WRATH OF THE BROTHERHOOD

Chapter Eight

John followed the Doctor to his laboratory.

"The TARDIS has something for me?" John said to him while they walked.

"Seems so," the Doctor said. "John, are you sure you want to do this? You might have gained a bit more weight than Rose but you're still not completely better. You could also fall in battle."

"I want to be a part of this, I want…"

"Revenge," the Doctor said.

"Does that disturb you?" John said as he and the Doctor stopped. "After all, I'm supposed to be the genocidal maniac, right?"

"No, it doesn't disturb me because I would have done the same in your position and I also hunger for revenge, especially after what they did to Rose."

John nodded.

"That's all I care about," he said. "It's not revenge for me, it's revenge for her."

"But be careful, my friend. Don't let revenge cloud your judgment," the Doctor said, putting his hand on John's shoulder. "Don't rush into battle in a weakened state because you want to see the Brotherhood annihilated. It won't do anyone any good for you to die as well."

"I know," John muttered.

"Just giving you a bit of friendly advice," the Doctor said as he turned and headed to the lab.

John grinned.

"Thanks for the advice, Dad!" he said.

He sniggered when the Doctor froze and turned to look at him.

"You are, technically," John said with a shrug. "And Donna's me mum which means that Rose is your daughter in law."

"Oh no, not another complicated family grouping," the Doctor said. "Bad enough I had to figure out how Amy and Rory and River were in relation to me. Now I have a clone son and one of the women I love is my daughter in law."

"Well, you accepted Jenny as your daughter and she came from your hand so if I came from your hand…" he said, holding up his hand and wiggling his fingers.

"Blimey, my life is complicated," the Doctor said, shaking his head while John giggled.

They entered the lab and paused at the doorway.

"Okay, what did you want to show us?" the Doctor said to the ceiling.

The room went dark and the TARDIS shown a spotlight on a ruby gem on a table that was across the room from them. The lights went back on and the Doctor and John walked over to it.

"Pretty but what does this have to do with anything?" John said, looking at the Doctor.

"So?" the Doctor said to the TARDIS.

The TARDIS rumbled to them and both men listened as the TARDIS told John that if he put the ruby on his chest, it would go inside him and provide extra protection, compensating for his human weaknesses.

"So, make me like him without making me like him," John said to the TARDIS as he pointed to the Doctor.

They heard a small cough and turned to see Michelle at the door.

"Boy, this one likes to follow me everywhere," the Doctor said to John while Michelle came inside the room.

"I'm here because my older me is in the TARDIS now," Michelle said to the Doctor when she walked to him. "Mommy told me to come in here in case I'm not supposed to look at her."

"You can look at her but I was worried about you and her changing your future," the Doctor said. "But that's not important right now; the important thing is…how did she get in here?"

"She teleported in, she said," Michelle said with a shrug.

"Teleported in?" the Doctor said, looking at John.

"Apparently, our little friend is smarter than we thought," John said.

The Doctor was torn between wanting to go and see her and finishing up the ruby thing in the lab. John sensed his dilemma and shrugged as he put the ruby in his pocket.

"I can do this later, nothing is gonna happen inside the TARDIS," he said to the Doctor.

"Are you sure about that? Because Shelly just managed to get in here without an invitation," the Doctor said. "But never mind that, let's go and meet your older self."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"There she is," Michelle said, pointing to an older woman at the center of attention inside the TARDIS kitchen.

The Doctor froze. Older Michelle looked the same as she did when he met her at Christmas but instead of the slinky dress, she was dressed in black jeans, black leather boots, a white t-shirt and an aviator's jacket.

"Wow," John said behind him. "She certainly became a woman."

The Doctor looked at Older Michelle and then looked down at Michelle beside him and again found that weird sense of being out of place as he looked at the child sized version of the woman standing in front of him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle everyone," Older Michelle said to them.

"How did you get in here?" the Doctor said, shaking off his shock.

"Teleported in," Older Michelle said. "The big transmat room you have."

"How do you know how to do that?" the Doctor said.

"You taught me, duh!" Older Michelle said with a grin.

"Why do I keep teaching people to infiltrate my TARDIS and run it?" the Doctor said. "First River, now you."

"Um…" River said, holding up her finger. "You didn't teach me, Sweetie, the TARDIS did. So blame her if you want. Besides, even if she knew how to get in here," River said, pointing to Older Michelle, "shouldn't your ship be able to stop her?"

Older Michelle giggled when the Doctor glared at the ceiling.

"I wasn't ready," the Doctor said to his ship. "I was busy with John and had to stop that to come in here and deal with this."

"You didn't have to," Older Michelle said, shrugging. "I was just saying hello to everyone. Trust me, Slime Monster, I know better than to seize the controls from your elderly hands and fly your precious TARDIS."

Michelle giggled.

"Slime Monster," she said while the Doctor eyed her. "I like that."

"Great, give your younger self ideas, why don't you?" the Doctor said, throwing up his hands.

"Oh, whinge, whinge, whinge, put on your big boy pants and act like a Time Lord!" Older Michelle said.

Everyone laughed hysterically when the Doctor's mouth dropped open at that.

"Well?" Older Michelle said, amused. "I think you were warned I'd be coming and to save time, I just transmatted in here. What? You want to go to some distant planet and pick me up there?"

"No, but you're…cheeky," the Doctor said.

"And you're not?" Older Michelle said. "Besides, I've grown up around Rose and John and Amy and Rory and all these people and I learned to be just as cheeky as they are. You have to be a bit cheeky in order to match wits with you, Dumb-bulldore."

"Dumb-bulldore, I like that too," Michelle said, nodding.

"Okay, I think it's time for everyone not adult to go away now," the Doctor said while everyone laughed. "Especially the younger version of Miss Cheeky here before she gets any more ideas."

"Look, just let her be, I'll take myself out of the room," Older Michelle said. "Whatever you were doing with John, I'll go there. That way you can interrogate me further to see if I'm a dastardly spy or not."

"Yes, come with us," the Doctor said, beckoning to her.

"See ya guys later," Older Michelle said with a wave as she followed the Doctor and John out of the room.

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