IN THE SHADOW OF SAXON

A/N: This is a sequel to my story, The Sacrificial Lamb. I also have help this time from my partner in crime and fellow fanfic writer, Carol. Hope you enjoy the story.

Chapter One

The Doctor stood at his console, checking his monitor while the TARDIS sailed through the vortex. It had been three months since Rose and David joined them and he was monitoring Amy's pregnancy along with Rory, making sure that the baby was healthy and she would have a successful pregnancy. Since the newcomers joined them, Amy and Rose had formed a fast friendship and Rory and David had done the same. The Doctor was pleased that both of them had been welcomed into their little group with no trouble and that David seemed to have made a complete adjustment to his new identity.

During that time, he and Rose had also been getting reacquainted with one another and forging a strong bond between herself and his current body. He allowed Rose to adjust to his new body the same way he let her adjust to his tenth body after the shock of the first regeneration she went through. He also had to reassure her that he wouldn't ditch her somewhere like he did in his previous life. When he thought of what his tenth life did to her, he felt disgust at the cowardly act, especially since Rose trusted him so much. He was determined not to betray that trust again.

While he was running his scan, he heard someone coming down the steps behind him. He turned and smiled when Rose alighted onto the glass platform encircling the console and walked over to him.

"Hello," he said, opening his arm so she could come close to him. "I trust you and Amy haven't destroyed the ship yet? I know a couple of cheeky buggers like you love throwing a spanner into the works every now and then."

He chuckled when Rose rolled her eyes at that.

"No, we aren't putting a dent in your precious TARDIS," she said to him.

"I didn't say a dent. I said you and she were destroying it," he said with an impish grin.

He sobered up when he noticed she had a worried look on her face.

"What is it?" he said.

"It's David," Rose said.

The Doctor stiffened. Since his former clone had undergone the chameleon arch and became a different person, he wondered if some of his former tendencies would surface or he would become a threat to Rose again.

"Is he hurting you?" the Doctor asked her.

"No, but I'm scared that he's changing back to his old self," Rose said.

"Why? What has he done?" the Doctor said.

"He…he says he has dreams that he's a Time Lord like you," Rose said. "Says he can't figure out why but they're very vivid. Doctor, what if he's starting to remember and he becomes the Valeyard again?"

She noticed the Doctor visibly relaxing.

"Is he remembering?" she asked him.

"In a way," the Doctor said. "Remember when I told you about becoming John Smith?"

Rose nodded.

"Well, I put my Time Lord mind into a pocket watch. However, most of the time the watch doesn't managed to pull out every single solitary memory, especially from the unconscious and that's where these dreams are coming from. Wait a tic."

He held up his finger and closed his eyes. Rose watched while he silently communicated with his TARDIS, asking her to bring up a holographic projection. Rose's eyes flickered to the console when she saw a hologram of a book appear in front of her. The Doctor opened his eyes and pointed to it.

"I asked the TARDIS to show you something from my memory. This was a journal I kept as John Smith that I referred to as the Journal of Impossible Things. You see, I also had dreams and visions of my life as the Doctor but I thought of them as merely fanciful dreams and I recorded what I saw in this journal."

He closed his eyes and the book opened to a page showing drawings of the Cybermen amid scribbled writings describing them. The Doctor opened his eyes and pointed to it while Rose watched in silent fascination. He closed his eyes again and brought up the page with the TARDIS on it. Then he did it once more and Rose's eyes widened when she saw a sketch of her face staring back at her.

"You remembered me?" she said.

The Doctor smiled and leaned into her ear.

"How could I ever forget you?" he murmured. "You're imprinted on my soul. I know that because you were the only companion I sketched. That's quite a feat considering many have traveled with me."

Rose felt a swell of emotion and a lump came to her throat as she fought back the tears. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his body.

"Will he remember me then?" Rose asked after a moment's silence, her eyes searching his as she turned her head. "If you remembered, will he remember abusing and enslaving me?"

"Perhaps, but he may write it off as weird dreams. Trust me, Rose, he won't lay a finger on you anymore, I swear that."

Rose snuggled closer to him as she stared at the sketch of her face. She could read the writing around the drawing and she realized after a moment that the words were describing the first moment on the beach at Bad Wolf Bay when they said goodbye to each other. She looked at the other page and her breath caught in her throat when she saw the phrase, "Perfect Rose," written repeatedly on the page. The Doctor followed her gaze and smiled as he kissed her cheek.

"You still are my perfect Rose," he whispered in her ear, "now and forever."

The tears flowed now and the Doctor held her while Rose wiped them away. While she stood with him, a thought pushed its way to the surface of her consciousness, one she'd been trying to push down for the past couple of months. The Doctor sensed her body tensing and looked at her.

"What is it?" he said.

"What about River?" Rose said. "What happens when you find out who she really is?"

"If you're referring to our relationship, nothing," he said.

"How can you be so sure?" Rose said, her eyes lowering to the floor.

"Because if I try to end the relationship, I'll be slapped unmercifully around the TARDIS," the Doctor said.

He grinned when she giggled at that and kissed her cheek.

"Because my hearts belong to you and no other. River's a friend and that's all she'll ever be. Unless, she was lying and she really is a future version of you."

"But how can she be?" Rose said, looking at him. "I'm not a Time Lord."

"No, but…"

"Yes?" Rose said when he trailed off.

"Rose, would you object to a few tests?" he said.

"What sort of tests?"

"I want to find out what this Bad Wolf really is because I have a feeling that it may be more than just a protector," the Doctor said.

"You mean, it turned me into a Time Lord?" Rose said.

"Time Lady is the correct term and I'm not sure which is why I want to try a few things and see if I can locate it inside you. Nothing painful," he added when he saw the fear flash in Rose's eyes for a moment. "I wouldn't hurt you or make you suffer, just a few scans on your body and mind to see if I can detect something."

Rose nodded and the Doctor smiled and held her close to him. He glanced over when Amy, Rory and David came down the steps into the console room.

"Ah, I see Larry, Moe and Curly have joined us now," the Doctor said while Rose giggled.

"Yeah, very funny," Amy said. "We've had breakfast and we wondered what you were up to."

"I'm up to no good but that should be obvious," the Doctor said as they walked up to him. "Why?"

"We're bored, want something to do," Amy said.

"Time Ship, huge, full of things, find something," the Doctor said, waving his arms around while Rose giggled.

"No, we want to do something outside the huge full of things Time Ship," Amy said.

The Doctor let out a sigh of mock exasperation while Rose gave him a sympathetic look.

"There goes an afternoon alone," the Doctor said.

"Aw, well, you can have an afternoon alone outside," Amy said, giving him a pouty face.

Rose laughed harder when the Doctor eyed her and Amy gave him an innocent look.

"Fine then, I'll find somewhere for us to go," the Doctor said as he let go of Rose and began flipping switches.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next

Your Name or Alias:      Your E-mail (optional):

Please type your review below. Only positive reviews and constructive criticism will be posted.