kissed the top of her head and held her as she started to fall asleep. Just as her breathing evened out, he tapped her shoulder twice, smiling softly when she returned the gesture by tapping against his arm.

It was still her, and she was still his.

That was enough.

Chapter Text

Rose closed her book and let out a quiet sigh. The plane was silent, save for the ambient noise, and most of the other passengers were still asleep, but a few like Rose were awake, eager for the end of their nearly 12-hour flight.

Setting aside the book about a dig in Carrowmore, Rose drank some water and checked the time on the little screen in front of her. There were still two hours left until the plane would land in San Francisco, so Rose supposed that now was as good a time as any to read through her assignment.

Rose unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up, stretching her arms lightly before taking her backpack out of the overhead compartment. She put away her book and pulled out the beige manila folder of the UNIT file stamped ‘Clearance Alpha’ and sat back down in her seat.

Thankfully, first class was relatively empty so none of the other nearby passengers seemed to notice anything, and Rose settled down into her seat to start reading.

Senator Daniel Ben-Zvi’s photograph looked back at her from the first page. The dark-haired man with solemn eyes was unfamiliar to Rose, who barely had time to keep up with UK politics, let alone the States, but a quick read of his profile didn’t suggest anything sinister.

He was a middle of the road Republican, with no major scandals attached to his name. If anything, the man was as dull as anything, based on the profile Rose was reading.

Then she flipped to the next page and had to suppress a gasp of revulsion. Because his death had been anything but dull.

The body was lying on the front lawn of a beautiful Victorian mansion, trousers pulled down to the ankles, a hastily scrawled note that read ‘Bite Me’ tossed onto his chest, and two deep puncture marks against the inside of his left thigh. The body was pale, his mouth open in horror, but curiously, despite the puncture wounds, there was no blood anywhere.

Rose looked at a close up photograph of the puncture wounds and eyed the measurement. “26 millimetres apart,” she murmured to herself. “The average distance between the upper canines of an average human being.”

Grimly, she turned the page to look at the previous victim. Grant Oxwell - found in a diving suit on the roof of a fish shop about four blocks from Senator Ben-Zvi’s house, a similar note pinned to his back. The body had clearly been posed, and like the senator, it had been drained of blood.

The victim before Oxwell had been the one to trigger the investigation. Gordon Pymble had been the United States Ambassador to Buranda, and he’d been found murdered in an alleyway outside of a club on Castro Street, trousers around his ankles, bites on his thigh and shoulder, and a tangerine stuffed in his mouth. The details of the bizarre murder had been kept from the press, with the official story being that he had been shot in an alleyway, but as Rose read through the forensic reports, she couldn’t help but shake her head.

Three men killed, two of them extremely well-placed in the United States government, in similar, gruesome ways, and their bodies posed in humiliating ways.

Rose sighed and turned back to Grant Oxwell. That had been an alias. The man’s real name had been Grant Orton, and he had been a UNIT investigator looking into the murder of Gordon Pymble. But the murderer had gotten to him first, and George had ended up a victim as well.

There was no forensic evidence found at any of the scenes, no credible explanation for why those men were targeted or how they had been killed.

Well, no rational explanation.

Reading through the reports now, and having had a briefing from General Lethbridge-Stewart, Rose was convinced they were dealing with a vampire. Memories of Gabriel Sanders had risen to mind unbidden, but Rose knew he was dead, so it couldn’t be him.

It was no wonder Rose had been sent to investigate. She was one of the few people on Earth to have actually encountered a vampire, and not that anyone knew it, she knew how to kill one.

Rose closed the briefing file and sighed to herself. The thought of being near a vampire was terrifying, especially because she had no idea who it was and why the victims had been killed in such gruesome, elaborate ways. She’d had no visions to guide her, so she was flying blind which also didn’t sit right with her.

There was less than an hour left in the flight, so Rose put away the briefing file and sat back in her seat, her mind racing. Her first proper trip to America and she was investigating possible vampire murders. At least, things wouldn’t be dull.

When the plane landed, Rose de-planed and went through customs with no difficulty, her UNIT credentials fast-tracking her through the lines. There was a young man dressed in a neat suit waiting for her at baggage claim, looking very much like he would have sprung into a salute if he had been in uniform.

“Welcome to San Francisco, Miss Tyler,” he said, taking her bag. “I’m Corporal Mansfield. I will be escorting you to HQ.”

“Nice to meet you, and thanks,” nodded Rose, and followed him to a black SUV parked outside.

It was mid-morning and it was a pleasantly sunny day outside. Corporal Mansfield put her bag in the boot, and Rose also put her backpack in there, before getting into the back of the car.

Corporal Mansfield started driving, and Rose wondered where the UNIT HQ in San Francisco was based. As far as she knew the United Nations didn’t have an office on the west coast of America. The drive was quick, hardly twenty minutes and Rose’s eyes widened when the car stopped on a pier in front of what looked like some dockside warehouses.

There was a security checkpoint at the gate leading toward the warehouses and Rose recognised the UNIT uniform that the soldiers at the checkpoint were wearing. They checked the Corporal’s credentials and then glanced at Rose before waving them inside.

When the car stopped, Rose got out of the car. A stern-looking African-American woman dressed in a crisp UNIT uniform nodded at her in greeting before holding out her hand.

“Miss Tyler,” she said. “I’m Brigadier Adrienne Kramer. Welcome to San Francisco.”

“Thank you,” said Rose, shaking her hand with a small smile. “Interesting venue choice.”

Brigadier Kramer nodded, though a small smile lifted her lips. “We are at Pier 17 in the Embarcadero which houses the Swiss Consulate. UNIT has been granted a home here, courtesy of Geneva,” she explained. “Please, follow me. Corporal Mansfield will take your belongings to your hotel room across the way.”

Rose took her small backpack and followed Brigadier Kramer while Corporal Mansfield drove away with her other bag. The warehouse-like appearance was only for the exterior because the interior was a polished office building, and Rose glanced around at the impressive marble-floor lobby and glass surfaces. Brigadier Kramer led her into a large office overlooking the bay and indicated she should take a seat.

“Have you had an opportunity to read the brief we provided the UK office?” asked Brigadier Kramer, sitting behind the desk.

“Yes,” said Rose. “Have there been any new developments?”

“None, yet,” said Brigadier Kramer. “General Lethbridge-Stewart indicated you were somewhat of an expert on vampires.”

Rose raised an eyebrow because Brigadier Kramer had said ‘vampires’ with a healthy amount of scepticism. “Yes,” she replied. “I have encountered an ancient vampire before. He had been alive since the 12th century.”

Brigadier Kramer stared at her. “And he’s no longer alive?” she asked.

“Not since he met me,” said Rose.

Brigadier Kramer nodded. “So they can be killed,” she said.

“Stake through the heart,” said Rose. “Yes, really,” she smiled when Brigadier Kramer looked at her in disbelief. “But it’s not as easy as it may sound. Vampires are capable of much destruction, especially the older ones.”

“And do you think we’re dealing with vampires in this instance?” she asked.

Rose frowned. “I’m not sure,” she said. “Before he was killed, did Grant Oxwell pass on any intel to UNIT?”

“Only that Gordon Pymble was known to frequent the nightclub near where his body was found,” said Brigadier Kramer.

Rose consulted the manila file she had read through on the plane. “The Other Place?” she asked, finding the name of the club in question.

“That’s the one,” said Brigadier Kramer, and then coughed delicately. “It’s known to attract…certain types.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “What type would that be?” she asked.

“I believe they call themselves goths,” said Brigadier Kramer, with a light eye roll. “They dress in black, paint their lips red, and sometimes pretend to drink blood.”

“That’s actually quite a smart place for a real vampire to frequent,” said Rose. “No shortage of victims, easy to blend your real fangs amongst fake ones.”

Brigadier Kramer nodded with a grimace. “Given the proclivities of both Gordon Pymble and Ben Zvi, we think the perpetrator was a young woman, although I am told that sexuality is a bit irrelevant in places like that,” she said. “So, it could have been a man. We don’t know.”

Rose let out a breath. “Right,” she said. There had been something about this whole thing that was bothering her and when she was quiet for a moment too long, she saw Brigadier Kramer tilt her head questioningly at her. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

Brigadier Kramer’s expression softened into an almost smile. “If General Lethbridge-Stewart is to be believed, your insight and powers of deduction are nothing to scoff at,” she said. “And for a man who has had to deal with the Doctor for as long as he has, he is not easy to impress.”

Rose couldn’t help but blush at the mention of the Doctor. God, she missed him. No doubt a mystery of this kind would be right up his alley, but she had no idea if she would see him any time soon, given they had parted ways not too long ago.

“Hang on,” said Rose, looking at Brigadier Kramer curiously. “Have you met the Doctor?” There had been a certain lilt to her words when she had mentioned the Doctor which had Rose curious.

Brigadier Kramer grimaced and nodded. “Yes, our paths crossed almost a decade ago,” she said. “He was…impressive.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. Brigadier Kramer had not phrased it like a compliment. “What did he look like?” she asked.

Brigadier Kramer glanced at her curiously but typed something on the keyboard in front of her before turning her monitor around for Rose to see.

Rose’s eyebrows shot up even further as a picture of the Doctor’s seventh incarnation was displayed on the screen. Like she had when she had first seen a photo of him, Rose felt a flicker of apprehension when she looked at his eyes. There was something eerie in his gaze, something cunning in a way that was ever-present. She could somewhat understand Brigadier Kramer’s reticence now.

Speaking of whom, Brigadier Kramer coughed delicately as she turned the monitor back around. “I take it you have met that incarnation then,” she said.

Rose looked surprised. “What makes you think that?” she asked, instead of replying with a simple no.

“Your wariness is obvious,” said Brigadier Kramer, with a wry twist of her lips.

Rose just nodded, not bothering to explain because she wasn’t sure how she could even begin to explain. “What did he do?” she asked.

Brigadier Kramer chuckled. “Saved the world, of course,” she said. When Rose looked confused, she shrugged. “The way he went about it, though, left much to be desired. He is…a danger to the ones closest to him.”

Rose blushed and glanced away. She wondered what that said about her and the path she had chosen.

Brigadier Kramer cleared her throat, and Rose was surprised to see her look uncomfortable when Rose looked back at her.

Rose realised her reaction had been less than subtle and Brigadier Kramer had come to conclusions about Rose and the Doctor. Rose wasn’t sure how accurate those conclusions were, but she shook her head and made herself focus.

The Doctor wouldn’t scare Rose, nothing about him would make her turn away - it was the truth she knew to her very core.

Focusing back on the case at hand, Rose decided to articulate what had been bothering her about the whole thing.

“Before the murder of Gordon Pymble,” she started, and Brigadier Kramer looked surprised. “Were there any other similar murders?”

“No,” said Brigadier Kramer, at once. When Rose frowned, she raised her eyebrows. “I mean, the modus operandi is quite unusual, wouldn’t you say? We would have known about it.”

“Yes, but what if the M.O. wasn’t exactly the same?” asked Rose. “And the victim wasn’t quite so public.”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” said Brigadier Kramer.

“Let’s say there is a vampire in San Francisco,” she said. “Surely it would have killed someone else before the very public murder of Gordon Pymble. For sustenance, if nothing else.”

Brigadier Kramer frowned and nodded slowly. “Yes, I see,” she said.

“The murder of Gordon Pymble feels like an escalation,” said Rose. “And killers, vampire or not, don’t escalate like that overnight. There would have been other victims, we just haven’t found them yet.”

“You make a very good point,” said Brigadier Kramer. “But the public and humiliating nature of Pymble’s murder aside, bodies drained of blood are unusual enough on their own to have appeared on our radar. UNIT had alerts out for any police reports or even public tips. Nothing came of any of it.”

Rose nodded thoughtfully. “Does UNIT still have records of those reports and tips?” she asked.

“Of course,” nodded Brigadier Kramer.

“I would like to look through them,” said Rose.

Brigadier Kramer gave her an inscrutable look. “Do you think we missed something?” she asked.

“No,” said Rose, with a placating smile. “I think a fresh pair of eyes on old evidence is always a good idea.”

Brigadier Kramer stared at her for a moment longer before nodding. “This way,” she said, and stood up and led the way out of her office.

Rose picked up her backpack and followed her into a small meeting room next door. Brigadier Kramer typed something on the computer in the corner of the room and then stepped aside.

“The records are all in here,” she said. “Do you need anything else?”

Rose grinned. “Just point out where the coffee is,” she said.

~

Four hours and two cups of coffee later, Rose wasn’t feeling much like grinning. She had gone over UNIT’s records with a fresh pair of eyes and nothing had sparked so far that would come even remotely close to resembling a vampire killing.

She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair to take a break. She didn’t think her instinct was off the mark when it came to Gordon Pymble’s murder being an escalation, but the evidence did not support her theory.

There was a knock on the door and Rose opened her eyes and saw Corporal Mansfield in the doorway. He was in uniform this time and he smiled when he saw her.

“Sorry to disturb you, ma’am,” he said, stepping into the meeting room. “But I was just coming in to drop off your hotel room key.”

“Oh, thanks,” said Rose, standing up and taking the key card he held out. The card had the words 'Embarcadero Tower’ on it in a fancy script which Rose supposed was the name of the hotel, and the number 1102 underneath it.

“You’re all checked in and your bag is in your room, whenever you want to retire,” he said. “Just let me know when you’re ready to leave and I can drive you over.”

“The hotel’s just across the way, isn’t it?” asked Rose, quite sure they’d driven past it. At Corporal Mansfield’s nod, she smiled. “Then you don’t need to drive me. I’m happy to walk.”

He frowned at that, to her surprise. “If I may, ma’am,” he said, and Rose nodded. “I wouldn’t recommend that you travel around on foot. San Francisco has a massive population of homeless folks and the streets aren’t safe, particularly after dark.”

Rose frowned as well, but she didn’t think Corporal Mansfield was trying to be patronising. Considering there was also a potential vampire wandering around killing people, Rose didn’t think she should take any chances.

“I’ll remember that, thanks,” she said. “Would it be an imposition for me to have a car while I’m here? I can drive myself.”

Corporal Mansfield looked slightly relieved that she hadn’t taken offence, and he nodded quickly. “I will speak to the Brigadier and get that sorted for you,” he said.

“Thanks,” smiled Rose, and he saluted at her before taking his leave.

Rose returned to the computer, thinking about the conversation with Corporal Mansfield. Something about that conversation sparked a memory, and Rose’s eyes widened.

Typing frantically through the computer, she found the report she had glanced through and disregarded earlier in the day. It was a public tip from a doctor called Dr David Shackle at Shotwell Clinic, a small hospital north of the Mission district.

The tip was a series of phone calls made to various regulatory bodies from San Francisco PD to the FBI, all with the same report.

“I think someone is targeting the homeless population in the Mission District.”

Predictably, all of it had gone uninvestigated. Even Rose had initially glazed past it because it hadn’t mentioned anything that would suggest a vampire killing. She wasn’t even sure if the people were actually dead. But it was the first lead of the day, and a smart vampire would know to target a displaced, transient population to cover their tracks.

She found the number for the Shotwell Clinic and called it. A woman answered the phone with a tired ‘Hello, Shotwell Clinic.”

“Hi, could I speak to Dr David Shackle, please?” asked Rose.

“What is this about?” asked the woman.

“Er,” Rose paused. “It’s about his report to San Francisco PD,” she said, deciding to keep it vague. UNIT hadn’t really been clear on what authority she actually had, and regardless, she didn’t want to be throwing around the UNIT name if she could help it.

The woman sighed. “Hold on,” she said. The hold music kicked in and Rose quickly wrote down the questions she wanted to ask Dr Shackle while she waited.

“David Shackle, speaking.”

“Hello, my name is Rose,” said Rose. “I want to talk to you about who might be targeting the homeless people in your area.”

There was a brief second of silence on the other end. “Finally!” he said, sounding exhausted. “Someone has finally asked.”

“What can you tell me?” asked Rose.

“It might be easier to show you,” he said, his tone serious. “How soon can you come down here?”

~

The drive to Shotwell Clinic was short but Rose’s face was pulled into a grim mask on the entire way there.

Dr Shackle not even asking who she was or where she was calling from was not a good sign. The man sounded tired, like he had been asking for help for a long time, only to be met with silence.

Rose’s instincts were telling her she was on the right path, and so despite Brigadier Kramer’s scepticism, she was currently driving to the Mission district in a borrowed VW Bug.

She was also going alone, which probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but having uniformed soldiers with her was not likely to help matters. Not until she had confirmed some things, at least.

The Mission district was a rougher part of San Francisco, particularly close to where the Shotwell Clinic was located. Rose parked the car as close to the hospital as she could and walked about a block over. She remained surprisingly at ease - it was no worse than some parts of the Powell Estate. But she could see why Corporal Mansfield had been worried about her walking around alone.

It was getting odder as Rose grew up. People who didn’t know where and how she’d grown up had somehow started to assume she had grown up in luxury, or at the very least, led a very sheltered existence.

Rose had no idea where the assumptions were coming from, but it was becoming apparent in the way she was being treated.

Since Paris, Rose hadn’t really allowed herself time to reflect about the most recent revelations about her memories, and more importantly, about the Doctor’s connection to the Stranger. But during her flight, she had turned her mind to it briefly and what had struck her was that far from frustration, she was feeling something closer to anticipation. The answers had always felt frustratingly out of reach, but now they felt like they were around a corner, and she only had to make it across before everything would become apparent.

The Shotwell Clinic was an extremely busy hospital with an emergency department, and she went through the other entrance, not wanting to get in anyone’s way. When she went to the reception desk, a harried-looking woman told her that Dr Shackle was in the ER and would be with her shortly.

Rose took a seat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, trying not to fidget while she waited. Thankfully, an exhausted-looking man in his late forties came through the door only a few minutes later and made a beeline for Rose.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said, collapsing into a seat next to hers and holding out his hand. “David Shackle.”

Rose shook his proffered hand. “Rose Tyler,” she said. “Are you okay?” she asked, noticing how utterly exhausted he looked.

He chuckled humourlessly. “Yes, this is normal for what goes on around here,” he said, and hefted himself to his feet. “We can’t patch them up quick enough for how fast they seem to kill each other.” He mimed shooting a gun with a sardonic shake of his head when Rose looked horrified. “Violence is its own language in these parts.” Rose could understand what he meant, so she just nodded, and Dr Shackle chuckled with a bit of warmth this time. “This way - I have the files in my office.”

Rose followed him down a couple of different corridors until they came upon an office that was no bigger than a cupboard. It was crammed with a desk and two chairs, and was otherwise overflowing with files. She took a seat in the visitor’s chair, sidestepping piles of files stacked on the floor in some places as Dr Shackle shut the door behind them.

“Displaced population,” began Dr Shackle, without preamble. “Makes them hard to track, even if someone had the time and the compassion for it.”

“But you noticed,” said Rose, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded gravely. “I live in the area, and against my better judgment, I walk to work every day. And you can’t help but notice the people you walk past, especially when you do it every day for eight years,” he said. “So when someone’s not there, you get curious. That’s how it started, some misplaced curiosity.” He picked up one of the files off his desk and held it out to Rose.

She opened the file tentatively and read through the medical examiner’s report about the death of a man in his mid to late fifties brought about by liver damage. Rose frowned as she looked back at Dr Shackle. “Was there something suspicious about his death?” she asked, finding nothing in the report that indicated it.

“No, but because the medical examiner is a friend, I asked him to let me examine the body,” he said. He nodded at her to turn the page and Rose saw a black and white photograph clipped to the back of the page.

Rose looked closely at the photograph but it only showed the corpse of a man in his fifties, pale and unmoving on an examination table. “What did you find?” she asked.

“No blotchiness,” said Dr Shackle. “The police report says he was found on his back, and his body wasn’t found for almost 24 hours. If he had been on his back for that long, the blood would have pooled at his back. But there was no discolouration.”

That set alarm bells ringing in Rose’s mind. “Did you do an internal examination?” she asked.

“Yes, and I found that he barely had half a litre of blood left in him,” said Dr Shackle, sighing as he leaned back in his chair.

“No wounds?” asked Rose, sharply.

“No obvious ones,” he replied. “Some partially healed puncture wounds down his left side, but no major vessels opened, no bloodstains to draw attention. It was…”

“Efficient,” said Rose, and he nodded. “The medical examiner did not think to classify it as a suspicious death?”

“No,” said Dr Shackle. “I mean, I don’t blame him. None of the puncture wounds on the body would have been enough to drain as much of the blood volume as the victim had lost. Not without a suction pump attached to him.” He snorted to himself as if the very idea were absurd, and Rose couldn’t help but think a vampire could have very well killed the man.

“There are more, you said?” she asked, now convinced she had definitely found the vampire’s hunting ground.

He stared at her for a moment, and then nodded at the towering columns of files stacked on the floor that Rose had walked past.

Rose stared at the pile in horror before looking at Dr Shackle. “How many?” she asked, her voice trembling just a little.

He smiled without a trace of humour or irony. “One hundred and ninety three,” he said. “Over the last six months.”

~

Rose felt like her head was spinning as she walked back to her car. She had spent almost two hours going through the files in Dr Shackle’s office, writing down the details for the 193 victims with shaking fingers. Dr Shackle had left her to it while he returned to the ER, and Rose had developed a deep sense of respect for the man. It had taken real dedication to put together the victims and connect their deaths, as each of the 193 victims had died of apparent natural causes, yet each of them had also been found with less than half a litre of blood in the body.

The victims had been from in and around the Mission district, and while Rose hadn’t said anything to Dr Shackle, she wondered if the vampire had been hunting in other parts of San Francisco as well. Without someone like Dr Shackle connecting the pieces, the murders would have gone unnoticed in those other places and the vampire could have been around for decades if not centuries, slowly killing those on the fringes of society.

Not for the first time since she had come to the Mission district, Rose felt a sense of helplessness deep within herself. It was all well and good to save the world when a dangerous vampire was hunting people, but no one had cared about those people, and their society had left them vulnerable enough to have been hunted by the vampire in the first place.

Rose wasn’t an idealist by any means, but injustice, no matter what form it came in, always struck a part within her that wished to fight. This time was no different, which was why she had taken the time to write down the names of all 193 victims, even as most of them were John or Jane Doe, because their deaths needed to be remembered. She fully intended to hand over the list to Brigadier Kramer because everyone, including UNIT, had dismissed Dr Shackle’s concerns and in doing so, had left a dangerous vampire loose in San Francisco for an unknown period of time.

When she got back to her car, Rose decided not to return to the UNIT HQ just yet. Something about the sheer number of deaths in a short timeframe wasn’t sitting right with her and she had a horrible feeling that they weren’t just dealing with a single vampire.

Knowing there wasn’t much she could do to prove it unless she went into the lion’s den herself, Rose put in the address for The Other Place into the navigation system and started the car.

She knew it was dangerous and reckless, but she also knew she would find the answers that she was looking for there.

Before she could start driving, Rose felt the slightest twinge of a headache and she paused and closed her eyes. Remembering the Doctor’s advice never to fight it, she let the vision play out in front of her eyes.

But it wasn’t a vision, as much as it was a single line uttered in the familiar voice of the last Coordinator of the Division.

Rassilon released the Yssgaroth.