Take me back! Take me back!
Screaming, crying, begging. White wall, torn bond, cold beach, "Rose Tyler…"
Rose…
Rose…
"Rose!"
Rose cried out sharply, her mind aching and her eyes burning as she tried to sit up but found the way blocked by a tangle of blankets. She gasped for breath as the room spun, and she scrambled to find a way out of the mess of blankets.
"Rose, stop. Relax, just relax."
She turned towards the source of the voice, and she saw brown hair and browner eyes looking at her worriedly. One hand was on her shoulder and his other was deftly untangling her from the sheets of their bed.
Their bed. She was home, in the TARDIS, with her Doctor, who was sending pulses of love and reassurance and calm through their bond.
She whimpered and threw her arms around his neck, clutching him tightly to her.
"Shhh, it's all right," he whispered, cradling her to his chest. He tucked her head beneath his chin, and she could feel the rapid pounding of his hearts beneath her cheek. She nuzzled closer as a shiver rippled down her spine. "You're all right, love. Everything's okay. I've got you."
"You were gone," she gasped, burrowing closer to him physically and mentally. "I lost you."
The Doctor wrapped his mind around hers and swaddled her in comfort.
"I'm here," he murmured. "It was just a dream."
Rose let herself be soothed by his touch and through their bond as she relaxed further into his embrace.
"It felt so real," she murmured, remembering the ache as their bond tore. The Doctor sent back a strong wave of comfort as she tried to free herself from the memory.
"I know," he said, stroking his fingers through her hair. "I'm so sorry. It's a bit of temporal feedback, I'm afraid."
"Temporal feedback?"
"Echoes of timelines that could have been," the Doctor explained, slowly guiding them into a prone position. He automatically wrapped his arm around her as she rested her head in the crook of his shoulder. "There were so many ways that the day could have ended. Time was in flux, with us right at the center. I should've realized this would happen. I'm so sorry."
Rose sighed and wrapped herself around him more completely. He pressed his lips to her forehead and said, "They should go away within the next couple of days."
Rose shuddered at the prospect of seeing any more of these aborted timelines.
The Doctor felt her unease and murmured, "I'll buffer them. Don't you worry. Just sleep, love."
Rose felt his mind wrap itself around hers, and she gasped at the intensity. He was everywhere, filling every nook and cranny with his beautiful presence. There was nothing but the two of them, and Rose felt her muscles fully relax as the last of her worries were soothed away. She was suddenly so exhausted, and when he whispered to her once more to go to sleep, how could she refuse?
The Doctor watched her breathing get deeper and deeper until she was finally asleep. He held her tightly as he continued to fortify her mind from all of the could-have-beens. In his mind's eye, he saw the raging timelines trying to settle themselves, and he made sure to keep them from twisting with the timelines in Rose's mind. She didn't need to see those.
He pressed his lips to Rose's hair absently as he saw glimpses of what had almost been his future, and it looked bleak indeed. He couldn't imagine losing Rose, and living without her. He burrowed deeper into her mind, comforting himself in her telepathic embrace, and he thanked any higher power there may be for letting him keep his beautiful life.
