Doctor Who Fic: The Trial of Ten, 4/20
Banner made by 'D', my talented RL artist friend.
Characters: Eleventh Doctor, Metacrisis Doctor, Rose (Also: Martha, Jack, Amy, Rory, Gwen, John Hart)
Genre: Drama; some action and h/c
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to/including A Christmas Carol
Beta gayalondiel
Summary: When the Metacrisis Doctor returns with Rose from the other universe, he is captured and put on trial for various crimes including genocide. Can Rose and Eleven save him? How does the case affect Eleven who is also, in effect, on trial? How does the unexpected return to the Tardis and to the original Doctor affect Rose?
Chapter 4 Summary: Cardiff was meant to be a quiet place for Ten to sort himself out, but there are people who have other ideas.
Author's Notes: This story has already been written and completed. I will post a new chapter twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.
Disclaimer: This story takes place within the Doctor Who universe. This story is a way of re-interpreting concepts and ideas already present in Doctor Who. All characters within belong to the BBC. This story is for fun and for sharing, but not for profit.
The Trial of Ten
Chapter 4: Comeuppance
They walked slowly. They were in no hurry, and Ten was still unsteady on his feet. The skies were clear and the sun was warm on their faces. Few people were about and it was quiet.
'It feels like a Sunday,' said Rose. 'I bet you it is.'
They didn't need to walk far; there was a cafe on a street just off the Plass. They found a table by the windows, and Rose held Ten's arm as he half fell, half lurched into a seat. She looked around them. 'Isn't this where we had breakfast with Mickey and Jack? Do you remember?' She laughed a little. 'It seems so long ago.'
She ordered a plate of chips for the two of them. 'Not much to start with,' she said with a shrug when it arrived. 'But we can order more if you feel like it, yeah?' She fished around in her pocket and brought out a small handful of coins. 'No need to use the sonic screwdriver just yet. He kept my room just the same. Lucky I still had some money kicking around.'
'I'm not surprised,' said Ten slowly.
'What?' asked Rose. Her hand froze, a chip halfway to her mouth.
Ten blinked, looked away for a moment and then back at her. 'He kept your room just the same.'
She put the chip down.
He looked down at the table. 'I would have.' He absentmindedly toyed with a 20p coin on the table, and then flicked it back toward the rest. It skidded too far and went over the edge of the table with a clatter. He looked startled. Rose picked it up and put it with the others.
She put her hand over his. 'Maybe. But you wouldn't have left him to die in another universe.'
Ten looked at her then, focusing on her face for the first time since the Tardis healed him. 'He didn't know.'
Rose scowled. 'He still abandoned us. Didn't let us choose.'
Ten bowed his head in his hands. 'He couldn't help it,' he said in a muffled voice. 'Please let it go.'
'I'm sorry,' she said. 'You okay?'
He shook his head. Then he raised it and grinned. It was weak, but it was a grin nonetheless.
'Bundle of laughs, aren't I.'
'Laugh a minute, you are,' said Rose. She took his hand again. 'Anything I can do?'
'I can't stop seeing it,' he whispered. His eyes were unfocused again.
'See what?' she asked. 'The Time Vortex?'
He nodded.
'I'm here--I'm listening, if you want,' said Rose.
'No, no,' said Ten. 'I'd just babble.'
'That never stopped you before. I'll listen.'
Ten took a deep breath and blew it out noisily. He fidgeted.
'Go on,' said Rose softly.
'It's beautiful,' he said at last. 'And severe. It's... It's... How can I tell you... how can I make you understand without resorting to cliches? Ahh!' He scraped the fingers of both hands through his hair, running them back and forth, and shook his head. His hair stuck up wildly.
'Use cliches,' said Rose. 'At least you'll have a place to start, yeah?'
He frowned and then closed his eyes tightly. 'Time...' he whispered. 'It faded for me this past year. But now... I feel it, see it so strongly, stronger than I ever had before. So bright. So strong. A stream, path, torrent. But not straight. Never straight and simple. Loops, eddies. Cause and effect. Effect and cause. It's... It's... Time. Time, time, time. You can go forward, you can go backward. Count the years. There's the big path, fixed points pinning it down, but small paths, changes, causality, dancing, dancing in and out, like... like... like... some crazy Maypole. The pole, the pole--it's fixed, sort of. Wobbly, maybe. Kinked. The ribbons, long, short, thin, thick, shining streams of light, weaving, looping, knotted, crashing. Oops! There goes a civilization, just because one person refused to help weave that ribbon. Before, it was vibrant, continued almost forever. Nothing can continue forever, but it would have tried. One path, branching, it continues. Another ribbon, it is destroyed. People lose everything. Lost, alone, despair. All of them. No hope. Other peoples, other worlds still dance: joy, growth, creativity. Good and bad, sorrow, joy all mixed--pounding, pounding in my head.
'If I reach out and touch a ribbon, I feel as if the worlds, emotions will rush at me, fill me. So many people, so many stories. Hate, love, growth, decay... so strong. I can't touch. I know, I know it's there, but I can't touch. If I touch, I'll be pulled in, overwhelmed. And so many ribbons, countless. A universe full, shimmering, shining, crazy in chaos, but so beautiful, intricate.'
He opened his eyes then, blinking, and rubbed his hands over his face, resting his elbows on the table. 'Ohh... What a comeuppance.'
'What do you mean,' asked Rose. She leaned over and curled her fingers around his elbows, anchoring.
He levelled his gaze at her, his pupils dilated, and yet he seemed to look right through her. His eyes were dark, darker than their usual chocolate brown.
'The Time-Lords used to dance among those ribbons, on that path, never touching. Only watching, never affected. I never could, really. I always had to get involved which, I can tell you, made me very unpopular with them. But I could always leave. Leave behind the people who had to cope, the people in the middle of the beauty, the pain, the hope, the terror. But I'd leave. I'd run. Nothing would touch me... well, not touch me for long. And if it did, then off I go on another adventure. Distract myself until time (time!) healed it, or at least dulled it. I had fixed the problem, I'd always tell myself. I'd done what my own sense of morality told me. Fixed the problem. Saved the day. But saving the day isn't enough. Healing people, healing their hurts, their hearts, takes time--time I'd never give. I'd be gone, dancing, dancing among the ribbons, finding my next adventure.'
He stopped then, almost gasping for air. Rose squeezed his arms. 'I'm here,' she said softly. 'Slow down. I'm here.'
'Slow down,' he murmured. His eyes focused, and this time it felt to Rose as if he were looking at her. 'Do you remember the first day I met you? Well, day, that is, after the night in your store?'
'Yeah,' she said.
'I took your hand and told you about the Earth, hurtling around the Sun. We could fly off at any second, flung off by this crazy-fast planet--this tiny, little planet that just won't stop whirling and whizzing around its star? That I felt it all the time, that I could feel it even as I told you about it?'
'I remember,' she said.
'It's always there, always in my mind. But... Oh Rose...,' and here he shook his head slowly, 'the time I've had with you this past year. No more dancing, no more running. Partly human, one heart. Frail. Stuck on the slow path. No escape if things get rough. Frightening. Scary. But you... you were always there. Even in those first six months, uncertain, hurting. But you taught me what it means to be human, to be on a ribbon. To be truly involved. I understand now. And... I was going to die. Me! Die? Unthinkable! But there it was and nothing I could do. No regeneration to save me even though it felt as if it ought to happen. It was missing. It was wrong. I was on the wrong ribbon. Frightening. Overwhelming. But you were there, and you were my anchor. As scared as I was, I knew I was where I ought to be. Time could do what she wanted, leave me behind, but on that slow path, you were there, healing my heart. But then he comes and saves the day. Brings us back. And now I'm going to live again. But off he goes, dancing among the ribbons, another day to save, somewhere, somewhen, somehow. Someone needs to dance, and he's the last true Time-Lord. The only one who really can.'
'Oh, Doctor,' said Rose, and she felt tears prick in her eyes.
'But the Tardis showed me the Time Vortex. I never really saw it as a child. I couldn't handle it. And now... I couldn't look away. She forced me. I trust her. If that's what I needed, that's what I needed. But it's filling me. I can't look away. And now... now I've been human, I understand. I've been human before, but, but not really. Just a glimpse compared to this. I can't just not touch anymore. Universes of streams, paths on paths, stretching, streaming in all directions and impossible contortions, shifted, parallel. Tunnels of streaming, shimmering time. But, I know, I truly know how Time can be so cruel, so kind, so... irrevocable. And... oh dear... I'm sorry, Rose. Those cliches do insist.'
'Don't matter,' said Rose. 'I don't care. But you've got me, you understand? Hold on to me, if it helps. All right?'
He nodded jerkily. 'Yeah. It helps.'
Silence fell. She took his hand and wrapped it in her own. His fingers clutched fitfully around hers. The cafe was empty, and the sole clerk was sitting on a stool, texting on her mobile.
After a long while, Ten shifted a bit and swallowed. 'Thirsty,' he said.
'Too much talking,' Rose teased gently. 'I'll get some water.'
Ten clutched at her hands. 'Don't let go,' he said.
'Only for a moment, okay?' Rose soothed. 'Just a minute. See? The glasses and tap are just over there on that counter. You'll still see me, right?'
He relaxed a tiny bit. 'Yeah. What you must think of me. I've finally done what I should've done as a child, and here I am going to pieces.'
'It's a bit different,' said Rose a little sharply. 'You're still sick. And... and you know more. You've seen more. You understand more.'
Ten said nothing but bowed his head again.
'Just a moment, all right?' said Rose.
'Yeah,' he whispered.
She squeezed his hand and laid it on the table. She got up and crossed the floor, weaving between the empty tables. The clerk looked up absentmindedly, but when she saw Rose take two glasses, she got up slowly, stretched and disappeared into the back.
Rose held the first glass to the spigot, but twisted around so she could keep an eye on Ten. He was watching her, his hands clenching and unclenching. As she watched him, she noticed, through the windows behind him, a dark-haired woman walking by. But when the woman caught sight of Ten, she paused as if in recognition. Then she walked quickly towards the cafe doors.
Warily, Rose started filling the second glass. The doors opened, and the woman entered. She scanned the room and saw him. There was something familiar about her, Rose thought, something tickling at her memory. A baby was nestled against her chest in a carry-sling.
The woman headed for Ten, but Rose swiftly stepped in front of her. 'Can I help you?' she asked.
'No, no,' said the woman in a rich, Welsh accent. 'I just want to see your customer.' She stepped to the side.
Rose followed and once again put herself in front. 'He's not my customer, mate. He's with me. Again, anything I can help you with?'
The woman focused on Rose then. She wavered for a moment, glancing between the two of them. Finally she leaned forward. 'Is... is that the Doctor?' she whispered.
'What if he is,' Rose responded. 'Who are you?'
'I'm Gwen.'
'Gwen?' asked Rose. She shook her head. 'I'm sorry...?'
Gwen took a deep breath and then, as if coming to a decision, she nodded. 'I used to be with Torchwood. Does that mean anything to you?'
Rose stared at her. 'Yeah, it does,' she finally said. 'What d'you want with him?'
'I've come to warn him. He needs to--'
But she was unable to finish her sentence. At that moment, the air was rent with a white, jagged flash. A large, bulky shape towered in the middle of the cafe. Two more white lights exploded in quick succession, and three massive beings moved swiftly to surround Ten who struggled to his feet.
'Doctor,' cried Rose, but as she ran forward, another flash appeared and the alien swiftly pressed the muzzle of its gun against her chest. Behind her, Gwen backed away, crossing her arms over her baby.
'You are the Doctor,' barked the first warrior to appear.
Ten blinked. He clutched the edge of the table, but he managed to stay upright. 'I am,' he said. He looked over at Rose. 'Let her go.'
The soldiers ignored him. 'In accordance with the statutes of the Shadow Proclamation, we lawfully take you into custody pending charges of genocide, treason, aiding and abetting torture and imprisonment, in addition to other and lesser charges which will be revealed to you at the proper time.'
Rose gasped. She looked wildly around her, casting about for ideas, but as she moved, the muzzle pressed harder against her. 'Any attempt to interfere and you will be summarily executed. This is your only warning.'
'Don't move,' shouted Ten. 'Either of you.'
The two soldiers flanking him seized his arms.
'Rose,' he cried, but in another blinding flash he and his captors were gone.
To be continued
Chapter 5: Curiouser and Curiouser
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3