"For a long time I thought I was just a survivor. But I'm not. I'm the winner. That's who I am. Time Lord Victorious."
"And there's no one to stop you?"
"No." The power coursed through his blood. All those people he could save. All those wrongs he could right. As much respect as he held for Captain Adelaide, she could never understand. She was just a tiny human. She didn't hold the power of the cosmos inside her. The ability to fix all the bad things that had ever happened to good people, like him.
"This is wrong, Doctor. I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong."
"That's for me to decide." He barely sniffed at her. "Now, you better get home. Ohhh, it's all locked up in a way. Still, that's easy." A quick flash of the sonic opened up her locked house. "All yours."
"Is there nothing you can't do?"
"Not anymore." A dark smile passed over his face.
She walked past him, shaking her head. She didn't understand. She couldn't. Time Lord Victorious was a good thing. He had won. And now he could get his reward. There was nothing holding him back. He watched her walk to her door before heading for his TARDIS.
A blue light filled the street, just a flash. He didn't think anything of it, until… Something was shifting. Things were changing. He turned back to look at the house.
Adelaide was dead. Inspired by the bravery of her grandmother, Adelaide's granddaughter had set out into space, leading the human race onwards and outwards.
He hadn't changed anything.
He collapsed back against the TARDIS, staring at the dark house in horror.
I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong. Adelaide's last words echoed in his mind.
He stumbled around the side of the TARDIS. "I've gone too far."
He looked up to see Ood Sigma at the end of the street, staring at him in disappointment.
Fear and adrenaline and shock dropped him to his knees.
"Is this it? My death?!"
Ood Sigma blinked at him.
"Is it time?!"
Time. Such a ridiculous notion. But one that had him utterly terrified. He couldn't see what was going to happen. He didn't know what was happening to him.
The laws of time are mine. THEY WILL OBEY ME!
I am your Master. OBEY ME.
What was he becoming? What was he turning into?
Ood Sigma vanished. He lurched to his feet, stumbling back to his TARDIS. One last look at Adelaide's house and he stumbled to the console. Looking around his last domain in panic.
For the longest time, I thought I was just a survivor. But I'm not. I'm the winner.
And now I'm going to claim my prize.
"No." He would not submit. He would not lose. He launched himself forward, grabbing the lever on the console. He was going to get his reward.
His fingers scraped down his face. He was so utterly, completely exhausted. A quick glance down at his watch showed he'd been there for seven hours. Rose would be appalled. She would have been scared to see him sitting still that long. He closed his eyes as he hauled him to his feet, as he made his way slowly across the green lawn. He wandered towards the street. Their flat was only two blocks away, but it felt like the longest trip of his life.
When he rounded the last corner, he stopped. He should have been surprised by the big blue box that was only a few steps away. He should have been more surprised by the lanky man in brown who leaned against its doors with a dark smile on his face. But all he could feel was tired.
"Where's Rose?" his Time Lord counterpart called out to him as he continued past.
"She's gone." He mounted the steps.
Before he could reach the door, rough hands closed around his shoulders, spinning him around and shoving him into the door. Something had happened to the Doctor. Something to make him dark and twisted in a way he hadn't been since he had met Rose. But he couldn't make himself care. He couldn't feel anything.
"What do you mean "she's gone"?" the Time Lord breathed in his face, teeth gritted. "You had one chance. You were the one that got to stay here with her. Forever, remember? You promised her. How could you leave her?"
His throat closed up and a small flame of anger flared. He shoved the Doctor back, smoothing his own jacket down. "I didn't leave her. You did."
The Doctor faltered. "What?"
Now that it had started, he couldn't seem to get the anger back under control. He couldn't be angry for himself, it seemed, but he could be angry for her. "You left her. How many times did you leave her? You left her here, with me, without the proper equipment, with nothing but the clothes we were wearing. You left her. And we had to pay the price."
The Doctor's brow furrowed in confusion, and he opened his mouth to say something, but he was having none of that. No more arguing. No more excuses. He would know what he had done. And he would pay for it.
"You didn't really give Rose a choice, did you? You dumped her here, with me, no matter what she wanted, no matter what was best for her. No, don't tell me staying here was best for her. You never even asked her. If you had, you would have known this universe was all wrong for her. All wrong."
Just as quickly as it had come, the energy drained back out of him. He collapsed back against the solid door, scrubbing his hands down his face. Oh, he was tired.
"What happened?"
He looked up to see the Doctor holding himself impossibly still, his hands balled into fists at his sides.
"If you had asked her, she would have told you how wrong this universe felt. How she felt like she was falling off the face of the planet, and there was nothing keeping her tethered here. If you would have cared enough to think about it, you would have known what it meant."
He slid down the door, his backside thumping heavily onto the ground. He drew his knees up to his chest, burying his face in them.
"The Wolf was still there, inside her. A part of her. It was still there. Had always been there. Didn't you ever wonder how Rose kept up with you without getting worn out like the other companions? How she even managed to get back to you after so many years and across a different dimension?"
He looked up at the Time Lord, whose face was impassive, but he knew that meant he was really listening to him. Really processing his words. His own eyes itched like they wanted to shed more tears, but he was pretty sure he'd cried himself out completely these last few days.
"Remember how, the first time we came to this universe, the TARDIS died? Her energy was not compatible with this universe. Only a small particle survived. A small particle that stayed alive and fought to live and get back to the other universe.
"Where do you think the Wolf came from? The TARDIS. It is intrinsically linked to her. It's also irreparably combined with Rose. The first time she came here, the Wolf nearly died. Just one tiny little ember remained, fighting to get back to the only universe it could live in. It burnt itself out trying to accomplish this mission.
"Then what do you do? You promptly bring her right back to this universe. To this not-quite-right world where she didn't have a hope of surviving."
The Doctor's mouth was working like he was trying to say something, but no sounds were coming out. Rose's Doctor, the one that had held her when she lay dying, collapsed in a lab in Torchwood, pushed himself to his feet. The anger had burned out, replaced with a cold and numbing fury.
"Rose couldn't live without the Wolf. And the Wolf couldn't live here. Do you see what your superior Time Lord brain did? Rose is gone. And there is no bringing her back."
"The Time Lord Victorious is wrong."
He blinked, the sentence shooting through his brain. But he was still so angry at his counterpart, for destroying the best thing in both universes, he didn't try to hard to figure out the sentiment. He put his hands in the center of the Time Lord's chest, shoving hard.
The Doctor toppled down the stairs, ending up sprawled on the cement sidewalk below and gaping up at him. "I don't know if you just dropped in for a visit, or if you were planning to take her from me. But you're too late for either. Now get out of here."
The Doctor gaped up at him for a few heartbeats, his mouth still working like he was desperately trying to say something. But he snapped his jaw closed, pulled himself slowly to his feet, and stared back at him unblinkingly. Then he turned slowly and made his way back to his TARDIS. It wasn't until it had dematerialized, the familiar vworp vworp echoing around the neighborhood, that he turned back to his front door. A shaky hand raised a key to the lock, and he pushed himself inside. A single tear dripped down his cheek, but he pushed it away. He had Rose's things to sort through.