Zepheera-Vision — What of Rose?

Weeks passed, and Zepheera settled down in
her own little corner of the TARDIS. Months passed, and the Doctor showed
Zepheera wonders in the universe that she could never have imagined.

Years flew by, and the borrower and the Time
Lord traveled through time and space rescuing civilizations both alien and
ancient, saving planets from utter destruction, and running an awful lot.

On Zepheera’s 85th birthday, the Doctor
whisked her away for a well-deserved day out. He took her to a planet where a
six-foot-tall man could walk around with his four and a half inch tall
companion without fuss, and together they attended a play. A stirring dramedy,
the context for which was a little lost on Zepheera, but the Doctor quietly
explained any references she was bound to miss. Afterwards, he treated her to a
hearty meal out in a fancy restaurant.
Zepheera felt a little odd eating in full view of dozens of people who
were so much larger than her, but it got easier as the Doctor advised her to
ignore them and the night went on.

Just before the dessert course, Zepheera
cleared her throat. Something had been on her mind lately, something that she
doubted was far from the Doctor’s thoughts.

“Doctor?”

“Yeah?” The Doctor looked up from
the pheasant bones he was pushing around his plate.

Zepheera took a steadying breath and folded
her hands in her lap. “I… Today was fantastic, and I can’t thank you
enough.”

The Doctor’s head tilted a little and his
brow pinched. “But?”

Feeling her neck heat up, Zepheera stared at
her twisting fingers. “It’s not a but, it’s just…I think we should
talk about Rose.”

There was an immediate shift in the air, but
Zepheera was nervous to look. Neither of them had even spoken Rose Tyler’s name
in ages. Zepheera brought up the fact that she’d lived in her flat since the
human girl was a child, but when ever she mentioned it the Doctor’s eyes would
grow distant. Then she would remember how he had offered Rose the same
opportunity he’d given Zepheera, and Rose turned it down. He wouldn’t say so,
but Zepheera could tell that after all this time, that moment still affected
him.

“What of Rose?”

Zepheera looked up. The Doctor’s lips were
tightly pursed, and his bright blue eyes refused to meet the borrower’s gaze.
But he was listening.

“I know you miss her. You close off when
you hear her name, and you certainly discuss her at length with yourself when
you think I can’t hear.”

The Doctor gave a dry chuckle. “Right
little eavesdropper, aren’t ya.”

“It’s hard to ignore when you’re my
size,” Zepheera smirked. “But… Y’know, people change their minds all
the time. I dunno why she said no, but take it from me, Rose would want to be
here, traveling with you. She needs it.”

The Time Lord regarded his tiny companion
carefully, glancing away as he considered her words. “How can you be
sure?”

Zepheera smiled at the mite of hope leaking
through her friend’s voice. “I watched her grow up, remember?”

Dessert finally arrived, and the subject was
dropped. By the time they got back to the TARDIS, Zepheera was sure her
suggestion would go unremarked upon. That was, until the Doctor piloted the
blue box faster than he’d ever dared with Zepheera, and quickly rushed to the
door.

Zepheera’s heart warmed when she saw a flash
of blonde outside the door and heard the Doctor say, “By the way, did I
mention it also travels in time?”

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions too!

September — 9 To The Nines

~~It’s a little late because school and classes and bleh but~~

For the month of September, we shall be exploring an AU in which Nine finds Zepheera first!

I’ll be taking prompts and questions along this vein, and ~~I promise I’ll try to be more on top of things~~ I think this is gonna be fun!

Zepheera-Vision — The Vanishing Box

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Her heart raced as she contemplated her next
move. The man frightened her at the deepest of levels based on his size alone.
This place was certainly large enough for her to find a place to make a home
for herself without his knowledge, but was she prepared for the consequences if
he found her out? And what if she just introduced herself right how? Would he
be angry with her for stowing away?

Her questions were answered soon enough. The
man fiddled with a few controls and the room felt like someone picked it up and
shook it like a snow globe. Zepheera cried out on surprise as her feet slipped
through the grating of the floor, but she managed to catch herself before she
fell through. The movement stopped and she was able to pull herself up to hang
from her underarms.

Her panic rose when the floor vibrated around
her. She scrambled to get up and away, but something snagged her by the waist.
A scream caught in her throat as she was lifted swiftly into the air, dangling
in front of a striking blue frown.

“Who the hell are you?” he
demanded, dropping Zepheera into his other palm. “How long have you been
on my ship? This is not an intergalactic taxi service, you know!”

Zepheera scrambled to her feet, clutching her
bag tightly against her stomach. Despite the scare and his indignant tone, he
wasn’t angry enough to do away with her and be done with it. He was listening,
perhaps on some level curious. Taking a deep breath between short, panicked
ones, she hoped he would hear her out.

“I h-haven’t been here long, I just
s-saw your box disappear and–”

“You’ve packed,” he observed, his
frown deepening as his eyes softened the tiniest fraction.

Zepheera looked down at her overflowing
messenger bag, feeling her neck heating up in embarrassment. She’d filled with
everything that mattered to her in the world, all on a stupid whim. But a
glance up at the man told her he expected an answer. “I thought…maybe I
could disappear, too.”

“…Do you not know who I am? Or where you
are?”

She studied her shoes and shook her head no.

He was quiet for a moment. Once Zepheera
broke eye contact, she was hesitant to make it again. Then the man was on the
move, the sudden motion knocking her to her knees. When everything settled down
again, his hand was hovering above the strange-looking surface of the center
structure. Taking this as a good sign, she hopped right off, glad to be on
solid ground again.

“Let’s talk,” said the man as he
took an old seat across from Zepheera. “I reckon we got off on the wrong foot.
I’m the Doctor. And you are?”

His more casual position helped Zepheera
relax a tad, and she released her iron grip on her bag. “Zepheera,”
she replied

The borrower and the Time Lord had a good
long talk. The Doctor explained that he was an alien and this place was a ship
that could travel through time and space. Zepheera told him about her father,
her brother, her husband; as much as she felt comfortable revealing to a total
stranger, which wasn’t much. The unspoken conclusion they both drew at the end
was the undoubted loneliness of the other.

“Do you want to come with me?” The Doctor blurted when Zepheera had
finished.

She stared at him in shock for a moment. She
hadn’t expected to be invited along, but if he was seriously
offering…

“What, run around the universe
throughout time and space with a strange alien in leather?” She smirked.
“Why the hell not.”

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions too!

Zepheera-Vision Prologue 2/2 — The Vanishing Box

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Wandering London for hours had been nerve-wracking enough. Then the shop-window dummies came to life and wreaked havoc upon the pedestrians of London and began destroying everything. It was all a blur to Zepheera, who managed to find safety in an alley. She huddled against a brick wall, waiting for the minor burns on her arms to heal. By that time, much of the noise in the distance had died down, replaced by ambulance and police sirens. Was it over?

Then another noise filled the air, a wheezing groan that inexplicably lifted Zepheera’s heart with hope. A breeze that hadn’t been there before billowed the borrower’s short, dark hair as she watched the same blue box from before appear. Her eyes were wide as the doors creaked open and Mickey stumbled out, followed by Rose Tyler herself calmly exiting and phoning someone.

The opportunity was there, and Zepheera took it. Clutching her messenger bag, she ran full tilt for the open door and slipped past the approaching feet with ease.

Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of the inside of the box. It was much too large for an ordinary police box, and much too…amazing. Zepheera had never seen anything like it in her 78 years.

She hardly acknowledged the mystery man standing in the doorway as she ascended the slight ramp up to the center structure of the room. It glowed with a warm blue-green light that made Zepheera forget about her troubles. She couldn’t explain it, but something about this place felt right. Like home.

The slam of the shut door broke her out of her thoughts, and she turned to find herself face-to-face with the man’s approaching foot. Quickly dodging out of the way, Zepheera took shelter against the nearest coral-like support and pressed her back to it, staring up at the man’s towering form.

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Zepheera-Vision Prologue — The Vanishing Box

((Bit of a detour. ~~Since yesterday was 9/9 and I meant to do this earlier but move-in and school and aahhhh.~~ Anyway, here’s the beginning of something new))

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

London, 2005

For the most part, Zepheera loved living in
the Tyler household. Only two humans, aside from the mother Jackie’s occasional
gentleman caller. She was much more energetic than her daughter, Rose, who
spent most of the day at her job in a shop in town. It was relatively quiet,
the humans were predictable and often distracted. No better place for a
borrower.

Yet, deep down, Zepheera longed for the days
of her youth. Not being able to physically age certainly did not mean she
didn’t feel old every now and then, though nowadays it was
quite a common feeling for her. She missed being nineteen with a boyfriend, not
knowing what the future would hold and frankly not caring. It seemed to her
that Rose Tyler had settled on the life that Zepheera would give anything to
have back. And here they were: both stuck in the Powell Estate with no
prospects whatsoever.

Zepheera supposed, if she were human-sized
rather than four and a half inches tall (or vice versa), she and Rose Tyler
might be kindred spirits. But for now, neither Tyler knew of Zepheera’s
existence and it was going to stay that way.

Then one night, her sleep was disturbed by an
unusual commotion out in the humans’ part if the house. Lots of loud talking,
telly blaring something awful, and constant vibrations betraying the giant
being’s every movement. As her head cleared, Zepheera decided that something
important and worth checking out was going on. So she trudged through her many
passages and lifts through the walls until she could enter a small vent high up
the wall in the main area of the house. She could see everything and nobody
could see her.

Rose was sitting numbly on the couch while
her mother paced the room with the telephone, calling each and every one of her
friends about what had happened to her daughter. According to her and the
television, Rose’s shop had exploded. Police were investigating and Jackie was
raving about demands for compensation.

When Rose’s boyfriend Mickey showed up,
Zepheera gathered that the worst was over. She’d heard enough to know what to
expect in the morning. Rose wouldn’t be going out tomorrow, but she might mope
around enough for Zepheera to make a short supply run. She had enough food to
last her a while if worst came to worst.

The last thing she saw or heard as she turned
to go back to bed was Rose sending Mickey off with a plastic arm.

She spent the next morning determining which
foods in her meager pantry would go bad sooner if she didn’t eat them right
away when a new male voice rang through the house. She couldn’t hear what he
was saying from inside the walls, but she immediately abandoned her chore to
investigate this newcomer, grabbing her
borrowing equipment on the way out. She’d need to know if this man was going to
be around often or not.

He was very odd to watch, she found as she
peered down from her usual vent. While Rose made him coffee, he wandered the
entire room touching everything: he commented on a tabloid, flipped through a
book and declared it had a sad ending, and made a mess of a deck of playing
cards. Zepheera pitied Rose, who was trying to make conversation with this man
who was clearly not paying much attention to her.

Then talk of the police arose, at least from
Rose’s end, and Zepheera honed in on her speech. It was hard to tell, but it
seemed like Rose knew that the man was somehow involved with
the destruction of her job.

Everything happened so fast after that. The
mystery man was attacked by the plastic arm from then night before, and then it
turned on Rose. The man disabled it with some kind of device, a tube-like thing
with a glowing blue light on the end, and before anyone knew it, he was off.

Zepheera raced down the wall to her entrance
to the room as fast as she could. Jackie was busy blowing her hair and getting
ready for the day, so the borrower had an ever-shortening window of time to
make it to the window. By the time she’d climbed up, Rose and the man were
walking swiftly away. She lost them behind the garages for a few minutes, but
she watched the man stride away from Rose toward a blue box. Zepheera
recognized it as a police public call box, but she hadn’t seen one since the
sixties.

Before she could even wonder about it, the
man shut the door and the box disappeared. Vanished into thin air. Zepheera
stood gaping open-mouthed at the empty spot where it used to be until she saw
Rose returning to the Powell Estate and she knew her time was up.

Zepheera high-tailed it back to her humble
home in the walls and immediately began packing. For years she’d dreamed of
something different, something to take her away from everything that reminded
her of her mistakes and regrets. She never belonged, she only stayed. Maybe the
mysterious man could be the answer to the prayers she never dared to say.

Things didn’t just vanish into thin air, so
that man and his vanishing box had to be somewhere. And if it was the last
thing she ever did, if it took a hundred years, Zepheera was going to find it.

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions too!