Fic: Jiggery Pokery 1/1 (PotW Ficathon)

Jiggery Pokery 1/1
by GylzGirl
Rated: T
Thanks to jeanne_dark for the beta
Entry for Rose/Doctor POTW Ficathon
Written for: 11nine73
Reqirements:
Desired rating preference or range: All.
Requests: Nine/Rose-ness, fix-it fic, Jack.
Restrictions: as little of Ten as poss (none would be good)





Jiggery Pokery 1/1
by GylzGirl


“…and that’s fine by me!” Rose slammed the door of her room and threw herself down on the bed. She screamed into her pillow, punched it a few times and then roughly turned over on her back. Taking a few deep breaths, she forced herself to calm down.

When she thought about it, she was really mad at herself and not the Doctor. It was just that he seemed to aggravate her so much. She knew she wasn’t giving him a fair chance but every word out of his mouth seemed to only remind her that her Doctor, the real Doctor (as she thought of him), was never coming back. She rolled onto her stomach, wincing as her rib hit something hard on the mattress. Reaching beneath herself, she pulled out her cell phone and rubbed a finger over it.

”Tell you what... with a little bit of jiggery pokery… “

“Is that a technical term? Jiggery pokery?”

“Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?”

“Nah, I failed hullabaloo.”

Her eyes suddenly welled with tears. She bunched her pillow up beneath her chest and laid her phone to the side. If only we’d had more time. Time enough that I could have at least told him… well… everything. If only I’d known… Her expression brightened as an idea flooded her head. Of course, following hot on the heels of this epiphany were gloomy shadows in the form of Reapers, and a faint voice calling her a stupid ape and lecturing her on the laws of time and consequences and… then she remembered something else.

“The Great and Bountiful Human Empire’s stunted. Something’s holdin’ it back… Trust me. Humanity’s been set back about 90 years…”

A voice in her head which sounded very much like Rose’s own voice trying to do an impression of the Doctor’s and failing miserably, said, “How can it matter if you change a timeline that was already changed from what it was supposed to be?” Deciding that was a valid argument, she smiled. Rose sat up and grabbed her phone. Taking a deep breath, she dialed her own number.

******

Rose entered her room and looked down at her ringing cell phone in disbelief. The only one who had ever been able to reach her on it was the Doctor. But the display did not say ‘Tardis calling’ it said ‘Rose Tyler calling’. She cast a furtive glance to the door, wondering if she should get the Doctor. Looking at the display again, she decided that if she was calling herself from some other time, she might have something very important to tell herself. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the send button on her phone and lifted it to her ear. “H’lo?”

“Rose? It’s me. Rose.”

“Me as in… me?”

She could hear her future self smile. “Yeah. Not too confusing now, is it? Look, where are you… or should that be when?”

“Uh… we’ve just dropped Adam at home.”

The future Rose practically squealed with excitement. “I’ve caught you just in the nick of time… literally.”

“Why? What’s goin’ on?”

“So much, Rose. I don’t even know where to begin. Right. Look. I’ve got a lot of things I have to tell you so just listen. Everything depends on this, Rose. Everything. Okay?”

“I’m listening. I’m listening.”

“First off, you and the Doctor need to go back to Satellite Five in the time right after you left it. There’s a hidden Dalek fleet in orbit of Earth. If you go straight back, you can stop them before they get up to speed.”

“Daleks?”

“Just listen!”

“Sorry.”

“I know you’ve been thinking about asking the Doctor to take you back to be with Dad when he died. He will take you. No matter what, you can’t save Dad. It’s his time and you have to let that happen. If you don’t, you’ll be responsible for the end of the world and…other bad things.”

“The end of the world?”

“You’ve got to trust me. Just go and be with him as he dies. And if you freeze up the first time, that’s it okay? You don’t get a second chance. Don’t ask for one.”

“But…”

“Look, you don’t need to talk to him. He’ll know you’re his Rose. He will.”

The Rose from the past sighed. “Is there more?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. These things I’m telling you are going to change things a bit on your end. So don’t miss the Blitz. You’d regret it. Jack is too good to pass up!”

“Jack huh?”

“And break up with Mickey as soon as you get the chance. He’s putting his life on hold waiting for you; counting on you coming back and being the same old Rose.”

“And?”

“And you’re not. You never will be again. The TARDIS is your home now. Let him go now, or you’ll regret that too.”

“Anything else?” Past Rose sighed again.

This seeming lack of interest irritated Future Rose. “Look this isn’t a game, Rose. I’m calling you from the future, your future. There are things you shouldn’t know about yet.”

“Like what?”

“Everything I’ve told you, pretty much. You understand? Something’s happened. Something I can’t tell you about. I’m giving you the chance to veer time in a direction we can live with. Do what I’ve said and when you’re me, you’ll thank yourself.”

“What do I tell the Doctor?”

“That’s something you’ll have to decide. But don’t tell him about this call. He wouldn’t be happy about it.”

Past Rose huffed. “Don’t tell the Doctor? How do I know you’re even really me? How do I know…”

“Ask him about regeneration.”

“What?”

“Regeneration. Ask him about it. If you don’t, you’ll find out the hard way.”

“How is that proof? All that shows is you know something the Doctor will know about. Well what about me, eh? Go on, tell me something only I would know.”

It was Future Rose’s turn to huff. “What are you, 5? We don’t have time for…”

“We’ve got all the time in the world. It’s a bloody time machine. And I’m not sending us back to that Satellite unless I’m sure I’ve got reason. Come on, Future Me, impress me or I’m hanging up.”

“When you were in that dungeon in Cardiff in 1869 and you thought you were going to die, you took the Doctor’s hand. And when he told you he was so glad he met you and he looked at you like that, just for a second, right, you wanted him to push you back against the wall and have you before those zombies got to you. Even if it meant givin’ the Gelth a free show and all and…”

“All right, all right, shut up! You’re me, I get it. What, you couldn’t have just told me my favorite color as a kid or something?”

Future Rose smiled. “At least that’s sorted out now.”

“Rose? Where’ve you got to?” The voice of Past Rose’s Doctor carried in from the corridor. She heard her future self gasp upon hearing him.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Future Rose lied. “Just don’t forget what I’ve told you. Please, Rose, it’s important.” The call terminated just as the Doctor peeked his head in through the door.

Rose glanced over to him. “Don’t you knock?”

He looked annoyed. “It’s my TARDIS.”

“Yeah, and it’s my room on your TARDIS. I might have been naked or something.”

“Run around naked a lot, do you?”

She grinned. “You wish.”

He smiled and waggled his eyebrows. “You’ll never know.”

“Why?”

“Everyone knows if you tell your wishes they don’t come true.”

Her mouth rounded in surprise. She rose and cuffed him on the arm. “Pervy.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “No comment.”

“So, did you fix the wobbly doohickey thingy?

He grinned. “Well I managed the wobbly bit easily enough but the doohickey proved a challenge.”

“We ready to go then?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be. Why? You sound like you’ve got something in mind?”

“Uh… yeah. Well… sorta.”

“Very specific, you.”

“I just mean, I think we oughta go back.”

“Now Rose, I put Adam off of this ship for a reason and I’m not…”

“No I wasn’t talking about Adam.”

“Then what?”

“Back to Satellite Five.”

“Whatever for?” he said petulantly.

“Well it’s just,” she sighed and bit her lip, stalling for time to think.

“Yes?”

“You said that Earth’s timeline was off by about 90 years?”

“Yeah?”

“Well I know you seem to think that now the human race will just snap back to where they ought to be but… didn’t the Editor mention that the Jagrawhatsit had been backed financially?”

“He did.”

“Well don’t you think we ought to find out who or what exactly was behind it? They’re invested. They apparently had their own reasons for stunting the timeline like that. What’s to stop a plan B?” She looked to the Doctor who was grinning like a maniac. “What?”

“Nothing. I’m just sort of impressed is all.”

“Guess I had to grow up sometime. Can’t be your tiny clay girl forever now, can I?”

“S’pose not.”

“Good.” She stood. “And on the way, you can tell me all about regeneration.”

“What? Where did you hea… have I been talking in my slee… have you been sneaking into my room when I’m asleep?”

“Like I’d catch the exact five minutes a week that you manage a nap?”

He leaned against the wall. “Shows what you know. I get two hours a night except when I don’t.”

She smiled. “Ah, glad that’s all cleared up then.” They exchanged smiles. She led the way from her room with the Doctor in tow.

******

Rose ended the phone call with her past self and tossed her cell phone against the pillows. She sighed. It didn’t sound like she believed me… and who knows what damage I’ve done this time…

A soft knocking came upon her bedroom door. “Rose? Can I come in?”

“S’pose so.”

The door opened and Rose’s heart leapt at the sight. There before her stood the Doctor, her Doctor, in all his big-eared glory.

She got to her feet, tears starting to fill her eyes. “Look, I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to sound like you were too stupid to learn to set the coordinates it’s just that Jack already knows to…” He was cut off by Rose rushing to him and hugging him for all she was worth. She was also crying. “Rose? Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she sobbed. “Nothing at all.” She looked up at him, grinning.

“This is… happy crying?”

“Yes!”

“Humans,” he sighed. “I’ll never understand.”

She stood on her tip toes and kissed him. When they pulled apart, he blinked in surprise, then smiled and proceeded to kiss her. This time when the kiss ended, she moved her cheek to his chest and hugged him tightly. He encircled her in his arms and rested his chin on her head. “Humans,” he breathed. “I’ll never understand.”

“Speaking of,” Rose said, suddenly looking up at him. “Jack?”

“Left him swearing under the console just after we set down on the Eye of Orion.”

She ran to the console room not needing to look behind her to know that the Doctor was following. Jack was just standing, wiping his hands off with a rag.

“It’s a good thing that we landed when we did. That jiperscodet was completely burned out. We’re lucky we had another on board or this lovely boring planet would be our new permanent reside…” His words cut off with an audible “oof” as Rose impacted with his chest, hugging him. Jack hugged her in return, looking over her shoulder at the Doctor.

He shrugged. “She’s very affectionate today.” The Doctor then smiled smugly. “Only I got a kiss too.”

Jack smiled. “Hey, where’s my kiss?” He pulled back to look at Rose and noticed that her nose had started to bleed seconds before her legs collapsed out from under her. “Oh God, Rose!”

The Doctor rushed forward, helping Jack ease her to the floor. “Not again,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket to use as a makeshift pillow under her head. “I don’t understand, Jack. I’ve run every scan I can think of. There’s nothing that should be causing these seizures.”

Suddenly, Rose gasped and gripped the front of Jack’s shirt. “Air! AIR!” Her eyes widened in a panic, then rolled up into her head. Her whole body began to tremble.

The Doctor scooped her into his arms. “Jack, get the door!”

Jack was on his feet in an instant. He ran ahead of the Doctor and held the door open for them. He followed outside as the Doctor found a nice grassy area nearby and lay Rose down once more, this time pillowing her head in his lap. He gently stroked her blonde hair. “Oh Rose, I don’t know what this is. I don’t know how to help you.”

Jack dropped to his knees beside her and wiped the blood from her face with a handkerchief. Just as he reached to hold her hand, she began to convulse violently.

“Jack!” The Doctor sounded nearly panicked. He instinctively tightened his hold of her upper body.

Jack leaned over and helped keep her legs from thrashing. He didn’t know what was worse, seeing Rose like this or seeing the Doctor so fearful and helpless.

It lasted for about five minutes then lessened. Eventually, she stilled. She took a deep gasping breath and then seemed to settle into sleep. The Doctor gathered her against his chest and kissed her forehead. He closed his eyes and began to rock her gently.

“I wish I knew what was causing this,” the Doctor said.

“Jiggery pokery,” Rose whispered, her eyes fluttering open.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Nevermind,” the Doctor said around a smile as his eyes met Rose’s.

She licked her lips. “Thirsty.”

“I’ll get some water.” Jack left for the TARDIS.

Rose accepted the Doctor’s help in sitting up. He made sure she still reclined against him, reluctant to let her go. “What happened?” she asked.

“You don’t remember?”

“Would I be asking if I did?”

“You had another seizure.”

“Another?”

“You don’t remember that either?”

“No I…wait…” Rose thought about it, really thought about it, and realized she did in fact remember. Searching her mind, she was fully aware of memories of both timelines she had lived. The one in which she lost her Doctor and Jack and the new one she had created only moments before. “I had the first one after we defeated the Daleks at Satellite Five.” She remembered other spells happening when they entered the TARDIS after her father’s death, when they dropped egg-Margaret back on Raxacoricofallapatorius, any incident when the two timelines diverged significantly from each other.

“This one was the worst,” The Doctor said.

She looked up into his eyes. He was so worried. A pang of guilt flashed through her; but no regret. To have her Doctor’s arms around her, his face to read the worry in, the memory of his kiss still on her lips, a few seizures were a miraculously small price to pay. And as this was the point at which the two timelines finally resolved into one…

“It was my last.”

The Doctor blinked. “How can you possibly know that?”

She smiled and stroked his bottom lip with her finger. “I’ll explain later.”

The Doctor kissed her fingertip which made Rose smile. He then leaned forward and kissed her properly. At that moment, Jack emerged from the TARDIS with Rose’s water in hand. He stopped and smiled at the sight of them. When it became clear that neither were coming up for air any time soon, he gulped down the water himself and headed back inside.

The End


Additional author’s notes:
1. 11nine73 also inspired the fic Adaptation. Because I started it for this ficathon, then went back and read the rules more carefully and realized that because it goes AU from a point before the regeneration, it wouldn’t work for the ficathon guidelines.
2. Flashback excerpts taken directly from TEOTW and The Long Game obviously belong to the individual episode authors.