|oh ho ho, you thought the LAST chapter was a cliffie? Psshhh. I can do better than that. ;) anyway…. Um… please don't kill me. It won't help you… because the story doesn't stop there. Review, it's fine, I know how much hate mail I'm about to get. Yes. Major character death. DO NOT SKIP TO THE END OF THIS CHAPTER, OR OPTIMUS PRIME WILL CUT YOUR FACE OFF. Not really, but still. Try to enjoy it, 'kay? And, um, someone tell me if Donna has been out of character, because I'm having trouble deciding whether my Donna-writing skills are a huge bust or not. Cookies for reviews that don't involve pitchforks!|

There are different kinds of pain. Physical pain- dull, sharp, throbbing, sudden. Small or big. Emotional pain- loss, grief, love, even. Weak or strong.

The pain he felt was beyond all of that. Pain poured from every cell of his body that had ever been and ever would be. Pain scremed from the minds of nine preivous incarnations and countless future ones. Pain streamed from his hands and his eyes and his heart, the pain of the universe, of existence, of time itself. Pain so great that it would kill him, no chance of regeneration. He felt more than saw his companions fall to the ground behind him and knew that they would be unconscious; it was an after-effect of what Davros had used to keep them captive. None of them would have to watch him die. He wouldn't be tempted to use one of their life-forces to regenerate himself and live on. It was ending.

And yet it had just begun. He heard a scream of anger and pain as the fury and full power he unleashed finally hit Davros, in a wave so great he was sure it would kill him instantly. And yet, he couldn't stop. His mind's eye expanded and he wiped out every Dalek in the room, on the floor, in the ship with one effortless thought- burn. He found the reality bomb and left it useless, all its energy gone. Instead he concentrated his energy and turned Davros who was alive, despite all odds. And laughing at him.

"Thank you, Doctor! Thank you!"

You wish to die, Davros? You will die thousands of times over. Millions of times, for hurting my Rose.

"Ahahahaha!"

He knew that Davros was being incinerated from the inside out. He wanted the other 'man' to feel pain like he did, but he seemed only amused. At least, the Doctor assured himself, he will die. And I will, too. It's long past time, I think. I only wish…

Only wish…

Wish…

Rose

She came to in time to see the Doctor's light begin to falter, and somehow she knew he was dying. "No!" Her body was her own again; she ran to him and he turned his head to her. "No, Doctor, don't! Stop! You can stop now!" But he couldn't, she could see that. He was too far gone. He hit with his knees, hard, scorching the ground as if the glow around him was hot. It wasn't. It was cold, and when Rose reached out, pain hit her hard. Pain like she had never experienced, worse than what Davros had done to her before. Sadness and loss and love and anger and aches and wounds that were millennia old. She gasped and drew back as if she'd been stung. And something in the Doctor's light had stirred inside of her a beast that had long since been dormant. Since Satellite five and the emperor of the Daleks. She didn't lose herself this time, but she let it take control of her limbs. She watched as it lifted her arms and knew that she was glowing gold. Jack and Donna and Mickey and her mother had come to, now, and there was an awed silence.

The Doctor turned his head as the light began to fade from his body, his eyes like dull remnants of the fire they had once held. "Rose," he whispered hoarsely.

"Bad Wolf," she replied. Or rather, Bad Wolf replied. She knew that saving him would kill her. It didn't matter. The universe was nothing without him, and both she and the Wolf knew that.

"You will live." And her arms were brought forward, letting her hands rest on either side of his head as he slumped to the ground. The energy that she had coursed into him, slowing to a trickle as she felt weaker and weaker.

Finally, the Doctor stood and took her hand. "Stop, Rose. Stop, please." She didn't stop until she knew he was safe, and then she fell and felt no more.

He lived. He felt the blood course through his veins, the two hearts beat quickly in his chest. He breathed in, let the air out, and for a moment he forgot. Only a moment. Only until Jackie's anguished cry brought him back.

Rose.

He saw her lying there at his feet, legs bent at strange angles, not broken but not comfortable, either. Her hair seemed to have dimmed considerably, her eyes had closed, and he knew before he bent to check that her heart had stilled. He knew that it should affect him, but he felt nothing. He felt numb. Jackie was there within a heartbeat, cradling her daughter's head in her arms and sobbing, trying to deny what they all already knew was true.

Rose Tyler was dead.

Donna clapped a hand over her mouth and turned away, into the safety of Jack's arms as he held her close. Even he was unable to hold back a few tears. Mickey tried to comfort Jackie, Jack comforted Donna, and the Doctor stood and stared down at the woman he had loved.