Of the Vortex Born: Chapter Three
Jul. 14th, 2008 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocus
Chapter Three: Yours and Mine
It was the susurration of voices the Doctor noticed first. Just background thoughts brushing gently, softly against his own. There was something so familiar, something so welcoming in those calming whispers. They seeped into his unconscious mind, oozing into gaps that had been vacated decades before. It was strange how he no longer felt alone. He’d been alone for so very long. He’d gotten used to the emptiness inside his own head.
This was like drinking a very fine wine after being confined to cheap beer for too long. Or eating crème brûlée when all you were used to was whipped cream directly from the can. Or maybe prime rib after eating nothing but…he was rambling. Even in his own head. Which was suddenly throbbing. He must have hit it on something.
The Doctor groaned, moaned, and then carefully, hesitantly opened one eye. When it didn’t pop out of his head he opened the other one. He was lying on the TARDIS grating and he was alone. Well, that would leave lovely waffle prints all over his face. Oh, wait. He was forgetting something important. What was it? Oh, yeah. His companion. What had happened to Luke?
“Luke?” he managed to call out. “Luke, where are you?”
“Just over here,” Luke called out from near the doorway to the corridor. Luke Smith was his latest travelling companion. The boy was Sarah Jane’s adopted son, and had a mind nearly as brilliant as his own. Well, if truth be told, it might even be more brilliant than his own, not that he’d ever admit it. Out loud.
Sarah was off on a much needed vacation from anything and everything alien, or at least alien of the dangerous variety, on the planet Toroptikan courtesy of the Doctor. She’d given her sixteen-year-old son (at least he was visibly sixteen and acted sixteen mostly, though in reality he was about three) his choice of spending the time on a peaceful planet or travelling with the Doctor. Luke had jumped at the chance to go with the Doctor. She’d told him one too many stories for him to hold back.
The Doctor wriggled his way out from between the console and the jump seat and sat up slowly. The shaggy-haired boy came into view. “You’re bleeding,” Luke said. “I’ll go fetch the medikit.”
“You do that,” the Doctor said. Was it his imagination or were the voices in his head becoming a little clearer? Still soft, still gentle, but with an edge of excitement. It felt…well, it almost felt like other Time Lords in his head. He knew that wasn’t possible, but there was a distinct chance he might be near a telepathic species of some sort.
Suddenly the TARDIS doors swung open and someone walked inside. The light from behind the person was almost blinding after the dim light of the TARDIS emergency lights. Whoever it was had turned back at the call from someone outside. He could just make out a long, curly black pony tail and he could tell from the curves in all the right places that whoever it was in the doorway was female.
Then she turned back and the TARDIS doors shut firmly behind her. There was a sudden frantic pounding on the outside of the ship and the woman called out, “I’m fine, Jake. I’ll be out when I’m out.” That voice. He was sure he should recognize that voice; there was something so familiar…
The woman took a few steps hesitantly towards him and then she was there beside him, kneeling down and he got a good look at her face. She’d changed, yes, she’d changed. But her eyes were the same, her voice was almost the same, and as he reached out and brushed against her mind, he realized three very important things. One, this was definitely Rose Tyler. Two, at some point she had regenerated. And three, she was fully one hundred percent a Gallifreyan Time Lady.
“Hello, Doctor,” she said with a soft smile. She picked up his hand and threaded her fingers through his.
“Hello, Rose,” he said in a disbelieving voice. He had know he’d made it to her universe, had known she was within finding range. But he’d had no idea she could possibly be this close.
“How long’s it been?” he asked her.
“A little over thirty years,” she told him. “And for you?”
“Eighty-seven years, five months, thirteen days, sixteen hours, twelve minutes and thirty-two seconds.” She looked at him in astonishment. “Time Lord, me,” he added.
“Time Lady, me,” she said softly.
“I had noticed,” he said. It was his turn to look dumb-founded.
Luke chose that moment to return with the medikit. “Doctor, I…oh, hello,” he said. He gave her an open, friendly smile. “I’m Luke Smith.”
“Another Smith, Doctor?” she asked raising an eyebrow. Oh, new skill, she catalogued; the ability to raise just one eyebrow. She grinned at the boy. “I’m Rose.”
“Tyler?” he asked his eyes getting huge. She nodded. “Mum’s told me all about you. How you blew the Krillitane apart and saved a school full of kids. Said you were one of the bravest people she’s ever met. And Mum’s met a lot in her line of work.”
“You’re Sarah’s son,” Rose said, her smile getting even larger. “Great lady, your mum. Here, give me that.” She reached out for the medikit and he gave it to her. Calmly and with years of experience behind her, Rose cleaned the wound on the Doctor's forehead.
“Got your sonic screwdriver handy?” she asked.
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled it out. She took it from his hand. “All the settings the same?” she wanted to know. When he nodded she flicked it to the right one and did a dermal repair.
“There we go, almost as good as new.” She leaned forward and kissed the sight of the injury, then leaned back with a grin. “All better.”
“You sound like a mum,” Luke said.
Rose tilted her head. “I am a mum. I’ve got a daughter a little younger than you.”
“You’ve got a daughter?” the Doctor asked, his eyes flashing with sadness that he quickly tried to mask.
“Well, two actually, and a son. Landon’s eldest, he’s twenty-six. Then there’s Mairi, she’s twenty. And then my daughter Jamie who is fourteen.”
“Is there a…husband in the picture?” the Doctor asked hesitantly.
“No,” said Rose. “I never married. I never met anyone else I could…well, I never met anyone I wanted to marry.”
“You just had three children.” Rose wondered if she heard the faint trace of judgment in the Doctor’s voice.
“Yes,” she said. “It wasn’t…well, it’s not what you think, though.”
“What do you mean it’s not what I think? How do you know what I’m thinking?” he demanded.
“You’re thinking I just went out and got myself pregnant.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then you’re thinking I went to a sperm donor bank or something,” she said. “Pretty much what most people think.”
“Well, yes, thought it more likely than you sleeping around and not being careful about it.”
“Well, I didn’t do either of those things, Doctor. All three of my children have the same father. He’s a good man. You like him a lot,” she said with a half smile.
“You mean I know him?” the Doctor asked. Rose nodded. “Mickey?”
“NO!” Rose said, a little more harshly than she’d intended. “Sorry, Doctor. Mickey and I haven’t been friends since Landon was born. He tried to…well, never mind. That’s not a story for now.”
“Well, let’s see. Who else do I know from this universe?” the Doctor frowned. “Jake?”
Rose snorted. “Jake’s gay, Doctor. But he has had a hand in raising the children. Sort of a surrogate father, because their real dad couldn’t be with us.”
“I don’t think I know anyone else here.”
“Oh, you know him. You know him like the back of your hand. My children, all three of my children, are full-fledged Gallifreyan Time Lord and Ladies. They’re yours.”
Ch. 4: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/99687.html
The Doctor groaned, moaned, and then carefully, hesitantly opened one eye. When it didn’t pop out of his head he opened the other one. He was lying on the TARDIS grating and he was alone. Well, that would leave lovely waffle prints all over his face. Oh, wait. He was forgetting something important. What was it? Oh, yeah. His companion. What had happened to Luke?
“Luke?” he managed to call out. “Luke, where are you?”
“Just over here,” Luke called out from near the doorway to the corridor. Luke Smith was his latest travelling companion. The boy was Sarah Jane’s adopted son, and had a mind nearly as brilliant as his own. Well, if truth be told, it might even be more brilliant than his own, not that he’d ever admit it. Out loud.
Sarah was off on a much needed vacation from anything and everything alien, or at least alien of the dangerous variety, on the planet Toroptikan courtesy of the Doctor. She’d given her sixteen-year-old son (at least he was visibly sixteen and acted sixteen mostly, though in reality he was about three) his choice of spending the time on a peaceful planet or travelling with the Doctor. Luke had jumped at the chance to go with the Doctor. She’d told him one too many stories for him to hold back.
The Doctor wriggled his way out from between the console and the jump seat and sat up slowly. The shaggy-haired boy came into view. “You’re bleeding,” Luke said. “I’ll go fetch the medikit.”
“You do that,” the Doctor said. Was it his imagination or were the voices in his head becoming a little clearer? Still soft, still gentle, but with an edge of excitement. It felt…well, it almost felt like other Time Lords in his head. He knew that wasn’t possible, but there was a distinct chance he might be near a telepathic species of some sort.
Suddenly the TARDIS doors swung open and someone walked inside. The light from behind the person was almost blinding after the dim light of the TARDIS emergency lights. Whoever it was had turned back at the call from someone outside. He could just make out a long, curly black pony tail and he could tell from the curves in all the right places that whoever it was in the doorway was female.
Then she turned back and the TARDIS doors shut firmly behind her. There was a sudden frantic pounding on the outside of the ship and the woman called out, “I’m fine, Jake. I’ll be out when I’m out.” That voice. He was sure he should recognize that voice; there was something so familiar…
The woman took a few steps hesitantly towards him and then she was there beside him, kneeling down and he got a good look at her face. She’d changed, yes, she’d changed. But her eyes were the same, her voice was almost the same, and as he reached out and brushed against her mind, he realized three very important things. One, this was definitely Rose Tyler. Two, at some point she had regenerated. And three, she was fully one hundred percent a Gallifreyan Time Lady.
“Hello, Doctor,” she said with a soft smile. She picked up his hand and threaded her fingers through his.
“Hello, Rose,” he said in a disbelieving voice. He had know he’d made it to her universe, had known she was within finding range. But he’d had no idea she could possibly be this close.
“How long’s it been?” he asked her.
“A little over thirty years,” she told him. “And for you?”
“Eighty-seven years, five months, thirteen days, sixteen hours, twelve minutes and thirty-two seconds.” She looked at him in astonishment. “Time Lord, me,” he added.
“Time Lady, me,” she said softly.
“I had noticed,” he said. It was his turn to look dumb-founded.
Luke chose that moment to return with the medikit. “Doctor, I…oh, hello,” he said. He gave her an open, friendly smile. “I’m Luke Smith.”
“Another Smith, Doctor?” she asked raising an eyebrow. Oh, new skill, she catalogued; the ability to raise just one eyebrow. She grinned at the boy. “I’m Rose.”
“Tyler?” he asked his eyes getting huge. She nodded. “Mum’s told me all about you. How you blew the Krillitane apart and saved a school full of kids. Said you were one of the bravest people she’s ever met. And Mum’s met a lot in her line of work.”
“You’re Sarah’s son,” Rose said, her smile getting even larger. “Great lady, your mum. Here, give me that.” She reached out for the medikit and he gave it to her. Calmly and with years of experience behind her, Rose cleaned the wound on the Doctor's forehead.
“Got your sonic screwdriver handy?” she asked.
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled it out. She took it from his hand. “All the settings the same?” she wanted to know. When he nodded she flicked it to the right one and did a dermal repair.
“There we go, almost as good as new.” She leaned forward and kissed the sight of the injury, then leaned back with a grin. “All better.”
“You sound like a mum,” Luke said.
Rose tilted her head. “I am a mum. I’ve got a daughter a little younger than you.”
“You’ve got a daughter?” the Doctor asked, his eyes flashing with sadness that he quickly tried to mask.
“Well, two actually, and a son. Landon’s eldest, he’s twenty-six. Then there’s Mairi, she’s twenty. And then my daughter Jamie who is fourteen.”
“Is there a…husband in the picture?” the Doctor asked hesitantly.
“No,” said Rose. “I never married. I never met anyone else I could…well, I never met anyone I wanted to marry.”
“You just had three children.” Rose wondered if she heard the faint trace of judgment in the Doctor’s voice.
“Yes,” she said. “It wasn’t…well, it’s not what you think, though.”
“What do you mean it’s not what I think? How do you know what I’m thinking?” he demanded.
“You’re thinking I just went out and got myself pregnant.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then you’re thinking I went to a sperm donor bank or something,” she said. “Pretty much what most people think.”
“Well, yes, thought it more likely than you sleeping around and not being careful about it.”
“Well, I didn’t do either of those things, Doctor. All three of my children have the same father. He’s a good man. You like him a lot,” she said with a half smile.
“You mean I know him?” the Doctor asked. Rose nodded. “Mickey?”
“NO!” Rose said, a little more harshly than she’d intended. “Sorry, Doctor. Mickey and I haven’t been friends since Landon was born. He tried to…well, never mind. That’s not a story for now.”
“Well, let’s see. Who else do I know from this universe?” the Doctor frowned. “Jake?”
Rose snorted. “Jake’s gay, Doctor. But he has had a hand in raising the children. Sort of a surrogate father, because their real dad couldn’t be with us.”
“I don’t think I know anyone else here.”
“Oh, you know him. You know him like the back of your hand. My children, all three of my children, are full-fledged Gallifreyan Time Lord and Ladies. They’re yours.”
Ch. 4: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/99687.html
