THE GRAND TOUR OF OKLAHOMA
Chapter Fifteen "So, wanna head back to the memorial and see the chairs all lit up?" the Doctor asked Rose. Rose nodded. The Doctor looked around and spied the library off to their right. They got their bearings and headed that way back to the memorial. On the way, they noticed that everything was closed and Rose stopped and looked around. "Doctor, do you see anything that's still open?" she said. "No, it looks like everything's shut for the night. Blimey, no wonder the buses stop running, everything else stops running too." "What time is it though?" "Um…almost 9:30." "And everything's closed? Wow, I've never seen a city shut down like this. This is what you'd expect from a town but…" They walked on towards the memorial. Suddenly, someone screamed "FUCK YOU!" behind them. Rose jumped and the Doctor spun around to protect her. They saw a homeless man two blocks away, pushing a battered shopping trolley loaded with things. While he walked, he occasionally screamed at the top of his lungs. The Doctor relaxed and walked on with Rose. When they neared the bus station, they noticed a couple of people heading into a parking garage near it. "That must be the parking garage Suri was talking about," the Doctor said, pointing. "You're not going to sleep in there, are you?" Rose said to him. "No, but maybe we can find a little space nearby and sleep out under the stars," the Doctor said. "Won't the cops find us?" "Not if we're very clever, which we are, besides I'm not scared of them, my hands are registered deadly weapons." Rose giggled and examined his right hand while the Doctor gave her a menacing look. She took it and they walked back up the hill to the memorial. They walked down to the gate and entered. Rose's breath was taken away by the sight of the chairs. The bases were now glowing with a bright light that reflected in the reflecting pool. "Oh my God, this is gorgeous," Rose said, pulling out her camera. The Doctor followed her around the reflecting pool and when they got to the other side and had a wider view of the chairs, Rose took a couple of photos. "Beautiful," Rose said to the Doctor. "And look how clear the pond is, you can see everything clearly in it like it's an alternate world down there. And the gates are all lit up. This is much better after dark." "Wanna go see that Survivor Tree the ranger mentioned?" the Doctor said, pointing up to it. "Yeah," Rose said. They walked over to the Journal Record building. The side of it was lit up and they paused for a moment and studied it. The side facing the memorial had bomb damage and the Doctor pointed to some stress fractures that occurred when the building lifted up during the explosion and set back down without falling. The Doctor moved slightly down the building inspecting another set of cracks. Rose stayed near the corner. While she looked at the building, she suddenly sensed someone watching her. She looked over to the low wall opposite the museum entrance and noticed someone was sitting on it. He was young and handsome with bangs that hung down the right side of his face. He was wearing a tweed jacket, white shirt with red bow tie, black trousers and black shoes. He was also wearing a brown cowboy hat and he touched the brim and smiled when Rose caught his eye. Rose waved at him and he nodded and waved back. She looked at the Doctor who was now halfway to the Survivor Tree. She glanced at the man and then followed him. The tree was on a hill in the middle of a plaza that was surrounded on three sides by low stone wall. A long stone bench was set into the wall on the right side of the wall. They entered and looked at the tree which was being lit by lights in the ground around it. Rose pointed to the trunk which had been blown back halfway up by the force of the blast so that the tree leaned at an odd angle. They walked around the front and Rose pointed to the blackened trunk. "Blimey, this bomb must have been powerful to do all this," Rose said to the Doctor as she ran her hand up the bark. "You can tell it nearly knocked the top off the tree." "Yes but it held on," the Doctor said. "And it is a fitting symbol for Oklahoma but you know what, I think it's also represents the human race. You tenacious little apes that keep holding on and surviving and thriving no matter what life throws at you. This tree represents all of you, I think." Rose smiled at that. She went past the Doctor and walked around the tree, examining it. As she did, she caught sight of the man. He was now halfway to the tree, staring down at the flowers that had been planted along the wall. She paused a moment while she gazed at him. Then the man turned his head and caught her eye and smiled. Rose glanced at the Doctor and felt compelled to walk over to him. The man smiled at her warmly as she walked up. "Good evening," Rose said. "Evening," the man said. "Um…I hate to tell you this but your cowboy hat doesn't go with the rest of your outfit." "It's a Stetson, Stetsons are cool," he said. Rose chuckled. "Um…if you say so. I'm Rose." "I'm Rory," he said, shaking her hand. "Nice night." "Yes, it is," Rose said. "My friend and I came here today and we're taking a tour of the city." "Yeah, I'm here with two friends but they're back at the hotel so I thought I'd do what you're doing. I was told the memorial was beautiful after dark so I walked over here." "Yeah, me too. It is, actually, we went here earlier but we wanted to see the chairs after dark." "Oh, is your friend with you?" Rory asked. "Yeah, he's over here. His name is John," Rose said. Rory followed behind her while Rose called to the Doctor. The Doctor came out of the opening in the wall and was walking towards her when he suddenly froze. Rose noticed an odd look on his face while he stared at Rory. "John, this is Rory, he walked up from his hotel to see the memorial," Rose said to the Doctor. "Pleasure," Rory said, nodding. "Yeah," the Doctor said giving him a wary look. "Rose, can you excuse us for just a moment." Rose nodded, wondering what was wrong with the Doctor. She watched while the Doctor beckoned to Rory and Rory followed him back to the tree. "Huh?" Rose muttered while she watched the Doctor speaking to Rory in a hushed tone. She noticed they kept glancing at her from time to time. The Doctor nodded while Rory spoke but she couldn't hear what they were saying. They talked for about five minutes before they both walked back to Rose. "What's going on?" Rose asked. "Rose, I have a confession," Rory said. "My name isn't Rory. I'm the Doctor; I'm a future version of the Doctor." Rose's mouth fell open. She looked at her Doctor for confirmation and he nodded. "You…had an odd look on your face when you first saw him," Rose said to her Doctor. "It's because I could sense who he was. Time Lords can sense each other, I believe I told you that before, that I can sense other Time Lords in my mind," Ten said, tapping the side of his temple. "Oh yeah, but…what are you doing here?" she asked Eleven. "Sightseeing. I landed here with two friends, that part I was truthful about. I remembered that you came here with my other self today so I thought I'd come and say hello," Eleven said. "Your Doctor recognized me as a future version of himself and I was over there by the tree explaining myself." "Well, the Stetson still doesn't go with your outfit," Rose said. Ten snickered when Eleven pouted at that. "We agreed I'd be truthful about who I was but on one condition, I won't tell you which version of the Doctor I am or tell you who I'm traveling with so you won't know future events. If you agree to that, I'd like to walk with you for a bit, is that okay?" "Sure," Rose said, thrilled to meet another version of the Doctor. "But will your friends mind you being gone?" "Nah, I will say that they're married and well…they'll amuse themselves somehow, I'm sure," Eleven said. "They'll probably welcome me getting out of their hair for a bit." "Well, there's really nothing open here, d'ya wanna go back to Bricktown?" Rose said. "Sounds good to me," Eleven said. "Doctor?" he added, glancing at his younger self. "It's going on 10:30, we might be able to catch the trolley back if we hurry," the Doctor said, checking his watch. "Come on, let's hurry before we miss it."
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