amberfocus | Hunger Moon: Chapter Thirty-Eight--Complete

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angelfireeast

Title: Hunger Moon (38/38)
Series: Better With You (Book 2)
Author:

amberfocus
Characters/Pairings: Alt!Nine/Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler/Pete Tyler, Sarah Tyler, Kyle Tyler, Davin McBain, Mickey Smith/Suzie (Costello) Symmonds-Smith/Jake Symmonds, Toshiko Sato, Ianto Jones, Katie Harper/Owen Harper, Andy Davidson
Genre: Action/adventure, romance, alternate universe, fluff, angst, humor, smut
Rating: Adult, some chapters NC-17 with graphic sex
Betas:

amyo67,

jeprdyfrndly
Summary: The psychic attacks of the Monoc'teru on the population of Pete's world sidetracks the Doctor and Rose's search for the spheres of Thessalameka, the second assignment on their quest to save the fabric of reality from unravelling forever. Set ten years post-Doomsday in a world where Journey's End never happened. Sequel to Wolf Moon: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/259862.html.
A/N: A year ago at this time I was finishing up a little story known as Wolf Moon. It took me 2 months and 2 weeks to write. I never dreamed that its sequel would take an entire year and I want to thank everybody who has been with me from the start and stuck by it so faithfully during my horrible bouts with writer's block, as well as all of the people that I have picked up along the way. Hunger Moon has caused me more tantrums than any other fic, but in the end it's been worth all of the ups and downs and stops and starts. I love writing this relationship and I love writing the massive adventures that these two get into so much and even though I will be taking a brief break from this series to focus on other stories it will be back in a few months. Without further ado, the final chapter, lovingly dedicated to my beta and very good friend

amyo67 who has held my hand on this fic every step of the way and who kept me writing it come hell or high water with her tremendous encouragement and support.

Previous chapters: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/263134.html

Chapter Thirty-Eight: All’s Well that Ends Well

“So did you ever get any inkling of exactly what these orbs are meant to do?” the Doctor asked Rose. The TARDIS was on the way back to the ancient planet where they’d first met Ambigere, albeit to different coordinates. The planet had moved, but the homing signal it sent back to the TARDIS was easy enough for the ship to follow. Rose shifted in the jump seat trying to find a more comfortable position. The Doctor smirked at her slight discomfort and she stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed at her.

“Oh, shut up,” she said good-naturedly. “Well, they seemed to damp down the insanity of whatever was within a five mile radius of their outermost point. There really wasn’t a lot of time to do any experimenting,” she said. “It’s possible they do more than that, but who knows?”

“I don’t suppose they have to. After all the Quyenseg only did one thing. It controlled the intelligence of the drayguins and their more violent tendencies and that kept them from developing properly,” the Doctor reasoned.

“So we have a device for inhibiting sentient minds and two devices that work in tandem to prevent insanity. Not really sure what that leaves us with,” Rose said.

“I’m just curious as to what the end game is. The Romana program hasn’t really been any clearer than Ambigere about it,” the Doctor said. “And any time you get into mind control, well, there’s always the risk of some megalomaniac wanting it.”

“It should be safe, though, with Ambigere, right? I can’t imagine there weren’t safeguards put into play to protect against that sort of thing. Everything seems so well thought out on this quest.”

“I don’t know, Rose. I still don’t completely remember all of the details of Romana’s plan. I mean, what we’re doing is supposed to prevent the fabric of reality from unraveling, but so far this stuff is all about mind control. I don’t see the connection,” he said.

“Have you looked at the time lines?” she asked.

“I’ve tried to, but whatever happens in the future is being blocked. Normally I can see dozens of possible futures and because very little about any of them is set in stone, it’s not a danger to look at them. This feels different. There seem to be only two final outcomes. No matter what branch I follow it leads down to two and I can’t see what either of them is.”

“Maybe we should try to call up the Romana program again,” Rose said. “Maybe she’ll give us more of an answer this time around.”

“I tried while you were still sleeping,” the Doctor said. “I got no response from her. Perhaps if you ask Ambigere she’ll tell you. She seems to be your guardian.”

“Even if she does, her words are so enigmatic that they don’t make much sense until after the fact.”

The TARDIS flashed the warning lights to tell them to prepare for landing and began the materialization sequence. It was a smooth landing and the Doctor smiled and patted one of the coral support structures in appreciation. They stepped out onto the surface of the ancient planet, looking around them in curiosity. Each carried one of the orbs.

It was mid-day and Rose could see two suns overhead. It was strange to see the planet was the same as before but it’s location in the universe was completely different. The heat beating down on them was almost oppressive. Once they got inside the temple it would be much cooler. Fortunately the TARDIS had landed them just a few steps from its base. Ambigere sat on the top step in her guise as the huge black wolf. As they started up the steps she retreated inside.

They followed her in and blinked as their eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting. Once again they had to stride to the far side of the chamber. Ambigere shimmered and shape-shifted, becoming the raven-haired woman they’d spoken to the last time they’d been in this sacred place. “You have succeeded on your second task. Good.” She reached out and took the blue orb from the Doctor and set it in a small indentation on a carved marble stand that came up to Rose’s waist. Next she took the green orb from Rose and put it on a matching stand. The Quyenseg was nestled in a black velvet-lined basket on the floor between them.

“Ambigere, what is this all about?” Rose asked. “What’s going to happen when we get all the things we’re being sent to find?”

“It’s not for you to know yet,” she said.

“But—.”

“I am sorry, but it is not my choice. When the time is right, and the Time Lord will know when that is, you will know. But for now I am not allowed to say and you are not allowed to know.”

“Are these things safe here?” the Doctor demanded.

“I am guardian of many things. My charges are always safe.” The look she gave the Doctor made him think that if the woman had been in wolf form she’d be baring her teeth at him. She looked back at Rose. “Trust. As one wolf to another.” She held Rose’s gaze until she nodded in acceptance.

Ambigere pulled a scroll out of her voluminous robe and handed it to the Doctor. “Your next task is to retrieve the Staff of Skaði from the planet Parádeisos.” The Doctor unrolled the scroll and looked down at it with a frown. It looked like a walking stick carved from solid ice, the pale light of a washed out blue sky emanating from its center.

“What’s it do?” he asked.

“It interferes,” Ambigere said.

“With what?” Rose asked.

“With everything,” she said. “I cannot tell you more. Do not ask it of me. Leave. Now.” She pointed to the doors of the temple.

With a sigh the Doctor and Rose walked away, heading back to the ship. "Parádeisos sounds familiar,” she said.

“It’s Greek for Paradise,” the Doctor said absently.

“And Skaði?” she asked. “That doesn’t sound Greek at all.”

“It’s not. She was a Viking goddess.”

“Goddess of what? Paradise?” Rose asked. “Because I could use a trip to a vacation planet after all we’ve been through.”

“No,” the Doctor said. “She was the goddess of snow and ice; a huntress. Don’t know why her staff would be on a tropical planet, though. The Parádeisoans are of Scandinavian decent but the people had stopped believing in those gods generations before leaving Earth. They became, if anything, sun worshippers. Well, I guess we’ll find out when we go there.”

He took the scroll and put it into a small compartment in the TARDIS console and then entered in the time and space coordinates of the moon resort he’d left Rose’s family at.

They made love again twice on the journey there and it was Rose’s turn to carry through on her threat of a blow job that would drive him insane. She’d tied his hands and feet to the bedrails with the Lurvins, who were glowing so brightly now in their tank that she thought they could power a small colony. The Doctor had nearly wept before she’d finished teasing him. It had been well worth it though, for he’d responded quite favorably to the teasing and her bum was no longer the only thing that was delightfully sore. Though she didn’t think she’d be sitting down in her mother’s presence any time soon, if she didn’t want to give away the fact that the Doctor had shagged her without mercy. Or done other things. Come to think of it, she didn’t think she’d be sitting down anytime soon at all.

She grinned cheekily over at the Doctor from her position sprawled on her stomach next to him. His hand idly stroked her bum. He tapped it lightly. “Have I created a monster?” she asked him.

“Just a love monster,” he replied. He said the word love in such an exaggerated cheesy manner that she burst into unladylike snorts of laughter. He grinned wiggling his eyebrows lasciviously.

“I just utterly love you,” she told him when she’d calmed down, reaching out to stroke the side of his face.

He smiled. “Me, too. You just make me unbelievably happy.”

“Come on, let’s go shower and get our clothes on. We should be arriving on the moon any time now.” With a sigh he agreed with her and they made themselves fit for the company of others.

“It’s been lovely,” said Jackie as she linked arms with Rose and showed her around the park outside the suites her family had stayed in. “Restful. Pete’s up to full strength again and Sarah’s arm has completely healed. You’d never know that either of them had been hurt. I worry about Pete, though. The counselors have worked with him but he still has nightmares from the torture.”

“The Doctor is helping him with the post traumatic stress,” Rose said.

“Still not too thrilled with the Doctor going into his mind.”

“Dad gave his okay. It’s not bad, you know. Having the Doctor in there. It’s a comfort really and he can heal the pain some. I never told you about what happened to me in my early years at Torchwood. You always thought I was so miserable because I’d lost…well, the other Doctor. And that was part of it, but I…I had a mental assault from a species that basically destroyed my mind.”

“What? Rose? Why’d you never tell me?” Jackie demanded.

“Because there was nothing you could have done. And they hadn’t meant to do it. It was an accident. They were trying to find a way to communicate with humans and as soon as they realized what they were doing to me they rebuilt my mind, but the damage lasted. It was the same kind of post traumatic stress that comes from being tortured. I lived with it for years. Counseling helped, but it didn’t heal me. The Doctor did. I can think about it now without the horror or the memories overwhelming me. It’s like it happened to someone else or I saw it in a film. If he can do that for Pete so he doesn’t suffer for years, isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yes. It is,” Jackie admitted. “There they are,” she said pointing to a play structure that was ridiculously high. In the dome’s lower gravity tumbling down from such a height would be slow and safe. Sarah was sitting on the top bar of the jungle gym and Kyle was making his way across the monkey bars.

Sarah saw her first. “Rose!” she cried out gleefully. She fell backwards holding on only with the backs of her knees and flipped off the bar, coming to rest gracefully on her feet in a perfect landing. Kyle swiveled his head around and rapidly finished crossing the monkey bars and slid down a long enclosed tube to the ground. Kyle reached her first nearly knocking her down with the force of his hug. Sarah had to pry him off their sister to get her turn.

“Did you miss me?” Rose asked with a grin.

“So much. It’s been months, Rose,” said Sarah seriously.

“Only three,” said Kyle.

“So it’s seriously going to mess up our birthday,” Sarah said back. “We’ve had three extra months of life that we’re stuck being nine at.”

“Try skipping a year some time,” Rose said unsympathetically.

“I’d rather they didn’t, thanks,” said Jackie a little sharply. Twelve years ago or not, she still hadn’t quite forgiven Rose’s first Doctor for that debacle.

“I know it’s weird, losing or gaining time,” said Rose, “but you were all safe and that’s the important thing here. And you got to live on the moon.”

“Yeah, but we can’t tell anyone about it,” said Kyle with disgust. At Rose’s look he said, “Still it was cool, though.” He grinned a moment later. “At least I get to share it with Sarah.”

“Yeah, he’d go bonkers with no one to talk to about it,” Sarah said. “So are we going home now?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Jackie. “There’s enough time for you to run and say good-bye to the friends you’ve made.”

“I’m going to miss them,” said Sarah looking a little sad.

“Do you think, maybe, the Doctor will bring us back once in a while for a visit?” Kyle asked. “We can’t even email them because of the time difference.”

“They still have email?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, well, they call it something else and it’s the transmission of holographic images,” said Jackie. “But it’s basically email.”

“I don’t know. I’ll ask the Doctor. Maybe he can set up some kind of terminal at home so you can remain pen pals,” Rose said.

“Would you?” Sarah’s face broke into a wondrous smile.

“Of course I’ll ask him. I can’t guarantee he’ll say yes,” Rose stressed.

“Oh, that man is wrapped around your finger,” Jackie said. “He’ll do anything you ask.”

“Only so long as it doesn’t break the Laws of Time,” Rose said. “Come on, let’s head back to the suites. The Doctor should be done by now and Mum can finish packing while the two of you say good-bye to your friends.”

“It worked,” said Pete with a large degree of surprise as the Doctor removed his hands from the man’s temples.

“Of course it worked,” said the Doctor. “Why’d you think we were doing it?”

Pete shrugged. “To humor Rose, really.”

The door opened and the rest of the family came into the suites. “Are you finished?” Rose asked.

He smiled at his wife. “Just finished.”

“Good. The kids want to know if there is any way they can stay in touch with their friends here,” Rose said. “Maybe a timey whimey computer or something at the house?”

“No,” said the Doctor. “Can’t leave that kind of technology lying around on Earth.” The twins’ faces fell in disappointment. “But,” he added, “when Rose and I come to visit, you can use the TARDIS’ communication equipment to contact them.”

“Really?” Sarah asked.

“Of course,” he said. Sarah threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. The Doctor gave her a fond smile and hugged her back.

“Rose said maybe…maybe you’d bring us back to visit once in a while,” Kyle asked hesitantly.

“Could do, but the two of you will have to behave on board the TARDIS. No more exploring without an adult and no more crawling into the inner workings where you can get hurt.”

“We will, we promise!” The twins chorused in unison.

“All right. Off you go,” said Jackie. “Go and tell your friends good-bye. We’ll be leaving in an hour so I expect you back by then. The twins hurried back out and Jackie went to finish packing the last of their belongings.

“Thank you,” said Rose. “That was nice of you.”

“They’re your family, Rose. That makes them my family, too.” He reached out and hugged her and she raised her face for a kiss. As his hands started to wander Pete gave a cough.

“Still in the room,” he said.

They broke apart sheepishly and the Doctor sat down on the couch and started to fill Pete in on all that had happened with Torchwood and the Earth in his absence.

“Rose,” Jackie called halfway through, “can you come and help me make sure I haven’t left anything behind?”

“Sure,” she said and walked down the rooms one by one with her mother until everything was packed. The Doctor went out and moved the ship to the main living area and Pete and the Doctor helped them shift everything into the TARDIS. Kyle and Sarah burst back in as they finished putting everything inside.

“Oh, TARDIS,” cried out Sarah. She ran up to the big pink box and threw her arms around a corner as far as they could go. She placed a little kiss against the smooth wood and the TARDIS responded with a pleased hum. “I missed you,” Sarah said. “I’m sorry if I hurt you when I was exploring.”

Kyle gave the ship an affectionate pat before skipping inside the open doors and up the ramp. Pete and Jackie went inside and Rose and the Doctor shared one last kiss before following them in and shutting the doors. Quickly the Doctor entered in the coordinates to send them back to Earth and the Tyler mansion.

On the short trip Rose informed her mother that she and the Doctor were not going to wait a year to be married. “We want to do it now.”

“Now? But Rose, don't you know what’s involved in throwing a big wedding?” Jackie asked.

“Didn’t say it was going to be a big wedding. I just want to marry him, Mum. On Earth. Just him and me and the family and a few friends. No society affair, no huge blow out. Just us. That’s all we need.”

“But—don’t you want this to be a day you’ll remember for the rest of your life?” she asked.

“I will. It’s me and him, Mum. I’ll remember it because I’m marrying the man I love,” she says.

“Well, give me at least a couple of weeks. I can get the dresses made up in that amount of time. I don’t care what you say about a big wedding or a small one, but I know for a fact, Rose Tyler, that you want a spectacular dress. You always have.” Jackie fixed her with a knowing look.

“I’m not arguing that.”

“And I’ll need you to be there. No gallivanting off during those two weeks. There will be fittings and decisions to be made on invitations and the cake and the decorations and the music and the food.” Rose opened her mouth to protest. Jackie held up her hand to forestall her. “Even with a small wedding, there will be.”

“It won’t hurt us to hang about for a couple of weeks,” the Doctor said easily.

Rose shook her head. Sometimes it still surprised her how willing this man was to embrace the domestic compared to the other Doctor. Not that she was comparing them, but they did come from the same root. Maybe it was all that time alone after the Time War for this one that made him crave it so much. “All right, Mum, but we’re staying in the TARDIS, not the house. I think we’ve had enough of living together.”

“Agreed,” said Jackie.

The TARDIS issued a warning and then the ship was landing in the back garden of the Tyler grounds. After helping them move their belongings back into the house, Rose hugged and kissed her family good-bye. Taking the Doctor’s hand in hers she pulled him back into the TARDIS.

“Bed?” she asked him with an enticing smile.

“Bed,” he agreed. With a sigh of happiness Rose led the way back to their bedroom and as they stripped off their clothes Rose knew they had better take advantage of this momentary lull before the craziness of the wedding planning began. She lay down on the bed and reached for the Doctor and he settled down next to her and took her in his arms. For now, and for forever, it was the best place she could think of for her to be.

~End~

The Better With You series will be taking a short break but will return in Book Three with: