PREDATOR AND PREY
Chapter Three The Doctor finished putting an IV in Rose's right arm. He had shoved up the sleeve of her bodysuit and started a drip that contained medicine to help her internal organs heal. He checked the dark blue liquid to make sure it was running smoothly into her vein and then he walked up towards her head. He stared at her and laid his hand on her side of her head. "Oh, Rose, why did you come back?" he murmured as he stared at her bruised face. "I told you to stay with the clone. Can't you listen to me for a change and do as I say before you cause all of reality to implode?" "Doctor?" The Doctor took his hand away from Rose's head when he heard Amy's voice. He stepped back and smiled warmly at her when she entered the med bay. "How is she?" Amy said, walking over to Rose. "She'll live. She has several bruises and a concussion but no broken bones and no serious injuries. She's fortunate in that regard since the scan seemed to indicate she'd fallen from a pretty considerable height." "How? There wasn't anything tall near her," Amy said. "She might have fallen through a crack in reality," the Doctor said. "Wait, crack? You mean the cracks in time are back?" Amy said, panicked. "No, this is different," the Doctor said, holding up his hands reassuringly. "Sometimes small tears can form in the fabric of reality. Most of them heal almost instantaneously but some remain long enough for someone to travel through them. Rose must have found one and propelled herself through it. I'm guessing the rip was in the air above Icecap Five and she fell to the ground. She knocked herself out but she'll recover." "But why would she do that? You said she was stuck in another universe, did she do this to get back to you?" "Probably," the Doctor said with a sigh. "Is she…was she…" Amy noticed the Doctor stiffened and she sensed he was becoming defensive. She held up her hand. "I won't tell, especially River. She suspects you might have had a relationship with Rose and I told her not to treat Rose badly because of that." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "My relationship with River is complicated enough without Rose becoming a part of it," he muttered. He noticed that Amy was waiting for a response to her question and he walked over to the door. He looked out to make sure they were alone and came back to her side. "Yes. She and I had a relationship," he said softly. "But she was taken from me when she was sucked into another universe and I had to move on with my life. She came back again and I was happy to see her. But she came back because the universes were in danger of being wiped out and she knew I could stop it. But in a very complicated turn of events, I ended up with a clone of myself and I sent her back to the other universe with the clone so she could watch over him. I thought that was the end of it and I moved on again. When River came along, I became fond of her and I decided to have a relationship with her but I never imagined that Rose would find her way back to me again and now I have two women in the same TARDIS that I shared a relationship with and one of them is deeply jealous and possessive. Well…actually, both of them are like that, I suppose. But now, I find myself in an uncomfortable position so I thank you for asking River to please not start a catfight with Rose. Especially since the two women have never met before. The last thing I want is to referee a battle royale between the two of them." "You said the last time she did this she needed your help. What if she needs your help again?" Amy said. "It's possible. I just wish she wouldn't risk all of reality coming here. You can destroy all of reality if you come through a rift that isn't stable. Still, I am glad to see her again. Except…I wonder why she's wearing this thing?" he said, pointing to the bodysuit. "I've never seen her wear anything like it. Makes me think you may be right about her coming to find me because she's in trouble. For the moment though, we need to let her rest and recover from her injuries." Amy nodded. She promised the Doctor that she wouldn't tell the others what he revealed and the Doctor gave her a grateful smile as he patted her shoulder. He asked the TARDIS to let him know when Rose woke up and he raised the bedrails on the gurney before covering her up with a light cotton sheet. He smiled lovingly at Rose before he and Amy left the room. They found Rory in the console room. He was sitting on the Doctor's seat and stood up as they were coming down the steps. "How is she?" Rory said. "She'll be fine. She has a concussion and a few bruises but with a little rest and some tender loving care, she'll recover. Can you two come with me though? TARDIS, if she wakes up while we're outside, will you flash your beacon?" The TARDIS grunted and Amy and Rory followed the Doctor outside. They walked back to the area where they found Rose and the Doctor began to scan the area with his screwdriver while Amy filled Rory in on what the Doctor told her, minus the part about the Doctor having a relationship with Rose. "So you're searching for this rip in time?" Rory asked as he and Amy walked up to the Doctor. "Yes," the Doctor said, checking the readout on his screwdriver. "I see nothing out of the ordinary. If there was a tear, it must have closed up. Which is a good and a bad thing." "How?" Amy said. "You said if people came through these tears they could endanger the universe." "Yes. But if Rose's universe really is being threatened, we have to find another way to get to it. Safely, I might add. We don't want to destroy all of reality." "Great," Rory said, rolling his eyes. "Never easy, is it?" "Not usually. But then again, if it were easy it wouldn't be a challenge," the Doctor said. "I can't find anything out here so let's go back inside and I'll ask the TARDIS to try to find a tear large enough for us to go through. Come on." They went back inside and the Doctor ran a scan, trying to find any anomalies while Amy and Rory walked back to the med bay to check on Rose. On the way, they ran into River and she followed them. When they entered the med bay, Rose was still unconscious. The IV bag was half full now and the room was filled with a soft humming from various devices. The three of them gathered around the gurney and looked at Rose. "Did you find out anything more about her?" River asked Amy. "Just his theories on why she might be here. He didn't say if they were in a relationship or not," Amy said, hoping she sounded convincing. "She's lucky she came through with only a few bruises and a concussion," River said. "She must have needed the Doctor's help badly to try a risky stunt like that. She's very brave, I'll give her that." They stepped back when Rose let out a soft groan and began to wake up. They watched with silent fascination while she slowly opened her eyes. It took a moment for Rose's eyes to adjust and focus and then she was staring at the three strangers with a confused frown. "Where am I?" she said. "The TARDIS," Amy said. Rose's eyes bugged out. She tried lifting her head up to see around the room but she let out a groan and her head slumped back onto the pillow. "Head hurt?" Amy said. "Yeah, a lot," Rose said, grimacing. "Doctor said you have a concussion," Amy said. "Where is he?" Rose said. "He's up front doing a scan," Amy said. "We're his friends. I'm Amy Pond, this is my husband, Rory and this is River Song." "Rose. Rose Tyler, nice to meet ya," Rose said, closing her eyes. "Sorry, the light is hurting my head." "Just relax," River said gently. "The Doctor is mending you." "How did you find me?" Rose said. "The TARDIS found you. She brought us here," Rory said. Rose smiled at that. "Good old TARDIS," she murmured. "Did you want us to find you?" River said. "Yeah. Well, I wanted to find the Doctor. Unfortunately, I was in a rush and being pursued at the time and I didn't have time to lock on to the TARDIS." "Pursued? By who?" Amy said. "His name's the Valeyard," Rose said, opening one eye slightly to look at Amy. "He's hell bent on ruling the universe I came from and probably all the other universes besides that. He kidnapped me and tried to take my boyfriend and my family. Fortunately, he got away and took my mum, dad and brother with him. At least I hope he got away. We got separated when he tried to hide the piece of coral the Doctor gave us." "Coral?" Rory said. "Yeah. It's a piece of the TARDIS. The TARDIS is grown, not made and the Doctor gave me and my boyfriend, John, a piece of it so we could have one of our own." "Why would he give you and your boyfriend a piece of the TARDIS?" River said. "Your boyfriend, he's a clone of the Doctor, isn't he?" Amy said before Rose could answer. "Yes," Rose said. "A half human clone but he still has the Doctor's memories and personality. We were trying to grow the coral and the Valeyard wanted it so he could have a TARDIS that he could use to conquer the universe so John took it and hid it. Or that's what he was doing when I got captured. I have no idea if he succeeded or not. I hope, for all our sakes, he managed to find a place to hide it." Rose noticed the three of them looked up and away from her towards the door. Her heart raced when she guessed what they were looking up and she turned her head, eager to see the man she loved. Her spirits sank when she saw an unfamiliar man entered the room. But they soared again when the man came to her side, took hold of her hand and introduced himself as the Doctor.
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