Hey all – I was going back over some of my fic and realized this needed severe editing, so here I am, fixing it. I'm gonna be reuploading all the chapters I've written previously and then finishing it out. So don't fear, I haven't abandoned this, I just needed to do some serious revamping! I like this version of it a lot better and I hope you do too.
The Doctor was in awe. She was suspended in the air, a golden energy floating before him, and he was in awe. His TARDIS. His TARDIS, who didn't care that he pushed when he should have pulled, who had always taken him where he needed to go. He had stolen her, and she had stolen him – they had run away together.
"I've been looking for a word," she said to him. "A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now."
He did not want her to leave. She wouldn't go anywhere, not really, but she was here in fronot of him. He could reach out and touch the dirty, torn dress she wore, or run a hand through her dark, tangled hair. He could talk to her. He did not want the moment to end. His voice was hoarse when he responded.
"What word?"
"Alive," she told him, tears in her eyes.
"Alive isn't sad," he insisted. He almost laughed.
"I never got to tell you," she said.
He closed his eyes, a tear slipping down his cheek.
"Goodbye," he said. Everyone always said goodbye to him. Even his TARDIS, now, after hundreds of years.
"No," she laughed. "I just wanted to say hello. Hello, Doctor. It is so very nice to meet you."
She reached out a hand, brushing his cheek gently. A smile crossed his face. His wonderful, big, blue box, always telling him exactly what he needed to hear.
"Please," he said. His voice was timid, like that of a shy child. "I don't want you to do."
"I am always here, my Thief. I have a gift for you. She will remind you of that."
Her words stunned him into a brief silence, his mind racing as he considered the possibilities of what she meant.
"She?" he asked, hearts pounding.
"My Wolf," Idris said.
The golden glow in the console room intensified, and the Doctor, Amy, and Rory squinted and flinched away from the brightness. The empty walls of the TARDIS hummed with life again, filling the air with a wonderfully familiar energy. The room still seemed to shimmer as the light began to pale and fade away. On the floor, where Idris had stood, there lay a crumpled, pale figure. Blonde hair spilled onto the glass floor. There was a ringing silence that filled the room, the comforting hum of the TARDIS fading into the background. Time seemed to freeze as the three TARDIS occupants stared at the new arrival.
"Who is she?" Amy asked aloud, her voice quiet but rushed.
The Doctor stood entirely still, his hearts clenching. A wave of emotions crashed over him – guilt, confusion, hope – and he finally took a step forward. He choked out one word.
"Rose," he said. The rasping sound escaped his throat, and suddenly, he couldn't move fast enough. Dropping to his knees beside the unconscious girl, he let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. He gathered her up in his arms, brushing her hair out of her face. Clutching her fragile body to his chest, he stood silently, and he ran to the medical bay, hearts pounding with every step.
Amy immediately followed close behind, afraid to ask any questions. She had never seen the Doctor so quiet. Watching him lay the girl on an observation table, she chewed on her lip. She felt Rory's hand on her shoulder, but her gaze never left the mysterious blonde girl.
Rose, she thought. The Doctor had called her Rose.
The Doctor was intensely focused on her, unconscious before him. He was scanning her over with his sonic screwdriver and muttering to himself, bringing the device close to his face to read the results. He glanced down at her and froze for a moment.
"Impossible," he breathed, reaching forward and brushing Rose's hair from her face. Her skin was hot to the touch – too hot, he noted – and his eyes darted back and forth, checking for signs of responsiveness as his fingers pressed against her neck, searching for a pulse. He found it quickly, a steady thudding beneath his touch, strong if not a bit too fast.
"Doctor."
Rory's voice snapped him out of his concentrated state, his eyes snapping up to meet his companion's.
"I'm a nurse," Rory said. "Tell me what I can do to help."
"She's burning up," the Doctor said. "Get a cold washcloth, try to cool her down. I need to get her heart rate back to a more normal level."
Rory nodded, moving to rummage through the cabinets to get what he needed. Amy watched on quietly, not wanting to get in the way, all the while wondering.
Who is she?
The Doctor hooked up Rose to an IV, feeding medicine into it that would bring down her temperature and relax her. He was moving to take another scan with the sonic screwdriver when Rose began to convulse, her entire body shaking.
"No, no, no," the Doctor said frantically, rushing to her side and cradling her head, holding her in one place.
"Here, let me," Rory said, reaching for her. "Get what you need to stop this."
The Doctor rushed for a syringe, rummaging through the cabinet drawers and filling it with a clear liquid. Moving back over to Rose, he reached for her arm and injected it. After a moment, the shaking stopped, and after another quick scan with the sonic, he confirmed that her heart rate was dropping back to normal levels.
Then, Rose gasped suddenly, a cloud of golden breath floating into the air. The Doctor scanned it quickly and his eyes widened at the results.
"Huon particles," he murmured, his brow furrowing. He rushed over to a machine, typing away furiously at a keyboard.
"What did you say?" Rory asked.
"Of course!" the Doctor exclaimed, with a sudden burst of joy. "Huon particles! Just like Donna!"
"What are – " Rory started to say, but he was interrupted by Amy.
"Who is Donna?"
"An old friend," the Doctor half-explained, turning his attention back to Rose, who was now lying still on the observation table. Her chest rose and fell steadily, and the Doctor was suddenly exhausted.
"She's going to be okay," he said, a tiny smile crossing his face, and laughter bubbling in his chest. He shook his head with disbelief. "Rose Tyler."
"What happened to her?" Amy asked, watching the Doctor for his reactions – any reaction that would indicate to her who this girl was, what she meant to him. Because she had a sneaking suspicion that she was incredibly important, but she couldn't quite lay her finger on it.
The Doctor answered her question absentmindedly, still staring.
"Her body is tired. Dimension-jumping isn't easy on the body, especially without a capsule – and this time, it was the TARDIS, pulling her through the cracks…"
"We'll just," Rory said as the Doctor trailed off, "give you a moment, yeah?"
Amy met her husband's eyes and he nodded toward the door. She silently agreed and let him guide her out into the hallway. She glanced back at the Doctor just before she closed to door.
"We'll meet you in the library," she said. The Doctor nodded mutely. As the heavy door fell closed slowly, she watched him step closer to Rose and grasp one of her hands in his, lacing their fingers together. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears.
"He's crying, Rory," she whispered. "My god, he's crying."
"Leave him be," Rory said gently. The door fell shut with a gentle click, and the couple made their way down the corridor, their minds reeling. If Rory noticed that Amy clutched at his hand just a little tighter than usual, he said nothing.
/
They waited in the library for ages, it seemed. Rory sat patiently on the couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as he watched Amy pace back and forth, rambling the whole time.
"Who could she possibly be?" she asked aloud for the fifteenth time in the last hour.
"Relax, Amy," Rory said, reaching out and catching her hand as she rushed past him again. His voice was soft. "We just need to wait for an explanation. He will tell us, Amy, when he's ready. You know how he is."
"An explanation," came a familiar voice. The Doctor stood in the library doorway, leaning up against the frame. "I do believe I owe you one of those, don't I?"
"Is she awake?" Rory asked. The Doctor shook his head.
"She won't be for a while. I'd say thirty-six hours, at the very least. She's better, though. Stable," the Doctor said. He wrung his hands together, the way he always did when he was nervous or worried or uncomfortable. Amy wondered which it was this time. Maybe a mix of all three.
"Good," Rory said, and the room was silent again. He and Amy stared at the Doctor, who rubbed his eyes and tugged at one end of his bowtie, leaving it untied around his neck. He looked tired, Amy thought. But there was a glow in his eyes, too, one that she had never seen before. And she knew, instinctively, that it was because of the woman lying unconscious in the infirmary.
"Her name is Rose Tyler," he said, a small smile gracing his features. Through the exhaustion, Amy caught the twinkle in his eyes. "She's…she was…we were…"
The Doctor trailed off, unsure of how to continue. How to describe Rose Tyler, the shop girl that turned his life upside down? It seemed an impossible task to do so in one word.
"She used to travel with you, yeah?" Amy guessed, prompting him. The Doctor nodded.
"Yes."
"How did you meet her?"
The Doctor smiled at that.
"I blew up her job," he said.
"Typical," Rory muttered, and the Doctor smiled wider.
"She's from London," he continued. "I met her in 2005." His smile dimmed a bit. "It was…it was right after the Time War. I was bitter and broken. She stayed with me anyway. Through a regeneration, even. She – she made me better. I lost her."
The look on his face made Amy want to cry – it was distraught, damaged – a vast change from the silly, happy mask that the Doctor usually wore. She had seen him angry, she was familiar with the Oncoming Storm – but a sad Doctor, weighed down by heavy memories, was an unfamiliar one. It was a brand new side of him. He made his way to an armchair across from his companions and sat down with a sigh, shrugging off his tweed jacket and flinging it over the back of the furniture.
"She was stuck. In a parallel world. I thought she was gone forever. We were separated for years," he continued. "But then she came back. Hopped from universe to universe until she found me. She…well. Things happened. And I had to send her away again. To be with her family, to have a normal life. To be happy."
"But now she's back," Amy said, trying to understand. "The TARDIS…the TARDIS brought her back?"
"Yes," the Doctor said, his demeanor brightening. "She did. Thank you, dear." He looked up at the ceiling.
The humming of the ship increased in pitch and the lights brightened for a moment.
"But – you said you left her to be happy. To be with her family, to have a normal life," Rory said. "What's changed?"
"I don't know," the Doctor said honestly.
"How did the TARDIS bring her back? How can she do that?"
"I'm not sure, exactly. I've got theories, but I won't be able to say for sure until she wakes up and I can run more tests."
"Her name is Rose, you said?" Rory asked.
"Yes," the Doctor said, smiling. He looked up at his companions, his eyes brightening. "She's wonderful. Brilliant. You'll love her." His tone was so certain, so confident, and Amy's eyes widened as she was struck with realization.
"You loved her," she said, and it wasn't a question. The Doctor paused, swallowing nervously and running a hand through his floppy hair.
"I…" he started, but he choked on the words. Amy and Rory were silent, waiting for him to finish.
"I did," the Doctor finally said, but it was so quiet they barely caught the words. "I still do. I love her."
The Doctor wasn't looking at them – his gaze was on the floor and he seemed to be daydreaming, or remembering. Amy had the sneaking suspicion that he'd never said the words aloud before. The gentle smile on his face, though, warmed her heart – she glanced at Rory. She knew what it was like to love someone.
"I can't wait to properly meet her," Rory said, offering the Doctor a grin. The Time Lord looked up and met his eyes, his smile growing.
"You'll love her," the Doctor said. He cleared his throat after a moment of silence. "Well, it's been an awfully long day, hasn't it? You humans need your sleep!"
The Doctor stood up quickly. His usual, perky attitude was suddenly back, a spring in his step as he bounded toward the door. He paused when he realized his companions weren't following, just watching him.
"Come along, Ponds!"
Amy shook her head, but a smile crossed her face as she grabbed Rory's hand and they stood up to follow him.
