Here I am with another story! I think I'm getting better at writing Doctor Who fics. I don't know how I came up with this one. I was driving through a parking lot at my local grocery store today and this line popped into my head: "There are set lines in reality, but sometimes the lines get blurred." Then I though how that could apply as a reunion fic for Rose and the Doctor. I don't know how I came up with that, I was thinking about how I missed a parking spot and what I wanted for lunch and everything that wasn't that line. Or that story. So I got out my laptop, went to the cafe in the store and started writing. I literally have no idea what brought this whole thing on, but I love how it turned out. I hope you all enjoy it too. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, leave a review after you finish. I spent a lot of time today working on this and I really want to know what you think. Please and thank you! Peace out.
~Wolfie
Another storm was on the way. This had been the fifth storm in a row. Every night the wind would whip through the air as it ripped down branches and blew lightweight objects across the ground. Icy cold rain cascaded down like a waterfall, as it was illuminated by the frequent flashes of lightning.
Rose was never one to let bad weather though. That night was spent like many nights. She sat at her desk, typing away. From her office, thirteen stories up, the storm seemed even bigger and more dangerous than anything. Most people would have fled the building long ago. In fact, most of them had. Torchwood employed almost five hundred people ranging from researchers, to security, to field specialists. In the middle of the storm though, Rose was the only one in the entire building.
There was so much work to be done, and Rose really wanted to get it all done before she left for her vacation with her husband the following morning. Every year she and the Doctor took a weeklong vacation. It was different every year. This year they were going hiking in the Alps. If Rose wanted to fully enjoy every second of this trip, she had to get this work done tonight.
The computer beeped loudly, as if it was screaming at Rose to stop what she was doing. With a frown Rose clicked on a button in the top left corner and the beeping ended.
Outside the wind howled horribly and Rose watched as streaks of lightning danced across the sky. Through the rain glazed windows she could see the lights of the city below her. Most of the cars had vanished from the street, which made the streets look like they were covered with little red dots rather than thick red lines.
The sudden shrill ringing of her cell phone caused Rose to jump. She scrambled for the noisy object until she finally found it hiding in her lunch sack.
"Rose," the Doctor's voice called out, "what am I supposed to do if she refuses to drink her bottle?" Rose chuckled softly. Tonight was the Doctor's first night of taking care of Lily, their daughter, on his own. Her mum was ill, and her dad and Tony were on a father-son trip. Reluctantly, the Doctor offered to take care of their daughter, even though he hadn't 'taken care of kids in eons' as he reminded her as she was walking out the door.
"Did you warm it up for her?" Rose asked. At thirteen months, Lily was already extremely picky. Much like Rose had been when she was a child.
"Oh. How do I do that?"
"Put some water in a saucepan on the stove and heat it up. Don't boil it though. Then put the bottle in for five minutes. Check the temperature by putting a little bit on your wrist. She should drink it then." The other end of the phone line was silent, and Rose assumed that he was trying to process the list of instructions that she had given him. Rose knew that he would try his best, but he had been right, taking care of kids was not one of his strongest skills. He told her before Lily had been born that the physical caring would not be something he could do well, but he would teach her so many things about science and math and space. It was an unspoken agreement between them, so doing this was very far out of the Doctor's comfort zone.
Rose was about to ask if he had gotten all of the instructions when he spoke up. "All right, I think I got that all down. I'll get her down eventually. I'll see you when you come home Love. Be careful. This storm seems worse than the others."
"I will. I should be leaving in about an hour or so. I love you."
"Love you too." Rose smiled and ended the call. She set her phone down on the desk to her and turned back to the computer screen. Outside the storm continued to rage, but Rose was determined to get this work done so she could get home to her family.
Over the sound of a siren, Amy Pond was able to scream out, "Doctor what's happening?" Her eyes followed the Doctor as he frantically ran around the console.
"No! No! No! Not good. This is not good!" he yelled while flipping switches and pressing buttons. There was some sort of an explosion under their feat, throwing Amy and the Doctor to the ground.
"Doctor!"
"We trapped in a space storm! Things are going to get bumpy pretty fast. Hold on to something!" He sprang back up to his feet, only to fall right back again when another violent shake passed through the room. Amy glanced over at the Doctor. His bow tie was askew, and his hair was more rumpled than normal.
The Doctor looked back at his young companion, and a sad smile traced is lips. "Sorry Pond, things are going to get a little bumpy."
Rose didn't think that the storm could get any worse. She was wrong. The wind howled so harshly, she thought it was going rip the building right off the ground. "There's no way I can try to get home in that. I better call the Doctor," she muttered to herself.
She glanced down to where she put her phone. The spot was now covered with a pile of paper. With an annoyed sigh, Rose began sifting through the sheets. Most of it was junk so she dumped it into a box at her feet to be taken into recycling in the morning.
Another bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, and the office went dark. Startled, Rose spun around in her chair to look at the storm. Frequent bolts of lightning made cracks in the clouds, lighting the room. In a few seconds the backup generators would turn on and Rose would be able to see. Feeling the desk behind her, Rose was able to find her phone. Instinctively, she typed in her number and waited to see if it would ring. She knew that the Doctor's cell phone wouldn't work due to the electric storm. Her phone on the other hand, juiced up by the Doctor's chip, was unaffected by electrical storms like this.
There was a cackle of electricity and a faint voice could be heard. "Rose? Are you there?"
"Doctor? I can barely hear you. I have to wait the storm out. It's impossible to drive in this," Rose yelled. She wasn't sure if he could hear her or not. It sounded like their phone connection was barely hanging on. "Sweetheart, I'll call you when the storm is over." Rose really hoped that the Doctor could hear her. If not, he would sit around the house and be worried every second until she came home. A buzz from the phone told Rose that the call had been lost. There was probably no power at her house.
It was then that Rose realized that the power had still not come on. "Generator must be screwed up," Rose grumbled. She got up from her desk and headed towards the stairwell. The generator box was down in the basement. It was going to be a long walk for her since the lifts would be out as well.
When she finally reached the basement, Rose was tired and irritable. She had forgotten to grab a torch, so the entire walk had been spent illuminated by the light from her mobile. At the end of the corridor stood the generator box. It wasn't Rose's job to maintain it, but she figured that she could figure it out. The generator was supposed to turn on when the main power supply was cut out. The system was charged with electricity that it stored from the main power lines. A thick cable ran up the wall and Rose knew that it led up to the roof where it connected with the power lines for the city.
The metal door came open with a squeal, and Rose began examining the various switches and buttons in the box. She found a switch that was flipped left while the others were flipped right. Assuming that the switch was the problem, Rose went to flip it. At that moment, a bolt of lightning struck the power line outside to Torchwood building. The electricity flowed through the cables, into the box, and right through Rose. The box exploded with a flurry of sparks and Rose was flown back into the wall behind her.
Tearing his eyes away from Amy, the Doctor stood up again. He was able to get over to the console and flip a few switches before the TARDIS shook again. "What's a space storm?" Amy yelled from her place on the floor.
"Flux of electrical energy. All through space there is a weak electrical field, a space storm is when that electricity grows and collides with objects in space. Aurora Borealis, that's a frequent low grade space storm."
"The Northern Lights?" Amy asked, trying to simplify what he had told her.
"Yes. And now we're trapped in one of storms. There's enough electricity out there to turn the TARDIS into a pile of smoldering ash. I have to boost the shields." Amy watched as he continued to fiddle with the controls. Whatever he was doing didn't seem to be working because the shaking in the TARDIS was getting worse.
On shaky legs, Amy got to her feet and went to stand beside the Doctor. "What can I do to help?" she asked.
"Hold those two levers," he replied, pointing to identical red and green levers in front of her hands. "Do not let go of them under any circumstances." Amy nodded and pulled the levers down. There was a weird grinding noise, but Amy continued to hold the levers steady.
On the other side of the console, the Doctor was holding a lever with his foot while pressing some buttons with both hands. Amy remembered the Doctor once saying that it took six people to fly the TARDIS, and she was sure that having a full crew would make situations like this much easier.
"The moment of truth," the Doctor called. He grinned at Amy and placed his hand on a black lever. "Geronimo!" With a snap he pushed the lever down, and for a moment everything was silent. Less than a second later the room was filled with explosions and sparks. The Doctor yelled and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
"Doctor!"
Wearily, Rose blinked and looked around. Wherever she was, it wasn't the basement. Hell, it wasn't even Torchwood. The space around her was endless, a pale creamy white in color. Rose had no sense of up, down, left, or right. "Hello?" she yelled out. Her voice seemed to carry on forever; it was like this place was beyond space.
Slowly taking a step forward, Rose found that she was able to walk. She had no idea where she was going, or where she was coming from. Walking in a random direction seemed better than standing around though.
Rose wasn't sure how long she walked. A few seconds? Minutes? Hours? Time didn't seem to pass as her legs carried her through this empty place. Ahead of her was something that didn't fit in. A single speck of color in this white world. As the figure drew closer Rose saw that it was a man of some sort. He seemed human in shape, but Rose knew quite well that it didn't mean he was human.
"Oi! Mate! Can you tell me where I am?" Rose yelled out. Slowly the man turned around to face her. He was a young man, younger than her by a several years. Shaggy brown hair lined his face, partly masking his eyes. The stranger was dressed in trousers, a tweed coat, and a bow tie. As she studied him, there was something about his eyes that was familiar to her. Before she could place who it was, his mouth opened and he uttered a single word.
"Rose."
Freezing in her spot, Rose stood before this man in shock. He knew her, but why couldn't she think of where she knew him? She had never seen this man before, but she thought that she knew him. It was his eyes; eyes that were so much older than the face of the man. There was only one being in creation that had eyes like that. With a dry mouth, Rose whispered out, "Doctor?"
He closed the space between them, standing inches from her. He had regenerated again, but it him. There was no doubt in Rose's mind that this was the Doctor. With a shaky hand, Rose lifted her arm and touched the side of the Doctor's face. After all of these years, it seemed impossible that he could be right in front of her.
At her touch, the Doctor shut his eyes and sighed. He had all but forgotten what it felt like to be in the presence of Rose. Letting his emotions take over him, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "You're actually here," he whispered in her hair.
"Yeah, but where is here?" Rose asked as she returned the hug. Rose was confused by what was going on. Here she was, in some white world, hugging the man that used to be her Doctor. This was the man that provided the DNA for her husband, but now he was completely different.
The Doctor let go of Rose and looked around him. "Not sure. Last thing I remember was being in the TARDIS with Amy. There was an electrical storm, and the old girl got zapped. The TARDIS, not Amy. The TARDIS got zapped, and I did as well apparently."
"Amy?" Rose asked.
"My companion. Amy Pond. The girl who waited. Scottish girl who was living in Leadworth."
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you found someone to travel with," Rose said with a smile. It was true. The last thing that she wanted was for him to be alone. He nodded, and turned his attention back to their surroundings. "You were zapped by lightning you said?"
"That's right. Nasty space storm. Like that one we got caught in after we visited Raxafon. Remember?"
"Yeah. But Doctor, I think something like that happened to me. A zap of lightening." He spun around to look at her, his chocolate brown eyes wide with surprise. "There was a storm while I was at Torchwood. The power went out and something was wrong with the generator. When I went to fix it, I got shocked with electricity."
"Interesting. Very interesting. Perhaps, simultaneous shocks of electricity at the same time sent us both to this place. Shocks from the same storm. But, how could that happen across the lines of reality?" He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. Rose smiled when she saw the device. That part of him still hadn't changed. He took a reading of the whole area, and when he saw the results his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"What is it?" Rose asked as she stepped closer to him.
"We're nowhere. The sonic can't get a read of this place. It's like we're in between two different places."
"So, what, like the Void or something?" Rose asked. She asked as a joke and she was hoping with every fiber of her body that she was wrong.
"Something exactly like the Void. Whatever that storm was, it spread across my universe as well as yours. How can I put this? It's it's like, the barriers between the two universes weakened and stuff from both sides was able to get through. Think of it like…"
"Like diffusion of two substances?" The Doctor looked at her in surprise, blinking slowly. "What? I work for Torchwood. Remember? I've picked up some knowledge over the years on science. So somehow, the walls of reality weakened and we were able to faze through them into the Void. And the electricity was enough for power for us to do so. How will we get back?"
"Once the storm clears up we'll probably get sent back to our own universes," the Doctor said simply.
"Probably? No I can't accept probably Doctor. I have to get back home. I can't leave my…" Rose trailed off, thinking of what would happen if she left her Doctor and Lily.
"Can't leave your what?"
"My family." Rose held up her left hand to show the thin gold band around her finger. "We've been married for three years already."
"So then you and him, it all worked out? You got a happy ending?"
"Yeah. And you were right; he was a lot like you were when we first met. He's better now though."
"Do you have any, um, any little…you know…"
"Children?" The Doctor nodded and Rose smiled. "A daughter. Her name is Lily. She's thirteen months old. She looks just like her daddy, down to big brown eyes."
"That's wonderful Rose. And if she's anything like I was, she's going to be a little hellion when she gets older." He grinned at her, causing Rose to laugh.
"I wouldn't doubt it for a second. What about you, Doctor? Have you, have you found anyone else yet?" Rose stumbled slightly over her words. She wasn't sure how she would take the news of the Doctor being with someone else.
"No. No one could take your place Rose. No one ever will. Sure, I have Amy to travel with, and she's wonderful, but she's not you."
"Then why did you leave me on that beach?" Rose looked at him. For years she had wanted answers, and now was her chance to get them.
"If I had finished that sentence, you would have come with me. I wanted you to come with me more than anything, but I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't separate you from your family; I couldn't let you grow old while I stayed young. It wasn't fair to you. So I did the one thing I could to make sure you had the best life that you could. I let you have him, because he could give you the one thing that I couldn't. The one thing I wanted you to have more than anything."
"Thank you Doctor. You gave up me, so that I could be happy. No one has ever done anything like that for me," Rose said softly. She blinked a few times, trying to chase out the stray tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. Using a single finger, the Doctor brushed away the tears that escaped her eyes. With a sob, she threw her arms around him. She wanted this hug to say everything that she had been unable to say since he left her.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
I love you.
Tears flowed freely from her eyes. Her entire body shook with sobs. Neither of these things would make Rose loosen her grip around the Doctor. When she finally stopped crying, she let go. "Sorry," she muttered.
"Don't worry about it. Oh. Look." The Doctor pointed to a point over Rose's shoulder. It was a faint glowing light. It seemed to be growing, and Rose could feel the warmth coming from it. "I believe that's out way out. The storm must be over. The lines of reality are re-drawing themselves."
"Then this is good-bye?"
"Yes. This is good-bye Rose." He leaned forward and placed a single kiss on her forehead. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too Doctor. But promise me something. Find someone. You deserve a happy ending too."
"We'll see." Rose watched at the Doctor began to fade in the bright light. They didn't break their gaze with each other until there was nothing to see but the bright light.
"Doctor? Doctor, please say something!" Amy cried. She shook the Doctor's shoulders violently, trying to wake up her alien friend. The storm had ended a while ago, but he still hadn't woken up. For a moment, Amy thought that he was dead. If he died, she would be trapped on the TARDIS forever. Then, she realized that he was breathing lightly. "Come on Doctor. Wake up."
A faint groan escaped the Doctor's lips and Amy almost cried in joy. He slowly opened his eyes and studied Amy's face. "Storm over I take it," he muttered.
"Yeah, it ended a while ago. Are you all right? What happened?"
"Blurred lines of reality."
"What?"
"I got to see a friend who lives very far away from here. A very special friend of mine."
"Who?" Amy took the Doctor's hand and helped him to his feet.
"Her name is Rose."
"What's she like?" Amy sat down in the captain's chair as the Doctor began examining the damage to the TARDIS controls. "Doctor?" With a sigh, the Doctor stopped working and sat next to Amy. He took a deep breath and began telling her about Rose and just what she meant to him.
There was a bright light shining in her eyes. The Doctor must have left the curtains open again. She blinked slowly, letting her eyes adjust. It was then that she realized that she wasn't in her bed at home. The bed was narrow, and the sheets were stiff. In a panic, she sat up and tried to figure out where she was. "Rose, love, it's all right. You're safe." She snapped her head in the direction of the voice. The Doctor, her Doctor, was sitting in a chair next to her bed.
"Where am I?" she asked wearily.
"Good Mercy hospital. You're going to be all right sweetheart." He leaned forward and gently stroked her hair. It was something that he knew always calmed her down.
"How did I get here? I was in the basement at Torchwood; there was an explosion of some sort. The Doctor!"
"Rose, I'm right here. You got electrocuted. You were found in next to the generator box."
"Not you, the other Doctor." Rose looked at him, and waited for what she was saying to process.
"How?"
"I don't know. I remember a shock, and then I was in this place of nothingness. I stared walking and there he was. It was really him Doctor. He regenerated. It was the Void. We were both in the Void. It was like, the lines of reality weakened and we were both able to pass through. The Doctor said it was because…"
"Rose, sweetheart, you can tell me later. For now you need more rest." Taking a gentle grip on her shoulder, the Doctor eased Rose back into the pillow.
"Where's Lily? My mum's sick and dad is out of town." Rose glanced around the small hospital room; there was no sign of her precious baby.
"Jake is watching her," the Doctor admitted. Rose shot him a weary glance. Jake was fantastic as a field specialist at Torchwood, but as a baby-sitter?
A while later, a medical doctor came in to see how Rose was doing. When he was taking her blood pressure, she saw her Doctor roll his eyes. In all their years here, twenty-first century medical doctors were still deemed un-worthy by the Doctor.
When the doctor left, Rose slid over in her bed to make room for her husband. With his typical over wide grin he sat down next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. "He's so different. Nothing like you," Rose mumbled sleepily.
"How so?"
"Well for starters, he wears a bow tie. And a tweed jacket."
"Bow tie? Rose, if I ever wear a bow tie, you have permission to hit me with a frying pan."
"I would have done that without your permission," she said with a small laugh. The Doctor frowned slightly and ruffled her hair.
"How else was he different?"
"He seemed sadder. He said that he found someone new to travel with. A girl named Amy. But he didn't seem as happy as he used to be."
"I remember. When I was with you, we could be up to our waists in goo and I'd still be happy."
"I wasn't too happy that day. My clothes were ruined. But either way, he didn't say it, but I could tell he was still sad. And maybe, a little guilty about something."
"What did you tell him?"
"To find someone. He gave up everything for me. For us. I know you knew that. You knew all along didn't you? Why he left you with me." The Doctor nodded grimly. "I told him that I got my happy ending, so he deserved one as well." Rose yawned loudly. It was getting harder for her to stay awake.
She set her head against the Doctor's chest, the one place she felt safer than anywhere in the world. Reaching out with her arm, she laced her fingers with the Doctor's. She loved this. She loved him. Rose had all the things she never thought she would be lucky enough to get.
As she slipped into sleep, Rose thought about the other Doctor. He spent his life making other people happy. He deserved to be happy as well. That's what she wanted for him. Maybe now, after they had finally said their final good-byes he would be able to move on. After all, the Doctor never stopped running. Someday, he would run into someone that would make him slow down. When he found that someone, then perhaps he would get the happy ending that the entire universe knew he deserve.
Fin
Well that's it. I really hope you enjoyed this. If so, I recommend checking out my other Doctor Who fics "This is His Story" and "Before I knew".