Come Back To Me 5/15
Pairing: 10/Rose, (with a little 9 in later chapters)
Rating: Teen
Spoilers: This is an AU, Post-Doomsday Reunion Fic. Spoilers include any and all episodes in Series 1-2 of Doctor Who.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, If I did you'd be watching this story on TV
Synopsis: Rose gets a strange visitor who may hold the answers to all she seeks. A romantic Doctor/Rose reunion story, with some action thrown in for good measure.
Previous Chapters
Chapter 5
Going Home
“Goodbye Rose.”
Rose heard Mickey’s last words to her as the world faded. For a moment she felt nothing at all, no light, no dark, no warmth, and no cold. There was no up or down, no left nor right. Then everything came crashing back in a deafening rush.
She doubled over once the ground was solid against her feet again, certain she was going to be sick all over the sidewalk. Every inch of her skin was pulsing back and forth from hot to cold and she couldn’t stop shivering.
“We’ll feel better in just a second,” the boy reassured her through chattering teeth. “It felt like this the last time.”
“You could have warned me,” she chided, trying her hardest not to vomit as she collapsed to the ground and rolled over onto her back.
“’Fraid you wouldn’t come,” he slurred from his place on the ground beside her.
"M’stronger than that." she assured him.
Rose closed her eyes and took quick shallow breaths. Her day’s worth of crying wasn’t helping the situation any. Her stomach felt like it had been beaten with a stick. She sang a soothing song in her head to distract herself as the symptoms slowly abated.
“There,” the boy said though a sigh of obvious relief. “You feel better now too?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “Just give me a second.” Rose slowly stood and looked around to get her bearings.
The big blue bin was exactly where it had been before, with one vital difference. A police public call box was parked beside it, a glorious blue beacon of hope. Rose steeled herself against more tears. She was done crying. She was almost home.
The boy pulled the traveling device out of his pocket and held it up. The once brilliant red marble was now black and cracked like smoky quartz. “Guess that’s it then,” he said, palming the device. “No more Trans-dimensional trips for us. “He looked up at Rose. “You ready to get going.”
Picking up her bags, Rose started towards the TARDIS, the confidence in her stride unflinching, “absolutely.”
It was a homecoming. Everything from the creak of the ancient wooden doors, to the low hum of the TARDIS herself, was as familiar to Rose as breathing. The warmth that surrounded her as she ventured into the room was a severe contrast to the bitter chill outside and for the first time in what seemed like forever, that warmth seeped into her very soul.
Rose placed her things in a dark corner before turning to take in her surroundings. It looked exactly as she remembered, the same otherworldly pillars, the same rickety bench bolted to the floor. She might as well have left the Doctor yesterday. The breath Rose hadn’t been aware of holding caught in her throat as she turned around.
Draped over the place where two of the organic pillars intersected was a length of brown fabric, worn from use and heartbreakingly familiar. She reached out to touch it with shaking hands and scrunched handfuls of the material into her fists. The long coat was soft against her face as she breathed in its unique scent, a comforting combination of tea, aftershave, and good clean soap. Underneath the coat Rose spotted a brown suit jacket with blue pinstripes and giggled as one traitorous tear managed to escape and roll down her cheek. “He doesn’t change his wardrobe much does he?” She asked in an attempt at lightening the mood.
The boy didn’t look fooled. He offered Rose a compassionate smile and cocked his head towards the center console. “What do you say we go find the real thing?” Rose nodded emphatically as she wiped the errant tear off her face.
The boy jumped up to the controls, all exuberance and energy now that he was back in his element. He ran a hand down one of the support struts in the console before flashing Rose an affectionate grin. “She’s happy you’re back,” he said. “She missed you.”
Rose joined the child and placed her hand next to his. “Tell her I missed her too.”
The boy’s grin grew wider as the ship’s constant humming went up a notch in pitch. “She knows.”
Rose looked down at the child and smiled back, only to purse her lips a moment later in sudden contemplation. His eyes seemed awfully bright all of a sudden, even considering the dim lighting of the TARDIS’s interior.
“Hey,” she questioned. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“Oh!” he exclaimed. “I guess you can know now. They glow.”
“You’re joking?” She’d known he wasn’t human, at least not completely, but this caught her a bit off guard. “Really?”
“Yep,” he said, puffing up with pride. “It’s called bioluminescence. Species that live in the dark sometimes develop it for a number of reasons. On your planet many deep sea animals glow to attract prey. My people used to be cave dwellers, so we evolved to see better in the dark.” The boy turned to move further into the shadows. “I have excellent night vision. It’s come in handy more than once.”
Sure enough, Rose realized as the boy turned to face her, the darker the room was, the brighter his eyes glowed. “How come I didn’t notice it in the car?”
“I kept my eyes closed,” he answered. “I didn’t want you or Mickey to see and that’s probably why I fell asleep so easily.”
“Must be kind of a problem when you try and blend in,” she guessed, still trying to wrap her mind around the concept.
“Yeah,” he said. “The Doctor made these special glasses that I wear to block the effect. I forgot them in my room when I went to go find you. I couldn’t exactly come back to get them, you know? I had a bit of trouble when the sun went down, that’s one of the reasons we almost ran out of time.”
Rose frowned. The boy had said he’d been in the other universe for twenty-four hours. How had he avoided being seen?
“Anyway,” he said, shuddering slightly. “Enough about my eyes, I’m sure the Doctor can talk to you about them in great detail in just a few minutes. “Well,” he amended, “once he gets over the initial shock of seeing you that is.”
“How do you know you’re not going to make a mistake again and send us back to him over a year after you left?” Rose asked from beside the boy.
“The TARDIS has a recall function.” The boy pointed towards a spiral shaped lever. “She can remember where we were last and send us back to about the same time, give or take a few days. I hope.” Rose opened her mouth to protest but the boy quickly continued, leaving no room for interruption. “Finding you was much more difficult,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I had to guess.”
“I suppose it was a good guess considering.” Rose replied, ignoring for the moment that he was an amateur.
“Thank you.” He stopped minding the controls for a second. “You might want to hold on to something though. This is only my second time driving her all by myself and the last time was a bit bumpy.”
Rose grabbed one of the organic looking pillars on the other side of the room and held on for dear life. “You couldn’t have given a similar warning before we came through the void?”
“Complain, complain,” the boy chided. “You’re in one piece, aren’t you?”
Rose didn’t comment; she just grasped the pillar tighter.
“Okay,” the boy turned his attention back to the controls. “Let’s get you two back together.”
Almost immediately the TARDIS started to buck and shake. Sparks flew from the console in little blasts as the boy ran to different sections, pushing buttons and pulling levers. Rose almost lost her grip as a violent wave of energy smashed into the hull, causing the textured surface of the pillar to scrap at her palms. The shaking grew so intense she could barely see, but her heart jumped into her throat when the boy yelped following another flash of dangerous sparks.
Quickly releasing the pillar once the shaking finally stopped, Rose scanned the room with her eyes, desperate to make sure the little man was okay. She stepped around the coral-like structure to get a better view, only to see him sprawled inelegantly across the grated floor. Before she could run to see if he was all right the double doors crashed open with a loud bang.
Just like that he was there. The Doctor stood right inside the entrance to the TARDIS, breathing heavily as if he had just run a long distance. His trademark pin striped trousers were wrinkled, his white dress shirt coated in a layer of dust, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. His freckled cheeks were pale with worry, his chestnut hair a right mess, as if restless fingers had run through it repeatedly. Then he spotted the boy.
“Tyler!” The Doctor sprinted over to the small limp body and collapsed to his knees. He gathered the little man up in his arms, running the sonic screwdriver up and down and murmuring frantic, unintelligible words. An audible sigh that Rose hoped was one of relief escaped his lips before he leaned over and tapped the child on the cheek none too gently. “You’re okay Tyler. Wake up.” The boy coughed as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him before opening his eyes and looking up at the Doctor.
“Hey Dad,” the boy replied sheepishly. “I got her home without a scratch.”
Chapter 6