"I'm going out, John!" Rose called out, smoothing her hair back into a ponytail high on her head, and grabbing her pink sports jacket, zipping it up.
"Oi! Be back in time for supper!" He poked his head out of the hallway, a stubborn look on her face. His hair was unruly, and sticking up in odd places. Glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, and even though he didn't need them, he did insist on wearing them. He still wore his suit and tie though. That didn't change. He said he was simply more comfortable in them. Suddenly, there was a loud hissing noise coming from the kitchen. He cursed, running back in, causing her to smile.
"Don't let it boil over again!"
"I didn't! It was a rat!"
"Sure it was." She couldn't help but grin, as she walked out the door, into her familiar neighborhood. It had been five years. Five years since everything had gone down. Five years since she'd started at torchwood. Five years since she lost her Doctor, and obtained, what, exactly, in return? Not her Doctor, that's for sure. Oh no. What she got was a copy. And a very stubborn one at that, who had the tendency to sarcasm more so then her Doctor ever had. And while, for the most part she didn't mind, it still pounded away at her head sometimes. Four years ago, they'd gotten married. Her and her John. For the most part, she was able to forget he was just a copy. To truly love him as a completely different person.
Until she heard him mumbling about stars, and galaxies. Until the nightly terrors started all over again. Until the times, he would simply stare out the window, a sorrowful expression on his face, as if in an entirely different world. A world where they could still run about, and laugh, and go on adventures. A world where, whenever he wished, he could simply whisk her away in his blue box, and travel the galaxies. And it saddened her. It caused her to ache with a ferocity that she'd never had before. An ache that occurred when she remembered that The Doctor, her Doctor, was still out there. And she would never know if he was okay. That, of course, was the reason she went on these walks. So that just for a moment, she could pretend that everything was okay, and nothing had changed.
Rose inhaled, letting the crisp fog air fill her lungs. The distant sound of a school bus screeching to a halt caused her to smile again, although it was a sad one.
"Promise me you won't leave me, Doctor." Rose bit her lip, staring at him. She stood in the TARDIS hallway, overlooking the console. He stared back with a perplexed stare, unable to come to a reason as to why she would ask that.
"What?" He offered, in confusion.
"Promise me you won't leave me. Promise me you won't drop me off and fly away, like you did to Sarah Jane. Promise me." Tears started pricking at her eyes, and her shoulders started shaking.
"Oh, Rose…" The Doctors voice was soft as he mumbled that. His face seemed to crumble into one of understanding, and grief. He opened his arms to embrace her, a hand stroking through her hair as she cried on him. "I promise I will never, ever, leave you."
Rose let out a shaky sigh at the memory, shook her head, and after wiping her eyes, starting jogging towards the woods, planning on going deeper than before.
"I dunno. I'd like to think we could have a house some day. And some cats." She said, almost absent-mindedly, lost in thought, as she played with one of the dials on the console.
"Rose…" His voice was hesitant, and it caused her heart to drop. She knew it wasn't possible. But she did love to dream.
"Maybe a job as a travels assistant would suit me. You know?" She continued, trying to cut him off.
"You know we can't." His voice was almost sad, yet held a firmness that told her there was no room to argue. She did know. She knew very well. The TARDIS was his home.
She held back her own sadness, and forced a chuckle. "Well, then we'll just have to get a pet, won't we?"
The doctor opened his mouth in response, but she quickly cut him off.
"No horses!" She laughed, as the doctor simply pouted.
Tears ran down her cheeks, as her legs moved, trying to keep up with her running brain. They were losing. The TARDIS cloister bell rang in her head, so clearly she could have sworn on anything that she heard it. That's why, when she saw a glimmer of blue, she skidded to a halt, panting. Sweat matted down her bangs, and she wiped It away with the back of her hand.
Her heart skipped a beat, and her stomach dropped with a heaviness that felt like she had swallowed an anchor. Every inch of her felt frozen, a cold ice rushing through her veins.
No.
Her mind reeled, refusing to accept what stood in front of her. Refusing to acknowledge what was sitting there. Refusing to believe.
However, there it sat and there it stayed, a twisted version of her memories. The sign on the now dull box, was yellow, and faded, and the windows she vividly recalled scrubbing were covered in a thick layer of filth, and grime. The door handles were rusted, and one even swung off its side, into the TARDIS, which lent against a tree. It was covered in moss and vines, and the light at the top was shattered.
"It's time for a fresh coat of paint, Rose!" The Doctor called excitedly. "Hurry up!"
"Why are you always so excited for this?" She laughed, shaking her head.
"Because, she's my ship, and my friend. It is very important to take the best care of her. I mean, if I didn't, who would?" He stated, grabbing the paint bucket, and grinning widely at her. "Allons-y!"
She knew, in her gut, this was not her TARDIS. Not the one she had known. After finally getting her legs to work, she started towards it. It was old, and abandoned. She wasn't sure what scared her more. The thought of her seeing things, or what was in front of her being real. She slowly took a step inside. The lights were shut off, and it was unbelievably cold. She could, actually see the endings to the hallway for once. Vines grew along the inside, and although her mind screamed at her, her legs seemed to move on their own, bringing her to the console. She set a hand on it, feeling its stillness. No longer humming vibrantly with energy. Covered in a layer of dust the doctor would never allow. She felt her chest start to heave, and a sob bubble up in her.
"Let the TARDIS die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it. No one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on, and the box will be buried."
She didn't care that the TARDIS could still, most likely, turn on. She didn't care that her and John could go on adventures now. That everything would be fine. Because it wouldn't be. The Doctor, would never abandon his TARDIS. The room lacked the smell of him. His energetic presence. His laugh. She felt her knees buckle, as she collapsed next to the console, her shoulders shaking with sobs she finally let escape, as her eyes caught sight of a torn pair of 3D glasses. She felt her entire soul cry out at that moment, with a pain unlike any other, as Rose, the Bad wolf, and The Doctors love, sat in the empty tomb, surrounded by stillness and long passed whispers of another time, she allowed herself to do the one thing she hadn't in so very long.
She cried.