Ficlet: The Messenger (1/1)
Title: The Messenger
Author: karenor
Pairing: The Doctor/Rose
Rating: PG
Summary: Post "Doomsday," set in the alt!verse. Someone has something to tell Rose.
Disclaimer: BBC owns all. Including my soul. I'd like it back one day, please. Maybe.
Author's Notes: Just a wee ficlet whose bunny bit me last night. Unbeta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Very minor Series 3 spoiler.
“Excuse me. Rose? Rose Tyler?”
Rose looked up wearily from the gossip paper she was perusing on her lunch break.
An old man stood before her. Stooped on a cane, and clearly well over a century old but otherwise seemed perfectly healthy. That had taken some getting used to when she had first arrived in this universe to stay. Slightly more advanced technology meant more advanced medicine. It was common to see seniors lively and spry well into their 110’s; many made it quite a bit further than that.
But they didn’t usually address her in public when she didn’t already know them. Rose was, unfortunately for her, a very recognizable figure these days. She tried her best to stay out of rags like the one she was reading. Still, she got stares a lot of the time, and occasionally she’d be approached and asked inane questions like if she really was dating that football bloke, or if she really broke up Brad and Angelina. Some things, it seemed, transcended universes.
“That’s me. Can I help you?”
“Miss Tyler, I’m glad I found you. Mind if I sit? My knees aren’t what they used to be.”
She made a non-committal gesture.
After he joined her on the park bench he continued. “I have a message for you.”
He said it with all the drama of a 1950’s film noir flick. Rose restrained herself from rolling her eyes and decided to humour the old man. No doubt he’d tell her she needed to commit her immortal soul to some saviour or another before the coming apocalypse. Religious zealotry had grown by leaps and bounds since the Cyberman Wars and the now receding ravages of global warming that had devastated the Earth.
“Yeah? Who from, then?”
“From the Doctor.”
Rose stiffened and bristled. There were only a handful of people in this universe who knew that name and what it meant to her. This man was not one of them. She supposed it was possible he meant it with a small ‘D,’ or maybe there was such a religious figure calling himself that these days. His expression convinced her otherwise, but she decided it would be best to play dumb.
“Who?”
“The Doctor,” he repeated. “Your Doctor, the one you lost.”
Rose was getting angry now. Who the hell did he think he was flaunting the name of the Doctor in her face? She wondered if someone had put him up to this. Most of her personal information was kept out of files and entirely confidential, but it was possible something might have leaked.
“What could you possibly know about him? And choose your words carefully, old man” she said coldly.
The man continued, undeterred. “He says,” he appeared to focus inwards, “…He says not to give up hope.”
“What?” She whispered through her clenching teeth. Her cynicism was growing, as her faith in the inherent goodness of people declined. How very generic. He was some low level psychic, probably. Picked a name (it was never far from her mind, after all) and an emotion out of her, and gave her some easily applicable message. She knew these parlour tricks well.
“I’ve seen him, you see,” he said by way of explanation. “In dreams, I’ve seen him every so often for years now. Things that have never made much sense before. I’m no charlatan, miss. Would that I were. I’d just as soon not be host to these visions. I’ve seen the most impossible things in my dreams. That man, the Doctor, and you. You were here when the Cybermen first attacked, all those years ago.”
“What’s that prove, then?”
“Nothing, but I know you fell through a hole in the world and ended up separated from him. I don’t know what it means, but I’ve seen it through his eyes, saw you fall. I felt his anguish as he screamed your name…” He paused, choked by emotion.
Rose felt tears begin to form in her eyes, but she would not cry in front of this stranger.
More composed, the man started again. “More recently, he’s been alone. Full of sorrow. That’s when he contacted me directly.”
“That’s impossible,” Rose finally said.
“Impossible, yes. He said you’d say that. But it’s still true. In a dream that I’m convinced now is real, he contacted me, and asked me to give you the message. Don’t give up. You’ll be together again.”
“If he could come through in dreams, he’d come through to me.” She left out that he’d done it before. She wasn’t telling him anything that personal.
“It doesn’t work that way. Not this time. There’s no…what did he say?” He thought for a second. “Ah. No supernova. Whatever that means.”
Rose gasped. How could he know about that?
He must have registered her shock, because he added gently, “I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”
All right, she allowed, perhaps he was a higher-level psychic. They were rare, but it was much more likely than him receiving messages from the Doctor. In any case she’d had just about enough of this.
“Look,” she said, gathering her nerve to tell him off properly. “I’m sure this is entertaining and all for you, but it’s damn cruel what you’re doing. If you knew…if you really knew how…you wouldn’t….” she stopped herself from revealing any more of how she felt. “I don’t know how you know about the Doctor, or what games you’re playing-”
He cut her off. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Honestly, I only meant to give you the hope he wants you to have.”
Rose huffed. “Do you see that man just there,” Rose pointed to a man half hidden behind a tree, “black coat, having a cigarette, pretending to be on a coffee break?”
He followed her hand.
“That’s one of my guard.” She gave a sardonic half-laugh. “My Dad thinks I don’t know about them. I’m sure if I make a signal to him, he’d come over and do his job, protecting me from those who might wish me harm. Whether or not that’s your intent, sir, I suggest you shift before I feel the need to alert him.”
The man didn’t seem particularly intimidated, but he rose slowly to his feet anyway.
“Well then. I suppose I’ve overstayed my welcome. But if you could…do an old man a favour, eh?”
Rose just stared.
“When you find out I’m right. That I wasn’t lying to you, or playing with your mind, you ask him. Ask him about me, that is, the other me. Good day, Miss Tyler.”
Rose, incredulous, watched him walk away for a moment, and then realized something. She stood up and called after him.
“Oi! What’s you name?”
“Latimer, Miss Tyler. Timothy Latimer.”
FIN
Author: karenor
Pairing: The Doctor/Rose
Rating: PG
Summary: Post "Doomsday," set in the alt!verse. Someone has something to tell Rose.
Disclaimer: BBC owns all. Including my soul. I'd like it back one day, please. Maybe.
Author's Notes: Just a wee ficlet whose bunny bit me last night. Unbeta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Very minor Series 3 spoiler.
“Excuse me. Rose? Rose Tyler?”
Rose looked up wearily from the gossip paper she was perusing on her lunch break.
An old man stood before her. Stooped on a cane, and clearly well over a century old but otherwise seemed perfectly healthy. That had taken some getting used to when she had first arrived in this universe to stay. Slightly more advanced technology meant more advanced medicine. It was common to see seniors lively and spry well into their 110’s; many made it quite a bit further than that.
But they didn’t usually address her in public when she didn’t already know them. Rose was, unfortunately for her, a very recognizable figure these days. She tried her best to stay out of rags like the one she was reading. Still, she got stares a lot of the time, and occasionally she’d be approached and asked inane questions like if she really was dating that football bloke, or if she really broke up Brad and Angelina. Some things, it seemed, transcended universes.
“That’s me. Can I help you?”
“Miss Tyler, I’m glad I found you. Mind if I sit? My knees aren’t what they used to be.”
She made a non-committal gesture.
After he joined her on the park bench he continued. “I have a message for you.”
He said it with all the drama of a 1950’s film noir flick. Rose restrained herself from rolling her eyes and decided to humour the old man. No doubt he’d tell her she needed to commit her immortal soul to some saviour or another before the coming apocalypse. Religious zealotry had grown by leaps and bounds since the Cyberman Wars and the now receding ravages of global warming that had devastated the Earth.
“Yeah? Who from, then?”
“From the Doctor.”
Rose stiffened and bristled. There were only a handful of people in this universe who knew that name and what it meant to her. This man was not one of them. She supposed it was possible he meant it with a small ‘D,’ or maybe there was such a religious figure calling himself that these days. His expression convinced her otherwise, but she decided it would be best to play dumb.
“Who?”
“The Doctor,” he repeated. “Your Doctor, the one you lost.”
Rose was getting angry now. Who the hell did he think he was flaunting the name of the Doctor in her face? She wondered if someone had put him up to this. Most of her personal information was kept out of files and entirely confidential, but it was possible something might have leaked.
“What could you possibly know about him? And choose your words carefully, old man” she said coldly.
The man continued, undeterred. “He says,” he appeared to focus inwards, “…He says not to give up hope.”
“What?” She whispered through her clenching teeth. Her cynicism was growing, as her faith in the inherent goodness of people declined. How very generic. He was some low level psychic, probably. Picked a name (it was never far from her mind, after all) and an emotion out of her, and gave her some easily applicable message. She knew these parlour tricks well.
“I’ve seen him, you see,” he said by way of explanation. “In dreams, I’ve seen him every so often for years now. Things that have never made much sense before. I’m no charlatan, miss. Would that I were. I’d just as soon not be host to these visions. I’ve seen the most impossible things in my dreams. That man, the Doctor, and you. You were here when the Cybermen first attacked, all those years ago.”
“What’s that prove, then?”
“Nothing, but I know you fell through a hole in the world and ended up separated from him. I don’t know what it means, but I’ve seen it through his eyes, saw you fall. I felt his anguish as he screamed your name…” He paused, choked by emotion.
Rose felt tears begin to form in her eyes, but she would not cry in front of this stranger.
More composed, the man started again. “More recently, he’s been alone. Full of sorrow. That’s when he contacted me directly.”
“That’s impossible,” Rose finally said.
“Impossible, yes. He said you’d say that. But it’s still true. In a dream that I’m convinced now is real, he contacted me, and asked me to give you the message. Don’t give up. You’ll be together again.”
“If he could come through in dreams, he’d come through to me.” She left out that he’d done it before. She wasn’t telling him anything that personal.
“It doesn’t work that way. Not this time. There’s no…what did he say?” He thought for a second. “Ah. No supernova. Whatever that means.”
Rose gasped. How could he know about that?
He must have registered her shock, because he added gently, “I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”
All right, she allowed, perhaps he was a higher-level psychic. They were rare, but it was much more likely than him receiving messages from the Doctor. In any case she’d had just about enough of this.
“Look,” she said, gathering her nerve to tell him off properly. “I’m sure this is entertaining and all for you, but it’s damn cruel what you’re doing. If you knew…if you really knew how…you wouldn’t….” she stopped herself from revealing any more of how she felt. “I don’t know how you know about the Doctor, or what games you’re playing-”
He cut her off. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Honestly, I only meant to give you the hope he wants you to have.”
Rose huffed. “Do you see that man just there,” Rose pointed to a man half hidden behind a tree, “black coat, having a cigarette, pretending to be on a coffee break?”
He followed her hand.
“That’s one of my guard.” She gave a sardonic half-laugh. “My Dad thinks I don’t know about them. I’m sure if I make a signal to him, he’d come over and do his job, protecting me from those who might wish me harm. Whether or not that’s your intent, sir, I suggest you shift before I feel the need to alert him.”
The man didn’t seem particularly intimidated, but he rose slowly to his feet anyway.
“Well then. I suppose I’ve overstayed my welcome. But if you could…do an old man a favour, eh?”
Rose just stared.
“When you find out I’m right. That I wasn’t lying to you, or playing with your mind, you ask him. Ask him about me, that is, the other me. Good day, Miss Tyler.”
Rose, incredulous, watched him walk away for a moment, and then realized something. She stood up and called after him.
“Oi! What’s you name?”
“Latimer, Miss Tyler. Timothy Latimer.”
FIN