08/01/2009 02:49:00

Set: Before Doomsday, after 'The idiots Lantern"

Pairing: Rose/10

Genre: Agnsty? Romance-Friendshipy-hurt/comfortedy-ness

Theme:

Death

He was watching her, sitting on the TARDIS' chairs, her feet hugged to her chest, and her head buried in her arms. Sometimes, days like this would happen, and though they had both dealt with death plenty of times before, it still….it still hurt. To make that decision, that one decision that would lead the fate of one to life yet the other to death. But he was the person to decide it, he always had been and he always would be, and as he looked at the blonde sobbing, his hearts seemed to pound just that little bit faster.

He cleared his throat, inhaling and exhaling through his teeth in his typical fashion. And before Rose could even raise her head, he was at her side, his eyebrows raised, and an arm draped over her shoulder. Her head was tilted, her eyes searching his face for something- some sort of answer, some sort of….something to fix things.

"I'm guessing this is about Daniel?" The doctor asked, not even noticing that ten minutes had passed, that Rose had been leaning against him for some time now. And blimey, he was a time lord.

"He- He was only 7, Doctor….why him?" She was no longer crying, merely staring at the walls of the TARDIS as though they held the answer.

"It….it was his time to go, Rose." The Doctor said, running his free hand through his hair, staring at the same wall as his companion and letting out another sigh.

"But he was 7!"

"I know- but, if we had saved him…you know what happens, Rose."

She nodded. He didn't have to look at her to know she understood, because the rocking of her head back and forth was rubbing against his chest. They sat in silence for another few minutes, and the Doctor couldn't help but let his hand slide up and down Rose's shoulder to her elbow. She had melted into his close embrace, and Rose nearly choked on the next words she said, not know why or how they escaped her mouth.

"Why can't I…replace him?" She asked, sounding a lot more together than she felt. The Doctors comforting hand stopped the second she said it, and he pulled away a little, looking down at her with one of his most serious faces he managed to pull off.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, and she could tell by the coldness in his voice that he meant what he was saying.

"W-well, you know, back on….well, back in the store, well- it was like a store, I guess, it was sort of-" She stopped the stalling under the look she was getting from the Doctor "- well, back in the shop thingy, when- when the fridges-"
"They weren't fridges. They were body cases."

Rose wrinkled her nose at the thought of freezing your body in case of ice and preserving it for years until you were save to be unfrozen.

"Whatever they were…..they were like- dead big, right? And you pulled me out of the way-"
"Ooohh no. No. No, no and no. We've done this whole thing once before Rose! Remember, your dad!?" The Doctor said darkly, giving her a meaningful glare. Rose's lips trembled a little.

"Yeah! But this is different- I mean, well, I wouldn't have been able to think of this back then! But- well, can't we go back in time and…well, can't you like….replace the you from that time with the you from this time, and save him instead of me! O-OR! Oh my lord!"
"Time lord, actually. And no. We can't."

"No- listen to me, seriously! We could go back in time and you could do the switch with…you and save us both, just pull us both!" Rose stood up slowly, her plan seeming to make more and more sense to her with every breathing second.

"I can't."

"Yes! Yes you can!" She was grinning that grin he had once claimed as his own, and it hurt to see that, it hurt to know he would have to take it away again. His eyes fell to the floor, and before either of them knew it he was standing too, hands in his pockets.

"Rose, I can't." He muttered, looking at her, his voice in a sympathetic, yet patronizing way.

"Of course you can! We could just, well, I mean, couldn't we…"she trailed off for a second, thinking, as if racking her brain. The Doctor sighed.

"Rose, I can't save you both because….well, he was meant to die. Its just the way it works.."

"But you could-"
"Rose!"The Doctor spat.

She stopped, her bottom lip trembling slightly, hearing the seriousness in his voice, and The Doctor couldn't tell if it was out of anger up terror. He hoped it was the first one.

" There is no way of me saving you both. He was meant to die then anyway, and you know why?" He didn't wait for her to reply "Because the universe would've known that making me choose between you and a 7 year old wasn't fair."

Rose was staring at him with her large, brown, adorable eyes, and she gulped her fears away with the next few words.

"Sometimes the Universe isn't fair."
"I know that." A beat. "But….to me, that's more than not fair. I would.. I would choose.." He stopped, searching her face, only to find her silently pleading him to continue. His hands shoved back in his pockets, he let a soft smile spread over his features. "Rose, the Universe…has a way of…correcting itself, in a way. If we…If I were to go back and help that little boy and you, it would only keep on searching for him, tracking him down, and it would end up killing him."

Rose swallowed thin air, and bit her lip.

"But doesn't that mean that….all those times we've…well, we've got away from dying, doesn't that mean that I've just been….avoiding death?"

"Rose, when you're traveling with a time lord, death doesn't really chase you."

And he flashed her one of his winning grins, as she looked at him curiously. His grin faded, he was expecting a better reaction to the comment than that- she just stood, wide eyes, staring him down as if she had never seen him before.

"But- that's like cheating….cheating death. How come –How does that work??" She whispered, more to herself than him.

"Well…" The doctor had his hands stuffed in his pockets, and he walked the few steps towards her, raising his hands and placing them on either side of her face, feeling her soft silky skin against his palms. He smiled.

"Maybe I lied. Maybe it is chasing you, Rose Tyler."

Her eyes widened more, if that were even possible- a hand flew to her mouth.

"So Daniel-"

"No, that wasn't just me trying to protect you, that was his time to go."

"How do you know?" She whispered.

"Because...I would know if death was chasing you, and it isn't."

"And how do you know that?"

He pulled her closer, embracing her with his warm arms, and he could tell that she was scared just by the way she hugged him back.

"Because if it was, I would of killed it by now."


A/=N: Ahhhaaa! FIRST DRABLLE OF ROSE X DOCTOR EVER DONE.

Ohlol3 I Know, its all full of what the hells and wtf's, so lemme just explain it as much as I can.

The Doctor was trying to explain that, no matter what- if you're meant to die, the only thing you can do is….try to avoid it, but it will hunt you down and kill you the second you let your guard down.

Unless, of course, your name is Rose Tyler!

And Rose is trying to ask if maybe the Doctor could replace her life to be the one that goes instead of the 7 year olds- and of course he says no, because…well, because ya'll know why! 3

I love 10/Rose, god, I cried for like, a day watching seasons 1 and 2 in like, 2 days non-stop (SRSLY NO SLEEP XD) But, it was worth it, my love for this couple will never stop, Its going to be so sad seeing the doctor have to cope with the fact that- well, that some one is with...him rose, and its him, but not him at the same time. Far too sad . I'm happy for Rose though, but one day I hope she returns to the TARDIS- though, with her doctor, because of course, our lovely TENnent is going, and 10/Rose just…works. So bloody well.

Anyways, hope you liked the…well, the short crappy story, I have loads more ideas so I'll put them all up under this story- each chapter a new drabble or whatnot! Please review!! They really help me, and please tell me if I'm doing this whole…writing thing wrong, I never put stories up because I'm ashamed most the time! But I tried, and I'm going to try and do my best with the rest if anyone's interested. Thank you so much for reading!

Btw- I know no one can kill death, just a….cheesy line!