The Doctor slipped his hand into Rose's and watched as his ship began to dematerialize. He closed his eyes and mentally reached out for his oldest friend one last time. Good-bye Old Girl, take care of him.
We will see, have seen, are seeing you soon my thief. Prepare my cub.
The Doctor stiffened, his mind racing over the possible meanings of his Tardis' words.
Wait! He called out. What do you … prepare what ...
He stifled a groan as the Tardis finished dematerializing, leaving his questions unanswered. Enigmatic as always. The Face of Boe had nothing on his Old Girl.
Shaking his head, he buried the mysterious words and drew a deep breath, coughed, and then thumped himself on the chest several times. Drawing several more deep breaths, he laughed. "One heart. That's just rubbish! How do you humans cope, Rose?"
Rose sobbed and dropped his hand. He blinked and reached for her but she shied away and strode off down the beach. "Rose?" He took a step to follow but Jackie's hand curled around his arm.
"Leave her for a bit, Doctor. She's worked so hard …"
He quirked an eyebrow. "Thought you'd be happy with this arrangement, Jackie."
She smiled and fought the wind to push her hair from her eyes. "Oh, I am, but …" she bit her lip. "No secret she never wanted to be here. For three years she's worked to get back to you and, well, this wasn't what she expected." She chuckled. "Wasn't what any of us expected. Only you could copy yerself …"
"Jackie, I didn't copy myself. The meta crisis resulted in two of me but both are me. Same memories, same Time Lord abilities, same man. Just one of us has a human body."
Jackie waved her hand. "Oh I heard ya earlier. Doesn't matter to me," She shook her finger at him." Long as ya don't go bringin' alien chaos down on all our heads, I'm happy to have ya here. My Rose can finally settle down and have a proper life."
The Doctor frowned. Proper life? Was that what was expected of him now? He'd never done a proper thing in his life, and come to think of it, just what constituted a proper life anyway? Was that life defined as beans on toast, telly, mortgages, and a nine to five job? Was it two point five kids, a dog, and carpools? Was that the kind of life Rose wanted?
He shuddered. Why couldn't a proper life be seeking new vistas, expanding one's horizons as it were? Really, who was to say —
"Doctor!"
He shook his head to abandon his inner ramble and focused on Jackie Tyler. A very irritated Jackie Tyler if the expression on her face was any indication. He took a step back. "Ahhh, yes Jackie?"
She snorted. "Ya haven't heard a word I've said …" She held up her hand and shook her head. "Don't deny it, head in the clouds no doubt. Anyway, I was saying that I've called Pete." She looked out at the grey clouds building over the white capped ocean. "There's a storm movin' in. He's sendin' a taxi to bring us into Bergen but flights are cancelled until this," she waved her hand. "This all blows over. So, we're stayin' the night. Go get Rose, would ya?"
She walked off toward the dunes, muttering something about energy satellites and bloody blips being more important to Pete than meeting his wife. The Doctor chuckled, thinking of the likely future state of Pete Tyler's cheeks as he walked across the sand to where Rose was standing, looking out to sea.
He frowned as he took in her slumped shoulders and the tears streaming down her pale cheeks. This would not do. He came to a stop behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Ignoring how she stiffened, he nuzzled her neck and whispered, "That's enough crying, Rose. Everything will be all right —"
He froze as Rose whirled around. "NO! No it won't. Don't touch me, just leave me alone!"
"Rose …" His hands closed around her shoulders and Rose went wild, pummeling his chest and screaming like a banshee.
The Doctor's mouth dropped open in shock but he stepped back as Jackie Tyler ran by him and wrapped her arms around Rose. "Ssh, love. You need to calm down. Like the Doctor said, it'll be all right–"
Rose shook her head. "He left me Mum!" Her lips quivered and the Doctor's stomach tightened into a knot. Of all the reactions he'd imagined Rose having, this one hadn't entered his mind.
His eyes narrowed as he watched her succumb to hysterics. Something was off. Rose's eyes, what he could see of them through the tears, were huge, pupils blown, the irises glimmering with flecks of gold.
He flinched as a barrage of emotions, fear, loneliness, anger, despair battered his mind. Was that Rose? It had to be and yet it was impossible!
She couldn't, shouldn't be able to … Her ramble of words, 'he left me, he left me' uttered in a defeated whimper, broke through his analysis and he gulped.
He moved closer and took Rose's hand, leaning down to nuzzle her ear. "I didn't leave you Rose, I'm right —"
"NO!" Rose screamed, making him jump. "You're not!" Her voice climbed octaves as tears streamed from her wide hazel eyes. "I'm sorry, so sorry but you're not …"
He dropped her hands as Rose sank to the wet sand, clutching her head with white knuckled hands. "You're not my Doctor!" She sobbed and muttered incoherently. "My Aberdeen … not you … he lied!" Eyes scrunched up, rocking and whispering the words "not you" over and over, she pounded her temples and sobbed.
He shook off his shock and knelt beside her, moving to pull her into his arms but Jackie pushed him aside, grasping Rose's shoulders. "Rose! Rose snap out of it!" Jackie released her daughter and started searching Rose's pockets. "Oh where are they? Bloody hell, please tell me she carried them with her!"
The Doctor tugged on Jackie's shoulder. "What? What are you looking for?"
Jackie shrugged him away and continued rifling through Rose's jacket as Rose tried to pull away.
Rose's voice rose as she pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and rocked faster. "My head, it's killin' me!"
The Doctor tensed at her words, visions of a golden Rose framed by the open doors of his Tardis filling his mind. He swallowed hard, frozen in place by the fear that flooded him. She was burning, the vortex was killing her and it was all his fault —
He shook his head and forced himself to focus. That was just a memory, he reminded himself, he'd saved Rose. Rose was safe. He let the phrase flow through his mind like a mantra and turned to Jackie.
"Rose! Damn it, please sweetheart you need them, help me find them!"
Rose continued to pound the sides of her head. The Doctor had no idea what was going on but he could at least stop Rose from harming herself. He moved behind her and pulled her arms down, wrapping his tightly around her as she fought him.
"Jackie! What the hell is wrong with Rose and what are you looking for?"
He winced as his head began to pound with the force of Rose's mental attack. He drew a deep breath and strengthened his metal shields. The sudden quiet allowed him to turn his focus back to Rose. He tightened his grip and pulled her wiggling body onto his lap, wrapping one of his legs around hers as she kicked and struggled.
"Ah hah!" Jackie sat back, a small brown bottle clutched in her hand. A look of triumph on her face, she shook a tiny pink pill into the palm of her hand and held it to Rose's mouth. "Come on, love, open for me."
Jaw tight, Rose shook her head.
"Rose! You've got to! Remember what happened last time?" Jackie tried again to push the pill past Rose's lips. "Please Rose!"
The Doctor loosened his hold on Rose to reach for the pill and then yelped as Rose shoved him and jumped to her feet, running across the sand. "Rose!"
He looked back to Jackie. "What is going on? What are those pills and what happened last time?"
Jackie waved her hand. "Never mind that now! Go get her! She needs that pill!"
Frustrated at not knowing what the hell was going on, the Doctor nevertheless ran after Rose, catching her easily. No surprise, she fought him.
"Oof!" He grunted as she wheeled around, her foot connecting with his stomach. "Rose Tyler! When did you master a round house kick?"
Not expecting or waiting for a reply, he tackled her and then tossed her over his shoulder, sprinting back to Jackie.
Ignoring Rose's sputtered profanities and assaults on his back, he met Jackie's eyes and demanded, "Now then, what is wrong with Rose?"
"She's got to take this pill! Last time she got like this she was in a coma for a week!"
The Doctor gaped. "What? What the hell is going on? When did this happen?"
Jackie huffed and tried again to push the pill into Rose's mouth. "Was when she was usin' that jumper thingy. Came back screamin' you were dead and then she got like this and they tried to sedate her but nothin' worked and then she passed out and didn't wake up for five days!"
Jackie grunted as Rose got a hand free and swiped at her. "Doctor! You've got to get her to take this! It's the only sedative that worked."
He shook his head. "No Jackie, she doesn't need some archaic twenty-first century drug. Just let me think a moment."
"What do you mean–who are you to say she doesn't need this? You're not Rose's doctor–"
He rounded on her. "I rather think you'll find that I am, in fact, Rose's Doctor, Jackie Tyler, so kindly shut up and let me think!"
Ignoring the huffs of anger coming from Jackie, the Doctor lowered Rose to the ground but kept her pinned within the circle of his arms. His eyes searched Rose's face, again noting the blown pupils and locked jaw. She looked savage, wild, almost animalistic and he wondered if Rose was even aware.
He lowered his mental shields to assess her mental state and was again battered by emotions of despair, and defeat coupled with an almost vicious anger but listening harder he heard her mentally shrieking two words over and over. My Doctor, my Doctor.
He was not surprised. She was lost in her grief and screaming for him and just telling her he was there was not enough. His mouth twisted into a grimace of distaste as he settled on a course of action.
He'd have to … on his planet, entering her mind uninvited was tantamount to rape and Rose had always been so protective of her mind.
He gulped, remembering her anger at finding out the Tardis was in her head and that had only been to provide translations! What he was proposing was far more intimate and being honest with himself, he had to acknowledge that he'd yearned for a mental connection with Rose since she'd traveled with his ninth self.
He swallowed several times and fought against the excitement welling within him; now was not the time. He fed the flickers of guilt swirling amongst his feelings of desire and managed to rein in his emotions enough to focus on Rose. No matter how much he'd wanted this connection he had never wanted it to come about this way, without her consent. He only hoped she would forgive him.
Sliding his palms across her cheeks, he wrapped his fingers around her ears and pressed his thumbs to her temples. He ignored her continued struggles and lightly nudged her mind. What mental shields she might have had were crumbling in the face of her grief and hysteria, offering him little resistance to her surface thoughts. He sent her thoughts of comfort and assurance that he had not left her and felt her emotions calm slightly, though the rage continued to batter at him.
State of hysterical unconsciousness averted, the Doctor moved deeper into her mind. Rose, calmer but probably terrified Rose, had to be somewhere amongst the turmoil.
He mentally walked through her mind, sparing a thought of how she'd chosen to organize her thoughts and memories. He'd of liked to stop and ponder how utterly unlike any human mind hers was but finding Rose was priority at the moment; Time Lord curiosity would have to wait.
He passed a row of file cabinets and a padlocked door before he heard it; whimpering. Speeding up, he rounded a corner and stopped, mentally gaping at the sight of Rose huddled in a ball and surrounded by golden light.
Rasillon! She'd locked herself within her own mind.
Fear bubbled within him as he calculated how long he had before she became permanently trapped. He gulped. Not long.
Rose …
He stepped closer, trying again to get a response.
Rose!
Her head lifted from her knees and he smiled, extending a hand.
She ignored it, scooting back and shaking her head. Her rage swept over him. NO! You're not him! Get out!
The Doctor winced at the volume of her mental shout and took a step closer.
Rose, I am him, your Doctor. He extended his hand again. Come on, love, take my hand.
Her eyes flashed gold as she jumped to her feet. Don't call me that! He wouldn't say that! You're not him! I need him!
Stubborn woman! He pursed his lips, tamping down on the fear that was feeding a rising anger, but not succeeding. Rose Tyler! Come here!
Hands on her hips, Rose tossed her head back and glared at him. Make me, if you think you can!
His eyebrows rose to his hairline. Defiance and challenge. Well, this was certainly a new side of his Rose. She'd always stood up to him but this? She was bristling with anger. If she'd had fur her hackles would have been standing straight up.
He shook the fanciful thoughts away and straightened his spine. If his Rose wanted to play rough … Time was running out and his fear and anger overrode common sense. He drew his anger inward, felt it swirl and eddy through his mind, electric and alive.
His palms grew hot, fingers tingling as psychic energy swirled around and through him. He let the storm build to a quarter of its full strength and strode toward Rose and her golden prison.
Standing inches from the swirling gold, he met her eyes, very much aware of what she must be seeing in his. To his surprise, Rose bared her teeth and then laughed! She laughed in the face of the Oncoming Storm! His lips quirked. Only Rose Tyler …
Amused and impressed or not, this had to end. Sending her the most calming and soothing thoughts he could manage under the circumstances, he drew a deep breath and reached through the golden swirls, taking her hand.
The air rushed from his lungs as her finger tips brushed his. An snarl filled his mind as the force of her psychic energy sent waves of pain up his arm. It pummeled him, pushing him back. Having the presence of mind to tighten his grip, he allowed it to move him, pulling Rose with him.
He collapsed to the wet sand, clutching Rose to his chest as he drew ragged breaths. He lifted his arm, staring at his tingling hand. What the hell had just happened? Never, not even with another Time Lord had he ever encountered such mental energy. He shook himself and sat up, ignoring Jackie's shrieks, to attend to Rose.
He rolled her onto her back, checked her pulse and then searched her face. Her breathing was rapid and shallow but the emotions rolling off of her were starting to calm and she was looking at him. He was relieved to see that her eyes were back to normal. A bit dazed but no traces of gold. He made a mental note to explore that peculiarity along with what had happened in her mind later. For now he'd settle for seeing his Rose return to her usual, rational self.
"Hello, all right now?" He smiled.
Rose's lip quivered and tears once again flooded her eyes but she nodded. "Yeah, I think so." She sat up and looked around, gaze lighting on Jackie. "What happened?"
Jackie pulled Rose into her arms. "What happened, she asks! I'll tell ya what happened, ya scared me to death, that's what!" She drew back and gave Rose a little shake. "You were hysterical, just like last time, and ya wouldn't take yer pill —"she drew a shaky breath. "I don't know what I'd o' done if the Doctor hadn't been here!"
Rose sighed. "Don't call him that, Mum. He's not …" she dragged a hand through her hair and got to her feet. "He's not the Doctor."
The Doctor got to his feet and grabbed Rose's arms, forcing her to face him. "Rose Tyler, you've given up on me, again!"
She struggled against his grip, slumping when he refused to let her go. Looking down at her feet she mumbled, "I never did, I never gave up not for three years!" She raised her eyes to his and he nearly broke at the sadness reflected in her deep brown eyes and the dead tone of her voice.
"But he did, he left me. He broke his promise." Her gaze moved to the pounding surf. "I'm not tryin' to hurt you, really I'm not, but you're not what I need, I need him."
Her voice dropped so low he had to bend his head to hear as she whispered, "I need my Time Lord."
"Rose Tyler," The Doctor sighed, drew her hands to his chest and waited.
He smirked as her head jerked up and she met his eyes.
"But … but. You left, you said you were — how?" She released a shaky breath. "Why?"
He stroked her cheek and brushed a kiss across her forehead before whispering in her ear. "Because your Time Lord needs you too."