Hope is a dangerous thing. It wins wars and levels cities. Love is even more terrible. It is the only force(other than time) in the universe that can heal a battered spirit or piece together what hatred had destroyed. But love has a darker side, tearing down what it built up, and annihilating what it left whole.

Rose nearly laughed out loud at Cass's lemon sucking grimace. Or, one might say, banana chewing. Cass hated bananas. She turned to glare at Rose, and Rose hastily swallowed a bite of banana pancake. Naturally, it went down the wrong way. Rose erupted in a paroxysm of coughing, drawing a wave of concern from the Doctor. "Are you alright?"

Rose nodded, not trusting herself to speak. At last the coughing fit subsided. Rose changed the subject back to the Doctor's earlier offer. "I'd really like to see my parent's wedding."

The Doctor smiled at her with his customary mischief, but his eyes were curiously sad. "Your wish is my command, but be careful what you wish for." Cass squinted at him, as if trying to see if that was a quote.

Rose smiled at the Doctor, then reached across the table to lightly squeeze his hand. The Doctor caught her hand, kissing it softly. Rose didn't notice Cass staring at them with a painful kind of wistfulness. He released her hand, and stood up, sweeping up the plates and depositing them in the sink.

The Doctor grinned at Cass. "It's a shame you aren't fond of bananas. If you're still hungry, there's sandwiches in the fridge."

Cass got up, walking backwards and aiming her index finger at the Doctor. "One of these days I'm going to prank you."

She continued to walk backwards out of the galley. A few seconds later, there was a loud crash. The Doctor exchanged an amused glance with Rose. "I ought to be afraid of a threat followed by that?"

Rose winced, peering around the corner. Cass was nowhere to be found. "She's usually quite graceful."

Mental though it was, Rose could still hear the Doctor's snort. Five minutes later, the three of them gathered in the console room. There was dust in Cass's hair, and she looked slightly ruffled. The Doctor poised himself by the console, and, to Rose's great fascination, she could hear a series of calculations running through his head like a background hum.

The Doctor glanced up, smiling at Rose. "The date and time of your parent's wedding?" Rose obligingly rattled off the date and time. The Doctor grinned, and sent them tumbling through the time vortex.

Somehow, they were late. Rather an impressive feat, considering they were delivered there by a two thousand year old Time Lord in a TARDIS. Rose wore a TARDIS blue satin cocktail dress that draped to ankle length, then fanned out in a fishtail. It shimmered in the early afternoon light, and Rose loved it. She especially loved the way the Doctor looked at her.

Cass wore an ombré silk dress that resembled a sunset. It was beautiful, but Cass looked profoundly uncomfortable, fidgeting and tugging at the dress. She wore a smile that was closer to a grimace. Rose twirled in front of the mirror, then glanced back at her friend. "You okay?"

Cass seemed to be brushing invisible lint off her dress. "Just peachy. How exactly do I fit my belt and bandolier on this thing?"

Rose eyed the dress. "You don't."

Cass snorted. "Not even one concealed knife or vortex blaster?"

Rose just raised an eyebrow, reaching into her boot and pulling out a small blaster. Cass started to grin. Rose put the blaster back in her boot, and hugged her friend. Then they made their way to the console room.

The Doctor was waiting, still in the getup of leather jacket, jumper, battered slacks, and a rose-covered scarf. Rose raised an eyebrow at him. Shouldn't you be in a tux? The Doctor frowned, slight confusion passing over the bond. Why exactly should I be? Rose gave up. "Never mind," she said aloud, some loving exasperation creeping into her tone.

Five minutes later they had been buzzed into the ceremony. They slid into their seats just in time to hear Pete Tyler finish fumbling his way through the lines to the binding ceremony. Next came the reception. They were drawing some funny looks from other people, either from the Doctor's strange attire, or from the fact that he had two women with him, at least one of whom was his soulmate.

People with more than one soulmate were not impossible, just rarer than a greyhound with three fully functional tails. Monogamy happened to be the norm. Slow music came on, the cue for the first dance. Jackie and Pete slowly twirled around the floor. They were the only ones dancing the first time, as was customary.

Then the music changed, and everyone began to pile onto the dance floor. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand, gently pulling her onto the dance floor. Cass stood on the outskirts of the mass of people, watching them with a painfully wistful little smile curling her lips. Rose's heart ached for her friend.

The Doctor must've heard what she was thinking, because he rested his forehead against hers. Both of them relaxed, the tension slowly seeping out of them. The Doctor looked up, and his eyes narrowed. "Trouble."

It was then that Rose noted her mother's most pissy tones. "Get them OUT!"

Then another voice, desperately trying to mollify her. "If that's what you wish, Mrs. Tyler."

Rose turned around just in time to greet the security guard coming to meet them. Cass was also coming over to meet them. The poor security guard, who couldn't be much older than Rose and still bore a half finished soulmark, slunk over, looking terribly apologetic. "The invitations, please."

The Doctor obligingly pulled out the psychic paper, and held it up. The security guard nearly choked, caught between laughter and terror. Cass plucked the paper from the Doctor's hand, and read it aloud. "According to this, you're 'Rose Tyler's good friend'."

The Doctor was sputtering in shock. Cass grinned wickedly. "Don't deny it, Doc. I bet you give her the warm and fuzzies."

The Doctor finally got ahold of his considerable intellect, and looked pained. "Please don't call me 'Doc'. No comment on the rest." Ninety seconds later, they were out on the sidewalk.

The Doctor curled his fingers around Rose's fingers. To be honest, he was feeling a tad nervous. There were plenty of ways that this could go wrong. Rose must've caught a fragment of his thoughts or emotions, because she smiled at him, honey brown eyes sad. "My mum says that my father always said that he would be the one to get run over by a lorry during a Dalek invasion. And he was right."

To the left of them, Cass was acting strangely. Rose thought it was just her feeling lonely, but something else was going on. That second, the clock figuratively running in the Doctor's head ticked down to the moment when they would need to move. The Doctor glanced between his two companions. "It's time."

They stepped outside the TARDIS, and the Doctor registered several things very quickly. The first was two distinct, insistent buzzes. Fixed points. The second was Pete Tyler, with a frenzied lorry driver bearing down on him. A small family was being chased down by a Dalek. The third thing he noticed was Cass and Rose both taking off in opposite directions, running as if the hounds of hell were on their heels. "Rose! Cass!"

But the buzzing had turned into a sickly wrong feeling, one that the Doctor had only experienced a handful of times before. It was a fixed point - or in this case, two of them - unraveling. Out in the street, Pete Tyler popped upright, the lorry rolling safely past. A quivering knife stuck in precisely the right spot in the Dalek. Cass and the little family were hurrying away.

The Doctor briefly wondered where the heck Cass had gotten a Gallifreyan tachyon blade - so named because it held an edge so fine it could split a tachyon. It also happened to be one of half a dozen things that could kill a Dalek. The two groups of refugees, led by Rose and Cass, converged on him. Rose saw the Doctor's expression, and stopped cold. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

The Doctor felt a growing anger at the futility of it all. The Time War was ready to crash down on the universe, and one fit of compassion might send the universe to its demise. "Later."

The Doctor turned to the young woman who looked so much like Cass. A snippet of conversation swam up in the Doctor's memory, and the Doctor identified her as Nadia, Cass's mother. The man was James, her father. And the toddler was none other than Cass. The Doctor focused on Nadia. "Think. What were you planning on doing here?"

The Doctor noted the oversized garment bag in Nadia's hand, and the church behind them. He almost expected her answer. Nadia frowned at him, as if trying to place him. Then she decided to answer. "We're getting married. First time we've been able to afford it."

Nadia glanced over the Doctor's shoulder at the church. The Doctor smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Of course! The church! The church. Well, don't you think it's time for your wedding?"

If the reapers arrived, then an old structure would be their best chance of survival. Unfortunately, the oldest structures still standing were only about four hundred and fifty years old. Even worse, the church wouldn't stand against the Daleks, and certainly not the Time Lords if they should decide to raze the planet. And so the bizarre bevy obediently trooped up the stairs.

Try as he might, the Doctor couldn't quite block out Rose's hurt and bewilderment, nor the feeling of her gaze boring into the back of his head. Nor did he want to. The Doctor had the sinking feeling that this was as much his mistake as hers.

Once they were inside the church, the Doctor took Rose's hand, pulling her aside. His touch was gentle, but his blue eyes flashed with anger… and was that a hint of fear? Rose couldn't feel anything from the bond, and that alarmed her more than anything else. "What in the Howling were you thinking?" The Doctor bit off.

Rose tipped her chin up, and met his gaze squarely. She was starting to feel angry herself. "How should I know? You haven't told me anything!"

The Doctor breathed in through his nose, then began to talk. He outlined what a fixed point was, and how the universe would end if he didn't do something. Fear - for her, and so many others - leaked through the bond, washing away Rose's anger, and replacing it with a chunk of ice in the pit of her stomach. Rose hugged herself. "But they're just three people. Three ordinary people. What can they do?"

The Doctor smiled wryly. "I think," the Doctor said softly, "you'll find there is nothing quite as powerful as an ordinary person determined to make use of their time here. Ordinary people flew to the stars, started wars and ended them, and saved lives."

The Doctor was gazing at her as if he thought she could do all of those things, and more. It was an intoxicating feeling, the idea that someone else believed in you without reservation.

The Doctor abruptly drew Rose in for a hug, and kissed her hair. I'm not going to lose her. Rose stayed there for a long time, pretending she hadn't heard that unspoken thought. They stepped apart, and the Doctor cocked his head, listening intently. "It's starting." Outside the church, complete silence reigned, and in that silence, monsters made themselves at home.