Forks in the Road
A/N I know it's been done, but this is my attempt at an AU of Journey's End.
Rose, Jack and Donna all watched in horror as energy burst from the Doctor's exposed skin, swirling up and around him, and throughout the TARDIS control room. This couldn't be happening now, not when they needed him more than ever! Rose could feel tears rolling down her cheeks; to finally find him and have this happen had been a recurring nightmare for her ever since she had been sure that the Dimension Cannon would work. Jack held onto Rose, making sure that she didn't do something stupid, like try and go to the Doctor. Donna stood on his other side, confusion written all over her face; The Doctor, of course, hadn't told her about anything like this! And judging from Rose's tears, it couldn't be good.
Suddenly, the Doctor turned around and directed the energy towards the hand in the jar, making it glow and bubble wildly. The energy faded away and the Doctor leaned onto a support, gasping, but alive, and still looking the same.
"Now then. Where were we?" he said.
Donna, Jack and Rose just stared at him in stunned disbelief. The Doctor lowered himself down to his hands and knees in front of the still bubbling and glowing hand floating in the jar, and gently blew on it.
"There now…" he said as the glow faded away and the bubbling stopped, "You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but soon as I was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to, I mean why would I? Just look at me!" the Doctor told them, straightening his tie and flashing a cheeky grin at Rose.
"So I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle, namely, my hand, my hand there, my handy spare hand!" he explained as he stood up, looking at Rose. "Remember, Christmas Day, Sycroax, lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand. What d'you think?" he asked, nonchalantly, desperately hoping that it would be all right.
"You – you're still you?" Rose asked, as she slowly walked forward towards him, wanting to touch him, to reassure herself just as much that he was still here.
"I'm still me."
That was enough for her. Rose finally gave in to her craving as she dived into his arms, not perceiving Jack and Donna behind her at all, both with big goofy grins as they observed the delayed reunion of the Doctor and his most faithful Companion.
"You can hug me, if you want" Donna told Jack, elbowing him in the ribs with a big smile on her face, though not at all pleased when this tall handsome man just laughed. "No, really, you can hug me!" she told him again, hoping he'd get with the program. Jack grinned at her.
Meanwhile, outside the TARDIS, the Daleks continued their invasion. In her car, Sarah Jane covered her face with her arms, silently praying that Luke would be all right, as she waited for the death ray to kill her.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Daleks chanted, and Sarah Jane held her breath, wondering if it hurt to be vaporized.
Suddenly there were flashes of blue light, and a man and a woman appeared beside the car, blasting the Daleks to pieces. Sarah Jane scrambled out of the driver's seat, completely shocked, to come face to face with her saviors.
"Mickey?" she stammered.
"Us Smiths gotta stick together!" was all he said, holding onto her arm as she started trembling with the shock of her near death. But she was astounded when the woman introduced herself.
"Jackie Tyler, Rose's mum. Now where the hell is my daughter?!"
Deep underneath downtown Cardiff, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones continued shooting at the Dalek that has breached Torchwood, screaming in frustration at the entire situation, yet they quickly noticed something strange when their bullets remained suspended in the air in front of them, as if being stopped by an invisible wall. They both stopped shooting and cautiously approached; Gwen reached out slowly to touch a bullet hanging in the air a few inches in front of her face – but couldn't, and the air rippled around her fingers.
"What the hell…?" she asks.
Trying to ignore the Dalek situated in their doorway, Gwen followed Ianto to the computers, hoping that somewhere in their database was the answer to what stopped the bullets and the Dalek. After what seemed like much longer than only a few minutes, Ianto had the answer.
"It's a Time Lock! The ultimate defense programme. Tosh was working on it, never thought she finished it, but she did! The Hub's sealed in a time bubble; nothing can get in" he told her.
"But that means we can't get out" Gwen pointed out.
"Nope. Not without unlocking that Dalek," Ianto replied. "We're trapped inside. It's all up to Jack now."
Completely uncaring of the joyous reunion happening within, four Daleks had completely surrounded the TARDIS.
"Report! TARDIS has been located!" a Dalek spoke, transmitting to their leader.
"Bring it here! Bring the Doctor to me! Initiate temporal prison!" the Supreme Dalek ordered, and his soldiers quickly obeyed. The Daleks glided backwards as a shining blue circle appeared around the TARDIS.
"Temporal Prison initiated!"
Inside the TARDIS, the console room suddenly went dark. As Jack, Rose and Donna look around in confusion, the Doctor quickly jumped into action, trying to twirl a control on the console, then banging on it when it wouldn't respond.
"They've got us! Power's gone! Some kind of chronon loop…" the Doctor shouted, but then was suddenly knocked off his feet along with his three friends as the ship rocked and was pulled up towards the sky. Outside on the ground Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie, having tracked the TARDIS, had hidden behind a minivan from the four Daleks that had surrounded the blue police box, but they could only watch helplessly as the TARDIS was taken away.
"Transferring TARDIS to the Crucible" the lead Dalek on the ground stated, and began to glide away.
"Those teleport things, can we use them?" Sarah Jane asked Mickey, thinking quickly. They couldn't lose the Doctor! "If they've taken the Doctor to the Dalek spaceship, that's where we need to be."
"It's not just a teleport, it's a Dimension Jump. Mind, this thing rips a hole in the fabric of space," he warned, but Sarah Jane was insistent.
"But can we use it?" she asked again.
"Not yet, it burns up energy, needs half an hour between jumps" he told her. Sarah Jane sighed with disappointment; "Then put down your guns."
"Do what?" Mickey asked, hardly believing his ears.
"If you're carrying a gun, they'll shoot you dead" she explained as she stepped out from behind their cover and walked towards the Daleks, her hands held up. "Daleks! I surrender!"
"All humans in this sector will be taken to the Crucible!" the Dalek informed them, just as Sarah Jane had hoped.
"She's bloody mad!" Mickey protested, holding on tighter to his massive gun.
"Yeah, but Mickey, if they've got the Doctor, then they've got Rose" Jackie told him, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. She dropped her gun, and stepped out from behind the van. "And us! We surrender!"
Mickey grimaced, and kissed his gun before he threw it down and followed Jackie. He had a bad feeling about this.
Elsewhere in London, Martha Jones stood in her mother's home, her attention completely focused on the unit strapped to her wrist.
"Now that Jack's explained the base code, I know how this teleport works. I think. But you just stay indoors, there's no Daleks on this street, you should be all right, just um…keep quiet" she told her mother.
"But where are you going?"
"I'm a member of UNIT, and they gave me the Osterhagen Key. I've got a job to do," she softly told her mother, holding her arm up to stop her from approaching.
"I'm sorry."
"Martha, what's an Osterhagen Key? Tell me! What does it do?" her mother asked, not liking the look in her daughter's eyes at all.
"Love you" Martha sobbed before she disappeared in a flash of blue light.
A few seconds later, sixty miles outside Nuremberg Germany, Martha appeared in a forest, where she could hear Daleks nearby. Peering through the woods, she saw several Daleks gliding towards her. Martha took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and ran in the opposite direction.
Within the TARDIS, the Doctor, Jack, Donna and Rose had gathered around the console.
"There's a massive Dalek ship at the center of the planets. They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination," Jack told them
"Doctor, you said these planets were like an engine. But what for?" Donna asked
The Doctor rubbed the back of his head, a bit perplexed.
Then; "Rose! You've been in a parallel world, that world's running ahead of this universe. You've seen the future! What was it?" the Doctor asked, for once grateful for Pete's world.
"It's the darkness," she told them softly.
"The stars were going out" Donna agreed, remembering the brief time in her own parallel world.
"One by one. We looked up at the sky and they were just dying. Basically, we've been building this, um…this travel machine, this…this, er, Dimension Cannon, so I c- well, so I could…" Rose faltered, not quite able to say in front of the others what had been her driving force.
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"So I could come back," Rose admitted with a smile. The Doctor grinned at her, his hearts swelling. "Shut up" she murmured to him, knowing he was enjoying this. "Anyway, suddenly it started to work and the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world, not just in yours, but the whole of reality. Even the Void was dead. Something is destroying everything," she told them, a grim look on her face.
"Rose, in that parallel world…you said something about me?" Donna asked the blond.
"The Dimension Cannon could measure timelines, and it's…it's weird, Donna, but there is a strong probability that something you do could make all the difference," Rose told the other woman.
"But why me? I mean, what have I ever done? I'm a temp. From Chiswick!" Donna exclaimed.
Rose just smiled at her. Suddenly a beep from the monitor caught all their attention, and the Doctor leaned towards the screen.
"The Dalek Crucible. All aboard!" he told them.
Outside, the Daleks had transferred the TARDIS to the bridge of the Crucible.
"The TARDIS is secured" a Dalek intoned.
"Doctor!" the Supreme Dalek called out. "You will step forth or die!"
"We'll have to go out. Cause if we don't, they'll get in," he told his companions, regretfully.
They all looked at him with varying degrees of shock.
"But you told me nothing could get through those doors" Rose reminded him.
"You've got extrapolator shielding!" Jack agreed.
"Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids and mad. But this is a fully-fledged Dalek Empire, at the height of its power. Experts at fighting TARDISes, they can do anything. Right now, that wooden door… is just wood," he told them all.
Donna, standing next to the Doctor, started to tremble. Sensing her distress, the Doctor reached out his arm and pulled her against him, trying to provide what comfort he could. Donna had no idea what Daleks could do.
On the other side of the console, a melody was starting to seriously distract Rose, an endless tune running through her head.
"Rose what about your Dimension Jump?" Jack asked her, "Hey Rose?" Jack reached over to her, shaking her shoulder slightly.
"Hmmm? Oh, it needs another 20 minutes, and anyway I'm not leaving!" she insisted, turning her glare onto her Doctor.
"Jack, what about your teleport?" the Doctor asked.
"Went down with the power loss," Jack replied.
"Right then, all of us together…Yeah,"
The Doctor reached out and put his arm around Donna's shoulders.
"Donna?
"Yeah?" she asked, trying to give him a smile, trying to show she wasn't desperately afraid.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing else we can do," he apologized.
"I know," Donna told him softly.
"Surrender, Doctor, and face your Dalek masters!" the Supreme Dalek called from outside the TARDIS.
"Crucible on maximum alert!" a Dalek intoned.
"So, Daleks," Donna said with a nervous laugh.
"Oh, God!" Jack laughs, taking deep breaths himself.
"It's been good, though, hasn't it? All of us, all of it, everything we did," the Doctor said, looking over his friends. Looking at Donna, he had to admire her; she had never faced the Daleks before, but had listened to him talk about them, and still stood next to him. "You were brilliant."
Donna smiled at him in acknowledgement.
Turning to face Jack, the Doctor smiled at him, impossible Jack. "And you were brilliant." Jack grinned back at him.
Turning to Rose, he gazed into her eyes: his perfect Rose. "And you were brilliant! Blimey!" the Doctor said, taking a final deep breath before stepping out of the TARDIS, with Donna and Jack right behind him.
"Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks!" the Supreme Daleks intoned.
"Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks!" thousands and thousands of Daleks responded.
Coming up from behind Jack and Donna, Rose paused on the threshold, glancing behind her with a puzzled look on her face; she was hearing the mysterious melody again.
"Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks!" the Daleks of the Crucible continued as The Doctor, Donna, and Jack stared up above them at the thousands of swarming Daleks.
"Behold, Doctor! Behold the might of the true Dalek race!" the Supreme Dalek said, approaching The Doctor and his companions. Glancing around him, the Doctor noticed Rose was still in the TARDIS.
While the others stood outside, Rose turned to look back into the TARDIS, looking for the source of the melody that seemed so familiar…
"Rose, you know you're no safer in there," The Doctor said, holding out his hand to her. "Come on now."
Turning her head, Rose could see the Doctor reaching out his hand for hers, just like that night so long ago. And he was right. With a sigh she turned around, ready to face the throngs of Daleks, only to have the TARDIS doors slam shut in her face.
"What?" the Doctor screeched, running up to the TARDIS doors.
"Doctor? What have you done?" Rose called from the other side of the doors, tugging on them from within the TARDIS.
"It wasn't me, I didn't do anything!" he insisted.
"No! Don't you dare do this to me again, Doctor!" Rose shouted.
"It wasn't me!" he shouted back through the doors. Suddenly he whipped around to face the Supreme Dalek. "What did you do?!"
"This is not of Dalek origin" the Supreme Dalek responded.
"Doctor!" they could all hear Rose shout from within the TARDIS.
"Stop it! She's important to me, now open the door and let her out!" the Doctor commanded.
"This is Time Lord treachery," the Supreme Dalek stated, not registering the horrified look on the faces of The Doctor and his other two companions.
"Me? The door just closed on its own!" the Doctor snapped.
"Nevertheless, the TARDIS is a weapon, and it will be destroyed" the Supreme Dalek revealed as a trapdoor opened beneath the TARDIS and it disappeared from their sight as it fell.
"What are you doing? Bring it back!" the Doctor demanded, dread clenching his hearts. Please, not the TARDIS and Rose both!
Within the TARDIS, Rose clung to the coral support beam, holding on for dear life as the TARDIS fell through an endless tunnel.
"Doctor!" Rose yelled.
"What have you done, where's it going?!" the Doctor asked.
"The Crucible has a heart of Z-Neutrino Energy. The TARDIS will be deposited into the core," the Supreme Dalek reported emotionlessly.
"You can't! You've taken the defenses down, it'll be torn apart!" The Doctor said, horrified.
Emerging from the tunnel into the core of the ship, the TARDIS landed in an energy globe: the source of power for the Dalek ship. Around her the console room burst into flames, and the lights in the walls smashed; Rose screamed as she covered her head while trying to crawl back towards the console.
"But Rose is still in there!" Donna yelled at the Daleks.
"Let her go!" Jack shouted.
"The female and the TARDIS will perish together. Observe!" the Supreme Dalek informed them as he activated a holographic screen, showing the TARDIS, bobbing in the energy field. "The last child of Gallifrey is powerless."
"Please!" the Doctor begged, panic ringing through his voice. "I'll do anything! Put me in her place, you can do anything to me, I don't care, just get her out of there!" the Doctor screamed at the Supreme Dalek.
Inside the TARDIS Rose crawled on her hands and knees, coughing from all the smoke, when suddenly she heard it again, the song. As if in a trance, Rose stood up, and reached out her hand. Placing it gently on the console, a soft golden energy spiraled up her arm. Rose gasped as the light engulfed her.
On the Command Deck of the Crucible, the Doctor watched the screen in despair, breathing heavily.
"You are connected to the TARDIS, Doctor. Now feel it die!" the Supreme Dalek gloated.
Donna walked up next to the Doctor and took his hand as they watched the TARDIS on the screen.
"Total TARDIS destruction in ten rels, nine, eight, seven, six…" the Supreme Dalek intoned. "Five, four, three, two, one…"
The TARDIS disappeared.
"The TARDIS has been destroyed. Now tell me, Doctor. What do you feel? Anger? Sorrow? Despair?"
"…Yeah" the Doctor said listlessly, completely lost.
"Then if emotions are so important, surely we have enhanced you?" the Supreme Dalek suggested.
"Yeah? Feel this!" Jack shouted, shooting at the Supreme Dalek with his handgun.
The Supreme Dalek was completely unharmed.
"Exterminate!"
Jack collapsed as the Dalek death ray encompassed him. Donna knelt down next to him, scrambling for a pulse. There was none.
"Jack! Oh my God! No!" Donna cried.
"Donna, come here, leave him" the Doctor told her; already suspecting what Jack was up to.
"They killed him," Donna stated.
"I know, I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized.
"Escort them to the Vault, they are the playthings of Davros now," the Supreme Dalek ordered.
The Doctor pulled Donna up. "There's nothing we can do."
As they were led away, the Doctor looked back to Jack, who quickly winked at him, then resumed playing dead.
Back on Earth, Martha walked up to an abandoned castle, meeting an old woman who waited for her at the door.
"There's nobody here. Whatever you want, just go away. Leave me alone!" she insisted, in German.
"My name is Martha Jones, I come from UNIT, agent 56671, medical officer" Martha responded in the same language.
"They said you might come," the woman said, before switching to English. "That accent, that is London, ja? I went to London. Long time ago" she told Martha.
"I thought this place was supposed to be guarded," Martha stated.
"There were soldiers. Boys. I brought them food, every day. But when the nightmare came from the sky…they went home, to die. But not you?" the woman said.
"I've got a job to do," Martha told her.
Determined, Martha walked into the castle, crossing a dark room and pulling away a curtain to reveal a hidden door. She entered a security code, and then put her hand onto the palm scanner that appeared. As the door clicks open, the German woman followed her into the room.
"London, in those days, to see it! So much glamour, I was so young," she continued. "I heard the soldiers talking. Many times. They would speak of the Osterhagen Key" the woman brought up. "I think London must be changed now, yes? But still the glamour," she said, as if she hadn't mentioned anything out of the ordinary at all.
Martha opened the door, but turned back when she heard the cocking of a gun.
"You will not go," the German woman said.
"I've got no choice," Martha answered.
"I know the Key. What it does," the woman spoke, her voice breaking. "You are the nightmare, it's not them, it's you! I should kill you right now!"
"Then do it," Martha said quietly.
The woman trembled, but then lowered the gun. Martha stepped into the lift behind the door.
"Martha…Go to hell!"
"I know," Martha replied, her face a stony mask.
On the Crucible;
"Commence disposal. Incinerate!" a Dalek ordered, as they sent Jack's seemingly lifeless body with a bunch of other rubbish to the incinerator.
"Disposal completed," another Dalek responded, and rolled out of the room.
A second after the Dalek left, Jack climbed back into the room, coughing on the smoke from the Incinerator, but alive.
Back in the castle, Martha arrived in a small chamber filled with screens and controls. Sitting down, she pressed a button. "This is Osterhagen Station One. My name is Martha Jones. Is there anyone there? Over."
Onboard the Crucible, the Daleks herded the prisoners forward, prisoners that including Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie.
"Prisoners now on board the Crucible. They will be taken for testing," a Dalek ordered.
"One step closer to the Doctor," Sarah Jane whispered.
Within the Vault, the Doctor and Donna stood in front of Davros. "Activate the holding cells," he told the computer. Separate forcefields snapped into existence between the two friends as Davros approached them.
"Excellent. Even when powerless, a Time Lord is best contained" Davros stated, a grim little smile marring his face.
"Still scared of me, then?" the Doctor asked, reaching out and touching the edge of the holding cells, sending ripples of blue light across the forcefield.
"It is time we talked, Doctor. After so very long…" Davros began.
"No no no no no, we're not doing the nostalgia tour, I wanna know what's happening, right here, right now, cause the Supreme Dalek said Vault, yeah?" the Doctor interrupted, looking around at their surroundings.
"As in Dungeon? Cellar? Prison? You're not in charge of the Daleks, are you? They've got you locked away down here in the basement, like what, a servant? Slave? Court Jester?" the Doctor mocked.
"We have…an arrangement," Davros stated, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
"No no no no, I've got the word. You're the Dalek's pet!" the Doctor laughed scornfully.
Davros didn't say a word as he moved towards Donna. "So very full of fire, is he not?" he asked her. "And to think you searched for him, to travel with him and see the universe, hah!" Davros jeered.
"Leave her alone!" the Doctor warned Davros.
"She is mine, to do as I please," Davros said, amused at how powerless the Doctor was.
"Oi! Then why am I still alive?" Donna demanded.
"You must be here. It was foretold. Even the Supreme Dalek would not dare to contradict the prophecies of Dalek Caan!" he revealed, as a spotlight lit up over a Dalek out of its metal shell.
"So cold and dark, fire is coming, the endless flames…" Dalek Caan spoke to himself in a singsong voice.
"What is that thing?" Donna asked, disgusted.
"This is the last of the Dalek Cult of Skaro. But it flew into the Time War, unprotected," the Doctor told her, a bit confused himself.
"Caan did more than that, Doctor. He saw time, its infinite complexity and majesty, raging through his mind. And he saw you. The both of you," Davros told them.
"This I have foreseen, in the wild, and the wind. The Doctor will be here, as witness, at the end of everything. The Doctor and his precious Children of Time," Caan giggled. "And one of them will die!" it revealed.
"Was it you, Caan? Did you kill Rose? Why did the TARDIS door close, tell me!"
"Oh, that's it! The anger. The fire. The rage of a Time Lord who butchered millions; there he is!" Davros ridiculed, as the Doctor shifted uneasily within the force field. "Why so shy, Doctor? Show your companion! Show her your true self. Dalek Caan has promised me that, too," Davros told him.
"I have seen. At the time of ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed," Caan whispered.
"What does that mean?" the Doctor demanded.
"We will discover it together. Our final journey, because the ending approaches, the testing begins," Davros said, ominously.
"Testing of what?" the Doctor asked
"The Reality Bomb."
Deeper within the Crucible, the Daleks gather together their prisoners.
"Prisoners will stand in the designated area! Move! Move!" the Daleks ordered, but as the prisoners walk forward, a woman fell to her knees.
"You will stand!" a Dalek ordered.
"I can't…" the woman moaned.
"You will stand!" the Dalek repeated.
"I can't! Please!" the woman cried.
"On your feet. On your feet!" the Dalek continued to order.
Meanwhile, while the Daleks were distracted, Sarah Jane ran to a nearby door, and quickly opened it with her sonic lipstick.
"Mickey. Mickey!" Sarah Jane called, indicating the open door in front of her.
"Jackie!" Mickey whispered, as he moved slowly backwards.
Mickey followed Sarah Jane through the door, but Jackie had moved forward to help the scared woman to her feet and couldn't slip away.
"Prisoners will stand in the designated area!" the Dalek ordered.
Mickey and Sarah Jane could only watch the prisoners through the window of the door they now stood behind.
"We can't just leave her!" Mickey insisted, reaching out his hand to open the door.
"No, Mickey, wait!" Sarah Jane whispered, just as a Dalek glided past their door.
"What does it mean? What are they testing? What are they going to do?" the terrified woman asked Jackie.
They both look up to see a big, green circular device being lowered above their heads.
"I reckon it's that thing there," Jackie told her glumly.
"Testing calibration of Reality Bomb! Firing in ten rels, nine, eight, seven…" the Supreme Dalek intoned.
Within the Vault, Davros flicked a switch and a holographic screen appears, showing the testing area.
"Behold the apotheosis of my genius!" Davros exulted.
"…Two, one, zero. Activate planetary alignment field!" the Supreme Dalek ordered.
The Doctor and Donna look at the screen, trying to figure out what was happening.
"It's the planets. The 27 planets!" the Doctor exclaimed, as glowing white energy surrounded the planets. "That's Z-Neutrino energy…flattened by the alignment of the planets into a single string…"the Doctor trailed off, before suddenly whipping around to look at Davros in horror.
"No! Davros! Davros, you can't! You can't! NO!"
Down outside the testing area, Sarah Jane watched the prisoners while Mickey paced up and down, frustrated. He almost jumped when the Dimension Jump beeped in his pocket.
"Thirty minutes…it's recharged!" he exclaimed, as he dashed to the window to show it to Jackie. "It's recharged! It's recharged! Use it!" he shouted through the door.
Among the crowd of scared people, Jackie released the hand she had been holding, and shifted away from the other woman.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, before pressing the yellow button on her Dimension Jump and disappeared, only to reappear a few feet away, outside the testing area.
Jackie threw her arms around Mickey and crushed him in a hug, before the three of them turned to watch in horror as the Reality Bomb started working and the prisoners dissolved into atoms.
"Test completed," the Dalek reported.
Within the Vault, the Doctor is speechless from the horror.
"What was it, Doctor? What did it do?" Donna asked softly.
"Electrical energy, Miss Noble. An electrical field binds every atom in existence. The Reality Bomb cancels it out. Structure falls apart. That test was focused on the prisoners alone, but a full transmission will dissolve every form of matter" Davros explained, like a proud parent.
"The stars are going out…" Donna whispered, reminded of what Rose had said.
"Twenty seven planets. They become on vast transmitter, blasting that wavelength…" the Doctor figured.
"Across the entire universe. Never stopping, never faltering, never fading. People and planets and stars will become dust, and the dust will become atoms, and the atoms will become…nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the Rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, and every single corner of creation! This is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The destruction of reality itself!" Davros bragged.
"Prepare for universal detonation!" the Supreme Dalek ordered from the Command Deck. "The fleet will gather at the Crucible! All Daleks will return to shelter from the cataclysm! We will become the only life forms in existence!"
Throughout the pocket of time, the Dalek spaceships left the Earth. People ran into the street, watching them go.
"Look, they're leaving! Dad, they're going, the Daleks are going!" Sylvia said in relief.
"Going where, though? And Donna's still out there, somewhere. It's not over yet, sweetheart," Wilf warned his daughter.
On the Crucible, a panel on the wall bursts open, and Jack rolled out. He looked up to see Mickey, Sarah Jane, and Jackie.
"Just my luck. I climb through two miles of ventilation shafts, chasing life signs on this thing," he tells them, holding up his wrist device, "And who do I find? Mickey Mouse!"
"You can talk, Captian Cheesecake!" Mickey said with a smile, reaching out to help the other man up, then into a manly hug.
"Good to see you…and that's Beefcake," Jack said with a smile in his voice.
"And that's enough hugging," Mickey replied, stepping away from Jack.
Jack let him go, and saluted to Sarah Jane.
"We meet at last, Miss Smith," Jack said, respect tingeing his voice.
"There has to be something we can do," Sarah Jane told Jack, getting right to business. Then; "You've got to understand, I have a son down there on Earth. He's only 14 years old. And I've brought this," she held up something that looked like a diamond pendant. Jack stared at it with complete awe.
"It was given to me by a Verron Soothsayer. He said, 'this is for the End of Days.'"
"Is that a Warp Star?" Jack asked.
Sarah Jane nodded.
"Gonna tell me what a Warp Star is?" Mickey interrupted.
"A warpfold conjugation trapped in a carbonized shell. It's an explosion, Mickey. An explosion waiting to happen," Jack explained.
Back on Earth, there were still people that knew the worst wasn't over yet.
"This is Osterhagen Station Five. Are you receiving, Station One?" a Chinese woman called, her image appearing on the screen in front of Martha.
"I've got you. That makes three of us and three is all we need," Martha confirmed.
"My name is Anna Zhou, what's yours?" Anna asked.
"Martha Jones. What about you, Station four?" Martha asked, turning to the other screen active in front of her. "You never said."
"I don't want my name on this. Given what we're about to do," a dark skinned man replied.
"So what happens now? Do we do it?" Anna asked.
"No. Not yet," Martha said, biting her lip.
"UNIT instructions say, once three Osterhagen Stations are online…" Anna reminded Martha.
"Yeah, but I've got a higher authority, way above UNIT. And there's one more thing the Doctor would do," Martha told them.
"Incoming transmission! Origin Planet Earth!" A Dalek reported onboard the Crucible.
"Display!" the Supreme Dalek ordered.
Martha appeared on the holographic screen, a stern look on her face.
"This is Martha Jones, representing the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, on behalf of the human race."
"Send transmission to the Vault. Continue to monitor," the Supreme Dalek instructed.
Bellow in the Vault, Martha's face appeared to them as well.
"This message is for the Dalek Crucible, repeat, can you hear me?"
"Put me through!" the Doctor told Davros.
"It begins. As Dalek Caan foretold," Davros stated.
"The Children of Time will gather. And one of them will die!" Dalek Caan said, giggling madly.
"Stop saying that! Put me through!" he told the Daleks again.
"Doctor! I'm sorry. I had to," Martha apologized.
"Oh, but the Doctor is powerless. He is my prisoner. State your intent," Davros told her.
Martha took a deep breath; this was it. "I've got the Osterhagen Key. Leave this planet and its people alone. Or I'll use it," she ordered, holding up the Key.
"Osterhagen what? What's an Osterhagen Key?!" the Doctor demanded, not liking the sound of this at all.
"There's a chain of twenty-five nuclear warheads, placed in strategic points beneath the Earth's crust. If I use the key, they detonate and the Earth gets ripped apart," Martha explained to everyone.
"What!" the Doctor said in complete shock. "Who invented that? Well, someone called Osterhagen, I suppose. Martha, are you insane!" the Doctor babbled.
"The Osterhagen Key is to be used, if the suffering of the human race is so great, so without hope…that this becomes the final option," Martha explained, totally serious.
"That's never an option!" the Doctor insisted.
"Don't argue with me, Doctor!" Martha snapped. "Cos it's more than that. Now, I reckon the Daleks need these twenty-seven planets for something, but what if it becomes twenty-six? What happens then, Daleks? Would you risk it?" Martha dared, glaring at the metal encased aliens.
"Oi, always knew she was good," Donna muttered.
"What? Who else is there?" Martha asked.
"Hi Martha, I'm here too," Donna greeted the other woman.
"Donna! I'm glad you're still with him," Martha smiled.
"Second transmission, internal!" a Dalek reported on the command deck.
"Display!" the Supreme Dalek ordered.
A second screen appeared to those in the Vault, Jack was holding the Warp Star up high, Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie behind him.
"Captain Jack Harkness, calling all Dalek boys and girls! Are you receiving me? Don't send in your goons, or I'll set this thing off!" Jack warned them.
"He's still alive!" Donna said in complete shock.
"Jackie!" the Doctor whispered, his hearts seizing in dread. He would have to tell her, how he'd broken his promise. "…And Mickey. Captain, what are you doing?" the Doctor asked.
"I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe. I break this shell, and the entire Crucible goes up!" Jack told everyone.
"You can't! Where did you get a Warp Star?" the Doctor asked, stunned.
"From me!" Sarah Jane replied, stepping forward. "We had no choice, Doctor. We saw what happened to the prisoners."
"Impossible…" Davros said softly, moving closer to the screen to get a closer look. "That face…after all these years," he continued.
"Davros!" Sarah Jane replied, venom in her voice. "It's been quite a while. Sarah Jane Smith, remember?" she taunted.
"Oh, this is meant to be! The Circle of Time is closing. You were there, on Skaro, at the very beginning of my creation," Davros, said mirthfully.
"I've learned how to fight since then! You let the Doctor go, or this Warp Star, it gets opened!" Sarah Jane threatened.
"I'll do it! Don't imagine I wouldn't!" Jack reminded them.
"Hah! Now that's what I call a ransom! Doctor?" Donna said, turning to the Doctor to see what he thought, only to be shocked speechless by the expression on his face; clouded and full of guilt.
"And the prophecy unfolds," Davros said softly, his voice carrying to all those observing.
"The Doctor's soul is revealed!" Dalek Caan giggled. "See him! See the heart of him!"
"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun. But this is the truth, Doctor; you take ordinary people and you fashion THEM into weapons. Behold your Children of Time, transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this," Davros explained, twisting the final metaphorical knife into the Doctor's chest.
"They're trying to help," the Doctor replied softly, but it sounded like even he wasn't convinced.
"Already, I have seen them sacrifice today, for their beloved Doctor. The Earth woman, who fell opening the Subwave Network," Davros revealed.
"Who was that?" the Doctor couldn't help but ask.
"Harriet Jones," Jack replied through the screen. "She gave her life to get you here."
"How many more, Doctor? Just think, how many have died in your name?" Davros goaded.
The Doctor closed his eyes; there had been so many. So many faces over the years, too many that had sacrificed themselves for him; Jabe, the Controller, Lynda, Sir Robert, Mrs. Moore, Mr. Skinner, Ursula, Bridget, the Face of Boe, Chantho, Astrid, Luke Rattigan, Jenny, River Song, the Hostess…Rose.
The Doctor trembled. It was too much.
"The Doctor; the man who keeps running and never looking back, because he dares not, out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you…yourself," Davros states.
For once, the Doctor had nothing to say.
In the Command Center above, the Supreme Dalek had run out of patience.
"Enough! Engage defense zero-five!"
"Daleks! It's the Crucible or the Earth!" Martha threatened, lifting up the Osterhagen Key.
"Transmat engaged," a Dalek soldier reported.
Both in a castle on Earth and a few decks below the Vault, the Osterhagen Key and the Warp Star crashed to the floor as Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane, Mickey, and Jackie disappeared in a flash of blue light, only to reappear a second later within the Vault.
Jack reached out his hand to Martha to help her up, and with a nod of thanks, Martha got to her feet, and turned to face the Daleks.
"Don't move, all of you, just stay still!" the Doctor warned, frantically.
"Guard them!" Davros instructed the Dalek soldiers. Then; "on your knees, all of you. Surrender!"
"Do as he says," the Doctor instructed his friends.
"Doctor, where's my daughter!" Jackie Tyler demanded, shrilly. Rose should have been with the Doctor.
"Oh Jackie…" the Doctor trailed off softly, and that was all he needed to say.
Jackie dropped to her knees in shock and started to cry, while Mickey just stood there, frozen in disbelief.
"The final prophecy is in place. The Doctor and his children all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek, the time has come! Now…detonate the Reality Bomb!" Davros ordered as he cackled.
"Activate planetary alignment field!" the Supreme Dalek ordered.
Within the pocket of time, the planets started to the glow with the gathered destructive energy.
"Universal Reality Detonation in 200 rels," the Supreme Dalek intoned, as if reporting the weather.
"You can't, Davros! Just listen to me! Just stop!" the Doctor pleaded.
"Nothing can stop the detonation, nothing and no one!" Davros laughed, insanely.
As they all watched the screen with various degrees of emotion, suddenly there was a sound; an impossible sound.
"But that's…"the Doctor trailed off, hardly able to believe his ears.
"Impossible!" Davros screamed.
The Doctor and his Children of Time watched in delighted surprise as the TARDIS materialized in front of them. The doors sprang open and a golden light spilled out, surrounding a slight figure.
"Brilliant!" Jack exclaims.
"No…" the Doctor spoke softly as he stared unblinkingly into the light.
"We are one again," Bad Wolf said, Rose's voice echoing with the intensity of Time.
"Rose!" Jackie called to her daughter, moving towards her.
"No Jackie, don't move!" the Doctor told her, then; "No one move, that's not Rose."
"Bad Wolf," Jack whispered, and then whistled softly.
"What is this trickery? No one can stop me, no one!" Davros screamed, and shot a bolt of electrical energy at Rose.
"Rose!" Jackie called out, and went to step forward, desperately afraid. No one shot anything at her daughter! But Jack grabbed her arm.
Quick as thought, Rose's hand reached up, and all those assembled watched in wonder as the bolt seemed to freeze in mid-air, then reverse back towards Davros.
He screamed in pain as the energy bolt returned to him, leaving his arm a mass of charred flesh fused with metal components.
"But I can," Bad Wolf whispered, and stepped towards Davros as the countdown approached zero.
With a flash of her eyes, the control panels and the reality bomb disappeared in a haze of gold; and all that remained of Davros' once great master plan were little piles of dust.
"System is not responding!" a Dalek on the bridge reported.
"Detonation negative!" another one confirmed.
"Explain! Explain! Explain!" The Supreme Dalek commanded.
"You will suffer for this!" Davros wheezed, "Daleks, Exterminate her!" he ordered, and all the Daleks in the Vault turned and descended on Rose.
The gathered companions could barely breath as hundreds of Daleks fired towards the petite form, but without even turning her golden eyes away from Davros and the Doctor, Bad Wolf flashed her hands up, and the bolts of energy froze in mid-air, just as the lightning bolt had.
"The Dalek race is a disease," Bad Wolf spoke softly, "despite many chances to progress, grow and thrive you have remained as you are."
"The Dalek race is perfection!" Davros screamed. "Unchanging and pure! We will rule unchallenged throughout the galaxy!"
"You will not. You are small and limited beings; the few instances of growth Dalek's have achieved have been ruthlessly obliterated. Now you go too far, and the time has come for the Dalek's to end. All things turn to dust, and everything dies" Bad Wolf commanded, and raised both her arms up. Without another word, the hundreds of Dalek's surrounding them, the thousands throughout the ship, and the single one in the Hub in Cardiff disintegrated into golden particles.
As the Dalek's literally faded away, the Doctor finally moved forward.
"Rose, please stop. The Dalek's are gone, we're safe," the Time Lord pleaded, reaching his hand out towards her in what would be a familiar motion between the two of them.
"Yes, you are safe, my Doctor, but the Balance of the Universe must be restored," Bad Wolf stated, looking only at the Doctor, who had stopped moving forward.
The assembled companions didn't understand what was going on, until;
"Rose, stop it! Please let me in! You're going to burn! You're going to die! Don't make me go through that again!" the Doctor growled at her, his voice broken.
"She's keeping you away from her? Why?" Jack asked, finally moving forwards and coming up beside the Doctor.
"Because she knows I can remove the Time Vortex from her mind," the Doctor answered shortly.
"And why would she stop that? Isn't that a good thing?" Donna asked, coming up on the Doctor's other side.
The Doctor sucked on his lip, and scowled at Rose, but there was no other option. "She also knows that doing that would kill me," he admitted. "That's how I ended up with this face; after last time," he explained, raising his eyebrows at Jack significantly.
Jack just looked at the Doctor, and he finally understood.
"I'd always wondered," was all he said.
"So if it's a matter of time, and the Balance of the universe has to be restored, then what are you waiting for, dumbo! Get to it!" Donna admonished him.
The Doctor huffed, and turned towards the equipment that remained.
"Stop! Get away from the controls!" Davros shouted, uselessly.
As The Doctor had advanced towards the controls, Jack edged around Bad Wolf and ran into the TARDIS, only to reappear seconds later with two massive guns, the second of which he heaved towards Mickey.
"27 planets to send home? Alright then, easy enough," The Doctor began, and activated the Magnatron.
"No, you will desist!" Davros protested as The Doctor disassembled the final remnants of his master plan. He advanced menacingly towards The Doctor, but Jack and Mickey stepped forward, aiming the guns at Davros, who froze.
"Just stay where you are, mister!" Mickey ordered.
As the two men had Davros covered, the others came forward as well; Martha moving towards Jack and Mickey while Jackie and Sarah Jane approached Bad Wolf, but mindful of what the Doctor had said, didn't get too close. Jackie stared into her daughter's face, searching for some sign of Rose, and finding none.
Meanwhile, one by one, the planets started to disappear from the Medusa Cascade, being returned to their original location in time and space.
"Off you go, Clom! Adipose 3, Shallacatop, Pyrovillia and the Lost Moon of Poosh, all sorted! But we need more power!" The Doctor informed them.
Davros, still being guarded by Jack and Mickey, turned to Dalek Caan, who had remained quiet in his corner throughout.
"You promised me, Dalek Caan! Why did you not foresee this?" he demanded.
The only answer was the Dalek giggling.
"Oh, I think he did," The Doctor said, having noticed the strange occasion of a Dalek giggling, even a mad one. "Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages. Getting us all to the right place at the right time."
"This would always have happened, Doctor. I only helped" Dalek Caan admitted.
"You have betrayed the Daleks!" Davros screamed.
"I saw the Daleks! What we have done, throughout time and space, I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed NO MORE!" Dalek Caan declared.
Suddenly the Doctor growled in frustration, and slammed his hand on the panel.
"No! I've lost power! There's only one planet left, and guess which one! This system was never designed for constant use," he told his companions.
Bad Wolf stirred and her eyes blazed.
"Earth will be safe," she stated.
"What? No! You can't!" the Doctor insisted, but he could do nothing as Bad Wolf raised her arms once again, and golden strings of light began forming around her.
"What have you done?" the Doctor demanded, as distant explosions began to echo throughout the Dalek ship.
"Draining the Z-Neutrino energy within the core of this ship, I have bound the TARDIS temporarily to the Earth. Once more, Doctor, the Earth and its people will be in your hands," Bad Wolf stated as she slowly sank to her knees.
Suddenly an explosion lit the Vault from above, and to their horror the assembled Companions could see the tracks of blood seeping from Bad Wolf's ears, from Rose's ears.
"Go, my Doctor; save the Earth. It is not your time to die." Bad Wolf whispered softly.
Everyone understood in that split second that she would not be coming with them, and as another explosion ripped across the Vault and the fires spread, the Doctor realized there was very little time left.
"Everyone get in the TARDIS! All of you, inside! Run! In! In! In! In! Sarah Jane! Donna! Jackie! Jack! Mickey! Martha!" he ordered, and his friends' poured into the Police Box, Jackie being pulled along by Jack and Mickey. The Doctor hesitated, but then extended his hand towards Davros as well, knowing that's what Rose would want.
"Davros! Come with me! I promise I can save you!" the Doctor said, but was dismayed to see the sneer form on Davros' face.
"Never forget, Doctor. You did this! I name you, forever... you are the Destroyer of Worlds!" he screamed as he disappeared behind a wall of flames.
The Doctor pulled his hand back, away from the flames, and stared through the smoke at what was now the only Dalek left in existence.
Dalek Caan giggled and pointed his tendrils towards Bad Wolf. "The prophecy fulfills itself, Doctor," and then the fire consumed him.
The Doctor moved to reach her, prophecy be damned, but was pushed back by the flames.
"Go, Doctor. I burn; burn across time and space and reality. All that is…all that was…all that ever could be depends on you. This is not the end. I exist for you." And with that, Rose's body began to dissolve into golden light.
"No…Rose! Please, there must be a way!" The Doctor cried desperately, but could do nothing but watch as Rose faded and the golden light shimmered towards the TARDIS. "Rose" the Doctor whimpered, and dropped to his knees, uncaring of the fires raging around him and his TARDIS.
Suddenly a hand gripped his elbow, hauling him back up to his feet. "Doctor!" Donna screamed, "the Earth! Your friends! We have to get out of here! Don't waste what she has given us!" she told him sharply.
The Doctor abruptly shook his head, and turned back towards the TARDIS.
"Quite right, Donna," The Doctor chirped, but for a second before he put up the mask, Donna saw the profound grief, anguish and self-loathing in his ancient eyes, and knew this wasn't over. "Come on!" the Doctor pulled on Donna's arm and they ran into the TARDIS, up to the control console that was surrounded by his friends.
"And off we go!" He pulled a lever and the TARDIS shook violently as they took off. Behind them the Crucible exploded in a silent globe of light.
"But what about the Earth? It's stuck in the wrong part of space!" Sarah Jane reminded him.
"I'm on it!" the Doctor reassured them as he fiddled with some knobs on the monitor. Then, "Torchwood Hub! This is the Doctor! Are you receiving me?"
In the Hub, Ianto and Gwen jumped towards the view screen, glad to finally get some answers. "Loud and clear! Is Jack there?" Gwen asked.
"Can't get rid of him!" the Doctor replied, but smiled to himself at their show of loyalty. Suddenly he frowned; "Jack, what's her name?"
"Gwen Cooper," Jack told him, not sure where he was going with this.
"Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?
"Yes, all the way back to the 1800s!" Gwen answered, more than a bit puzzled by the odd question at a time like this.
"Yeah, thought so, spatial genetic multiplicity. Rose would've…" the Doctor trailed off, and suddenly Jack understood.
"Who would've thought!" he said brightly from beside the Doctor.
"Yeah, yeah, funny old world... Now, Torchwood, I want you to open up that Rift Manipulator. Send all the power to me," the Doctor instructed, shaking off his momentary lack of focus.
"Doing it now, sir!" Ianto responded.
"What's that for?" Gwen asked.
"It's a tow-rope, it'll strengthen the bonds already connecting Earth and the TARDIS" was all the Doctor told her. "Now then, Sarah Jane, what was your son's name?"
"Luke, he's called Luke. And the computer's called Mr. Smith," Sarah Jane quickly responded, happy to be able to help.
"Calling Luke and Mr. Smith! This is the Doctor. Come on Luke, shake a leg!"
On Earth in a suburban area, Luke runs to Mr. Smith.
"Is Mum there?" the fourteen-year old called eagerly.
"Oh, she's fine and dandy..." the Doctor replied; fiddling with the monitor a bit as his hands almost imperceptibly trembled.
"Yes! Yes!" Sarah Jane laughed with relief, thankful that her son was safe.
"Now Mr. Smith, I want you to harness the rift power and loop it around the TARDIS, you got that?" the Doctor instructed, getting right down to business.
"I regret, I will need remote access to TARDIS base code numerals," the robotic voice of Mr. Smith replied.
"Oh, blimey, that's gonna take a while…" the Doctor said, running his hand through his wild brown hair in frustration.
"No, no, no, let me!" Sarah Jane told them as she ran to the monitor, "K9! Out you come!"
Within seconds, through smoke and lights given off by Mr. Smith, K-9 appeared beside Luke.
"Affirmative, Mistress!" the robotic dog responded.
"Oh, good dog! K-9, give Mr Smith the base code!" the Doctor ordered.
"Master! TARDIS base code now being transferred. The process is simple!" the dog replied, and the Doctor was sure he detected a note of smugness in the mechanical voice.
The code appeared on Mr. Smith's view screen, and the Doctor began walking around the console, giving instructions;
"Now then, you lot... Sarah Jane, hold that down. Mickey, you hold that. Cos, you know why this TARDIS is always rattling about the place? Donna, that, there. It's designed to have six pilots. And I had to do it single-handed. Martha, keep that level. But not any more! Jack, there you go, steady that. Now we can fly this thing..." he trailed off as he came to Jackie, who looked at him with no expression on her face and red, puffy eyes. "No, Jackie, no, no, not you, don't touch anything, just... stand back. He gently pushed Jackie away, and then turned back to the others.
"Like it's meant to be flown!" he continued. "We've got the Torchwood Rift looped around the TARDIS by Mr. Smith, just in case, and we're gonna fly Planet Earth back home!" he boasted, and took his place in front of the monitor. "Right then! Off we go!" The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS started to move, pulling the Earth along behind them.
Back on the planet, Luke clings to Mr. Smith and K-9, and laughed with delight. In the Torchwood Hub, Ianto and Gwen also held on tight, laughing and cheering too. In their homes, Wilf and Sylvia looked scared, while Francine took refuge under a table. But in the TARDIS, the flight was unusually calm, as the Doctor and his Companions worked as a perfect team. In short order, the Earth arrived back to its proper position, and in the TARDIS, people laughed, cheered, clapped, and gave hugs to everyone. Donna even pushed aside Sarah Jane from in front of Jack and threw herself into his arms, finally getting her hug.
On planet Earth, the people were celebrating- Wilf and Sylvia hugged each other in delight, BBC News showed fireworks from all around the globe with the headline "Earth returns home", Francine spun in her front garden, and enjoyed the sight of the blue sky and the sun. Things were again as they had been. Almost.
The TARDIS slowly materialized in a park, and everyone in the Console Room was in high spirits; they had saved the Earth from one of the galaxy's most terrifying and destructive creatures. Earth was safe. But as most of the Companions celebrated, the Doctor walked towards Jackie, who had slumped against a wall. Mickey realized where the Doctor was headed the same time as Jack, and both immediately followed.
"Jackie…I am so very sorry…" the Doctor trailed off, not knowing what he could say that would be enough.
"You broke your promise, Doctor, " Jackie whispered.
The Doctor winced. "I know, and I know that it won't make any difference to your pain, but there are worlds out there, safe in the sky, because of her; people living in the light, and singing songs of Rose Tyler and Bad Wolf a thousand million light years away. They will never forget her…while she will never know. And for one moment…one shining moment, she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe." The Doctor told her, so much emotion in his voice that there were tears in the eyes of more than one of those assembled.
"You're right," Jackie replied, her voice trembling. "You're always right about so many things, but still you couldn't see. She was right about you, you know, you make people better. She told me that so long ago…it's time I accepted that. There's just one more thing…" Jackie rubbed her eyes, and pulled herself up.
The Doctor quickly moved forward to help, and didn't see it coming at all. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed around the Console Room, quickly followed by a body crashing onto the grating floor. For a second, everyone stared in shock; she had slapped the Doctor. The infamous Tyler slap.
"My daughter is gone! Not just on another world, not just in another dimension, gone! And while I accept it and am proud of what she did, I will never forgive you!" Jackie Tyler yelled, and then sank to the floor as a fresh wave of tears overcame her. Mickey moved forward to hold Jackie as she started trembling, while Jack helped the Doctor back to his feet. Martha, Sarah Jane, and Donna looked on in sympathy, not sure what to do, but the celebratory atmosphere was gone.
"Oi, what's with all the noise in here?" a voice came from the hallway that led into the rest of the TARDIS.
Every single person in the Console room froze. It couldn't be!
"I hope someone can explain what's going on. I woke up in my bedroom thanks to all the noise you lot were making, but the last thing I remember was falling, and the Console Room being on fire…" Rose Tyler said as she gripped the TARDIS doorframe.
In the blink of an eye, the Doctor was on the other side of the room and crushing the petite form into his arms.
"Rose…oh Rose, you, you impossible Rose!" the Doctor mumbled into her hair as he held her.
"Mphmph, Doctor…what?" Rose mumbled against his chest. While she wasn't complaining about her position, she was beyond confused.
The Doctor lifted his hand and stroked it down the side of her face. Rose smiled her tongue and teeth smile at him and leaned into his touch, but then frowned as she started to collapse. The Doctor easily swung her into his arms, and with one look at his friends took off down the hallway towards the infirmary. The others quickly followed and found the Doctor having placed Rose on an exam bed, and grabbing an examination tool.
Martha moved forward and picked up another, eager to help. And this was Rose Tyler, who she had heard so little of, but at the same time had felt her presence for so long during her time aboard the TARDIS. She had always thought that she might hate the other woman, but now seeing her lying there, and how tenderly the Doctor was taking care of her, she couldn't.
"Doctor?" Jackie asked over the buzzing of the various instruments.
"Somehow, and don't ask me how because I have absolutely no idea, she appears to be perfectly fine; no evidence of trauma, no foreign energy in her mind or body. Martha?" the Doctor asked the medical doctor.
"If I'm reading this right, the results are the same. She's fine."
The tension in the room eased perceptibly.
"But obviously she doesn't remember anything happening," Jack reminded them. "Was it her, or maybe a past self, or a future self, for that matter. Or maybe a clone?"
The Doctor rubbed his hands through his hair in irritation. "I don't know, and if there's anyone out there that knows how much I hate not knowing, it's you lot," the Doctor admitted, earning small smiles from his assembled Companions.
"When will she wake up, then?" Jackie asked.
"Oh, I can wake her up now, if you like. It was just a precaution, she always hates check-ups," the Doctor told them as he placed his hand against Rose's head, then removed it as she immediately started to stir.
"Hang on, you just knocked her out so you wouldn't have to argue with her!" Donna clarified.
"Hmm yeah, pretty much," the Doctor admitted, but then cringed as Donna's hand came flying towards the back of his head. "Donna, ow! That hurt!"
"Doctor?" Rose mumbled quietly as she opened her eyes to take in the strange scene before her; the Doctor rubbing the back of his head while Donna stood next to him with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face.
"Yes Rose, I'm here. We're all here as a matter of fact," the Doctor told her, spreading his arms towards their friends.
"We're so glad you're alright, sweetheart," Jackie told her daughter, gripping her hand tightly.
Rose smiled at her mother as she sat up on the bed.
"Oh my God!" Sarah Jane suddenly exclaims, "Luke! I've got to go!" She moved forward and embraced Rose quickly. "I'm very glad that you're here with us and the Doctor, take care of him," she whispered, then she turned heel and headed back to the front doors.
The Doctor glanced at Rose quickly, silently promising to be right back, before he took off after Sarah Jane. It was the least he could do.
The Doctor and Sarah Jane came out of the TARDIS together and Sarah Jane turned to look at her old friend.
"You know, you act like such a lonely man. But look at you. You've got the biggest family on Earth!" she told him before giving him a big hug. Suddenly she backed away. "Gotta go! He's only 14. It's a long story. And thank you!" she said.
The Doctor waved to her, smiling. Sarah Jane waved back, then turned around and dashed off. Hopefully her car would still be where she had left it.
Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor entered his ship to find that everyone had again gathered in the Console Room, with Rose sitting in the jump seat, and Donna off near the wall on her mobile phone. He rightly assumed she was talking, or being told off, by her family. He also noticed Jackie and Mickey talking quietly together a bit away from Rose.
"Who said you could leave the infirmary?" the Doctor asked her teasingly, walking towards her and taking her hand.
"Oh don't start, I'm perfectly fine, though I notice that no one has bothered to tell me what happened," Rose stated.
The Doctor sucked on his lip before asking; "What is the last thing you remember?"
The others quieted down and Donna hung up her phone as they waited for Rose to answer.
"Fire…and everything was shaking," Rose started, a frown on her face as she tried to remember. "After the doors closed, which I'm still mad at you for by the way, I knew I had to reach the Console. All I could hear was this song, this melody, running through my head, and it seemed to be coming from there. After that, nothing," Rose told them. "Doctor, what's going on? And why is everyone looking at me like I have two heads?"
"The TARDIS activated a safety feature, and moved herself somewhere safe. As for you, you must have passed out from all the smoke, and the TARDIS moved you into your room. You don't need to worry, Rose, we defeated the Daleks and everything is fine!" he reassured her, coming around the back of the jump seat to stand in front of her after quickly glancing around at the people surrounding them; she couldn't know.
"But how…" Rose trailed off
"Well, I should be shoving off," Martha interrupted; acknowledging the grateful glance the Doctor threw her way for changing the subject.
"Yeah, me too," Jack piped up as Martha headed for the doors.
"Already, Jack? Hey wait for me, yeah!" Rose called as the Doctor, Martha and Jack stepped outside.
Rose stood in the TARDIS doors and watched as the Doctor pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at Jack's wrist.
"I told you, no teleport! And, Martha, get rid of that Osterhagen thing, eh? Save the world one more time," the Doctor told them.
"Consider it done."
After giving a brief but tight hug to Rose, Jack came to attention and saluted the Doctor, and by extension Rose, at the same time as Martha. The Doctor was surprised for a moment, but then saluted them back, as Rose gave them both a small wave. Jack and Martha began to walk away, with their heads bent together, and the Doctor could hear Jack saying.
"You know, I'm not sure about UNIT these days. Maybe there's something else you could be doing…" was all he heard before they walked out of his hearing range. He watched after them with a touch of sadness in his smile, but was then surprised when Mickey appeared behind him from the TARDIS.
"Oi, where are you going?" he demanded.
"Well I'm not stupid, I can work out what happens next. And hey, I had a good time in that parallel world, but my gran passed away. Nice and peaceful. She spent her last years living in a mansion. There's nothing there for me now, certainly not Rose." Mickey said, nodding at Rose behind him who bit her lip. He was right.
"What will you do?" the Doctor asked, admiring the man before him more and more.
"Anything! Brand new life! Just you watch," Mickey dared, a smug smile on his face as he knocks his fist with the Doctor. "See you, boss, and you better take care of her!" he called, and ran after Jack and Martha.
"Hey, you two!
"Oh. Thought I'd got rid of you," Jack said in mock exasperation. Mickey just threw his arms around their shoulders.
The Doctor watched them for a second, and then turned to Rose and the TARDIS. "Just time for one last trip," he told her, and moved behind her into the TARDIS. Rose felt a chill run up her spine, but followed the Doctor inside as the doors shut behind her.
Bad Wolf Bay
The TARDIS materialized on the beach and Jackie burst out the doors, already on her phone trying to call her husband, followed more slowly by the Doctor, Rose and Donna.
"Ah, fat lot of good this is! Back of beyond. Bloody Norway! I'm gonna have to phone your father, he's on the nursery run," she said to Rose and the rest. "I was pregnant, do you remember, Doctor? Had a baby boy!"
"Ah, brilliant! What did you call him?" he asked, genuinely happy for her.
"Doctor," she replied simply.
"Really?" the Doctor asked, totally taken aback.
"No, you plum! He's called Tony," she told him, a huge smile on her face.
The Doctor smiled back.
"Hold on, Doctor, don't for a moment think that you can just drop me back in this parallel world! I just spent all that time trying to find you!" Rose started, preparing to argue her case, but she needn't have worried.
"No, of course not, Rose. I believe someone promised me forever," the Doctor reassured her, and Rose smiled fondly.
"Now wait just a minute, of course Rose is staying here!" Jackie interrupted.
No, mum. I'm sorry but like I said before, with the Doctor is where I belong," Rose said, stepping back from her mother a bit, and standing beside Donna, who gripped her hand reassuringly.
"But…" Jackie started, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She was startled when the Doctor came right up to her, and went to give her a hug.
"Jackie, you must realize why she can't stay here, now" the Doctor spoke quietly in her ear. "Frankly, I don't know what happened to Rose, or what the consequences will be. What if it happens again? But know that I will do everything in my power to take care of her, and if I do happen to fail again," he said softly, "it might just be that Rose will save herself."
Jackie choked back any protests in the face of the truth of the matter. Her baby girl was beyond her now.
"You're right, Doctor," Jackie acknowledged quietly. Then louder, "As much as I hate to admit it, Doctor, Rose can choose for herself. And she's certainly proven that this is what she wants. I'll just have to accept it, somehow."
Rose rushed forward and dove into her mum's arms with tears in her eyes, knowing that she'd never see her mother again after this. The Doctor sighed; he'd never wanted to cause her pain, but everything that he'd told Jackie had been correct. And if he was honest with himself, which he mostly avoided, he didn't think he could let Rose go again.
"There's just one more thing," Rose said as she pulled herself away from her mother and faced the Doctor. "The last time I stood on this beach, on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me? Go on, say it!"
"I said Rose Tyler," the Doctor said.
"Yeah, and how was that sentence gonna end?" she demanded.
"Does it need saying…" the Doctor asked pathetically, not being comfortable saying it with her mother right there.
"Doctor, please! What was the end of that sentence?" she asked again, and the Doctor knew that he couldn't deny her. He leaned forward and whispered the words in her ear.
Rose looked at him, and then yanked on his lapels to pull him in for a full-blown kiss. Jackie watched them together, and actually smiled. As long as those two were together, her daughter would be fine.
"Alright you two maybe get a room!" Donna called from over by the TARDIS, and the Doctor and Rose broke apart with big smiles on both their faces.
Behind them in the distance, Rose could see a Dirigible with the symbol of Vitex Corporation on it, and knew it was time to leave.
"Goodbye, mum" Rose choked out. "Please tell Dad and Tony that I love them both so much, and I wish I could see Tony grow up" she told her mother and she gave her one last hug.
"Don't you worry, sweetheart," Jackie started, fighting back her own tears, "All Tony will hear will be stories of his big sister and the mad alien that she loves who travel around in a blue box saving the universe!" she promised, giving her daughter one last crushing hug before releasing her and moving towards where the Dirigible was landing. "And one last thing," she called, turning back around to face them. "Even if I never see you lot again, grandkids would be nice!"
Rose started laughing as the Doctor's face went beet red. She grabbed his hand and started tugging him towards the TARDIS. At the doors, Donna just smiled at them and preceded them inside, leaving the two of them to give Jackie one last wave before following her. And when the TARDIS dematerialized from Darlig Ulv Stranden, there was only one person left standing on its beach, but everyone was where they belonged.
The End