Earth Grazer || Doctor Who

XXXIX. Wounded Time

~unedited~

| |

Rose woke up that morning to an empty bedroom, she vaguely remembers the Doctor staying with them to help with Ella’s increasing nightmares. She asked Ella about that a few days ago and after the explanation Rose was glad that Ella had something that helped her get some real rest. The blonde heard the shower running in the bathroom and decided she should get ready too. As she was showering most of her foggy memories came back to her and she almost dropped the shampoo bottle when she remembered hallucinating her dad. Pete Tyler had shown up, but his face was a literal blur because Rose had never seen what he looked like as Jackie didn’t have any photos of him.

The more she thought about it the more the thought festered, she had to know what he looked like. Weeks later, she eventually realized that her friend literally has a time machine so she could theoretically ask. That didn’t make her feel any less terrified that she already knew what the Doctor’s answer would be. This felt like one of those sensitive temporal issues because so many things could go wrong. The Doctor has always made it clear that time was in flux.

After so many trips to ancient earth history and not so ancient history, she’s pretty sure she has a better understanding of what that meant. Basically, when you’re in a certain time period and someone tries to change history it could be changed. That was why they always got involved and sometimes found themselves immersed in history. Like that time when they were looking for a concert in the 90’s and accidentally went to the magna carta signing instead. They fought off a mild invasion of small four-armed blue people that wanted to turn everyone into compost.

So, one day when they didn’t have much ‘save the universe’ activities planned because the Doctor was in the control room doing his never-ending maintenance, Rose brought up her dilemma to Ella. “I’m sure if you ask, he wouldn’t say no.” Ella thought about the request as she walked into her closet.

“Well, yeah. He can’t seem to say no to me, but I think it’s important for your personal friendship if you ask him yourself. So, that he does this for you and not for me.” Rose thought about it, decided it made sense and the girls crafted how she would ask as Ella continued to get ready for the day. “Just make sure to add that you don’t even have any pictures of him and give him that look you usually give to Mickey when he’s being an arse and holding something out of your reach.”

“This one,” Rose asked trying to remember how that look went and Ella laughed at the reflection in the mirror as she warmed up her flatiron in her bathroom.

“Yes! The sad puppy face. Anyways let me know how it goes, I gotta finish my hair.” Rose nodded and left the room to nervously make her way to the control room. When she entered, she found the Doctor under the console and arguing with himself which wasn’t unusual, so Rose ignored it while she sat in the only chair in the vicinity.

The Doctor finally sensed her presence, “what are you doing in here? Have a request?”

Rose hesitated, “kinda … but you might say no.”

“Well, we’ll never know if you don’t ask.” The Doctor rolled out from under the console and sat up to look at the blonde, so she knew she had his undivided attention.

“Can you take me to see my dad,” Rose rushed out in one sentence. “I know personal history is fragile and one wrong step and the world might explode but I don’t even know what he looks like. I need to know what he looks like Doctor, please? My mum always said he was the most wonderful man in the world, so, I was thinking … could we?”