Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.
Written for timepetalsprompts on tumblr and their weekly prompt: What happens when Rose (or another companion) stumbles upon a forbidden part of the TARDIS?.
Many thanks to TenRose4ever and tenscupcake for beta services. I modified it after they looked it over and all mistakes are my own.
"You alright?" Rose asked.
"I'm always alright." The Doctor's smile was plastic and she wasn't fooled for a moment.
She was concerned. She wanted to talk to him, actually talk for once, but Mickey spoke up before she had a chance to say any more.
"C'mon Rose," Mickey said. "It's time you showed me around the rest of this place." He took her hand she followed him, albeit reluctantly.
Once they were in the hallway, Rose pulled her hand from his. "I'll show you around tomorrow. I just need to be alone." She looked him in the eye, hoping he would understand.
"You sure? You can talk to me."
Rose nodded. "I'm going to head to bed now."
"Sure thing, babe." They had known each other for long enough that he knew when not to push. Mickey turned towards the hallway that led to his room and was quickly out of sight.
Trudging off to her bedroom, Rose opened the door, but didn't flip on the lights. Instead she kicked off her shoes and lay down on her bed, staring up at the glowing galaxies that were painted across the ceiling.
"What do I do, girl," Rose whispered aloud. The Doctor had once told her that everything had its time and everything died. Was that what was happening? Was her time on the TARDIS coming to an end? She closed her eyes as her doubts overwhelmed her.
First meeting Sarah Jane and discovering she wasn't his first companion and the Doctor been doing this for centuries, though in retrospect, with nine hundred plus years she should have. That had been a blow, but after confronting him outside the café, she was fairly sure the word he choked back was love. Their relationship was unconventional, and she knew it likely would never get beyond hand holding, but it was enough. He was enough. If spending her life at the side of her best friend, saving worlds and having adventures, was all he could offer her, she'd take it gladly.
But now, after France, Rose had her doubts. Was she enough for him? The Doctor had said he would never leave her behind, but then he did. The very next day. And he was clearly crushed at the news of Reinette's passing, after inviting her along. Would Reinette have been her replacement, and she and Mickey been taken home so he could be with her instead?
Rose felt a firm but gentle rebuke from the TARDIS. Opening her eyes, she saw a trail of light leading to the door and she got the message, come.
Getting up, she padded out of her room. The TARDIS usually brought up the lights whenever she entered the hallway, but not this time. Instead, the beam of light continued and Rose saw it extend farther than her eyes could see. She followed it as it twisted and turned through corridors and passageways she'd never seen before, until it finally it stopped in front of a rather unremarkable looking door.
"Here?"
In reply, the door opened. Rose stepped inside and found herself in a small walk-in cupboard. Inside, there were shelves filled with cubes. There was flickering motion everywhere and she looked around in wonder. It reminded her of the Hall of Prophecy from Harry Potter, though instead of swirling smoke inside them, silent videos were playing on some while on others it flipped from static image to static image.
Curious, Rose picked up the first one. It showed a photograph of a young pixie faced woman in a striped shirt hugging an old man as he beamed down at her. Then the image shifted and it was the same woman with another man and woman and they were laughing together. A chill went down her spine as she got an inkling of what this might be. She glanced to another cube and there was a haughty looking woman next to a bloke in a funny hat and a long scarf. She studied the bloke as well as the old man in the first one again as her suspicion grew.
"Are these what I think they are?" she asked the timeship.
In reply, a cube several shelves down was pushed forward. Rose picked it and gasped, as her feelings were confirmed. This one contained video and she stared at the face of Jack Harkness, amusement in his eyes as he helped the Doctor with his work under the TARDIS console. As she watched he gave the Doctor a salacious grin and she wondered what he was saying. Knowing him, it was probably dirty, she thought in amusement and longing.
But then the full impact of what was seeing, what it meant, hit Rose. These were memories. Over nine centuries, and with his planet gone, these were all the Doctor had left. Not just that, but someday her face, and videos of her, would be sitting on a shelf.
Tears prickled in her eyes and she snapped them shut as she took a shaky breath.
"You're enough, my Wolf. You'll never be just a memory."
Rose opened her eyes and in front of her stood a shabby dressed woman with wild hair. Before she could ask her who she was or what she was doing there, Rose felt amusement in her mind and she knew without a shadow of a doubt, inexplicably, she was looking at the TARDIS.
"How?"
The TARDIS waved her hand dismissively. "Not important. But you are, precious girl. You'll be the last human face this Doctor sees. You're all he wants in the end."
Another cube appeared in the woman's hand and this time it was her own face she saw in it and a forgotten memory began to play.
On a dark winter's night on the Powell Estate, she'd been heading towards the back entrance, and turned upon hearing a sound. Then there was the Doctor leaning against a building, and while he tried to hide it, she knew he was in agony. They talked, and while Rose couldn't remember the conversation exactly, she remembered the warmth she felt when the apparent stranger had smiled at her. Truly smiled.
"Is…" Rose choked back a sob, unable to finish her sentence.
She was human, she knew her lifespan would never match the Doctor's, but seeing the proof of that right before her eyes was something else. With crystal clarity, she finally understood what he was getting at outside the café. She didn't agree with his stance, but she could now see it from his perspective.
"He goes on, but he never forgets you." The TARDIS set the cube down and touched the right side of Rose's chest for a brief moment and then vanished along with that memory.
A thousand feelings raced through Rose. Gratitude to the TARDIS for showing her this. Heartbreak for the Doctor and the pain he had clearly been feeling in that moment, when she hadn't even known who he was. Sadness for the next Doctor that he evidently had to go through regeneration alone. He always carried such a heavy load. She didn't know what the future held, but as long as she could, she'd give the Doctor her forever.
Decision made, Rose turned to the door and exited. Back in the hallway, she took one last look in the room. It once again stood empty and reverent, the memories flashing across the cubes.