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Here's chapter 3 of "The Yellow Rose of Manassas."
The basic plot is starting to set in at this point, so I hope you like where this is going, also I've noticed that when other people update stories they put the summary and rating on them, which I probably should have figured out a while ago, but better late than never, so her goes.
Title: The Yellow Rose of Manassas Chapter 3/?
Rating: PG 13
Warning: Scenes that depict the Civil War in later chapters
Summary: The Doctor and Rose fall into a collapsing time line, when someone goes back in time to try to let the North defeat the South during the first Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), to bring an early end to the four year war and save countless lives. The Doctor, however, sees this as a fixed event in time and knows better than to interfere, but what will he do when the collapsing time line begins to affect himself and the TARDIS?
Chapter 1 Chapter 2
“General,” Schwartz said, pulling his thin lips back into a sly grin. “Do we have a deal?”
McDowell pulled at his long grey beard and studied the Schwartz, while Schwartz gave the General his own once over. McDowell was under direct orders from President Lincoln to end the war with as little bloodshed as possible. Now, this man said that the weapon would end the war years earlier than if the Union were to be armed with only Springfield rifles.
“I think we do, Schwartz,” McDowell said almost reluctantly. “How soon can you have the weapons here?”
“Give me ‘till tomorrow, general,” Schwartz said, offering his hand for the General to shake.
“Very well, do you require quarters for the night?” McDowell asked, as he hoped that he would deny.
“That won’t be necessary, sir,” Schwartz said, and without another word, he left.
McDowell breathed an inward sigh of relief and turned back to his horse. He patted his flank and mounted up, when he saw some more strangers approaching. The general fought the urge to roll his eyes in exasperation, but then he made out the face of the man and he grinned.
McDowell slid off of his horse again and gave him small tug on the reins in the man’s direction. The general raised his arm in greeting, and the man quickly returned it.
“Hello, Doctor,” McDowell acknowledged, while offering his hand to the Doctor.
“Ahh, Irvin!” the Doctor exclaimed.
The Doctor reached out and shook the general’s hand excitably to the point; that the Doctor seemed to be bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
“How have you been?” the Doctor asked. “Is your knee still…”
“No, you fixed it remember?” McDowell reminded him jubilantly.
Rose elbowed the Doctor in the ribs and cleared her throat to get his attention.
The Doctor stared at her for a moment, bemused.
“Oh…right…sorry,” the Doctor stuttered out excitably. “Irvin this is Rose Tyler, Rose this is Brigadier General Irvin McDowell.”
Rose offered her hand and the general gave it a squeeze.
“Doctor, you didn’t mention that you had a wife,” McDowell accused jokingly.
“Umm…well…er…” the Doctor grunted, while he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
“We just got married,” Rose said quickly, while shooting the Doctor a sly wink. “He didn’t tell me that he knew you either, when did you two meet?”
“Well, d’you remember that time you were visiting your mother, and I said that I wasn’t feeling well, so I went back to the TARDIS? Well I might have got a bit side tracked,” the Doctor admitted guiltily.
Irvin gave the Doctor an understanding glance and turned his attention back to the problem at hand.
“So, what brings you here, Doctor?” the general asked.
“Well, I heard that you had a weapon here, and I thought that I’d take a look at it,” the Doctor said smoothly.
The general gave a hearty laugh.
“You are always getting yourself into matters that don’t bother you aren’t you, Doctor?” McDowell asked, while barely stifling his laughter.
Rose watched the general carefully and waited for the Doctor’s retort, but it never came. Rose glanced at the Doctor; while he clutched his stomach slightly with his right hand and his other hand rubbed his eyes furiously.
“Doctor?” Rose asked, as she gently reached out her hand and placed it on the Doctor’s face.
Rose was shocked to see that the Doctor’s face was slightly warmer than she was used to, but it was still cooler than her own skin. Concern filled Rose’s dark hazel eyes she shifted her hand to fall onto the Doctor’s shoulder. Her concern deepened to when she realized that the Doctor was trembling slightly beneath her touch.
“Hmm?” the Doctor mumbled startled. “Oh right, Irvin, I’m not trying to interfere. I’m just ensuring that someone else isn’t. I would like it very much, general, if you would show me the weapons.”
McDowell considered this for a moment, as he swept his sea green eyes over the Doctor. The Doctor seemed sincere and the General trusted the Doctor far more than the man with the snake oil salesman’s grin. The general nodded his approval.
“Very well, Doctor, but you can’t until tomorrow, that’s when Schwartz brings the weapons to prepare for battle in two days, against the rebel forces,” McDowell conceded.
The Doctor nodded his head satisfactorily.
“D’you have a place we can stay for the night? My TARDIS is feeling about as good as I do and she needs to rest, so we can’t sleep there for the night,” the Doctor explained.
“For you, yes Doctor,” McDowell said warmly. “There is a spare tent on the other side of the landing.”
“Thanks, Irvin,” the Doctor said gratefully, and he turned to Rose. “I think we better turn in then, eh?”
Rose gave the Doctor a grin, and laced her hand through his.
“Yeah,” Rose replied.
“Good, Allons-y,” the Doctor said, with a grin but the words seem to lack the excitement that they usually held.
***
Sam and Tom made their way to their tent, after Sam had turned his mount into the makeshift stables. They were lucky to share the tent, not many were lucky enough to pull off this charade, but almost none were lucky enough to bunk together.
Tom grinned at Sam and pulled back the tent flap. Sam gave him a winning smile and slid inside followed closely by Tom. That night they indulged fully in their secret.
***
Rose held the Doctor’s hand tightly in hers and followed him to the other side of the makeshift camp. Rose glanced behind her to see that the general was out of earshot and turned her attention back to the Doctor.
“Are you okay, Doctor?” Rose asked concernedly.
“Yeah, ship shape,” the Doctor replied distractedly.
“You said the TARDIS wasn’t feeling well, so if you’re ship shape then you’re sick,” Rose pointed out.
The Doctor gave her a defeated look and glanced around.
“You’re very clever, Rose Tyler,” the Doctor said trying to shift the subject. “You might be even cleverer than me, but that might be a bit of a stretch, then again you never got you tongue stuck in the…never mind, but you are clever.”
Rose smiled reached in to hug him. The Doctor grinned to himself.
‘Yes, it worked…Darn it!’
Rose took a playful swipe at his shoulder causing the Doctor to totter slightly, while he tried futilely to dodge her hand.
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere,” Rose told him. ‘In this situation,’ Rose added silently. “Tell me.”
“The collapsing time line, it makes me feel physically sick, and the closer we get to the collapsing point in time the more ill I feel,” the Doctor explained ashamedly.
Rose nodded understandingly.
“What do we need to do, Doctor?” Rose asked.
“Once we get rid of the weapons and make sure that the war continues like it supposed to, then I’ll be fine and the TARDIS will be ready to travel,” the Doctor said, as they reached the tent that the general had indicated that they could stay in.
The Doctor slipped open the tent flap and let Rose slide inside, and he quickly followed suit. Rose sat cross-legged across from the Doctor in the cramped space of the tent. The Doctor sat in front of her, while he gripped his knees close to his chest clenched his jaw.
Rose could tell that he was in pain, but he wouldn’t tell her how much. Rose put a calming hand on his knee and smiled gently at his to let him know that he could tell her anything and that there was no point in hiding anything from her.
The Doctor covered her hand with his and gave her a reassuring shake.
“I’ll be fine Rose,” the Doctor promised. “Get some sleep.”
“You should sleep too,” Rose told him. “Since you’re not feeling well.”
Normally, the Doctor would have protested, but he figured a few hours of sleep wouldn’t do him any harm. The Doctor nodded and motioned for Rose to lie down. Rose complied and laid down on her side as far to the right as she could get, knowing that the Doctor wouldn’t feel comfortable with her being that close, at least not yet.
The Doctor waited until she was lying down, until he allowed himself to lie on the far left of the tent. In the cramped tent, there was only a foot between them, but the Doctor seemed satisfied with the amount of space and he watched as Rose closed her eyes and fell asleep.
“Night, Rose,” the Doctor whispered, as he closed his own eyes and drifted into an unsettling sleep.
***
‘My Doctor…My Doctor…’
A female voice penetrated the Doctor’s unsettled dreams.
‘My TARDIS?’ the Doctor asked, while still half asleep.
‘Who else would it be?’ the TARDIS asked as-a-matter-of-factly.
‘Weeel,’ the Doctor thought back with a mental dopy grin. ‘There was this one ship on Traxis…’
‘Finish that thought, and you may never rewire my circuits ever again,’ the TARDIS threatened, but her voice softened into one of fear. ‘I called you for a reason, my Doctor. I am scared the time lines they are falling I’m giving my all to hold them together, but I’m failing.’
‘Just hang in there,’ the Doctor told her when felt his stomach take a turn, but he gave her a mental saucy wink. ‘You can do anything, my Sexy.”
‘My Theif,’ the TARDIS thought back, as her voice faded from the Doctor’s thought, for she was giving her all to keep the time lines together.
The Doctor let a tear roll down his cheek in the darkness of the tent. He thrived off of his connection with the TARDIS, and he needed her to feel whole. They needed each other to survive and if their link was close down for too long then they might lose each other forever.
The Doctor shook his head at the thought, furious. No, that was never going to happen. He wasn’t going to lose her. The TARDIS was the most important being in all of his lives and failing her was unforgivable.
The basic plot is starting to set in at this point, so I hope you like where this is going, also I've noticed that when other people update stories they put the summary and rating on them, which I probably should have figured out a while ago, but better late than never, so her goes.
Title: The Yellow Rose of Manassas Chapter 3/?
Rating: PG 13
Warning: Scenes that depict the Civil War in later chapters
Summary: The Doctor and Rose fall into a collapsing time line, when someone goes back in time to try to let the North defeat the South during the first Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), to bring an early end to the four year war and save countless lives. The Doctor, however, sees this as a fixed event in time and knows better than to interfere, but what will he do when the collapsing time line begins to affect himself and the TARDIS?
Chapter 1 Chapter 2
“General,” Schwartz said, pulling his thin lips back into a sly grin. “Do we have a deal?”
McDowell pulled at his long grey beard and studied the Schwartz, while Schwartz gave the General his own once over. McDowell was under direct orders from President Lincoln to end the war with as little bloodshed as possible. Now, this man said that the weapon would end the war years earlier than if the Union were to be armed with only Springfield rifles.
“I think we do, Schwartz,” McDowell said almost reluctantly. “How soon can you have the weapons here?”
“Give me ‘till tomorrow, general,” Schwartz said, offering his hand for the General to shake.
“Very well, do you require quarters for the night?” McDowell asked, as he hoped that he would deny.
“That won’t be necessary, sir,” Schwartz said, and without another word, he left.
McDowell breathed an inward sigh of relief and turned back to his horse. He patted his flank and mounted up, when he saw some more strangers approaching. The general fought the urge to roll his eyes in exasperation, but then he made out the face of the man and he grinned.
McDowell slid off of his horse again and gave him small tug on the reins in the man’s direction. The general raised his arm in greeting, and the man quickly returned it.
“Hello, Doctor,” McDowell acknowledged, while offering his hand to the Doctor.
“Ahh, Irvin!” the Doctor exclaimed.
The Doctor reached out and shook the general’s hand excitably to the point; that the Doctor seemed to be bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
“How have you been?” the Doctor asked. “Is your knee still…”
“No, you fixed it remember?” McDowell reminded him jubilantly.
Rose elbowed the Doctor in the ribs and cleared her throat to get his attention.
The Doctor stared at her for a moment, bemused.
“Oh…right…sorry,” the Doctor stuttered out excitably. “Irvin this is Rose Tyler, Rose this is Brigadier General Irvin McDowell.”
Rose offered her hand and the general gave it a squeeze.
“Doctor, you didn’t mention that you had a wife,” McDowell accused jokingly.
“Umm…well…er…” the Doctor grunted, while he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
“We just got married,” Rose said quickly, while shooting the Doctor a sly wink. “He didn’t tell me that he knew you either, when did you two meet?”
“Well, d’you remember that time you were visiting your mother, and I said that I wasn’t feeling well, so I went back to the TARDIS? Well I might have got a bit side tracked,” the Doctor admitted guiltily.
Irvin gave the Doctor an understanding glance and turned his attention back to the problem at hand.
“So, what brings you here, Doctor?” the general asked.
“Well, I heard that you had a weapon here, and I thought that I’d take a look at it,” the Doctor said smoothly.
The general gave a hearty laugh.
“You are always getting yourself into matters that don’t bother you aren’t you, Doctor?” McDowell asked, while barely stifling his laughter.
Rose watched the general carefully and waited for the Doctor’s retort, but it never came. Rose glanced at the Doctor; while he clutched his stomach slightly with his right hand and his other hand rubbed his eyes furiously.
“Doctor?” Rose asked, as she gently reached out her hand and placed it on the Doctor’s face.
Rose was shocked to see that the Doctor’s face was slightly warmer than she was used to, but it was still cooler than her own skin. Concern filled Rose’s dark hazel eyes she shifted her hand to fall onto the Doctor’s shoulder. Her concern deepened to when she realized that the Doctor was trembling slightly beneath her touch.
“Hmm?” the Doctor mumbled startled. “Oh right, Irvin, I’m not trying to interfere. I’m just ensuring that someone else isn’t. I would like it very much, general, if you would show me the weapons.”
McDowell considered this for a moment, as he swept his sea green eyes over the Doctor. The Doctor seemed sincere and the General trusted the Doctor far more than the man with the snake oil salesman’s grin. The general nodded his approval.
“Very well, Doctor, but you can’t until tomorrow, that’s when Schwartz brings the weapons to prepare for battle in two days, against the rebel forces,” McDowell conceded.
The Doctor nodded his head satisfactorily.
“D’you have a place we can stay for the night? My TARDIS is feeling about as good as I do and she needs to rest, so we can’t sleep there for the night,” the Doctor explained.
“For you, yes Doctor,” McDowell said warmly. “There is a spare tent on the other side of the landing.”
“Thanks, Irvin,” the Doctor said gratefully, and he turned to Rose. “I think we better turn in then, eh?”
Rose gave the Doctor a grin, and laced her hand through his.
“Yeah,” Rose replied.
“Good, Allons-y,” the Doctor said, with a grin but the words seem to lack the excitement that they usually held.
***
Sam and Tom made their way to their tent, after Sam had turned his mount into the makeshift stables. They were lucky to share the tent, not many were lucky enough to pull off this charade, but almost none were lucky enough to bunk together.
Tom grinned at Sam and pulled back the tent flap. Sam gave him a winning smile and slid inside followed closely by Tom. That night they indulged fully in their secret.
***
Rose held the Doctor’s hand tightly in hers and followed him to the other side of the makeshift camp. Rose glanced behind her to see that the general was out of earshot and turned her attention back to the Doctor.
“Are you okay, Doctor?” Rose asked concernedly.
“Yeah, ship shape,” the Doctor replied distractedly.
“You said the TARDIS wasn’t feeling well, so if you’re ship shape then you’re sick,” Rose pointed out.
The Doctor gave her a defeated look and glanced around.
“You’re very clever, Rose Tyler,” the Doctor said trying to shift the subject. “You might be even cleverer than me, but that might be a bit of a stretch, then again you never got you tongue stuck in the…never mind, but you are clever.”
Rose smiled reached in to hug him. The Doctor grinned to himself.
‘Yes, it worked…Darn it!’
Rose took a playful swipe at his shoulder causing the Doctor to totter slightly, while he tried futilely to dodge her hand.
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere,” Rose told him. ‘In this situation,’ Rose added silently. “Tell me.”
“The collapsing time line, it makes me feel physically sick, and the closer we get to the collapsing point in time the more ill I feel,” the Doctor explained ashamedly.
Rose nodded understandingly.
“What do we need to do, Doctor?” Rose asked.
“Once we get rid of the weapons and make sure that the war continues like it supposed to, then I’ll be fine and the TARDIS will be ready to travel,” the Doctor said, as they reached the tent that the general had indicated that they could stay in.
The Doctor slipped open the tent flap and let Rose slide inside, and he quickly followed suit. Rose sat cross-legged across from the Doctor in the cramped space of the tent. The Doctor sat in front of her, while he gripped his knees close to his chest clenched his jaw.
Rose could tell that he was in pain, but he wouldn’t tell her how much. Rose put a calming hand on his knee and smiled gently at his to let him know that he could tell her anything and that there was no point in hiding anything from her.
The Doctor covered her hand with his and gave her a reassuring shake.
“I’ll be fine Rose,” the Doctor promised. “Get some sleep.”
“You should sleep too,” Rose told him. “Since you’re not feeling well.”
Normally, the Doctor would have protested, but he figured a few hours of sleep wouldn’t do him any harm. The Doctor nodded and motioned for Rose to lie down. Rose complied and laid down on her side as far to the right as she could get, knowing that the Doctor wouldn’t feel comfortable with her being that close, at least not yet.
The Doctor waited until she was lying down, until he allowed himself to lie on the far left of the tent. In the cramped tent, there was only a foot between them, but the Doctor seemed satisfied with the amount of space and he watched as Rose closed her eyes and fell asleep.
“Night, Rose,” the Doctor whispered, as he closed his own eyes and drifted into an unsettling sleep.
***
‘My Doctor…My Doctor…’
A female voice penetrated the Doctor’s unsettled dreams.
‘My TARDIS?’ the Doctor asked, while still half asleep.
‘Who else would it be?’ the TARDIS asked as-a-matter-of-factly.
‘Weeel,’ the Doctor thought back with a mental dopy grin. ‘There was this one ship on Traxis…’
‘Finish that thought, and you may never rewire my circuits ever again,’ the TARDIS threatened, but her voice softened into one of fear. ‘I called you for a reason, my Doctor. I am scared the time lines they are falling I’m giving my all to hold them together, but I’m failing.’
‘Just hang in there,’ the Doctor told her when felt his stomach take a turn, but he gave her a mental saucy wink. ‘You can do anything, my Sexy.”
‘My Theif,’ the TARDIS thought back, as her voice faded from the Doctor’s thought, for she was giving her all to keep the time lines together.
The Doctor let a tear roll down his cheek in the darkness of the tent. He thrived off of his connection with the TARDIS, and he needed her to feel whole. They needed each other to survive and if their link was close down for too long then they might lose each other forever.
The Doctor shook his head at the thought, furious. No, that was never going to happen. He wasn’t going to lose her. The TARDIS was the most important being in all of his lives and failing her was unforgivable.
