Prologue

Her heart was pounding in her ears, while she followed them out of the TARDIS. It was loud, merging with another rhythm close by, but it was so faint that she couldn't place where it was coming from. Despite this, it was prevalent, growing in strength and overpowering the Doctor's worried inquiries from the other side of the TARDIS.

She muttered something that she hopped was a cerebral reply, but she couldn't be sure. Because, by now she could no longer hear her own voice, and her thoughts were closely following suit. The pounding was distinct, like someone striking a drum repeatedly.

The noise was familiar to her, yet it was foreign, like something meant to be, but could never happen. Thoughts of longing associated with the sound, but she didn't know where they came from. It was like she was standing in front of a forked road waiting for someone to push her in the right direction. Then it donned on her, no wonder it melded with her heart's beating so well, because the sound was one. It was strong, and steady, but she could tell it was also fearful by the ever increasing speed of the rhythm.

With all of her mental strength she forced herself to focus on what was currently happening around her.

Donna, Jack and the Doctor were already standing outside the TARDIS. The latter glanced in her direction, said nothing, but the look in his face said that he wanted her with him. There was a slight twitch in his fingers, as if they had gained a mind of their own and instinctively searched and longed for Rose's touch. He was facing those who hated him the most. She loved him the most, which made her the most important person in his collapsing world now. She would have grinned at his desperation on any other day, but she couldn't. This was too real.

She took a few more steps towards the doors, but some invisible force caught her and held her in place. It was as if the universe itself was holding her back. The world ends if Rose Tyler tries to reach her Doctor.

Before Rose could react, the universe made its final move at keeping her in place, the Blue doors, that she had taken so many first steps through, closed with a hard slam. The force blew her backwards and onto the grating with a crash. She expected pain, but she felt none. The only thing on her mind was the sudden sinking feeling deep in her gut, and the insistent heart beat that had managed to once again assert itself.

The Doctor's pounding on the TARDIS door, shook the ancient machine, and Rose tried not to think of what he must look like right now. She didn't want to see his desperation, his terror, his agony…his rage. She wanted to remember him like he was right when he sprung to his feet from his partial regeneration. His wild hair, the jokes that only he could get away with and that smile, would fill her thoughts until she met her death, especially if it was coming soon. With this new drive and in spite of everything she smiled, only to be wiped away by his screams.

His voice permeated through the door, the agony of losing her was clear in his tone, but Rose forced herself to sound calmer than he did. Carefully, she searched for the words to say to him, as she placed her hand on the wooden door as if trying to feel the Doctor through the wood.

"Doctor." She had yelled to be heard, but she kept her emotions well reigned in. "It's not your fault, just like before, it's not. I guess I'm always too slow."

The last sentence came off as a harsh laugh, and did nothing to add levity, but she heard the Time Lord attempt a chuckle for her, and that's all she could really ask for. His voice floated through the doors, but the more he spoke the more anger came over him until his words were incomprehensible. Rage bubbled over in him, as he vowed to return for her. He would never abandon or lose her again, never leave and never stray from her side as soon as his hand was safely threaded through her fingers again. He didn't care what it took he was getting her out. His pounding on the door was unrelenting, and she could hear Donna and Jack's shouting on the other side other side of the doors as well.

"Don't be like that, Doctor," Rose said, wiping a hand over her eyes and brushing tears away. A grateful thought passed over her mind, the love of her life would not see her tears again. He would not see her weakness. "Remember what Sarah Jane said, 'everything has its time,' nothing lasts forever, but the run we had was the best. I wouldn't trade it for all the universes."

Rose bit her lip and slid down the doors, as the Doctor's screams became inhuman and the distinct feeling of falling swept over the ship.

~/~

The Doctor threw himself towards the TARDIS and tried to follow her and Rose into the core of the ship. He would have fallen in, if Jack had not caught him and held him firmly until the Daleks closed the trapdoor. When the floor was solid again, Jack released the Time Lord and watched as he fell to his knees on the location where the TARDIS had stood just seconds previously.

His brain barely registered that Donna had taken a grip of his shoulders and was gently guiding him up so he stood in front of the Supreme Dalek. Donna felt the Time Lord's fury trembling within him; the instability was obvious as he shook his head back and forth.

"You killed her," the Doctor murmured. "Both of them, you killed both of them."

"This is not a deed of the Daleks," the Supreme Dalek rang out, in a tone that could have been mocking if he had any true emotions at all. "Time Lords are known for their treachery."

The Doctor was about to bite out a reply, but Donna stepped up in front of him. "Now listen here," Donna's caustic words were dangerously low, portraying none of the fear that swelled inside of her. "Oi, swivel that stick you call an eye in this direction and pay attention."

The Supreme Dalek complied along with several of the others in the room.

"I know you can't feel anything in that thick metal shell of yours, but you must at least have a brain! And, when you find it inside that robotic casing of yours, think back if you can see any man–especially this man–purposefully killing a woman he loved."

The Doctor pulled Donna back beside him and shook his head slowly from side to side. She opened her mouth to protest, but he gave her a gaze that pleaded her to be quiet, and she had no choice but to listen to him just this one time.

"He has," the Supreme Dalek spoke with a voice dripping with confidence and pride. "Is it not fair that he feel the pain that he forced upon millions of being, millions of civilizations? The loss of one pitiful human and a broken machine is hardly equivalent to the suffering he has brought to the universe. The Time Lord should thank the Daleks. We bring out the emotions he craves so much."

Jack couldn't take it anymore, he wasn't going to stand there and listen to this over grown pepper-pot insult the Doctor. Fury ran too deep for him to speak, but he drew his gun and emptied the cylinder with six shots in quick succession. They all collided with their target, but fell to the ground uselessly after connecting.

It wasn't that he expected anything to come of it, but it sure felt good. Jack wore a smirk on his face while he gritted his teeth against the laser gun connecting with his chest. Flashes of memory crashed before his mind, while Donna's cries filled his ears when everything went black.

~/~

Rose was crawling on the floor of the TARDIS, desperate to stay low and prevent breathing in large quantities of the smoke accumulating in the TARDIS. She gently skimmed her fingers across the TARDIS console while the ancient machine reached into her mind with the last bit of her failing strength.

Hand…touch…save…doctor…

The plea was obvious and she felt the TARDIS drawing her eyes in the direction of the Doctor's handy spare hand.

Just one touch...

~/~

Donna was holding onto the Doctor, while they continued down to the vault. After watching the TARDIS disappear from his sight, he looked like he was going to be physically ill and Donna had to support him to keep him from teetering to the side. She had known the Doctor was mentally linked to the TARDIS, but she had never known on what scale. That coupled with the loss of his love, Rose, was causing the Doctor's stability to be challenged.

Donna saw glimpses of that pain and the desire of vengeance when he destroyed the Racnoss, but this was so much greater. In the eyes of his greatest enemies, the Doctor's first instinct was to hide his emotions; to bury them, but how could anyone hide a fraction of the pain that he was feeling?"

~/~

Golden wisps flowed around the TARDIS, sprouting from the Doctor's hand. Rose could have sworn she saw it twitch, but she wrote it off as a play of the light. Until she saw what happened next. The energy began to coagulate into the basic form of a person and more and more detailed with each passing second.

The Doctor's image sprang up breathing heavily and staring at Rose who was launching herself onto him and drawing his arms around him. He stammered, but held her closely for a brief second, suddenly happy for just being alive and with her.

Gathering his thoughts of running, Rose's arms, and pain, the Doctor registered that Rose was laughing softly against him, while she clung onto him.

"What?" his voice was high pitched and she brought her mouth to his ear.

"Pants, Doctor," Rose teased, while he tried to cover his dignity from her already averted stare. "But, I think we should get the TARDIS out of here first."

"Right," He grinned getting to his feet. "Allons-y."

~/~

The Doctor, dressed in blue with the new weapon clutched in his hands, ran towards Davros. Nervousness ran through his veins, making his actions slightly jerky, while he tried to force his feet to comply with his brain. He had called it the biggest backfire in history, but in truth he had no idea. His thoughts were more muddled than they ought to be, and he felt so tired.

He'd have to get the other Doctor to look into that, if they made it out of here alive. He quickly sighted in Davros with the gun, but he paused–hesitated. And, that was his down fall.

Out of nowhere, the blue-suited Doctor was struck in the chest by Davros' electrically charged artificial hand. He fell to the ground, clutching at his chest and suddenly everything made sense, he was half human–half Rose, ugh, that made her his sister then. Who was he gonna fantasize about now? Oh…wait, did that meant that Jackie Tyler…

The Doctor didn't get to finish his thought, because Rose was taking the gun into her own hands. She didn't hesitate like he had; she immediately figured out the system and shot Davros in the chest. Immediately after she had done so, all the Daleks began to shake and explode. They didn't scream as each of them went quickly. The human Doctor walked over to the controls, and was surprised that Rose was moving him to the side so she could reach other controls.

She realized he was staring at him and she hurried to explain, while she released the Time Lord Doctor, and his friends from the holding cells that Davros had put around them.

"Instantaneous biological meta-crisis, you grew from me, which means more than likely your part human, which you can be happy about–or sad about. I don't really know with you, but it was two-way, so I was also a part of it. I gained knowledge and maintained a human body, you maintained your knowledge, but gained a human body," Rose's words were rushed, but precise and chosen in a way that he couldn't question it.

"Alright, but you, shouldn't be able to sustain the meta-crisis," the Time
Lord Doctor said stepping in and helping to send the last planet, the Earth, home.

Rose shook her head. "A little gift from the Bad Wolf."

She poked her tongue cheekily between her teeth, and gathered the Time Lord into a hug. He held onto her tightly and looked at the human Doctor over her shoulder. He gave him a wide grin and moved to sweep him into a hug when Rose had released him to move to her Mum.

"You built the gun?" the Time Lord Doctor asked quietly, awkwardly stepping backwards from hugging…himself.

"Yeah," the human Doctor replied hesitantly, trying to gage the Time Lord's rapidly shifting facial expressions. "We didn't have a choice."

The Time Lord nodded, and then directed his gaze back over to Rose. He saved her when he couldn't; he owned him everything. "Good man."

A wink was sent in the Time Lord Doctor's direction, while the two of them ushered everyone inside the TARDIS.

~/~

Everyone was in their proper home, Sarah with her son, Mickey, Martha and Jack in London, Jackie with her parallel Pete and Tony, and Rose, Donna and both Doctors in the TARDIS. Although, they had dropped Donna off to check on her mother and granddad.

The Doctor was buried within the innards of the TARDIS, making repairs, while the human Doctor who had taken the name, 'John,' was leading her into the TARDIS's garden room. His hand was laced in hers, while she held onto his waist. Their steps were light, while they crossed the green grass and the sound of a rushing stream filled their ears.

"It's beautiful in here," Rose said, swinging her arms around her in a

wide arc, while John grinned at her. His brown eyes studied her with
unadulterated amazement. Rose couldn't help noting how this human version of the Doctor was so much more lively and curious. There was a glow in his eyes that was still finding wonder through the universe, where the Time Lord only saw it through the eyes of his companions. It took Rose a moment before she realized he had gotten that from her. "Why didn't you ever bring me in here before?"

John shrugged his shoulders and collapsed against a thick trunked tree, while Rose joined him. "Never really thought about it before." A small smile crept across his lips. "We were always spending so much time running, we never really got time to," he paused to pull a red, thorny flower from seemingly nowhere. "And, smell the roses."

Giggles bubbled up in Rose's stomach and she gingerly took the flower from his finger tips and brought it to her nose for a long smell. It was sweeter than the Rose's at home, with softer petals and a more vibrant shade of red. She guessed the TARDIS must have developed it.

Silently, John and Rose took in the rolling hills covered in flowers dotting the area, with the occasional shade tree. The mood was light until the next words fell from John's mouth.

"It's funny," his words were overflowing with spite, despite his best attempts to conceal it carefully from Rose's ears. "I think this body would enjoy the slow path immensely."

Turning to roll on her stomach, Rose put a gentle hand on John's cheek. "You will."

He smiled and covered her hand with his, gently guiding it down and settling it on his knee. "Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth."

With those words, John swallowed thickly. His face contorted in pain, while his whole body seemed to tremble with unimaginable pain. His hands went straight to his head, clamping on his temples and trying to make the sensation of flames licking his brain stop. Tears burned behind his eyes and added to the sensation of his whole head about to turn inside out. He forced them shut so tightly that he saw stars.

Rose could tell he was having trouble focusing his thoughts, but she managed to coax him out of his pain to open his eyes and stare into her face. He tried to speak to her, but she covered his lips with her fingers and shook her head.

She tapped the side of her head with two fingers. "I know, remember. No Bad Wolf to protect you then, eh?"

The joke was a pitiful attempt, but John let a lonely laugh leak from between his lips while his eyes caught sight of a Time Lord running towards him. He knelt down and placed a hand on John's shoulder. His touch was trying to be comforting, but the look in his eyes told John everything he needed to know.

"No," John bit out. "Never."

The Doctor shook his head, "It'll save your life. It's for the better."

Ignoring him, John looked at Rose desperately. "Don't let him, please. I… I can't, no memory, that's not a life… that is death. I'll spend every moment living dead." He turned his eyes back towards the Doctor. "You of all people should understand that."

Agreeing, Rose gently brushed her fingers over his knuckles. "Whatever you want; just don't give up yet. Beating the impossible, that's us, the three of us. Me and you, we shouldn't even exist."

"The Doctor in the TARDIS with Rose Tyler," John murmured, while his voice faded. "I don't think that the universe could handle it if the number of Doctors in the universe were multiplied two-fold." Again, John turned his attention back to the Doctor. His voice was dropping off to the point that the Doctor had to lean in to catch his words. "Don't let her go, take care of her, for the both of us."

The Doctor nodded, and looked at Rose, while she tried not to listen to what John had murmured into the Doctor's ear. When the Time Lord turned his eyes back towards his human brother, the man's eyes were closed, his face finally free of pain with what could be considered a smile stretched across his lips.

Rose felt tears beginning to stream down her face, and she found herself throwing herself at John's lifeless body. She couldn't describe the kind of hurt she was feeling. One was like losing the love of her life, a brother, and a son all at the same time, but a bigger part of her was just hurting like her very being had been ripped to shreds. She felt like she had lost a brother–a twin–and in a strange way, maybe she did.

The Doctor caught Rose in his arms and shielded her eyes from the
lifeless body that only a few minutes ago was holding the spirit of man who
save millions of lives, including theirs.

Behind their backs, the body seemed to vanish into thin air, and its place
was a small bed of roses.

Under the flowers he dreamed dreams of the impossible. Carpets, a yard, doors and windows, even walls that surrounded something smaller on the inside.