Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ Rose and Ten The Inbetweens and backstories ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

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Rose settles down to life in the TARDIS with her new Doctor.

There’s a visit to Clacton mentioned in The Price of Paradise BY COLIN BRAKE, also a face and a flap of skin.

Non Anime: Doctor Who Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.13.2016 | Pages: 22 | Words: 7.9K | Visits: 390 | Status: Completed

Whilst the Doctor shut down the console, Rose hurried out down the ramp and looked out side. This was her favourite bit of travelling with him, looking out on all the wonderful vistas for the first time.

'Where are we exactly?' she asked with a frown.

He walked down the ramp to join her. `It's the year five billion and twenty three. We're in the galaxy M87; and this . . .'

'Cos it looks like a Clacton to me,' Rose finished.

'What makes you think it's Clacton?'

'That buildin' there on stilts, with the words "Clacton Pier" over the entrance,' she said, folding her arms and pouting her lips. 'Is this another one of those TARDIS hiccups?'

The Doctor shrugged on his long coat and scratched the back of his head. 'Yeah, must be,' he said sheepishly. Then he gave her his boyish grin. 'Still; look on the bright side; at least we can get an ice cream. A sort of stop off at the motorway services on our journey.'

Rose pulled up the hood on her light blue hoodie, and fell in step beside him, automatically holding his hand. They were heading towards "Luigi's Ices" on the sea front. The sign hanging in the door said "closed", but the Doctor knocked anyway as the lights were on and he could see someone moving about inside.

'We-a closed,' a male Italian voice called out.

'Sorry,' the Doctor called back cheerfully. 'We've only just arrived in town and were hoping to get a couple of 99s, y'know, the ones with the chocolate Flake stuck in them.'

'I know-a what a 99 is,' the elderly Luigi said as he walked to the door. He unlocked the door and opened it to see what pair of idiots would want an ice cream on a cold, wet, winters day. 'It's-a the middle of winter,' he announced, in case they had missed the point.

'We know,' the tall man in front of him nodded, his dishevelled hair lagging behind the movement.

'It's-a cold.'

'We know,' the cute blonde said, snuggling up to the tall man and hugging his arm.

'An' it's-a raining.'

'Is this a new service they provide now at the seaside, weather information with purchases?'

Rose nudged him to behave. 'We know, but it's the seaside and it's sort of traditional, innit.'

"Ah, young lovers" he thought to himself. Oblivious to the cold, the wet, and everything else except each other. He sighed and gave them a warm, fatherly smile. 'How could I disappoint the pretty young lady? You want-a sauce and sprinkles on your cones?'

The Doctor looked as though he'd explode with excitement. 'Strawberry sauce and "hundreds and thousands"! This day just keeps getting better and better.'

They walked along the damp sand, arm-in-arm, eating their ice cream cones. Rose watched as the Doctor's very dextrous tongue licked around the edge of the cone, preventing any ice cream from dribbling down. For a reason she couldn't explain, she found it very arousing.

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Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and looked on in wonder at the sight in front of her. Across a wide river, was a futuristic city with flying cars and everything.

The Doctor stepped out behind her and closed the door. `It's the year five billion and twenty three. We're in the galaxy M87; and this . . . ? This is New Earth,' he said, finally getting it right this time.

`That's just. That's just . . .' She started to laugh as a feeling of joy overwhelmed her.

`Not bad. Not bad at all,' the Doctor said with a smile.

`That's amazing,' she said looking around at the cars flying past. `I'll never get used to this . . . Never.' She started jumping up and down. `Different ground beneath my feet, different sky. What's that smell?' Her jumping had disturbed the ground beneath her.

He stooped down and snatched a little of the vegetation. `Apple grass,' he said rubbing it with his fingers to release the smell.

`Apple grass,' she laughed.

`Yeah, yeah,' he laughed in agreement of the wonder of it.

She stood there grinning at him. `It's beautiful. Oh, I love this.' She hugged his arm and went serious for a moment. `Can I just say . . . travelling with you . . . I love it.'

`Me too,' he replied, and they started laughing again, and something that was becoming quite common now, they grinned at each other like idiots. `Come on.' He grabbed her hand and ran, not from danger, not to find trouble, just for the pure joy of running.

He took his long coat off and placed it on the ground like a blanket, so that they could lie comfortably on the grass. Rose lay there, propped up on her elbows, listening to his new voice, studying his new face as he spoke.

`So, the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted.'

`That was our first date,' she remembered.

`We had chips,' he recalled, after they returned to Earth so that Rose could see that everything was all right. `So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, oh yeah, they get all nostalgic, big revival movement, but then find this place, same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit, lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in.'

`What's the city called?' she asked him.

`New New York.'

`Oh, come on.' She thought he was joking.

`It is. It's the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original, so that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York.'

Rose just gazed at him in disbelief. The “old” him was never this . . . light-hearted and seemingly carefree. It was as if the regeneration had removed a burden from his shoulders.

He saw her looking at him. `What?'

`You're so different.'

`New New Doctor,' he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Actually, he thought to himself, he was new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, (new), new Doctor.

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TARDIS Medi-Bay.

`Hold still will you, it won't take long,' the Doctor said.

`But it tickles,' Rose giggled, as he swept a hand held device over her. `Ooh, it's like someone's whispering something naughty in my ear,' she said in a deep, sexy voice.

`Rose . . . ? That is you in there isn't it?' he asked with concern.

`Well deary, I'm sure I've seen her in here somewhere.'

`Cassandra, get out of there, right now!'

Rose collapsed into fits of laughter. `It's me . . . I'm sorry, I couldn't resist it.'

He looked quite worried. `Rose, I could have performed a synaptic retro-fold purge then, it would have turned you into something like your mother!'

Her mouth fell open in horror. `Oh my God, I'm sorry, I didn't realise.'

His face slowly went from stern, through mildly amused, to full on grin. `Only joking, there's no such thing,' he laughed.

`Ooh you.' She slapped his arm playfully. `So is there any lasting damage?'

`No, everything looks fine. You may get some vivid dreams for a while, but nothing scary.'

`Well, thank you Doctor,' she said with a cheeky smile.

They left the Medi-Bay and headed for the living room to relax in front of the television for the evening.

`Don't forget to phone your mother,' he reminded her, with a lopsided smile.

`Oh yeah, thanks.' She took out her mobile and speed dialled her mum. `Hi Mum, it's me. What day is it there? I lose track of time in the TARDIS.'

`Hi Sweetheart, it's lovely to hear from you. It's the Tuesday Christmas Bank holiday.'

`Oh, so it's the same time for us then.'

`Can I hear EastEnders in the background?' Jackie asked.

`Yeah, we're just chillin' out in the livin' room.'

`Blimey, you've got a livin' room . . . hang on, that's the same EastEnders I'm watchin', how'd ya do that then?'

`It's like the phone call Mum, the TARDIS streams the program through the Vortex.'

`I never realised you could do that, it's a proper home from home, innit. So what have you been up to?'

`Oh, we've been to this amazing planet called New Earth, in the year five billion and twenty three, where we met up with some old friends. Well, one old friend who was a face and one flap of skin who was a real bitch.'

`Five billion? Face? Flap of skin? Oh my God, do you know how crazy all that sounds?' Jackie said.

Rose laughed. `I know; it still gives me a buzz every time.' They chatted away like mothers and daughters do all over the world, it just happened that Rose wasn't actually on the same world as her mum.

After the call, she continued to watch TV with the Doctor, when a memory from the day's events suddenly popped into her head. Cassandra had snogged the Doctor!

And she'd done it with her lips! And her tongue!

And . . . it was bloody brilliant!

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The next morning, Rose awoke in her room, and had a momentary loss of orientation, before she realised that she was in the TARDIS and not in the flat. The Doctor had sat in the armchair in her room and chatted to her until she had fallen asleep. She felt guilty about sleeping while he would stay awake, so he said he would tell her a bedtime story to keep her company until she dozed off. She hoped it would become a regular thing, because she loved it.

He was right about the vivid dreams, the one she recalled, was the one that had woken her up. He was also right when he said `nothing scary', it was anything but, and she woke feeling aroused and horny.

She actually blushed when she remembered the dream, which involved the Doctor (of course), some dancing (naturally), some kissing (really?), and . . . well, let's just say that's what made her blush (blimey). She needed a distraction, and so decided to try out the Olympic sized swimming pool the Doctor had told her about.

She rummaged in the bottom drawer and found her Speedo swimsuit, which was red and Mickey said made her look like a Baywatch Babe. She thought wistfully about Mickey for a moment; he'd be back at work this morning after the Christmas break. She pulled the tight swimsuit on and over her shoulders, “does he think about me?” she wondered.

She felt guilty that she was here, living the . . . not jet-set lifestyle . . . it would have to be the space-set lifestyle; whilst he had to labour away in a garage to make a living. She put on a towelling bathrobe, flip-flops on her feet, picked up the large bath towel that she'd remembered to pack this time, and went to find the pool.

The double glass doors opened into a room that would not be out of place in any leisure centre on Earth. She slipped the bath robe off and dropped it on a sun lounger with her towel. Dipping her toe in the water, she found it to be a very comfortable temperature, and walked to the deep end, ready to dive in.

There was a momentary flash of her vivid, erotic dream, which made her blush and shiver. Bringing her arms above her head, she dived into the water and started powering through the water. Next to gymnastics, swimming was her second favourite exercise, and she was a very strong swimmer. She was convinced that swimming at the local baths was the only thing that kept her weight under control, from all the chips that she liked to eat.

The water in the pool seemed odd, as though it wasn't as “wet” as normal water, if that made sense; it seemed more buoyant and less “clingy” than usual. It was fantastic to swim in though, and she did lap after lap, until the dream was just a dream, the emotions that it initially evoked were no longer vivid. Now, she decided, it was time for breakfast.

She climbed out of the pool, and found that she wasn't all that wet, it was that odd water again. She wiped the dampness off her skin with the towel and shrugged on the bathrobe, before heading off to the kitchen.

She decided to have some cornflakes with ice cold milk this morning, which was really refreshing. As she munched away, she noticed a piece of paper resting against the retro looking teapot, which was actually very high tech, as it kept the tea hot and fresh, as though it had just been made.

She reached over and read the note. “Tea in the pot, help yourself” it said. Rose smiled at the thought of him making tea for them both, even though she had to do that very human thing of sleeping. And thinking of “him”, where was he? It was unusually quiet around here this morning. Even though the TARDIS was enormous, you could usually hear noises carrying down the corridors and hallways.

She finished her cornflakes and poured a mug of tea for herself, taking her bowl over to the sink to swill it out before putting it in the dishwasher. She had another reality check, a dishwasher; her mum had never been able to afford a dishwasher. In fact, there were a number of things her mum couldn't afford, and again, she felt a bit guilty about living it up in the TARDIS.

She took her tea back to her room to get dressed, do her hair and make-up, and then be ready for the day's adventure, what ever that may be. Blue denim jeans, pink hoodie, and white trainers seemed to be her “uniform” for adventuring, and she gave herself a grin in the mirror before going to the console room to see where the Doctor was going to take them today.

That was odd; the console room was empty, no legs sticking out from under the console while he tinkered with some unimaginably complex piece of equipment. The time rotor was silent, no grinding wheezing of time and space being bent to the TARDIS's will. There was nothing, only silence

Rose went around to the view screen and switched it on to see if she could see where the Doctor might be. The view screen showed her an ordinary living room, with yellow walls and a seventies feel to it.

`Hmm, I wasn't expecting that,' she said.

She walked around the console and started down the ramp, as the door opened and the Doctor stepped inside. He was wearing his long coat and a sad expression.

`Oh, there you are,' she said as she met him by the door. `Are you all right?'

`What? Me, oh I'm always all right,' he said with a weak smile. `You're up then. Did you sleep well?'

`Er, yeah . . . thanks,' she said distractedly, blushing slightly at the memory of her dream. `So, where have you been? It looks like somebody's living room on the screen.'

`Oh, you looked then? Yes, it's someone's home . . . was someone's home . . . well, still is someone's home . . . but not the mother's, I wasn't able to save her.'

Rose reached for his hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. `Come an' have a sit down, you can tell me about it, an' try an' make more sense this time.'

He gave her a weak smile, and they set off for the living room, dropping his coat over the coral as he went past. Rose did a quick detour into the kitchen to pick up two mugs of tea, and joined him on the sofa.

`While you were asleep, I had an alert come up on the console, an elemental shade had escaped from the Howling Halls,' he told her.

`Sounds like somethin' from Harry Potter,' Rose said with a puzzled expression.

He gave a single laugh. `It might as well have been, they are living shadows, the stuff of legends, and nightmares, the Bogeyman, Night Terrors, there are numerous names for them.'

`What, those things are real?' Rose said, suddenly concerned.

`Oh yes, but they are safely locked up in the Howling Halls, pockets in the Void, like bubbles in reality. Unfortunately, one of the bubbles burst, and the shade appeared in that house. A woman happened to be in the way when the shade materialised, killing her instantly.'

`Oh God, that's horrible,' Rose said holding his hand again, trying to offer some comfort.

`I managed to save the rest of the family by creating a temporary holding field, and then sealing it back in the Howling.'

`Well, that's a relief. It's a shame you couldn't save the woman . . . but everything must come to dust . . . all things . . . everything dies,' she said distractedly.

`What did you say?' the Doctor had heard those words before.

`Wha? I don't know, I was just sayin' it wasn't your fault, didn't you tell me that everybody dies eventually?'

He smiled at her. `Yes, that's right, I did.'

`An' you've shown me that it's how you live, not how long that's important.'

He gave her a proud smile. `Rose Tyler . . . you're quite the philosopher.'

She smiled back at him. `Thank you, I do my best.'

He suddenly switched his mood, in that unpredictable, eccentric way of his, from sad to happy. The dead woman wasn't forgotten, he never forgot the people that he failed, but the sorrow was filed away in that disciplined mind of his.

`So we're in the seventies, let's hang around for a while, soak up the atmosphere, platform shoes, and flared trousers.'

`Maybe not then,' Rose said.

`Oh, and Top of the Pops is still on the BBC, do you remember Glam Rock . . . Punk?' He said eyes wide in expectation.

`Hah! Are you tellin' me you're a Punk Rocker?' Rose asked with a laugh. `You are ain'tcha?'

`You know me, never been much on authority, bit of a rebel, I was born for Punk.'

`You know me', he'd said. Did she though, she knew very little about him. `Tell you what, if we're goin' to the seventies, I'm dressin' the part,' she said as she stood up. `Be right back.' She hurried out of the room, and then her head popped back around the door. `1970's, right?' she asked.

`Yep, late seventies,' he confirmed.

She thought about this. `Right, less glam, more punk, got it,' she confirmed and disappeared.

While Rose was getting changed, the Doctor was searching through his music collection, pulling out the occasional CD that caught his eye, looking at the sleeve, and then putting it back. He then found one that took his fancy.

`That's more like it,' he said with a grin. He put the CD in his pocket and went to the console room.

`What do you think of this? Will it do?' Rose asked as she put her rucksack under the console. She was wearing a denim, dungaree mini dress, with a plum T-shirt.

The Doctor walked around the console, tinkering with an object. He cast an approving glance at his young companion. `In the late 1970s? You'd be better off in a bin bag. Hold on, listen to this.'

He started up the CD player on the console. `Ian Dury and the Blockheads, number one in 1979.'

`You're a punk,' she accused again as she followed him around the console.

`It's good to be a lunatic,' he sang along with the music.

`That's what you are, a big old punk with a bit of rockabilly thrown in.'

He stopped walking. `Would you like to see him?'

`How'd you mean? In concert?'

`What else is a TARDIS for?' He continued to orbit the console again. `I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar, the first anti-gravity Olympics, Caesar crossing the Rubicon or Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21st November, 1979. What do you think?' He stopped by the flight controls.

`Sheffield it is,' she said with a beaming smile.

`Hold on tight.' He flipped a lever, and the TARDIS lurched into action, causing her to hold on tight, just like he'd said. He started hitting the console with a rubber mallet, to the rhythm of `Hit me with your rhythm stick.

`Stop!' Rose laughed, and the TARDIS suddenly did, throwing them both to the floor in a fit of laughter.

`1979. Hell of a year,' he said as he stood up and pulled Rose to her feet. `China invades Vietnam. The Muppet Movie, love that film.' He shrugs his long coat over his shoulders. `Margaret Thatcher . . . urgh. Skylab falls to Earth, with a little help from me. Nearly took off my thumb.'

He stepped out of the TARDIS, still talking to Rose. `And I like my thumb. I need my thumb. I'm very attached to . . .'

He hears a number of rifle hammers being pulled back and cocked.

`My thumb,' he said, raising his hands in front of a number of soldiers.