AKA my ultimate Rose x Doctor Fix It
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
A/N: I have two stories I'd like to start fresh on, one of which is this one. This has been an idea I've had mulling around in my head for a while. It's my personal take on how I wish things would've been handled.
Enjoy!
The Doctor recognized the date as soon as he landed.
It was one he didn't particularly wish to revisit, but the TARDIS was being stubborn. He couldn't figure out why the old girl insisted on staying, but she did. He decided it was best if he kept himself scarce and the stop rather quick. It was, after all, upon Romana's request he was stopping on Earth at all. He was quite content to avoid the planet for a while longer, especially considering all the trouble him and his "companions" had caused over the past few centuries. Not to mention, Romana seemed to want to stop every other adventure, if only to see her Uncle Jack, as she so lovingly named him.
"I just want proper chips, and then we can be off!" Romana promised, and the way she looked at him made it impossible to refuse.
"Just no wandering off," he warned, "it's best we be off quick."
At her raised brow, the Doctor opened the door for her. He didn't elaborate any further, but the girl had an idea of why. The dates coincided with an event she had been told about, one that was rather unpleasant.
"Yeah, yeah, I know the rules, dad," she muttered, though there was a small smile on her face.
It reminded him of her mother, the wide smile with the smallest hint of a tongue peeking through. Her eyes, too, mimicked her mother's, a deep amber that looked to carry the whole of time behind it. The hair, however, seemed to come entirely from his last regeneration. It was long, all the way to the middle of her back, and a chocolate brown. She was tall, like he'd been, but everything else just mimicked her mother.
His Rose.
"Not that you ever listen to them," he pointed out, walking side-by-side with his daughter.
"Hard to take you seriously in a bow tie and tweed," she jested, though there was a tightness in her smile.
He'd regenerated recently, and while Rose had been more than accepting, it was the first time he'd done so since Romana was born. He was beyond thankful that he hadn't while she was a baby, but even as a teenager he could tell it was difficult. She was far wiser than her age suggested, but it seemed even she had her limits. He'd be lying if he said the wariness didn't hurt the slightest bit.
"Bow ties are cool," he said airily, smiling when he heard her laugh. She hasn't done it nearly as much since the regeneration.
"Nobody thinks that," she assured him, pulling her coat a little tighter around herself.
"Rose does," he stated rather proudly.
Romana hummed, clearly a sign she didn't believe it in the least, and continued forward quicker than before.
"Ask her when she gets back from vacation," the Doctor added.
It'd been Rose's idea to give the two of them some bonding time. After all, it wasn't every day your father turns into a man with a completely different face. She had him drop her off at one of the resorts he'd promised to take her to, and told him to return after a few trips.
"Trust me, I w-"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off by a loud bang in the sky, the ground beneath their feet shaking. Like a million stars in the sky, the Daleks flew to the Earth. On the ground, Cybermen were infiltrating the streets.
"Uh, dad," the girl cried, taking a few steps back so she was closer to him.
The Doctor wrapped a protective arm around his daughter, pulling her back into the direction of the TARDIS. He knew this was going to happen. The TARDIS knew too, which was why he couldn't understand why she kept insisting they land at this particular time.
The streets were chaos- screams and sobs and cries filling the air. The two time travelers were stumbling about, hanging onto each other's hands fiercely as they tried to navigate the streets. The sunny day had turned into a downright nightmare in less than a few minutes.
"Just keep holding onto me," the Doctor yelled, his mind in overdrive as he dodged and weaved the frightful humans.
"Dad!" Romana screamed, her arm being pulled back as one particularly scared man ran into their connected hands.
Fear struck the Doctor when his daughter's hand lost contact with his. He stopped immediately, his eyes full of desperation.
"Romana!" He shouted into the scattering crowd. "Romana!" He tried again, shoving people aside as he backtracked.
The Cybermen were closing in now, and above the Daleks were shooting into the throngs of people. He was desperate, wild eyes searching for the face of his child.
"Dad," he heard, faintly, and renewed his efforts.
Romana, however, was running towards a child, who had been standing in the direct path of a Cyberman.
"Run!" She yelled to him, though he was frozen in fear. She got there just in time, scooping him into her arms.
Nearby, a lady was in hysterics, a name on her tongue with all the desperation of a dying man. She felt the child shutter against her, his eyes squeezed tight.
"Get to safety," she told the woman, pushing the child to her. She cradled the boy to her chest and ran off, tears fresh on her face.
"Dad!" She hollered, trying in vain to get his attention. He was lost in the crowd, colors fading together in a big blur of chaos.
Sucking in a shaky breath, she narrowly dodged a blast, the shock wave forcing her off her feet and onto the hard pavement. For a moment, her vision darkened, her ears ringing. Then, rapidly, her body recovered, a stabbing pain running up her side as she stood on two feet once more. She forced herself to move forward, pressing a hand into her side as she groaned in pain. Vaguely, she noticed the red liquid sliding between her fingers.
"Dad," she tried again, far more weakly than before.
The chaos had died down, and she realized this must be when they were sucked into the void. The girl looked up with shining eyes, watching as Daleks and Cybermen alike disappeared. She knew, inside that building, stood her mother and father, saving the world as they always did.
For a moment, just a moment, the world was normal once more.
And then she felt the tingling.
Her fingers were shaking, her own mind feeling displaced as, atom by atom, she felt herself fading. It was tearing her apart on the inside, with all the fury of a storm, and in her mind she could feel her father call out, only it wasn't the same father who had brought her here. It was the one who saved the world, the one who stood inside that building with a pain so heavy it was ricocheting down his incarnations.
"Romana," her father's voice cried, and she sobbed in response.
She could feel it already, the world erasing her as if she never existed. She knew, something had gone wrong in that building. Something had happened in a way it never should have.
"No, no, no, no," he shouted, his footsteps heavy against the pavement as he ran to his little girl.
"Dad," she croaked, tears in her eyes. She could see her reflection in his eyes, watching as she faded into nothing.
"Hey, sh, it's going to be okay," he promised, a pained look on his face. His brows were squeezed together in an effort to stop the tears, but the onslaught of emotions were too much, and they began to fall one by one, like raindrops from the sky.
"The timelines..." she whispered.
A song began, low and lyrical, but a familiar one nonetheless. It grew in intensity, causing her to grit her teeth together as it overcame her mind. Her body was embraced by a warm, golden light. It was safe, and recognizable. Scared, she looked to her father, only to notice the faraway look in his eyes.
"What's happening," she cried, holding onto him even tighter.
The Doctor had seen something like this before, but it had only ever been with Rose. She was, after all, the Bad Wolf. It was what had allowed them forever together, even if he'd been scared as all hell when he realized it was killing her to begin with.
"It's okay," he said weakly, and it didn't even sound convincing to his own ears.
He could feel his memories shift, see the change. Rose had fallen into the void, only the other Pete Tyler had caught her. He'd brought her to the other universe, where she eventually made it back, only to be given a human version of himself. Someone had changed his future, and it was, quite literally, tearing his daughter apart. In this new reality, she was never born.
"I'll fix it," he promised, already thinking of a million and one ways he might be able to remedy the situation. However, he was so distracted, and he knew most of them wouldn't work.
"No," his daughter said, and his eyes widened at the echo in her voice. "You won't."
He opened his mouth, but no words would come out. She looked as Rose did on the Game Station all those years ago- gold light bathing her, determination in the golden eyes.
"I will."
His brows furrowed, and before he had a chance to ask, she was gone. He let out one desperate, heart-wrenching cry, before the world went silent once more. He was alone. Always alone.
Romana awoke with a groan, the stabbing in her side reduced to a dull ache. Any sudden movement caused it to skitter down her spine, reminding her of just how much pain she was in.
"Dad," she called out, reaching blindly around her.
Her vision was typically far superior to a normal human's, but right now, she couldn't make out anything.
"Hello!" She called loudly, sitting up cautiously so she wouldn't cause anymore discomfort.
Again, she received no reply. She shivered, though she was rather warm in the dimly lit building. It looked, well, normal.
A pain burst in her mind, her hands grasping at her head as she sucked in a breath. Rapid fire, images sprung out at her, quicker than she could understand. As she tried to make sense of them, distant noises grew in volume. Three people rounded the corner, running into the same room she occupied.
Warily, she grasped the sonic screwdriver her dad had made her in her pocket, watching the strangers closely. Though, her fingers itched to grab the sonic blaster Uncle Jack had gifted her.
Only, they weren't strangers.
The man in front, who was now threatening aliens, who looked suspiciously like they were from Raxacoricofallapatorius, was someone she'd seen in pictures. He was wearing a leather jacket, his tired eyes narrowed as he kept an air of danger. The usual presence in her mind was muted, almost as if somebody was blocking it.
The lady to his right was a woman she'd seen on a few interviews, who she'd once even asked her dad about. He'd explained something to do with Torchwood and how she was a good woman who'd lost her way.
But the girl to his right, she knew all too well. Her hair was a little longer, and looked far more dyed than it did in recent days. She was more youthful, and a little less lean than the woman she knew, but it didn't change who that woman was.
The lady, Harriet- if she recalled correctly- took notice of her, though the girl couldn't care less, because in front of her stood the two people she knew better than anybody in the universe.
In front of her stood Rose Tyler and the Doctor, her mother and father.