Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, though I wish I did.
A/N: Wow, you guys rock. One chapter and I've already got 6 favourite and 16 follows, the first one came less than 10 minutes after the chapter got posted. Thank you. Here is another one, hopefully I can get one or two more chapters posted later today.
Now perhaps it was too early to ask, but if you can drop a line or two in review, that would be fantastic!
Rose found herself standing mid-hill on a far stretched mountain under burnt orange sky. A bright red sun was hanging high, while a second one was just rising above the far horizon, making the mountains shine. Silver leaves of trees caught the light, the forests looked as if they were on fire.
As she took in the surroundings, she was astound and bewildered at the same time.
It was breathtakingly beautify. Rose was certain that she had never been here before, yet somehow, everything seemed to generate a strange sense of familiarity, as if… as if she'd gone home.
And the knowledge of her pertaining death slowly sinking in did little to help clear the matter.
Where am I, why am I here, and how?
After a short moment of weighing different options, she started heading uphill, in hoping to get a better view of her whereabouts on a higher altitude, all the while tracing her memories in search for clues to make sense of everything.
She remembered being shot by a Dalek, feeling every cell of her body dying, and the next thing she knew, she was here.
Is this a place where you end up after death?
After spending two years with the Doctor and many more studying time and space in the parallel universe, Rose was not one to believe in heaven. Nevertheless she did not seem to have a theory for her current situation, either. Her body kept moving and her mind kept racing, until a horrific realization dawned on her and she came to a sudden stop.
A long time ago on Satellite Five, she was struck by the disintegration beam. But instead of being blasted into atoms as it was said to, she was transported to a fleet full of Daleks.
Could this situation be similar to that one? She did not know. But if it was, at any given second she could be facing a Dalek army of hundreds, and this time, she was not going to sit around helplessly and wait for the Doctor to come rescue her.
Years of separation and Torchwood had changed her. When she got back, she had no intention to continue being his "associate", seeking safety under his protection. She wanted to be his equal, standing by his side, sharing his burden, and facing whatever the universe through at them, together. If the Daleks was playing the old tricks of getting to the Doctor through her, well, they'd better be ready for a hell of a fight.
Instinctively she reached for her gun, only to find that it was not there anymore. Worse still, it appeared that her backup weapon hidden under her trouser leg had disappeared as well. Panic started to rise despite her best effort to keep it under control. Courage aside, there was no way she could face down an army of Daleks empty handed.
From a distance, she heard a weird sound that was similar to a wolf howl.
"Rose Tyler, I've been waiting for you."
Donna stood silently watching the Doctor exiting the TARDIS, with Jack close behind. A wave of embarrassment and shame crashed on her. She could not believe she actually snapped at him, in fear of her death, when she knew full well that he would risk his own life for his companion's safety at any given time.
Oh, what an arse you are!
She cursed herself internally, but deep down, she knew, that of all the companions the Doctor had ever chosen, she had always been the least competent.
She remembered the Doctor talking about his old companions during the time they traveled together. Sarah Jane Smith, who led her own adventures after the Doctor's departure, and still was able to lend a helping hand decades later; Martha Jones, who were there during the worst time of his life when the pain and grief of losing Rose were still fresh, held him on his feet and kept him going. When that was no longer necessary, she went on to have a life of her own, and became a medical officer of the UNIT. Mickey Smith, Rose's "stupid lump of an ex-boyfriend", surprised everyone by staying behind in a parallel universe after a defeated Cybermen invasion, took place of his deceased parallel self and became a steel warrior, defender of the earth.
And of course, there was Rose, good old Rose Tyler, holding every inch of the Doctor's emotions at her fingertips. Donna would never forget how his face lit up with pride and joy every time he talked about his past adventures with Rose, only to be crushed by pain and sorrow once he realized those good time was gone, forever.
Then there was her, a temp from Chiswick, getting by her boring life one day at a time, no wit, no courage, and always missed the big picture.
But the Doctor had taken her to the stars, showed her the universe and the infinite possibility's out there. He expanded her own life, made her feel special and important, more than she could give herself credit for.
Yet here and now, in the worst day of his life, when everything that mattered to him had been snatched away, she blamed him for her own doom.
She was stupid and useless as she had ever been.
It had been good, though, all of them, all of it, everything they did. It might have been too much for her fragile nerve to bear sometimes, but she would not have it any other way.
She inhaled deeply and shook herself out of the mind babbling. "Blimey!" she muttered, and started moving forward.
A glimpse of light caught her attention and stopped her on her track. Two streaks of golden white particles leaked out of the TARDIS console like a smoke, one streamed into the Doctor's spare hand in the jar, the other was absorbed by Rose's body on the jump seat.
It must have only lasted a split of a second because it disappeared before Donna could finish blinking.
Oh, look at you, delirious already.
She laughed once again at her own coward reaction before heading for the door.
And the door slammed shut right in her face.
"Doctor! What have you done! Oi! Let me out, I am not staying behind!"
Rose sprang around at the voice calling her name, hands instinctively raised to her chest, chin tucked in, feet stood shoulder-wide as she got into full combat motion, only to come face to face with…herself?
The other girl raised an eyebrow, watching her with barely hidden amusement.
"Oh, no need to go all mauve here, it's just a little wolf."
Rose narrowed her eyes at her identical twin. Well, maybe not so identical, for while her hair was straight and sleek, the other girl's was wavy and wild. The garments on her were worn and torn, as if she had been in a battle. The biggest differences, however, lay in the eyes. Her brown eyes might have been cold and hard after years of fighting, the other girl's eyes were fierce and feral, with a hint of golden light glowing inside.
Suddenly, a familiar name from distant memories came to her.
Bad Wolf, she is the Bad Wolf!
"Yup, that's me. Hello!" As if reading her mind, the girl flashed a cheeky grin, and waved her hand cheerfully.
"But… but how is that even possible? I mean… he took it out of me, and he had to regenerate because of that. Yet here you are, standing right in front of me. You even look like me!"
"He took the time vortex out of you, that's what caused the regeneration, not me!" Bad Wolf objected, hands on her hips, a gesture that caused Rose to raise her eye brows.
"And of course I look like you, I am you, he could never take that out, could he?"
"What?"
Rose found herself completely lost and utterly confused, her brain felt like a short circuit that simply could not comprehend anything, hell, she could not comprehend, period.
The Bad Wolf sighed exasperatedly. She moved quickly, pulled herself in so that their faces were only inches apart.
"You," she said, pointing a figure at her nose tip, "and me," she thumbed herself, "are one and the same. One consciousness split in two, Bad Wolf, Rose Tyler. Got that, yeah?" She rocked on her heels and moved a few steps back, satisfied to see the shocking expression on Rose's face.
"Obviously, how else do you think you got here while your body was dead and rotting on earth?"
"All right, tell me then, why my body is dead but my consciousness still existed?" Rose decided that instead of her pulling her hair out trying figure out things that didn't make sense, a more direct approach would be beneficial, for the sake of her sanity.
"The Dalek beams don't damage the body, it only extinguishes the consciousness. When the consciousness was gone, the body automatically goes into death mode. Most weapons work the other way around. It damaged the body so that the consciousness loses its host, and therefore, goes into stasis.
"However, because I am you, the moment you made up your mind, I sensed it. That few seconds were all I need to shield your consciousness away, and pull it here shortly after."
Rose stood in silence for a while, chewing on the words and trying to digest them.
"OK. That explains how I got here. What about the where and why? And why our consciousness got split in the first place?"
The Bad Wolf signed, her face became sober, the golden light in the eyes diminished.
"It was a long story, this is where everything started. You are here because you need to be." She gestured around.
"And this is Gallifrey, the last day the Time War."
That knowledge hit Rose like a bomb shell. She felt her heart beat increased its pace suddenly, and her breath stopped.
But how is that even possible? The Doctor said the planet was destroyed. He himself destroyed it!
"That was what he believed, or rather, remembered."
"Then what did happen?" Rose asked.
"He changed his mind, I was there, helping him along the way, to ensure him he will have a future, a future he deserves. But he doesn't remember any of it, it is not the time yet for him to remember."
The Bad Wolf turned, her golden eyes stared right into Rose's brown ones.
"And you, Rose Tyler, you are his future, a future I have promised him. You have made him better, as he has made you."
Rose did not know if she felt relieved, upset, or genuinely lost. Probably she was feeling a bit of all three - relieved because the Doctor's home planet had not been destroyed; upset because all the guilt and self-loathe he had suffered for years had all been for crimes he never committed; and lost because pretty much everything else. And just what did she mean by she was his future?
There were more than a million questions running through her head, but she knew it was neither the time nor the place to ask.
"You said you were waiting for me, and I needed to be here." She paused, eyes focus on the wolf girl. "You must know what's on earth. Right now, everyone that matters to me is down there, fighting a war, so tell me why am I standing here, talking to myself, instead of down there trying to save the world?"
The Wolf stared at her intently before looking away, her eyes glowing brighter and focused into the far distance.
"I saw darkness, stars were dying, universes collapsing, even the voids were dead."
"Yes, and?" Rose was trying very hard to be patient.
The Wolf gave her a glance, then continue staring into a distance.
"And I saw how it will end. The world is saved, but at a cost far too great. Three lives are ruined, four hearts are broken, despair will reign, then all will be forgotten."
She looked back at her counterpart, who was bemused by her riddle like prophecy. The golden light in her eyes were replaced by a soft brown sheen.
"But I want to give you something better. You both deserve it."
"I thought you were not supposed to manipulate the timeline of an occurring event." Rose asked speculatively.
"And I thought you were not supposed to go universe hopping. Does it ever stop you?" The Wolf replied with one brow raised.
They both chuckled in unison.
"Alright, then. What do you need me to do?" Asked Rose.
The Wolf held out one hand to her invitingly, and she took it without hesitation.
"Come, there is something I need to show you first."
Once again, Rose saw the time vortex, no, she was in the time vortex. The raw power of time and space was surrounding her, swirling and rotating. Billions of timelines were like loose branches caught in swift flood water, passing right in front her eyes, drowning into the deep infinite of eternity. She gasped as her own body was pushed deeper by the unseen current. The complex of the entire reality came crushing on her, make it difficult to breathe. She couldn't control but slip deeper and deeper, into the fathomless pitch that was the heart of the time, like a black hole, threatening to devour everything into the endless of time and space.
Then there was a bright spot of light, seemingly unaffected by the constant movement all around, stood there firmly like a giant rock in the middle a fast flowing river. Instinctively she reached out for it, and suddenly the crushing pressure surrounding her body was lifted. Once again, she was able to breathe with easy.
She came face to face with the Face of Boe. His ancient eyes fixed on her, almost as deep as the time vortex itself, emotionless. Then slowly, his old face transformed, regressed into one that was young, handsome, and all too familiar.
Rose covered her mouth with one hand, barely suppressed a cry.
Oh my God, Jack, what happened to you?
"He was killed by a Dalek then brought back by the power of Vortex, back in the Game Station. As a result he became a fixed point in time, never able to die."
She jumped at the abrupt voice beside her, noticing for the first time Bad Wolf was there, holding her hand.
Before she could ask any question, the environment shifted again. This time, she was surrounded by many screens, each showing a different scene as it unfold right in front of her own eyes.
She saw a group of humans being herded together like animals, with hands behind their heads, fear and anguish apparent in their eyes. Slowly, they began turning into dust, vanished into thin air, like nothing had ever been there.
She saw a gruesome looking creature with a face like rotten tomato, whose lower body was entirely of Dalek making, rolled in front of the Doctor, spoke tauntingly:
"…full transmission will dissolve every form of matter, 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 atoms will become…nothing."
"The stars were going out, and the 27 planets, they become one vast transmitter…" Rose inhaled sharply, astonished by this horrible revelation.
"…and the wavelength will continue, breaking through the rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade, into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation. This is my ultimate victory, the destruction of reality itself!"
And she saw her Doctor, stranded like a caged animal, his hands clenched into fists and his jaw hard, breathing rapidly. His eyes were filled with rage, anger, and horror, yet he looked so powerless, and so alone.
"Please," She tore her eyes from the screens as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her voice cracking and pleading : "please, send me back to him. I know you can, just…let me help him, if for nothing else, just to give him a hand to hold, so that he won't have to face it alone."
The Bad Wolf looked at her emotionlessly.
"Are you sure about that?" she asked softly, gesturing two other screens.
On one screen, Martha Jones was holding a square disc, her voice firm with determination:
"I've got the Osterhargen Key, leave the planet and its people alone, or I'll use it… Now I reckon you need the 27 planets for something, but what if it becomes 26? There's a chain of 25 nuclear warheads placed in strategic points beneath the earth's crust, it was to be used as a final option when the human suffering was so great and so beyond hope… If I used the key, they detonate and the earth gets ripped apart."
"But how can it be the final option? You destroy the earth, they could find another planet to make it 27. It is an option that does more harm than good!" Rose muttered, unaware of the glances from her counterpart.
On the other screen, Jack Harkness was holding something resembled a neckless, tangled in a cluster of wires. Behind him, Sarah Jane, Mickey, and Jackie stood solemnly.
"Captain Jack Harkness calling all Dalek boys and girls. Are you receiving me?"
Jack's signature teasing tone was able to bring a tiny smile on Rose's face, even in situations like this.
The universe may crumble, the time may end. But Captain Jack would always be Captain Jack, no matter how dire the situation might be.
"Don't send in your goons, or I'll set this thing off. I've got a warp star wired in the main frame. I break this shell, the entire Crucible goes up."
And taking everyone with it, her mother, her friends, and her Doctor.
Rose crumbled on her feet, unable to watch any longer.
The Bad Wolf crouched down in front of the sobbing girl, her heart went out for her. She'd hated to put her through all these, but it was necessary. Everything was set in motion, all it needed was one last push, or else everything would go straight to hell.
"It was the choice he faced on that day, the last day of the Time War." She began slowly, waiting for the girl to meet her gaze.
"It was the day when it was impossible to get it right. And if you go back there now…"
"That would become my choice, and whatever the decision I make, I will have to live with it for the rest of my life." Rose finished for her, voice surprisingly calm.
She looked up into the sky, seeing the twin suns now shining brightly in the burnt orange dome. This planet was so beautiful, it would be a shame to see it disappear. Simply thinking about it being safely hidden away would bring consolation to a lonely soul. Lost in time and space it might be, but it would be out there somewhere, and that was enough to hope for.
When she looked back down, all traces of pain and struggles were gone.
"You are going to send me back." It was not a question, but a statement.
"Are you ready to make the impossible choice?"
"No."
"Are you going to let the Daleks destroy the entire reality?"
"No."
"Then what are you going to do if I send you back?"
"I am going to find a way out."
Rose smiled, her beautify face glowing with confidence and determination.
"You told me that on the last day of the Time War, after having decided to destroy the entire planet in order to save the universe, the Doctors changed his mind."
She looked at the Wolf girl, who now reflecting her own smile.
"Something must have happened that made him realized there was another way out. If there was a way out then, there must be one now, there has to be. And it's up to me to find it. Now the question is…"
She held out her hand, and the other happily took it.
"Are you coming with me?"