A Place in Time (24/30)
May. 4th, 2008 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus
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Chapter Twenty-four: Good-bye Torchwood
“Can I ask you one thing?” The Doctor’s voice was hesitant. It was morning and they’d spent the last hour just lying snuggled up together, passing gentle kisses back and forth, his hand tangled in her hair, hers stroking his skin. “If you know it?”
“About…last night?” She turned about in his arms to look at him with those beautiful molten copper eyes of hers. He stroked the strands of gold out of her face.
“It wasn’t completely me, you know. They made choices.”
“They?” His finger came up and traced her lips. She kissed it.
“I was a conduit of the parallel TARDISes. Is that the right plural of TARDIS? Or is it TARDII? Time and Relative Dimensions in Infinitum?”
“No,” he laughed. “It’s just TARDIS, like deer and deer and sheep and sheep. And you’re avoiding my question, Rose.”
“Not really.” Rose closed her eyes for a moment, searching for the answer to that question. It was simple when she found it. Her hand sought his, holding it to soften her words. She opened her eyes, met his soft brown ones. “He didn’t love Rose.” The Doctor’s hearts stopped.
“How…how is that possible?” he muttered barely aware he had spoken aloud.
“Parallel universe,” she parroted back at him. “Everything is possible.”
“But not that!” The vehemence in his words made her smile. She ran a finger down the side of his face.
“Yes, that. But he was the only one. Just as the insane Doctor’s Rose was the only one that didn’t need him. She loved him. But she didn’t need him. And even if she had, it was the one universe I couldn’t save. Or they wouldn’t let me. But there were so many I could save.”
“How many?” The Doctor asked.
“Of us?” Rose frowned. “A lot.” Again she closed her eyes to think. “Forty-two. Twenty-one pairs left. Five of you before you regenerated last and one of you not even him yet. But all with some version of me and all with love between them or love that will be between them.”
“Twenty-one Doctors can’t be wrong,” he grinned at her.
“Right now I’m only concerned about one Doctor.” She edged forward and kissed him, touched him in a place that made him gasp. “In another couple of hours your friend Donna is going to be here, so I suggest we make the most of it.”
“I think,” said the Doctor giving her a silly kiss on her nose, “That may be the most brilliant idea you’ve ever had.” And the next kiss they shared was far from silly.
*****************************************
When they finally stepped out of the TARDIS later that morning they found Donna Noble sitting on a suitcase waiting for them. “Why didn’t you use your key?” the Doctor asked in surprise.
“I would have if you’d been busy much longer,” she said standing up and pushing past them to lug her bag into the console room. “Jack wants to talk to you before we leave,” she said when she came back out.
“I’ll go see what he wants,” the Doctor said. “I have a question to ask him anyway.”
As soon as the Doctor disappeared, Donna turned to Rose. “Are you sure now? I don’t want to be--,” she stopped herself. “Well, I was going to say I didn’t want to be butting in where I don’t belong, but then I do that so much, I’d be lying, wouldn’t I?” She smiled at Rose. “I do understand if you want him to yourself. He told me, you know, so much about what happened and how much he missed you. And that he had loved you.”
Rose looked at the older woman and gave her a grin. “You won’t be in the way, if that’s what you’re worried for,” Rose said directly. “The TARDIS is a big ship. I’m sure we’ll be able to have privacy for what we need it for.” And Rose blushed a bit and looked away. “But adventures often need the safety of three. I’m sure you noticed that when you travelled with Martha as opposed to when you didn’t. The Doctor said--.”
“You’ve been talking about us? When you’ve had all that catching up to do?” Donna was surprised.
“Well, you’ve been a big part of his life this last year. You’ve been a good friend to him. Of course, he’d be talking about you. Well, that and he talks almost non-stop anyway. There’s only one sure-fire way of shutting him up and that’s kissing him and even then sometimes he tries to talk around it.”
“That sounds like him,” said Donna with a grin.
The Doctor and Jack came down the stairs laughing. When the Doctor caught sight of Rose he lit up as if he hadn’t just been with her minutes before. It made her hearts jump just a little bit. “I had to ask Jack if he still had the authority to perform wedding ceremonies on Earth.”
“And I do,” said Jack, “As well as in 3 different galaxies. So if it’s okay with you Rose, I’d like to perform the ceremony.”
“You asked her to marry you?” Donna said whirling around. “And you’re all Mr. Casual about it?” She walked over and gave him a whack on the arm. "Git." Then she hugged him. "Congratulations."
The Doctor looked a trifle embarrassed, but hugged her back with a grin. “This one will be valid amongst humans based upon your laws and we will do a Gallifreyan bonding ritual later on, but the simple bonding is complete, has been since she agreed to be my life mate. For all intents and purposes she already is my wife in my hearts.” Rose smiled up at him. She hadn’t realized that, but in her hearts she felt the same way.
“Now before we can go I need to put a partial block on Martha’s memories so she doesn’t go spilling future information to the wrong people.”
Jack pushed a button on his head set. “Gwen? Can you send Martha downstairs? Thanks.” He looked back at the Doctor and said, “She’s on her way.”
When Martha finally appeared she walked over to the little group beside the TARDIS. “Rose, you’re glowing,” she said.
“Oh, no, not again,” Rose said looking down at her skin.
“No,” laughed Martha, “I mean radiant; you look happy.”
“I am happy. You sure you don't want to come with us? Donna is.”
“We’ll get the chance to know each other better in the future. You showed me that.”
“I did?” Rose asked having only vague memories of Martha.
“Yeah, when you were glowing. I mean the other type of glowing.” She caught site of the ring on Rose’s hand. “And it’s no wonder. So when’s the big day?” She turned towards the Doctor.
“We’ll have to talk to Mum first,” said Rose.
“But she’s in the parallel world,” Jack protested.
“We found a way around that,” said the Doctor. “A safe way this time.”
“So we’ll let you know as soon as we make the plans,” said Rose.
“Meanwhile, Martha, I need to put a block on your memories of what Rose showed you. I know you won’t talk about it on purpose outside of these walls, but if someone, the wrong someone was to get a hold of that information in your head, they might force you to talk.”
“Don’t make me forget what I know,” Martha said. “I healed in there.”
“You won’t forget it. It’ll just be impossible for you to access it in times of danger. It will simply hide itself in your mind.”
“Okay,” Martha nodded. The Doctor put his fingers to her temples and focused for a brief moment.
“And that,” said the Doctor forcefully pronouncing the second T, “Is that.”
Martha opened her eyes. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t be.”
“And you still have my phone?”
“Yes, Martha.” She laughed at his put upon tone.
“Good-bye, Doctor.” She hugged him briefly then turned and hugged Donna. When she let go she turned to Rose. “I don’t know why, but I have this urge to hug you, too.”
“It’s all right,” said Rose, allowing it.
“Especially since you’re going to be my mother-in-law,” Martha added.
Rose pushed back from Martha and turned to the Doctor. “Her what?”
“Erm…I told you we hadn’t recovered all the blocked memories yet,” he said. “But one of our son’s will grow up to marry Martha.”
Rose took that in stride. “That’s okay. I barely know her, but I like Martha. And it could be a million times worse,” said Rose looking over at Jack.
“Erm…Rose?” This time it was Martha.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”
Ch. 25: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/55948.html
