The Belted Doctor, Chapter 3
Title: The Belted Doctor, Chapter 3
Author: tkel_paris , aka KendraC
Rating: High T, borderline M for (very) naughty humor, and some hints... Consider yourself warned.
Summary: A crack!fic inspired by a line from “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and run for its life with. The Doctor is left with a very uncomfortable “protection” against unwanted advances. But will he find the one who is foretold to release him from his... prison?
Disclaimer: Mel Brooks owns “Men in Tights.” The BBC and others own “Doctor Who.” 'Nuff said.
Original Posting Note: Decided to keep this one short. Of course, it's not sweet for the Doctor... He's got some problems to deal with...
LJ Posting Note: Say, "bye-bye," Rose Tyler... And Doctor, say hello to a massive bout of guilt - which you're going to be slapped out of next chapter...
Prologue / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2
CHAPTER THREE: PARTING WITH PROBLEMATIC PARTICULARS
Should I do this? Burn a sun to say goodbye to someone who thought very little of leaving her mother with an alternate of her late father? Someone who - when we temporarily lost the TARDIS - practically demanded we get a house together?
The Doctor felt as conflicted about this as he did when Rose wanted to visit her father. Of course, the latter situation was far more dangerous to the time-lines - not to mention them both, or himself as things had turned out. In the end, he'd let himself be swayed by Rose's enthusiasm and (childish) pouting.
Really, pouting was so trite and infantile, he thought. I wish I could've stuck to a “No” for an answer.
It didn't occur to him that regeneration was a master of pouting. Someone had yet to explain the concept of “puppy-dog eyes” to him.
Still, having seen Sarah Jane again, he didn't like not trying to create closure for his companions. He finally went ahead with it - choosing a sun already dying, and without any planets to hurt. And hoped that it worked the way he wanted it to.
When she finally appeared at the point where his hologram was shining to, he tried to check on how she was doing first, to gauge how to say his goodbye. What he forgot was how Rose could dominate a conversation. Youthful energy always got to him in his old age, for he was already an old man when he first came to Earth - and that instinctual human curiosity had always been infectious.
When she mentioned Torchwood and how she “might know a thing or two about fighting aliens,” he felt it was best to not comment at all. Lest he make an indirect remark on what he really thought of her ability to fight aliens - rather rubbish. Instead, he had to interject as much as he could. “This is goodbye, forever.”
That clearly shook her to the core of her being. “But-”
He couldn't let her speak; this has to be said since he had no clue how she had come to fall for him and push Mickey aside. “To keep the multiverses safe now, each universe must remain closed off from all the others. Don't even try to come back; you could tear holes in the fabric of time itself. I could even die.”
Well, he wasn't sure about that last part, but it seemed like a good way to get her cooperation. He certainly hoped that the horror he saw in her face had reached her conscience and would allow her to eventually cope.
All she did was cry harder. “I wish I could've stayed with you. I love you.”
The Doctor felt his hearts sink into his stomach, dragging his lungs down with them. I'm an idiot. A completely rubbish with ANY feelings idiot. Oh, Rassilon, if only I'd realized sooner...
Those were the Doctor's thoughts just before the connection with Bad Wolf Bay cut out. It left him only able to say to Rose, after a few
attempts to get words out, “I'm sorry, Rose. We weren't meant to be.”
If only I'd had more time, I would've tried to explain that while I did care deeply about her and her safety, I was never in love with her. I would've tried to explain further on why she had to let go and move on.
Later, he would also wish he could have apologized to Mickey for sticking him with Rose, and wished that the promising young human could have stayed in this universe.
The TARDIS was mercifully silent, letting him face his jumbled thoughts and those pesky feelings that went with them. And there were a lot to shift through.
What did I do? What could I have done differently? Why didn't I pull myself up and face my fears about being alone back as my ninth self? If I had, Rose would surely be happier now - and maybe not in love with me.
Then that annoying thing where time-lines become clearer than shined crystal shoved themselves into his conscious mind. If he had done that, Mickey Smith might not have grown up. The baby that Jackie Tyler was carrying wouldn't exist. And he himself might have died at the Game Station.
His hearts felt heavier as he realized the truth. It all had to be this way, for the safety of the multiverses.
But what about me, he cried in his mind. Is Romana wrong, and I'm destined to walk alone for the rest of my regenerations?! The universe must hate me! Giving me companions who fall for me when I could never return their feelings, taking away those I do or could love, turning the Time-Lords into vicious blood-lusting warmongers, and forcing me to help send Gallifrey into a Time-Lock to protect the universe. I can't deal with something like Rose's situation again! What reason do I have to carry on...?
He would have stayed sulking, brooding and falling into a severe depression for days, maybe weeks. Except the universe had other plans for him. In the form of a mysterious bride appearing in the TARDIS and shouting at him... giving him one very rude awakening.
Chapter 4: Slaps, Biodamping, and Other Strange Feelings