Rose's grin fell as the Doctor's words registered with her. A quiet gasp escaped her lips, and her hands trembled.
"But it's like you said. We've all got void stuff. Me too, because we went to that parallel world."
Rose glanced down at her hand, moving it back and forth as she watched the green, wispy particles cling to the air around her skin. She bit her lip, removing the glasses from her face and looking back up at the Doctor.
"We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."
He took the glasses from her, his face expressionless. But she could see the pain in his eyes. And she didn't like it.
"That's why you've got to go."
Reboot in two minutes.
Both of them ignored the computer. Rose felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. This hurt even more than the last time he'd tried to send her away, when she didn't even know he was doing it until it was too late. Now, she had time to process it.
"Back to Pete's World. Hey, we should call it that!"
The Doctor glanced up, a grin stuck on his face as he pointed at the parallel version of Rose's father. How could he be so carefree right now? Suggesting that... they never see each other again?
"Pete's World!"
The Doctor turned back to Rose, and once again she looked into his eyes, seeing the turmoil lurking inside of them. He was faking it. For her sake. For the others sake. And she couldn't have been the only one to notice.
"I'm opening the void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."
"And then you close it, for good?"
Rose didn't even spare Pete a single glance. Her eyes were fixed on the Doctor, just as his were fixed on her.
"The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff. In the end, it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput."
"But you stay on this side?"
Rose barely recognized her own voice. Her closed up throat and dry mouth made her voice sound hoarse, like someone had shoved sandpaper down her vocal cords.
"But you'll get pulled in."
The Doctor turned away from Rose, moving over to Yvonne's office and grabbing a giant device from inside. Her eyes didn't move from his face.
"That's why I've got these. I'll just have to hold on tight. Been doing it all my life."
"...I'm supposed to go."
Everyone swiveled their attention away from the Doctor and back to Rose. She could barely stop herself from crying, the tears gathering just behind the floodgates.
"Yeah."
"To another world, and then it gets sealed off."
"Yeah."
"Forever."
Rose lets out a shaky breath, the corners of her mouth turning upwards in a disbelieving almost-laugh.
"That's not going to happen."
The building shakes around them, but Rose steadies herself, glaring at the Doctor.
"We haven't got time to argue. The plan works. We're going. You too. All of us."
Rose ran through the options in her head. Go and never see the Doctor again. Stay and never see her family again. Stay here with her mother and endanger her.
The blonde looked around at everyone in the room. Pete was trying to get a medallion around her mother's neck. The Doctor was hovering over the controls, frowning. Mickey was the only one looking at Rose, and their eyes met. They stared at each other for a second, then Mickey gave her a small smile, then nodded towards the Doctor. He mouthed one, single word to her.
Stay.
Rose's heart swelled, and she smiled back at Mickey, grateful for his support. Closing her eyes for a moment, Rose tuned everyone and everything else out. There was no doubt about it; no matter what happened, she would be staying with the Doctor.
Her eyes snapped open again, and she half-ran over to Mickey, throwing her arms around him. He returned the hug, and she could feel him shaking. Or maybe that was her.
"...I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you, too. Stay safe, Rose."
"Same to you."
The two pulled away from each other, and Rose glanced down at his medallion, back up to his face, then over to her mother, who was still fighting against Pete. Mickey nodded, immediately understanding what she wanted him to do.
Rose stepped back and cleared her throat. Everyone turned to look at her.
"I'm not leaving here."
Jackie frowned, looking behind her at Pete.
"I'm not going without her!"
"Oh my God. We're going!"
"I've had twenty years without you, so button it! I'm not leaving her!"
Rose frowned.
"You've got to."
Jackie whirled around to face her daughter, closing her hands into fists.
"Well, that's tough!"
"Mum."
Rose looked into her mother's eyes, pleading with her. Jackie shook her head.
"I've had a life with you for nineteen years, but then I met the Doctor, and all the things I've seen him do for me, for you, for all of us."
Rose looked at all four of the others in turn, locking eyes with Mickey. She shifted her eyes over her mother, then back to Mickey. He nodded discreetly, grabbing another medallion from a nearby desk, creeping up behind Jackie.
"For the whole stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum. But not anymore, because now he's got me."
Rose backed up with every word she said, then looked back at the Doctor. He was looking at her in awe, not fully processing what she was saying yet. No one had noticed Mickey's presence behind Jackie.
"I'm NOT leaving you, Rose!"
Rose looked back at her mother, smiling softly.
"Well, that's tough. Mickey."
Jackie turned around to look at Mickey, but she was too late. Mickey threw the medallion around her neck, securing it before slamming his hand down on his own medallion.
Then, they were gone.
And just Rose and the Doctor were left.
-D-O-C-T-O-R-W-H-O-
Rose turned around to face a shell-shocked Doctor. He blinked once, then twice, before frowning and running a hand through his messy brown hair. He took two strides forward, grabbing Rose by her shoulders and looking her in the eyes.
"What were you thinking?!"
"I was thinking that I'm not letting you send me away again. That hurt enough the first time; I don't want it to happen again."
Contrary to the Doctor's forceful, panicked tone, Rose was, for the first time today, cool as a cucumber. She wasn't used to being the level-headed one in this duo. But she kind of enjoyed it.
"Now, then."
Rose walked over to the controls, her hand hovering over them.
"I think this is the on switch?"
The Doctor grabbed her hand before she could press anything, forcing her to look at him again. He was furious.
"Once the breach collapses, that's it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!"
Rose pursed her lips, glaring at him.
"I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you. Ever. So what can I do to help?"
The Doctor's expression softened, and he almost looked happy that she was there. He almost looked flattered.
Systems rebooted. Open access.
"Those coordinates over there, set them all at six. And hurry up."
Rose grinned, proud. She hurried over to the terminal, pressing buttons and switches left and right.
"We've got Cybermen on the way up!"
"How many floors down?"
Rose paused, her nerves knotted together.
"...Just one."
The two looked at each other briefly, then the computer chimed.
Levers operational.
"That's more like it. Bit of a smile. The old team."
The Doctor grinned.
"Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake."
Rose raised an eyebrow, smirking.
"Which one's Shiver?"
"Oh, I'm Shake."
The Doctor abandoned the controls, moving one of the Magnaclamps over by Rose, then taking the other for himself. Rose picked it up, finding it to be much lighter than she had expected.
"Press the red button."
Rose slammed her hand down on the bright red button, and the Magnaclamp chimed, securing itself to the wall.
"When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us, but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff."
Rose laughed.
"Aren't you glad you didn't send me through again? When I would've come back through, I would've had even more Void stuff on me. It's pull would've been harder."
The Doctor's mouth dropped open, his eyes going wide.
"...I hadn't thought about that."
Rose laughed again, then glanced behind her. The Daleks were approaching the building. Rose met the Doctor's eyes, and they nodded at each other.
"Let's do it!"
Rose shoved the lever forward, then dove for the Magnaclamp, wrapping her arms around the handle like her life depended on it. Which, really, it did.
Online.
The Void opened up, and the first few Daleks flew through the window, then get sucked into the Void. Suddenly there were hoards of Daleks and Cybermen being thrown into the Void.
"Ha!"
The Doctor let out a barking laugh, causing Rose to join in. Soon, the two of them were dissolving into fits of laughter, completely forgetting about the situation at hand.
Then the lever started to move.
Offline.
Both the Doctor and Rose stopped laughing immediately. They glanced at the lever as it shifted backwards, moving ever so slightly towards turning off. The two looked at each other before Rose tried to hook her foot around the lever. She just barely brushed the end of the stick with her toe.
Reaching out again, Rose finally hooked her foot around the lever and pulled it back, nearly losing her grip on the Magnaclamp. She let out a squeak of surprise as her right hand slipped from the handle, her left hand nearly slipping off as well.
"Rose! Hang on!"
Rose quickly tightened her left hand around the handle, throwing her right hand forward and wrapping it around the handle as well. She let out a sigh of relief, looking back and pulling the lever into the correct position with the top of her foot. Rose looked over towards the Doctor, who threw her a relieved smile before turning back to look at the breach.
A few moments later, the last Daleks flew into the Void, and nothing more entered the room. The breach closed. Suddenly, everything was quiet. No more Daleks. No more Cybermen. No more Jackie or Pete or Mickey. Everything was silent.
And then Rose started crying. She had no idea why. She wasn't even remotely sad. Maybe it was relief over having almost been sucked into the Void. She still only felt hollow, though.
"Rose?!"
The Doctor wrapped his arms around Rose as her knees started to buckle. He lowered the both of them to the ground and let her cry into his jacket as she curled into a ball and leaned farther into him.
"I almost died. I almost got sucked into the Void. It was almost over."
"This is why I wanted you to leave. You would've been safe on the other side with your family."
Rose shook her head and looked the Doctor in the eyes, her expression unreadable.
"That didn't even cross my mind. I didn't even think about mum or Pete, or even Mickey. They have each other. I was thinking about the fact that if I left, you would be alone again. And I would hate that."
Rose looked away for a moment before turning back to the Doctor, her eyes misted over again. She tried opening her mouth, but nothing came out. Her face contorted in pain before she took a deep breath, calming herself down before she tried speaking again.
"You're one of my best friends. I don't want to lose you. I promised you forever, and that's what I'm giving you. No less."
And I love you. But I can't tell you that.
The Doctor smiled at Rose, ruffling her hair before standing up and pulling Rose to her feet as well.
"We should get out of here. Assess the damage, if there is any left."
Rose slowly walked over to the window, looking down into the street below. People that were out in the streets were either frantic over the disappearance of the other people around them or relieved by the disappearance of the invaders. It made her sad to see everyone so out of sorts, missing family members and close friends.
"Hey, can we make a quick stop before we head out of London? I just want to check up on someone."
The Doctor gave Rose a confused look, but shrugged.
"Sure. Where are we headed?"
Rose turned her head to look back at the Doctor as she exited the room, grinning at him.
"You'll just have to follow me."
Rose half ran down the back stairwell down the hall, the Doctor barely three paces behind her.
"You know, the elevator would've been faster."
"I know. But this is easier, and I'm more used to running than standing in one place after being your companion."
Rose smirked at the Doctor as she grabbed his hand, picking up speed and pulling him behind her as she took the steps two at a time.
She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going as she walked out the front doors of Torchwood, still pulling the Doctor behind her, and ended up sideswiping someone entering the building.
"Sorry!"
Rose turned her head to throw the person an apologetic smile, but they were already halfway in the door, their coat flying behind them.
Wait... That coat didn't look right. And it looked somewhat familiar...
Then it hit her. The same World War 2 coat that she had seen back when she and the Doctor had saved the Gas Mask Zombies. And the same head of dark brown hair, build, and confident but rushed stride that belonged to the man she had danced with in front of Big Ben.
Captain Jack Harkness.
"Ja-!"
By the time Rose realized who had just passed her, he was long gone. Instead, the Doctor looked at Rose with a confused glance as he looked back inside the building, trying to figure out who had just passed them.
"What? Who was that?"
"Jack! ...But how?"
The Doctor's expression went blank, and he guided her away from the doors, a hand on her back.
"I'm sure you just imagined it. Jack Harkness died before I even regenerated. It must be all the stress you've been under that's causing you to hallucinate."
Rose glanced up at the Doctor, momentarily surprised to see a mixture of pain and determination on his face. Biting her lip, Rose sighed and nodded her head.
"I won't push it. At least not for now. But you owe me an explanation sometime, got that?"
"Yeah, I know. Now let's go see whoever you had in mind."
Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand, all but dragging him down the street behind her. They'd barely gone over a block before Rose turned, starting up a set stairs in front of a townhouse. She knocked sharply on the door, rocking on her heels.
The Doctor opened his mouth again, but before he could say anything, the door to the townhouse opened. A young woman with curly jet black hair and dark skin stood in the doorway, a dishrag over her shoulder as she wiped her wet hands on her skinny jeans.
"Hi, Eliane. It's been a while."
Eliane's eyes went wide as recognition took hold of her. She laughed once before pulling Rose into a tight hug. Rose returned the hug with one arm, the other hand still clasping the Doctor's.
"REEN-Y! GET OUT HERE QUICK! IT'S ROSIE!"
Rose heard a crash of something hitting the floor, then loud footsteps bounding through the house. The two girls looked at each other before falling into fits of laughter.
"ROSE TYLER YOU ASSHAT!"
Shareen came flying out of the front door, her slick black ponytail flying behind her as she punched Rose in the shoulder as hard as she could.
"Ow! Shareen!"
"Serves you right! You up and left for almost 2 years, and-!"
Shareen froze as she saw the Doctor, who waved at her with the hand that wasn't holding Rose's.
"...Who are you?"
Rose started laughing again, nearly doubling over as she tried to stop her hysterics long enough to answer.
"God, nothing's changed, has it? You're still easily distracted by any even remotely good-looking guy within ten feet, much less a handsome one."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows, smirking at Rose.
"What?"
"You think I'm handsome?"
Rose's eyes widened as she realized what she'd said. She was genuinely speechless for a moment, a bright blush spreading across her cheeks.
"N-NO!"
Rose's blush only deepened as she heard her voice crack at the end of her desperate shout. The Doctor laughed once, rubbing the back of his neck as he smiled at Rose, the usual smile that knocked the breath out of her. Not that she would ever admit that to him, of course.
"Just kidding, Rose. You're touchy today, aren't you?"
Rose looked down, slightly crestfallen as she murmured something unintelligible under her breath.
"...Shareen, this is the Doctor. Nothing else; just the Doctor. That's all anyone ever calls him."
The Doctor held his free hand out for Shareen to shake, which she gladly did. Turning back to Rose, Shareen pulled her old friend in for a hug, then moved her mouth next to her ear so she was close enough to whisper.
"You haven't jumped that yet?"
Rose's blush returned again.
"He's not looking for a romantic partner, Shareen. ...He's lost everyone else in his life. He's gotten used to shutting everyone out, and I don't think he'll be stopping anytime soon."
Shareen gave Rose a pitied look as she pulled away, moving back to stand by her sister.
"Well, well. If it isn't the infamous Rose Tyler. It's been a while."
Rose turned to face the sisters' mother, finally letting go of the Doctor before pulling the older woman in for a light hug, carefully avoiding her swollen stomach.
"How have you been, Lilith?"
"Wonderful. As you can probably see, I have another two little ones on the way."
Lilith gave an affectionate pat to her baby bump.
"Twins?! You're going to be busy, Lilith!"
"I would imagine you've been busy lately, too. We haven't seen you in almost two years."
Rose grimaced, following Lilith inside the townhouse, hanging her jacket on the coatrack by the door out of habit.
"Sorry, Lilith. I actually have been really busy. Traveling, actually."
"Oh? Where to?"
Rose glanced back at the Doctor, a smile grazing her lips.
"I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you all the places. I did go to Germany, though."
Rose turned back to Lilith to find the older woman smiling at her knowingly before leading them into the kitchen.
"Kaleb! Rose Tyler is here!"
Lilith's husband peered around the corner, stepping out of the pantry as he pulled Rose into a hug.
"Rose Tyler, as I live and breathe! You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you!"
Rose laughed, shoving her hands into her jean pockets.
"And this is- Oh, where'd he go?"
Rose glanced behind her to find the Doctor had disappeared. She sighed, starting to walk out of the room.
"I'm sorry. He does this sometimes; just starts snooping around without even meeting everyone. I'll go find him."
"I'll go with you."
Shareen fell into step beside Rose, and they backtracked through the townhouse.
"So... The Doctor's totally your type, huh? You were always a sucker for pretty boys. Besides, don't think I didn't notice that you didn't let go of his hand until my mom came out."
Rose scoffed, playfully smacking Shareen.
"You're one to talk! You picked up practically all of my exes after getting my permission."
"Speaking of, are you and Mickey a thing anymore?"
Rose puckered her lips, shaking her head. She brushed her fingers over a framed picture of herself and Shareen, barely even six, smiling their toothy grins at the camera as they stood in front of the giant oak tree in Shareen's old backyard.
"No. He's... well, do you know who the Doctor is?"
Shareen shook her head, picking up a different picture, this one of she and Rose at a park near Rose's flat.
"Well... Promise you won't think I'm crazy?"
"Honey, I've seen some strange things. Remember that guy I dated in spring of 12th grade? Made of plastic!"
Rose laughed, her eyes drifting across the various pictures of the two of them, sometimes Eliane as well, stopping at the ones she particularly liked.
"Oh, the Doctor's even stranger. Reen, he's an alien."
Shareen glanced over at Rose before bursting into laughter, setting down the picture in her hands.
"That's a good one, Rosie. Almost had me there."
"No, Reen. I'm serious. He's an alien from another planet, somewhere out there that's farther than humanity has ever traveled. He's over 900 years old, and the two of us travel through time and space in his little blue 1960s police box that's bigger on the inside. I've seen sentient mannequins, gas mask zombies, Cybermen, parallel universes, the whole bit! I've almost died several times but I've never, ever felt more alive than when I'm with him. My Doctor. I don't know his real name; I probably never will. But I don't need to. All I need to know is that man, that goofball of a genius, would die for me. And I would do the same for him."
Shareen was crying by the time Rose finished, a Kleenex clenched in her fist. Her quivering mouth was curled up in a smile, and she was looking at Rose in complete awe.
"Oh. My. God. You love him. Like, really, really love him. God, he makes Mickey look like a fling."
Rose smiled softly, absent-mindedly fiddling with her necklace pendant.
"...Is that a... bike?"
Rose glanced down, nodding when she saw what Shareen was referencing.
"It was a gift from the Doctor. Remember that red bike that I knew mum couldn't afford to get me, and someone else did? It was him. I told him the story, and I never knew, but he went back in time and got me that bike. I was so surprised when he told me, albeit indirectly."
Shareen scoffed, pointing an accusing finger at Rose.
"You, Rose Tyler, need to tell him how you feel. You love someone incredible. I only wish any single one of my exes were half as wonderful of a man as the Doctor sounds. Even Derek didn't come close, and he was SUCH a gentleman."
"I can't, Shareen. He isn't looking for-"
"Bullcrap! Look, honey. Sometimes you have to throw yourself out there. And you may get rejected. It may break your heart. But that's how you know you have one. Rose, you only have one life. Don't waste it by purposefully trapping yourself in the friend zone with that amazing guy."
Rose forced a laugh, smirking at Shareen.
"You know, you're using all the words to describe me that don't describe him. One heart? Nope. Two. One life? Nope. Several."
To her credit, Shareen didn't say a word, just raised her eyebrows and gestured for Rose to follow her.
"Come on. The Doctor's a science-y guy, right? Then I'm pretty sure I know where we can find him."
Rose followed behind Shareen as she led her up the stairs to the back of the townhouse, opening the one metal door on the entire floor.
"Oh, you're right. The Doctor would love this."
Rose's eyes swept over the room, analyzing all the lab equipment and machines with blinking lights. Unsurprisingly enough, the Doctor was standing at the back of the room playing with the equipment.
"Hey, stranger."
The Doctor glanced up at Rose, his eyes bright with happiness.
"Rose! Look at all this stuff! Whose is this?"
Shareen walked up behind Rose, a handheld device in her hand. Rose had no idea what it was.
"My dad's. He's an uber science geek. He collects this kind of stuff from almost anywhere: yard sales, hospitals, tech conventions, fairs... He's been collecting for over ten years."
"His surname isn't by chance van Statten, is it?"
Sharon only looked at the Doctor with confusion, while Rose giggled in the background.
"Van Statten?"
"2012, owner of the internet. Collector of alien tech, including what used to be the Last Dalek."
"Dalek?"
The Doctor froze for a moment, evidently realizing who he was talking to. Rose stepped in for him.
"There are some things better left unsaid. Too complicated. Let's just say it was one of those fancy trash bins you probably saw floating around outside today."
"Oh! Those are Daleks. Okay."
Suddenly, the Doctor clapped his hands, starting out of the room.
"Come on, then. I want to meet Shareen's father."
"Actually, Doctor, I think it best we leave. We've overstayed our welcome. Especially you, snooping through other people's stuff."
The Doctor pouted slightly before nodding.
"You're right. Thank you for your hospitality, but we should be going."
"But you two only just got here! Rose, I haven't seen you in almost two years!"
"I'm sorry, Shareen. Really. But we need to go. And I-I don't really... Too many memories here. Way too many with mum."
Shareen's eyes widened for a moment, her hand moving to cover her mouth.
"Is she...?"
"No, not dead. Just... gone. Stuck in a parallel universe. And I'll probably never see her again."
"A parallel-!? ...Nevermind. I've learned not to question anything in your life, Rose."
Shareen sighed, pulling Rose into a tight hug.
"I'm going to miss you."
"I promise to call at least once a month, okay? At least, when I can. When I'm not in life threatening danger."
Raising her eyebrows, Shareen pulled away from Rose, looking her in the eyes.
"Call when you can. But keep yourself safe first, okay, Rose?"
"Okay. Thank you. Same for you. If you see anything suspicious or alien-looking that might be dangerous, run for cover. Or call me. We'll come as soon as we can. ...Bye, Shareen."
Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand and ran out of the room, nearly falling down the stairs from taking them too fast. The two of them breezed past the kitchen, grabbing Rose's jacket and running out the front door before anyone else noticed they were gone. Rose could hear Eliane shout her name from inside, but she kept running, dragging the Doctor behind her.
She looked back for a moment, seeing the two sisters standing in the doorway. Eliane looked shocked and somewhat hurt, but Shareen just watched them run down the street, an emotionless mask over her face.
"...Do you want to see Jackie again?"
Rose slowed to a stop, shock crossing her features as she faced the Doctor. Her heartbeat sped up, and she could barely speak.
"Do you mean it?"
"Yes. I just need a supernova and we're all set."
Rose chuckled, her eyes misting over.
"Thank you. But before we do that, we should probably go to the flat and clear out whatever we can. I need to let my family know I've alive, too."
The Doctor nodded once before breaking into a sprint, nearly pulling Rose's arm out of its socket as she struggled to match his speed.
"Allons-y, then!"
-D-O-C-T-O-R-W-H-O-
Rose pocketed her key again as she opened the front door to the flat, stepping inside. She half expected someone to greet them at the door or yell at them from the kitchen before simmering down and making them some tea. But the entire flat was deathly quiet.
"...I should pack up everything from my room, and grab a few other things. I can make you a cup of tea if you want; it might take a while."
The Doctor shook his head, taking off his coat and draped it over the back of the armchair.
"It will be faster with two pairs of hands instead of one."
Rose nodded once before walking down the hallway to her bedroom, throwing open the door. She took one step inside before stopping again, the Doctor slipping inside behind her.
"Wow... This is kind of... depressing."
Except for a few dozen pictures stuck up on the wall of Rose and her friends and family, the entire room was cleaned of everything Rose was used to; there wasn't any clothing thrown on the floor, no empty water bottles or Kleenex on the nightstand, no faint smell of perfume stuck in the air. Even the bed was perfectly made. Everything was the same; the same pink walls, pink bedding, and pink furniture, but everything felt... empty. No one had been in here for a long time.
"I keep forgetting that I haven't stayed here for more than a few hours or a day in over a year. Mum must've come in and cleaned everything."
Rose walked over to the closet, pulling open the doors. The insides were just as organized as the rest of the room, everything by type and color just like how Rose liked it.
"Okay, let's get to work. There are some packing boxes in the hall closet; could you go grab them? I'll start getting stuff ready to pack."
The Doctor nodded, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Rose sighed, starting to shift the clothes around in the closet.
Rose suddenly quickly and cleanly started pulling clothes off of their hangers, folding them midair and placing them on the bed in piles. One for casual tops, one for dressy tops, one for jeans, one for skirts, and one for dresses. Within a couple minutes, Rose had practically everything in its pile, leaving only a few things hanging in the closet.
"How did you get everything ready so quickly?"
Rose picked up the dress pile, placing it in the top box the Doctor had set on the floor and setting the box on the bed.
"I used to work in retail, remember? Folding and organizing clothes is like second nature to me."
She put the skirts in that box too before closing it and pushing it to the back of the bed and grabbing the next box.
"Can you grab another box and put all the stuff on the closet shelves in it? It should all fit."
The Doctor nodded before grabbing a box and going over to the closet.
Rose closed the second box of tops and put her jeans in the last box before pulling the pictures off of the wall and placing those on top of the jeans.
"Are these... gymnastics trophies?"
Rose glanced over at the Doctor, who was gesturing at the top shelf in her closet, filled to the brim with her old gymnastics trophies, medals and ribbons.
"Yeah. I used to be in gymnastics. I joined a club at my school, got a bronze medal, then started taking actual classes at the athletic center. I was in for ten full years, actually, including the club and classes. Age six to sixteen. I don't even remember why I quit, but I dropped out of the classes a little while before I quit school to chase after Jimmy Stone. That was another lapse in judgement. I kind of miss them now; I was actually pretty good at gymnastics. I got gold more than anyone else in my competition group. The ones that aren't first place awards or my first bronze medal are either just participation or awards for completing a level. Actually, there's one silver in there too, I think. Just a bunch of cheap plastic trinkets that I probably should've thrown a while ago."
"I didn't even know you were in gymnastics."
"I don't really talk about it much. It's the one thing I did outside of school."
Rose cleared her throat before closing the third box.
"Anyway, just drop them all in a box. I'll find a place in the TARDIS somewhere."
Rose grabbed another box, pulling her nightstand drawers off their tracks and dumping everything into the box.
"What now?"
"Um... There's not really much else. The drawers in the closet are all that's left."
Rose started stacking the boxes, completely oblivious to the Doctor starting to pack the closet drawers.
"You know, judging by your wardrobe and room, I would've thought you were more of a pink person than red."
Rose froze, whipping her head around to see the Doctor dangling a pair of her knickers from his finger. Rose shrieked, across the room in less than a second, grabbing them out of his hand. She threw them back in the drawer before slamming it shut. Her cheeks were bright red. She refused to meet his eyes. Instead, she stared at his tie.
"Y-You go pack the living room! Anything pictures, gifts, any irreplaceable items. Now!"
The Doctor laughed as he walked out of the room, bringing another box with him. She could still his laughter even after he closed her bedroom door again. She huffed, her cheeks still hot as she opened her drawer again, throwing everything inside in another box.
Stupid Doctor.
Suddenly, a dizzy spell washed over Rose, and she stumbled, dropping to her knees. There were black dots dancing across her vision, nearly filling it completely. She closed her eyes, hoping the feeling would go away. After all, this wasn't the first time this had happened; Rose had been experiencing these dizzy spells for the last few months, but they'd been getting increasingly worse. This one made her feel like she was burning up, burning alive.
"Rose."
"Who-Who's there?"
Of all the things in the universe, Rose shouldn't have been so scared by hearing voices. But she was. Because she knew that whoever was talking to her was also causing her dizziness.
"Rose Tyler. Bad Wolf."
Rose shuddered involuntarily. She had never heard this voice before. Not in any of the other dizzy spells. But whoever or whatever it was, it knew her. She didn't know how, but it did.
"Do not...scared."
"What?"
"...Gallifrey...cannot...link"
The dizziness was gone just as quickly as it came. Rose listened for another few seconds, but the voice was gone. She was short of breath, and she still felt hot. But she no longer felt like she was burning up.
"Hey, Rose. I think I have everything-"
The Doctor nearly dropped the box in his hands when he saw Rose kneeling on the floor, her eyes glassy and her skin white as a sheet. He quickly set the cardboard box on the bed, rushing over to her. He had put his coat back on while he was in the living room, and quickly removed his Sonic Screwdriver from its pocket, on the alert.
"Rose?! Are you okay?!"
"T-There was a voice. A voice inside my head. I've never heard it before. It knew me. It knew my name. It knew me as Bad Wolf."
The Doctor's eyes went wide, and he frowned.
"You remember being Bad Wolf?"
"It took bits and pieces at a time, but I think I remember everything now."
Murmuring something under his breath, the Doctor started pacing the room. She couldn't hear him clearly, but she could've sworn he said, "Obviously not everything."
"What do you mean by not everything?"
The Doctor blew out a slow breath, then turned to face Rose.
"You asked about why we didn't go after Jack back at the Torchwood building. There's a reason for that, something that I never told you. Jack is alive, and it's because of you. Because of Bad Wolf."
It felt like someone had punched Rose in the gut. She had brought Jack back to life?
"What?"
Before continuing, the Doctor sat down on the floor in front of Rose, looking her in the eyes.
"With the power of the Time Vortex, you were able to both give and take life. You killed all of the Daleks, and brought Jack back to life. But you couldn't control it. You did it permanently. He's immortal now, Rose. And as such, he's become a fixed point in time, and can't go anywhere near the TARDIS. He's a walking phenomenon."
She had made Jack immortal? And she couldn't see him anymore because of it. What had she done...?
"What else did the voice say?"
Jack was a problem they would have to solve later. This voice was a more pressing issue.
"Nothing much. I think it was cut off. It called me by name, then said what I think was meant to be 'do not be scared'. Then it said something about 'cannot link' and… Gellifray?"
The Doctor went white himself, dropping his hand from Rose's shoulder. The Sonic Screwdriver fell out of his other hand.
"What?"
"Gallifrey."
"Oh, yeah! That was it! You've heard of it? Where is it?"
The Doctor shook his head, still in shock.
"Gallifrey was destroyed a long time ago. Long before I met you. The planet with its orange sky and snowy mountains. One of the most beautiful planets in the universe. The planet of the Time Lords."
Rose's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes as large as saucers. A look of horror appeared on her face.
"I'm sorry. I… didn't know."
"i didn't expect you to. I've never told you its name before."
The two sat in silence for another moment before the Doctor stood up, helping Rose up as well. She felt back to normal, but was still wary.
"I think I grabbed everything. Anything in your mom's room that you want?"
Rose shook her head, picking up two boxes off the bed in her arms.
"I don't want to touch anything in there. Besides, she rarely kept any pictures or anything in her room; it was all in the living room."
"Okay, then. Let's get going."
The two of them had everything inside the TARDIS in less than five minutes. Rose took one last look around the flat, breathing in the faint remainder of whatever her mother had cooked for lunch that day. She tore a piece of paper off of a notepad in the living room, writing a brief note to whoever found it explaining that Rose Tyler is alive, just traveling, and that her mother was gone and not coming back. They could interpret that however they liked: missing, dead, whichever. She signed it at the bottom before taping it to the inside of the front door.
"You ready?"
Rose nodded, closing and locking the door behind her. She took a deep breath before taking her hand off the door handle. Immediately, the Doctor took the same hand in his, smiling down at the blonde girl before they both walked down the steps. Rose would probably never set foot in that flat ever again.
"Do you want a chain for that key? We could put your TARDIS key on the same one."
Rose nodded, staring the ground at their feet as they walked down the street Rose grew up on.
"That would be nice."
Grinning, the Doctor dug around in his coat pocket for a few seconds before pulling out a thin silver necklace chain and dangling it in front of Rose's face.
"I got this a while ago for your TARDIS key, since the old chain is starting to rust. It's sterling silver. It only seems right that you put your flat key on it, too."
Rose almost started crying again as she took the chain in her hand, examining it. It was gorgeous, a shiny chain with links maybe a half of a centimeter in length. Rose reluctantly let go of the Doctor's hand to open the clasp, sliding the flat key in her jacket pocket on the chain. Carefully, she held the new chain in one hand, and removed her old chain and TARDIS key from her pocket. She never closed the hinge anymore; it stuck all the time. Sliding the key off of the rusted chain, Rose brushed her finger over the face, then slide it onto the new chain. She stared at it for another second before moving to put it on.
"Let me."
Rose nodded, handing the necklace to the Doctor and moving her hair out of the way so he could put the necklace on her. His fingers brushed her neck, and she had to stop herself from shivering at the slight contact.
"There we go."
Rose let her hair fall into place again, brushing her fingers against the two keys that now fell beside her bicycle pendant. She shoved the old chain back in her pocket. She might just keep it, anyway. For old times' sake.
"You should really stop showering me with jewelry; I'll start expecting it on a regular basis."
The Doctor shrugged, taking Rose's hand in his again.
"I'm okay with that; after all, money's no object to someone who can just ask the TARDIS to make a bank room."
Rose laughed, leaning farther into the Doctor as they walked over to the TARDIS. Her chest felt lighter than it did just after they left the flat. Maybe that was what it felt like to be around someone you loved.
-D-O-C-T-O-R-W-H-O-
"All set!"
The Doctor brushed his hands off on his coat, a proud look stuck on his face. Rose, on the other hand, was extremely nervous. She kept wringing her hands in front of her, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"What if it doesn't work? I mean, this is the first supernova we've found that's actually seemed promising, and it's been months since Canary Wharf."
"It will. Trust me. Just... stand here."
The Doctor guided Rose over to a certain spot near the console, pulling her chin so she was facing the correct way.
"Any second no-"
Before the Doctor could even finish his sentence, an image of Jackie Tyler appeared, Pete and Mickey right behind her.
"Rose!"
"Mum!"
Jackie reached out a hand to try to touch her daughter, but Rose pulled back, holding her hands palm out in front of her.
"It's not real, Mum. You can't touch me. I'm not actually there."
"...You look like a ghost. I don't want any more ghosts."
Rose gave her mother a sad smile before turning her head to address the Doctor.
"Can you make it so I'm less... transparent on her end?"
The Doctor nodded, pulling out his Sonic and aiming it in a general direction. The image of the three people on the other end solidified as well.
"Can't you come through properly?"
Rose shook her head, her expression pained. Her eyes started to mist over again for what felt like the millionth time that day.
"The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse. At least, that's what the Doctor said."
Jackie smiled ruefully, raising an eyebrow.
"That's never stopped him before."
"Oi!"
The Doctor walked up behind Rose, the first time he had actually engaged in the conversation. Rose actually felt more at ease with him so close in proximity to her.
"I'm a Time Lord; we live by the laws of space and time. Some of them MUST be followed."
"...So then what about the all the rules and regulations you've broken before?"
The Doctor opened his mouth to refute Rose's question, but closed it again after a moment, evidently finding no good response. She smiled triumphantly, nodding once in decision before turning back to her mother.
"I'm sorry, mum. We really can't. Not this time."
Jackie nodded, rubbing her upper arm.
"So where are you guys? We have no idea where the gap ended up coming through."
Jackie looked around at her surroundings before answering.
"Norway. About fifty miles out of Burgen, on a little beach called 'Dårlig Ulf Stranden'."
The Doctor's eyes widened, a slight amount of horror evident in his eyes.
"Dalek?"
Rose laughed once, confusing the Doctor terribly. He stared at her for a moment before she clarified for him.
"Dårlig, not Dalek. Dårlig Ulf Stranden means Bad Wolf Bay."
Now it was the Doctor's turn to laugh.
"Of all the places..."
Jackie ignored her confusion, glancing down at her watch.
"How long have we got?"
"...About three minutes."
"I can't think of what to say! Um... Oh! I'm pregnant! Three months in. We don't know what gender yet."
"How long has it been since you've gotten stuck there?"
"About a year."
"A year?! It's only been a little over a half a year on our end."
"What have you been doing?"
"I stopped by the flat after Canary Wharf. I grabbed everything from my room and some stuff from the living room. Everything else is probably gone after this long. I left a note on the back of the front door saying I was traveling and that you were gone. However they wanted to interpret that."
Jackie nodded, her face downcast.
"Oh, and I saw Shareen and her family again the same day. She punched me and called me an asshat."
Jackie laughed.
"That sounds just like her. Always the impulsive one."
"What have you been up to? Other than the baby, I mean."
"I've just been at home; your dad's still making money with his business, and both he and Mickey are working for this world's Torchwood. Doing some good in combating alien life."
Rose grinned, her eyes finally drifting over to Mickey. He just stared at her for a moment before grinning at her.
He still stood by her decision. Thank God.
"Are we ever going to see you again?"
Rose turned to Pete, who had placed his hand on Jackie's shoulder as he addressed Rose.
"...No. I'm sorry. You can't. This is it."
Pete nodded, stepping back again.
"I was afraid of that."
The image of the three of them started to go transparent again, and Rose stepped forward.
"I love you. All three of you. And I'll miss you."
"We'll miss you too, dear! Doctor, you'd better keep my daughter safe, do you hear me? Or else I'll slap you again."
The Doctor mock saluted Jackie, making her frown at him before giving her daughter one last smile. Then, they were gone.
Rose started to cry again, and she immediately turned around, burying her face in the Doctor's chest. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head.
"I'm sorry."
"Oh!"
Both the Doctor and Rose turned to look towards the door, where a redhead in a wedding dress and veil was facing it.
"What?"
The Doctor let go of Rose, his eyes wide as he turned to fully face the redhead. She turned around, her eyes widening when she saw the two people standing by the console.
"Who are you?"
Rose's jaw dropped open. She hadn't really believed that the woman was actually there.
"But-"
"Where am I, eh?"
"What?"
"What the hell is this place?"
Rose cut off the Doctor, interjecting disbelief of her own.
"What?!"
AN: So... That was my first episode (rather, partial episode) rewrite including Rose back into the main plot. I wrote this months ago, but I didn't want to start publishing the story until I was confident in how I wrote the chapters and had a good start on the season. I'm glad I did, because I ended up rewriting a large portion of this chapter a couple of weeks later.
I'm currently sitting at having three more episodes completely rewritten, and I'm hoping to finish another one in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll have at least two or three more done by the end of the summer, but I'm starting college in the fall, and I have a ton of stuff to get done before then. I'm hoping to update at least once a month - let's say the 20th for a solid date - but it might be less often once school starts up.
Please leave a review if you are able! It's positive feedback from other people that keeps me writing. ^^
EDIT: Thank you to a guest reviewer who made me aware of a couple of inconsistencies I had missed in my writing. I fixed them, now, so hopefully the story will flow better. To all readers, please make me aware of any of these issues if you see them. Thank you so much!