"She took all the particles for you," The Doctor explained once they were back in the TARDIS. Rose didn't answer. She stared at the door and didn't move. "Rose, she sacrificed herself for us."
"I know that!" She spun around. "And it didn't even work, did it?" The Doctor didn't answer for moment. "The Daleks ran off. I can tell they're not done. They're never done."

"That just means we have more places to go." He spun on his heel. "That's what you're here for, isn't it? After the Daleks!" His smile faded as he watched his companion. "We can't spend our time mourning the dead, especially not when they're fiction." He leaned in front of her so they were eye level. "She's not real, Rose."

"She's real!"

"Oh, of course you'd say that."

"And of course you'd say that she's not! You felt the world with your own hands, you saw—" Her voice cracked and she pointed away from the two of them. "We could've died."

"Like always."

"Yes, like always! Are you gonna call that imaginary danger? How—"

"Because it hurts." He leaned against the wall of the TARDIS. "If we cried for all the lost souls in books and media we'd never do a thing." Rose glanced at him quizzically.

"Chell wasn't in a book." The Doctor stared at her agape for a moment.

"Oh, of course, I should start at the beginning."

"Yeah, yeah, just like you to leave the important things out."

"That was…" He tilted his head back and forth.

"Come on, not like I'll accuse you of being a liar or anything. I've seen a lot with you." Quite an understatement, she added to herself.

"We were in a Storyworld. Void worlds, some people call them. Every bit of fiction ever made has its own world, and the Daleks found one somehow."

"What do they want here?"

"Who knows?" He ran a hand over the TARDIS's core. "They're built for consumption by humans, for entertainment. But you never think about what would happen if they're real, hm?" He said, his voice low. "The human race—so imaginative, but so careless."

"So what about this world, then?"

"Nothing about it. It has no savior. Chell was supposed to be the hero," he explained, leaning closer to the interface. "But the place got corrupted, and then you showed up. It thought you were her!" He tapped a button with a flourish and checked on Rose out of the corner of his eye.

"It?"

"The world! That lab has a consciousness of its own, and I'm not talking about that scruffy little AI." Rose smiled for a second, imagining GLaDOS's retort. They were so real. She held out her hand as if recalling Chell's touch.

"And…you said there was a man?" She asked. She had to shake the memories somehow—there would be more worlds and more fiction to live through, and she couldn't be a mess. The Doctor nodded, recalling the shadow he saw scampering behind him.

"He was supposed to be the light. The guide. Not an enemy, but not a hero."

"Oh yeah? How d'you know?"

"It's how you humans work." He turned around, balancing his weight on the TARDIS with his palms. "You always want one person to save the day."

"Well, fine." Rose shook her head. "Then I can believe in him. If this is fiction. Why can't I? The man with the companion. That's what you are, aren't you?" The Doctor stopped fiddling with the controls on his ship. Rose smiled at him, her jacket and pink t-shirt showing under the jumpsuit slipping from her shoulders. He smiled back at her and made a motion with his head for her to come closer.

"Yes, Rose, you can," he whispered to her. "But I believe in you."


A/N: The saga continues in "What Time is it?" (a Doctor Who and Adventure Time crossover). Keep your eyes peeled for its release, and don't forget to check back in this fandom for "The Rat," a Storyworld Series spin-off.

Of course, you can read each episode separately, but I recommend that you read in order. The overarching story will make much more sense that way.

Allons-y, time lords!