Chapter 11: Into the Void

Rose was holding The Doctor in her arms until he came out of the attack. He was holding his head in his hands. The pain slowly subsided after a few minutes.

He lay there in her lap for quite some time.

He opened his eyes.

"Rose, mah Rose, did they hurt you," he said at he reached out towards her began to form in his eyes.

"Docta', don't cry. I'm here and every things okay," she whispered close to her ear. "Are you still in pain," she asked him.

"No, just a miniscule pinch, compared to all the other suffering I've been through," he said with weak breath.

"I'm sorry Docta', I wish I could help you," she said as she brushed the hair out of his face.

"Let's get you back to the TARDIS," she said as she stood over him. She held out her hand to help him up.

He took hold of it and pulled himself up towards her. He wobbled as he stood, grabbing onto Rose's arm tighter.

They continued down the abandoned corridors only to be thrown back into the unforgiving weather. The slowly made their way back to the TARDIS.

Once they got into the console room, The Doctor fell to his knees again.

"I'll see you in the Howling Doctor, are you ready," it asked.

As he came back out of his daze, he jumped up and set the coordinates for The Void, in which this case meant hell for them. (The Void is known as hell or the Howling, the emptiness between parallel universes.)

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Since it took a while to travel to The Void, the literal end of the universe they live in, they decided to huddle down for the night.

Rose found The Doctor in his study, reading up about The Void.

"The Void, which contains no light, exists outside the whole of creation. Anyone who passes through could choose to live there for eternity. A sad decision, isn't it Rose," he asked her, as he took his eyes off the page to look at her.

"Yes, very much so Docta'," she said as she sat down beside him.

"The only way to get there is by landing on a Void Ship. But that would cause a "rip in time". Which ever you choose is your eternity," he said glumly.

"The problem is," he continued. "That the Oods are already there waiting for us."

"Docta', I know you can do this," she exclaimed grabbing his hand in putting it in hers. "You are such a' brave man, and you have been savin' yourself for a long time. You literally created miracles."

"Thank you Rose, that was very kind of you," he said with a smile.

She nodded in welcome.

As they waited to land on the Void Ship, Rose and The Doctor went back to their normal lives on the TARDIS.

Rose found herself bored, so she wandered to the Wardrobes.

She went up the spiral staircase to the older looking clothes.

She first found an old wrinkled suit. It was tan with a white undershirt. The odd thing about it was that there was a sprig of celery pinned to the front pocket, and it hadn't molded over. She laughed at it because she thought it was a little quirky to pin vegetables to clothes.

She continued down the line and found a black leather jacket, the jacket that belonged to the last one. Oh, how she missed him.

Next she found a rather fluffy jumper. It looked like Shakespeare would've worn it. Maybe he did. She pushed that thought from her mind and put the dead man's shirt back on the hanger.

She moved on.

Surprisingly, she found an overcoat that looked like The Doctor's, but in a deeper shade of brown. A fedora was laid above it, but inside she found a very soft, and very long, knitted scarf. She thought it was cute so she pulled it off of the hanger and swung it multiple times around her neck. She carefully walked to her bedroom, and flopped into her bed.

The scarf that was wrapped around her neck, carried her off into sleep, and also carried the distant memories of the past Doctor who had worn it.

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The Doctor, after he finished reading in his study, decided to check on Rose like he did every night.

She lay there with his old multicolored scarf, wrapped around her neck and arms, drooping down to the floor.

He went over to loosen it from her neck, so she wouldn't suffocate in her sleep, and also did not want it to be covered in drool. It was very sentimental to him. He kissed her forehead.

"I love you Docta'," she said as she rolled over. "Goodnight."

A grin now gently touched his lips as he turned around to leave.