FIC: Flipped, Book 3 (13/14)
Title: Flipped, Book 3
Rating: heavy T, with some M/MA
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble thought he had come to terms with the strange feelings the female Doctor inspired, and it seemed to be helped by Martha Jones joining them. But when the Aubertide threaten the Doctor, protecting her requires a cover that will test his sanity and his ability to find the right thing to do. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a Christmas present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the second sequel. :D A VERY Belated Happy Birthday, TM! :DDD
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
And TM, be careful that you don't hyperventilate from reading some of the sections. I know you. :P And so sorry for the delay. At least I have a legitimate excuse for not working on it last year; we had our balrog to work on. :D
Thanks to cassikat and bas_math_girl for betaing. Couldn't have done it without y'all.
And a note, I made a few small modifications to Chapter 12. Nothing that you can't read this without, but you might want the refresher anyway.
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine / Chapter Ten / Chapter Eleven / Chapter Twelve
Flipped, Book 3
Started July 14, 2013
Finished May 18, 2016
Chapter Thirteen: Got a Moment?
“Don't you get it? I'm having the worst day of my life. Nose broken, a piece torn out of me by some dog that deserves to be put down, and handcuffed to a table in some secure building, surrounded by people demanding I answer their questions and treating me like some major threat to the planet!”
“Shut your whining!” Jackie snapped, glaring at her daughter. “Acting like you didn't do anything wrong! Talking like it's awful having to answer to all these military types, and to the civilians they work with. Did nothing I taught you about right and wrong sink in?!”
“Like you had any room to talk-”
“Enough!”
Most of the room stopped and stared as Howard yelled at his step-daughter, eyes alight with patience snapped beyond recognition. He had been quiet the whole time, but it seemed his patience had hit its limit. Everyone who had been present at the denouement inside the TARDIS was present, except for David and the Doctor. Adding to the group were several UNIT soldiers, the Brigadier, and Kate. The latter two remained mostly silent, letting Rose make her own situation worse.
“Obviously you never had respect for anyone, Rose Marian Tyler,” Howard continued, his voice the kind of authority Rose never knew growing up. “Anyone who treats their mother like dirt will just do whatever they like, not caring for anyone else. Do you get that you've insulted two people who were close to the Doctor? Least of all the former leader of the people who rightly imprisoned you? It sounded like he was close enough to be called a brother, and now his daughter has taken his place in the organization. Are you looking to be locked up in prison and the key thrown away?!”
Rose rolled her eyes, stewing in contempt for her situation. “No! I was only making my life better.”
Sarah Jane shook her head. “You make your life better by learning skills to not only survive but thrive. You work hard to raise yourself, not look for someone to fix your problems for you.”
“I agree. What you did was the act of someone only worthy of being a shop girl for life,” Mickey stated, glaring at her like she was gum he'd scraped off his shoes. “If that.”
Rose turned to one of the medical staff, the far-too beautiful dark-skinned girl who had helped bandage her wounds. “You know, the pain medicine isn't working. That awful child hazard had to have some disease!”
Martha shook her head slowly. She was having trouble telling if Rose was telling the truth or complaining because she could. All her training said that she had given all they should, and another dose should wait. Yet what if she really was in pain? Was it humane to make her suffer?
“Shut it about Curie,” Sylvia said, fixing Rose's attention and making the girl tremble. And giving Martha an out from answering. “David keeps her in good health.”
“Well, it won't matter! That flea-ridden mutt will be put down for biting me!”
Jack interrupted. “Actually, Rose, given the alien invasion Curie is safe. We can't let the police get involved, and your mother hasn't indicated that she wants to lodge a complaint given what happened. Besides, you were trespassing and helped a home invasion. The law might be shaky on that, but Curie could've been seen as defending a threat to her owner. She'll live no matter what, and I'm sure she'll be just as happy to never see you again.”
She still held to her beliefs. “I'm better for him than than stupid ginger alien!”
“For once in your life, Rose Tyler, shut up!”
Sylvia Noble was ready to lash out again when the shout happened. She and the others turned. Almost no one had noticed someone extra enter the secure area or heard the door opening. At least none of the civilians did.
David walked in, hand-in-hand with the Doctor. Their posture and closeness screamed 'we are a couple, stand back' to anyone who cared to see it. On seeing Rose David quickly touched the Doctor's belly with his free hand protectively. He got a warm smile in return.
Sylvia sucked in a sharp breath. “You're still pregnant?” she asked, trembling with hope.
“What?!” screamed Rose.
“I said, shut up!” David bellowed, his voice very loud in the space. He never told anyone to shut up, certainly not a female. At least before the Doctor came into his life. Not that he had said it since the regeneration. But he plainly had no patience left.
Rose's shock was enough to get her silence, which drew relieved sighs out of much of the room. Even the Brigadier and Kate, although theirs was less obvious.
The Doctor smiled at her mother-in-law as they approached. “Yes, against all odds the twins are still alive and looking like they'll make it to term. The first natural-born Gallifreyans in over 1,000 years. And I have a bond-mate once again.”
Sylvia exhaled and stunned them all by hugging her. “Thank god.”
David's eyes widened, but his voice was calm. “So it's fine, Mum?”
“Yes,” she said, drawing back to hug him. “Might not be what I expected, but I'm happy for you now.”
“Well!” the Doctor exclaimed, startling the room. “Now it's time to get back into my role.” She looked around and smiled, letting go of David to greet someone. “Sir Alister! Good to see you again, old friend. It's been centuries for me. I heard you nearly had a shock when you heard I flipped genders.”
While her words seemed flippant, those who knew the Doctor saw a tension in her body. Like an animal looking out for a predator. And they suspected who was causing that feeling.
Jack shook his head and looked at Mickey, who was standing beside him. “Get the feeling that the Doctor didn't like being called a cow?” he whispered.
“What woman would?” was the equally quiet answer.
The Brigadier managed a friendly handshake, even if it felt odd to do so with a woman. “Likewise, Doctor. Although it feels strange to be unable to call you 'dear boy'.”
“Well, who knows whether the change is permanent. As long as it lasts at least as long as I have with David, I'll be fine.”
“How can you be the Doctor?” Rose interrupted. “The Doctor's a he!”
“Oh how little you know about gender and biology, little girl,” the Doctor retorted, sticking her hands into her pockets. “My species works very differently than Humans, which makes my being pregnant a miracle. If I were a lesser woman I'd wonder if it would be wrong for me to bitch-slap a selfish brat. I was born a man, after all, and I vowed to never hit a woman. But then again you were a child when we met, and obviously haven't grown up.” She turned and kept speaking. “Jackie Tyler, I presume?”
Jackie squirmed. “It's Jackie White now. And I'm so sorry. Rose was my only link to her dad, and she was such a trial. I've tried since Hendrick's exploded to get her to turn her life around. But I've had enough. I assume there's no such thing as legal aide given aliens are involved, never mind the delay in getting it awarded even if it is, so all I'll do now is visit her. Assuming her crimes are so awful that there're still things people get executed for?”
She finished on a quiet tone. She feared the answer, but the Brigadier shook his head in negation.
But, naturally, someone interrupted.
“Why should I be killed?!” Rose shouted. “And what does this fat ginger who claims she's the Doctor have that I don't?”
David fixed the hardest glare he had on her. He hid his pleasure that she leaned back in her chair. “There you are, focusing entirely on the inconvenience to your plans. I had to call my clinic and come up with a cover story to explain why I'm not in today. Had to tell them that the Ministry of Defence called me to help urgently. Do you have any idea how important my job is to me? Or how many people's lives I've helped?”
As he spoke, stepping firmly into Rose's line of sight yet keeping quite a distance, David made sure that attention was on him. His gestures were bigger than he usually gave, his words meant to keep Rose's attention on him.
What caught the attention of Jack, Kate, Sarah Jane, and the Brigadier was that the Doctor slowly moved toward the table to Rose's left. The Time Lady's eyes focused on Rose, like she wanted to make sure she wasn't noticing her.
David carried on with his lecture. “And what about those poor four people taken by the Aubertide? They had rights and didn't ask for what happened to them. I'm hoping that their brainwaves aren't completely overrun, their minds so overwhelmed that there's nothing left to save. If there's nothing to save then they'll have to remain in the TARDIS holding cells until the Aubertide die, taking their lives with them. How's that for the rest of your life, seeing and hearing your family, but no one can touch you. No one will visit you until you and your family are dead. It won't spare the TARDIS from listening to their rants, but if she really gets angry she could zap them.”
The Doctor walked past the table, and when she did Sylvia and Geoffrey were the first to notice that there was a small object that wasn't there before. It was a little cube with symbols on it, in the design of things that the Doctor had shown them during some visits, but it was nothing like the others.
They shared a puzzled look. What was the Doctor up to? And how much did David know?
Rose shrugged, flinching like she had an itch she couldn't scratch. “Well, it's sad, but what do I have to do with that? It's not like I was looking for the Doctor. I was looking for you!”
“Why? Didn't I make it clear that I don't go for children or idiots?” David scorned.
“Idiots?! I'm not an idiot! And I wasn't a child then, either!”
“According to the law, no, but no man in his thirties should be going out with a sixteen year old to begin with! Even being with a nineteen year old is wrong, and it's simply disgusting. You and I are and were after different things in life. You're just out to have fun and avoid responsibility, and couldn't be bothered to have much compassion from what I saw. I thrive on responsibility and caring for others, and I regret when there's a loss of life. Even if they were an enemy. I've seen your ilk before, and I've had older women with more subtlety try it on with me. They at least had the self-respect to know when to quit.”
With Rose wholly focused on David, the Doctor moved a little faster - but not much - to place another cube on the shelf behind Rose.
Rose shivered suddenly, but she shook it off. “Ugh, where's this static coming from?” she grumbled to avoid focusing on his insults.
“Static electricity is hardly a concern, Rose,” David scoffed. “Do you realise that you've completely given up your freedom? You stalked me and then helped dangerous aliens invade my home, all to steal the Doctor's life force. Do you understand that you would've died - along with the rest of Earth - if the Aubertide had got their way?”
She scowled. “Like any of that matters. It didn't come to pass.”
“But you helped it come close to happening. And you also frightened me by making me think my children had died before they could even be born.”
The Doctor moved a little faster to place yet another cube, this time on a shelf to Rose's right. She made sure they were an equal distance from each other and from Rose.
Rose shivered more than before, but this time didn't complain out loud. Not about that. “You aren't sickened by having children with an alien who was a man?”
“I'm not going to share anything about my journey to being married and happy. You don't deserve to know anything about that,” David said.
“Exactly!” the Doctor interjected. “Time instead to settle an old score, to contain a grave danger to Time and Space itself. A danger that's the reason the TARDIS placed us in such a dangerous situation and placed innocent unborn children in peril.”
“What danger?” asked Kate.
The Doctor met David's eyes, and he nodded before taking several steps backward. She sent him reassurance through their bond, but knew as well as he that this was going to be risky. She stopped in the spot he had stood and faced Rose. “Before I answer that, I must say... Jackie White, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for what you're about to witness.”
Jackie's eyes widened and her body shook. But she kept her mouth shut.
Without giving anyone a chance to comment, the Doctor turned the Oncoming Storm gaze on Rose. “To answer the question, Kate, the one inhabiting the body before us,” she declared.
Suddenly she drew another cube out with her right hand, a much larger cube, and a seal in her other hand. She held them both out in front of her, with the symbols facing Rose.
Rose stiffened at the same moment the cubes all started glowing, forming a dome of energy around her. The seal itself crackled with energy. Her eyes closed as her face contorted with pain.
“No, please,” begged Jackie, visions of her daughter dying before her flashing before her eyes.
Rose's eyes suddenly opened as she looked at the Doctor, and all but the Time Lady drew back. A golden glow existed where Rose's eyes had been, and it crackled out of her body.
“You weren't supposed to know,” she growled, her voice barely like Rose's. “You were supposed to have Rose as your companion.”
The Doctor's body seemed to be connected to the barrier, making the golden glow from Rose turn slowly red. But she showed no fear. “Let her go, Moment! Or should I call you Bad Wolf?”
Her own voice was unearthly, a booming quality that made her companions' hairs stand on end. Everyone wanted to know what she was talking about, but no one could speak. Or, in David's case, didn't dare given what little he knew.
Rose stood, the cuffs suddenly breaking and the table overturning. The UNIT soldiers grabbed their guns instinctively, not that anyone thought they would help, as she stepped over the table and pushed against the barrier, but the energy held against her effort.
Which made her eyes shine with a reddish tint as her face scowled. “You weren't supposed to be a woman! You were supposed to be a man, to be him! And there wasn't supposed to be a David Noble! This body you inhabit was supposed to be Donna Noble, a worthless temp the universe decreed the Most Important Woman in all of Creation for one little instance.”
The Doctor refused to engage her. “Let Rose go, Moment! Huff and puff as much as the Bad Wolf of legend did, but you can't win!”
The Moment laughed. “Foolish Doctor. If you kill me you die with me. The universe needs you. So you must deal with me for all of Time!”
The energy crackled and flashed where the barrier stood between the Doctor and the Moment. Red and gold warred with each other, making more of the room stand back.
“You're too dangerous to let loose!” cried the Doctor. She grimaced and focused all her own mental powers on the barrier.
The Moment staggered but quickly stood tall. She laughed. “Then this victory will be sweeter. Meet your end, Doctor!”
And she threw her energy at the Time Lady, making the barrier flicker like it was losing power as the Doctor's eyes went huge.
“No!” David screamed.
Chapter 14: Denouement
Rating: heavy T, with some M/MA
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble thought he had come to terms with the strange feelings the female Doctor inspired, and it seemed to be helped by Martha Jones joining them. But when the Aubertide threaten the Doctor, protecting her requires a cover that will test his sanity and his ability to find the right thing to do. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a Christmas present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the second sequel. :D A VERY Belated Happy Birthday, TM! :DDD
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
And TM, be careful that you don't hyperventilate from reading some of the sections. I know you. :P And so sorry for the delay. At least I have a legitimate excuse for not working on it last year; we had our balrog to work on. :D
Thanks to cassikat and bas_math_girl for betaing. Couldn't have done it without y'all.
And a note, I made a few small modifications to Chapter 12. Nothing that you can't read this without, but you might want the refresher anyway.
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine / Chapter Ten / Chapter Eleven / Chapter Twelve
Flipped, Book 3
Started July 14, 2013
Finished May 18, 2016
Chapter Thirteen: Got a Moment?
“Don't you get it? I'm having the worst day of my life. Nose broken, a piece torn out of me by some dog that deserves to be put down, and handcuffed to a table in some secure building, surrounded by people demanding I answer their questions and treating me like some major threat to the planet!”
“Shut your whining!” Jackie snapped, glaring at her daughter. “Acting like you didn't do anything wrong! Talking like it's awful having to answer to all these military types, and to the civilians they work with. Did nothing I taught you about right and wrong sink in?!”
“Like you had any room to talk-”
“Enough!”
Most of the room stopped and stared as Howard yelled at his step-daughter, eyes alight with patience snapped beyond recognition. He had been quiet the whole time, but it seemed his patience had hit its limit. Everyone who had been present at the denouement inside the TARDIS was present, except for David and the Doctor. Adding to the group were several UNIT soldiers, the Brigadier, and Kate. The latter two remained mostly silent, letting Rose make her own situation worse.
“Obviously you never had respect for anyone, Rose Marian Tyler,” Howard continued, his voice the kind of authority Rose never knew growing up. “Anyone who treats their mother like dirt will just do whatever they like, not caring for anyone else. Do you get that you've insulted two people who were close to the Doctor? Least of all the former leader of the people who rightly imprisoned you? It sounded like he was close enough to be called a brother, and now his daughter has taken his place in the organization. Are you looking to be locked up in prison and the key thrown away?!”
Rose rolled her eyes, stewing in contempt for her situation. “No! I was only making my life better.”
Sarah Jane shook her head. “You make your life better by learning skills to not only survive but thrive. You work hard to raise yourself, not look for someone to fix your problems for you.”
“I agree. What you did was the act of someone only worthy of being a shop girl for life,” Mickey stated, glaring at her like she was gum he'd scraped off his shoes. “If that.”
Rose turned to one of the medical staff, the far-too beautiful dark-skinned girl who had helped bandage her wounds. “You know, the pain medicine isn't working. That awful child hazard had to have some disease!”
Martha shook her head slowly. She was having trouble telling if Rose was telling the truth or complaining because she could. All her training said that she had given all they should, and another dose should wait. Yet what if she really was in pain? Was it humane to make her suffer?
“Shut it about Curie,” Sylvia said, fixing Rose's attention and making the girl tremble. And giving Martha an out from answering. “David keeps her in good health.”
“Well, it won't matter! That flea-ridden mutt will be put down for biting me!”
Jack interrupted. “Actually, Rose, given the alien invasion Curie is safe. We can't let the police get involved, and your mother hasn't indicated that she wants to lodge a complaint given what happened. Besides, you were trespassing and helped a home invasion. The law might be shaky on that, but Curie could've been seen as defending a threat to her owner. She'll live no matter what, and I'm sure she'll be just as happy to never see you again.”
She still held to her beliefs. “I'm better for him than than stupid ginger alien!”
“For once in your life, Rose Tyler, shut up!”
Sylvia Noble was ready to lash out again when the shout happened. She and the others turned. Almost no one had noticed someone extra enter the secure area or heard the door opening. At least none of the civilians did.
David walked in, hand-in-hand with the Doctor. Their posture and closeness screamed 'we are a couple, stand back' to anyone who cared to see it. On seeing Rose David quickly touched the Doctor's belly with his free hand protectively. He got a warm smile in return.
Sylvia sucked in a sharp breath. “You're still pregnant?” she asked, trembling with hope.
“What?!” screamed Rose.
“I said, shut up!” David bellowed, his voice very loud in the space. He never told anyone to shut up, certainly not a female. At least before the Doctor came into his life. Not that he had said it since the regeneration. But he plainly had no patience left.
Rose's shock was enough to get her silence, which drew relieved sighs out of much of the room. Even the Brigadier and Kate, although theirs was less obvious.
The Doctor smiled at her mother-in-law as they approached. “Yes, against all odds the twins are still alive and looking like they'll make it to term. The first natural-born Gallifreyans in over 1,000 years. And I have a bond-mate once again.”
Sylvia exhaled and stunned them all by hugging her. “Thank god.”
David's eyes widened, but his voice was calm. “So it's fine, Mum?”
“Yes,” she said, drawing back to hug him. “Might not be what I expected, but I'm happy for you now.”
“Well!” the Doctor exclaimed, startling the room. “Now it's time to get back into my role.” She looked around and smiled, letting go of David to greet someone. “Sir Alister! Good to see you again, old friend. It's been centuries for me. I heard you nearly had a shock when you heard I flipped genders.”
While her words seemed flippant, those who knew the Doctor saw a tension in her body. Like an animal looking out for a predator. And they suspected who was causing that feeling.
Jack shook his head and looked at Mickey, who was standing beside him. “Get the feeling that the Doctor didn't like being called a cow?” he whispered.
“What woman would?” was the equally quiet answer.
The Brigadier managed a friendly handshake, even if it felt odd to do so with a woman. “Likewise, Doctor. Although it feels strange to be unable to call you 'dear boy'.”
“Well, who knows whether the change is permanent. As long as it lasts at least as long as I have with David, I'll be fine.”
“How can you be the Doctor?” Rose interrupted. “The Doctor's a he!”
“Oh how little you know about gender and biology, little girl,” the Doctor retorted, sticking her hands into her pockets. “My species works very differently than Humans, which makes my being pregnant a miracle. If I were a lesser woman I'd wonder if it would be wrong for me to bitch-slap a selfish brat. I was born a man, after all, and I vowed to never hit a woman. But then again you were a child when we met, and obviously haven't grown up.” She turned and kept speaking. “Jackie Tyler, I presume?”
Jackie squirmed. “It's Jackie White now. And I'm so sorry. Rose was my only link to her dad, and she was such a trial. I've tried since Hendrick's exploded to get her to turn her life around. But I've had enough. I assume there's no such thing as legal aide given aliens are involved, never mind the delay in getting it awarded even if it is, so all I'll do now is visit her. Assuming her crimes are so awful that there're still things people get executed for?”
She finished on a quiet tone. She feared the answer, but the Brigadier shook his head in negation.
But, naturally, someone interrupted.
“Why should I be killed?!” Rose shouted. “And what does this fat ginger who claims she's the Doctor have that I don't?”
David fixed the hardest glare he had on her. He hid his pleasure that she leaned back in her chair. “There you are, focusing entirely on the inconvenience to your plans. I had to call my clinic and come up with a cover story to explain why I'm not in today. Had to tell them that the Ministry of Defence called me to help urgently. Do you have any idea how important my job is to me? Or how many people's lives I've helped?”
As he spoke, stepping firmly into Rose's line of sight yet keeping quite a distance, David made sure that attention was on him. His gestures were bigger than he usually gave, his words meant to keep Rose's attention on him.
What caught the attention of Jack, Kate, Sarah Jane, and the Brigadier was that the Doctor slowly moved toward the table to Rose's left. The Time Lady's eyes focused on Rose, like she wanted to make sure she wasn't noticing her.
David carried on with his lecture. “And what about those poor four people taken by the Aubertide? They had rights and didn't ask for what happened to them. I'm hoping that their brainwaves aren't completely overrun, their minds so overwhelmed that there's nothing left to save. If there's nothing to save then they'll have to remain in the TARDIS holding cells until the Aubertide die, taking their lives with them. How's that for the rest of your life, seeing and hearing your family, but no one can touch you. No one will visit you until you and your family are dead. It won't spare the TARDIS from listening to their rants, but if she really gets angry she could zap them.”
The Doctor walked past the table, and when she did Sylvia and Geoffrey were the first to notice that there was a small object that wasn't there before. It was a little cube with symbols on it, in the design of things that the Doctor had shown them during some visits, but it was nothing like the others.
They shared a puzzled look. What was the Doctor up to? And how much did David know?
Rose shrugged, flinching like she had an itch she couldn't scratch. “Well, it's sad, but what do I have to do with that? It's not like I was looking for the Doctor. I was looking for you!”
“Why? Didn't I make it clear that I don't go for children or idiots?” David scorned.
“Idiots?! I'm not an idiot! And I wasn't a child then, either!”
“According to the law, no, but no man in his thirties should be going out with a sixteen year old to begin with! Even being with a nineteen year old is wrong, and it's simply disgusting. You and I are and were after different things in life. You're just out to have fun and avoid responsibility, and couldn't be bothered to have much compassion from what I saw. I thrive on responsibility and caring for others, and I regret when there's a loss of life. Even if they were an enemy. I've seen your ilk before, and I've had older women with more subtlety try it on with me. They at least had the self-respect to know when to quit.”
With Rose wholly focused on David, the Doctor moved a little faster - but not much - to place another cube on the shelf behind Rose.
Rose shivered suddenly, but she shook it off. “Ugh, where's this static coming from?” she grumbled to avoid focusing on his insults.
“Static electricity is hardly a concern, Rose,” David scoffed. “Do you realise that you've completely given up your freedom? You stalked me and then helped dangerous aliens invade my home, all to steal the Doctor's life force. Do you understand that you would've died - along with the rest of Earth - if the Aubertide had got their way?”
She scowled. “Like any of that matters. It didn't come to pass.”
“But you helped it come close to happening. And you also frightened me by making me think my children had died before they could even be born.”
The Doctor moved a little faster to place yet another cube, this time on a shelf to Rose's right. She made sure they were an equal distance from each other and from Rose.
Rose shivered more than before, but this time didn't complain out loud. Not about that. “You aren't sickened by having children with an alien who was a man?”
“I'm not going to share anything about my journey to being married and happy. You don't deserve to know anything about that,” David said.
“Exactly!” the Doctor interjected. “Time instead to settle an old score, to contain a grave danger to Time and Space itself. A danger that's the reason the TARDIS placed us in such a dangerous situation and placed innocent unborn children in peril.”
“What danger?” asked Kate.
The Doctor met David's eyes, and he nodded before taking several steps backward. She sent him reassurance through their bond, but knew as well as he that this was going to be risky. She stopped in the spot he had stood and faced Rose. “Before I answer that, I must say... Jackie White, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for what you're about to witness.”
Jackie's eyes widened and her body shook. But she kept her mouth shut.
Without giving anyone a chance to comment, the Doctor turned the Oncoming Storm gaze on Rose. “To answer the question, Kate, the one inhabiting the body before us,” she declared.
Suddenly she drew another cube out with her right hand, a much larger cube, and a seal in her other hand. She held them both out in front of her, with the symbols facing Rose.
Rose stiffened at the same moment the cubes all started glowing, forming a dome of energy around her. The seal itself crackled with energy. Her eyes closed as her face contorted with pain.
“No, please,” begged Jackie, visions of her daughter dying before her flashing before her eyes.
Rose's eyes suddenly opened as she looked at the Doctor, and all but the Time Lady drew back. A golden glow existed where Rose's eyes had been, and it crackled out of her body.
“You weren't supposed to know,” she growled, her voice barely like Rose's. “You were supposed to have Rose as your companion.”
The Doctor's body seemed to be connected to the barrier, making the golden glow from Rose turn slowly red. But she showed no fear. “Let her go, Moment! Or should I call you Bad Wolf?”
Her own voice was unearthly, a booming quality that made her companions' hairs stand on end. Everyone wanted to know what she was talking about, but no one could speak. Or, in David's case, didn't dare given what little he knew.
Rose stood, the cuffs suddenly breaking and the table overturning. The UNIT soldiers grabbed their guns instinctively, not that anyone thought they would help, as she stepped over the table and pushed against the barrier, but the energy held against her effort.
Which made her eyes shine with a reddish tint as her face scowled. “You weren't supposed to be a woman! You were supposed to be a man, to be him! And there wasn't supposed to be a David Noble! This body you inhabit was supposed to be Donna Noble, a worthless temp the universe decreed the Most Important Woman in all of Creation for one little instance.”
The Doctor refused to engage her. “Let Rose go, Moment! Huff and puff as much as the Bad Wolf of legend did, but you can't win!”
The Moment laughed. “Foolish Doctor. If you kill me you die with me. The universe needs you. So you must deal with me for all of Time!”
The energy crackled and flashed where the barrier stood between the Doctor and the Moment. Red and gold warred with each other, making more of the room stand back.
“You're too dangerous to let loose!” cried the Doctor. She grimaced and focused all her own mental powers on the barrier.
The Moment staggered but quickly stood tall. She laughed. “Then this victory will be sweeter. Meet your end, Doctor!”
And she threw her energy at the Time Lady, making the barrier flicker like it was losing power as the Doctor's eyes went huge.
“No!” David screamed.
Chapter 14: Denouement