Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ Rose and Ten The Inbetweens and backstories ❯ Chapter Seventeen ( Chapter 17 )

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`I'll kill `im,' Rose raged as she stomped up the ramp, rattling the floor grating. `He made her cry, he made my mum cry.'

The Doctor raised an eyebrow; he didn't think anything could make Jackie Tyler cry. He set the coordinates for the Tyler flat as he felt himself being drawn into another domestic situation.

`Calm down Rose, we'll be there in a minute,' he told her.

The time rotor stopped, and Rose ran down the ramp, and into the living room. She saw her mum sitting on the sofa, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

`Mum, what's happened?' she asked as she sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulders.

`Oh Rose, I've been a fool . . . I've been acting like a silly schoolgirl,' she sniffed.

`All right Mum, calm down, I'll make a cuppa, and you can tell me all about it.'

With a mug of tea in hand, Jackie started to tell them the tale of Elton Pope.

`I first met him down the launderette, the washing machine had broken, an' Mickey's not here anymore.'

`Why didn't you call Mum? The Doctor could `ave fixed it,' she said looking up at him.

`Well, I didn't `ave to, Love, Elton came back here an' fixed it for me . . . said it was a fuse. He seemed like such a nice bloke . . . made `im a cup of tea I did. He left me his number in case I needed anythin' else fixin'.'

`And did ya?' Rose asked gently.

`Did I what?' Jackie asked, slightly suspicious of what she was asking.

`Have anythin' that needed fixin'?'

`Oh . . . yeah . . . things seemed to keep goin' on the blink,' she said, sheepishly. The Doctor raised his eyebrows, looking slightly amused by that statement. `An' he put some shelves up for me, he was very handy.'

`Hmm, I bet he was,' the Doctor said. Both Jackie and Rose gave him a `look', and he decided to shut up. He didn't want another one of those slaps.

`He said it was power surges or somethin', causin' the fuses to blow.' The Doctor looked up at the ceiling, noticing a small strand of cobweb by the light fitting.

`Well, yesterday evening, after he'd changed a fuse for me, he went and got a pizza for us.'

`That sounds cosy,' Rose said.

`It was nothin' like that madam, he was a mate, an' because he was a mate, I thought I'd put the money for the pizza in his jacket pocket, because he wouldn't have taken it. And that's when I found it . . . a photograph of you.'

`Where'd he get a photo of me?'

`I don't know Sweetheart, but it was on the estate, and you could see the TARDIS in the background, out of focus like.'

This got the Doctor's attention. `A surveillance photograph, someone's been watching you,' he said, looking at Rose. `Probably to get to me, or the TARDIS.'

`Yeah, he said he was lookin' for ya, Doctor, but said he'd changed his mind . . . I thought he liked me . . .'

`Oh Mum, don't worry, we're goin' to `ave a word with `im.' She looked up at the Doctor, and he saw `that' look on her face. `Oh dear, poor Elton, he's for it', he thought.

They went back into the TARDIS, and the Doctor did what Rose would call a `Spock' search for Elton Pope. He was a transport manager who did retail logistics for a `modest little haulage company'.

`Hah! It's the young man from the warehouse, remember, when we were chasing the Hoix? After all of the alien invasions and other similar events that we were involved with, Elton co-founded a group called LINDA, London Investigation 'n' Detective Agency with four others who were interested in us.'

`London Investigation 'n' Detective Agency?' Rose asked, emphasising the `n'.

`Yeah, like Fish 'n' Chips, Rock 'n' Roll.'

`Hmm, okay.'

`It seems the group eventually got distracted from their original purpose and did things including novel readings, forming a band and `blubbing'.'

`Blubbing?'

`Blubbing,' he said, shrugging his shoulders. `Ho-ho, here we are look. In March, someone called Victor Kennedy infiltrated LINDA.'

He did some more searching. `There appear to be plenty of Victor Kennedy's, but not this one.'

`Who is he then?' Rose asked. `Alien?'

`Possibly, he seems very keen to meet me; maybe it's time to oblige. I'll get the TARDIS to find . . . Oh, now that's convenient, they seem to be in the same location.'

He ran around the console, setting the coordinates, and landed the TARDIS in an alleyway. He walked down the ramp, with Rose following.

`Someone wants a word with you,' he said to Elton who was kneeling next to a disgusting, green alien.

Rose stormed out of the TARDIS. `You upset my mum.'

Elton looked up at the alien and pointed with his thumb. `Great big absorbing creature from outer space . . . and you're having a go at me?'

`No one upsets my mum,' she said, not even noticing the great big absorbing creature from outer space.

`At last, the greatest feast of all. The Doctor,' the great big absorbing creature from outer space said sticking out his tongue and drooling.

`Interesting. A sort of Absorbatrix? Absorba . . . clon? Absorbaloff?' the Doctor said.

`Absorbaloff, yes,' it agreed.

`Is it me or is he a bit . . . Slitheen?' Rose whispered to the Doctor.

`Not from Raxacoricofallapatorius, are you?' the Doctor asked.

`No, I'm not, they're swine,' it protested. `I spit on them. I was born on their twin planet.'

`Really? What's the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius?'

`Clom.'

`Clom?'

`Clom. Yes. And I'll return there victorious, once I possess your travelling machine.'

`Well, that's never going to happen,' the Doctor said.

`Oh, it will. You'll surrender yourself to me, Doctor, or this one dies. You see, I've read about you, Doctor. I've studied you. So passionate, so sweet. You wouldn't let an innocent man die. And I'll absorb him, unless you give yourself to me,' the alien threatened.

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck. `Sweet . . . maybe. Passionate . . . I suppose. But don't ever mistake that for nice. Do what you want.' Rose looked up at him with a worried expression; she seriously hoped this was part of a plan.

`He'll die, Doctor,' the alien said.

`Go on, then,' the Doctor urged. The alien hesitated, and Rose stood there, opened mouthed, was he calling his bluff?

`So be it.' The alien reached towards Elton.

`Mind you, the others might have something to say.'

The alien paused in mid touch. `Others?'

One of the faces on his chest spoke. `He's right. The Doctor's right. We can't let him. Oh, Mister Skinner, Bridget, pull!'

`No!' the alien shouted.

`For God's sake, pull!' the absorbed face said.

`No, don't - get off, get off!' The alien started to struggle with itself.

`If it's the last thing we ever do. Bliss! All of us together. Come on, pull!'

`Stop it!'

`LINDA united, pull!' All the faces started to stretch out of the alien, causing it to drop its silver headed cane.

`Elton, the cane. Break it!' the absorbed face said. He reached forward and broke the cane over his knee, causing it to spark and flash.

`My cane! You stupid man. Oh, no!' The alien melted into a blob on the paving stones and started to seep away.

`What did I do?' Elton asked in disbelief.

`The cane created a limitation field. Now it's broken, he can't stop. The absorber is being absorbed,' the Doctor explained.

`By what?'

`By the earth.'

The absorbed face formed in the paving stone. `Bye, bye, Elton. Bye, bye.'

Elton just knelt there in silence, staring at the paving stone that had spoken to him and said goodbye.

`Who was she?' Rose asked quietly, all animosity towards the man gone.

`That was Ursula,' he said with tears in his eyes. Rose realised that he was just a mate to her mum, that it was her mum who had gotten the wrong idea (again). She walked over and knelt down beside Elton and put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

The Doctor looked on in proud amazement, Rose Tyler, courageous, and oh so compassionate towards others.

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Rose was on her way back to her mother to tell her that she had gotten the wrong end of the stick when it came to Elton. He already had a girlfriend, even though she was now made of cement. He had been coerced into befriending Jackie so that he could find Rose, and ultimately the Doctor.

As she watched the time rotor pump up and down, she thought guiltily about her mum again and how she'd had to ask a stranger to fix her dilapidated washing machine.

`Doctor?' she asked, hesitantly.

`Mmmm,' he replied distractedly, concentrating on the console.

`Y'know that lottery ticket you got for that teacher at Deffry Vale High School?'

Suddenly, she had his full attention. `Yes, what of it?' he asked suspiciously.

`Well, I was wonderin' . . . if you could get one for Mum . . . y'know, not millions or anythin', that'd do her head in, just enough to help her out I mean.'

`What's brought this on?'

`Well, I've been thinkin', we live the life of Riley, we have food, and we have TV, internet and phone. We go anywhere we like, an' never have to pay a thing, an' there's Mum, havin' to rely on strangers to fix knackered washin' machines now that Mickey's not there to look out for her.'

`Hmm, I see your point . . . how much do you think she needs?' he asked, surprising Rose by not arguing.

What Rose didn't realise, and he would never let on, was that he had a great deal of respect for Jackie Tyler. A single mum, who had raised such an amazing daughter, under such tragic circumstances, made even more tragic, by knowing that Pete Tyler had the potential to become a millionaire, just as he had dreamed.

`Er . . . I don't know, five hundred, a thousand? Enough for her to buy a new washin' machine, pay off some debts, have a holiday.'

`Let's have a look at Saturday then,' he said, studying the display screen. `This Saturday, five numbers, there will be 249 winners, each getting £1,178; Jackie will be one of those winners.'

Rose squealed and hugged him. `Thank you, thank you, that's brilliant.'

Clifton Parade, Peckham, London.

Jackie Tyler was in the local, cheap supermarket, picking up a carton of milk, the cheap tea bags that were an acquired taste (which she hadn't acquired yet), a cheap loaf, plastic wrapped, anaemic cheese, and a tub of sunflower spread. Hopefully, she would soon have saved enough money to start shopping at a proper supermarket.

She popped into the newsagent to pick up a gossip magazine, one of the luxuries she allowed herself, and glanced at the National Lottery display stand. She was tempted, sorely tempted, she'd seen the documentary on the television about the winners, how it had changed their lives. It would certainly change hers.

But the odds of winning were stacked against her; she had heard that you had more chance of dialling random numbers and speaking to the Queen, than you had of winning the jackpot.

She returned to her flat and placed the carrier bag on the table, before reaching for the kettle and filling it. She felt the familiar fluttering in her chest as the TARDIS materialised in the courtyard downstairs. She put three mugs on the worktop and put a tea bag in each one.

It took them longer than usual to enter the flat, and Jackie assumed that he was probably bodging up some repair on that wreck of a ship of his. To say it was able to be bigger on the inside, and able to travel through time and space, it was still a wreck.

She heard the key in the lock, and the pair of them were chatting away as they came down the hallway.

`Mum, you in?' Rose called.

`In the kitchen Sweetheart, there's a cuppa waitin' for ya.'

They walked into the kitchen, and Rose was beaming a smile at her mum.

`Yer look like the cat that got the cream,' Jackie said.

`Well, I've got a surprise for ya, but you've gotta keep it secret.'

`Oh yeah, an' what would that be then?' Jackie asked suspiciously.

`First things first Mum, I've seen Elton, and I think you were barkin' up the wrong tree there, he had a girlfriend . . . well, still has a girlfriend . . . well, sort of has a girlfriend,' she rambled. Jackie smiled as she saw how she'd picked up the Doctor's way of talking.

`Anyway, he's sorted now, but I was concerned about ya not havin' Mickey to rely on to fix yer washin' machine, so . . .'

`Y'haven't gone an' bought one `ave ya? `Cos I won't `ave it y'know,' Jackie said firmly. She might be struggling a bit with money, but she wasn't poor, and she wouldn't accept charity.

`No Mum, I spent a quid on this,' she said, taking the lottery ticket out of her pocket.

`Oh Sweetheart, ya shouldn't waste ya money on them.'

`Er, Mum,' she said, with a `dribbled on your blouse' tone of voice, and nodding at the Doctor. `Doctor . . . time traveller . . . time machine . . .'

The penny dropped, or more like the 117,800 pennies dropped, when she realised what Rose was hinting at. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open.

`D'ya mean . . .'

`Yeah, it's a winnin' ticket, well it will be, but don't go crazy, it's not the jackpot, it'll be enough so you can get a new washin' machine an' anythin' else that you need. Oh, an' `ave a nice holiday somewhere, eh?'

Jackie's eyes started to well up, as she stood and hugged the pair of them. `Oh thank you . . . both of you . . . that money will be really helpful.'

The Doctor and Rose drank their mugs of tea, said goodbye to Jackie, and went back to the TARDIS. The Doctor took the TARDIS into the Vortex, and joined Rose in the kitchen, where she was cooking dinner.

`Fish and chips,' she said to his enquiring look.

`Oh brilliant.' He looked like a child in a sweet shop.

As an extra treat, she put the fish and chips in paper, and they went through to the living room to spend the evening in front of the TV. As they were eating, Rose shuffled over, snuggled up against his shoulder, looked up at him, and smiled.

`What?' he said, returning her smile.

`Nothin' . . . I was just thinkin', about all this, the TARDIS, the travellin' . . . the chips,' she said with a laugh. ` . . . You, I love it, I really love it.'

A big smile spread across his face, and he chuckled. `Me too.' He put his fish and chips on his lap, and reached his arms around her shoulders. `Me too.'

They watched a variety of programs from a variety of planets; a nature documentary about some weird, semi-intelligent plant. A `Friends' type show that had small furry aliens with tails, the situations those tails got them into were hilarious. And there was a space version of `MASH'.

`Hey,' the Doctor nudged Rose, as her eyes started to droop. `It's past someone's bedtime.'

`I must have been droppin' off,' she yawned. `For a skinny bloke, your shoulder is really comfortable.'

`Skinny eh? How's this for skinny?' With his left arm already around her shoulders, he turned towards her, scooped up her legs with his right arm, and stood up.

`Aaah, Watcha doin'?' she laughed, clinging around his neck.

`Taking you to bed,' he said.

Rose's face had a puzzled, surprised, and expectant expression at those words. `Really?'

The Doctor realised that it had sounded better in his head, and rephrased it. `To your bedroom . . . I'm taking you to your bedroom . . . so you can go to bed . . . and sleep.' That was enough digging of holes for one night.

He carried her down the hallway to her room, and gently placed her on the bed.

`Thank you,' she said with a coy smile.

`You're welcome. I'll go and make some hot chocolate, while you get changed.' He went out the door with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Rose smiled to herself and quickly changed into her pyjamas, and climbed under the duvet. Shortly afterwards, there was a knock at the door.

`Are you decent?' he asked through the door.

`Never been decent in me life,' she shot back. There was a chuckle from the other side of the door, and he took that to be a yes. He came in holding two mugs in one hand.

`There you are.' He placed her mug on the bedside table and was about to sit in the chair. Rose, on the other hand, felt that it was time to test the water, and see how far their relationship had come.

`Would you mind . . .?' she said, patting the top of the duvet next to her. `Like I said, your shoulder was really comfortable.'

The Doctor looked at the bed she was patting, and her gorgeous, expectant smile. In his previous incarnations, he wouldn't have even considered it, but in this body, just like holding her hand felt SO right, and cuddling Rose Tyler felt even better.

He walked around the bed, propped up some pillows, and sat next to her, holding out his arm for her to snuggle into his shoulder. She grabbed her mug, and leaned into him, making herself comfortable.

`So, on Earth, or off Earth?' he asked her, wanting to know which of his adventures she wanted to listen to.

`Mmmm, last night was 'off Earth', so how's about an 'on Earth' tonight.' She took a sip of her delicious drink.

`Okay then, what haven't I told you about yet?' he pondered. `Yet . . . Yeti, I haven't told you about the time I faced the Yeti yet, have I? Oh, I like that . . . Yeti-yet, Yeti-yet . . .'

`Don't talk beck,' Rose said in a South African accent, thinking of the `Yakkity Yak' song, and laughing at her play on words.

The Doctor laughed with her, and then started his narrative. `I was in my second incarnation . . .'

`It still sounds weird when you say that, like you're wearin' your second suit or somethin'.'

`I suppose it is in a way . . . same person, made to look different by wearing something different, in my case it's skin.'

`Oh it's more than that though, compared to when I first met you, this `you' is more at ease . . . seems less troubled by your past.'

`Or maybe I just hide it better,' he thought to himself. `So it was the Himalayas, 1935, pudding basin haircut; I was with Victoria and Jamie . . .'