Chapter Text
The Doctor frowned as she watched the judoon scan a couple who’d been walking by. When the judoon loudly announced that the couple was human, the Doctor swallowed hard. She was having flashbacks to the hospital where she’d met Martha Jones. If they were looking for alien signatures, there was a high probability that any old alien would do, including her. She was going to have to figure out who they were looking for and soon. Unfortunately, an entire block of flats, including public streets and a park, were going to be much harder to search than a hospital had been. There were no convenient medical students nearby who could help her, and her current companions were off doing their own searches (although she was starting to get worried about how long it had been since she’d heard from them). There was nothing for it. She would have to start from one end and work her way through the flats.
The first three flats were a bust, although she rather thought that the judoon should arrest the man in the second one, who’d leered at her the entire time and had even gone so far as to “accidentally” brush against her chest when he’d gone to look outside at the judoon. The fourth flat the Doctor came to felt different even as she approached the door. Something inside was brushing against the long-buried telepathic center of her brain. She pulled out her sonic and scanned it, checking the results to find that there was some sort of anachronistic technology inside. She frowned, knocking on the door. A moment later, it opened slowly, and the Doctor felt her hearts drop out of her chest.
“ Rose ?!” she breathed. Rose Tyler frowned, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Yes?” Rose asked. The Doctor furrowed her brow, then realized that of course Rose wouldn’t recognize her anymore. She’d regenerated three times since Rose had last seen her, and she was a woman now.
“It’s me,” she said softly. “The Doctor.”
“Who?” Rose asked blankly. The Doctor felt her hearts drop for a second time. Rose didn’t remember her at all ? She knew this wasn’t an earlier version of her; Rose had never lived so far from London prior to meeting her. Even if Rose didn’t recognize her face, she should recognize the name.
“I’m…” Before she could come up with a response, she registered the sounds of the judoon entering a flat a few down from Rose’s. “May I come in? There are rhino space police searching this building for aliens, and something in this flat is registering as alien tech to my scanner, which means it will to them as well, which means you’re in danger. I can keep you safe if you let me in.”
“Um…sure?” Rose said slowly, blinking. She stepped aside to let the Doctor in, clearly a little overwhelmed. The Doctor looked around as she entered, taking in the decor. It was clear that Rose was living with someone, probably a man based on the style of the shoes by the door. The Doctor wondered if her double and Rose had somehow ended up back in this universe and had never tried to contact her. Not that she would blame them. Abandoning someone on the beach in a different universe didn’t exactly scream “stay in touch.” But that wouldn’t explain why Rose didn’t even remember who the Doctor was.
“So what was it you said about rhino space police?” Rose asked, cutting into her thoughts. “You said they’re…looking for aliens?”
“It’s hard to believe, I know,” the Doctor admitted. She caught sight of a line of photos on the mantel and walked over to them. Her eyes widened when she saw pictures of Rose with Jack Harkness , of all people.
“Just…I’m not an alien,” Rose said. “And I don’t think we have anything alien here. My brother has some odd things in his room, but I think he’d tell me if he had somehow met aliens.”
“Your brother lives with you?” The Doctor asked.
“Yeah,” Rose replied. “He’s out running an errand right now though. He’s human too, though.”
“What do you both do for work?” The Doctor turned back to Rose, watching her carefully. Rose shrugged.
“I work in a shop in town,” she replied. “Jack’s unemployed. He was in the RAF and when he came home he…none of the jobs around here suited him. I think he still consults for the government, but that’s probably classified so he’d never tell me anything about it, and he definitely wouldn’t bring any of it home.” She paused, brow furrowed. “Why am I telling you that?”
“High stress situations can sometimes make it more difficult to keep secrets,” the Doctor said softly.
“So what do we do about the space rhinos?” Rose asked. “Because I can’t imagine what they might want with me and Jack, but I get the feeling that I probably don’t want them bursting through my front door? And also that it probably wouldn’t be good for them to find you either.”
“What makes you think that?” The Doctor asked, brow furrowed. Rose shrugged again.
“You came in here talking about rhino space police as if it’s an everyday occurrence for you,” she said. “And that you had a scanner that was registering alien tech in my apartment. And that you can keep me safe from the rhino space police. So you’re either an alien yourself, or someone the rhino space police probably don’t like, right?”
“They’re called judoon,” the Doctor said softly. She’d forgotten how smart Rose had always been, how easily she put things together and worked things out. Even if Rose didn’t remember her, she clearly still maintained her mental acuity.
“Judoon?” Rose repeated. Before she could come up with anything else to say, the front door burst open, and Jack himself charged in, gun at the ready. Yaz, Graham, and Ryan were standing behind him, looking confused.
“Rosie!” Jack exclaimed, dropping his gun as he crossed the room, pulling her into a hug. She grunted, frowning.
“Too tight, Jack,” she gasped out. Jack let her go, looking her over.
“Are you alright?” he asked, hands moving to hold her by the shoulders. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No?” Rose replied. “Although apparently there are space rhinos that might want to arrest us? Or something?” She looked towards the Doctor. “You didn’t actually specify what they’d do if they decided alien tech in our flat is enough to charge us with something.”
“Who’re you?” Jack asked, looking over at the Doctor.
“Hi, Jack,” the Doctor greeted, smiling a little.
“Doctor?” He looked her over again, then whistled. “Your friends said you were a woman this time, but I didn’t realize you’d be such a…hold on.” His eyes darted between Rose and the Doctor, then he smirked. “I can see what was on your mind when you regenerated.
“What are you talking about?” Rose asked, looking between them with a frown. “Jack, do you know the Doctor? And what do you mean she’s a woman ‘this time?’”
“Rosie, I know everything’s confusing right now, and I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as we’re safe from the judoon, alright?” Jack slid his hands down Rose’s arms to take her hands, squeezing gently. “Right now, I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
“I’ll always trust you, Jack,” Rose replied, taking a deep breath. Jack smiled, leaning forward to kiss Rose’s forehead.
“Good girl,” he murmured. Rose smiled, squeezing Jack’s hands in reply. Jack turned to the Doctor’s companions. “Yaz, right? Can you do me a favor, Yaz?”
Yaz glanced at the Doctor, who nodded, and Yaz nodded at Jack.
“What do you need?” she asked.
“End of that hallway, there’s a wardrobe,” Jack said, gesturing towards the hallway with his head. “Open it and tap on the back wall three times. Should pop open for you. Get everything that’s inside the back compartment and bring it here.”
“On it.” Yaz rushed past into the hallway. The tension in the room ratcheted up when they heard the judoon storm into the neighboring flat. They all had to hurry. Yaz came back a moment later carrying a large RAF bag, which she held out to Jack. He stepped away from Rose to dig through it, finally pulling out a vortex manipulator. The Doctor groaned as Jack slung the bag over his shoulder.
“Jack, no,” she whined. “I hate those.”
“I don’t see your TARDIS anywhere,” Jack replied. “Look, I vowed to keep Rose safe. This is how I do that. If you don’t want to come, you don’t have to, but I’m taking Rose and I’m getting out of here. I think we’d all prefer it if you did come, but I won’t force it.”
“Obviously I’m coming,” the Doctor said. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Jack snorted, slipping the manipulator onto his wrist and typing in coordinates.
“Alright, folks. Everyone hold on tight.” He wrapped one arm around Rose, pulling her in close. Rose fisted a hand in his shirt, taking deep breaths to keep herself calm.
“Will this hurt?” she asked.
“It’ll make you nauseous,” the Doctor told her, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Messes with your head and throws off your perception a bit. Doesn’t usually hurt unless you fall over and knock into something.”
“So why don’t you like it?” Rose asked. Jack snorted.
“You know how people who have million dollar sports cars look down on people driving twenty-year-old clunkers?” he asked. “It’s like that.”
“More like someone with a twenty-year-old clunker looking down on someone with a soapbox car made of cardboard and held together with yarn,” the Doctor said. “Fam, grab on to Jack or me and hold on, tight as you can.” Yaz and Ryan each gripped onto Jack’s sleeves, while Graham rested a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder, holding on tightly as Jack pressed a button on the manipulator. They watched the judoon burst into the flat just as they were transported away.
The six of them stumbled as they landed, holding onto each other to maintain their balance for a moment. Graham was the first to pull away, moving to sit down heavily on a nearby step. Yaz and Ryan pulled away next, looking around.
“Are we back on your ship?” Ryan asked, looking at Jack.
“For now,” Jack replied. “Just long enough for the judoon to pick up the false trail I left and head out to the Andromeda galaxy. Hopefully, that will also give us enough time to get Rose back to normal and get everyone up to speed.”
“What do you mean, get me back to normal?” Rose asked, pulling away slightly. This meant that she was now pressed closer to the Doctor, though neither seemed to mind.
“I’d love to know as well,” the Doctor said, looking up at Jack. “What’s going on with Rose?”
“Look, before you get all Lord of Righteous Fury on me, Doc, this was entirely Rose’s idea,” Jack said. “I’m only here because she needed someone to keep an eye on her and keep her safe.” He dropped the RAF bag and reached into it, eventually producing an antique pocket watch. The Doctor gasped.
“Why do you have that?” she asked, taking half a step back.
“What is it?” Rose asked, looking between Jack and the Doctor.
“It’s yours,” Jack told her. He gently took her hand and placed it in her palm. “It’s something you used to help keep you safe from some very powerful people. In exchange, it took some of your memories and gave you new ones, and made you human.”
“I am human,” Rose insisted firmly. “I’ve always been human. And I have all my memories.”
“Do you?” Jack asked. Rose hesitated.
“Of course,” she said, though she sounded less sure now. “I…”
“Where did you grow up?” The Doctor asked gently. Rose looked at her.
“In…in a house in the country with Jack,” she replied slowly. “No mum or dad. Jack went to war, and when he came back he needed me, so we moved to Sheffield together to start over.”
“I’m sorry, Rose, but that’s not true,” the Doctor told her. Rose frowned, looking at Jack.
“She’s right,” he said. Rose looked down at the pocket watch.
“This has the truth in it?” she asked.
“It does,” Jack assured her. Rose looked at him.
“You said you’re only here to keep me safe,” she said slowly. “But…you’re my brother. I know you’re my brother. What…what does that mean for us when I open this?”
“Whatever we want it to,” Jack replied. “I do love you like a sister. I have since I first started traveling with you and realized I didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of seducing you.”
“You tried to seduce me?” Rose asked, making a face. The Doctor snorted.
“He’d try to seduce a brick wall if he could,” she said.
“I’m not sure if that’s supposed to reassure me or insult me,” Rose remarked, though she was smiling a little.
“With the Doctor, it’s always a bit of both,” Jack teased.
“Oi!” the Doctor exclaimed, frowning. “I would never insult Rose.”
“Not on purpose, at least,” Jack conceded. He looked back at Rose, smiling. “Think of it this way; when you were first planning this whole witness protection thing out, and you knew you needed someone there with you to keep you safe, you came to me. You have plenty of other friends in this universe, Rosie. There are so many people out there who would have done this for you. But you trusted me above any one of them. What does that tell you about our relationship?”
“That I trust you,” Rose replied. “Or that you were the only person I thought could give up an unspecified amount of time to go live in a flat in Sheffield with me.”
“That’s hurtful,” Jack teased, though he was smiling. Rose smiled back, then looked at the watch.
“Will it hurt?” she asked.
“Yes,” the Doctor told her. “It hurt to do it in the first place. But it will be worth it. I promise you that.”
“Right then.” Rose let out a slow breath, squaring her shoulders, then pressed the clasp and opened the watch.