A Place in Time (21/30)

[amberfocus]

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Chapter Twenty-one:  Compatibility

“Jack,” the Doctor yelled out, “Jack!”

Jack appeared so fast at the Doctor’s shout he might well have teleported if the Doctor hadn’t destroyed that device months ago. “Rose?” His voice turned the Doctor’s hearts over.

“She’s alive. Is Martha here yet? I’ll even take Owen in a pinch. I kept meaning to fix that circuit in the infirmary, but I’m having a time finding the parts for it and--.” The Doctor snapped his mouth shut, realizing he was babbling.

“I’m here, Doctor,” Martha said. “I came as soon as I got your message.” Her eyes moved in a professional manner over the woman he held in his arms. “This her then? Is this Rose?”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes.” And the anguish in his voice on that one simple word brought tears to her eyes.

“Give her to Jack; he can take her ahead to the examining room.”

“But I--.”

“No arguments, Doctor. You need to tell me what happened.” The Doctor reluctantly handed Rose over then opened and shut his mouth, at a loss of how to explain it. “Oh, dear,” said Martha. “If you’re at a loss for words…” She reached up to her ear phone and pressed it. “Ianto, can you send someone for Donna? She's staying at my flat.  The Doctor’s going to need her.” She looked back at him. “Tell me what I need to know to help Rose.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if there is anything that can help Rose. And its all my fault. Well, not my fault directly, since it’s his fault, but since he is me, in a roundabout way–Oh, bollocks!” He took a deep breath. “We were in Paris and she turned yellow.”

“Yellow? Is it jaundice, maybe? Something wrong with her liver?” Martha asked. “Or possibly hepatitis. Did you drink any bad water?”

“It’s Paris, Martha, we drank wine. And I don’t mean yellow.”

“Well, you said yellow,” Martha reminded him.

“I mean golden. She was glowing. Like the heart of the TARDIS. I think Time screwed her over again. Got any gadgets round here that I don’t know about, something that can drain abnormal energy from a living creature?”

“Maybe.” Martha moved away from him and ducked her head into a doorway. “Owen, do you have that green and black shiny thingy?” He couldn’t hear Owen’s response, but then Martha said, “I don’t know what it’s called. The one that sucked electricity out of that alien that flew his ship into the power station?” Again a pause, and then, “Yes, that green and black shiny thingy. Bring it to the examining room when you’ve got it out of lockup.”

She turned back to the Doctor. “This way,” she motioned in the direction she wanted to go and then hurried him along. When she walked through the door she stopped and stared at Rose.  Even in the short time it had taken for Jack to take her to the exam room she'd changed. The young woman laying on the table appeared to be covered in a fine layer of metallic paint. Even her clothing was coated with it. And every so often she seemed to pulse.

But that wasn’t what scared her. What scared her was when Rose sat up and propelled both the Doctor and Jack out of the room by simply pointing at them. The door shut behind them. She could hear the knob being rattled as someone tried to get back in.

“Come to me,” Rose said in what did not sound at all like a natural voice. It was curiously augmented, slightly echoing around the confines of the room. Unwilling or perhaps unable to stay where she stood, her feet took her towards the other woman. “You have no reason to fear me.”

“Don’t I then? You do know you’re looking a bit peculiar, yeah?” Martha asked.

Rose reached out her hands and Martha felt compelled to place her own within them. “He is not for you, Martha Jones. Throughout all of time and all of space, he is for Rose and only for Rose. And this is the reason.” And within seconds nearly all of the power that had remained in Rose’s body flowed down her arms and into Martha.

Martha’s eyes opened wide and an ordinary observer would think she saw nothing but empty air. An ordinary observer would be wrong. In that moment, Martha Jones glowed golden and she saw everything. And finally, finally she understood it. And with peace and that perfect understanding, she let it wash away from her.

The energy flowed back into Rose and Martha took a step away, her eyes wide in wonder. She walked to the door and opened it. Jack and the Doctor both stumbled through the sudden entrance, followed by Owen who handed her the device she’d asked for.

“It’s okay. I don’t need it,” she told Owen, who grumbled about having his time wasted as he stalked away.

“What do you mean you don’t need it?” The Doctor protested. “I thought it would help with Rose.”

“Rose doesn’t need help. What’s happening here is what is meant to happen, Doctor.”

“But she’s dying,” he wailed.

Martha tilted her head to the side. “No,” she said. “She showed me. Rose showed me. Or something within her did. And it’s okay, Doctor. It’s wonderful. It’s brilliant. Because in all of time and all of space and in every reality, you are not alone.” She smiled.

“Rose’s problem, if you can call it a problem, is that she’s growing a second heart and her brain is changing a bit.”

“She’s regenerating?” he gasped.

“Not…not exactly. Something has altered her DNA. There’s been some kind of a…” She paused and then laughed, “Genetic transfer. She’s becoming biologically compatible…with you. She showed me…” Martha paused. “It’s confusing. The images are not clear, but it has something to do with the TARDIS, disco lights, nanogenes hidden in red velvet and Barry White? I’m not sure I want to understand that.” Martha bit back another giggle.

“Anyway, she’s still human mostly but her lifespan has been expanded exponentially, barring any serious accidents she should live another 500 years. And you’ll be able to have children with her…I’ve seen them…and what children they will be.” Her eyes were far away. “Every Doctor, every Rose, and so many, many children between them. You’ll never be alone again, Doctor.” Martha came back to herself. “But that won’t be for some time yet.  Your first child will be born in 2018.”

Martha gave a small, secret smile then. “What's that look for?” the Doctor asked.

“Your firstborn son,” she said. “I’ve seen him. Looks quite a bit like you do now, only blond like Rose. He’ll come back in time to Torchwood in 2010 and he’ll be 30 years old.” Her eyes lit up at the memory of what Rose had shown her. “And I’m going to marry him.”

Ch. 22:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/55023.html