Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I do, it would have been much different than it is now.
A/N: So this story came to me for a couple of reasons: 1. I felt the Bad Wolf story arc had so much potential, but was being wrapped up rather lousily. 2. As much as I enjoyed the epic yet heart wrenching episode, I could not help but feel both the Doctor and Rose were terribly out of character. For the Doctor, I understand they may have tried to make TenToo more Doctor like to emphasize the point that he was the same as Ten. But the point was sort of lost by making Ten less Doctor like. As for Rose, seriously, there was no reason to make the poor girl go through so much to return, just to be useless for the entire episode and then got dumped again. If I were Rose I would have been pissed (Which is why I could never write a TenToo/Rose fic with a happy ending. Believe me I have tried). Granted, the resolution of their relationship does have its merit. I just wish it could be better executed.
That being said. Hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I did writing it.
P.S. This is a finished story, I only need to edit it into chapters and post them. I'll try to get at least one chapter out a day.
Rose Tylor walked in the abandoned street. Cars were gracelessly discarded everywhere, doors still open yet no sight of drivers or passengers alike. It was quiet, too quiet for the usually busy street, no signs of life, nor anything living.
Her eyes were hard and cold, taking into the scene of devastation, the huge gun strapped on her shoulder weighted heavily, like her heart.
She'd finally made it, but perhaps it was too late.
Then she saw, just at the turning of the corner, something that was all too familiar, something that she'd been longing, somewhere her heart had been yearning, someone that the mere thoughts of him had brought her hope, in the darkest years of her life. It had been the only thing that kept her fighting, through the fiercest drought and storm, so that one day she would come back, where her heart belonged.
The blue box that was the TARDIS, and the brown pinstriped figure leaning against it.
That was the Doctor, her Doctor.
The Doctor, on the other hand, being too engrossed in the conversation with Donna, had not seemed to realize the happenings, until he saw Donna's eyes landed somewhere behind him, and turned soft.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" she said.
His eyes narrowed in speculation as he muttered his confusion soundlessly. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?
He turned around reluctantly, eyes grew huge with shock as he take into the figure of someone he thought he had lost forever. She flashed him a warm smile, so genuine and beautiful, like a bright beam of sunshine in the darkness, the sunshine that he had missed so much, for so long.
That was Rose, his Rose.
Had he not known that Time Lords didn't sleep as much, he would have thought it was a dream. Yet that pink and yellow human who managed to stay in his dreams even when he had forgotten about himself, was indeed standing there, on the other end of the street, only a mere hundred yards away.
Before he knew it, he was dashing toward her direction in speed he never could have imagined.
Rose felt her heart flared with pure joy, something she thought she had lost permanently since the battle of Canary Wharf, something that was now reflected by the ecstatic grin that quickly replaced the astonishment on the handsome face she loved so much. It was a grin she had missed sorely, so bright that it could make the sun and the moon shy away, and bring her out of restless dreams with tears, day after day.
Seeing her beloved running towards her, those warm brown eyes lit with excitement, Rose felt the weight of the world simply withered away. Darkness and devastation mattered no more. It was all about them, right there, right then, Sir Doctor of TARDIS and Dame Rose of the Powell Estate, reunited after a separation for too long.
Despite the heavy gun strapped to her shoulder, Rose was running, and running fast, faster than ever, faster than the countless times she was running for her life, both when they were travelling together and when she was alone in the alternative universe.
Suddenly, her peripheral vision caught the sight of something that brought her to a dead halt. A Dalek, sneaked up in god-knows-when, disguised itself behind an abandoned car, blue glim of the eye socket focused on the Doctor who was completely unaware of the danger, weapon ready.
Oh NO! This CAN'T be happening!
"EXTERMINATE!"
The robotic sound of Dalek's battle cry was like voice from hell. Rose felt her blood running cold yet her entire body went Code Mauve. She saw the Doctor freeze in place just a few steps away from her, staring at the Dalek in horror-struck disbelief.
In the split a of second, years of Torchwood training kicked in, so she did the only thing that made sense - She launched herself at him, knocking him out of the way just as the laser beam of the Dalek pierced through her body. Rose barely let out a muffled cry of pain before hitting hard on the concrete floor.
Over the years working for Torchwood in Pete's world, Rose had been shot several times, by human bullets and alien blasters alike. However none of those felt even remotely close to this one. Unlike most weapons that would cause physical trauma, Dalek beams were designed for killing. She was certain that it did not leave a scratch on her skin, yet she could clearly feel that every cell in her body was dying.
Somehow her mind wondered to the conversation with her first Doctor just before he changed.
Gosh, is this what regeneration feels like?
Except that she knew she was not regenerating, she was dying. A loud explosion pierced through her hearings from where the Dalek was, followed by a familiar voice calling her and the Doctor's name. She heard Donna's scream and rushing steps, and she saw her Doctor, scramble to his feet, alive and unharmed.
With that, she let out a long sigh in relief, closed her eyes and let herself drift to the abyss of darkness.
I just want you to be safe, my Doctor.
Donna Nobel was leaning on the side of the TARDIS, a gentle smile spread across her face as she watched the sweet reunion scene unfolding in front of her. She had been travelling with the Doctor for some time now and had seen a fair share of his emotion swings. She'd seen his cheeky grin and maniac laugh, all the light-heartedness that had been deliberately played up. But she had never seen him happy, truly happy, until now.
She couldn't help but recall the first time they've met, when she was brought into the TARDIS by the mysterious golden light while walking down the aisle on her wedding day. After all these years she would still roll her eyes at that memory for how ridiculous it turned out to be. And she still remembered the look he gave her when she was in full panicking mode and accused him of kidnapping. Oh such look, speaking of loss so profound, and a soul so weary. He insisted that he had lost a friend, but she knew better. The sorrow in his eyes did not belong to a man who had lost a mate, it belonged to a man who had lost his heart.
People would always say that time can heal everything. The truth was, time could not heal anything, but it could certainly help you get better at hiding it, which was definitely the case with her Time Lord friend. During their time travelling together, he had not shown his emotions so much ever again. But in more than one occasion she had caught him staring into the far distance, with the emptiness that could not be filled by anything in this universe except one human girl, who, ironically, did not belong to this universe any more.
But there she was, running towards him just as fast as he towards her, both were practically glowing with happiness. Donna felt her heart was melting at the serenity of the scene, until the sound of a harsh battle cry, and all hell broke loose.
Everything happened so fast, in a blink of an eye. She gasped at the turn of events as she saw Rose lying on the ground, motionless, and the Doctor trying to get back on his feet with the expression of utter confusion and consternation, as if for the first time his supreme Time Lord brain had failed to register what was going on. Then a man appeared out of nowhere, holding a blaster that sent the offending Dalek aflame. The sound of explosion snapped her back to reality. She started running towards the girl, silently praying to every single god/goddess that was known to her that Rose was OK, that somehow that Dalek had missed her.
The Doctor beat her to it. He scrambled to Rose with all four limbs and dropped down on her side, cradling her so tightly as if she was the most precious thing in the entire universe (to him, she probably was). His shaky fingers brushed her golden locks away from her face, Donna gasped again at how pale it had become.
"Come on now, I've got you." She heard the Doctor muttering in a soft, low voice. "It missed, didn't it? Look, it's me, we haven't seen each other for a long time, have we? Don't you want to see me?"
The girl in his arms remained still, and Donna felt her heart sank.
"Oh please, Rose, open your eyes! You can't die!" the Doctor's voice pleading, "I just got you back! Please don't , oh, please don't leave me again." Finally he buried his face into her hair and broke down into a sob. Donna couldn't bear it any more. She forced herself to look aside, and wiped away tears on her own cheeks.
"We need to get her into the TARDIS, quickly!" The man with the blaster returned, voice commanding. Donna recognized him, Captain Jack Harkness from Torchwood, the Doctor just introduced him to her during their subwave conference not too long ago.
Jack first tried to pull the Doctor up by his shoulder, failing that, he walked around and unfastened Rose's weapon and held it in his free hand.
"Oh please, give the man a minute of mourning, will ya?" Donna protested.
"We don't have a minute!" Jack's voice harsh, piercing blue eyes looked straightly into her green ones that caused her to step back involuntarily.
Jack sighed loudly, shuffling both weapons in one hand and put the other comfortingly on the Doctor's shoulder.
"Doctor, we need to get her inside the TARDIS." His voice solemn, but much gentler this time, "There are more Daleks coming and I've only got one gun working. We've got to get her inside. Don't you want her to be safe?"
That did it. The Doctor's head snapped up, then effortlessly rose to his feet while holding Rose securely in his arms. He walked passed Donna without a side glance, but she took the chance to peak into his eyes, and felt her own heart shattering into pieces.
Those dark brown eyes were beyond sorrow, beyond grief. They looked like something inside of him had just died.
Jack Harkness was leaning forward facing the TARDIS console, putting most of the body weight on his arms, shoulder slump. His head hung low, appeared to be deep in thought.
How did everything get so bad, so fast?
For all he could remember, one minute he was talking to the Doctor over the webcam and everything seemed to be fine. The next, he was blowing the head of a Dalek and running for the TARDIS. And now, the Doctor was slouching against a reef of coral, with Rose's lying limply on his laps. His hand was mechanically stroking her hair in a slow, steady rhythm, eyes unfocused, with unfathomable emptiness.
Jack had to tilt his head and pull away from the sight. For over a hundred years of unable to die, he had his fair share of loss and grief. But this was different, this was Rose.
Rose had always been special. There is something about her, be it the spark in her eyes or the chirps in her voice, he did not know. But it made it so hard for anyone to dislike her. He himself loved her, not in that way, of course. Well, not any more after the first few weeks they'd met, in fear of pissing off a jealous and possessive Time Lord. Nevertheless he had loved her as a friend, no, that was an understatement, a family was more appropriate. He'd remembered when he first saw the list of dead after the battle of Canary Wharf, the name Rose Tyler had struck him hard with horror. when he finally reunited with the doctor at the end of the universe, and learned that Rose was alive and well with her family, albeit in a different universe, he was burst with joy like nothing in a long time. It was soon followed by a deep regret as he learned that she was gone, trapped in a different universe and never to return. The Doctor's response however, was something he'd seen, in two of his incarnations, the closest to admission of his long supressed affection. He'd only hoped that he had a chance to say it to her because as of now, it was too late.
Jack felt anger and rage rose from deep down his core. The Daleks had taken her, snatched her away from people she loved and loved her in turn, now there is an empire of them trying to take over the earth.
Not going to happen, not over my dead body.
And for the first time, he was glad that he would never be a dead body.
Shaking his head out of the sentiment, he walked over to the Doctor
"Doctor, she is gone, and I'm sorry. But right now there is a war going on, if we don't stop it, more people will die. Do you want to see that happen?"
The Doctor's hand stopped, only to resume the same mechanical motion momentarily, as if the death and destruction of the world did not matter to him anymore.
Jack run both of his hands though his hair in frustration, but before he could think of something else to say, he was stopped by a hand placed gently on his shoulder.
"Please Captain, allow me."
Donna helplessly watched the Doctor drowning deep in sorrow. Her heart went out to him but she could not think of a single word in consolation. For the first time she felt her sharp tongue had abandoned her.
For all those time she had known the Doctor, Donna had long realized that despite his cheeky, cheering, happy-go-lucky personality, he would take every death and loss to his heart, and let them weigh down his soul. But losing Rose in such a horrific way had more impact than all of them combined. She was his heart and soul.
While her condolences to be with the Doctor, she agreed with the Captain that something must be done, before the situation became too dire.
Donna walked over and knelt down in front of the Doctor, cupping his cheeks and gently moved his chin, forcing his unfocused eyes to look in her direction.
"Doctor, listen to me," her voice gentle but firm. "Rose was a brave girl. She had worked so hard, and gone so far, to warn you about the upcoming doom of the earth. She sacrificed her life to save you, so that you can save the world, and millions of people living in it. She was trying to help you like she'd always been. Would you want to disappoint her? Would you want her sacrifice to be in vain? Do you really want to see the Daleks, the same creature that had taken her away, to rule the earth and take over the universe?"
She saw the Doctor's hand stop abruptly, eyes slowly gaining focus, growing dark and deep, with a hint of turbulence brewing behind, like the sky before an oncoming storm.
At this very instance, the power in the TARDIS went out.
"What happened, why is the power gone?" Donna yelped in panic.
"Some kind of Chronon loop, I suppose." Jack sounded much calmer, but the tension in his voice was for anyone to hear. "Cutting off the power and taking down its defence system."
As if agreeing with him, the TARDIS stumbled, then started to fly on its own.
"They've got us." The Doctor's nonchalant voice rang through the darkness, causing the other two passengers to jump.
He had now moved beside the jump seat, carefully laying down Rose's body as if making sure she was comfortable, and gently brushed her hair away from her face.
He held both her hands in his, admiring how perfectly they still fit together, yet pained by how cold they felt.
"They are taking us aboard." He finished the sentence gravely
"But where, where are they taking us?" Donna asked desperately, fear apparent in her voice.
"There's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of the planets, they are calling it the Crucible. Guess that's out destination." Jack answered Donna's question solemnly, but his eyes never leave the sight of the Doctor.
So be it
The Doctor's lips curled into a cruel smile. The Crucible, heart of the Dalek empire, sounded like the exact place he needed to be.
They'd hurt Rose, they'd killed her, and that was a huge mistake. Because right now, things had become incredibly simple-he would ensure they were aware of how stupid they had been, and make them pay the price of whatever he saw fit.
He'd lost his planet, his people, and his love, all because of the bloody Daleks who seemed to be able survive like cockroaches. It was time to put everything to a stop.
As TARDIS stumbled to a landing, he exchanged a few glances with Jack under the dim emergency lights, a plan was forming silently.
"Doctor, you will have to step forth or die!" A robotic voice sounded through the wooden door.
"What do we do now?" Donna's voice was barely above a whisper, masked in sheer fear.
"We'll have to go out." The Doctor said plainly.
"That's it? You are just going to walk out there, hands in the air and surrender?" Donna's temper seemed to have overpowered her fear, causing her voice to raise one octave higher.
"Do you have any better ideas? 'Cause if we don't, they will get in." The Doctor sounded almost apathetic, so much so that Donna wondered if she had ever really known him.
"But…but you said nothing can get through those doors." She murmured, clinging on the last bit of hope.
"The extrapolator shielding has been taken down. We are facing a fully-fledged Dalek empire, at the height of its power, experts at fighting TARDIS. They can do anything." The Doctor was completely oblivious of Donna being on the edge of a nerve breakdown.
"Right now, that wooden door is just wood. You are no safer inside. So come with us." He was heading to the door as he finished the statement, with Jack closely followed suit.
"Why is this happening to me?" Donna cried out, causing both men to turn around and stare at her
"I am just a temp from Chiswick, what have I ever done to deserve this?" she buried her face in both hands and broke down into a sob.
A surge of guilt rose up inside the Doctor. They only reason she'd been here was because of him. Rose died to save him, but he had led Donna to her death.
"I'm sorry, Donna, but there is nothing else we can do." For the first time after Rose's death, he seemed to have regained some emotion.
At that, he gave his beloved one last glance, and headed for the door, without looking back.
He was sorry for all those who died for him, who died because of him, and who had lost someone because they came to associate with him. Perhaps the Master was right, he was a dangerous man, nothing followed him but death and destruction. Perhaps it was finally the time to put all these to a stop, once and for all.
However, he was not sorry for the Daleks, for they were just about as guilty as him in everything. He was going to play the judge, the jury, and the executioner, one last time.
He stroked the doorknob of the TARDIS gently, feeling the soft hum in the back of his mind.
Once he stepped outside, he did not expect to come back.