Life Will Go On
Chapter One:
The corridors of the TARDIS were silent.
Where once loud rock music or the sound of laughter echoed, there was nothing but the quiet hum of machinery.
He never knew a place could be so quiet.
He never felt so alone as he did in that moment.
No matter how many times he left someone behind, it never got any easier. And this time had been the most difficult.
Mourning what he had lost, the Doctor did the one thing he hadn't done in years.
He slept.
When he awoke, he knew that something wasn't right. He sat up with a start, looking around. The TARDIS' monitor in front of him was blinking, relaying the same message over and over again in Galfreyian script.
Find Rose Tyler.
He frowned at the screen. "She's gone."
Find Rose Tyler.
"You think I don't want her here? That I wouldn't try if I could…"
You want her here. I want her here. Find Rose Tyler.
"Have you not been listening? She's gone to Pete's World. Out of my range, out of your range."
You dream of her.
He frowned. "I dream of many things that I have lost. That's why I try not to sleep."
The Bad Wolf calls out to me.
"What?" The Doctor leaned forward against the console, staring into the monitor. "What did you say?"
The Bad Wolf calls out to me. We share a connection.
"Connection, what connection?"
I looked into Rose Tyler. And she looked into me.
And that was when the world turned upside down.
The TARDIS shook as if it would fly apart, knocking the Doctor to the floor. Metal screeched, sirens blared, and the lights went out. The Doctor heard explosions around him, the familiar grinding noise of the TARDIS traveling through time, and then a white flash of light blinded him.
He lay on the floor of the TARDIS, staring up at the ceiling in almost utter darkness. He felt around in his pocket for the sonic screwdriver, and feeling its cool metal under his fingertips, seized it and pushed the button, holding it to the lights.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, but to no avail. Whatever had just happened, it not only knocked the TARDIS' systems offline, but had somehow unsoniced the screwdriver.
Getting to his feet, he noticed the only light in the TARDIS was coming from the monitor.
Find Rose Tyler.
"She's the least of our troubles," he muttered, and clicked a few buttons. Seeing the location, he shook his head. "She's not in London anymore, at least, not this London."
But it didn't look like he was going anywhere for the time present. Might as well have a look about, make sure no Daleks escaped the vortex.
He sighed and pushed open the TARDIS' doors.
His jaw dropped open at what lay before him.
One of Pete Tyler's 'Trust Me' signs.
He whirled, looking back at the TARDIS' monitor. "No! No, this can't be happening. This is impossible! We're not supposed to be here, what have you done?"
Find Rose Tyler.
"Do you have any idea how much damage you've caused? We've ripped a hole in the universe, could have undone all of creation!" He sighed as he felt the anger drain out of him, replaced by exhaustion. "You've become tempermental in your old age." He rubbed a hand absently on the controls. "You've become stubborn, just like her."
I looked into Rose Tyler and she looked into me. She completes me.
Realization dawned on him. "Of course! When she opened the time vortex to get you to come back for me on the space station, you two bonded, like we're bonded.
She completes you.
"Too right. But we're not supposed to be here, we never should have come here!"
Find Rose Tyler.
He shrugged. "Well, so long as we're here. Can't do any more damage."
Chapter Two:
He didn't know how he was going to find Rose Tyler, he only knew that the universe had a way of sorting these things out on its own. He didn't worry. The Doctor never worried. He took action, didn't sit around fretting about it.
He found himself walking along the road in the posh district, where Londoners bought jumpers and shoes that cost more than groceries for a family of four for a week. He never understood the sheer wastefulness and selfishness of humans – only concerned for their own needs and damn the consequences the rest of the their race, their planet, and the universe.
And then he saw a flash of blonde hair, a familiar face, and heard the sound of her laughter and for a moment, the rest of the universe could go rot.
She looked so beautiful, sitting at a café table, a cup of tea in front of her, laughing at something the girl across from her had said. She brushed a strand of hair back from her face, a familiar gesture, and nodded, speaking with enthusiasm to her companion. She and her friend were dressed well, like they belonged there amongst the crème de la crème, chatting without a care in the world.
She was happy. She was content. She belonged. It was something he rarely, if ever experienced, and something she never would have experienced if she had kept traveling with him. Did he have the right to intrude, to break up her new life just when she had finally moved on, away from him?
Did he have a choice?
With a sigh, he marched forward, determined to do this as quick and as painless as possible. For the both of them.
She didn't even look up as he approached the table. "…cake is being made by the gorgeous Parisian bakery, they're sending someone to set it up so that's one less thing to worry about…" she trailed off, catching sight of him. His hearts leapt as their eyes locked. "Yes? Can I help you?"
And they fell just as hard. This wasn't the reaction he had been expecting. He thought that she would hug him, babble on excitedly about how he got back, ask where they were going next, not to greet him with such cool indifference. "Rose, I'm so sorry to intrude, but I need your help…"
She looked confused. "Are you the bloke working with Mickey on the black hole parameters? Tell him I can't be bothered with that this week, he knows how hectic things are for me…"
"Honestly, Rose, if they can't spare you now, what are they going to do when you're off for two weeks on your honeymoon tour?" her posh friend asked.
The Doctor's poor mind worked to keep up. "What? Rose, do you not recognize me? It's me! The Doctor!"
"Rose, are you going to therapy? You should have asked me for a recommendation, everyone swears by Doctor Greenwall."
"No, no, Martha, I'm not going to therapy." Rose held up a hand to stop her friend's babbling. She looked at the Doctor, a frown on her face. "You see familiar, I'm sorry, Doctor Who?"
He frowned. "That's not funny. Rose, stop it, it's me. Don't you remember? I took you traveling across the universe, across time and space. We got separated when you got sucked into this parallel dimension. Well, technically, you were being sucked into hell, and Pete saved you and took you here, but I couldn't get you back because it would tear a hole in the universe…" he stopped when he noticed that both women were staring at him, mouths open.
Martha covered her mouth with one manicured hand. She fake-coughed. "Nutter!"
He made a face at her. "Rose, please tell me you remember the beach in Norway."
She turned paler. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Rose!"
"I said I don't know what you're talking about!" she snapped. "Now I don't know what your problem is, but you need to leave now. My fiance's going to be here any minute and he's very jealous and plays rugby."
"Oh, Mickey does not and did you say fiancé? Don't tell me you're marrying Mickey the Idiot." He ignored the fact that his heart sank by even saying the words.
"No, I'm not. Mickey's not an idiot!"
Martha snorted. "He's not a genius, either."
Rose ignored her. "I'm not marrying Mickey, I'm marrying Martin."
The Doctor frowned. "Who's Martin?"
"My brother," Martha piped up.
"I'm sorry, who are you again?" The Doctor asked.
"You're the one we don't know hassling us," Rose snapped.
He stared at her. She really didn't know him.
He sighed. "No damage done to the universe, none at all. Except the one person I need has amnesia." He held his hands up as Rose started to say something else. "I'm going. I'll find some other way to fix the TARDIS. I hope you're happy." He smiled. "You look like you are. I hope you'll find happiness with this Marvin bloke because you deserve it."
"M-Martin," she stammered, staring at him. "What did you say?"
"You deserve to be happy." His hearts hurt, but it was true. Maybe amnesia was the universe's way of making sure Rose moved on.
"No, before that. Fix the TARDIS?" Her eyes looked vacant. "I looked into it and it looked it me." She focused on him. "But what does that mean? Do you know?"
Or maybe it was fallout from the TARDIS ripping a hole in the universe to get here. He took a step toward her. "Rose…"
Her friend stood up. "Enough of this nutter. We're going. Come on, Rose." She grabbed Rose by the arm and drug her off, even as Rose stared back at him, looking lost. "Your bachelorette party's at the Revolver tonight, and this'll be the last thing on your mind."
The Doctor nodded. "The Revolver. Right."