Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I make any money from it.
A/N Hey guys! Thanks for the awesome response to the last story. I wasn't honestly expecting that sort of a positive response to a Six/Rose story.
And now, here we are with a Nine/Rose with a healthy dose of Eight, Romana and a few surprise guests. And Eight's description is taken from the 'Dark Eyes' cover. Google it.
This was requested by LovelyPrincessUsako as well as Time-Lady-Rose. The latter also added 'Barcelona and discoveries' to the prompt. Hope you enjoy, my dears!
Summary: Sometimes, discovering that you are not alone can make the best story of your life.
Happy Reading!
21 Guns
Assassination of President Kennedy.
Krakatoa.
Titanic.
It was as if the universe did not want him to forget that death was everywhere. Everywhere he stepped foot, there was death waiting for him. But it never took him. Not even after he went out of his way to confront it.
No, he was left to watch as others around him died. Over and over again. As if it was the universe's way of punishing him for his deeds.
He had become so weary of death that when he landed on the planet Barcelona in the summer of 5006, he almost expected some disaster to befall the beautiful planet. Knowing that the imminent catastrophe would be inescapable, he found a small park and sat down in the slightly orange grass.
The twin suns of Barcelona were bright in the sky and the Doctor felt his hearts grow heavy. This place was far too much like his doomed home planet. He could almost imagine that the orange grass was actually a vivid red if he closed his eyes and pretended.
A loud, friendly bark made him open his eyes and he saw one of the noseless dogs of Barcelona, gazing curiously at him. The bright red collar around its neck told him that he had wandered off from his owner.
"Where's your owner then, old boy?" asked the Doctor gruffly as the dog tilted its head and stared at him.
The dog whined and upon evidently deciding that the Doctor was not going to hurt him, ran over to him and jumped in his lap. The Doctor stared speechlessly at the dog who had decided to make himself comfortable in his lap. The Doctor drew out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the dog's collar. A hologram screen burst forth with the dog's information.
Name: Abydos
There was information about the owner but the Doctor could only stare at the familiar name. Abydos...Lake Abydos on Gallifrey...with its singing fish and summer homes...
"Abydos? Abydos!"
The Doctor and Abydos looked up at the woman's voice and the Doctor's hearts nearly gave out as he felt a familiar tingling at the back of his skull. The woman gasped upon seeing him and walked towards him slowly.
"Are you...?" she asked. "You're a Time Lord, aren't you?" she asked in a hushed voice. She knelt before him and grasped his hand. "Are you real?" she asked. "Are you actually real?"
The Doctor's fingers drifted to her wrist and he felt the double pulse beneath them. "You are too, aren't you?" he whispered, looking into her hazel eyes that looked older than her young face.
She nodded quickly, blonde hair bobbing up and down. "I thought...everyone..." she could hardly finish her sentence as she gazed transfixed at him. "I am Rose," she added hastily. He raised his eyebrows at the distinctly not-Time Lord name. She caught his look and gave a half-hearted smile. "It is a diminutive of my proper name," she explained. "And you are...?"
"I'm the Doctor," he said.
She gasped again as she sat down in front of him. "I have heard of you," she said. "You were Lord President twice and everyone called you..." she flushed and looked away. Her mouth had run away with her again.
The Doctor could not bring himself to be angry or embarrassed. He was too relieved to find one of his own people. "They called me the mad renegade, I know," he said, his eyes twinkling at her. He looked carefully at her. "You are too young to remember my terms of Presidency."
She nodded quickly. "I was just out of the Academy when..." she looked away sadly. "I heard you were the only survivor of Arcadia."
The Doctor's smile vanished and he stared at the grass impassively. "Yes," he said, barely moving his lips as he answered.
"What happened after that?" she asked him.
"What do you remember?" he asked her curiously.
Rose frowned as she tried to remember. "It was a few days after Arcadia. I remember this heat, like an inferno. Raging through the skies..." her eyes were far off as she spoke and the Doctor was trembling visibly as he remembered the scene vividly. "Then there was a howling and I woke up here. On Barcelona. That was nearly a year ago, relative time."
"You have been here a year?" the Doctor asked with great effort.
She nodded. "I had no way of leaving. I was too young to have been given a TARDIS and even if I had one, I wouldn't know where to go. I tried searching...but my mind...so empty." The last two words were spoken in Gallifreyan as tears gathered in her eyes.
The Doctor felt his own eyes fill up as he knew exactly what she had felt. He was still grasping her wrist, so he stroked her hand comfortingly. "Mine too," he confessed softly. "I can't tell you...can't even begin to tell you..." he trailed off, shaking his head in despair.
She looked down. "Someone enacted the Moment, didn't they?" she asked in a low voice, trying not to flinch.
"How do you know that?" the Doctor asked sharply, his hand leaving hers. He ignored the coldness that crept over his hearts at that.
"It would explain a lot," she said sadly. "And I remember this soldier..."
"Who?" asked the Doctor, almost scared of what she would say.
"I don't know...I never asked his name," she said. "It was the day after Arcadia. He looked so...sad. So tired and so old."
The Doctor closed his eyes and allowed himself to remember. The day after Arcadia...
Flashback
President Romana gazed out of the wide windows of the Presidential Palace. Gallifrey's formerly resplendent citadel was now in ruins. Smoke rose from the broken buildings, obscuring the orange glow of the planet, making it look a dull amber.
Arcadia had fallen yesterday and the Council had been frantic. Their last line of defence had fallen. They were on the brink of loss.
"You called Madam President?"
Romana unexpectedly felt a human emotion at those words. She remembered the same man berating her, complimenting her, arguing with her, teaching her...But now he sounded tired. Old. Older than she had ever heard him. He had been the sole survivor of the battle of Arcadia.
She suddenly felt too scared to turn around and look at him. His voice had already lost its warmth. She remembered complimenting his new form; his voice had been gentle, soothing and not that she would ever admit it, very, very pleasant. But now it was all gone. It was cold, emotionless and tired.
"Romana?" A shadow of gentleness ghosted over the word and Romana turned around slowly.
His eighth form, when she had first met him, had worn grey breeches, a white wing collared shirt, grey vest and cravat and a green frock coat. Very Edwardian. Now, he wore dark trousers, military boots and a double breasted navy leather coat over a dark jumper. His previously long curly hair was closely shorn. Stubble grew over his earlier clean shaven face.
"Doctor," she greeted slowly, trying to move her mouth into something resembling a smile.
His gaze remained detached as ever. "You sent for me?" he prompted again.
Romana nodded slowly, wondering how she was going to break the news to him. She hated herself so much but she knew he would hate her more when he realised what she was going to ask of him. "The Council made a decision today," she said.
He didn't say anything; just waited patiently for her to elaborate. She suddenly felt a pang as she remembered how much he loved to ramble. She wished she was that Romana again. The one who travelled with the Doctor in his TARDIS and argued with him about the efficiency of dimensional stabilisers...
A tired sigh escaped her mouth. "They plan to resurrect Rassilon," she said.
The Doctor's previously cool demeanour broke. "About time too!" he said. "Maybe he can put an end to this ghastly business."
Romana heard the hope in his voice and hated herself just a bit more for giving him that. Not when her next words were going to rob him of it. "The physical resurrection will take some time but we managed to converse with him," she said slowly. "He has proposed a solution."
"What is it then?" he asked, sounding eager.
She paused and held his gaze for a moment. "He plans to execute the Final Sanction."
The words hung in the air for a long moment. The Doctor stared at Romana, speechless. "Tell me that I misheard you," he said, his voice uncharacteristically harsh.
"Rassilon has his mind made up and the Council agrees," she said, knowing that he had heard her perfectly fine.
CRASH
Romana tried not to flinch as the Doctor threw an expensive antique vase from her office on the floor, breaking it. He let out a roar of anger as he walked up to Romana. "Has everyone lost their minds? We can't...the Final Sanction..." he could barely speak the words, as enraged as he was by the very idea of it.
She stayed silent, letting him get accustomed to the idea. She remembered biting her lips to stop spewing every hateful word she knew at Rassilon when he had suggested this. The Doctor was still cursing loudly and fluently, pacing in her office and occasionally throwing expensive antiques on the floor.
"The Council agreed?" he asked finally, panting slightly despite his respiratory bypass.
Romana nodded slowly. "As soon as Rassilon gains a physical form..."
"Tell me you are not agreeing to it," he said, his voice equal parts begging and angry.
"Of course not," snapped Romana, losing her cool for the first time since he had walked into her office.
He had the grace to look slightly ashamed. "Is that why you sent for me?" he asked softly.
Romana pushed back her anger and indignation and nodded. "My days as the President are numbered. As soon as Rassilon is resurrected, he shall be President. And I am quite certain that my views will not be particularly welcome to him and the Council," she added with a bitter smile.
The Doctor's harsh face softened ever so slightly. "Oh Romana," he sighed. "I am so sorry." He knew there was nothing he could do. The Council and Rassilon would kill anyone who opposed them. Romana had days to live, even less if she started to speak against them.
"I don't need your pity, Doctor," Romana snapped. "I did not call you here hoping to be saved. I called you because I have a way to stop this and there is no one else I trust."
"You have a way to stop this?" he asked, his eyes wide.
Romana nodded and reached into her robes. The Doctor gasped when she drew out the Moment.
"Romana," he said, looking at the Moment as if it was the vilest thing he had ever seen. "No."
"There isn't another way," said Romana, trying to keep her voice steady. "Either you use this to destroy us all or Rassilon destroys the whole universe."
The Doctor started shaking his head. "No, no, there has to be another way," he said, trying to convince himself as much as her.
"There is no other way!" Romana said, her voice rising in anger. "It is simple, Doctor. Take this and end it all."
"I won't do it!" the Doctor yelled. "Do you realise what you are asking of me? You are asking me to commit genocide. Destroy two powerful species; one of them my own. No, absolutely not," he shook his head emphatically.
"Then I hope you have the stomach to stand by and watch as Rassilon executes the Final Sanction," said Romana, advancing on the Doctor, who flinched. "The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart."
"Stop," the Doctor pleaded in a small voice.
Romana refused to back down. "No one can survive that. Not even us. But us, being the higher beings that we are, will turn into creatures of consciousness and live an eternal life free of our physical forms."
"Stop," the Doctor's voice was louder and stronger now.
"But that isn't the end of it, Doctor," she continued ruthlessly. "The rest of the universe will perish. It will turn into dust. The whole of creation will be destroyed."
"STOP!" The Doctor's voice was cold and furious. "Enough."
Romana was breathing heavily as she glared at the Doctor. "The Moment is our only hope," she said, her voice shaking with the effort of suppressing her sorrow and self-hatred. "Please, Doctor. Take it and use it."
The Doctor looked down at it, conflict raging in his hearts and mind. It went everything against he believed in to commit genocide. Killing Daleks would perhaps bring him satisfaction; years of war will do that to a man. But his own people? As much as he loathed them, hated everything that they stood for...they were still his people. No one had been more critical of them as him, no one had more reason to hate them than him but he could never ever entertain the notion of killing them all.
But if he didn't...then the whole universe would be destroyed. All those people and life forms, all that beauty, all that pain, all that sorrow; all of it would be gone. An empty void where he would be trapped with the rest of them. Never dying, never resting. Trapped in an eternal life.
His palm closed over the Moment and he felt Romana's sigh of relief. He refused to meet her eyes as he kept his gaze fixed on the Moment. "When does Rassilon get a physical form?" he asked slowly.
"Tomorrow," she answered.
The Doctor nodded curtly. "I shall take my leave then," he said. "I doubt it will remain a secret for long that I possess the Moment. And they will try and hunt me down. I have to disappear."
Romana nodded in agreement. "Our lives are already forfeit, Doctor," she said. "Just...as our final farewell to the universe, let's save it one more time."
The Doctor watched her with a soft look on his face. "It was a privilege to know you, Romanadvoratrelundar," he said.
Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Romana nodded. "Goodbye, Doctor."
He left her office and walked slowly through the Capitol. He had parked his ship in the TARDIS nursery under the Capitol in the hopes that the singing of those new corals would soothe her agony. She was suffering as much as him, if not more.
He expected the nursery to be empty, so he was surprised to find a young Time Lady chartering the growth of a young TT 270. She was humming along lightly to the song of the young coral, her blonde hair swaying as she flitted around. The Doctor watched her in fascination and gasped when he realised that she was an Empath.
Empaths were rare; even on Gallifrey there were only a few born every few millennia. She was young; probably just out of the Academy. And he was going to kill her. Like he was going to kill everyone else.
A sob broke through his lips and the Time Lady looked up. "Hello?" she called. "Is anyone there?"
The Doctor found himself unable to move as she looked around. Her eyes found him and the Doctor knew the exact moment when she felt his emotions. "Oh," she said, her eyes filling with tears.
"I am sorry," he whispered, not even knowing what exactly he was apologising for.
She looked as if she was about to throw his arms around him and his eyes widened. Such a human response that one. He had almost forgotten what touch felt like. But she stopped herself from running to him and he was disappointed.
"Have you got a family?" he asked her. The masochistic part of him needed to be fed. Why not pile more guilt onto himself? It wasn't like he could hate himself any more than he already did.
She shook her head. "My House...they're all gone. The war..." she gulped and looked away.
"Sorry," he said, feeling like an utter bastard. It had been uncalled for; bringing up painful memories for her to feed his tortured self-worth.
She nodded at him, her face starting to slip into the mask that he knew she would have been trained to master. "I have to go," he said, knowing he had already delayed as much as he could.
She nodded again and the Doctor sighed and walked towards his TARDIS. When he had reached the doors, he heard her speak. "Are you going to save us?" she asked.
He turned around and met her eyes. "Yes," he said firmly.
"Thank you," she said and then smiled.
She was the last person the Doctor ever saw in that body of his.
Flashback Ends
Brought to the present with a loud gasp from Rose, the Doctor stared at her in fear and awe. Of all the people to survive, what were the odds that an Empath he had met right before the end had lived.
"It's you," whispered Rose. She raised her hand and touched her fingers to his cheek. "You have changed."
The Doctor had flinched when her hand had moved towards him, as if expecting her to strike him. But he was surprised at the tender gesture. She was the first to touch him so intimately in this body. "I enacted the Moment," he confessed quietly, keeping his gaze locked with hers. "It only took a little time to time-lock the whole of Gallifrey and every other war zone I could manage. I didn't expect to survive, my TARDIS was right in the middle of it but somehow she managed to take me away before the eye of the storm closed. My body had already become weary because of the war and the release of energy of that sort...it didn't take long for me to die. I didn't expect to wake up."
Rose slowly let her hand fall from his cheek before throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. He stiffened at her touch and Rose had a moment of panic as she remembered Lady Thalia lecturing her.
"You SHOULD NOT initiate contact with anyone without their permission. Your...ah, unique abilities, might make them uncomfortable."
Rose began to withdraw but the Doctor, who had felt Thalia's words in his mind too, brought his leather-clad arms around her waist to hold her in place. "I..." he whispered, his voice starting to shake as Rose felt his cold tears dripping into her hair. "I need you to forgive me. For all that I did. For every life I took. For Gallifrey. For our families, friends, everyone." His shaking worsened and Rose let out a cry of anguish as she heard the raw pain in his voice. "Please, forgive me," he begged. "Please. Forgive me."
Abydos whined mournfully but the two Time Lords stayed in their close embrace. "I forgive you," said Rose, speaking deliberately to make sure that he understood. "You saved the universe and I am sorry for the burden you have been carrying on your own. I am so, so sorry."
The Doctor tightened his grip on her and wept into her hair. Rose stroked the back of his neck as she tried to soothe him as best as she could. It was a difficult thing to do because she had been just as damaged as him. But as her forgiveness poured into her mind, so did his gratitude into hers.
Perhaps, one day they could both heal enough for him to let go of his guilt, and for her to lose her loneliness.
Years later on the Crucible, the two Time Lords stood shoulder-to-shoulder as the insane Dalek Caan cackled about seeing time in all of its infinity. "I plucked the wolf from the storm and dropped her on the land with two suns."
Centuries later, Rose finished the last chapter of her book and looked at her husband fast asleep next to her. His new bowtie had landed on the lamp on his side table where it had been tossed during their earlier activities. His new floppy hair was lying askew on the pillow and Rose smiled as she closed her book and laid it on her side table.
Turning off the light, she curled into her husband's embrace. His new arms came around her and without opening his new green eyes, he asked her the question that he was dying to ask. "Did you finish it?"
Smiling, Rose placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "For now," she proclaimed. "Ready for volume Eleven?"
He placed a decidedly not-chaste kiss on her mouth. "Geronimo."
A/N And the end it is. Thanks for reading.
It went in a very different direction than I expected, I confess. Still, what did you all think?
To sum up, Rose met Eight, then Caan dropped her on Barcelona where she met Nine and consequently they travelled together. And it ends (continues?) with Eleven. By the way, the flashback with Eight is my personal headcanon of the final days of the Time War. Well, except the part about Rose. He could have spoken to Susan instead. Or taken a trip to Earth and met Rose briefly.
Anyway, let me know how this one was. I have three different one-shots that I am writing right now: Three and Scientist!Rose, Eleven and Luna University Student!Rose, and Ten, Jack and Egyptologist!Rose. Whichever one gets done first will be up first.
See you then!
~ Phoenix
