MAJOR SPOILER FANFICTION
elmo-doodle: Inspired by "Journey's End". An Alternate Universe fiction, where Rose was able to stay with her Doctor, and continue travelling with him. This first part is undeniably sad, I'll give you that. It involved watching the last scene with the Doctor and Donna in the TARDIS over and over again. I cried. Alot.
but this will get happier. i promise!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own it. savvy?
It was the air of celebration in the TARDIS. They had successfully pulled the Earth back home and the crisis was finally at an end for everyone. The Doctor was so happy that he even hugged Jackie Tyler, which surprised him as much as it did her.
Although, at one end of the TARDIS, a second Doctor wasn't as joyful as everyone else.
"Oi, space-man," Donna said to the unhappy part-human. "Cheer up, everyone's still alive."
He looked at her with solemn eyes. "It's not long for us now, Donna."
"No," Donna whispered to him, so no-one else heard. "No, it can't end like this. We'll find a way."
"We can't," he told her. "I'm sorry, Donna, but we're not going to last much longer-" The second Doctor gasped in pain as he doubled over.
"Oh, god!" Donna cried, trying to support him.
"What's going on, what happened?" Rose asked, running towards them.
The Doctor came up behind her. "He's changing back," he said, now speaking to everyone in the room. "He only had half of the regeneration energy to use for himself, and even if he is part-human, it's not enough to keep him going. I'm sorry, but I can't do anything."
"Yeah, you could," the other Doctor gasped out, Donna still trying to hold him up. "But you're not going to."
"You committed genocide," the Doctor told him, firmly. "I'm sorry, but you're too dangerous. You were born in battle and you choose the option to kill. You're a risk to the universe."
"But…" Donna began.
"Donna, you know it's true," the Doctor said, more gently. "You understand that if he lives, he's putting millions of lives in danger."
"I know," she said. "But I don't want it to end like this," she added, quietly to herself.
"Come on," Jack said, pulling Donna away from the other Doctor as he began to glow. "He's gonna change now. Everybody stand back."
All the members on the TARDIS did as they were told and stepped away from the man lying on the floor.
"One day," he stuttered, trying hard to bear the pain, "one day, Doctor, you're going to need me again."
The Doctor regarded him with a forlorn expression. "I know," he said. "And I hope that day never comes."
The second Doctor nodded and closed his eyes as his body burst in to a gold light, and he slowly changed back in to the hand that he was grown from.
--
"Promise me something, Doctor," Sarah Jane said as she clung to him in a farewell hug.
"Anything," he said to her.
"Promise me you'll come and visit, sometime," she pulled away from him. "Please?"
The Doctor looked at her before breaking out in to a huge grin. "Of course."
Sarah Jane smiled at him. "Thank you," she said. Her eyes widened in realisation. "Gotta go! He's only fourteen! It's a long story… and thank you!"
The Doctor smiled as he waved at her retreating back. Not long after she had gone, Jack and Martha came outside.
"See ya, Doc," Jack said. "I got a team who I need to be getting back to."
"Hold on, Jack," the Doctor said, taking out his sonic screwdriver. "Arm."
Jack grumbled as he reluctantly let the Doctor disable his wristcom again.
"I told you: no teleport."
Jack sighed as his wristcom once again become useless. They said their goodbyes (and the Doctor was a little amused as they saluted him) and as they walked away, the Doctor got the impression that Jack was offering Martha a job at Torchwood.
And then out came Mickey. The Doctor had a suspicion that he would want to stay in this Universe. He started saying there was nothing left for him there- start a new life. The Doctor respected that. Mickey would do good in this universe.
Off he went, after Martha and Jack, who called out fondly, "I thought I'd gotten rid of you."
The Doctor walked back in to the TARDIS. Time for one last trip.
--
"Fat lot of good, this is," Jackie said as she walked out on to the beach. "Bloody Norway…"
Rose slowly followed her outside, not wanting to believe what her mind was screaming at her. She turned around.
"Hold on," she said to the Doctor and Donna, who had followed them. "This is the parallel universe, right?"
"You're back home," the Doctor said, his voice void of any emotion.
"The walls of the world are closing again," Donna said, "now that the reality pull never happened. It's dimensional retro-closure. See I really get that stuff now," she added to the Doctor.
Rose couldn't believe it. He was sending her away again. "No, but I spent all that time trying to find you, I'm not going back now!" Please, don't do this to me, she shouted inside her head.
The Doctor walked slowly towards her. "Rose," he said softly, but firmly. "You have to understand that you're about to make a really important decision."
"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes starting to go teary.
"This universe has been your home for the past five years," he told her. "You've got a life here. Your mother's here, your father… and a sibling?"
"Had a baby boy," Jackie said proudly from behind Rose.
"Aw, brilliant," the Doctor said, grinning at her. "What did you call him?"
"Doctor," Jackie told him in all seriousness.
The Doctor faltered for a moment. "…really?"
Jackie laughed a little. "No, you plum," she said. "He's called Tony."
The Doctor nodded and looked back at Rose. "You see?" he said. "You'd be giving up everything that you have here."
Rose blinked and gazed up in to his brown eyes. "Anything I ever had was with you," she said, so honestly that the Doctor's hearts skipped a beat.
"But Rose, what about Jackie?" he asked.
Rose was about to answer, but Jackie got there before her.
"Rose never really settled down here," Jackie said, walking up to stand beside Rose. "Me, I had Pete to make this universe so much better. Rose lost everything that day we came here. Her home will always be in that bloomin' spaceship of yours."
As if on cue, the TARDIS let out a rumble to signal that they didn't have long before the gap closed for good.
"We have to go," the Doctor said, looking at Rose seriously. "Rose, are you sure?"
Rose didn't answer and instead looked at her mother.
"Go on, sweetheart," Jackie said. "You were never really here. Always daydreaming and imagining what he was up to. You'll be happier with him, and I know he'll keep you safe."
Tears finally spilled down Rose's cheeks as she threw herself in to her mum's arms. "I love you," she said, sobbing slightly.
"I love you, too," Jackie replied, clinging tightly to her daughter. "You'll always be my little girl."
Rose nodded into Jackie's shoulder and pulled away from her. Jackie took a moment to brush back some of the blonde hair on Rose's face. Then she turned to the Doctor.
"You better take care of her," Jackie told him. "You promised to always bring her home to me, but you can't do that anymore. I want to know that you'll do everything you can to make sure she's happy."
The Doctor looked at Jackie before smiling. "I promise," he told her.
"Good," Jackie said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Because if she's ever unhappy, I will tear a hole in the universe to come find you and slap you senseless." The Doctor nodded, slightly frightened because he didn't doubt Jackie for a second. "Oh, come here you!"
The Doctor grinned and scooped Jackie up in to an enormous bear hug. "Jackie Tyler, I never thought I would say this, but I'm going to miss you."
"Yeah, me too, you great big lump," Jackie said as the Doctor put her down. The TARDIS groaned again. "Go on, you'd better get going."
"Goodbye, mum," Rose said, hugging her mother one last time.
"Goodbye, sweetheart," Jackie said. "Now go. And don't worry about me; that little hotel that we stayed in the last time is still just around the corner. I'll wait there until Pete can arrange some sort of transport back home."
Rose nodded, and let go of Jackie. She looked over to the Doctor who was smiling at her, his hand extended towards her. Rose reached out with her own hand and entwined their fingers together.
With one last look at Jackie, the Doctor, Rose and Donna made their way back inside the TARDIS. Jackie stood and watched as the door closed, not moving until the lasts sounds of grinding and whining had disappeared from the beach.
--
Rose couldn't understand. They had left Bad Wolf Bay in the TARDIS, closing the gap between parallels as they did, making it safely back to her home universe. If anything, the Doctor should be happy that once again, everybody lives.
But he was leaning against one of the pillars, watching Donna with an expression that Rose had only seen on him when he talked about the Time War.
Then Rose realised that Donna had said the word 'binary' over five times now, before gasping and saying that she was alright. She began ranting on about Charlie Chapman. Rose started to realise that something was not right…
…one will still die…
"…fiction, friction, fiction, fixin', rixten', brixen," Donna said before falling forwards on to the console.
"…Donna?" Rose said, quietly.
"Oh my god," Donna panted out.
The Doctor stood beside her. "Do you know what's happening?"
Slowly, Donna raised herself up off the console, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Yeah," she responded.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Rose asked softly, coming to stand on the other side of Donna.
"There's never been a human-Time Lord metacrisis before now," he said, gently. Donna turned her head to look at him. "And you know why," he added.
"Because there can't be," Donna said, her voice ridden with grief and a tiny bit of exasperation. She pushed herself away from the console and walked to a different section, always keeping her head down. She sniffed, "I want to stay."
The Doctor followed her around. "Look at me," he said. Donna didn't look up. "Donna, look at me," he repeated, a little firmer.
Donna finally looked up at him. "I was gonna be with you," she said to him, her eyes shining with unshed tears, "…forever."
"I know," the Doctor whispered. Rose stood back and let them have this moment. She fully understood the extent of Donna's words, and she was touched by the amount of affection that these two felt for each other. Rose began to feel teary herself, and she could see the Doctor's eyes glossing over too.
"Rest of my life," Donna said, never breaking eye-contact with him, "travelling, in the TARDIS… the DoctorDonna."
The Doctor began to feel his hearts brake once more as he gazed at Donna with sorrowful eyes.
"Oh," Donna said, panic starting to take a hold of her. "Oh god… I can't go back!" she said, slowly walking backwards, but the Doctor took hold of her shoulders. "Don't make me go back. Doctor…please. Please don't make me go back!" She put her hands on his arms.
"Donna," he said, softly. "…oh, Donna Noble, I am so sorry." She looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. "…but we had the best of times," he said, attempting to smile. "…the best."
Donna closed her eyes, the tears starting to flow mercilessly down her cheeks. She didn't want to believe it. Oh, god, she wanted to spend her life travelling with him. She opened her eyes to look at him again.
The Doctor looked back at her, trying not to let his own tears fall. "Goodbye," he whispered, brining his hands to touch the temples on her forehead.
"No, no, no, please," she started shouting. "Please, no! No, no!"
But it was too late. She could feel her memories of him slipping away from her mind. All the times they had saved people, gotten in to trouble, joked about with each other, seen the impossible, done the impossible… all those special moments they had shared. Gone.
"No!" she cried out one last time, before collapsing in his arms.
The Doctor held her for a few moments before gently laying her down on the console floor. He looked up to see Rose standing in the corner, weeping silently. He held out his arms, and Rose ran into them. He held her close, closing his eyes against the pain and hurt that coursed through his body. He could feel Rose sobbing against him, and felt two tears stream down his own face.
Rose turned her head to look at Donna. "Does it have to be like this?" she asked him.
"She couldn't stay like that," he replied, losening his grip on Rose to let her stand straight again. "A human mind can't handle all that knowledge and power from a Time Lord. She would have burnt up."
Rose looked up at him. He too was looking down at Donna, tear-tracks on his face. Rose reached up and cupped his face, using her thumbs to wipe them away. The Doctor reached up and took her hands from his face, lacing their fingers together.
"You loved her, didn't you?" Rose asked. The question didn't have to be explained. Rose recognised the relationship between the Doctor and Donna as that of a brother and sister. They had cared deeply for each other, but were never in love with the other.
The Doctor was silent for a while before answering.
"She was the best."
Constructive criticism is appreciated.