A/N: On we go again. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews you have all been submitting, makes writing it worthwhile. Anyway, I own nothing as always though if I win the EuroMillions or something I'm going to buy it and rewrite it- I can just see this screening on the BBC at 7pm can't you!
10. Going it Alone.
Rose knew the Doctor was best avoided when he was trying to fathom something out, not just for the fact that any interruptions resulted in a very snappy response but also the constant mumblings in his own language as well as English often terrified those who didn't know him well. That was why she made sure Jackie and Mickey had ample entertainment on the TARDIS whilst the Doctor worked in the library, Rose by his side, silent save for when he wanted to bounce ideas off her. She contented herself by pouring over old books, some she imagined many thousands of years older than she was. The Doctor had many scattered around him where he sat cross legged on the rug by the fire, most of them, Rose had noticed with interest, on the Occult; a subject she would have thought not a prominent feature of a non-believer's library.
Their conversation with Mary had planted several new theories into the Doctor's head and he was poring over whatever he could to try and figure out the history of the house. He chewed the end of a pen thoughtfully before scribbling once more on the pad in front of him. Rose had managed to peer over his shoulder at one point but pulled a face in confusion as all she saw was the odd circular language she witnessed every day on the TARDIS monitor. She was amazed how easily the Doctor scribbled the intricate little circles on the paper, his language running right to left she noticed rather than her western left to right.
At present Rose was across the room from him, curled on the large, black leather sofa they so often curled up on after a hard day being chased by aliens. Of all the rooms in the TARDIS this seemed to be the one they favoured above all others. Rose had stumbled upon the library on her second night on board the time ship, finding the Doctor sprawled out on the sofa, feet propped up on a small coffee table with his head stuck in a book. She'd settled silently next to him and before she even enquired as to what he was reading he had flipped back to the beginning of the book and begun reading to her in his wonderful accent. It had become a ritual and now the room brought a comforting connection to them. Rose loved the sofa, it gave her a view of the entire room, allowing her the perfect opportunity to watch the Doctor unhindered as he flipped through book after book, muttering away to himself. She flinched in surprise as she saw him manage to bend right over his crossed legs to reach a book just out of easy grasp. She often forgot how much more athletic he was now, often throwing himself onto rope swings or climbing anything without protest. Walk or run seemed to be the only two settings for her old Doctor but this one could probably rival several gymnastics teams.
She giggled at the thought and received a questioning look from the man on the floor. She flashed him a sweet smile before turning back to the book in her hands, apparently she was reading about the history of some far off planet, currently focusing on some two thousand year long war but she hadn't turned a page for at least an hour. She closed the book and got to her feet, lovingly placing it back in its place on the shelf before wandering over to the Doctor. She knelt behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Getting anywhere?" she said, supporting his weight as he leaned back slightly against her.
"Maybe, maybe not, its hard to tell," he said, his hand wavering over the notes he'd made, "I've got a rough idea though."
"Want to run it by me?" said Rose pulling her hands back to his shoulders and beginning to massage them through his thin shirt. She heard him groan in thanks as she worked out several tight knots.
"You wouldn't mind?" he said, "Its pretty much all guess work."
"You always do better when you've talked through it out loud."
"Well, we know that Grace hung herself and that Clarence starved the children to death. Then there's the blood stain in the master bedroom. Imagine the scene, he's away, never mind where, Catherine brings Simon into the house. Now I think Grace would have been aware of this affair but Simon clearly visits on the pretence of seeing her so perhaps he plays the suitor to get to Catherine. Is this making sense?"
"Just about," said Rose, "You think Grace was in love with Simon too?"
"Uh-huh, just seemed to, I don't know, I got some strange feelings when she touched my hand last night. Real heart break but it was a romantic heartbreak, not for her family," said the Doctor, "This affair between Catherine and Simon must have been going on for years, they'd be quite practised so here's my theory. Clarence goes away as always but he has suspicions about the affair, the look of the children, the fact that Simon has visited for so many years, even before Grace came of age but has never made her an offer of marriage, they all make him come back. Grace has helped her sister continue her affair despite the pain it causes her, the gentle soul you so often get stuck in the middle of these things. Anyway, angry husband comes home and catches Catherine in bed with Simon. Simon gets out of bed, perhaps to confront Clarence and bang!"
Rose jumped as he shouted the final word, only managing a strained giggle as she recovered herself, "I think I'm getting it. Clarence shoots Simon, decides to starve the children to death and then Grace, broken hearted by his death, hangs herself."
"Bingo," said the Doctor but then his tone changed to serious once again, "That still doesn't explain what happened to Catherine or Clarence though. There's something missing here and its something in that master bedroom and I think that will give us an answer about the Johnson boys too."
"You're plotting something," said Rose, her hands stilling on his shoulders.
"I'm going to spend tonight in that room."
Rose cuffed him round the head, "You bloody well are not."
The Doctor turned to face her, his hand fussing his hair where she'd hit him, "I have to," he said, "That's where all the answers are."
"That's also where that Clarence creature waits and you're just going to walk right up to him."
"That door was locked from the inside and no one had been in the room for ages, not even your Nan's great aunt. It was locked but there were no bodies in the room but likewise there were no other exits. Something in that room is holding all the answers and I need to find out what it is."
"It'll be dangerous," said Rose, pushing his hair back and kissing his forehead.
"That's why I'm going on my own," said the Doctor causing Rose to pull back in alarm.
"No you…"
"Yes I am," said the Doctor, cutting her off, "Rose, I promised your mother that I'd protect you and I would never, ever knowingly put you in harm's way."
Rose's chin fell to her chest and she sniffed back the tears that wanted to fall, "What if he hurts you? I don't want you to change again."
"Hey, tough as old boots me," he said tilting her face up to meet his, "I'll be ok. Tell you what I'll do, you remember those life sign monitors I showed you? I've got a couple of gadgets, you can monitor me while I'm in there and I'll take a phone with me, keep you updated as to what's happening."
"Great so I get to see your vitals snuffed out and get an auditory rendition of your next regeneration," said Rose turning her face away, "What am I meant to do with them? If you can't defeat whatever is in that house then I'm not going to be much use to you standing in the TARDIS with a mobile phone."
"Yes you will," said the Doctor taking her hand and pulling her to her feet, "Come with me."
Rose let him lead her to the console room, but her hand was limp in his. As they reached the emerald lit room the Doctor took her right up to the console. He flipped a couple of switches and the TARDIS came to life, the central column brightening but not moving. He took a small disk and held it up to her.
"This is a tracking device, its programmed to the TARDIS," he said before slipping it into his breast pocket, "The TARDIS is ready to move so I'll leave her like this when I go. Don't touch anything on the console otherwise god knows where you'll end up. Now then, see this little green button here."
Rose nodded as he pointed to the button on the console, just beneath the central column.
"That button scans for this disk and when it finds it the TARDIS transports right to the place where it is. If I lose contact with you without warning press this button and the TARDIS will come for me."
A smile lit up Rose's face at his words, "I…" she said incredulously, pointing to herself with pride, "Little Rose Tyler, get to fly the TARDIS."
The Doctor nodded, "I think you can handle it," he said, his hand coming up to toy with her hair, "When I come back after tonight I'm going to teach you properly."
"Do you really mean that?" said Rose, brightening further, "Doctor…she…the TARDIS…she's yours and I…wow!"
"Very rare that I have you tongue tied," said the Doctor before pressing a kiss to the end of her nose, "I need to get ready to go, it'll be dark soon."
Rose raised her face up to kiss him before letting him slip from her arms and return to the centre of the TARDIS. When she heard his fading footfalls she looked up at the central column, almost able to see the life behind the machine.
"We need to look after him old girl," she said before turning to following, smiling happily as she heard the console give a soft beep behind her.
XXXX
"Tracker?"
"Yes."
"Phone?"
"Yes."
"Sonic Screwdriver?"
"Like its proved useful so far."
"Doctor!"
"Yes, sonic screwdriver."
"Torch?"
"Yes!" cried the Doctor, "Rose you're worse than my mother, I've got everything I need, trust me."
Rose stood between him and the TARDIS exit, rattling off item after item before she would let him out of the safety of the ship. She reached up and took his face in her hands, pressing a kiss to his lips, "I just want to make sure you're ok."
"You should be asking him if he's got any nappies with him because he's going to be bricking it in there," came Mickey's voice from the captain's chair.
"Says the boy I had to carry out of there last night because he was too scared to walk through the lounge door," the Doctor threw back over his shoulder.
"Hey, you did not carry me."
"Looked like that from where I was," said Jackie.
"Me too," said Rose, shooting Mickey a smile to let him know it was only play. The Boy blushed and grew suddenly interested in the supports struts.
Rose turned her attention back to the man in front of her, buttoning up his suit jacket and then his long trench coat. The Doctor still her hands and pulled her into a hug.
"I can dress myself you know."
"I know," said Rose, "Be careful in there."
"I will. Now come on, kiss me good luck," he said pulling back slightly.
"Isn't it kiss me good bye?"
"This isn't good bye," said the Doctor, his eyes and voice becoming serious.
"You don't need luck either," said Rose, "You've got all the luck in the world, so this is for love."
She pressed her lips to his as his arms held her tighter to him. She ruffled his hair gently, a familiar gesture since day one of his regeneration. He pulled back and ran his hands down her leather clad arms, still slightly amused at the over sized jacket on her small frame but the thought made him smile.
"See you in the morning," he said.
"You better," said Rose as she opened the TARDIS door and he moved passed her into the twilight lit world outside, the rain soaking him almost instant. He waved at her when he'd gone a few metres and she managed a half hearted one back before closing the door and rushing over to the console to watch the readings.
XXXX
The Doctor had every sense available on full alert as he entered the house, a little nervous that due to the rain the TARDIS was obscured from view from the front door. He pulled out his torch, patting his pocket and glad as the sound of several sets of spare batteries rang back at him. He closed the front door behind him and proceeded the climb the stairs, pulling his phone out of his pocket and letting the speed dial take him to the TARDIS phone, it answered almost immediately.
"Doctor?"
"Its me, I'm inside, just going up the stairs. Everything ok there?"
"Worrying about you."
"I'm fine," he said as he reached the landing, he shone the torch from side to side, nothing untoward catching his attention, "Nothing so far."
He turned towards the nursery and master bedroom, feeling his hearts fluttering all the faster in his chest as he neared the doors.
"Calm down," said Rose, "Your readings are sky high even for you."
"You come here and you calm down," he snapped back, "Sorry Rose."
"'S ok," came a small voice on the end of the line.
The Doctor reached the door to the master bedroom and took out the key. He slipped it into the lock and slid the bolt free. His hand didn't pause on the handle, instead throwing the door open and stepping defiantly inside.
"Holy mother of…Rose you should see this?" he said stepping into the immaculately clean room once more, "Remember when we were in here I was turning out the cupboards?"
"Yeah."
"Well, someone's been tidying up after me," he said, securing the phone between his shoulder and his ear and running a hand over the perfect dressing table. He made his way to a chair in the corner and sat down, his torch still sweeping the room. He considered lighting the candles but the boisterous side of his personality was being stubborn and he remained with just the faint torch light.
"Nothing's happening yet," he said, "I'll leave the phone on but don't speak unless I talk to you ok. I might sound a little distant when I do, I'm putting it down on the table next to me."
"Ok," said Rose, "Be careful."
The Doctor felt the hours pass by as it crawled passed midnight. He occasionally picked up the phone to speak to Rose but most of the time silence reigned. The room felt like any other room in the world, no untoward noises, no lights. The Doctor was almost beginning to think that he had imagined the entire week or that Rose and Jackie had rigged up some elaborate trick to have him spend a night alone. He would almost have convinced himself if he didn't have the memory of how often he'd felt Rose's heart fluttering against his chest when they'd run from the place.
He tapped out an old melody on his knee, humming under his breath as he scanned the room once again with the torch, considering calling the whole thing a night and going back to the TARDIS. He didn't believe his eyes at first, moving the torch back and forth to make sure that it wasn't a trick of the light. The blankets covering the bed dipped at the edge nearest him, the imprint looking as if it should have someone sitting there. He got to his feet, covering the short distance and running his hand along the dip, shuddering as he felt the drop in temperature there. He hurried back to his chair and picked up the phone.
"Rose?" he whispered, "Something's happening."
He started as he heard the latch on the door click and creak slowly open. He heard the fall of boots on the floorboards but couldn't see anything.
"Oh hell, the door just opened on its own," he said, his eyes straining to find a figure attached to the footsteps. He heard the strange sound of voices again, so distant, like white noise from a radio. He couldn't make out the words but he strained his hearing all the same. The room felt cooler but his skin still didn't prickle with fear as he sat in the darkness. He noticed the torch light die in his hand but didn't consider reaching for the spare batteries, he knew they would be of little use.
He heard the door slam downstairs and almost shouted in the phone to Mickey and Jackie that he would kill them both if they'd let Rose come to the house but before he could speak an unwarranted drama began to play before his eyes. By the window in a seat that had been empty only seconds ago a young couple sat. He could make out their features perfectly, they almost looked flesh. He recognised Catherine and needed not guess who the man beside her was. The man sprang to his feet, spreading his arms as if the shield the woman next to him. The door flew against the wall and the sound of a gun shot rang out in the room. Catherine screamed, the sound piercing the Doctor's ears as he watched the body of Simon fall the floor, his head meeting with the already present blood stain. The body faded as if it hadn't been there. The Doctor pushed his back into the chair as he heard heavier footfalls come from the door but the apparitions remained unaware of his presence. He saw the form of Clarence materialise, bending down to place his hand against the blood stain, his fingers raising, dripping. Catherine threw up her arms to defend herself but he bore down on her, wrenching her arms to her sides before his hands closed around her throat.
Despite the horrors the Doctor had seen in his lifetime he still closed his eyes against the sight, feeling the tears welling up behind them for the fact that he could do nothing to save the young woman. He heard the slump of a body and opened his eyes. The room was empty once more. He swallowed the taste in the back of his mouth but felt the fever of shock growing on his forehead. He steadied his breathing as best he could, realising that Rose was calling his name down the phone still pressed to his ear.
"Doctor answer me? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he said, "I'm here…something happened."
He was sure Rose could hear the disbelief in his voice, even he couldn't understand the scene that had played out before him.
"They…Catherine, he strangled her. Shot Simon, I was right and then…nothing, he's just disappeared and they…the bodies just faded away. I've never seen anything like…"
"Doctor?"
The Doctor lay the phone back on the table as he saw a light begin to form where he'd last seen Catherine standing. He saw the same development that had surrounded Grace's apparition but this time no face appeared, where Catherine's head should be there was no more than a rapid blur as if she were moving her head side to side in fast forward. He could hear no sound but his hands flew to his ears, the rush hitting him like the pressure of an airplane take off. Her hands groped wildly, trying to fight off some unseen enemy. Instinct taking over the Doctor went to her side and reached out to hold her still. His hands fell through the icy cloud and Catherine faded from sight, the only sound in the room being the wide thumping of his hearts.
He brought his hands to his face, wiping away tears and sweat. He felt his hands slip over something slick and he pulled his hands away, looking down at his palms. Even in the dim light he could make out the blood on his fingers. He turned to the mirror above the fireplace but nothing was on his face at all. He looked back down at his hands once more, they were clean save for the slight glimmer of perspiration. He looked back up to his reflection, considering giving himself a severe talking to about his imagination. He paled.
The face behind his shoulder smiled, a row of yellow teeth looking menacing in the darkness. The Doctor whirled round to face his assailant but nothing stood behind him. His breathing came in ragged puffs as he turned his face slowly back to the mirror. The face was still there, the same wicked smile on his features, black eyes boring into the Doctor's own.
"Neat trick," muttered the Doctor, falling back on sarcasm as rational thought failed him, "Clarence Proctor I presume."
The face behind him just smiled all the wider, holding up a hand beside his face to show blood stained hands. The Doctor watched as the hand crossed to his neck, grasping his neck. He didn't feel the fingers but then the pressure started and he felt his throat constricting. His hands came up groping wildly at the hand but gripping nothing, only stopping when he felt his own blood spilling from the cuts his finger nails had caused on his skin. The pressure stopped as the hand was removed and Clarence gave a silent laugh.
The Doctor steadied his breathing, all the harder after the immense pressure on his throat. His voice came out hoarse.
"What do you want from me? Why don't you leave this place?"
The figure behind him was silent, merely staring at him with those black, hate filled eyes.
"I know what you did," said the Doctor, "I know it all now and I will stop you tormenting those poor souls now they are dead."
A fire seemed to leap up in Clarence's eyes at the Doctor's words and the Doctor felt a hand tighten around his left wrist. He tried to wrench it away but it was held fast, even in death Clarence's bulk outweighed the Doctor by a mile. The Doctor tried to step away, planning to use his entire body weight to free himself but his feet would not move. He wriggled as best he could but he found himself routed to the spot, feeling the familiar blackness fall over his mind. He stared incredulously at his own reflection, his mind was his most powerful asset and yet there he stood, paralysed, almost possessed.
He heard the crack of bone a few seconds before the pain registered in his mind. He could feel bones snapping and tendons popping in his wrist as Clarence wrenched it up behind his back. He bit back a cry of agony, determination to beat this creature keeping him from alerting Rose to his suffering. He didn't even know if he could cry out. He was perfectly aware of himself but no limb, no muscle would move at his command. He closed his eyes tight, fighting against the blackness in his mind, groping wildly for the light he knew to be his own presence. He thought he had achieved his aim as he felt the shift of air against his body as he moved but as he collided soundly with the wall he realised he had been thrown rather than stepping.
He opened his eyes, Clarence bearing down on him. He tried to push to his feet, anything to stop the onslaught he knew would befall him otherwise. The fate of the Johnson boys horrifically clear now, what they had witnessed, the price anyone who saw Clarence's deed paid. The pain flaring in his left wrist was augmented all the more by the throbbing in his head. He saw the glimmer of his own blood on the mantle of the fire place, felt the warm slow trickle down his cheek. He felt the hand close on his collar, felt his feet against the wood of the floor once more, felt the solid end panel of the bed as he was thrown against it. The force flipped him onto the mattress, his face only inches away from the dresser and the phone that was meant to have been his lifeline.
He could hear Rose's breathing on the end, waiting for him to speak as she had done all evening. He wondered if she could even hear the impact of his body as he was thrown or the sound of bone cracking as he felt stabs of pain from his ribs. He wanted to call out for her, she could bring the TARDIS to him, he could recover, come the next night and defeat this creature now he knew what to expect but her name faltered on his lips. He closed his eyes, willing away the blackness once more but the pain in his broken body dulled his senses and he was overcome. He felt the pressure on his broken wrist, glad he couldn't cry out as the pain shot up his arm like wild fire. He was pulled to his feet and his eyes focused on his fate. The window stood broad before him, two storeys up and a concrete patio below. He had promised Rose he wouldn't regenerate, he may well get his wish, if he survived the glass the impact with the floor below would be fatal and without power over his own mind he didn't know whether even he could survive it.
The glass shattered around him, he felt the razor edges rip through clothes and flesh indiscriminately but the pain was not his focus. He felt the blackness lift from him, felt himself in control once again. He only needed a second. Ignoring the pain in every part of him he flipped himself over and grabbed with his good hand, nearly crying in surprise as he caught hold of the thick ivy against the wall. His elation dimmed as the plant began to give but he quickly brought up his other hand, gritting his teeth against the pain as he carefully climbed down. His feet hitting the concrete below soon made him aware of the torn ligaments in his leg and he clutched it painfully. He slid down the nearest wall, burying his face in his arms as he mentally catalogued the agonies afflicting him.
He raised his head, intent on limping as best he could back to the TARDIS, phoneless he couldn't even call for help. He pushed up onto his feet, his broken wrist held fast against his chest and his damaged leg wobbling dangerously. He saw it then, the mist rising up from the bog in the distance and it all made sense. He wanted to cry with both joy and despair. He knew where Clarence had taken them, their very souls had called out to him his first night here but he hadn't listened. He was listening now as his feet began to move slowly towards the gravestone with no name, ignoring the terrifying scream that had had him trembling before. His limping gait hindered his progression through the tall grass and he almost amused himself when Mickey's lack of gardening skills came to his mind.
He was only ten paces away from the gravestone when he realised his mistake. He felt the shudders run through his body as the familiar cold descended on him. The blackness came then, he fought it as best he could but in his weakened state nothing could withstand the force of the entity behind him. They could have run away, left this place but he had had to find out, had to get involved with the macabre spectacular that had played out in the house behind him for a hundred years without his interference. Now he was meeting the same fate as the foolish boys who had stumbled on Clarence, now he would leave Rose to mourn when his promises went unfulfilled, now he would leave Grace to suffer many more centuries of torment at the hands of the man who should have been her protector.
His feet moved of their own accord and try as he might he could not alter the course. He felt the constitution of the ground alter as he stepped beyond the gravestone and into the reeds. He felt the slimy, penetrating sludge of the bog claim his feet, his ankles, his legs, his waist. He was turned, facing the shadowy billowing apparition of Clarence as he stared down at him, the rain not showing on his clothes but blurring the Doctor's eyesight as he tried to struggle free. The sludge claimed his arms, his chest. He thought of the tiny tracking device in his pocket, wondered of its point when he could not alert Rose to his need. He strained to keep his head up, his lungs gasping for air as with each breath more of the choking black muck found it way into his mouth. He closed his eyes, pushing with all he had against the blackness in his mind but felt himself slip beneath the surface, slowly suffocating in the black mud as it filled his lungs. He felt another blackness join the possession in his mind, the blackness his last form had prayed for before the light had walked into his life, his Rose. He cried out her name in his mind as he felt consciousness slip.
XXXX
Rose didn't know what it was that pulled her attention to the monitor, she had been so concerned with the phone she hadn't even looked at the screen. For twenty minutes nothing but silence had echoed back from the room the Doctor had been in. She grown used to it throughout the night and thought nothing of it. He had said that the apparitions had disappeared, perhaps that would be an end to it. She half listened for the TARDIS door opening, waiting for him to come home with no more answers than he went with but then something had nudged at her mind. The leather jacket, his leather jacket, had suddenly become too hot around her, the hairs on the back of her neck had stood up they way they had always done when he had been near her, creating that delicious electricity she was now discovering with his new form but something in the feeling wasn't right. The alarms went off in her mind and she flew to the monitor.
Where the blue light had been happily dancing away in his frantic but usual life pattern, there was nothing but a faint blue ripple in the centre, barely registering. Rose felt her heart stop at the sight. He had promised her. Her hand pressed down hard on the green button he had shown her and the central column sprang into life, making both Jackie and Mickey jump as the TARDIS shuddered to life. Rose gripped the console edge as the ship bucked and writhed on its journey.
"Come on baby," she whispered to the machine, "Don't let me down."
XXXX
Oblivion was a welcome break from the pain. The Doctor had never understood death but he was sure he did now. Nothing surrounded him but black and he almost felt as if he was floating. Perhaps this was were souls went when their bodies were lost, this perpetual silence and blackness. No friends long passed waiting with open arms, no bright celestial light guiding weary feet to the thrones of their father's, no gods to point out who lived a life right and who lived it wrong. There was nothing but the silence. The Doctor liked it that way, the blackness likened itself to the blackness he often felt in his heart, for the deeds he'd done, that had been done against him, all the regret. He had one more to add there, he hadn't told her goodbye, she hadn't said it to him. She had kissed him for love, she never kissed him goodbye and he was left with just those two lonely words, what if.
He thought his imagination particularly acute when he felt the arms wrap around his waist, the legs that brushed his as someone kicked upwards. He almost felt like he was swimming. He pulled his eyes open but blackness and cold made him shut them once more. His mind came to him then, the possession lost, consciousness fleeting but clinging to him. Someone was pulling him to the surface, he was clinging to some tiny little body as it sped him to safety through the slime and mud. He felt the burning in his peat filled lungs as his struggled for breath. He felt the cold and rain hit him as he broke the surface, the arms slipping from his waist and though he groped wildly he could not feel anyone near him. His broken body protested as he struggled to keep his head above the surface, his lungs filled and his eyesight blurred by the bog. He heard it then, his hearts soaring even as they threatened to burst in his chest.
The TARDIS began to materialise at the edge of the bog and he focused on the blue outline as it reasserted itself on the ground. He thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful but even the sight of his beloved piece of home could not stop him sinking once more.
XXXX
Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, instantly recognising her surroundings and searching frantically around her.
"Doctor?" she cried, "Doctor!"
She heard the slurp of mud before her and saw a hand disappear beneath the surface. Her hearts stopped as she attempted to wade into the deep slime but she knew she would be little use to him if she too began to sink. Running back into the TARDIS she wrenched open a storage closest and pulled out a length of rope. Tying it round her middle, she secured the other end to the TARDIS console, yanking it firmly to test its integrity. Jackie and Mickey stood back, shaken by Rose's focus as she waded back into the thick mud. She groped wildly in the black and rain, ducking her head under but resurfacing choked and half blind with the mud. She brushed her eyes frantically, looking for any sign of life but nothing broke the surface. She kicked her legs, feeling the bog begin to pull her down as she wanted to give up, grief filling her soul. The mist before her would have gone unnoticed if it wasn't for the sense of calm it gave her, billowing a little way ahead she moved to it with purpose. It dispersed as she reached it and she dived beneath the surface, groping in the blackness until her hand closed around a length of fabric. She pulled on it as she kicked her legs to break the surface.
Gasping for breath, she tugged the heavy form to the surface. Her heart leaping in joy and then despair as the Doctor's unconscious form settled in her arms. She didn't known if she'd cried out or not but the rope around her waist gave a sharp tug and she turned to see Jackie and Mickey pulling her towards the bank. She tightened her arms around the Doctor, struggling to keep them both above the surface but succeeding all the same. Her back hit the solid wall of the bank and she felt Mickey's hands pulling her up.
"Take him," she called pulling herself away and lifting the Doctor as best she could onto the bank. Mickey grabbed the unconscious Time Lord and heaved him onto the side, dragging him away from danger before returning to Rose's side. Rose watched Jackie kneel beside the Doctor, but her attention was torn away as she tried to clamber onto the bank. Slipping on the rain slicked ground she felt her head go under and she kicked up in a panic, Mickey's arms closing around her shoulders as she surfaced. He pulled her onto the side, untying the rope from around her and rubbing her back as she coughed up the slick, black slime from her lungs. It was only Jackie's choked sob that caught her attention. She looked up to see her mother gently smoothing back the Doctor's muddied hair, his body unmoving on the ground. Rose hurried to his side, laying her head on his chest and yelping in shock as neither heart beat rang back at her.
"I'm so sorry darling," said Jackie softly, her hands on Rose's shoulders.
"No he promised me!" cried Rose as she saw the faint gold playing against his too pale skin, "Not again! You promised me!"
She pushed her mother and Mickey aside, drawing the Doctor to her chest as if it could somehow prevent the golden light she saw enveloping him.
"Please, please, please don't leave me," she begged, "Please. I love you."
A/N: I leave you on a cliffie my dears. Please review, the more reviews I get the more inspired I am and therefore the quicker I write. Tee hee!
Nova x