Another story written in my Alternatives series. This one based off of Age of Steel.
Getting Out
He had to owe it to Mickey. That one really knew how to make an exit.
An exit that, with little trouble, will make sure that Rose was definitely out of his life for as long as he would live.
He had seen the way Mickey had started growing as a person. From the scared boy that held onto Rose's legs for dear life at the sight of him and his TARDIS to the man now, standing tall and straight, telling Rose that he was leaving, that she didn't need him, that he was going to live his own life.
A life without her.
Rose was crying, and Mickey looked like he was too, but tears then were definitely allowed and called for. Mickey was getting out. And he was doing it for all the right reasons.
Why couldn't Rose see that?
Soon after, they were back in the TARDIS and Rose was off in her bedroom, this time truly upset. He wouldn't be going in there and finding her painting her nails this time. He'd find her either in an exhausted sleep, or crying.
Mickey's leaving had been a big blow to her. A blow not so much to do with her heart and how she felt about him, but the words he had used as he had told her he was staying behind to help the alternate Earth with the defeat of the Cybermen.
He had taken a direct stab at her and she felt it keenly.
Because she had honestly thought that he would stay just because she told him he should. That he should stay on the TARDIS with her and be there at her beck and call.
But Mickey had grown so much as his own person, that he realised he didn't need Rose Tyler in his life anymore. That he needed to get out for his own sake, and he had gone out a hero. Someone the Doctor was truly proud to have had as a companion.
He was used to people he cared about leave like this. Either to their own planet, whether their time or not didn't matter, or to another. He had even lost to an alternate universe before. He never really got over the loss of anyone he travelled with, because he kept them all close, Mickey included, but he always did the right thing and let them go when they truly wanted to.
No matter how much it had hurt.
Sure, he did sometimes try to make them stay, like Rose had, but he usually had a reason for it. Like with Adric, who had wanted to go back, but coming from an alternate universe himself, it was extremely dangerous. In the end, Adric had wanted to stay on board by his own choice, but died shortly after, because of the Cybermen.
Shaking his head and sighing, he went off to his own room for a bit of a rest. It had been a rather exhausting few days, and the Cybermen were bringing back bad memories.
Bad memories or no, he managed to fall into a deep, pleasant sleep. A sleep he had needed for quite a while. A sleep he was rudely woken up from by someone shaking his shoulder.
"Hmph, wha...?" he managed to get out, before he opened his eyes and blinked up at Rose. Rose who was frowning at him.
"I was banging on your door for over a minute," she stated, before letting go of his shoulder and sitting on his bed, close to his head.
"Sorry. I fell asleep. You wanted something?"
She nodded, the expression on her face turning to one of sadness. "Can we go back for him, do you think? I mean, the TARDIS still has a little of that energy left, right? It wouldn't take much..."
Sighing, he shook his head and sat up, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry, Rose. No. He made his own choice and I have to honour that. He wanted to stay behind. Do some good. Live his life that way. It was a good thing for him to do. Plus the hole we fell through is now closed. There is no way back."
"But I want him back, Doctor. Doesn't that mean anything?!"
He shrugged and rubbed his eyes, still tired and wanting to just go back to sleep, but knowing Rose wouldn't leave him alone until she was either satisfied with his answer, or until she was tired of trying to get a yes out of him. He hoped she ended up satisfied with it, because he didn't want to have to go through this every day for god knew how long.
"Sure it means something. It means you'll miss him. So will I. But I can't keep him on board against his will. He wanted to leave, it's his choice and that is what truly matters. He feels like he is doing some real good there. I don't think he felt that very often in our universe."
Her look of sadness was shifting into a familiar look of stubbornness. He sighed. It was going to be a long night.
"I'll never see him again!"
He stared at her. Of course she wouldn't. That was half the point Mickey had been trying to make. He'd never see him again either. And neither will...oh god...
"Personally, Rose, I'm more worried about how Mickey's leaving like this will affect your mother."
Now Rose's face was showing only confusion. Well, at least that was an improvement. "My mum? Why?"
He shook his head and sighed loudly. "You honestly don't know? You, who give me Mickey's life story and a lecture about him, don't know?"
"Know what?!"
"That by the time he just left, he was closer to your mother than he was to you. That he was a close, personal friend of your mother's. That he was someone she could talk to. Someone she could trust. Someone who knew. She's just lost the only person who she could confide in. And she doesn't even know...Rose, I'm setting the TARDIS for your home."
He needed to let Jackie know. Right then it seemed the right thing to do, the only thing to do.
Rose nodded at him, still with a slightly confused look on her face as she left his room to get changed, as he got out of bed and reached for his suit.
By the time they reached their destination, the TARDIS having landed them right in Jackie's living room, Rose was rushing into her mother's arms and crying all over again.
When Jackie asked, he knew he'd have to wait until Rose was out of earshot to explain it to her. So, he'd explained right then and there that they had been far away.
Time for a proper explanation could be done when Rose went off to visit with her friends since it was not something Rose needed or wanted to hear.
It was, however, something Jackie needed to know.
Things were never easy for him anymore. They wouldn't be easy for Jackie either.
And that was something Rose could never understand.