Title: "Stop Promising"
Author: Wish Wielder
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing / Character Focus: (Tenth) Doctor, Rose Tyler, Wilfred Mott, Donna Noble (off-screen); Doctor x Rose
Challenge / Series: N/A
Theme / Prompt: N/A
Word Count: 600
Rating: T / PG-13
Summary: The death of a friend forces the Doctor to realize he can't decide his companions' fates for them.
Notes / Spoilers: S4 finale – assumptions and guesses made off of trailers/spoiler leaks. TBW; character death. Written solely for preemptive therapy, 'cause my favorite shows have been killing me this year in the finales and I know Who won't disappoint.
Disclaimer: "Doctor Who" and all respective properties are © the BBC. Megan D. (Wish Wielder) does not, has never, nor will ever own "Doctor Who".
"Stop Promising"
"You promised me you'd keep her safe," Wilf says, the old man's voice so very old and fragile. Disbelief, horror, shock...it's all present, and he hates that he's the one who put it there.
"I know," he says, "and I'm sorry. So sorry."
"You...you promised..." Wilf says, looking back up to the sky - back to the sky littered with stars, whole again after too many losses. Rose shifts next to him, adjusting the massive gun Jack had given her into a more comfortable position. She holds it like it's the most natural thing in the world, and he hates that she's learned to be comfortable around guns - and all because of him. Donna's voice is in the back of his mind then, more accusing and colder than he remembers.
"Is that what you did to her? Turn her into a soldier?"
"She died to keep the rest of the universe alive, Mr. Mott - you should be proud," Rose says, her voice professional but not detached enough to make him think she's changed for the worse. Still his Rose, behind the years of separation and Torchwood conditioning. "I...I'm honored to have known her, even if it was only for a few days."
"I am," Wilf says, looking at Rose to smile. "I'm so proud of my Donna. But he promised."
"Yeah, he does that a lot," Rose says, and the words cut closer than she probably means them to. Or maybe she does; they're so uncertain right now, him and her...he doesn't know how to read her anymore, and it hurts so much to think that he's forgotten.
Rose shoves the gun into his arms, and the cool metal scalds him. She hugs Wilf, says a few more words of condolence, and then she turns with him and they walk down the road, back towards the TARDIS. He can feel Wilf watching them as they leave, his eyes burning his back as much as the gun burns his arms. He never wanted this, but then again he never does.
"I promised him," he says. He's too numb to wince when Rose rolls her eyes. She takes the gun from him, again adjusting it against her like it's second nature. "Is that what you did to her? Turn her into a soldier?" She stops beside him when they reach the TARDIS, his hands hovering over the lock. Jack's inside, waiting to be taken back to Cardiff, and Mickey and Jackie waiting for Rose to...
"Thing is, Doctor, you're an idiot," she says, and the words startle him out of his numbed state. He turns on her, eyes blazing and ready to deny everything she's about to claim, but the look on her face - in her eyes -
gives him pause. "Yeah, you. I love you to bits, but you can be such an idiot. This life...it's too dangerous. You should know that by now. We choose it - we wouldn't stay if we didn't - but our families don't. You never should promise them you'll keep us safe, 'cause then you'll end up with people like Donna and me. People who take the choice right out of your hands."
"Rose..." he starts, but he doesn't know what to say to that. She's absolutely right, and they both know it.
"You need to stop making promises you can't keep, Doctor," she says. She pauses, looking down as her hand skirts under his to grip the lock. He can't hide the wince this time when she doesn't reach for his own, doesn't even try to touch him. "We both do."