Reunion (1/5)
Title: Reunion
Author: Froxyn
Show: Doctor Who
Pairing: Rose/Ten
Rating: FRM overall/FRT this chapter
Timeline: The day after The Night Before.
Synopsis: Interdimensional time travel made easy…if you’re a brilliant Time Lord.
Author’s Note: Part X in the Unlocking Secrets series. Special thanks to fairygothmum for the beta.
“So, what’s with all the mirrors?”
That had been the question that Martha had asked. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised that she had no idea what the Doctor was talking about at this moment. He was speaking English and she understood the actual words that were leaving his lips.
After all, ‘surround’ and ‘energy’ and ‘interdimensional’ were pretty simple words. But, he had a habit of stringing simple words together with extremely complex ones as he rattled off his explanation while running around the TARDIS and making adjustments to the mirrors in question.
When he’d finished his explanation, he glanced over at her and smiled. Martha nodded slowly and then turned her eyes to Rose.
“What’s with all the mirrors?”
The Doctor’s smile faded. Rose laughed softly and gestured towards the TARDIS.
“It’s a safer way to travel...for the TARDIS. If we aim the cannon at the ship itself, and something goes wrong, it could be pretty bad. But, if we aim it here...” She lightly ran her finger over the top of the first mirror. “...the beam goes all the way ‘round...”
“Like a force field...” Martha finished with a bright grin.
“Yeah.” Rose nodded.
The Doctor’s eyes narrowed at the two women. “That’s what I said!”
Jack snorted and moved the last mirror half an inch towards the TARDIS. “Yeah, just not in terms any normal person would be able to understand.”
The Doctor stared at Jack. “Rose understood me.”
“Rose is not always synonymous with normal...”
“Hey!” Rose exclaimed, pointing her finger when Jack looked over at her. “Maybe you’re the one who’s not normal, ever think of that? And since when do you say things like ‘synonymous’?”
“Who knows?” Jack grinned and gave her a wink. “I’m not marrying him though.”
Rose paused and then shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, okay...fair enough.”
“Oi!”
Rose grinned at the Doctor, her tongue held between her teeth and her eyes shining brightly. The Doctor sighed heavily and made another adjustment as Jack and Martha laughed. After a few seconds he caught Rose’s eye and winked.
He’d much rather hear laughter than the silence that normally accompanied uncertainty. And right now...there was a huge uncertainty hanging over them. If Rose could still laugh and joke while worrying about whether or not this was going to work, he’d be happy to bear the brunt of her jokes.
* * *
“Allons-y!”
That’s what the Doctor had exclaimed nearly fifteen minutes earlier. And everyone knew what that meant.
It was time.
At least that’s what they’d thought.
Martha caught Jack’s eyes and mouthed the words ‘what’s going on?’ to which Jack shrugged his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck. Jack looked over at Rose, but she was too busy looking up at the Doctor.
The Doctor was currently standing completely still, hand poised over a large non-threatening blue button, and staring at the monitor above the console. And he’d been in that position for about four and a half minutes.
“Hey...” Rose whispered, placing her hand against his lower back.
He swallowed hard and gave a light shake of his head. “The last time I was this...nervous...I was in a lift on Krop Tor.”
He tore his eyes from the monitor and looked down at her, a tiny smile playing on his lips. “And you waved at me.”
Rose nodded slowly. “And you gave me a smile...a little bigger than the one you’re giving me now. This begs a question, Doctor.”
“What’s that?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Does the thought of seeing Mum again scare you more than the thought of never seeing me again?” She countered, eyes sparkling as she grinned up at him.
“Yes.” He replied without hesitation, mirroring her grin with one of his own.
Rose gave a short laugh and then tenderly rubbed his chest as she calmed almost immediately. She gave a pointed glance to his hand and smiled warmly.
“Push the button, Doctor.” She continued quickly when she saw his grin begin to fade. “You know what? It might not work. You might push that button and nothing will happen...or maybe the cannon will blow up. But...it could work. We could be thrown through the walls of the universe and have zeppelins flying over our heads in a few minutes. The thing is though...whether it works or not...you are amazing and brilliant and...I love you.”
The Doctor stared at her for a moment and then lifted his hand to the side of her face. “Thank you, Rose.”
“Time Lord panic attacks...always interesting.” She responded with a soft chuckle. “I think you said something about ‘allons-y’ earlier?”
“Yep. I did. Say ‘allons-y’, that is. Allons-y crew! Or...allons-y comrades! Or...blimey...just, well...allons-y!” His boyish grin returned as he turned his head towards Martha and Jack. “Right then...everyone hold on...interdimensional travel isn’t as smooth as travelling through the vortex.”
Jack snorted. “Well, that’s saying something. Maybe you should install seatbelts or something. It’s not like vortex hopping is all that - ”
The Doctor interrupted him by slamming his hand down onto the button.
The large, blue, non-threatening button.
And then he pulled Rose into his protective embrace, taking a deep breath as he watched the cannon charge. “Here we go...”
She craned her neck to look up at him as she curled her fingers around his forearm. “You really want to call him ‘Charlie’?”
He smiled brightly, but his answer couldn’t be heard over Martha’s surprised scream as the TARDIS was thrown against the wall of the universe. Instead of repeating himself, he wedged Rose between the console and his body...and hoped that he’d gotten the coordinates right.
* * *
The Doctor gave a soft groan and opened his eyes...to find Rose sprawled across his chest with a hopeful smile on her face. “Hi…”
“Hey…” She replied, brushing a lock of hair back from his forehead. “You okay?”
“Yeah, you? The baby? Both of you are okay?” He asked quickly, pushing himself up as she shifted to kneel next to him.
“We’re both fine…” She whispered, resting her hand against his chest.
“So are we. If either of you were wondering at all.” A deep voice tinged with amusement chimed in from across the room.
“Oh. Oh! Yes, right…Martha? Are you alright over there?” The Doctor questioned as he stood up and offered a hand to Rose.
“Yeah…” Martha grumbled as she stood up and brushed dust from her jeans. “Anyone ever tell you that metal grating probably wasn’t the best idea for flooring?”
The Doctor grinned and cast a quick glance to Rose. “It’s been mentioned a time or two. But, as long as everyone’s okay…that’s the main thing. That was a bit…bumpier…than I was expecting.”
Jack arched an eyebrow, stretching his back before leaning against the nearest coral strut. “How many times have you done this?”
“Oh…just the once. And I didn’t do it then…it just kinda happened. I think it was Mickey’s fault.”
Rose slapped the back of her hand against his bicep. “You can’t blame Mickey for that! You’re the one who forgot he was standing there holding a button down!”
“Well…you didn’t remember he was pushing a button either!” He countered, rubbing his arm. “And I still don’t think it had anything to do with the button. I think it was just Mickey. Things break when he’s around. He doesn’t mean to do anything wrong, it’s just…Mickey Smith plus anything equals mayhem and broken objects.”
Rose narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. “You know…he saved your life a time or two.”
“Saved yours more than twice, as well.” He replied softly. “Mickey the Idiot can be brilliant when we really need him to be.”
“Um…who’s Mickey?” Martha asked.
“My boyfriend.” Rose answered, rolling her eyes when Jack snorted. “My ex-boyfriend…very ex.”
“Bad ex?”
Rose smiled and shook her head. “No…nothing bad in Mickey. I just…fell in love with someone else.”
“Me. She means me. I’m the someone else.” The Doctor added unnecessarily, causing the other three to laugh. “What?”
“Who the hell else would she mean?” Jack asked through his laughter.
“Just didn’t want you to wonder if it was you...because it isn’t. And it wasn’t...ever. Even though you danced with her.”
A small grin played on Martha’s lips as she looked up at Jack. “You danced with Rose?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Danced. Which means we danced...the literal definition of the word, nothing more. Back then, the Doctor had big ears, a shaved head, blue eyes, and wore leather...and she still chose him over me. I was good enough to dance with but she wanted to dance with him.”
The Doctor coughed lightly and gestured towards the door. “What say we see where we are, yeah?”
“Look at you...blushing...” Rose chuckled as she slipped her hand into his.
“I’m not blushing.” The Doctor replied, looking down at her and furrowing his brow. “And that was the fakest laugh I’ve ever heard from you. You okay?”
“Yeah...” She sighed and then shrugged a shoulder. “Mostly okay, anyway. I mean...I know we ended up somewhere and chances are pretty good that we ended up where we were supposed to...because you checked your coordinates about a million times...and I’ve only known the TARDIS to shake like that one other time and - ”
“You’re rambling.” The Doctor interrupted on a soft whisper.
“I’m nervous. Chances are good, but...” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Mum might be somewhere in the city on the other side of that door. But, then again...she might not. And if she’s not, you’re going to feel all guilty about me getting my hopes up...and that’s just my fault, not yours. And then I’ll get upset about you being upset and - ”
“Okay...remember what I said last night?” He asked softly, eyes sparkling as he combed his fingers through her hair. “When you asked if I’d thought about what would happen if it didn’t work?”
She nodded slowly and waited for him to continue.
He smiled and tilted his head towards the door. “Let’s open the door, see where we are...and go from there, okay?”
“Okay...”
Martha cleared her throat and then shoved her hands into her jacket pockets when the Doctor and Rose looked over at her. “This may be the wrong time to ask, but I’m curious.”
Jack smirked and rocked back and forth on his heels. “Not sure there’s such a thing as the wrong time to ask him a question.”
The Doctor glanced at Jack. “Unless I think that the question is a waste of my time.” His eyes darted to Martha and he smiled warmly. “But, I’ll let you know if that’s what I think...what’s your question?”
“Well...we’re somewhere obviously. But...how are we supposed to get back? I mean...did you build two cannons?”
“Interdimensional Teleporter.” The Doctor corrected automatically as he shook his head. “Nope, only one. One’s all we needed and...if that one didn’t work, the second one wouldn’t have either because I would’ve built it the exact same way.”
“But...we’re here, wherever here is...and the cannon...teleporter...is there...where we were...”
The Doctor stared at her in genuine confusion. “What? Why would I leave that behind? It’s essential for our return...and though I have no problems staying here for a few days, this universe...supposing everything worked properly...doesn’t need me. It has Mickey and Pete and Torchwood...a good and useful Torchwood, not the Torchwood that Jack’s been working with.”
“Hey!” Jack protested, his smile fading as he stared at the Doctor.
The Doctor’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Jack. “I’m not stupid, Jack. In fact, I’m really rather clever. I know you’ve been working with them more than you’ve admitted. And maybe you’ll be able to help turn it around...I hope so. But, I’m sorry...I don’t trust them. Not after...”
An uncomfortable silence fell across the room as he trailed off. No one needed him to explain what he was referring to. Not even Martha.
After a few moments, the Doctor returned his attention to Martha and smiled brightly. “Now, back to your question! Remember the mirrors?”
“Yeah...” Martha nodded. “You used the mirrors to make sure that the TARDIS would be okay...”
“And to bring the Interdimensional Teleporter with us!” He grinned proudly, reaching out to grab Rose’s hand as he started to make his way down the ramp to the door. “The mirror...a wonderful scientific invention! Allons-y...again!”
The Doctor paused and met Jack’s eyes. “Ever think of changing your name to Alonso?”
Rose snorted, Martha narrowed her eyes in confusion, and Jack shook his head.
“No, can’t say I have. Why?”
The Doctor sighed heavily. “Allons-y, Alonso...it’s something I’ve always wanted to say. Guess I’ll just have to keep waiting to come across an Alonso...”
“Or...you could name the baby Alonso...” Martha offered, following Jack down the ramp as he followed the Doctor and Rose.
When the Doctor’s eyes lit up, Rose shook her head quickly. “I am not naming this child Alonso! Besides...you wanted Charlie.”
“Well, isn’t it a human custom to give a child more than one name? Charlie Alonso Tyler...”
Rose stared at him. “One, we can call him Charlie...but he’ll be Charles, probably. Two, his initials would be CAT...and that’s not good. Three, I am not naming this child Alonso just so you can say ‘Allons-y, Alonso’ every single day.”
“One, Charles...like Dickens!” He giggled softly at the memory of their meeting with the author and then continued quickly. “B, or two...what’s wrong with his initials being CAT? And three...or C...I wouldn’t say it every day.” He thought for a second and scratched the back of his head. “Well...I probably would. Actually, I’m fairly certain I would...now that I think about it. So, I guess Alonso is well and truly out.”
Rose chuckled and squeezed his hand. “It was never in, Doctor.”
Jack sighed impatiently. “Okay, great...now that we have it settled that I’m not changing my name to Alonso and you’re not naming the baby Alonso...can someone please open the damn door?”
The Doctor cleared his throat and offered Rose an unusually nervous smile. “Go ahead...”
Rose’s hand trembled visibly as she reached for the doorknob. “Well, here goes...not ‘nothing’. It’s definitely ‘something’...maybe not ‘everything’, but ‘something’...”
“Rose...” The Doctor whispered, interrupting her impending ramble. “Open the door, sweetheart.”
Jack arched an eyebrow at the term of endearment, but wisely didn’t comment on it. Martha nervously chewed on her bottom lip as Rose took a deep breath and finally opened the door.
The Doctor’s grip tightened on the hand he was holding as he ducked his head out the door and glanced up at the sky.
“We have zeppelins.”
A tear rolled down Rose’s cheek as she whispered one word.
“Mum...”
Martha’s eyes widened. “No way! We’re in another universe? You mean...it worked?”
Jack smirked and looked down at her. “You doubted him?”
“No...not really. I just didn’t think it was possible for anyone, you know?”
Jack nodded and gestured towards the Doctor and Rose as the Doctor carefully led Rose from the TARDIS. “Nothing’s really impossible with those two. Especially if the Doctor’s trying to do something for Rose. Thought you knew that by now...”
Martha rolled her eyes at Jack’s teasing tone and reached out for his hand. “Come on...let’s go see what London looks like in another universe...”
Author: Froxyn
Show: Doctor Who
Pairing: Rose/Ten
Rating: FRM overall/FRT this chapter
Timeline: The day after The Night Before.
Synopsis: Interdimensional time travel made easy…if you’re a brilliant Time Lord.
Author’s Note: Part X in the Unlocking Secrets series. Special thanks to fairygothmum for the beta.
“So, what’s with all the mirrors?”
That had been the question that Martha had asked. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised that she had no idea what the Doctor was talking about at this moment. He was speaking English and she understood the actual words that were leaving his lips.
After all, ‘surround’ and ‘energy’ and ‘interdimensional’ were pretty simple words. But, he had a habit of stringing simple words together with extremely complex ones as he rattled off his explanation while running around the TARDIS and making adjustments to the mirrors in question.
When he’d finished his explanation, he glanced over at her and smiled. Martha nodded slowly and then turned her eyes to Rose.
“What’s with all the mirrors?”
The Doctor’s smile faded. Rose laughed softly and gestured towards the TARDIS.
“It’s a safer way to travel...for the TARDIS. If we aim the cannon at the ship itself, and something goes wrong, it could be pretty bad. But, if we aim it here...” She lightly ran her finger over the top of the first mirror. “...the beam goes all the way ‘round...”
“Like a force field...” Martha finished with a bright grin.
“Yeah.” Rose nodded.
The Doctor’s eyes narrowed at the two women. “That’s what I said!”
Jack snorted and moved the last mirror half an inch towards the TARDIS. “Yeah, just not in terms any normal person would be able to understand.”
The Doctor stared at Jack. “Rose understood me.”
“Rose is not always synonymous with normal...”
“Hey!” Rose exclaimed, pointing her finger when Jack looked over at her. “Maybe you’re the one who’s not normal, ever think of that? And since when do you say things like ‘synonymous’?”
“Who knows?” Jack grinned and gave her a wink. “I’m not marrying him though.”
Rose paused and then shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, okay...fair enough.”
“Oi!”
Rose grinned at the Doctor, her tongue held between her teeth and her eyes shining brightly. The Doctor sighed heavily and made another adjustment as Jack and Martha laughed. After a few seconds he caught Rose’s eye and winked.
He’d much rather hear laughter than the silence that normally accompanied uncertainty. And right now...there was a huge uncertainty hanging over them. If Rose could still laugh and joke while worrying about whether or not this was going to work, he’d be happy to bear the brunt of her jokes.
* * *
“Allons-y!”
That’s what the Doctor had exclaimed nearly fifteen minutes earlier. And everyone knew what that meant.
It was time.
At least that’s what they’d thought.
Martha caught Jack’s eyes and mouthed the words ‘what’s going on?’ to which Jack shrugged his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck. Jack looked over at Rose, but she was too busy looking up at the Doctor.
The Doctor was currently standing completely still, hand poised over a large non-threatening blue button, and staring at the monitor above the console. And he’d been in that position for about four and a half minutes.
“Hey...” Rose whispered, placing her hand against his lower back.
He swallowed hard and gave a light shake of his head. “The last time I was this...nervous...I was in a lift on Krop Tor.”
He tore his eyes from the monitor and looked down at her, a tiny smile playing on his lips. “And you waved at me.”
Rose nodded slowly. “And you gave me a smile...a little bigger than the one you’re giving me now. This begs a question, Doctor.”
“What’s that?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Does the thought of seeing Mum again scare you more than the thought of never seeing me again?” She countered, eyes sparkling as she grinned up at him.
“Yes.” He replied without hesitation, mirroring her grin with one of his own.
Rose gave a short laugh and then tenderly rubbed his chest as she calmed almost immediately. She gave a pointed glance to his hand and smiled warmly.
“Push the button, Doctor.” She continued quickly when she saw his grin begin to fade. “You know what? It might not work. You might push that button and nothing will happen...or maybe the cannon will blow up. But...it could work. We could be thrown through the walls of the universe and have zeppelins flying over our heads in a few minutes. The thing is though...whether it works or not...you are amazing and brilliant and...I love you.”
The Doctor stared at her for a moment and then lifted his hand to the side of her face. “Thank you, Rose.”
“Time Lord panic attacks...always interesting.” She responded with a soft chuckle. “I think you said something about ‘allons-y’ earlier?”
“Yep. I did. Say ‘allons-y’, that is. Allons-y crew! Or...allons-y comrades! Or...blimey...just, well...allons-y!” His boyish grin returned as he turned his head towards Martha and Jack. “Right then...everyone hold on...interdimensional travel isn’t as smooth as travelling through the vortex.”
Jack snorted. “Well, that’s saying something. Maybe you should install seatbelts or something. It’s not like vortex hopping is all that - ”
The Doctor interrupted him by slamming his hand down onto the button.
The large, blue, non-threatening button.
And then he pulled Rose into his protective embrace, taking a deep breath as he watched the cannon charge. “Here we go...”
She craned her neck to look up at him as she curled her fingers around his forearm. “You really want to call him ‘Charlie’?”
He smiled brightly, but his answer couldn’t be heard over Martha’s surprised scream as the TARDIS was thrown against the wall of the universe. Instead of repeating himself, he wedged Rose between the console and his body...and hoped that he’d gotten the coordinates right.
* * *
The Doctor gave a soft groan and opened his eyes...to find Rose sprawled across his chest with a hopeful smile on her face. “Hi…”
“Hey…” She replied, brushing a lock of hair back from his forehead. “You okay?”
“Yeah, you? The baby? Both of you are okay?” He asked quickly, pushing himself up as she shifted to kneel next to him.
“We’re both fine…” She whispered, resting her hand against his chest.
“So are we. If either of you were wondering at all.” A deep voice tinged with amusement chimed in from across the room.
“Oh. Oh! Yes, right…Martha? Are you alright over there?” The Doctor questioned as he stood up and offered a hand to Rose.
“Yeah…” Martha grumbled as she stood up and brushed dust from her jeans. “Anyone ever tell you that metal grating probably wasn’t the best idea for flooring?”
The Doctor grinned and cast a quick glance to Rose. “It’s been mentioned a time or two. But, as long as everyone’s okay…that’s the main thing. That was a bit…bumpier…than I was expecting.”
Jack arched an eyebrow, stretching his back before leaning against the nearest coral strut. “How many times have you done this?”
“Oh…just the once. And I didn’t do it then…it just kinda happened. I think it was Mickey’s fault.”
Rose slapped the back of her hand against his bicep. “You can’t blame Mickey for that! You’re the one who forgot he was standing there holding a button down!”
“Well…you didn’t remember he was pushing a button either!” He countered, rubbing his arm. “And I still don’t think it had anything to do with the button. I think it was just Mickey. Things break when he’s around. He doesn’t mean to do anything wrong, it’s just…Mickey Smith plus anything equals mayhem and broken objects.”
Rose narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. “You know…he saved your life a time or two.”
“Saved yours more than twice, as well.” He replied softly. “Mickey the Idiot can be brilliant when we really need him to be.”
“Um…who’s Mickey?” Martha asked.
“My boyfriend.” Rose answered, rolling her eyes when Jack snorted. “My ex-boyfriend…very ex.”
“Bad ex?”
Rose smiled and shook her head. “No…nothing bad in Mickey. I just…fell in love with someone else.”
“Me. She means me. I’m the someone else.” The Doctor added unnecessarily, causing the other three to laugh. “What?”
“Who the hell else would she mean?” Jack asked through his laughter.
“Just didn’t want you to wonder if it was you...because it isn’t. And it wasn’t...ever. Even though you danced with her.”
A small grin played on Martha’s lips as she looked up at Jack. “You danced with Rose?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Danced. Which means we danced...the literal definition of the word, nothing more. Back then, the Doctor had big ears, a shaved head, blue eyes, and wore leather...and she still chose him over me. I was good enough to dance with but she wanted to dance with him.”
The Doctor coughed lightly and gestured towards the door. “What say we see where we are, yeah?”
“Look at you...blushing...” Rose chuckled as she slipped her hand into his.
“I’m not blushing.” The Doctor replied, looking down at her and furrowing his brow. “And that was the fakest laugh I’ve ever heard from you. You okay?”
“Yeah...” She sighed and then shrugged a shoulder. “Mostly okay, anyway. I mean...I know we ended up somewhere and chances are pretty good that we ended up where we were supposed to...because you checked your coordinates about a million times...and I’ve only known the TARDIS to shake like that one other time and - ”
“You’re rambling.” The Doctor interrupted on a soft whisper.
“I’m nervous. Chances are good, but...” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Mum might be somewhere in the city on the other side of that door. But, then again...she might not. And if she’s not, you’re going to feel all guilty about me getting my hopes up...and that’s just my fault, not yours. And then I’ll get upset about you being upset and - ”
“Okay...remember what I said last night?” He asked softly, eyes sparkling as he combed his fingers through her hair. “When you asked if I’d thought about what would happen if it didn’t work?”
She nodded slowly and waited for him to continue.
He smiled and tilted his head towards the door. “Let’s open the door, see where we are...and go from there, okay?”
“Okay...”
Martha cleared her throat and then shoved her hands into her jacket pockets when the Doctor and Rose looked over at her. “This may be the wrong time to ask, but I’m curious.”
Jack smirked and rocked back and forth on his heels. “Not sure there’s such a thing as the wrong time to ask him a question.”
The Doctor glanced at Jack. “Unless I think that the question is a waste of my time.” His eyes darted to Martha and he smiled warmly. “But, I’ll let you know if that’s what I think...what’s your question?”
“Well...we’re somewhere obviously. But...how are we supposed to get back? I mean...did you build two cannons?”
“Interdimensional Teleporter.” The Doctor corrected automatically as he shook his head. “Nope, only one. One’s all we needed and...if that one didn’t work, the second one wouldn’t have either because I would’ve built it the exact same way.”
“But...we’re here, wherever here is...and the cannon...teleporter...is there...where we were...”
The Doctor stared at her in genuine confusion. “What? Why would I leave that behind? It’s essential for our return...and though I have no problems staying here for a few days, this universe...supposing everything worked properly...doesn’t need me. It has Mickey and Pete and Torchwood...a good and useful Torchwood, not the Torchwood that Jack’s been working with.”
“Hey!” Jack protested, his smile fading as he stared at the Doctor.
The Doctor’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Jack. “I’m not stupid, Jack. In fact, I’m really rather clever. I know you’ve been working with them more than you’ve admitted. And maybe you’ll be able to help turn it around...I hope so. But, I’m sorry...I don’t trust them. Not after...”
An uncomfortable silence fell across the room as he trailed off. No one needed him to explain what he was referring to. Not even Martha.
After a few moments, the Doctor returned his attention to Martha and smiled brightly. “Now, back to your question! Remember the mirrors?”
“Yeah...” Martha nodded. “You used the mirrors to make sure that the TARDIS would be okay...”
“And to bring the Interdimensional Teleporter with us!” He grinned proudly, reaching out to grab Rose’s hand as he started to make his way down the ramp to the door. “The mirror...a wonderful scientific invention! Allons-y...again!”
The Doctor paused and met Jack’s eyes. “Ever think of changing your name to Alonso?”
Rose snorted, Martha narrowed her eyes in confusion, and Jack shook his head.
“No, can’t say I have. Why?”
The Doctor sighed heavily. “Allons-y, Alonso...it’s something I’ve always wanted to say. Guess I’ll just have to keep waiting to come across an Alonso...”
“Or...you could name the baby Alonso...” Martha offered, following Jack down the ramp as he followed the Doctor and Rose.
When the Doctor’s eyes lit up, Rose shook her head quickly. “I am not naming this child Alonso! Besides...you wanted Charlie.”
“Well, isn’t it a human custom to give a child more than one name? Charlie Alonso Tyler...”
Rose stared at him. “One, we can call him Charlie...but he’ll be Charles, probably. Two, his initials would be CAT...and that’s not good. Three, I am not naming this child Alonso just so you can say ‘Allons-y, Alonso’ every single day.”
“One, Charles...like Dickens!” He giggled softly at the memory of their meeting with the author and then continued quickly. “B, or two...what’s wrong with his initials being CAT? And three...or C...I wouldn’t say it every day.” He thought for a second and scratched the back of his head. “Well...I probably would. Actually, I’m fairly certain I would...now that I think about it. So, I guess Alonso is well and truly out.”
Rose chuckled and squeezed his hand. “It was never in, Doctor.”
Jack sighed impatiently. “Okay, great...now that we have it settled that I’m not changing my name to Alonso and you’re not naming the baby Alonso...can someone please open the damn door?”
The Doctor cleared his throat and offered Rose an unusually nervous smile. “Go ahead...”
Rose’s hand trembled visibly as she reached for the doorknob. “Well, here goes...not ‘nothing’. It’s definitely ‘something’...maybe not ‘everything’, but ‘something’...”
“Rose...” The Doctor whispered, interrupting her impending ramble. “Open the door, sweetheart.”
Jack arched an eyebrow at the term of endearment, but wisely didn’t comment on it. Martha nervously chewed on her bottom lip as Rose took a deep breath and finally opened the door.
The Doctor’s grip tightened on the hand he was holding as he ducked his head out the door and glanced up at the sky.
“We have zeppelins.”
A tear rolled down Rose’s cheek as she whispered one word.
“Mum...”
Martha’s eyes widened. “No way! We’re in another universe? You mean...it worked?”
Jack smirked and looked down at her. “You doubted him?”
“No...not really. I just didn’t think it was possible for anyone, you know?”
Jack nodded and gestured towards the Doctor and Rose as the Doctor carefully led Rose from the TARDIS. “Nothing’s really impossible with those two. Especially if the Doctor’s trying to do something for Rose. Thought you knew that by now...”
Martha rolled her eyes at Jack’s teasing tone and reached out for his hand. “Come on...let’s go see what London looks like in another universe...”