Human Nature (Doctor Who, 1/5)
Summary: What if Rose had been with the Doctor when he met the Family? And what if they went to Rose's time, instead of 1913? And what if the Chameleon Arch didn't take away his memories?
Rating: T for now, M in a later chapter.
A/N: And what if this really didn't look much like the episode at all, and was mostly a thinly veiled excuse for the author to write lots of romance and angst? Oh, well. I hope you all take a chance on this one, and enjoy it!
This is mostly written already, so updates should be coming regularly. (Me, updating regularly. Why, yes, that is a low-flying pig you see.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They stumble into the TARDIS, laser blasts crackling in the air around them. As soon as the door closes the Doctor stumbles to the console and starts the dematerialization sequence, eager to get them away from this planet as soon as possible.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad, was-” he starts to joke, until a beep from the TARDIS cuts him off. He grabs the screen in front of him and reads the complex symbols Rose still can’t understand.
His face goes slack, then frustrated. “No! Oh, no no no!”
Rose pulls herself off the floor and goes to him. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re following us.”
She frowns in confusion. “But how? They didn’t have a time machine.”
He shakes his head. “Stolen technology. A Time Agency vortex manipulator, by the looks of it,” he says, tapping the screen. “Which means they can follow us anywhere, anywhen-” He pauses. “They’re never going to stop.”
And then, without warning, he turns and grips her by the upper arms so tightly it hurts. “Did they see you?”
“What?” she asks, startled. Everything’s going too fast. “I…I don’t think so…”
He asks again. “Did they see you?”
“I don’t know!” she shoots back at him. “Was kinda busy running.”
“But did they see you?” His eyes are wild, and she realizes this is not the time for doubt.
“No.”
He releases her, steps away and runs a hand through his hair. “Okay. That’s good. That’s very, very good. One human among billions, they’ll never be able to sniff you out. But me, I’m unique. Wherever I go, they’ll find me. Unless…” He looks up, expression arrested. “I’ll have to do it, then.”
She’s worried now, the plans spinning through his head too fast for her to keep up. “Do what?”
He looks at her. “They didn’t see me either. And their lifespan is running out. So we hide, and wait for them to die.”
She nods. “Okay-so we’re going to be in the Vortex for a while?”
“No,” he says, “that wouldn’t work. There’s no time in the Vortex-we could stay in here for ages and when we popped out, no time would have passed for them. No, we can’t do that.”
“But you just said they’ll be able to track you wherever-”
“I know,” he says softly, eyes fixed on hers. “The last Time Lord in existence, they’ll be able to find anywhere. Which is why I have to stop being a Time Lord. Become human.”
Rose freezes, breath stuck in her throat. “What? That’s impossible. How…?”
He dives under the console, and there’s a raucous clanging as he rummages through and pulls out some lights, wires, bits of metal and plastic, and finally, an ornate pocket watch and foreboding helmet. The last two he holds up for her to see.
“It would be, without this. The Chameleon Arch. Never thought I’d use this.” He attaches the helmet to a cable hanging over the console, fits the watch into the centre. “It’ll rewrite my biology-literally change every cell in my body.”
Change every cell…Rose’s heart stops beating for a moment. “You mean like regeneration?” she manages to get out. “Doctor, if it’s permanent, you can’t-”
The Doctor finally stops what he’s doing and looks up at her, smiling softly. “Oh, Rose. No, it’s not permanent. The Arch will take the Time Lord part of me and store it in this watch,” he says, tapping the item in question. “Then, when the Family is dead, we simply open the watch and poof! I’m back. All we need is a way to know when they’ve passed on, which I can whip up in a matter of moments, easy-peasy.” And with that, he descends upon the other bits he’s pulled out from under the console.
She tries to sort through her whirling thoughts as the Doctor sonics the pieces together into…some kind of detector? “But…if you’re going to be human…new person, new memories? Are you going to be able to remember me?”
He looks up at her again. “Of course. It is like regeneration in that aspect. Change every cell, but it’ll still be me. Besides,” he says, smiling winningly at her, “I could never forget you, Rose Tyler.”
She smiles back, momentarily reassured.
“And…there!” he cries, standing up and brandishing the device he’s just finished. “All ready. While the Chameleon Arch does its thing the TARDIS is going to take us to London and then power down-can’t have the Family noticing it. And then it’s just waiting for…oh, about three months, I’d say. This baby will light up when they’re gone, so we know for sure.” He grins at her. “Three months as a human. It’ll be an adventure in itself, don’t you think?”
She tries to grin back, but nerves are starting to creep up on her again. “Doctor, are you sure this is the best plan? Maybe we should-”
He cuts her off. “We can’t, Rose. There’s no time.” He hands her the device and sets the Arch on his head, turning and reaching for the console. “It’s now or never.”
“Wait!”
His hand pauses over a button. “What?” he asks, exasperated.
She bites her lip, looks at him. “Rewriting every cell in your body-isn’t that going to hurt?”
His expression turns evasive. “It’ll be fine, Rose. Don’t worry.”
”Doctor,” she says warningly.
He tries to hold out, she can tell, but his façade crumbles almost instantly. “Yeah,” he says softly, “it’s going to hurt.”
They stare at each other for untold seconds, him giving her silent permission to leave the room, to avoid what’s coming; her steadfastly refusing to move. He finally sighs, looking away from her, at the control under his fingertips. “Okay,” he says, “here it goes.”
He presses the button.
And starts screaming.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He screams, terrible, agonizing, blood-curdling screams that work their way under Rose’s skin and into her bones as she helplessly watches him clutch his head in pain, bright bursts of electricity shooting through both the helmet and him. It’s horrible, and Rose, hands over her mouth, can barely stand to watch. But like she’s told him before, she’s staying with him forever. She’s never leaving him, so she stays, unmoving, bracing herself and biting her lip until it almost bleeds. The TARDIS shakes, taking them to London, lights flickering threateningly, the Doctor screams, and she stays.
And then, suddenly, finally, it’s over. The TARDIS stills and goes dark-powering down, just like the Doctor said-and the Chameleon Arch stops, releasing its hold on him. He stumbles forward a few steps, unsteady on his feet, and Rose rushes forward to catch him, hands on his chest holding him up. His eyes slowly open and focus on her, although it takes a bit. He smiles weakly at her when he finally sees her again. “Hello,” he whispers.
“Hello,” she says back, trying not to panic, but oh God, she can feel warm skin and one heartbeat through the thin shirt beneath her fingers. He’s human. For the next three months, the Doctor is human. She swallows. “You okay?”
“Of course!” he replies. “Never better.” He gives her another attempt at a winning smile.
And then his eyes roll back in his head, and he collapses into her arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 2
Rating: T for now, M in a later chapter.
A/N: And what if this really didn't look much like the episode at all, and was mostly a thinly veiled excuse for the author to write lots of romance and angst? Oh, well. I hope you all take a chance on this one, and enjoy it!
This is mostly written already, so updates should be coming regularly. (Me, updating regularly. Why, yes, that is a low-flying pig you see.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They stumble into the TARDIS, laser blasts crackling in the air around them. As soon as the door closes the Doctor stumbles to the console and starts the dematerialization sequence, eager to get them away from this planet as soon as possible.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad, was-” he starts to joke, until a beep from the TARDIS cuts him off. He grabs the screen in front of him and reads the complex symbols Rose still can’t understand.
His face goes slack, then frustrated. “No! Oh, no no no!”
Rose pulls herself off the floor and goes to him. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re following us.”
She frowns in confusion. “But how? They didn’t have a time machine.”
He shakes his head. “Stolen technology. A Time Agency vortex manipulator, by the looks of it,” he says, tapping the screen. “Which means they can follow us anywhere, anywhen-” He pauses. “They’re never going to stop.”
And then, without warning, he turns and grips her by the upper arms so tightly it hurts. “Did they see you?”
“What?” she asks, startled. Everything’s going too fast. “I…I don’t think so…”
He asks again. “Did they see you?”
“I don’t know!” she shoots back at him. “Was kinda busy running.”
“But did they see you?” His eyes are wild, and she realizes this is not the time for doubt.
“No.”
He releases her, steps away and runs a hand through his hair. “Okay. That’s good. That’s very, very good. One human among billions, they’ll never be able to sniff you out. But me, I’m unique. Wherever I go, they’ll find me. Unless…” He looks up, expression arrested. “I’ll have to do it, then.”
She’s worried now, the plans spinning through his head too fast for her to keep up. “Do what?”
He looks at her. “They didn’t see me either. And their lifespan is running out. So we hide, and wait for them to die.”
She nods. “Okay-so we’re going to be in the Vortex for a while?”
“No,” he says, “that wouldn’t work. There’s no time in the Vortex-we could stay in here for ages and when we popped out, no time would have passed for them. No, we can’t do that.”
“But you just said they’ll be able to track you wherever-”
“I know,” he says softly, eyes fixed on hers. “The last Time Lord in existence, they’ll be able to find anywhere. Which is why I have to stop being a Time Lord. Become human.”
Rose freezes, breath stuck in her throat. “What? That’s impossible. How…?”
He dives under the console, and there’s a raucous clanging as he rummages through and pulls out some lights, wires, bits of metal and plastic, and finally, an ornate pocket watch and foreboding helmet. The last two he holds up for her to see.
“It would be, without this. The Chameleon Arch. Never thought I’d use this.” He attaches the helmet to a cable hanging over the console, fits the watch into the centre. “It’ll rewrite my biology-literally change every cell in my body.”
Change every cell…Rose’s heart stops beating for a moment. “You mean like regeneration?” she manages to get out. “Doctor, if it’s permanent, you can’t-”
The Doctor finally stops what he’s doing and looks up at her, smiling softly. “Oh, Rose. No, it’s not permanent. The Arch will take the Time Lord part of me and store it in this watch,” he says, tapping the item in question. “Then, when the Family is dead, we simply open the watch and poof! I’m back. All we need is a way to know when they’ve passed on, which I can whip up in a matter of moments, easy-peasy.” And with that, he descends upon the other bits he’s pulled out from under the console.
She tries to sort through her whirling thoughts as the Doctor sonics the pieces together into…some kind of detector? “But…if you’re going to be human…new person, new memories? Are you going to be able to remember me?”
He looks up at her again. “Of course. It is like regeneration in that aspect. Change every cell, but it’ll still be me. Besides,” he says, smiling winningly at her, “I could never forget you, Rose Tyler.”
She smiles back, momentarily reassured.
“And…there!” he cries, standing up and brandishing the device he’s just finished. “All ready. While the Chameleon Arch does its thing the TARDIS is going to take us to London and then power down-can’t have the Family noticing it. And then it’s just waiting for…oh, about three months, I’d say. This baby will light up when they’re gone, so we know for sure.” He grins at her. “Three months as a human. It’ll be an adventure in itself, don’t you think?”
She tries to grin back, but nerves are starting to creep up on her again. “Doctor, are you sure this is the best plan? Maybe we should-”
He cuts her off. “We can’t, Rose. There’s no time.” He hands her the device and sets the Arch on his head, turning and reaching for the console. “It’s now or never.”
“Wait!”
His hand pauses over a button. “What?” he asks, exasperated.
She bites her lip, looks at him. “Rewriting every cell in your body-isn’t that going to hurt?”
His expression turns evasive. “It’ll be fine, Rose. Don’t worry.”
”Doctor,” she says warningly.
He tries to hold out, she can tell, but his façade crumbles almost instantly. “Yeah,” he says softly, “it’s going to hurt.”
They stare at each other for untold seconds, him giving her silent permission to leave the room, to avoid what’s coming; her steadfastly refusing to move. He finally sighs, looking away from her, at the control under his fingertips. “Okay,” he says, “here it goes.”
He presses the button.
And starts screaming.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He screams, terrible, agonizing, blood-curdling screams that work their way under Rose’s skin and into her bones as she helplessly watches him clutch his head in pain, bright bursts of electricity shooting through both the helmet and him. It’s horrible, and Rose, hands over her mouth, can barely stand to watch. But like she’s told him before, she’s staying with him forever. She’s never leaving him, so she stays, unmoving, bracing herself and biting her lip until it almost bleeds. The TARDIS shakes, taking them to London, lights flickering threateningly, the Doctor screams, and she stays.
And then, suddenly, finally, it’s over. The TARDIS stills and goes dark-powering down, just like the Doctor said-and the Chameleon Arch stops, releasing its hold on him. He stumbles forward a few steps, unsteady on his feet, and Rose rushes forward to catch him, hands on his chest holding him up. His eyes slowly open and focus on her, although it takes a bit. He smiles weakly at her when he finally sees her again. “Hello,” he whispers.
“Hello,” she says back, trying not to panic, but oh God, she can feel warm skin and one heartbeat through the thin shirt beneath her fingers. He’s human. For the next three months, the Doctor is human. She swallows. “You okay?”
“Of course!” he replies. “Never better.” He gives her another attempt at a winning smile.
And then his eyes roll back in his head, and he collapses into her arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 2