Chapter Eleven

She kissed back instinctually. He cupped the back of her head, and pulled her closer to him. Ignoring the pain in her chest—really, what was that?—she wrapped and arm across his neck, and ran her other hand through his hair. Finally, they broke apart. "What was that for?" she asked, grinning.

"I love you," he blurted, as if the words had been building up inside of him, and had finally broken free.

She smiled so hard that her face began to ache. "I love you too." They sat, grinning at each other, until rose was sure that they both looked like idiots. "Would you mind explaining what I'm doing on the floor of the TARDIS?" she finally asked. Her head was clearing, and the oddness of the situation struck her.

The Doctor's face darkened. "Do you remember anything?"

Rose thought for a second. "Well, I was at the barricade, and Jack sent me up here to talk to you, and when I got here, I saw Richard… Oh my god! He shot me!" Her hand flew to her chest. "I died." The Doctor nodded solemnly. "But that's not it. I had a dream. There was a woman, and the Face of Boe. They said that I wasn't dead yet. You could still bring me back. And you did."

"I'd do a lot more for you. But we should go now. I still need to finish working, and we should probably tell people that you're not actually dead," said the Doctor. He offered Rose a hand up. She took it eagerly, and winced as he pulled her up. "Are you okay?" He asked. "If you need sleep, you can just stay in the TARDIS. Oh! I should probably check everything out in the Med Bay, why didn't I think if that sooner?" He continued on, listing all of Rose's options.

"Doctor," she said calmly. "I'm fine, really. Just a bit sore. We should go."

He sighed. "Fine, but I'm serious about that trip to the Med Bay. As soon as all of this is done, I'm making sure that you're really okay."

Rose agreed, and he shrugged his suit coat on, and led her out of the TARDIS. The past Doctor stared at the wiring of the device in the center of the room, his face expressionless. "He got away," he spat as he heard the TARDIS doors shut. "That," he said a word that Rose could only assume was something incredibly offensive in Gallifreyan "got away from us. Managed to weasel his way out of my hands, and ran right at a Dalek. Died instantly. Lynda's gone too. Went the same way, but she did nothing wrong. Nothing." Rose was shocked by how angry he sounded. Usually, he only used that tone when talking about Daleks, and that was only in extreme cases.

Her Doctor cleared his throat. The man on the floor looked up. His mouth opened, and closed, and opened again. That was one of the first times that Rose had seen this incarnation speechless.

"But… How?" he finally managed to stammer.

Her Doctor looked down and pulled on his earlobe nervously. "Spoilers," he finally said.

The other Doctor looked annoyed, but didn't question him further. "Well," he said gruffly. "We should probably get work." He directed the couple to various pieces of equipment, and explained how to connect them. The task was becoming increasingly more difficult, and Rose knew the past Doctor was considerably more anxious than her. After all, he thought that he was creating a device that would wipe out all life on Earth. The silence could not be helping either.

Shyly, Rose started telling the story of one of the ill-fated science projects that she had attempted as a child. The two men seemed surprised at first, but they warmed up to the conversation quickly, laughing and contributing advice that she only understood half of. In the other dimension, she had read books and taken extra courses in physics and chemistry, but nothing could prepare her for conversations with the Doctor.

When they were almost done, Martha ran into the room, supporting a tired looking future Jack. They both wore dark expressions, though Rose couldn't tell if it was from all the death that they had witnessed (and experienced, in Jack's case) or her previous fate. Probably a combination of the two.

When they caught sight of her, however, their faces changed. Martha was clearly awed, and jack sprang forward with a smile. "Rose!" he cried. She jumped up to hug him. "Did the Doctor preform some sort of miracle, or am I not the only one who has trouble dying anymore?"

"Both," Rose smiled back, though her grin began to fade quickly. "How much time do we have before they get here?"

"Only a few minutes," Martha answered. "Are you almost done?"

Both Doctors nodded. "Just need to connect this," the past incarnation said slowly. Suddenly, the machine whirred to life. He turned to the remaining four. "You should go now."

"We're not going to leave you here, like this," Rose protested. Martha and Jack nodded in agreement.

"We've got to, Rose," the other Doctor insisted. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous." Ignoring the glares, he headed back towards the TARDIS. She sighed loudly, knowing that arguing with him at a time like this was pointless, gave her first Doctor one final hug, then ran to rejoin her group.

Martha had already joined the Doctor inside, but Jack was waiting for her. They gave their old friend a wave and salute, respectively, and entered the box as the engines began to start.