Tangled Skein, Chapter 9/?
Title: Tangled Skein, Chapter 9/?
Characters: Rose Tyler, The Doctor (10th), Jack Harkness, Jenny and many others
Raiting: All
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. They belong to RTD and the BBC.
Spoilers: up till JE
Continuity: sequel to "Universe is Cruel"
Summary: Rose's regenerated into someone achingly familiar...
Previous
“Can we get somewhere more private?” Donna-Rose asks Jackie, giving a pointed look to the hall they are currently in.
“Yeah, sure. Will my bedroom be okay?”
“Can we go to the garden? I don’t think anybody else would look for us there at this time of the day,” she smiles then and they move quietly. She notices Jackie giving her sidelong glances. She has no idea how to behave herself now. Her mum knows, how she’s guessed so quickly is a mystery to her, but probably it’s time she acknowledged Jackie for what a thoughtful and just wonderful person she is. There’s no point now for pretending she’s never been here before so she walks straight to her favorite bench and pats it beside her in invitation.
“So?” Jackie starts again narrowing her eyes. “What happened?”
“I died,” Rose answers simply. “Of old age,” she chuckles. “With a kind of life I lead it’s strange I actually made it that far.”
“Don’t say that. How old?..”
“Very old. Don’t know. It’s hard to keep track,” she looks at her mother guiltily. “I never thought I’d see you again. Lost the hope 60 years ago.”
“Oh, Rose,” Jackie breaths pulling her in a hug. “Does the Doctor know?”
“No, and he mustn’t. Nor my younger self. But he knows I’m the Donna he used to travel with. Don’t ask. It’s complicated as it is.” She chuckles again. “It’s so good being able to talk to someone without need of pretending.”
“You can always count on me, love,” Jackie tells her. “Tony recognized you as well, you know. He never plays stories with anybody else.”
Rose laughs. “Yeah, he called me Rose just before he fell asleep. I just hope he doesn’t remember it in the morning.”
“He won’t. But he’ll love you anyway.”
“I missed you, mum.”
They sit in silence for a while thinking about the same and different things and just enjoying each other’s company. It’s nice and for the first time in a month Rose thinks she’ll actually make it through sane.
“Rose, how did you get here?” Jackie asks suddenly.
“I have no idea. One moment I was in another universe in the future, the next I was in my old office pretending that I’m…”
Jackie never gets the chance to hear the end of the sentence as Rose disappears right in front of her.
“Mum, is Donna with you?” comes the younger version of her daughter’s voice from the house.
“No, love. She felt sick and I called a taxi for her. She said she’ll probably be out of work for a few days and I told her it’s fine,” Jackie answers without a heart beat hesitation.
“Oh, okay. Hope she’s fine. Probably I’ll call her tomorrow to ask how she is,” Rose replies sadly.
“Good idea. So, are you two leaving?”
At the puzzled look on Rose’s face Jackie chuckles and continues. “Why else would you come here looking for us?”
She smirks when her daughter begins to deny it. “I’m kidding, love,” she says after a minute. “Come on, It’s cold out here. And late. You’d better get going unless you want to stay.”
“No, we’d better go. You know how it is living with parents,” Rose winks at Jackie and laughing they enter the house.
***
“This is wrong,” the Doctor murmurs studying all the information the scanners on the TARDIS provided over and over. It’s been an hour since Rose disappeared and he still couldn’t make sense of what happened.
“Dad, why do you have these?” asks Jenny pulling a pair of old 3D glasses from a storage box she was scanning for something useful.
“It’s nothing, can’t be of any help now. You can see…” the Doctor trails off deep in thought. In a rush he grabs the thing from Jenny’s hand and runs out of the ship.
“It can’t be,” he whispers staring into the street through the glasses.
“Cinema is that way, mate,” comes ruff laughing voice from a few feet to the right. The Doctor turns in an instant to see a man walking on the pavement with a little dog.
“Hey, what are you doing here? What happened here?” he asks taking the glasses off.
“What do you mean? I’m going home. Nothing happened. Ordinary Friday night. You’d better stop drinking what you’re drinking. It won’t do any good,” the man smirks and continues on his way.
“Wait, but all the people, they are gone,” the Doctor tries again.
“Gone? No, mate, everybody’s where they should be. See,” he points to the lit window of the nearest house. Just then a figure walks past it. “Everything’s right. And you’d better go home and sleep or you’ll have a headache tomorrow.” The man pats the Doctor’s shoulder and leaves.
The Doctor pulls the glasses on again and looks around. There’s nothing wrong with the street except for those two spots where Rose appeared and disappeared. And these are reeking of void stuff.
“Is it what I think it is?” Jack asks from behind him.
“Yeah,” the Doctor answers simply. “Everybody else is back though.”
“How?”
“That’s a good question, Captain.”
They hear the creek of the door, soft footsteps and Cathie asking, “So, where’s mum?”
As soon as they turn to answer, they are once again blinded by a flash and the spot occupied be the TARDIS only a second ago is absolutely empty.
“…Donna Noble,” comes the voice from behind their backs. “Shit! I was talking to my mother! Oh, you! And you! I’ve been away for a month! A month! Couldn’t you find a way to fix this earlier? Have you even tried? A month! Do you know how hard it is to find a cheap flat in London in one day? No! You don’t! At least this you don’t. And I’ve just started to settle in! And here you ruin it all again! I was in the middle of the sentence when you brought me back! Hasn’t it ever occurred to you I might like to at least finish my sentence or say good bye?!!!”
The gang stares wordlessly at Rose. She glances from one face to another waiting for any response but they seem to be as motionless as they were a moment ago. For a second she feels like throwing her hands is the air and have another go at shouting but the stillness makes her only sigh in disappointment and stroll down the road.
“Now, where’s the TARDIS? I need a change of clothes. Now,” she turns around and gives the Doctor a pointed look.
“A month?” he mimics silently.
“Yeah, a month,” she retorts irritated but as comprehension dawns on her she calms down. “What do you mean? How long it’s been here?”
“Not more than an hour,” Jack steps in.
“Hour?” she falters. “But… I spent a month there. I almost settled in. And now I’m back… But I can’t be. I remember her being there till the end. How?” Rose turns around defeated and walks to the pavement and sits down paying no attention to her clothes or anything else. “I didn’t even say good bye. Again. I had a chance and I screwed it up. He didn’t even know who I was…” she begins crying quietly. All this time she wished to find a way back to this Universe, it was all she worked for and now that she is with the Doctor and Jack and Cathie she feels as lost as she felt all those years ago at Sarah Jane’s.
“Rose,” she feels someone touch her shoulder and she turns her face to see the Doctor. “I’m sorry, but we need to know where you were because just when you came back the TARDIS with Jenny inside disappeared and believe me or not we have nothing to do with this or your returning.”
“You don’t?” she asks hesitantly.
“No, we didn’t really have time to figure this out. The only thing I know for sure is that the places of disappearance reek with void stuff and everybody else in London is back.”
“Wait. I thought it was empty. I mean it’s been over a month and all, but it looked pretty much abandoned,” Rose says wiping the tears with the back of her hand.
“Yeah, it did. We were in the TARDIS, then came out and everybody was back like they never left.”
They stay silent for another moment thinking it over.
“So,” Rose starts. “It’s either the people never went away and that was just a trick or they were gone but have no recollection of it.”
“Yeah. And I still don’t understand why you stopped there in the middle of street right before you disappeared. And yeah, I’m fine, thanks for asking, mum,” Cathie adds.
“Oh, Cathie. I’m sorry. It’s just so… One minute I’m there talking to mum the next I’m back here and it’s only on hour since I left…”
“Wait a minute,” the Doctor interrupts. “What do you mean you were talking to your mother?”
“Exactly that. Just after that flash I opened my eyes only to find I couldn’t see a thing. After some exploring it turned out to be old office at Torchwood on Pete’s world right the day I started in HR. You remember I told you the first one I hired was Donna. So yeah, that was I. I’ve been working there for a month. Strange how the sentence “If you want something to be done, do it yourself” plays out,” she chuckles. “The Doctor… the other one thinks I’m the Donna you used to travel with and nothing else. They only person who actually saw through me was mum and just as I thought things could go well I was pulled back here. Is there anything else you’d like to know?” She says annoyed looking at the Doctor and then after a pause continues. “Good. Can I have a moment with my daughter now?” She’s so like Jackie at this moment the Doctor doesn’t even try to stop her when she turns away from him and walks straight to Cathie.
“You okay, love?” she asks her tenderly. “I missed you so much you know. And thought a lot about what happened between us. And now that I’m back… God knows for how long I just want you to know, that I still love you, even though you closed your mind from me and I can’t feel you as clear as I used to. You know that, don’t you?”
Cathie stares at her surprised. Of all the things Rose could say she definitely didn’t think about this. It came so out of the blue she’s thrown off and doesn’t really know what to say. All the sharp remarks she composed in her head are useless so she does the only thing she can think of, she pulls her mother into a hug and buries her face in the red hair. They both sigh as their emotions leak through the link even as weak and unstable as it is.
Next
Characters: Rose Tyler, The Doctor (10th), Jack Harkness, Jenny and many others
Raiting: All
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. They belong to RTD and the BBC.
Spoilers: up till JE
Continuity: sequel to "Universe is Cruel"
Summary: Rose's regenerated into someone achingly familiar...
Previous
“Can we get somewhere more private?” Donna-Rose asks Jackie, giving a pointed look to the hall they are currently in.
“Yeah, sure. Will my bedroom be okay?”
“Can we go to the garden? I don’t think anybody else would look for us there at this time of the day,” she smiles then and they move quietly. She notices Jackie giving her sidelong glances. She has no idea how to behave herself now. Her mum knows, how she’s guessed so quickly is a mystery to her, but probably it’s time she acknowledged Jackie for what a thoughtful and just wonderful person she is. There’s no point now for pretending she’s never been here before so she walks straight to her favorite bench and pats it beside her in invitation.
“So?” Jackie starts again narrowing her eyes. “What happened?”
“I died,” Rose answers simply. “Of old age,” she chuckles. “With a kind of life I lead it’s strange I actually made it that far.”
“Don’t say that. How old?..”
“Very old. Don’t know. It’s hard to keep track,” she looks at her mother guiltily. “I never thought I’d see you again. Lost the hope 60 years ago.”
“Oh, Rose,” Jackie breaths pulling her in a hug. “Does the Doctor know?”
“No, and he mustn’t. Nor my younger self. But he knows I’m the Donna he used to travel with. Don’t ask. It’s complicated as it is.” She chuckles again. “It’s so good being able to talk to someone without need of pretending.”
“You can always count on me, love,” Jackie tells her. “Tony recognized you as well, you know. He never plays stories with anybody else.”
Rose laughs. “Yeah, he called me Rose just before he fell asleep. I just hope he doesn’t remember it in the morning.”
“He won’t. But he’ll love you anyway.”
“I missed you, mum.”
They sit in silence for a while thinking about the same and different things and just enjoying each other’s company. It’s nice and for the first time in a month Rose thinks she’ll actually make it through sane.
“Rose, how did you get here?” Jackie asks suddenly.
“I have no idea. One moment I was in another universe in the future, the next I was in my old office pretending that I’m…”
Jackie never gets the chance to hear the end of the sentence as Rose disappears right in front of her.
“Mum, is Donna with you?” comes the younger version of her daughter’s voice from the house.
“No, love. She felt sick and I called a taxi for her. She said she’ll probably be out of work for a few days and I told her it’s fine,” Jackie answers without a heart beat hesitation.
“Oh, okay. Hope she’s fine. Probably I’ll call her tomorrow to ask how she is,” Rose replies sadly.
“Good idea. So, are you two leaving?”
At the puzzled look on Rose’s face Jackie chuckles and continues. “Why else would you come here looking for us?”
She smirks when her daughter begins to deny it. “I’m kidding, love,” she says after a minute. “Come on, It’s cold out here. And late. You’d better get going unless you want to stay.”
“No, we’d better go. You know how it is living with parents,” Rose winks at Jackie and laughing they enter the house.
***
“This is wrong,” the Doctor murmurs studying all the information the scanners on the TARDIS provided over and over. It’s been an hour since Rose disappeared and he still couldn’t make sense of what happened.
“Dad, why do you have these?” asks Jenny pulling a pair of old 3D glasses from a storage box she was scanning for something useful.
“It’s nothing, can’t be of any help now. You can see…” the Doctor trails off deep in thought. In a rush he grabs the thing from Jenny’s hand and runs out of the ship.
“It can’t be,” he whispers staring into the street through the glasses.
“Cinema is that way, mate,” comes ruff laughing voice from a few feet to the right. The Doctor turns in an instant to see a man walking on the pavement with a little dog.
“Hey, what are you doing here? What happened here?” he asks taking the glasses off.
“What do you mean? I’m going home. Nothing happened. Ordinary Friday night. You’d better stop drinking what you’re drinking. It won’t do any good,” the man smirks and continues on his way.
“Wait, but all the people, they are gone,” the Doctor tries again.
“Gone? No, mate, everybody’s where they should be. See,” he points to the lit window of the nearest house. Just then a figure walks past it. “Everything’s right. And you’d better go home and sleep or you’ll have a headache tomorrow.” The man pats the Doctor’s shoulder and leaves.
The Doctor pulls the glasses on again and looks around. There’s nothing wrong with the street except for those two spots where Rose appeared and disappeared. And these are reeking of void stuff.
“Is it what I think it is?” Jack asks from behind him.
“Yeah,” the Doctor answers simply. “Everybody else is back though.”
“How?”
“That’s a good question, Captain.”
They hear the creek of the door, soft footsteps and Cathie asking, “So, where’s mum?”
As soon as they turn to answer, they are once again blinded by a flash and the spot occupied be the TARDIS only a second ago is absolutely empty.
“…Donna Noble,” comes the voice from behind their backs. “Shit! I was talking to my mother! Oh, you! And you! I’ve been away for a month! A month! Couldn’t you find a way to fix this earlier? Have you even tried? A month! Do you know how hard it is to find a cheap flat in London in one day? No! You don’t! At least this you don’t. And I’ve just started to settle in! And here you ruin it all again! I was in the middle of the sentence when you brought me back! Hasn’t it ever occurred to you I might like to at least finish my sentence or say good bye?!!!”
The gang stares wordlessly at Rose. She glances from one face to another waiting for any response but they seem to be as motionless as they were a moment ago. For a second she feels like throwing her hands is the air and have another go at shouting but the stillness makes her only sigh in disappointment and stroll down the road.
“Now, where’s the TARDIS? I need a change of clothes. Now,” she turns around and gives the Doctor a pointed look.
“A month?” he mimics silently.
“Yeah, a month,” she retorts irritated but as comprehension dawns on her she calms down. “What do you mean? How long it’s been here?”
“Not more than an hour,” Jack steps in.
“Hour?” she falters. “But… I spent a month there. I almost settled in. And now I’m back… But I can’t be. I remember her being there till the end. How?” Rose turns around defeated and walks to the pavement and sits down paying no attention to her clothes or anything else. “I didn’t even say good bye. Again. I had a chance and I screwed it up. He didn’t even know who I was…” she begins crying quietly. All this time she wished to find a way back to this Universe, it was all she worked for and now that she is with the Doctor and Jack and Cathie she feels as lost as she felt all those years ago at Sarah Jane’s.
“Rose,” she feels someone touch her shoulder and she turns her face to see the Doctor. “I’m sorry, but we need to know where you were because just when you came back the TARDIS with Jenny inside disappeared and believe me or not we have nothing to do with this or your returning.”
“You don’t?” she asks hesitantly.
“No, we didn’t really have time to figure this out. The only thing I know for sure is that the places of disappearance reek with void stuff and everybody else in London is back.”
“Wait. I thought it was empty. I mean it’s been over a month and all, but it looked pretty much abandoned,” Rose says wiping the tears with the back of her hand.
“Yeah, it did. We were in the TARDIS, then came out and everybody was back like they never left.”
They stay silent for another moment thinking it over.
“So,” Rose starts. “It’s either the people never went away and that was just a trick or they were gone but have no recollection of it.”
“Yeah. And I still don’t understand why you stopped there in the middle of street right before you disappeared. And yeah, I’m fine, thanks for asking, mum,” Cathie adds.
“Oh, Cathie. I’m sorry. It’s just so… One minute I’m there talking to mum the next I’m back here and it’s only on hour since I left…”
“Wait a minute,” the Doctor interrupts. “What do you mean you were talking to your mother?”
“Exactly that. Just after that flash I opened my eyes only to find I couldn’t see a thing. After some exploring it turned out to be old office at Torchwood on Pete’s world right the day I started in HR. You remember I told you the first one I hired was Donna. So yeah, that was I. I’ve been working there for a month. Strange how the sentence “If you want something to be done, do it yourself” plays out,” she chuckles. “The Doctor… the other one thinks I’m the Donna you used to travel with and nothing else. They only person who actually saw through me was mum and just as I thought things could go well I was pulled back here. Is there anything else you’d like to know?” She says annoyed looking at the Doctor and then after a pause continues. “Good. Can I have a moment with my daughter now?” She’s so like Jackie at this moment the Doctor doesn’t even try to stop her when she turns away from him and walks straight to Cathie.
“You okay, love?” she asks her tenderly. “I missed you so much you know. And thought a lot about what happened between us. And now that I’m back… God knows for how long I just want you to know, that I still love you, even though you closed your mind from me and I can’t feel you as clear as I used to. You know that, don’t you?”
Cathie stares at her surprised. Of all the things Rose could say she definitely didn’t think about this. It came so out of the blue she’s thrown off and doesn’t really know what to say. All the sharp remarks she composed in her head are useless so she does the only thing she can think of, she pulls her mother into a hug and buries her face in the red hair. They both sigh as their emotions leak through the link even as weak and unstable as it is.
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