Secrets on the Other Side ch. 5
Title: Secrets on the Other Side 5/13
Pairing: 10/Rose
Rating: Adult
Spoilers: all of season 2
Summary: The Doctor realizes he can't go on without Rose, so he decides he's going to find a way to get her back, but what secrets lie in the other dimension?
( Chapter one )
( Chapter two )
( Chapter three )
( Chapter four ) contains smut
CHAPTER 5
“Gallifreyan? Are you sure?” said the Doctor as he slipped on his pinstriped jacket.
“Pretty sure. Looked just like it,” said Rose as she put on one of her Punky Fish tops and a pair of jeans. The shirt she came in with wouldn’t close due to it’s newfound lack of buttons. He had kept all her things exactly where she left them, and it warmed her heart. “Besides, it’s the only alien language that doesn’t get translated for me.”
“You still got translations here?” he asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I was kinda surprised too,” she said. “Guess the connection held.”
The Doctor smiled warmly. “Guess so.”
No one who traveled with him had ever had as strong a bond with the TARDIS as Rose. Still, just because it wasn’t translated didn’t make it Gallifreyan. The language on that planet with the black hole wasn’t translated. That was so very rare though, so maybe... “Guess I’d better have a look.”
“That’s the plan,” said Rose, as they headed out.
*********************************************************
Mickey waited out by the van for the Doctor and Rose. He was shocked, really. How the hell had he managed to get here? Then again, this was the Doctor. You tell him something’s impossible and he’ll try that much harder.
“Mickey!” the Doctor greeted him as he stepped out of the TARDIS with Rose in tow. “How ya been mate?”
“Pretty good,” said Mickey. “What took you so long?”
“Ah, well, modes of interdimensional transport are hard to come by these days,” said the Doctor with a grin. “Where’s Jakey-boy then?”
The mood shifted suddenly. “Ricky’s grave,” answered Mickey.
“...Oh.” Suddenly the Doctor was sorry he’d asked.
“It’s the anniversary of his death,” Mickey explained. Everyone was silent for a moment, then, “S’funny, you showin’ up on the same day we first came here,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.
Rose took the Doctor’s hand. “We should get going,” she said.
“Right,” said the Doctor. “Um...About the TARDIS. I’m gonna need to take her with us.”
“Well that’s fine,” said Mickey. “Fire it up. I’ll just meet you there.”
“Ah, yeah,” the Doctor began, scratching behind his ear and then rubbing the back of his neck. “See, that’s the thing. I can’t.”
“What? Why not?”
“The trip exhausted her circuits,” explained Rose.
“That too, yeah,” said the Doctor. “But also, the TARDIS’ systems aren’t set to navigate this dimension’s vortex. I can’t move her freely here without extensive rewiring.”
“Dad could send a truck down,” offered Rose.
“Sounds good to me,” said the Doctor. “Well, then. Shall we?” he gestured to the van.
The three of them were seated beside each other in the front of the van. Mickey drove, of course. The Doctor told Rose about the time he’d spent looking for a way to get to her and all the things he tried. Rose told the Doctor about her work at Torchwood and all the quantum physics she’d been teaching herself, and the theories she’d explored looking for a way to get back. Mickey and Rose both told the Doctor about the work the Preachers had been doing. They were all caught up by the time they got to the mansion.
The Doctor braced himself as he entered the door. And sure enough, “You!” came the voice of Jackie Tyler as she came down the hall, four and a half months pregnant and quite moody.
“Hello, Jackie!” said the Doctor as pleasantly as he could manage.
“What took you so long?! You think you can just leave my daughter brokenhearted, and then pop over here and expect to be welcomed back into our lives with open arms?!”
He wanted to say, ‘I didn’t want to leave her’. He wanted to say, ‘I was brokenhearted too’. He didn’t though. He’d learned his lesson there. Struggling against the wrath of Jackie only made it worse. So, he just stood there looking sheepish and sorry.
“Well,” she said calmly “Welcome back,” and she smiled and gave him a big hug. “We missed you.”
Jackie let go of the surprised Doctor. “Thanks,” he said sincerely.
“Now, then,” she said “Tea?”
“Tea sounds great,” said the Doctor with a smile.
They sat at the kitchen table and drank their tea. The Doctor would never admit it but, as bad as her cooking was, no one made a cuppa like Jackie Tyler.
“These are the files,” said Rose sitting down next to the Doctor and handing him a stack of folders.
He opened them and put on his glasses. The first few pages were nothing special. A Quillka ship had crashed into the ocean off the coast of Sweden. Some of the debris had fallen down a trench and they had to send a team of deep sea submersibles down to retrieve them. What they found down there was why the doctor was looking.
“Impossible,” the Doctor said aloud. There were many photographs, from different angles and distances of an extremely ancient looking large octagonal hatch. The ground around it seemed to spiral outward. As if the Earth had shifted around it over the eons, but this was a fixed point. The writing was most certainly from Gallifrey. And right in the center was a symbol. A seal every Gallifreyan knew very well. The seal of Rassilon.
“I was right, wasn’t I?” asked Rose. “It’s from Gallifrey.”
The Doctor looked up, as if he had just remembered everyone else was there. “Oh, yes,” he said in a heavy voice.
“What’s it say?”
“Whosoever claims the knowledge harbored within, claims the knowledge of the universe. Time, space, and eternal life to use as you see fit,” said the Doctor in a far off voice.
Rose was stunned. All that information in one place? To use as you see fit? What if the wrong person found it? What was it doing here, in this dimension? And why Earth? The Doctor was still staring at nothing in particular, looking like his thoughts were worried in a far off place. “Doctor?” said Rose gently.
“Rose,” he said looking at her, “This is the Library of Rassilon.”, he seemed floored by the concept.
“What’s that mean? Who’s Rassilon?”
The Doctor came back to himself. Of course this wouldn’t mean anything to her. She didn’t know who Rassilon was. He’d never bothered to tell her the history of his people. So he explained. “Rassilon was the first Time Lord. He was revered on my planet. A lot of it was propaganda, but he is the reason that my people became who they were. He held great knowledge. There was a rumor, not a well known rumor but known to some, that he stored his greatest secrets in a library of sorts and not on the matrix.”
“You mean like that Keanu Reeves movie?” Mickey interrupted.
The Doctor gave Mickey an exasperated look. Mickey may have changed a lot, but he was still Mickey. “No. It was where we stored all the knowledge the Time Lords held,” the Doctor answered. “Anyway, some thought he stored his secrets in this library. It was supposed to be hidden somewhere in the universe that no one would ever find. Of course that’s meant to be true of anything being hidden, just doesn’t always work. This though... I thought it was just a legend. Then again, I tend to be proven wrong on that front quite a bit.”
“So, what are we gonna do?” asked Rose
The Doctor gave her a playfully shocked look. “What do you mean? We’re gonna go down there of course!”
Rose smiled a smile she never thought she would again. The smile she always gave at the prospect of an adventure with the Doctor. And she would find out more about his world. She’d always wondered about it, but was afraid to ask. She found out some things. He'd told her the way his planet looked. She knew about the looms that they used to make children. The Doctor had explained that to her when she’d been shocked to find out that he'd not exactly had his children with another woman. He'd in fact had very few sexual partners over his very long life. He’d said that since Time Lords were all almost sterile, their libidos were almost completely dormant. She’d been quite flattered to learn that she was one of few to awaken those desires in him.
She also knew that he had never been fond of his own society, that he’d found them stuffy, pretentious, and emotionally repressed. That and the basics of the Time War were pretty much the sum of what she knew. She never wanted to pry. The far off look in his eyes when he thought of his home, the pain she saw there. It was enough to break her heart. So she simply let him tell her what he wanted to when he was ready.
The sound of a motorcycle came through the window, and Mickey’s ears seemed to perk up. Jake was back. He was in a much better place now, about Ricky’s death, than he used to be. Mickey was still concerned when he’d return from his visits, though. Jake would never quite meet his eyes for the rest of the day after he got back.
“Hello, all,” said Jake as he came in. “I hear we have a visitor.”
“Hello Jake!” the Doctor greeted him with a smile.
“Doctor.” Jake came and sat down in the chair next to Mickey. “So, how’d you manage it, then?”
“A lot of looking and a bit of luck,” said the Doctor as Jackie handed Jake a cup of tea and sat down herself.
“I don’t care how you got here,” said Rose, grasping his hand under the table. “I’m just glad to be with you again.”
“Me too.” The Doctor smiled sweetly holding her gaze and entwining his fingers with hers. An, oh so familiar action that they’d been deprived of for too long.
“You still going down to that alien manhole thing then?” Jake asked Mickey.
“Yeah, why not?”
“Nothin’. Never mind.”
The air was tense for a moment. “Tell you what,” said Jackie breaking the momentary silence “Why don’t we move into the sitting room, yeah? Pete should be home in a few, and we can talk plans for tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” said Rose.
“Not me,” said Jake, standing up. “I’ve got work to do with the troops.” He gave a sideways glance at Mickey and left for the guesthouse.
“Jake!” Mickey called after him. “Jake, c’mon!” he followed him out.
***
“What was all that about?” the Doctor asked later. He and Rose were cuddled up together on the couch in front of the fireplace.
“What, with Jake and Mickey?” said Rose. “I’m not entirely sure. Ever since Mickey said he’d help me with the hatch, Jake’s seemed a bit miffed at him.” She really didn’t understand why. They usually got on so well. Best mates even. But something had Jake upset lately and Rose didn’t know what.
She listened to the soothing sound of the Doctor’s double heartbeat as she lay her head on his chest. “I missed that sound. Thud-da-thump, thud-da-thump,” she tried to imitate the noise and felt his chest rumble as he chuckled. “I’m so glad you came back for me.”
The Doctor tilted Rose’s chin up to look in her eyes. “I will always come for you, Rose,” he said. “Always.”
Rose smiled and kissed him softly. As she pulled away he leaned forward and kissed her again, and then another, until they were eventually snogging on the couch like teenagers. Then they heard the car coming up the drive. “Ah!” said the Doctor when Rose pulled away from on top of him. “That’ll be the TARDIS!” He got up and ran to the window. The TARDIS was in the flatbed of a large truck as it came to a stop in front of the house. Pete stepped out of the passenger side and went to the back of the truck to help the driver undo the straps securing her. “A personal delivery. I’m flattered.”
********************************************************
Pete had been stunned to learn that the Doctor was once again in this dimension. He’d said it was impossible when he spoke to Rose on the beach. Was he here to stay, or was he taking Rose back with him? Jackie would be devastated if he did.
“Need hand?” said the Doctor as he and Rose stepped out onto the drive.
“Yeah. This thing ain’t half heavy,” said the driver, who was attempting to push the TARDIS onto the ramp.
“You wouldn’t think so if you’d seen the inside,” said Rose.
“Nice to see you again, Pete,” said the Doctor, shaking his hand.
“You too, Doctor.”
The Doctor wasn’t quite as fond of this Pete Tyler as he was of the one in his universe. He found him rather colder than the first Pete he knew. Maybe that was just something money did to you. He didn’t dislike him though, and Rose thought of him as her father. Besides, at his core he was still Pete Tyler. It was just the circumstances that made him different on the surface.
Once they got the TARDIS down, they situated her on the lawn, and the Doctor got to work fiddling with her straight away. It was dark inside. She was almost completely powered down. The Doctor had to use a torch to check out the wires under the console. Rose watched from the seat in front of the console as the Doctor’s form wiggled under the grating and soniced random bits of machinery. It felt good to be on this ship again, watching the Doctor work (even if she couldn’t see him very well). She yawned and suddenly realized how very tired she was.
“You should get some rest,” said the Doctor from under the console. “It’s been a pretty eventful day.”
“Mm-mm. I’m fine,” she said stifling another yawn that rendered her statement ineffective.
“Really?” said the Doctor, popping up from under the grating and arching an eyebrow.
“It’s just...” she started shakily, “I don’t want to wake up to find that this was all a dream. That you’re not here.”
The Doctor's face sombered as he gazed at her. He stood slowly and came quietly to Rose’s side, holding out his hand. She took it, and they silently made their way out of the TARDIS and up to Rose’s bedroom. When they got there he stood in front of her and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. Without a hint of intent, the Doctor began to remove his clothes. Rose followed suit. She took off her jeans and he stripped down to his underwear, and they climbed into bed together. He held her close, assuring her of his presence through the night and she drifted off to sleep in his cool embrace.
And somewhere, in the depths of the Earth, something stirred, waiting.
Chapter 6
Pairing: 10/Rose
Rating: Adult
Spoilers: all of season 2
Summary: The Doctor realizes he can't go on without Rose, so he decides he's going to find a way to get her back, but what secrets lie in the other dimension?
( Chapter one )
( Chapter two )
( Chapter three )
( Chapter four ) contains smut
CHAPTER 5
“Gallifreyan? Are you sure?” said the Doctor as he slipped on his pinstriped jacket.
“Pretty sure. Looked just like it,” said Rose as she put on one of her Punky Fish tops and a pair of jeans. The shirt she came in with wouldn’t close due to it’s newfound lack of buttons. He had kept all her things exactly where she left them, and it warmed her heart. “Besides, it’s the only alien language that doesn’t get translated for me.”
“You still got translations here?” he asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I was kinda surprised too,” she said. “Guess the connection held.”
The Doctor smiled warmly. “Guess so.”
No one who traveled with him had ever had as strong a bond with the TARDIS as Rose. Still, just because it wasn’t translated didn’t make it Gallifreyan. The language on that planet with the black hole wasn’t translated. That was so very rare though, so maybe... “Guess I’d better have a look.”
“That’s the plan,” said Rose, as they headed out.
*********************************************************
Mickey waited out by the van for the Doctor and Rose. He was shocked, really. How the hell had he managed to get here? Then again, this was the Doctor. You tell him something’s impossible and he’ll try that much harder.
“Mickey!” the Doctor greeted him as he stepped out of the TARDIS with Rose in tow. “How ya been mate?”
“Pretty good,” said Mickey. “What took you so long?”
“Ah, well, modes of interdimensional transport are hard to come by these days,” said the Doctor with a grin. “Where’s Jakey-boy then?”
The mood shifted suddenly. “Ricky’s grave,” answered Mickey.
“...Oh.” Suddenly the Doctor was sorry he’d asked.
“It’s the anniversary of his death,” Mickey explained. Everyone was silent for a moment, then, “S’funny, you showin’ up on the same day we first came here,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.
Rose took the Doctor’s hand. “We should get going,” she said.
“Right,” said the Doctor. “Um...About the TARDIS. I’m gonna need to take her with us.”
“Well that’s fine,” said Mickey. “Fire it up. I’ll just meet you there.”
“Ah, yeah,” the Doctor began, scratching behind his ear and then rubbing the back of his neck. “See, that’s the thing. I can’t.”
“What? Why not?”
“The trip exhausted her circuits,” explained Rose.
“That too, yeah,” said the Doctor. “But also, the TARDIS’ systems aren’t set to navigate this dimension’s vortex. I can’t move her freely here without extensive rewiring.”
“Dad could send a truck down,” offered Rose.
“Sounds good to me,” said the Doctor. “Well, then. Shall we?” he gestured to the van.
The three of them were seated beside each other in the front of the van. Mickey drove, of course. The Doctor told Rose about the time he’d spent looking for a way to get to her and all the things he tried. Rose told the Doctor about her work at Torchwood and all the quantum physics she’d been teaching herself, and the theories she’d explored looking for a way to get back. Mickey and Rose both told the Doctor about the work the Preachers had been doing. They were all caught up by the time they got to the mansion.
The Doctor braced himself as he entered the door. And sure enough, “You!” came the voice of Jackie Tyler as she came down the hall, four and a half months pregnant and quite moody.
“Hello, Jackie!” said the Doctor as pleasantly as he could manage.
“What took you so long?! You think you can just leave my daughter brokenhearted, and then pop over here and expect to be welcomed back into our lives with open arms?!”
He wanted to say, ‘I didn’t want to leave her’. He wanted to say, ‘I was brokenhearted too’. He didn’t though. He’d learned his lesson there. Struggling against the wrath of Jackie only made it worse. So, he just stood there looking sheepish and sorry.
“Well,” she said calmly “Welcome back,” and she smiled and gave him a big hug. “We missed you.”
Jackie let go of the surprised Doctor. “Thanks,” he said sincerely.
“Now, then,” she said “Tea?”
“Tea sounds great,” said the Doctor with a smile.
They sat at the kitchen table and drank their tea. The Doctor would never admit it but, as bad as her cooking was, no one made a cuppa like Jackie Tyler.
“These are the files,” said Rose sitting down next to the Doctor and handing him a stack of folders.
He opened them and put on his glasses. The first few pages were nothing special. A Quillka ship had crashed into the ocean off the coast of Sweden. Some of the debris had fallen down a trench and they had to send a team of deep sea submersibles down to retrieve them. What they found down there was why the doctor was looking.
“Impossible,” the Doctor said aloud. There were many photographs, from different angles and distances of an extremely ancient looking large octagonal hatch. The ground around it seemed to spiral outward. As if the Earth had shifted around it over the eons, but this was a fixed point. The writing was most certainly from Gallifrey. And right in the center was a symbol. A seal every Gallifreyan knew very well. The seal of Rassilon.
“I was right, wasn’t I?” asked Rose. “It’s from Gallifrey.”
The Doctor looked up, as if he had just remembered everyone else was there. “Oh, yes,” he said in a heavy voice.
“What’s it say?”
“Whosoever claims the knowledge harbored within, claims the knowledge of the universe. Time, space, and eternal life to use as you see fit,” said the Doctor in a far off voice.
Rose was stunned. All that information in one place? To use as you see fit? What if the wrong person found it? What was it doing here, in this dimension? And why Earth? The Doctor was still staring at nothing in particular, looking like his thoughts were worried in a far off place. “Doctor?” said Rose gently.
“Rose,” he said looking at her, “This is the Library of Rassilon.”, he seemed floored by the concept.
“What’s that mean? Who’s Rassilon?”
The Doctor came back to himself. Of course this wouldn’t mean anything to her. She didn’t know who Rassilon was. He’d never bothered to tell her the history of his people. So he explained. “Rassilon was the first Time Lord. He was revered on my planet. A lot of it was propaganda, but he is the reason that my people became who they were. He held great knowledge. There was a rumor, not a well known rumor but known to some, that he stored his greatest secrets in a library of sorts and not on the matrix.”
“You mean like that Keanu Reeves movie?” Mickey interrupted.
The Doctor gave Mickey an exasperated look. Mickey may have changed a lot, but he was still Mickey. “No. It was where we stored all the knowledge the Time Lords held,” the Doctor answered. “Anyway, some thought he stored his secrets in this library. It was supposed to be hidden somewhere in the universe that no one would ever find. Of course that’s meant to be true of anything being hidden, just doesn’t always work. This though... I thought it was just a legend. Then again, I tend to be proven wrong on that front quite a bit.”
“So, what are we gonna do?” asked Rose
The Doctor gave her a playfully shocked look. “What do you mean? We’re gonna go down there of course!”
Rose smiled a smile she never thought she would again. The smile she always gave at the prospect of an adventure with the Doctor. And she would find out more about his world. She’d always wondered about it, but was afraid to ask. She found out some things. He'd told her the way his planet looked. She knew about the looms that they used to make children. The Doctor had explained that to her when she’d been shocked to find out that he'd not exactly had his children with another woman. He'd in fact had very few sexual partners over his very long life. He’d said that since Time Lords were all almost sterile, their libidos were almost completely dormant. She’d been quite flattered to learn that she was one of few to awaken those desires in him.
She also knew that he had never been fond of his own society, that he’d found them stuffy, pretentious, and emotionally repressed. That and the basics of the Time War were pretty much the sum of what she knew. She never wanted to pry. The far off look in his eyes when he thought of his home, the pain she saw there. It was enough to break her heart. So she simply let him tell her what he wanted to when he was ready.
The sound of a motorcycle came through the window, and Mickey’s ears seemed to perk up. Jake was back. He was in a much better place now, about Ricky’s death, than he used to be. Mickey was still concerned when he’d return from his visits, though. Jake would never quite meet his eyes for the rest of the day after he got back.
“Hello, all,” said Jake as he came in. “I hear we have a visitor.”
“Hello Jake!” the Doctor greeted him with a smile.
“Doctor.” Jake came and sat down in the chair next to Mickey. “So, how’d you manage it, then?”
“A lot of looking and a bit of luck,” said the Doctor as Jackie handed Jake a cup of tea and sat down herself.
“I don’t care how you got here,” said Rose, grasping his hand under the table. “I’m just glad to be with you again.”
“Me too.” The Doctor smiled sweetly holding her gaze and entwining his fingers with hers. An, oh so familiar action that they’d been deprived of for too long.
“You still going down to that alien manhole thing then?” Jake asked Mickey.
“Yeah, why not?”
“Nothin’. Never mind.”
The air was tense for a moment. “Tell you what,” said Jackie breaking the momentary silence “Why don’t we move into the sitting room, yeah? Pete should be home in a few, and we can talk plans for tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” said Rose.
“Not me,” said Jake, standing up. “I’ve got work to do with the troops.” He gave a sideways glance at Mickey and left for the guesthouse.
“Jake!” Mickey called after him. “Jake, c’mon!” he followed him out.
***
“What was all that about?” the Doctor asked later. He and Rose were cuddled up together on the couch in front of the fireplace.
“What, with Jake and Mickey?” said Rose. “I’m not entirely sure. Ever since Mickey said he’d help me with the hatch, Jake’s seemed a bit miffed at him.” She really didn’t understand why. They usually got on so well. Best mates even. But something had Jake upset lately and Rose didn’t know what.
She listened to the soothing sound of the Doctor’s double heartbeat as she lay her head on his chest. “I missed that sound. Thud-da-thump, thud-da-thump,” she tried to imitate the noise and felt his chest rumble as he chuckled. “I’m so glad you came back for me.”
The Doctor tilted Rose’s chin up to look in her eyes. “I will always come for you, Rose,” he said. “Always.”
Rose smiled and kissed him softly. As she pulled away he leaned forward and kissed her again, and then another, until they were eventually snogging on the couch like teenagers. Then they heard the car coming up the drive. “Ah!” said the Doctor when Rose pulled away from on top of him. “That’ll be the TARDIS!” He got up and ran to the window. The TARDIS was in the flatbed of a large truck as it came to a stop in front of the house. Pete stepped out of the passenger side and went to the back of the truck to help the driver undo the straps securing her. “A personal delivery. I’m flattered.”
********************************************************
Pete had been stunned to learn that the Doctor was once again in this dimension. He’d said it was impossible when he spoke to Rose on the beach. Was he here to stay, or was he taking Rose back with him? Jackie would be devastated if he did.
“Need hand?” said the Doctor as he and Rose stepped out onto the drive.
“Yeah. This thing ain’t half heavy,” said the driver, who was attempting to push the TARDIS onto the ramp.
“You wouldn’t think so if you’d seen the inside,” said Rose.
“Nice to see you again, Pete,” said the Doctor, shaking his hand.
“You too, Doctor.”
The Doctor wasn’t quite as fond of this Pete Tyler as he was of the one in his universe. He found him rather colder than the first Pete he knew. Maybe that was just something money did to you. He didn’t dislike him though, and Rose thought of him as her father. Besides, at his core he was still Pete Tyler. It was just the circumstances that made him different on the surface.
Once they got the TARDIS down, they situated her on the lawn, and the Doctor got to work fiddling with her straight away. It was dark inside. She was almost completely powered down. The Doctor had to use a torch to check out the wires under the console. Rose watched from the seat in front of the console as the Doctor’s form wiggled under the grating and soniced random bits of machinery. It felt good to be on this ship again, watching the Doctor work (even if she couldn’t see him very well). She yawned and suddenly realized how very tired she was.
“You should get some rest,” said the Doctor from under the console. “It’s been a pretty eventful day.”
“Mm-mm. I’m fine,” she said stifling another yawn that rendered her statement ineffective.
“Really?” said the Doctor, popping up from under the grating and arching an eyebrow.
“It’s just...” she started shakily, “I don’t want to wake up to find that this was all a dream. That you’re not here.”
The Doctor's face sombered as he gazed at her. He stood slowly and came quietly to Rose’s side, holding out his hand. She took it, and they silently made their way out of the TARDIS and up to Rose’s bedroom. When they got there he stood in front of her and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. Without a hint of intent, the Doctor began to remove his clothes. Rose followed suit. She took off her jeans and he stripped down to his underwear, and they climbed into bed together. He held her close, assuring her of his presence through the night and she drifted off to sleep in his cool embrace.
And somewhere, in the depths of the Earth, something stirred, waiting.
Chapter 6