He Needed Me

Chapter 10

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, wearing her customary sweats and a hoodie, pink with a black t-shirt under it. The Doctor followed after her in his traditional brown pin-stripe and brown coat swaying as he walked with his shoulders back and head up. After the wedding they’d gone to this gorgeous planet, apparently abandoned since the sun was scheduled to expand in two years, for the honeymoon which from her perspective was just one long beach on an endless tide of water. It had been gorgeous, beautiful, romantic...fantastic. After that it was the two of them diving head first into adventure after adventure.

A flutter of happiness filled her soul as she spied the ring nestled on her fourth finger. It was just a simple platinum band really. Nothing fancy or flashy. And it was perfect. She took a look around and cocked her head a bit to see him in his strut of I’m-so-impressive-look-at-me, “Alright, Mr. Impressive, where are we then?”

He did a bit of a spin, arms up and grinning madly. She spied his matching wedding band and another flutter of happiness followed, “This is Yanthray in the year 2020. Indigenous population just under 2 million which is really quite impressive for a moon. It’s circling an uninhabitable gas planet in the Gamma Sector of the Malin 1 galaxy, not even three light years from the Black Nebula.”

She blinked and looked around, “A moon?”

He grinned a hum, “Yup.”

She grinned and jumped a bit, testing the ground. The gravity was a bit lighter here and it was
exciting, “We’re on an actual moon? I mean, not just a moon and not just in like another solar system or whatever but...we’re in a whole other galaxy?” He nodded silently, grinning madly while she gasped a squeal of delight and spun once while taking it all in. There were buildings everywhere as tall as the sky and as far as she could see, all of them shiny and new looking and the distant sun glinting off the alien metal. The TARDIS was parked in a nook next to one of the buildings, just off the metal street under their feet. But it wasn’t hot. It was actually quite temperate, “So how far from Earth are we?”

He pulled in a breath through his teeth, “Ooh, about a billion light years away, give or take a bit.” She gaped at him. If she were traveling at the speed of light it would take 1 billion years to get back to Earth, “Anyway, point. I wanted you to see the Black Nebula.” He squinted and pointed, “Actually, there it is.”

Distracted from the reality of just how far from Earth she was, she looked up and frowned, “That?”

He nodded and grinned, “Yep.”

Pointing just to be sure, “That?”

His nod became more vigorous and his grin even wider, “Yup.”

Shrugging, “It looks like a starless night on Earth. That’s it?” It was daytime so the patch of black would look strange from Earth but it really just looked like a bit of nighttime in an otherwise cloudless sky. A pink sky. Right now the moon was more impressive than the Nebula, “So why couldn’t we get a closer look?”

She’d opened the wooden doors wide to witness supernovas and galaxies forming but she was stuck on a
moon to see that big black blob of nebula. Kinda cheapened the whole experience if you asked her, “Gravity wells are so madly powerful even the TARDIS can’t escape them. Any closer and we’ll be sucked right in...definitely not where we want to spend a holiday.”

Pursing her lips a bit, “I think I’m more impressed with the moon at this point.”

He huffed and gave her a reprimanding look, “I’ll have you know, Rose Tyler, it defies every law of physics.” A car with no wheels whizzed past them, Rose and the Doctor just staring one another down.

She gave the nebula another look but it still didn’t look any more impressive, “Ooo.” He pouted at her and in apology she stood on her toes to kiss him lightly on the lips. His pout vanished and he slowly grinned. Pursing her lips before shrugging a bit, “Guess I need your big Timelord brain to be impressed.”

He rolled his eyes and pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her waist as he leaned and whispered in her ear, “Imagine a place where light can’t exist.” He swept his arm out, fingers spreading to add to the mystery of his story. Rose giggled, “You could shine a torch in there and nothing could be seen. No light. No energy. But there is life. Beings that exist as transparent matter, form but no solidity.”

Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, “They’re not solid? Like ghosts?”

Shaking his head, “Incorporeal. And according to everything humans know of the universe, that’s impossible.”

Frowning, thinking of another creature they’d met once with no body, “Like the Gelf?”

Scoffing and looking away a bit, “Nah. Completely, absolutely different from them.”

But she caught the look on his face and realized he was being evasive. Grinning at him, “How much different?”

Slumping and stuffing his fists into his pockets, looking very much like a six year old being told Christmas had been cancelled, “Not that much.”

He’d been trying to impress her, time for a bit of ego fluffing, “The fact that I’m in a time ship just to see the blob of blackness is impressive so sorry, everything else pales by comparison.” Pursing her lips a little, she stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He grinned at her and winked, knowing she was placating him and appreciating the gesture. She gave the nebula another look, “Have you ever been?”

He shook his head again, “No one has. They’d die in an instant. We-ell...maybe not instantly instant. Might take a bit longer but...it’s the absence of everything that makes sense here. Go there and you’ll be consumed. Not even a TARDIS can exist in it. Atoms picked apart...” He glanced up at the nebula again and Rose shivered, creeped out now, “And all about to be gone. There’s a tiny tear in reality right next to the nebula. Right there. Started about 850 years ago or so.” He pointed to a space just to the right of the swirling black that could even be seen during the daytime. She just listened, “Within five years it will form a complete black hole and the nebula will disappear forever in the blink of an eye.”

Frowning, “What about all those beings you just talked about?”

He frowned as well and just gave her a silent look. She nodded and sighed, knowing if he couldn’t even approach the Nebula there was no way to save them, “But, I’ll not have you depressed. No, this particular moon has a rare auction that you have to see to believe. Allons-y.” He jerked his head a bit, walking forward.

Her frown remained and her feet rooted to the spot, “Sounds boring.”

He spun her around and gave her a stern look, rudely pointing a finger at her nose, “Rose Tyler have I ever taken you somewhere boring? Ever?”

She grinned and kissed the shaking digit as she slipped her hand in his, “Never.”

Giving her a challenging look, “So?”

Smirking, “Allons-y, then.”

He grinned maniacally and dragged her along, she laughing as she followed. They passed down a metal
encased walkway and walked under an arch, entering a gigantic, domed center. They squeezed together into a tube and Rose squealed in delight as they were propelled through it like mail to their destination. From their position she could see flying objects high above the skyline of the city. Pointing through the tube, “Where they off to?”

The Doctor glanced up at the flying cars and grinned, “Anywhere and everywhere. Can travel round the entire moon in half an hour or so.” Pointing to the ones that looked as big as airplanes, “Those’ll head off world, probably to A’fex or Patelro.”

She frowned, “What’re they?”

He grinned, “Planets, Rose. Whole other worlds filled to the brim.” Their conversation cut off as they both landed on a soft pad with a plop, both laughing as they untangled themselves from one another before venturing into a bustling metropolis of activity.

‘People’ were walking, running, and flying about their business, haggling with one another and buying
anything and everything. It was loud and disorganized and Rose found it thoroughly exciting. She even spied some fellow buy the clothes off another’s back. Literally. The Doctor pointed and dragged her over to a booth, holding up two fingers and grinning when he was given two sticks. He gave each one an inspective lick before immediately putting one in his mouth, chewing on it thoughtfully as he handed over the other one.

Rose tilted her head a bit. It looked a little like a pixie stick and she gave it a lick. Talking
around the stick as he looked around, “It’s sorta like chocolate.”

Frowning to herself, “Not enough like chocolate.”

She still chewed on it. After a while it did kind of grow on you. They walked around for a bit, he pointing things out as they went. A yellow, stumpy creature came up with three blue rocks and a handheld pad of some kind. He fiddled with it, moving it from the Doctor to Rose before looking up, “Greetings and felicitations.”

The Doctor bowed to it, Rose copying a second later. Whispering out of the corner of her mouth, “What is that?”

He didn’t answer her right away, “Greetings in return. Can you tell me where the auction will be held?”

It nodded it’s head rapidly, “Through the double arch just there.”

The Doctor grinned when he spotted what looked like a purple McDonald’s arch, “Thank you.”

“With all respect, how much for the human?” Rose gaped at the little creature.

The Doctor frowned and pulled Rose closer, tilting her hand a bit to show her ring, “She’s my mate.”

The little creature stumbled back a step and bowed, “My apologies...you really should register, then.” He bowed again and grumbled to himself about false advertising as he went on his way.

Rose sighed up at the sky, “Why does everything think I’m invisible??”

He gave her hand a squeeze, “I don’t. And that, Rose, was a Talaveen. They exist in marshland planets two systems from here. Impeccable manners.”

Her voice rose an octiv in outrage, “Polite?” He nodded distractedly, looking around while Rose raised
an eyebrow, sarcasm flowing, “How much for the human?”

Bouncing on the balls of his feet, “Yep. Anything and everything is sold here. It would make sense
that I as the superior creature am selling you.” She looked mildly offended but he didn’t seem to notice. That was proven wrong when he glanced at her with a sigh, “You humans haven’t even traveled out of your solar system yet and I’m a Timelord. To get this far they assume I kidnaped you...ah! Register.” He dragged her over to a blue booth with a computer panel.

“That really goes on? Creatures will just pick humans up on Earth and sell them?” A silent grin slowly spread across his face. It was that dangerous one that could mean a lot of things, “Please don’t tell me all that nonsense about crop circles and UFO abductions are for real.” He grinned widely but made no reply. Instead he pulled out his brainy specs and slipped them on, looking over the booth. She leaned back against the wall and rolled her eyes, grumbling to herself, “...like you really need those...” After a quick assessment he tapped a few swirling buttons before folding his hand into a hitchhiker pose. She raised an eyebrow at him, “Plannin’ on hitchin’ a ride somewhere?”

“Come on, then. Thumb.” She frowned and copied and he pressed her thumb to the panel without explanation. She hissed and jerked back when something pricked her skin, glaring at the machine. The Doctor just pressed his thumb next to where her’s had been, not even flinching when a sample of his blood was taken.

She put her thumb in her mouth and sucked on it, “Tha’ ‘urt!”

He just sniffed and calmly took out two bracelets that fell into a slot, “Complain, complain...” She smacked him on the arm but he ignored her. He slipped one on her left wrist, and then his right before nodding, “There. Now we can enjoy.”

Wrinkling her nose at the god-awful color...puke green, “I don’t have to wear this everywhere, do I?”

Rolling his eyes at her moaning, putting away his glasses in one of his many pockets, “Just here.”

She bit her lip, realizing she was annoying him a little and sighed as she rubbed at her left temple, “Sorry. Just woke up in a mood today.” That wasn’t the entire truth of it. In truth she’d been having horrible dreams lately, keeping her tossing and turning at nights and her moods were erratic at best during the day. Doctor was only aware of two dreams, the others going on when he’d been out tinkering or whatever it was that he did in the wee hours of the morning. The weird thing was she couldn’t remember them, just that she knew they’d been awful.

He turned to look at her fully, a worry line forming between his eyebrows, “If you’re not feeling well you should have said so.”

He whipped out his sonic screwdriver to see if her temperature was too high and she smiled as she stopped him with a gentle hand on his own. He was in constant worry mode lately and it was both frustrating and endearing, “No, I’m just...out of sorts is all.” Tilting her head a bit, “Haven’t you ever had an off day?”

He pursed his lips and thought for maybe two seconds before bouncing, “Nope.” Giving her a cautious glance, “So...you want to stay?”

And there was that need for confirmation that always followed. Always wanting to make sure she was happy. If she said no she knew he’d fly them somewhere else, forgetting about his own desire to explore. She grinned and nodded, “Yea, now show me this auction I can’t miss.”

After a second he grinned and tugged her into a crowded space. There were creatures of all manner
sitting and standing in what looked like a giant arena, most if not all of them taller than the pair of them. Mumbling to herself, “Feel like a ruddy child bout now.”

The Doctor glanced around a bit and jumped up on a platform not ten meters from a winding staircase, still holding onto her hand. A fully plumed creature that looked like a giant flamingo approached and tapped Rose lightly on the shoulder, “Greetings and felicitations.”

Frowning a bit but nodding, realizing that must be a standard greeting around here, “Uh, hello.”

It seemed to smile at her, but it was hard to tell with the beak-like mouth, “What is your asking price?”

She gave it a blank glance, “Huh?”

Gesturing to the Doctor who was standing up on his tip toes, trying to see over all the beings taller than himself, “For the male. What is your asking price?”

Rose’s mouth started to form a little ‘o’ before she shook her head and held up her hand, showing the bracelet on his wrist as well as her own. This fact didn’t seem to phase it so she decided to try for a verbal clarification, “He’s not for sale. Er, sorry.”

The creature bowed in a dignified fashion, feathers ruffling just a little. It’s voice was a little stiff, as if offended in some way, “Forgive me, but you really should keep your pets off the stage if they’re not for sale.”

Blinking twice, “Pet?”

It gave her a curious look, “Of course.” It blinked and cocked it’s head, seemingly realizing Rose didn’t quite understand, “Couples wear blue wrist bands on their left. You have chosen green. The owner wears the registration on the left, the pet on the right.”

Rose’s eyes widened but she managed not to comment, “...thanks...” It bowed again and departed. Rose watched the creature leave a second before she burst out laughing and covered her face, even as she yanked the Doctor down with a tug. “Superior creature my arse!” He didn’t even notice, just pointed and taking her up to the upper level. Blue, green, yellow, and red creatures. Giant frog-like things, tiny pixie-looking things, from the large to the small congregated in small areas but the front portion of the balcony was clear and the Doctor negotiated a space against the railing for them. From here they could observe without being considered part of the action. It didn’t look all that stellar to her. Strange, alien objects she could have no hope of even guessing their functions, animals in small cages...at least she hoped they were animals. She looked up and found herself entranced by the beautiful twinkling lights embedded in the ceiling. It was like looking up at the sky at night time. Turning away from the ceiling since she doubted that was the whole point of coming here. Nudging his shoulder with her own, he grinning and nudging her back, “So?”

He leaned over the balcony, pointing to an arena, “Watch.”

Two creatures entered the arena, facing off against one another. One looked like a giant hedgehog and the other a slimy black cat. They didn’t move, just glared at one another and for a moment Rose was sure they were going to duke it out. Instead a tall, blue creature wearing sparkling robes took center stage. It had to be a good ten feet tall. Twelve fingers folded together, he-she began asking questions back and forth. The questions were bizarre and though in English Rose couldn’t follow it. Suddenly a blue finger was held up, “Incorrect.”

The hedgehog on the left bowed it’s head and left the arena and another took it’s place, this time a blue squidy-thing. And the questions continued, “A game show?”

The Doctor shook his head, enthralled, “Nope. They call it an auction but it’s really a trial of whits. The winner will get a sizeable amount of land here along with all of that.” He made a sweeping motion to all the properties and cages on the long platform, “Considering how overcrowded this moon really is they’re willing to risk everything. Whoever is the last one standing wins all of it.”

Raising an eyebrow, “And how is that not like a game show?” His mouth opened, then he closed it with a frown, obviously conceding even if he was bound and determined not to admit it. She rolled her eyes a bit, glancing back out at the contestants answering question after question, “There’s a catch. There has to be, it’s too easy.”

The Doctor hedged a bit, “Er...yeah. The losers get sold as part of the auction.”

“Ah.” Rose rolled her eyes to herself again. She just had to ask. She took another look around since the questions were more than a bit beyond her. Towards the farthest side of the room was a large cage with a human appearing person inside of it. She was just standing there, staring off at an undefined point. Rose narrowed her eyes a bit before glancing back at her partner, “Doctor.”

Mumbling under his breath, chin resting on his arm as he leaned against the balcony,
enthralled, “G’tack. Come on, G’tack...”

“Doctor.” Rose gave him a look, then a longer one to realize his face was actually flushed, deeply engaged in the questions. If she didn't know any better...she shook her head, realizing he was completely engrossed and tweaked his ear, “Doctor.”

Batting her hand away and giving her a frown, “Wha-...” She was pointing and he froze. He saw exactly what she was seeing and it was obvious he was not happy. His nostrils flared, anger sparking in his dark eyes before he was off like a shot back down to the main floor. He weaved his way through the throngs of people, most of them parting for him even if he was shorter than them. Rose followed in his wake and he stopped just short of the arena before whipping back around, "I can't just take her."

Raising an eyebrow, "some rule or something? Since when's that ever stopped you?"

Grimacing, "The Shadow Council's not exactly happy with me right now." Rose raised the other eyebrow, "Long story. I have an idea but..." He leaned in and whispered in her ear, not inspiring great leaps of confidence from her but after a few short sentences he just kissed her cheek and jumped in line with a grin.