DW Fic: Relative Humanity (2/10)
Title: Relative Humanity (2/10)
Author: irishlullaby / RamblingRose
Rated: R
Warnings: Will contain adult content in later chapter
Summary: (Nine/Rose) The Doctor takes on a human form to hide from the Family of Blood… He thinks he’s a writer and Rose is his assistant.
Chapter One
The Doctor held up a fob watch. "You see this Rose?" he asked. "You have to keep it safe. It will contain everything I am. To the family I will seem like I'm human. I'll think I'm human. Physically I will be human. Everything about me will be human."
"What about me?" Rose asked, taking the fob watch when he handed it to her and cradling it in her hands.
"I don't know what sort of role you'll be playing in all of this, maybe the chameleon arc will do something to make me remember you on a subconscious level," the Doctor replied, rushing around the console, connecting wires and pulling levers. "I think we've shaken them for now but they're not that far behind us. It's only a matter of time before they catch up to us." He cupped her cheek and stroked the apple with his thumb. "Three months. That's all Rose. That's the longest we'll be apart. When those three months are up, just open the watch and I'll be me again."
Rose's eyes went to the chameleon arc hanging from the ceiling. "Will it hurt? Making you human? Will it hurt?"
"I'm afraid so," he said, his voice trembling. He really didn't want her to witness it. But in this matter he didn't have a choice. There was going to be precious little time to get him out and away from the TARDIS before he became fully aware of himself in human form.
Mauve lights started bleeping on the console. The Doctor swore and raced to the console to see what was going on. "They've locked on to us... We have to hurry because the TARDIS will switch to emergency backup as soon as I've been changed."
"Isn't there anything you can do to throw them off your trail the tiniest bit?" Rose asked, joining him at the console and doing her best to help him steer his ship. He looked at her and grinned wickedly.
"Rose Tyler, you're a genius," he boasted. "I can't get us much leeway but I can at least buy us a small bit of safety!"
"Where are we going then?" Rose asked.
"London. 2007," he grinned and started turning dials.
#
John's eyes fluttered open as he caught a faint whiff of Rose's perfume. He raised his head from where it had fallen backwards during his writing marathon and he had fallen asleep. Next to his typewriter was a glass of rose wine and some sandwiches cut into squares on a paper towel. On the towel, Rose had wrote the short missive of "See you in the morning sleeping beauty!" under-scored by two hearts and her name.
He pulled himself out of his chair, stretched, and picked up his glass of wine. John meandered to his window to gaze out. It was surprisingly quiet for a London street. He sort of wished he had opted for a place closer to the busier streets. When he wasn't writing, he liked to wander the streets and see what sort of trouble he could get into. It was easy to hide in the plain site of thousands. He could people watch and brain storm what he wanted to do with the book series.
It also proved a nice distraction from thinking about Rose, even when she was along side him. There was always something going on in London that proved to be inspiration for his writing. Not too long ago he had used an accident with a plane crashing into Big Ben to do a first draft on a book with farting aliens in human-skin suits. But, he still felt there were a few more stories that needed to come before it so he couldn't submit it to the publisher just yet.
He was just a bit stuck as for how to start his story. He had to properly introduce the new face for The Doctor and start the plot lines that included the plucky new companion, Rose. Although, perhaps, he needed to pick a new name to make it less obvious who the inspiration for the latest companion.
John sipped at his wine and found himself smiling. It was something he had started to do a lot of since Rose stumbled into his life two months earlier. He had just convinced the publishers to give him a seconds chance--he was older and more mature now, surely he could keep the book series his father started on it's traditional path while still making it modern. They had given him an advance and he saw it as a means of hiring an assistant to see to his daily duties so he could concentrate on his writing.
That's where Rose came in. She hadn't been the first to interview, nor had she been the last. She had been one of those that had just stuck in his brain during the entire process and she was the one he came back to. Maybe it had been the way he felt comfortable around her--although his agent was convinced he was just being a "dirty dog and ogling the young, pretty blonde." Whatever it was, Rose had been a source of inspiration for him thus far.
He'd toss an idea at her. Sometimes it would be to ask her what she thought of an alien planet he had dreamt up. She would get a far away look in her eyes and add small details to it that he hadn't thought of. Such as when he had an idea of an ice planet, and she went on about frozen waves and woman-shaped continents. She had been so enthusiastic about it that he catalogued the ideas away for future use. Some of them were even on his growing outline so he wouldn’t forget them.
Maybe if he moulded the newest series around her ideas, maybe he could get her to read them. If he could get her to read them, maybe she'd realize what he felt about her.
But then she might leave, the little irritating voice in the back of his head piped in.
"Oh shut it, you," John muttered, sipping his wine.
A sudden green flash caught his eye and he followed the streak of light across the sky.
That was quite peculiar, as there had been no reports of a meteor shower for that night.
John gulped down the remainder of his wine and quickly found his shoes. Based on the incline of the descent, it was going to land somewhere close by. It was a once in a life time chance and John was not about to miss it. If he hurried, he could probably find it first.
Within minutes, John was running through the streets, following the streak of light. He narrowly avoided being run over three times while dashing across the motorway. Adrenaline fuelled his journey and he looked up occasionally to make certain it was still falling. It disappeared ahead of him and a mighty tremble in the ground made him lose his footing and he tumbled to the ground while the few people walking along the streets cried out in surprise at the sudden, short earthquake.
John hurried to his feet and grinned broadly. "Battersea Park! Fantastic!" he exclaimed and resumed his hurried gait. And he had no idea of whom he had been addressing. Maybe he had been talking to himself. It was a bit of a habit he possessed.
As John neared the park, he spotted two other sprinting forms, coming from opposite directions. One, obviously male was coming from the east end of Prince of Wale Drive, while a female was coming from west end. John, himself, exited Cambridge Road and the three of them converged at the entrance to Battersea Park, panting heavily.
John did a double-take as he realized who the two were. Rose, his assistant and Jack Harkness, his agent. "Did you see it too?" he asked.
"Yeah," Rose said, still trying to catch her breath. "It's inside the park." She frowned when she looked at the closed gates. "There's no way in... gates are locked up." Rose looked at John as though she expected him to pull out a magical wand that could unlock the gates.
"What? This isn't Harry Potter, I haven't got anything to unlock it with," John replied to her look.
"Guys," Jack drawled in his American accent, just right of the gate. "There's a rubbish bin next to the fence. All we got to do is climb on top and hop over." As if to demonstrate, Jack did precisely that, landing gracefully on his feet on the other side.
John held his hand out to Rose. "Ladies first?" he offered with a grin.
Rose beamed at him and took his hand. John pulled her close. She drew her bottom lip in between her teeth and her breath hitched as she looked up at him. her hands pressed against the front of his jumper and she searched his eyes. "That's polite of you," she said softly, her eyes coming to rest on his mouth.
Rose's breath hitched again and she stepped back, turning toward the rubbish bin. John gave her a boost onto it and Jack was waiting on the other side to help her over. Once she was safely on the ground, John went over the gate as well. The three of them shared sneaky grins. It was almost like something his character, The Doctor, would do in one of his books.
"By the way, fancy meeting you lot here," John said.
"Couldn't pass up an opportunity to possibly get into trouble," Jack replied with a wink. "Had a feeling you two would show up." He nodded towards the trees across the entrance pavement. "It went that way."
The three of them dashed into the trees, making their way past the two buildings and into the open area behind them.
"Where do you reckon it made landfall?" John asked.
"Based on the descent pattern it should be somewhere near the practice pitches," Jack supplied.
They ran until they reached the gate nearest the Albert Bridge. They looked around in confusion. "It should have been somewhere close by," Jack murmured. "Unless it landed instead of crashed..."
"Maybe we should split up and look," Rose suggested. "It shouldn't be any further than Fountain Lake, should it?"
"Actually," Jack replied. "I'm thinking if we reach the lakes it'll be too far. But you're right. We need to split up. I'll head along North Carriage and check the north pitches, Rose, you head towards the tennis courts. Doc, you search the middle pitches. You both have my number if you find anything."
Before John could object, Jack trotted off. When John turned to address Rose, she was already bouncing off towards the tennis courts. John hurried after her and caught up quickly, sliding his hand into hers when he did. "We're going the same way, aren't we?" John asked.
"We can look together, yeah?" Rose suggested. "And if any monsters pop up, I can protect you."
"Glad I have you then. Rubbish at fighting monsters, me," John teased.
Rose giggled and looked down at her feet as they walked, hand-in-hand towards the practice pitches. She leaned her cheek on his arm. "I dunno," she said. "I think you'd do good at fighting monsters. But you'd definitely try to talk them out of whatever it is they're doing first."
"I'm a lover not a fighter, Rose," John chuckled. "And by lover I mean 'writer'..."
Rose looked up at him, she batted her eye lashes innocently. "Writers are the best sort of lovers, yeah?" John sputtered nervously as he tried to think of a way to respond that wouldn't come off as bordering sexual harassment. Rose trilled with laughter and nudged him with her shoulder. "You don't have to answer that. Just me being cheeky."
John could feel his face warm as she stroked his arm. He was secretly glad she had been joking. He would have had to figure out a polite way of saying he was ludicrously out of practice in the romance department. He was so out of practice that he had blundered it in his last book. He had even gotten death threats from local feminist groups, he had done so terrible at it.
After about a minute, their stride turned into a slow, almost leisurely stroll. This happened almost every time they went anywhere. They'd grab onto each other's hands and bounce around, then start meandering as a couple on a date, not wanting it to end. When they reached the pitches, there was nothing on the grounds that would make one suspect foul play.
Rose pursed her lips. "Hold on," she said curiously. "Look at those trees... they're a bit wrecked."
John looked in the direction Rose had looked off in. Certainly enough, some of the trees on the edge of the pitch had their limbs knocked off or had been knocked askew. But there was nothing there to denote a crashed meteor. "It must have burned up," John said, sighing with annoyance. "That's a bit disappointing. I'd hoped to drag it to a blacksmith and have them make me a mystical sword."
Rose snorted and swatted him. "Let's go get Jack and tell him that it was nothing."
As they headed back toward the direction Jack had gone, John glanced at Rose. "I didn't know you lived close by."
"Close enough," Rose shrugged, stroking his fingers between her own. "I saw the meteor, came running. Looks like it was the same with you and Jack."
John squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you did." He took a deep breath. "Rose... I have to go to a signing Saturday."
"Since when?"
"Jack arranged it with Waterstones. He thought it might drum up some interest in the new series that's coming up," John said with a sigh. "I was wondering if you might want to come along."
Rose looked at him speculatively. "I'm your assistant, of course I'm going to be there."
Right. He hadn't thought of that. "I meant in a less... work-esque type of --"
"Are you trying to ask me on a date?" she asked with a grin.
John felt his face warm. "Sort of, yeah. I'm blundering it, aren't I? Not too good at this sort me... If you don't want to, you can say no. I just... thought--"
"Yes," Rose interrupted. "But I want it to be a proper date. None of the inviting me for chips then having me pay." She looked up at him, smiling brightly. "I'll wear my best dress. We can go dancing."
John laughed nervously. If he had known she would be so eager, he would have asked her ages ago instead of fretting over it for two months. He wondered if, perhaps he should kiss her if he should wait until the night of the date.
"I got nothin'," Jack said as they reached him. "What about you?
"Just a few broken tree limbs, nothing else," John said. "I say we head home and forget about it."
Jack and Rose shared a look then looked at John. "I can walk home with him. He's not too far off from me," Rose offered. "And if it's too late when we get there, I can just... stay in the guest room or somethin'."
Jack's eyebrows arched with amusement. "And you don't invite me? For shame Rose Tyler," he teased then gave them a wink. "Let's leave... Nothing to worry over, it seems."
The trio made their way back to the main gate and back onto the rubbish bin. John offered his arm to Rose and she gladly took it. Jack headed off in the direction John could only guess was his flat.
As John and Rose started the trek back to his flat, they didn't see the lone form stagger out of nowhere and sniff deeply at the air.
Author: irishlullaby / RamblingRose
Rated: R
Warnings: Will contain adult content in later chapter
Summary: (Nine/Rose) The Doctor takes on a human form to hide from the Family of Blood… He thinks he’s a writer and Rose is his assistant.
Chapter One
The Doctor held up a fob watch. "You see this Rose?" he asked. "You have to keep it safe. It will contain everything I am. To the family I will seem like I'm human. I'll think I'm human. Physically I will be human. Everything about me will be human."
"What about me?" Rose asked, taking the fob watch when he handed it to her and cradling it in her hands.
"I don't know what sort of role you'll be playing in all of this, maybe the chameleon arc will do something to make me remember you on a subconscious level," the Doctor replied, rushing around the console, connecting wires and pulling levers. "I think we've shaken them for now but they're not that far behind us. It's only a matter of time before they catch up to us." He cupped her cheek and stroked the apple with his thumb. "Three months. That's all Rose. That's the longest we'll be apart. When those three months are up, just open the watch and I'll be me again."
Rose's eyes went to the chameleon arc hanging from the ceiling. "Will it hurt? Making you human? Will it hurt?"
"I'm afraid so," he said, his voice trembling. He really didn't want her to witness it. But in this matter he didn't have a choice. There was going to be precious little time to get him out and away from the TARDIS before he became fully aware of himself in human form.
Mauve lights started bleeping on the console. The Doctor swore and raced to the console to see what was going on. "They've locked on to us... We have to hurry because the TARDIS will switch to emergency backup as soon as I've been changed."
"Isn't there anything you can do to throw them off your trail the tiniest bit?" Rose asked, joining him at the console and doing her best to help him steer his ship. He looked at her and grinned wickedly.
"Rose Tyler, you're a genius," he boasted. "I can't get us much leeway but I can at least buy us a small bit of safety!"
"Where are we going then?" Rose asked.
"London. 2007," he grinned and started turning dials.
#
John's eyes fluttered open as he caught a faint whiff of Rose's perfume. He raised his head from where it had fallen backwards during his writing marathon and he had fallen asleep. Next to his typewriter was a glass of rose wine and some sandwiches cut into squares on a paper towel. On the towel, Rose had wrote the short missive of "See you in the morning sleeping beauty!" under-scored by two hearts and her name.
He pulled himself out of his chair, stretched, and picked up his glass of wine. John meandered to his window to gaze out. It was surprisingly quiet for a London street. He sort of wished he had opted for a place closer to the busier streets. When he wasn't writing, he liked to wander the streets and see what sort of trouble he could get into. It was easy to hide in the plain site of thousands. He could people watch and brain storm what he wanted to do with the book series.
It also proved a nice distraction from thinking about Rose, even when she was along side him. There was always something going on in London that proved to be inspiration for his writing. Not too long ago he had used an accident with a plane crashing into Big Ben to do a first draft on a book with farting aliens in human-skin suits. But, he still felt there were a few more stories that needed to come before it so he couldn't submit it to the publisher just yet.
He was just a bit stuck as for how to start his story. He had to properly introduce the new face for The Doctor and start the plot lines that included the plucky new companion, Rose. Although, perhaps, he needed to pick a new name to make it less obvious who the inspiration for the latest companion.
John sipped at his wine and found himself smiling. It was something he had started to do a lot of since Rose stumbled into his life two months earlier. He had just convinced the publishers to give him a seconds chance--he was older and more mature now, surely he could keep the book series his father started on it's traditional path while still making it modern. They had given him an advance and he saw it as a means of hiring an assistant to see to his daily duties so he could concentrate on his writing.
That's where Rose came in. She hadn't been the first to interview, nor had she been the last. She had been one of those that had just stuck in his brain during the entire process and she was the one he came back to. Maybe it had been the way he felt comfortable around her--although his agent was convinced he was just being a "dirty dog and ogling the young, pretty blonde." Whatever it was, Rose had been a source of inspiration for him thus far.
He'd toss an idea at her. Sometimes it would be to ask her what she thought of an alien planet he had dreamt up. She would get a far away look in her eyes and add small details to it that he hadn't thought of. Such as when he had an idea of an ice planet, and she went on about frozen waves and woman-shaped continents. She had been so enthusiastic about it that he catalogued the ideas away for future use. Some of them were even on his growing outline so he wouldn’t forget them.
Maybe if he moulded the newest series around her ideas, maybe he could get her to read them. If he could get her to read them, maybe she'd realize what he felt about her.
But then she might leave, the little irritating voice in the back of his head piped in.
"Oh shut it, you," John muttered, sipping his wine.
A sudden green flash caught his eye and he followed the streak of light across the sky.
That was quite peculiar, as there had been no reports of a meteor shower for that night.
John gulped down the remainder of his wine and quickly found his shoes. Based on the incline of the descent, it was going to land somewhere close by. It was a once in a life time chance and John was not about to miss it. If he hurried, he could probably find it first.
Within minutes, John was running through the streets, following the streak of light. He narrowly avoided being run over three times while dashing across the motorway. Adrenaline fuelled his journey and he looked up occasionally to make certain it was still falling. It disappeared ahead of him and a mighty tremble in the ground made him lose his footing and he tumbled to the ground while the few people walking along the streets cried out in surprise at the sudden, short earthquake.
John hurried to his feet and grinned broadly. "Battersea Park! Fantastic!" he exclaimed and resumed his hurried gait. And he had no idea of whom he had been addressing. Maybe he had been talking to himself. It was a bit of a habit he possessed.
As John neared the park, he spotted two other sprinting forms, coming from opposite directions. One, obviously male was coming from the east end of Prince of Wale Drive, while a female was coming from west end. John, himself, exited Cambridge Road and the three of them converged at the entrance to Battersea Park, panting heavily.
John did a double-take as he realized who the two were. Rose, his assistant and Jack Harkness, his agent. "Did you see it too?" he asked.
"Yeah," Rose said, still trying to catch her breath. "It's inside the park." She frowned when she looked at the closed gates. "There's no way in... gates are locked up." Rose looked at John as though she expected him to pull out a magical wand that could unlock the gates.
"What? This isn't Harry Potter, I haven't got anything to unlock it with," John replied to her look.
"Guys," Jack drawled in his American accent, just right of the gate. "There's a rubbish bin next to the fence. All we got to do is climb on top and hop over." As if to demonstrate, Jack did precisely that, landing gracefully on his feet on the other side.
John held his hand out to Rose. "Ladies first?" he offered with a grin.
Rose beamed at him and took his hand. John pulled her close. She drew her bottom lip in between her teeth and her breath hitched as she looked up at him. her hands pressed against the front of his jumper and she searched his eyes. "That's polite of you," she said softly, her eyes coming to rest on his mouth.
Rose's breath hitched again and she stepped back, turning toward the rubbish bin. John gave her a boost onto it and Jack was waiting on the other side to help her over. Once she was safely on the ground, John went over the gate as well. The three of them shared sneaky grins. It was almost like something his character, The Doctor, would do in one of his books.
"By the way, fancy meeting you lot here," John said.
"Couldn't pass up an opportunity to possibly get into trouble," Jack replied with a wink. "Had a feeling you two would show up." He nodded towards the trees across the entrance pavement. "It went that way."
The three of them dashed into the trees, making their way past the two buildings and into the open area behind them.
"Where do you reckon it made landfall?" John asked.
"Based on the descent pattern it should be somewhere near the practice pitches," Jack supplied.
They ran until they reached the gate nearest the Albert Bridge. They looked around in confusion. "It should have been somewhere close by," Jack murmured. "Unless it landed instead of crashed..."
"Maybe we should split up and look," Rose suggested. "It shouldn't be any further than Fountain Lake, should it?"
"Actually," Jack replied. "I'm thinking if we reach the lakes it'll be too far. But you're right. We need to split up. I'll head along North Carriage and check the north pitches, Rose, you head towards the tennis courts. Doc, you search the middle pitches. You both have my number if you find anything."
Before John could object, Jack trotted off. When John turned to address Rose, she was already bouncing off towards the tennis courts. John hurried after her and caught up quickly, sliding his hand into hers when he did. "We're going the same way, aren't we?" John asked.
"We can look together, yeah?" Rose suggested. "And if any monsters pop up, I can protect you."
"Glad I have you then. Rubbish at fighting monsters, me," John teased.
Rose giggled and looked down at her feet as they walked, hand-in-hand towards the practice pitches. She leaned her cheek on his arm. "I dunno," she said. "I think you'd do good at fighting monsters. But you'd definitely try to talk them out of whatever it is they're doing first."
"I'm a lover not a fighter, Rose," John chuckled. "And by lover I mean 'writer'..."
Rose looked up at him, she batted her eye lashes innocently. "Writers are the best sort of lovers, yeah?" John sputtered nervously as he tried to think of a way to respond that wouldn't come off as bordering sexual harassment. Rose trilled with laughter and nudged him with her shoulder. "You don't have to answer that. Just me being cheeky."
John could feel his face warm as she stroked his arm. He was secretly glad she had been joking. He would have had to figure out a polite way of saying he was ludicrously out of practice in the romance department. He was so out of practice that he had blundered it in his last book. He had even gotten death threats from local feminist groups, he had done so terrible at it.
After about a minute, their stride turned into a slow, almost leisurely stroll. This happened almost every time they went anywhere. They'd grab onto each other's hands and bounce around, then start meandering as a couple on a date, not wanting it to end. When they reached the pitches, there was nothing on the grounds that would make one suspect foul play.
Rose pursed her lips. "Hold on," she said curiously. "Look at those trees... they're a bit wrecked."
John looked in the direction Rose had looked off in. Certainly enough, some of the trees on the edge of the pitch had their limbs knocked off or had been knocked askew. But there was nothing there to denote a crashed meteor. "It must have burned up," John said, sighing with annoyance. "That's a bit disappointing. I'd hoped to drag it to a blacksmith and have them make me a mystical sword."
Rose snorted and swatted him. "Let's go get Jack and tell him that it was nothing."
As they headed back toward the direction Jack had gone, John glanced at Rose. "I didn't know you lived close by."
"Close enough," Rose shrugged, stroking his fingers between her own. "I saw the meteor, came running. Looks like it was the same with you and Jack."
John squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you did." He took a deep breath. "Rose... I have to go to a signing Saturday."
"Since when?"
"Jack arranged it with Waterstones. He thought it might drum up some interest in the new series that's coming up," John said with a sigh. "I was wondering if you might want to come along."
Rose looked at him speculatively. "I'm your assistant, of course I'm going to be there."
Right. He hadn't thought of that. "I meant in a less... work-esque type of --"
"Are you trying to ask me on a date?" she asked with a grin.
John felt his face warm. "Sort of, yeah. I'm blundering it, aren't I? Not too good at this sort me... If you don't want to, you can say no. I just... thought--"
"Yes," Rose interrupted. "But I want it to be a proper date. None of the inviting me for chips then having me pay." She looked up at him, smiling brightly. "I'll wear my best dress. We can go dancing."
John laughed nervously. If he had known she would be so eager, he would have asked her ages ago instead of fretting over it for two months. He wondered if, perhaps he should kiss her if he should wait until the night of the date.
"I got nothin'," Jack said as they reached him. "What about you?
"Just a few broken tree limbs, nothing else," John said. "I say we head home and forget about it."
Jack and Rose shared a look then looked at John. "I can walk home with him. He's not too far off from me," Rose offered. "And if it's too late when we get there, I can just... stay in the guest room or somethin'."
Jack's eyebrows arched with amusement. "And you don't invite me? For shame Rose Tyler," he teased then gave them a wink. "Let's leave... Nothing to worry over, it seems."
The trio made their way back to the main gate and back onto the rubbish bin. John offered his arm to Rose and she gladly took it. Jack headed off in the direction John could only guess was his flat.
As John and Rose started the trek back to his flat, they didn't see the lone form stagger out of nowhere and sniff deeply at the air.