PREDATOR AND PREY

Chapter Eighteen

"Ah, come on, ladies. It'll be fun!"

Jack was sitting at the kitchen table with Amy, Rory and River playing poker. For the past ten minutes he'd been trying to get them to play strip poker.

"Come on, no one's around. The Doctor's away, let's have some real fun," he said.

Amy and River shared a look. Rory was looking away, beet red and the two women were trying not to giggle at his embarrassment.

"Could we not?" Rory said while Amy giggled.

"I'm just trying to make the card game more interesting, that's all," Jack said with a shrug.

"You really have no inhibitions, do you?" Amy said to Jack.

She laughed when Jack thought hard about that.

"Um…not many," he said. "But where I come from, people aren't quite as Victorian and prudish and hey, I can't help that I grew up in that environment. So…how 'bout it? River, you seem like an adventurous lady."

River looked at Amy and Rory and shifted nervously. She had yet to tell them how they were related to her but the thought of being completely naked in front of mom and dad or even worse seeing them naked made her politely decline the offer. Jack shrugged and was about to suggest another hand of poker when the Doctor came into the kitchen.

"There you are," River said. "Did it take that long to install the stabilizer?"

"Not exactly. I did that and then I took a look at Rose's memories to see what the Valeyard had done to her."

"And?" Rory said.

"It…wasn't pretty," the Doctor said, trying to shake the mental image of her screaming from his memories. "I didn't get very far because it was so upsetting but the Valeyard tortured her for information and then tortured her just to torture her."

"So he's as bad as the Dream Lord then," Amy said.

"I'm thinking far worse," the Doctor said.

"There's something more. You're hesitating," River said, studying him.

"When I went through her memories, I went back before the Valeyard to see what was happening after I left her there. I came to one memory where John was scanning her body and doing bloodwork and I found out that Rose is part Time Lord."

"What?" Jack said while the others did double takes. "She is? Since when?"

"Since the Gamestation. I think," the Doctor said. "Rose had a "dream" where the Bad Wolf showed her that after it brought you back to life, it changed her into a Time Lady so she could be my companion for the rest of my lives."

"Dream?" River said. "If it's just a dream, how can she be sure?"

"Because when we were first separated, I called to her across the rift and she said my voice came to her first in a dream. The TARDIS is scanning her at this moment to be sure this is all true since human machines can be unreliable."

"But if that's true, John's gonna die while she lives on," Jack said.

The Doctor sighed and nodded.

"Yes. It's the reverse of my situation. Now she's the one with the Time Lord curse," he said.

"And you can't fix him?" Rory said.

"Dunno. I have to think of a solution. All I know is this situation is getting more and more complicated by the moment," the Doctor said, leaning up against one of the counters. "But for the moment, we have to find John first and make sure that TARDIS coral is safe before we can think of extending his life."

The Doctor glanced up when the TARDIS rumbled.

"She's done scanning Rose. Follow me," he said.

Everyone got up from the table and followed him back to the med bay. While they walked, River's mind raced. Rose was part Time Lord, just like she was. She cursed the fact that she was going backwards in the Doctor and her parent's time steams and she couldn't tell anyone about this. She had given up her last remaining regenerations to save the Doctor's life so this life would be her last. It filled her with sadness that she wouldn't be able to live on and spend the years with the Doctor, Jack and her new friend but she never regretted the fact that she saved the Doctor's life and he was here because of her. She wondered if she could get Rose alone at some point and at least tell her about being half Time Lord without revealing much else. At least she could help Rose adjust to her situation and she felt like she could trust Rose enough that she wouldn't tell anyone else.

They entered the med bay and Rose was sitting up on a long exam table. She had just gone through a long tube-like scanner that resembled a CAT scan.

"It stopped so I figured it was finished," she said when they entered.

"Yes, it is. And if you just sit there, I'll look at the results," the Doctor said.

He walked over to a large console on the left side of the room and stood there while he read from a monitor on top of it. While he did that, Jack sat down beside her.

"The Doctor told us about being half Time Lord," he said to her.

"Yeah, it's a huge shock," Rose said. "I can't believe it happened but at least I know about it now instead of 50 years from now when I still look the same age."

"It's official, Rose. The scans say you do have some Time Lord physiology," the Doctor said, glancing at her. "And the bone scan confirms that your aging process has been retarded."

"Wow, you're sorta like the Doctor now," Amy said to Rose.

"Except cuter," Jack said. "Well, cuter but not by much," he added while the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"So…will she change?" Rory said to the Doctor. "Will anything happen to her?"

"Well, according to the dream, Rose will get her second heart when she regenerates," the Doctor said while Rose nodded in agreement. "But if you mean will she grow green skin and become a lizard, that I don't know. If she does, I have an aquarium room and we'll put her in there with some rocks and a sunlamp and let her live."

"Ha ha," Rose said dryly while he gave her a cheeky grin. "I s'pose this means I have a bit of insurance then if I get seriously hurt. If I die, I know I'll probably regenerate now. I'm just glad the Valeyard didn't go far enough to kill me so he could see me change. I never would have been able to escape him then."

"Well, at least we know for sure," the Doctor said. "So if we do find John, we can tell him for sure that you have been changed. And speaking of which, I need to go to the console room and check on our progress so I'll see you lot later."

"Rose, can I speak to you privately for a moment," River said in Rose's ear while the Doctor left the room.

Rose nodded and River motioned for Rose to follow her. Rose excused herself and followed River out the door.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next