Chapter 2A: Sorry That I Took You
He'd never admit it, but when he asked, he wanted her to come. And she came.
Oh, she came. She came along and the first thing he does is blow up her planet. Or rather, show her her planet blowing up. Real smooth.
He wanted to show her just what he and the TARDIS were capable of, but he didn't want to shock her by taking her far from her planet. So somehow he thought taking her to the very end of her planet's life would be the best idea.
She handled it pretty well. Stood by and watched the various alien species as they came up to greet them. Got a bit rattled by the Lady Cassandra, but she didn't run off until they started up the jukebox. All a bit too much for her.
Or maybe she just doesn't like Soft Cell.
So he hadn't exactly had the greatest idea by taking her there to begin with. And the whole loss of shields and her nearly getting burnt up by the sun hadn't helped one bit.
But what was he supposed to do? If she was going to come along with him, she'd have to take care of herself. He was careful enough to watch her in the beginning. Make sure she could handle it all. Beyond that, she's on her own.
But that's not really fair, is it? Not after he made her see something no one should have to see. Watching your own planet burn. No. Showing her that was wrong.
He sighs and watches her, staring out at the remains of her own planet, and remembers staring at his own. Hours had passed. Days. Weeks. He lost track.
He blinks, clearing his mind.
He did try to help Rose. Went after her when she left the first time, but that hadn't gone so well. Less than an hour of traveling together and they'd been arguing. Maybe taking her really was a mistake. If they had been in her time he might have walked out right then. Is that the sort of man he is now? A little friction and he takes off. It all reeks too much of domestic.
Still, the whole phone thing worked out pretty well. Got a real smile out of her which was nice. She's got a nice smile. She looked at him and seemed genuinely impressed with him. He liked that, being impressive.
She's just standing there, staring silently. What to do? If someone had been there for him, if they'd come up to him as he stood as she does now, what would he have done? Sent them off? Yelled and screamed and cursed out his rage at the first person to come by? Or cry? He's not one to cry much, but right then he could have sobbed and gasped and cried for hours if the opportunity came. Or perhaps he'd block them out. Tell them everything was fine and not let them know. Would he do that with Rose? Either way, he's got to do something to keep her from going down the dark path one travels when they've lost everything.
He walks forward and she turns, hearing his footsteps. Before he reaches her, she turns back to the window. Is she mad at him? Does she hate him for taking her here? How could he blame her if she did? She's going to ignore him now. Give him the silent treatment and -
"The end of the Earth," she whispers, looking like she's about to cry. "It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go."
No one was there to see Gallifrey burn.
"All those years. All that history and no one was even looking. It's just so..."
She's not crying because her mum is long dead and gone. She's not upset because she nearly died. She's not mad that he took her there. She doesn't care about what Cassandra had said or done. She's hurting for the planet, and all of its people. She understands and feels the loss of something far greater than herself.
He reaches out his hand, willing her to take it. "Come with me."
He walks slowly, allowing her the time too look back at a sight he hopes she never has to see again. He tightens his grip on her hand and takes her to the TARDIS, with plans to take her home.
She nearly died, and who would have been there to see her go? His life is too dangerous.
She looks almost lost when she steps out, looking around at the planet, teeming with life again. He watches as she takes it all in and reminds her that nothing last forever.
Gallifrey should have. Peaceful people just trying to keep order. Never attacked anyone, just stopped those who did. Outside of the timelines and events of smaller species and civilization. And what good did that isolation do? No one there to help when they were threatened. All gone now. The people. The planet.
"My planets gone."
She jumps and turns to look at him. He nearly jumps as well. He wasn't planning to tell her that but somehow it just slips out and she listens intently, never taking her eyes off his. No choice now but to go on. What will she think of him now? Pity? Or hatred for a man who destroyed his people?
"What happened?"
"There was a war, and we lost." No need for details. He doesn't want to tell her. She can't know what he did. It's not fair to put that on her. And he doesn't want to lose it. That look she gives him like he's the best thing she's ever seen.
"A war with who?"
Demented creatures. Cold metal shells. Beating hearts that lacked soul.
Rose clears her throat, not bothering to wait for an answer. "What about your people?"
He turns to her then, grateful that she knows enough to not push her last question. He answers with more pride than he ever would have before they were all gone. "I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left traveling on my own because there's no one else."
"There's me." She says it with no hesitation and his face shifts slightly, almost smiling but not quite. After everything, she still wants to stay with him. Even more than that, she wants to be there for him, and that means more than anything else in the universe. Still, he's put her life on the line too many times in the past few days for him to carelessly, selfishly, bring her along. It's not right.
"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?"
"I don't know. I want..."
She's hesitating. Weighing out the options because she doesn't have an answer. She's scared, he can understand that. But she hasn't run away. Not yet anyway. He stares as she breaks eye contact, looking around.
"Oh, can you smell chips?"
He blinks and looks up. He wasn't expecting that answer. Not in a million years would he have been able to guess that the next words out of her mouth after being asked if she'd like to continue risking her life to travel with him would be about chips. He has to laugh about that.
"Yeah. Yeah."
"I want chips."
"Me too," he tells her, unable to keep the broad grin off of his face. It was so simple, and so cute, and so human. Distracted by the enticing aroma of chips.
"Right then. Before you get me back in that box, chips it is and you can pay."
He shrugs with a teasing smile. "No money."
"What sort of date are you? Come on then tightwad, chips are on me. Only got 5 billion years until the shops close."
He smiles and takes her hand, relieved that she can joke about everything she's just been through. She smiles at him, he smiles at her and he can't help it. There's just something about Rose Tyler that makes him smile. She leans into him and they walk hand in hand to get her chips.
