Tumblr Prompt: The Doctor takes Clara to a parallel universe to visit Rose and Tentoo but ends up finding their tombstones that says "Forever" beneath their names
AN: Quickly written, a little rough around the edges, but it was what came to mind.
"Doctor! Where are you going? You have to slow down, I can't- OUCH!" Clara screamed as she stumbled over a rock, nearly twisting her ankle. Once again, the Doctor had stormed off leaving Clara in his wake. They had somehow managed to traverse into what the Doctor had called a 'parallel universe' in their search for Gallifrey, and while claiming that it should be impossible, he'd pulled her along to explore. They'd landed in a graveyard of sorts, just outside of what looked like London, with one noticeable difference. Clara's London had no blimps in the sky.
He'd slowly explored the graveyard, looking over the headstones with care. She'd watched him, laying a rock on top of a dual grave that was weathered. As he moved on, Clara noticed that the only part visible was the surname. Tyler. It was a couple of graves over that the Doctor's demeanor changed. He stiffened, brushed off the stone, and banged his fist before taking off in a fast pace to the Tardis.
"DOCTOR!"
The Doctor stopped so suddenly she almost walked into him. His face was furrowed, but she noted that it seemed more in anguish than anger. She'd like to think she had traveled with this version for long enough to have deciphered that. "If you can't keep up, perhaps you shouldn't have come," he snarled, resuming his trek back to the Tardis.
"Uh-uh. No." Clara grabbed his arm before he could get too far away from her and spun him around. "You don't get to speak to me that way. What's going on?" The Doctor pulled violently at his arm, but Clara wouldn't release him. "What's going on?" she repeated, gently.
A long silence passed. His face was no longer in anguish, she noted, the longer the moment passed. With a curt nod, the Doctor moved back toward the dreaded grave. He moved slower and more hesitantly as they grew closer to it, as though it was a magnet repelling him. Clara knelt and looked at the headstone, reading the name aloud. "Rose Tyler Smith. Beloved wife and mother. Protector of Earth. Forever."
She looked up at the Doctor. "Did you know her?"
The Doctor nodded.
"Did she travel with you? Like I do?"
Again the Doctor nodded. Then he pointed at the neighboring headstone. John Smith. "And that was me," he whispered, his voice heavy with pain.
"How is that possible? You're here with me, right now. And I've seen your grave, at Trenzalore."
"Half human metacrisis. Regeneration energy funneled into a bio-receptacle." He pointed at his right hand. "This hand. Rose traveled with me a long time ago, with the Doctor you met with Queen Elizabeth."
Clara chuckled. "Sandshoes?"
"That's the one. And the one previous to that as well. We got separated not long after that regeneration. While I was still regenerating, I got my hand cut off in a duel, that plays a part later. She got stuck here with her parents, in this universe, and spent years trying to get back to me. After a while, and two companions later for me, she made it. I got shot by a Dalek and siphoned regeneration energy into the lost hand, sitting in a container below the consol. My companion got locked in the Tardis with the lost hand and touched it, giving it a bit of her DNA, initiating regeneration thus creating a human metacrisis Doctor. A copy of me as my tenth self, but with only one heart. Human DNA," he added at Clara's puzzled look. "I knew that Rose would never leave me, but I couldn't bear to watch her grow old. So I returned her to her family in this universe, leaving her with my metacrisis. I- I never saw her again."
Clara's eyes were brimming with tears. "Doctor, you loved her."
The Doctor began to pace. "So what if I did? She loved a full, happy life here. See? It says mother!"
"You gave her up."
"He need her! He annihilated ships filled with Daleks. He committed near genocide, just like I had when I first met her!"
"That's when we met you wasn't it? Right after you left her?"
The Doctor's voice was shaky, his pacing increasing in speed and ferocity. "Yes. And after I'd left Donna at home as well."
"Donna?"
"Metacrisis works both ways. She couldn't handle the Time Lord knowledge in her head. It was, it was burning her. But he needed Rose, and she needed him. Someone to grow old with."
Clara stood and slowly made her way towards the Doctor. She carefully laid her hand on his arm, afraid he'd bolt if she startled him. "You needed her too."
"I did. And now she's gone." The Doctor fell to his knees in front of Rose's headstone. "I'm so sorry, Rose, that I never told you how I felt. How special you were. I hope he told you."
As quickly as he fell, he stood back up, and without another word walked briskly in the direction of his ship. Clara watched him for a moment, before picking up two stones, placing one on each headstone.
When she reached the Tardis, the Doctor was fumbling with the consol controls. He barely spared her a glance as she entered. It wasn't until she took a seat on the stairs that he spoke, still not looking at her. "Thank you."
She was taken aback. It had been a long time since she'd heard him say those words. "For what?"
"For staying with me. For still traveling with me and putting up with me. I know I'm not like I was before…"
"Doctor-"
"Let me finish, please. I know I'm not like I was before, and you think I have mood swings. And I may, I don't know. But you stayed when I needed someone. You've been patient through a lot of hard changes. So, thank you. If I'm ever rude to you again-"
"I'll know you've gone back to normal," Clara smiled at him. She stood up and made her way up the stairs. "You're welcome, though. I'm off to bed. Think you can get us back home?"
"Of course I can!" the Doctor responded indignantly, as Clara left the consol room laughing.