The Doctor learned long ago that even with a sentient timeship, the past remained the past, no matter how much you wished it otherwise. You could visit the year five billion and see the end of the Earth, or become embroiled in the War of 1812. But short of engendering catastrophic consequences, you couldn't bring back the dead, nor fix your mistakes.
And Rose Tyler, the woman he had loved and lost, was most certainly dead, or stranded, alone and lost, in a universe not her own. Even though he could check now, the Doctor couldn't bear to find out. The Doctor shook himself free from his thoughts, and raised a bushy silver eyebrow at Bill Potts, who stood across the console from him, uncharacteristically quiet. "Well? Shall I drop you off back at home?"
Bill glanced at him, and the Doctor could almost hear the cogs turning behind those brown eyes. "It travels in time. So maybe Trafalgar Square, Christmas 2017? I dunno, it just sounds like a good time."
Grumbling until the TARDIS mentally shushed him, the Doctor strode around the console, setting the coordinates. He flipped the dematerialisation switch with a flourish. With the familiar grinding of ancient engines the Doctor had heard thousands of times, the time rotor began to move, and the console room began to sway. Bill grinned, and the Doctor couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. Eventually the motion of the time rotor ceased, and the Doctor checked the scanner out of habit.
Then he did a double take. "June 12th, 2004? What was that for, old girl?"
The Doctor glanced up to tell Bill that Christmas was cancelled. Bill was not there. Nor was she anywhere in the console room. The Doctor let out a chiming Gallifreyan curse, and strode for the doors, throwing them open. He really hoped that Bill hadn't gone far. That girl had an eye for trouble better than Ace's.
The instant the Doctor stepped through the doors, a wall of sound loud enough to temporarily stun even a Time Lord hit his eardrums, causing him to momentarily falter. That roar was the collective voice of the truly enormous mob surging and retreating like the ocean tide, screaming obscenities as they went. The mob had barely noticed the TARDIS or the Doctor, their wrath focused on three huddled figures. The largest one the Doctor instantly recognised as a female Qleyr, the second had Bill's Afro, and the third… The Doctor's hearts sank.
The third was clearly an unconscious Rose Tyler, battered and bruised as she was. Did the universe want him messing up his own timeline? Apparently the answer was an unequivocal yes. The mob surged again, trying to get at the two humans. Someone screamed obscenities referring to Rose's economic status, and Bill's race, and the Doctor had had enough. Apparently the Qleyr had too, as she backhanded a middle aged woman who was attempting to beat Rose about the head with her shopping.
Bill spotted the Doctor, and yelled something that was lost in the roar of the mob. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, fiddling with the settings. Then he pressed a button, and a burst of sound erupted from the screwdriver in a deafening pulse. Abruptly the mob broke apart, people running every which way in confusion.
In under a minute, they'd dispersed. A beaky-nosed woman in jeans and a black leather jacket remained for a long moment, staring at the Doctor with palpable menace. Then she stalked off, moving with liquid grace. The Doctor ignored her, moving to scoop up Rose. His last thought before his fingers met soft cloth and denim was that this was all wrong. Time was warping, and the Doctor didn't know if he'd live long enough to find out why.
-•
Bill was not amused. She planned on having words with the TARDIS. Or whatever one had with a telepathic timeship. They were in Trafalgar Square all right, but it appeared to be the middle of summer, and Bill had a sinking feeling that it certainly wasn't 2017. Bill ducked her head, scowling, and followed the Doctor as he carried the unconscious girl into the TARDIS, the dinosaur with too-intelligent eyes trotting after her. Silence reigned until they were inside the console room. Then the dinosaur whirled on the Doctor, feathered ruff flaring and tail lashing.
"Time Lord," it growled in a gravelly, inexplicably feminine voice paradoxically edged with a trill. The Doctor clutched the unconscious young woman closer to his chest, and stood very still, except for the tilt of his head. "I am. Now if you please, I need to get Rose here to the infirmary. Possible brain hemorrhages wait for no one." In his usual grumpy fashion, the Doctor turned around and strode away without waiting for an answer. But Bill couldn't help but notice the way he held Rose like she was made of glass. Or how he'd occasionally glance down at her with something akin to love in his gaze. Bill had never seen him look at anyone else like that. She thought that just maybe, here was someone who the Doctor would kill or die for. The question was, just who was this Rose? Bill and the dinosaur exchanged wry looks.
Then Bill grinned mischievously. "I know a truly awesome game room."
-•
The Doctor ran his sonic screwdriver over Rose's scalp, listening to the quiet, soothing bleeps it emitted, and feeling the rush of information it fed into his central nervous system. The good news was that she didn't have a brain bleed, or a concussion.
Amazingly enough, she'd only been knocked unconscious, and given a few impressive bruises. He could probably thank the Qleyr for that. The Doctor reached out, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Then he stood and left the room, leaving Rose Tyler lying on a hospital cot.
-•
Never play Equate with a dinosaur. Though Bill knew that Kora would probably not appreciate the comparison. Kora was one of the Qleyr, a race specialising in living technology, native to the Kasterborous constellation. Kora slapped down a last tile, sending her points total skyrocketing.
Kora gave her an amused grin that showed off plenty of dagger teeth the size of pocket knives. "I win. Care to try again?"
Bill huffed, and crossed her arms, but a smile tugged at her lips. "Not in a million years. Let's play air hockey or something, and see if you can't rig the system on that?"
Kora grinned unrepentantly, mirth dancing in those rainbow irises. Bill shook her head, smiling, and led the way to the air hockey table. A few minutes later, the thought that had been nagging at her resurfaced. "Did you notice anything odd about Rose - that girl?"
Kora snorted. "Other than the fact that he knows her?" Kora paused to take advantage of Bill's inattention to score another goal, bringing her points total up to six. The machine played a cheery little song that Bill thought was entirely inappropriate. Bill groaned, and thumped the air hockey table until it reset. Kora continued in a thoughtful tone of voice. "Now that you mention it, I could've sworn that I've seen an image of her on Gallifrey itself. But it was only titled Bad Wolf."
Bill wasn't sure she wanted to consider the implications of that, so she seized on another topic. "Earlier you called the Doctor a Time Lord. Is Gallifrey his home world?"
Kora bobbed her head in a nod. Angling her head sideways, multi hued eyes narrowing, Kora began to manoeuvre for another point. Not happening. Bill's eyes narrowed, and she managed to block the puck, and send it careening back into the goal. The Doctor cleared his throat from the doorway, where he leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pockets. Kora and Bill both turned around, temporarily abandoning the air hockey table.
The Doctor gazed at them, face impassive, but his eyes betrayed a storm of unknown emotions. "I need you to keep an eye on her. She'll be waking up soon, and there's something I need to handle."
Bill crossed her arms, staring the Doctor down. "Aren't you gonna tell us who she is, and why you let her on the TARDIS?"
The Doctor turned away, his face brought into sharp focus by the light and shadows playing across it. "Her name is Rose Tyler, and in her future and my past, I lost her."
Bill just stared at the Doctor, astounded by the things left unsaid. Kora's tail swished to and fro, like a cat calculating odds. The Doctor had apparently decided that he had revealed enough, and started walking in the direction of the medbay. Bill, still shaking her head, ran to catch up. Kora strode after them.
-•
The Doctor hunted through the readout displaying the time distortions. It seemed to consist of anomalies involving his timeline and Rose's. All of it was overlaid with a certain signature that could only mean one thing. Abruptly the Doctor couldn't stand it anymore.
He had to know. He scrolled further down the tracery of fire that denoted the intertwined timelines of Rose, the human Doctor, and their TARDIS. There, at the fifty year mark, they all cut off abruptly. The only thing left was the distinctive golden flame of Bad Wolf. Hot tears pricked at the corners of the Doctor's eyes. Now there was no one left to check up on, no way to tell. Had they truly made a fantastic life for themselves, or was it all broken promises and shed tears?
Now Rose was dead, and the means to save her lay cocooned in a white blanket in the infirmary. But the Doctor couldn't. He just couldn't. The Doctor covered his face with his hands, and cried openly for the first time in too long. In the dark console room, in silence disturbed only by quiet beeps and humming, the Doctor let his hearts break all over again.
-•
Rose snuggled luxuriously into the scratchy cotton blanket and lumpy hospital type mattress. Wait a second, Rose thought. Then it all came rushing back, and Rose sat bolt upright, eyes flying open. She hadn't reckoned on the blankets. The obstreperous box-knit blanket decided it didn't want to release her, and, still thoroughly enmeshed in the blanket, Rose toppled off the bed, landing on something warm and alive. Rose and the girl struggled to their feet. The girl was quite pretty, Rose noted, with friendly features, cafe au lait skin, and dark hair. She groaned, touching the back of her head. Rose guessed that was where she had impacted the floor.
The girl grinned wryly. "I'm Bill, by the way. Bill Potts. It's not everyday that one meets a pretty girl, and even less often that she accidentally introduces your head to the floor."
Rose was in the process of unwinding the blanket and formulating a reply when a slightly irritable voice with a Scottish accent cut in. "Hello, Rose."
Rose whipped around to stare at the man leaning against the opposite wall, and the dinosaur next to him. The man was lean, with a wild shock of grey hair, attack eyebrows, and blue eyes that held a maelstrom of emotions. He was dressed conservatively, in plain but expensive Victorian style clothes. The dinosaur was just as she'd remembered, looking like a cross between a giant raptor dinosaur and a technicolor feather duster. Rose chose to ignore the dinosaur, in favour of examining her surroundings and demanding answers. Rose looked around. She appeared to be in a normal hospital room, but the more she looked, the stranger things got. Alien looking machinery poked out of cabinets, and outside the open door… Rose did a double take. Branching out like some bizarre flower, hallways split in every direction. Rose could see a horizon curve on one. Rose whirled on the older man. "What is this place? Why am I here? And how do you know my name?" Rose noted absently that the shrillness of her voice tone was starting to greatly resemble Jackie Tyler's.
She gulped, making an effort to tone it down. Bill put a hand on her shoulder, which Rose was grateful for. The man sighed. "You're on the TARDIS. She's a sentient, telepathic timeship. And as far as why you're here…" he trailed off, and scratched his neck, seemingly lost in a memory. "You saved a lot of lives, and were very important to a lot of people."
Rose snorted derisively. "Yah right. The shopgirl with no A levels." Then some details slipped into place, illuminating the situation. Rose frowned at him. "You knew me… maybe even cared about me. I died, didn't I?" He looked away, swallowed hard. Rose took that for a 'yes'. "Who are you?"
He smiled sardonically, and Rose wondered briefly if that was the only way he knew how anymore. "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord of Gallifrey."
Rose grinned at the Doctor. "Jus' the Doctor?"
A slow, happy grin split his face. "Just the Doctor."
A few minutes later, they ended up in a console room of some sort. The Doctor turned to the dinosaur, while trailing one hand absentmindedly over the console. "Right then, Kora. How does a Qleyr in good standing like you end up on a little backstreet planet like Earth?"
Kora's eye twitched, and she folded her forelegs across her chest in a remarkably human gesture. "I was the emissary for a trade deal. My capsule crashed in Scotland. Then my perception filter failed."
Rose wasn't sure if the Doctor noticed, but somehow something seemed off about her story. The Doctor nodded, eyes sharp. "I take it you want me to drop you off where you left your capsule."
-•
Something was wrong. The Doctor could feel it in his gut, felt the sharp prickles of unease, and saw the increased flashes of gold in his time senses. A pivotal moment was in the works. Kora looked pleased, and rattled off a string of epsilon coordinates. Something about those coordinates seemed familiar. Wordlessly, the Doctor strode over to the console, and began the familiar dance, Rose and Bill trailing after him. He tried not to think about what would come next.
He would wipe Rose's memory, then where would he be? Sending someone else he loved on a one way, all expenses paid trip to their death. That's where. Bill and Rose were talking quietly, but the Doctor barely heard them. He stepped back, watching the time rotor rise and fall in lazy motion, accompanied by the comforting grinding of ancient engines.
Someone touched his arm, and the Doctor looked down to see Rose watching him with concern. "You alright?" she said quietly.
The Doctor smiled at her, glad of her presence, no matter how short lived it might be. The time rotor ground to an abrupt halt, saving the Doctor from choosing whether or not to answer that question truthfully.
Kora inclined her head politely. "Thank you." Then she made for the doors.
The three of them watched the Qleyr go. The Doctor flicked on the scanner, and Bill and Rose peered at the screen curiously. Outside, Kora stood watching the TARDIS. Behind her, a manor house loomed in silent foreboding, its pristine grounds marred only by an empty, smoking crater the size of several cars laid side by side. The Doctor knew that manor house. It was where everything had begun to go wrong.
Bill was staring intently at the crater. "It's empty. Which means…"
Bill trailed off, and Rose took up her thread of thought. "That she wasn't lying about the crash, but somebody was there to clean it up. Maybe she was even in collusion with them."
Bill jabbed a finger triumphantly at the readout. "Maybe she even faked the crash in the first place! After all, she got away without a scratch on 'er."
Rose nodded, warming to the idea. Then she glanced at the Doctor, an appreciative smile on her lips. "And you just gave her the rope to hang herself. In a manner of speaking, anyway."
Then she outright grinned. "And when she starts causing trouble, we'll be there to stop her!"
The Doctor's hearts twisted into unrecognisable knots. "No," he said gently, "we won't be. I will. I'm sorry, Rose, but it's time for you to forget, even if only for another year."
Rose took a step back, tilting up her chin in silent defiance. "Maybe I want to live! Maybe I want to stay with you. I'm guessing time changes itself all the time, but it doesn't rip apart. Won't it heal?"
The Doctor ran a frustrated hand through his hair, and met Rose's gaze. "It might heal, but at the expense of both of our lives, not to mention countless others!"
Rose glanced away, exhaling. Then she looked at the Doctor, eyes intense. "Life is a game of risks. However, I'll leave it up to you. Is it worth it?"
They studied each other for a fraught moment, then the Doctor dared to let the words form. "Yes, it is," he breathed.
Unfortunately for him, timelines live and die on decisions. And the Doctor had just made a pivotal decision, one that could save or destroy him. The moment the words left his lips, the Doctor's time senses whited out, and he collapsed to the floor.