01

Wanderer

Hither and Yonder

After the Doctor had tried to drop her off with his clone in the alternate world, try being the operative word, she'd simply popped the button on the hopper while flipping them off.

"I'm not some fucking dog for you to give away. I am so gone." She had yelled at them as she lifted the hopper in one hand. "I never want to see you in pinstripes again. You are such an arsehole! If you had to regenerate, why did it have to be into a pair of fuckheads? Good thing the crack is still open, isn't it?" Her tone was the absolute unfriendliest he'd ever heard from her as he watched her press the button, both of him too far from her to stop her in time.

"Our universe was killing her by inches, seriously...he can't stay here either. There's these great huge, black lizard things that chased her for weeks until she managed to kill'em. We don't need'em coming back. They killed a lot of people, those things." Jackie told them, then slapped them both as hard as she could. "Nice job, arseholes."

She kept popping, though never returning to Pete's world or staying long in her own if she could avoid it. She was chased a few times by the pair, the Time Lord in tears and the human clone yelling for her to stop, to come back, but she always managed to zap away. That didn't mean she didn't love the Doctor, but it did mean she didn't want the one from home. At least, not that one. She thought that had he been the bow-tied one calling after her, she might have stopped for him. She just didn't trust her second Doctor. But, for now, she was looking for a different one, one that was a good one but which she hadn't yet found...so she was, sort of...shopping, she supposed.

She found a fair few, even got some running in with one or two, but not one was one that resonated with her, not surprising, really. One was a Six and the other was an Earthbound Three. And all she'd told either of them was that his Eleventh Form had turned the 'on' switch to the power-source for his brain to the 'off' position, then broke it off and used it that way. She'd never seen such a horrified expression on his face as either of those selves wore.

Eventually the thing wore out and she found herself in an era on Earth, for she never popped to somewhere 'not' Earth, in the last Universe she'd ever try for. It didn't feel 'off' at all. It didn't feel quite like her's, so she knew it was an alternate, but it was fairly close to her birth universe in feel...and it didn't make her sick. Her presence also didn't bring in reapers, which she counted for gain.

And as usual, it didn't take long for the local TARDIS to detect her, show up, scan her time line's back-history and send her thief out to fetch her. At least, he wasn't the pinstriped bastard she'd been avoiding for what, for her anyway, had been the last three years. Give or take. It was Five, this time.

She smiled a little at his baffled confusion. On that body, it was adorable.

"What an amazing little..."

"Well hello to you too, Fifth. Thought that you had better manners than you usually do."

"Amazing and cheeky."

"Cheeky. Okay, cheeky is okay." She told him. I like being cheeky...it's fun."

He just laughed. "True."

"Before you start in asking questions, let's get some vortex time in so you can study...really, closely study...my past via my timeline. You'll need to take a good look at the entire past of my personal time-stream. That should answer most of your questions...I'm not from this universe and you're not the first or even second...or fiftieth, Doctor, that I have known. I'll tell you most of it, my way, first, but the questions can wait."

"Oh dear."

She ducked her head. "I think I should also inform you that about four hops back, I ran into one of your forms in the last few moments of his last life. That you had a me once, he'd lost and wanted this me to know his name before he died for the last time. So, he told me. He had enough life left to make sure I could pronounce it, too. Dunno if it's the same one you've got...only one way to find out."

"Ooooh...oh my."

She spoke the name to him and he paled.

"Um, yes, yesss, that's it. Guess I'm married." He looked shaken. "What a surprise."

"I'm not done yet."

"There's more? Not sure how much more I can take."

She told him all of it, her first Doctor, about Satellite Five, the Daleks, the Bad Wolf...and the fact the TARDIS had altered her body in a way that ensure holding it didn't kill her. She wasn't aging...at all.

"Human plus, one of you called it."

She looked pretty dragged down and worn out by the time she got past the second one that had hurt her so badly, several times actually, telling him about the droids, the Ghost Shifts, the Canary Wharf bit, the alterverse and being actively hunted by the reapers there until she'd managed to kill one...and the rest left her alone after that...then the hopping, the finding, the 27 planets, how that had ended, the clone and the betrayal and the start to her popping around. And why she was here now, raising the broken hopper for him to see.

"I'm so sorry, I don't understand how the pinstriped me could have done that to you. Any of it." He paused. "Did sound like he wanted to make it right, though."

"Didn't trust him anymore. Wasn't about to give him another shot at me. Anyway, I'm still not done yet." She tossed the worn out hopper at him. "It's fried now, but it should tell you plenty when you take it apart."

"What is it?" He asked, catching the lightly thrown object easily.

"An inter-dimensional, spacial transfer device. Stays out of the time vortex, moving only between universes that have either cracks and fissures, or open and leaking spacial temporal rifts already or far more rarely, strictly controlled open portals between them. The first and second categories generally need closing and sealing off, the third were usually put there on purpose although one of them was an accident that they had the tech to then control. I've got blueprints for a couple of the stable varieties, in my pack if you want them."

"Later. There's something else I want far more, first." To the Fifth of this universe, there was only one reply to make, one that was more important than the hopper, as fascinating as that contraption was, this was something he had to do. He had been gifted with an extraordinary woman as a wife, which, while of his favorite species wasn't going to up and die on him in a few decades...that alone was priceless. All the rest just made her precious, so very, very precious. He would cherish her...and he was going to start right now. Because all her hopping had made one thing very clear to him, this Fifth Doctor that he was right now had suddenly understood one thing very, very well. Rose Tyler needed him.

"What's that?"

"This." He said cryptically and moved.

He took a step forward, hurting for her when he noted her flinch, his eyes wet, and the next thing she knew, he had his arms around her, holding her tightly and rocking the strange blonde, this wife gifted to him by a dying self...this strong, loyal, loving, hurting girl...and his face was covered in tears. She'd killed a reaper to ensure she made it back to that him and he still...

And she would have him.

"My precious girl." He heard the tones in his voice change, just a bit...but she, who had stiffened at first, clearly knew the personality speaking through him and relaxed into his embrace. Indeed, into his care.

He let his senses analyze her and listened to the self she knew. He somehow understood just how many physical things were wrong, things she'd ignored while she tried to find a new Doctor. One she could trust and belong to, but which needed seeing to. He gave her no warning at all, simply bent a bit and lifted her.

"Mine." He growled.

"Sound like Ten.

"Do I? I borrowed Five for a bit. Is that alright?"

"When I have I ever told that you 'no'?"

"Exactly. Pay attention Five, see her response to strong masculinity? She loves it."

"I can't exactly not pay attention, can I?" Came the sarcastic reply.

"Oh, speaking of scraping sarcasm...I need to take a trip into the wardrobe room and I need a big vat of black dye set up out here. Can you get that ready for me? I have a coat and a pair of two tone, yellow, striped pants to turn jet black. They'd look good as black. Come to think of it, I'll need the same size vat of color remover too, and a couple of rinsing tubs." She looked up into his eyes. "Unless you want to be, eventually, wearing something that looks like you were in vat room of a paint factory when it exploded." She suggested. "I call that you 'Diva' and simply leave it at that."

"No thanks, I'll get the dye set up. And the color remover." He nodded decisively.

"And I'll make sure there's bright color choices in silks and satins where that you can find them, but not in things that clash, or in yellowy-reddish oranges."

"Ew." He agreed.

"That self shares your hair color and complexion. Darker or better yet, native American skin-tones and hair could pull it off, but like this you, he needs pastels and neutrals, that's why the cricket whites actually look decent on you."

"True."

"Because I'm female, I know just how to use certain shades that seem bright, but aren't too rich and so will look good, and save the jewel-tones for cool or neutral colors...never the warm ones, not with your complexion type."

Five heard Ten start laughing and he thought he could detect the sounds of another future self...a weeping future self...who perked up when he realized that Rose probably just wanted to show off his beauty...and therefore wanted him looking his very best.

Sometimes the Doctor's ego got on even the Doctor's nerves, when it was displayed by a different self, anyway.

~*~T.B.C.~*~