Earthbound, Chapter 18
Chapter Title: A Twist in the Plot
Author: stormwolf10
Summary: Making up goes a bit awry...
Disclaimer: I do not own any Doctor Who canon character.
Flick. Buzz. Flick.
"I spent all that time trying to find you, I'm not going back now!"
Flick. Buzz. Flick.
"But...he's not you..."
Flick. Buzz. POP!
"Bloody hell, Doctor! I swear, you can't go a day without breaking something, can you? What's all this, then, and why was my daughter running past me down the stairs?"
The Doctor looked up to find Jackie's stern form standing in the doorway, her hands on her bathrobe-clad hips, blond hair sticking out in various directions. Looking around, he felt a pang of guilt as he found the shattered pieces of the nightstand lamp's light bulb spread out over the wooden surface. "Ooh, sorry, Jackie. I was just...thinking."
"Does it have anything to do with why Rose looked so upset?"
"Sort of, yes," he mumbled as he shifted to give Jackie room to sit at the edge of the bed.
"Alright, Doctor, what did you do this time?" she asked, crossing her arms.
The Doctor frowned. "I'd rather not talk about it," he muttered again, but Jackie was having none of it. She simply stared at him, both eyebrows lifting towards her hairline until he finally conceded. "Fine. I sort of...went a bit far in expressing my frustration with my other self and his opinion of what I did to the Daleks, which I think was perfectly justified and would have saved several lives that he would have inadvertently let die because he didn't want to commit genocide against the Daleks."
Jackie waited for his diatribe to end with a knowing look in her eyes and a faint scowl. "A bit soon for that, don'tcha think?"
"I know!" he shouted, then took a deep breath and spoke again in a more subdued tone, "I know, Jackie. I apologized almost as soon as I said it, but she still ran off. I didn't mean to upset her. I really didn't. Why can't she understand that?"
"She spent so much time looking for him. That's not just going to go away like that. You've gotta know how she felt when you two were separated."
The Doctor nodded silently. Of course he knew. He felt the same pain, every day since he lost her through the breach. The only difference was that apparently she didn't give up, and he did. In his infinite "wisdom", he forgot that impossible didn't seem to matter when it came to Rose Tyler.
"Just saying your sorry isn't going to patch it all up," Jackie said quietly, then grinned. "You mean to tell me all those years and you haven't figured women out yet?"
"Well, women from Gallifrey, sure," he replied with a rueful grin, "Of all the beings of the world, however, human women have always managed to completely catch me off-guard."
They sat laughing at the Doctor's ineptness with human women until Jackie finally stopped short and looked at him. "So, think you can walk around, then? Before you destroy any more of my lights?"
The Doctor pulled his legs around where Jackie was sitting and slowly stood, testing his legs to see if they'd carry his weight. "Well, they're a little wobbly, but I suppose they're sufficiently sturdy. Why?"
Standing up beside him, Jackie rose on her toes and kissed the Doctor's cheek, "Be a good boy and go find my daughter before she catches her death in the garden, alright?"
============================
Rose tilted her head up to let the raindrops wash over her face as she sat on the little swing set Pete had built for Tony. She wasn't exactly sure why she chose to sit outside and get soaked to the bone, why she didn't just drive, go see a film, get a pint with Jake....something. But no, for some stupid reason she was sitting in the garden risking pneumonia.
"...and you made me better."
Raking drenched hair out of her eyes, she exhaled heavily and shook her head. How? She didn't remember it being this bloody hard. Okay, yes, maybe it was, but she didn't remember being this tired. It had all been new before. Did she have the endurance to deal with another broken Doctor? To hell with the walls closing. She needed her Doctor, the old Doctor, here. She needed to have him smile at her and tell her how brilliant she was. She needed a Doctor to lean on.
"Why did you leave me?" Rose sobbed, dropping her face into her hands.
"I had to..."
Rose launched herself off the swing and spun around, looking in the direction of the voice, ready to leap at the origin and hug him tight, but stopped short. The Doctor in front of her, leaning against one of the support poles of the swing set, his head tilted slightly with large droplets of water dripping off his soggy brown hair, was in a blue suit. Not the Doctor she was hoping for.
"Well, he had to, I mean," the blue-suited Doctor continued, his voice quiet and hesitant, large brown eyes watching her warily, as if he was expecting her to fling herself at him and start pummeling him.
Rose resisted the urge and crossed her arms in front of her, shivering a bit. "Yeah...I remember. Donna..."
"Yeah..."
"I don't...I just don't know if I can do this anymore. I've been running around for so long, trying to find him," she said with another choked sob, "I'm just so tired. And then...and then I find him again...and he just goes away, leaving me with more responsibility as he just leaves again."
"Oh..." The Doctor closed his mouth quickly with a quiet clicking of teeth. "Do you...want me to go?"
"Stop looking at me like that! I...no. No, I don't. I just...I don't know what to do! Just...just leave me alone for a bit."
The Doctor pushed away from the swing set and, instead of walking away, began to walk towards her, hands shoved into is pockets and dark eyes boring into hers. "No, not this time," he said in his best "No Higher Authority in the Universe" voice, "Not while you stand here in the rain and convince yourself I'd be better off without you. We're more alike than you might think, Rose Tyler. I know how this goes, and I'm not going to let it happen."
As she stood there, her mouth half-open in shock, he suddenly sprung into action. She found herself immediately wrapped in his arms, his mouth upon hers, one hand tangling in her hair. Thinking suddenly became rather difficult, whatever this "thinking" thing was, and her own arms instinctively slid around his thin body, clinging tightly to him until he slowly pulled away, and she blinked her eyes open to stare hazily up at him.
The Doctor kept her tight against him as he whispered, the hand in her hair drifting down to brush gently against her cheek. "He would have never done this if he thought you couldn't do it. I'm sorry I've made this hard on you, Rose, really I am, but you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Don't give up on me, okay? I'll get it right one day. I'm still brilliant, you know."
Rose chuckled weakly. "Sometimes I'm not so sure about that."
"Oh, quiet you," he growled playfully and leaned in for another kiss. He was tender this time, his lips playing over hers, teeth lightly grazing her bottom lip.
Someone cleared their throat and almost -- almost -- jarred them out of their moment. Thinking it was Pete, Rose reached out a hand behind the Doctor and gave a little shooing motion.
"Well, I never!"
"How long are they going to do that?"
"Rose??"
"But, Grandfather, who is that?"
The Doctor and Rose both spun away from each other to face the gaggle of people standing there in a place that neither Rose, nor the Doctor, had been standing just a moment before. Grey stone walls surrounded them and Rose grimaced in discomfort as she found herself backed against what looked like a huge sarcophagus.
"Wait a moment," a man in an insanely colorful coat said as he stepped forward, ignoring Rose as he seemed to be staring through the Doctor, who was staring back at the man as if he was looking at a ghost, "You idiots! You grabbed the wrong man!"
"What??" shouted the other nine men in unison.
Author: stormwolf10
Summary: Making up goes a bit awry...
Disclaimer: I do not own any Doctor Who canon character.
Flick. Buzz. Flick.
"I spent all that time trying to find you, I'm not going back now!"
Flick. Buzz. Flick.
"But...he's not you..."
Flick. Buzz. POP!
"Bloody hell, Doctor! I swear, you can't go a day without breaking something, can you? What's all this, then, and why was my daughter running past me down the stairs?"
The Doctor looked up to find Jackie's stern form standing in the doorway, her hands on her bathrobe-clad hips, blond hair sticking out in various directions. Looking around, he felt a pang of guilt as he found the shattered pieces of the nightstand lamp's light bulb spread out over the wooden surface. "Ooh, sorry, Jackie. I was just...thinking."
"Does it have anything to do with why Rose looked so upset?"
"Sort of, yes," he mumbled as he shifted to give Jackie room to sit at the edge of the bed.
"Alright, Doctor, what did you do this time?" she asked, crossing her arms.
The Doctor frowned. "I'd rather not talk about it," he muttered again, but Jackie was having none of it. She simply stared at him, both eyebrows lifting towards her hairline until he finally conceded. "Fine. I sort of...went a bit far in expressing my frustration with my other self and his opinion of what I did to the Daleks, which I think was perfectly justified and would have saved several lives that he would have inadvertently let die because he didn't want to commit genocide against the Daleks."
Jackie waited for his diatribe to end with a knowing look in her eyes and a faint scowl. "A bit soon for that, don'tcha think?"
"I know!" he shouted, then took a deep breath and spoke again in a more subdued tone, "I know, Jackie. I apologized almost as soon as I said it, but she still ran off. I didn't mean to upset her. I really didn't. Why can't she understand that?"
"She spent so much time looking for him. That's not just going to go away like that. You've gotta know how she felt when you two were separated."
The Doctor nodded silently. Of course he knew. He felt the same pain, every day since he lost her through the breach. The only difference was that apparently she didn't give up, and he did. In his infinite "wisdom", he forgot that impossible didn't seem to matter when it came to Rose Tyler.
"Just saying your sorry isn't going to patch it all up," Jackie said quietly, then grinned. "You mean to tell me all those years and you haven't figured women out yet?"
"Well, women from Gallifrey, sure," he replied with a rueful grin, "Of all the beings of the world, however, human women have always managed to completely catch me off-guard."
They sat laughing at the Doctor's ineptness with human women until Jackie finally stopped short and looked at him. "So, think you can walk around, then? Before you destroy any more of my lights?"
The Doctor pulled his legs around where Jackie was sitting and slowly stood, testing his legs to see if they'd carry his weight. "Well, they're a little wobbly, but I suppose they're sufficiently sturdy. Why?"
Standing up beside him, Jackie rose on her toes and kissed the Doctor's cheek, "Be a good boy and go find my daughter before she catches her death in the garden, alright?"
============================
Rose tilted her head up to let the raindrops wash over her face as she sat on the little swing set Pete had built for Tony. She wasn't exactly sure why she chose to sit outside and get soaked to the bone, why she didn't just drive, go see a film, get a pint with Jake....something. But no, for some stupid reason she was sitting in the garden risking pneumonia.
"...and you made me better."
Raking drenched hair out of her eyes, she exhaled heavily and shook her head. How? She didn't remember it being this bloody hard. Okay, yes, maybe it was, but she didn't remember being this tired. It had all been new before. Did she have the endurance to deal with another broken Doctor? To hell with the walls closing. She needed her Doctor, the old Doctor, here. She needed to have him smile at her and tell her how brilliant she was. She needed a Doctor to lean on.
"Why did you leave me?" Rose sobbed, dropping her face into her hands.
"I had to..."
Rose launched herself off the swing and spun around, looking in the direction of the voice, ready to leap at the origin and hug him tight, but stopped short. The Doctor in front of her, leaning against one of the support poles of the swing set, his head tilted slightly with large droplets of water dripping off his soggy brown hair, was in a blue suit. Not the Doctor she was hoping for.
"Well, he had to, I mean," the blue-suited Doctor continued, his voice quiet and hesitant, large brown eyes watching her warily, as if he was expecting her to fling herself at him and start pummeling him.
Rose resisted the urge and crossed her arms in front of her, shivering a bit. "Yeah...I remember. Donna..."
"Yeah..."
"I don't...I just don't know if I can do this anymore. I've been running around for so long, trying to find him," she said with another choked sob, "I'm just so tired. And then...and then I find him again...and he just goes away, leaving me with more responsibility as he just leaves again."
"Oh..." The Doctor closed his mouth quickly with a quiet clicking of teeth. "Do you...want me to go?"
"Stop looking at me like that! I...no. No, I don't. I just...I don't know what to do! Just...just leave me alone for a bit."
The Doctor pushed away from the swing set and, instead of walking away, began to walk towards her, hands shoved into is pockets and dark eyes boring into hers. "No, not this time," he said in his best "No Higher Authority in the Universe" voice, "Not while you stand here in the rain and convince yourself I'd be better off without you. We're more alike than you might think, Rose Tyler. I know how this goes, and I'm not going to let it happen."
As she stood there, her mouth half-open in shock, he suddenly sprung into action. She found herself immediately wrapped in his arms, his mouth upon hers, one hand tangling in her hair. Thinking suddenly became rather difficult, whatever this "thinking" thing was, and her own arms instinctively slid around his thin body, clinging tightly to him until he slowly pulled away, and she blinked her eyes open to stare hazily up at him.
The Doctor kept her tight against him as he whispered, the hand in her hair drifting down to brush gently against her cheek. "He would have never done this if he thought you couldn't do it. I'm sorry I've made this hard on you, Rose, really I am, but you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Don't give up on me, okay? I'll get it right one day. I'm still brilliant, you know."
Rose chuckled weakly. "Sometimes I'm not so sure about that."
"Oh, quiet you," he growled playfully and leaned in for another kiss. He was tender this time, his lips playing over hers, teeth lightly grazing her bottom lip.
Someone cleared their throat and almost -- almost -- jarred them out of their moment. Thinking it was Pete, Rose reached out a hand behind the Doctor and gave a little shooing motion.
"Well, I never!"
"How long are they going to do that?"
"Rose??"
"But, Grandfather, who is that?"
The Doctor and Rose both spun away from each other to face the gaggle of people standing there in a place that neither Rose, nor the Doctor, had been standing just a moment before. Grey stone walls surrounded them and Rose grimaced in discomfort as she found herself backed against what looked like a huge sarcophagus.
"Wait a moment," a man in an insanely colorful coat said as he stepped forward, ignoring Rose as he seemed to be staring through the Doctor, who was staring back at the man as if he was looking at a ghost, "You idiots! You grabbed the wrong man!"
"What??" shouted the other nine men in unison.