Persistence of Memory 10/11
Pairing: Thirteenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, The Doctor/Rose Tyler Characters: Jack Harkness, Original Characters Summary: A strange virus has taken hold on Ehru, and the Doctor is on the hunt for a cure that takes her to the British Museum of Natural History, in search of the key to the last ingredient. There, she meets a mysterious young woman named Rose Tyler running from a museum guard, and offers her the field trip of a lifetime. They travel millions of years into the past to find the source of the ancient ginkgo the Doctor needs for her cure. While gathering leaves, they encounter a gentle giant, the largest mammal ever to walk the Earth. But other, less friendly and more dangerous creatures lurk nearby, and one of them attacks, looking for an easy meal. The Doctor saves Rose’s life, but the young woman is guarding a secret that will change the Doctor’s life. Rating: M Length: 27k
Many thanks to my amazing beta readers @skyler10fic and @chiaroscuroverse! And thanks to Skyler and @joi-in-the-tardis for the cheerleading, hand-holding, and listening to me GO ON about this thing for literally YEARS, and for being the best pocket friends I could ever hope for. <3
I was extremely lucky to work with two talented artists: @jemsauce, whose cover art inspired me to keep writing, and nowrunalong who I met through the WIP Big Bang, and whose art was the carrot that got this story across the finish line (you’ll find excerpts of her wonderful work within the story). Besides being artistic af, they’re both lovely people.
Chapter Ten
The Doctor went to the console and frowned.
“So, where are we headed now, Doctor? London, 1978?”
“Nah, we can guess where Jack would have gone when he realized he’d lost so many memories.”
Rose furrowed her brow. “We can? Oh wait! He thinks the Time Agency stole his memories!”
“Exactly! He’ll almost certainly go back to the Time Agency in the 51st century.”
“But we know the Time Agency didn’t have anything to do with losing his memories in this Universe. And even if they had, Jack wouldn’t get anywhere accusing them, because he didn’t before. Right?”
“Hmm. That’s true. So we need to figure out where he would have gone next. I wasn’t too eager to visit the Time Agency anyway, if I’m honest, not with them looking for me. I haven’t had the most pleasant experiences with them in the past. Now, if I were Jack, where would I go next?” the Doctor said, beginning to pace the floor in front of the console.
Rose frowned, thinking. Then put out an arm to halt the Doctor’s pacing, looking at her with excitement.
Simultaneously, they shouted, “The London Blitz!”
“Yes! We know at some point he’s going to steal a Chula ambulance, and transport it to the height of the Blitz, but we don’t know where he stole it from. So, the Blitz it is! And you won’t have to hang from a barrage balloon to find him again. We know where he hangs out at night.”
“The Officer’s Club?” asked Rose.
“The Officer’s Club,” confirmed the Doctor.
“Guess we’ll have to get dressed up for that,” said Rose with a glint in her eye.
“Wardrobe room?” the Doctor suggested, grinning.
“Andiamo!” said Rose, laughing, taking the Doctor’s hand in hers and pulling her towards the stairs to the inside of the TARDIS.
The central column in the wardrobe room with its branching staircase was unchanged from what Rose remembered, and she confidently led the Doctor to the area where the 1940s clothing was.
“Here are the uniforms. Do you want to dress as a member of the WAAF?” Rose asked, lifting one of the uniform jackets from the rack. She turned around to find the Doctor wrinkling her nose and frowning at the skirt below it.
“All right, what about these to go with it? Rose danced past the Doctor to grab one of the smallest pairs of RAF uniform trousers. The Doctor’s eyes lit up, and she smiled and took the jacket and trousers from her.
"Perfect!” the Doctor declared, and kissed her wife before sitting down to take off her boots.
Rose slipped behind the rack to where she knew the dresses were, and flipped through the choices until she found a dress that made her eyes light up. She even let out a small squee of excitement.
“Everything all right back there?” the Doctor piped up.
“Fine!” Rose replied, holding the dress up so she could see it properly. She grinned, and quickly stripped off her trainers, T-shirt, bra, and jeans.
The Doctor was smoothing down her uniform when she heard the clothes on the rack part and then swish back together. She turned around, and suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. Rose was wearing a bright red, flared evening dress with a plunging V-neck.
She stood frozen in place as Rose walked towards her, swinging her hips in what might have been a deliberate attempt to get the Doctor’s respiratory bypass to engage. If so, it was working.