Chapter Text
Respite on The Road
The jeep swerved, and the seat belt bit into her chest as Rose gripped the dash for dear life. Not unlike she did when first traveling with the Doctor. Only then it was a time ship.
The Doctor may consider the jeep a step down from a dimensional transcendental time ship, but his driving skills remained just as mad. And she’d tossed him the keys so any damage was on her. He’d just looked so hopeful when the compression cast popped off. He still limped, but he gave her the wide brown-eyed puppy eyes and that pouty lip.
“Look Rose!”
She flinched as the jeep yet again drifted across the center line of the two-lane highway meandering its way through the wilderness of Southern Norway. They were lucky there was barely any traffic.
“That last sign warned about moose crossing! Moose, Rose. Here in Southern Norway. You know, in our universe the Norwegian Moose is enormous. And you do not want one of them barreling toward you. Two point three meters tall, antler spread of one point three meters, and at up to four hundred fifty kilos, it’s the largest extant species of deer on Earth. Well, our Earth. And I might have had a teeny part in their evolution.”
“Are you telling me you invented Moose err Mooses, Meese?” she questioned, twisting a piece of hair in her fingers pondering where he was going with this.
“Moose. It’s an Algonquian word. Or elk as they’re known in Norway. Either way, you have a series of misfortunate events to thank for this glorious creature who inhabited many more geographic areas than it does today. By the look on your face, you’ve never seen one. So that means you are moose deprived.” The car slowed at a sign for the town of Sira.
“No, never seen one.” And then it hit her. Hard, like one of those giant moose he seemed to be bouncing in his seat to see. “Are the moose alien?” She really tried not to laugh but the slight giggle caught in her throat.
“Rose Tyler, not every wonder on his planet is alien. These creatures emerged during the Pliocene era on Earth. And if they had a little help well, it only added ambiance to a developing world. Did I mention Moose are revered by many Earth cultures? Even when they’re hunted for consumption, it’s with the greatest respect and honor. Some Humans even deify them. Which makes sense given they can submerge themselves in lakes and rise up like the proverbial water goddess. Not unlike your Kraken.”
“Doctor.” Rose should be accustomed to his drop a few hints and then skip off into the random facts while he dragged her into an adventure. “Are we about to check up on some great Time Lord moose experiment you started in the other Universe before this one split off? I mean do I need to file a report--”
“Noooo. Bleh. No reports. They give me a rash. Or some other adverse reaction I have as yet to properly study. And we don’t need any outside help. Except for the guide. The advert on the road a little way back said Moose Safari. Since we’re stuck with substandard transport. Not that I don’t love the ambiance of the jeep, which I might have modified just a touch. And I could carve off an hour or so from the almost four-hour estimate Yarl warned us about to reach Kristiansand. But we need a break. There’s only so much Norwegian wilderness one can take on the E39.”
“Moose Safari.” Rose barely said the words before her chest shook from the sheer madness. Of course, they would and he wasn’t wrong about this being a long drive. It was Gorgeous scenery with the rough mountainous terrain on the fairly empty highway. They’d loaded up with extra petrol since their hosts at the inn warned them they wouldn’t find many stops along the way. Or much of anything unless they got off the main highway. Which they were doing it seemed.
“All right, tell me your moose story since I take it, we are going to see a version of said moose.”
He didn’t immediately start talking, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and making a production of peering out the windshield at yet more rocky landscape with rolling elevations dotted with lakes, rivers and the occasional bridge over a chasm.
“You know, you brought this up,” Rose tentatively suggested. “I’ve shared some things about me here and probably not as fun as your moose adventure.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. It just…sometimes it hits me. The past. Old enemies and friends lost. The Corsair, he and sometimes she, was one of the good ones. An ally. A friend.” His voice dropped to that level of loss and pain Rose understood.
“The Corsair is a Time Lord then?” She asked softly, treading lightly on a topic he hadn’t often shared with her. Oh, he’d tell her about his past adventures before they were separated. Revealed the end of his people in the most unlikely moment, or vented about the evil wanker Time Lord that put him in the difficult decision in the first place. But never his friends, family or much else Time Lord related.
“Was, gone now,” he said with a hard swallow, his entire body stiffening and his eyes glassy and hard. “The Corsair was a renegade, like me. Only better at the politics than I was. Always skirting the rules but never breaking the big ones.”
“So this Corsair had a TARDIS?”
“Oh yes! Brilliant ship. Not as much as my…” Again, his knuckles turned white on the steering wheel and a heavy silence pressed inward until Rose reached over to squeeze his shoulder. He released a shuddering breath, muscles still rock hard under her touch. “Yes, we crossed paths and met up a few times. Had a bit of fun. Sometimes on Earth.”
“Fun meaning you visited Earth chasing aliens or fixing time and accidentally invented a new species?” she teased in an attempt to crack the virtual wall of impenetrable iron that had clanked down around him.
“There may have been a case of Festonian Hyper Rum. Smuggling in Tortuga around 1620-ish and a rough landing in the Pliocene era in which we thought it might be fun to race these giant moose-like creatures from Tellak Nor the Corsair had in her hold for transport to a refuge world. It was not my fault if my coat caused me to lose my balance and well, the bull got frisky with the local herd of Cervalces.”
“Oh my god you drunk raced alien moose. So who won?”
“The Corsair cheated!” he exclaimed as they crossed a bridge over a ravine into a small town. “I mean clearly I was given an amorous bull with an attitude.”
“And This Corsair’s moose didn’t join in the moose orgy?” Rose had a vivid picture even if she didn’t know which Doctor or what the Corsair looked like. Although…now that she thought about pirates…there was that one time she ran into one who might have used the word corsair but she’d taken at as the literal definition. That had been a fun trip.”
“Moose orgy. Hardly. More like rampaging Tellak Nor Bulls having a go at the local fauna. Although at the time it seemed more fun than the literal pain in the arse it was. The Corsair somehow ended up in a primordial banana tree enjoying a cocktail. Always finds the best stop for a spot of rum.”
“Now that sounds like one of your adventures.” But what he said, again it struck a chord and Rose felt compelled to ask more. “So this Corsair, you said sometimes she…she wasn’t tall, busty with a thing for leather corsets and this tattoo?” Rose asked, a niggling feeling in the back of her mind.
The jeep screeched to a halt in front of a rustic stone building with a metal roof.
“Ouroboros, a snake devouring itself right bicep,” he said and Rose nearly choked
“Liked bawdy limericks?” Rose asked, already expecting the answer.
“There was a young lady from Gallifrey,” the Doctor said and stared at Rose with a hint of fear and amusement.
“Who found a good time in Abydos until her virtue like her knickers flew high away,” Rose repeated until his mouth dropped and then he let loose a howling laugh that immediately lightened the mood.
“Where?” he immediately demanded.
Rose recovered a bit slower than the Doctor, her brain refocused on a vivid memory. A world that had been a bit on the manky side.
“I was on a dimension jump which isn't supposed to take me off world but this one did. Landed in this town that was sort of like a modern-day skivvy outlaw pirate speakeasy. She, I mean I guess it was your Corsair, was running through the alley and slammed into me.” Rose grinned at the memory. “Barely got a word out before these bird people in long coats, fathered hats and oh! An eyepatch and a tin monkey on one’s shoulder, showed up glowing swords held like they were ready to hack us into pieces.”
“Berasay! You were on Berasay! Ha! Love Berasay! There’s this tavern where they have the best rum runners and a rather brilliant illicit market for ship parts and I mean all ships. I haven’t been there in centuries. Wait, when were you there?” He turned and his eyebrows pinched together.
“Have no idea. For me it was a year ago, maybe.” She twisted and tugged the scarf he knitted her thinking back. “It was a few jumps before I got to Donna. “Your friend, the Corsair, ended up tossing a parcel of coins at the bird pirates and sort of drag and ran me out the other side of the alley, and into this street party. I mean it’s not every day a gorgeous pirate saves your life and then takes you to dance with a bunch of space pirates. God she was amazing. It happened so fast and there was this fruity strong drink and I think we might have won at some card game I had no idea how to play but didn’t really care at the time. It was fun and I needed the break.” Rose drifted off in that memory of what a nice break it had been. And yet another connection to the Doctor even if she hadn’t known it at the time.
“I’m not sure I like this.” He sniffed and faced forward poking at the tablet affixed to the dash. “You running off with another Time Lord. The Corsair didn’t appreciate companions the way I do. Could have exposed you to…things, dangerous and—”
He sputtered to a stop when Rose stilled his hand before he set off the emergency app that called UNIT.
“She wasn’t you. Fun yeah. Great dancer, and saved my life. But she wasn’t my Doctor. Didn’t even know she was a Time Lord not that I could have asked for a lift given the Time War and possible paradox.”
“You could have. Time Lords get a bit of a break on paradoxes like meeting our prior selves or other Time Lords selves,” he quickly answered, pausing and swallowing hard. “Still, it worked out better this way, you taking the long road. Right?”
That hint of doubt hit her square in the chest.
“I’ll always love and worry about other you.” She cupped his cheek, drawing her thumb down his chin enjoying the slight prickle of stubble already emerging. “But having you here like this, talking to me, being with me when I need someone to listen and hold me, it’s…” Her voice thickened with so much love. “It’s more than I ever thought I’d have.”
“Rose Tyler,” he said her name softly but that hint of swagger in how the consonants rolled off his tongue. “You are my forever, the heart of my TARDIS. I’m not going to lie and deny I want all of you to myself. I also wouldn’t expect you to stop loving other me. But to be honest, I’m a better dancer.” His voice lowered to a purr and he waggled his eyebrows until Rose snorted a giggle.
“Now then, I promised you moose and moose you shall have.” He grinned at a sign outside the window.
“Dahl’s Adventure Tours. It has a five tic rating from Trip Advisors.” A fact which he preened over.
“Moose safari it is,” Rose nodded and leaned over to brush a quick kiss on his cheek before they both escaped the jeep, and hand in hand, walked into the rustic building and their next adventure.