Title: It starts with Barcelona
Pairing: Ten/Rose
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rate: T
Story: AU version of "Doomsday": Rose stayed with the Doctor and they set up their new beginning. There's something different in Rose, something that she still doesn't understand. The Doctor does though and he'll try to help her. This time, he'll allow himself to be selfish. Only this time, because she's the reason. She's the main reason that keeps him going.
A/N: Hello, guys. I've decided it's time to try something new and that's the reason I've started watching "Doctor Who". Then, I found myself falling in love with Ten... and then in Ten/Rose relationship. Because they are unique and special. So, I've decided to write my own post-version of "Doomsday". Enjoy and I hope you like it. :)
Chapter Fourteen: Get in the line, pt.2
In Rose's car, all three passengers were looking directly at the screen. A sidebar read, "BROOKLYN JUNCTION," and below it three choices reading "EXIT 1," "EXIT 2," and "EXIT 3."
"Try again." Cheen insisted.
Milo tapped "EXIT 1." At the bottom of the screen, a large red message beeps "JUNCTION CLOSED."
"Brooklyn Turnoff One closed." The electronic voice announced.
They've tried few more times, but no result. The rumbling noise sounded again, and they all looked around in panic.
"You're still calling that air vents?" Rose tilted her head.
"What else could it be?" Milo sighed.
"What the hell is that?" Cheen jumped on her seat when the sound echoed again.
"It's just – the hydraulics." Milo answered.
"Sounds like it's … alive." Rose muttered. She had met enough aliens until now to know when something's really wrong.
"It's all exhaust fumes out there. Nothing could breathe in that." Milo insisted.
"Calling Car Four Six Five Diamond Six. Repeat, calling Car Four Six Five Diamond Six." The electronic voice sounded.
Milo responded. "This is Car Four Six Five Diamond Six. Who's that? Where are you?"
"I'm in the fast lane, about fifty yards behind. Can you get back up? Can you getoff the fast lane?" A voice of another driver echoed into the car.
"We only have permission to go down. We – we need the Brooklyn Flyover." Milo responded again.
"It's closed. Go back up." The driver insisted.
"We can't. We'll just go round." Milo answered again.
"Don't you understand? They're closed. They're always closed." The other driver scoffed. Cheen clapped her hands over her mouth, in more distress than ever. She gasped. "We're stuck down here. And there's something else. Out there, in the fog. Can't you hear it?"
There was a definite shrill roar sounding outside now.
"That's the air vents." Milo coughed.
"Jehovah! What are you, some stupid kid? Get out of here!" The driver shouted. The car holding him and his passengers crashed even more painfully.
All could Rose, Milo and Cheen hear is screaming. Milo tried to contact again. "What was that?"
"I can't move! They've got us!" The driver yelled.
"But what's happening?" Milo shouted.
Rose grabbed the transmitter. "What's got you? What is it?"
There wasn't any reply. The other car began to collapse; sparks were flying everywhere. Rose couldn't do anything. She just watched.
"Just drive, you idiots! Get out of here! Get out!" The voice of the driver echoed once more.
"Just drive! Do what she said – get us out of here!" Rose yelled at Milo.
"But where?" Milo looked at her confused.
"Just straight ahead! And fast!" By the look of her face, Rose was ready to do that herself.
A businessman in pinstripes leaned against his steering wheel, staring out at the gridlock. Behind him, the Doctor jumped down. The businessman whirled to face him. " 'Scuse me, is that legal?"
"Sorry, Motorway Foot Patrol." He was still coughing. "Whatever. Have you got any water?"
"Certainly. Never let it be said I've lost my manners". The guy disappears behind a curtain and then appears with a glass of water. He handed it to the Doctor, who sipped it all immediately.
"Is this the last layer?" The Doctor asked.
"Ah, we're right at the bottom. Nothing below us but the fast lane." The Businessmen answered.
"Can we drive down?" The Doctor tilted his head.
"There's only two of us. You need three to go down."
"Couldn't we just cheat?" The Doctor looked really annoyed.
"Well, I'd love to, but it's an automated system. The wheel would lock."
"If you'll excuse me." The Doctor ran over to the door in the bottom of the car, using his sonic screwdriver to flip it open.
"You can't jump. It's a thousand feet down!" The guy shouted.
"No, I just want to look." He stared out into a thick, murky fog, dotted with tiny lights. Faintly, from the distance, came the same screeching roar that Rose had heard. "What's that noise? What are those lights? What's down there?" He coughed again, waving a hand in front of his face to sweep away the smoke. "I just need to see.' He ran up to the screen in the front of the car and pointed the sonic screwdriver at the display, desperately trying to think of something. "There must be some sort of ventilation. If I could just transmit a pulse through this thing, maybe I could trip the system, give us a bit of a breeze." The Doctor started playing with the wiring of the front console, helped by the sonic screwdriver. One of the wires snapped in his fingers. "That's it! Might shift the fumes a bit, give us a good look."
"What are those shapes?" Businessmen asked. As they spoke, huge snapping claws materialize in the fading smoke.
"They're alive." The Doctor answered.
"What the hell are they?" The businessmen stared at them.
The crab looking creatures stared at them. The lights were their eyes.
"Macra." The Doctor said slowly. "The Macra used to be the scourge of this galaxy. Gas. They fed off gas, the filthier the better. They built up a small empire using humans as slaves and mining gas for food."
"They don't exactly look like empire-builders to me." The businessman still stared at them.
"Well, that was billions of years ago. Billions. They must've devolved down the years and now they're just beasts. But they're still hungry and my friend's down there." The Doctor shrugged, but just then they heard a clank at the top of the businessman's car. They both looked up. Novice Hame's feet dangled down, and she dropped into the vehicle with them. The Doctor grinned. "I've invented a sport!"
"Doctor, you're a hard man to find." Novice Hame looked at him.
The businessman pointed at Novice Hame's gun in her hand. "No guns! I'm not having guns!"
"I only brought this in case of pirates. Doctor, you've got to come with me." Novice Hame explained.
"Do I know you?" He stared at her carefully.
"You haven't aged at all. Time has been less kind to me." She spoke softly.
"Novice Hame!" He embraced her, grinning. Then he pulled back. "No, hold on, get off. Last time we met, you were breeding humans for experimentation."
"I've sought forgiveness, Doctor, for so many years, under his guidance. And if you come with me, I might finally be able to redeem myself." Novice Hame insisted.
"I'm not going anywhere." He shook his head. "You've got Macra living underneath this city. Macra! And if my friend's still alive, she's stuck down there!"
"You've got to come with me right now!" Novice Hame scoffed.
"No, no, no, you're coming with me. We've got three passengers now." The Doctor answered instead.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. But the situation is even worse than you can imagine." She took his wrist, and pressed a button on the green-lit metal wristband she's wearing. "Transport."
"Don't you dare! Don't you dare!" The Doctor shouted, but it's too late. As he screamed, both of them vanished in a haze of white light as the businessman looked on in bewilderment.
They appeared in a large yet unkempt room — dusty, junk everywhere, with streams of sunlight flooding in irregularly. The Doctor and Novice Hame were picking themselves up off the floor.
"Oh! Rough teleport. Ow. But you can go straight back down and teleport people out, starting with Rose."
Novice Hameshook her head. "I only had the power for one trip."
"Then get some more! Where are we?" He looked around.
"High above, in the over-city." Novice Hame explained.
"Good! 'Cause you can tell the Senate of New New York I'd like a word. They've got thousands of people trapped on the motorway! Millions!" The Doctor shouted
"But you're inside the Senate, right now. May the goddess Santori bless them." Novice Hame muttered. They looked up, and sure enough, there were long rows of seats in a vast chamber. All of them contained skeletons. "They died, Doctor. The city died."
"How long's it been like this?" The Doctor lowered his voice.
"Twenty-four years." Novice Hame answered quietly. They walked towards a skeleton, lying on the ground, and the Doctor knelt next to it. His anger was forgotten — he was now profoundly disturbed. "All of them? Everyone? What happened?"
"A new chemical. A new mood. They called it Bliss." Novice Hame knelt next to him and reached down, picking up a small circular token just like the ones the vendors were selling when the Doctor and Rose first arrived. This one, however, read "BLISS." "Everyone tried it. They couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished — even the virus, in the end. It killed the world in seven minutes flat. There was just enough time to close down the walkways and the flyovers, sealing off the under-city. Those people on the motorway aren't lost, Doctor. They were saved." They're both stood up now, struck by the urgency of the situation.
"So the whole thing down there is running on automatic?" The Doctor muttered with disbelief.
"There's not enough power to get them out. We did all we could to stop the system from choking." Novice Hame answered.
The Doctor frowned. "Who's "we"? How did you survive?"
"He protected me. And he has waited for you, these long years." Novice Hame brightened.
Not far off, echoed a low, grumbling voice. "Doctor." It was the Face of Boe.
The Doctor turned and dashed over to the Face of Boe, kneeling in front of it as he did in the hospital where they last met. Novice Hame followed him.
"The Face of Boe!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"I knew you would come." The Face of Boe answered him.
"Back in the old days, I was made his nurse, as penance for my sins." Novice Hame explained.
"Old friend, what happened to you?" The Doctor lowered his voice.
"Failing." Was the answer.
"He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke. But with no one to maintain it, the City's power died. The under-city would have fallen into the sea." Novice Hame walked to them.
"So he saved them." The Doctor looked at her.
She nodded. "The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe. He's giving his life force just to keep things running."
"But there are planets out there. You could have called for help." The Doctor frowned.
"The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for one hundred years." Novice Hame tried to explain the situation as best as she could.
The Doctor looked back at the Face of Boe, concerned, and then got up. "So the two of you stayed here — on your own, for all these years."
"We had no choice." Novice Hame shrugged.
The Doctor reached out to her, touching her shoulder. "Yes, you did."
"Save them, Doctor. Save them." The Face of Boe's voice echoed.
Meanwhile, Rose was trying to think of a good escaping plan. She had sank into thoughts when Cheen asked her. "I never even asked. Where's home?"
"It's a long way away. I didn't really think. I just followed the Doctor." Rose smiled bitterly. "It looks so long ago right now. Anyway, I'm with him now and… we're together and… well." Rose blushed a bit.
"So, um, who is he, then? This Doctor?" Cheen had noticed the blush.
"He's… well… he's a Time Lord." Rose answered. "The last one and he's… he's a really good man. He saves lives and rescue planets and doesn't want anything in return. He can be our only hope now."
"But that means that … the only hope, right now is … a complete stranger."
Rose frowned. "You haven't seen the things he can do. Honestly, just trust me, both of you. You've got your faith, you've got your songs and your hymns. And I've got the Doctor and he's more than enough for me!"
"Right." Milo looked at her and then shook his head. He turned the car back on.
"Systems back on line." The electronic voice echoed and the lights come on again, and Milo gripped Cheen's hand briefly. "Good luck."
"And you." Rose nodded.
The crabs attacked them, and Car Four Six Five Diamond Six ducked and dodged through the little creatures. Rose felt a strange power possessing her body. Her hands were glowing softly now; so soft and yet with a power that could kill the creatures. However, for some unknown reason, she decided to trust the Doctor this time.
The Doctor was staring into a screen, specs now on. "Car Four Six Five Diamond Six — it still registers! That's Rose! I knew she was good. Novice Hame, hold that in place." He jumped back from the screen and handed her a piece of thick tubing. Once she's got it, he ran along its length, jumping over a box of lights and buttons. "Think, think, think. Take the residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity beds."
"There isn't enough power." Novice Hame answered.
The Doctor reached his destination: a far wall with two screens, lots of wiring, and even more buttons. "Ah, you've got power! You've got me! I'm brilliant with computers, just you watch." He turned around and pointed to her, yelling, getting more excited all the time. "Hame, every switch on that bank, up to maximum!" Rose's car continued its perilous journey, spinning around. The Doctor was rotating a knob in a console on the floor, aiming the sonic screwdriver at it as well. "I can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people." He banged his fist against the console and jumped up.
"So what are you going to do?" Novice Hame stared at him.
"This!" The Doctor flipped a two-metre-long switch on the floor, and all the lights on the consoles go out. "No, no no no no, no!" He shouted.
Endless claws scraped the screen of Rose's car. One finally catches them, and sparks flew into the cabin. Rose and Cheen screamed; Milo's just trying to keep his bearings. Another claw knocked against them and the car flew out, free again, zooming through into more Macra.
The Doctor, kneeling on the floor again, waved his sonic screwdriver at another set of controls. "The transformers are blocked. The signal can't get through."
"Doctor …" The Face of Boe whispered.
"Yeah, hold on, not now." The Doctor muttered.
"I give you my last …" The Face of Boe let out a long, rasping breath and every console switched back on. Everything was working. Everything was powered. The Doctor leaped up again, suddenly illuminated.
"Hame, look after him! Don't you go dying on me, you big old face. You've got to see this." The Doctor shouted. He flicked the huge switch again. Novice Hame was busy turning a wheel next to the Face of Boe. "The open road. Hah!"
A gap was forming at the top of the gridlock — above the lanes and lanes of cars, doors to the over-city are opening. Each crashing sound signifies another barrier falling away until all the doors were opened. The cars were no longer trapped.
The Doctor took the transmitter and spoke instead of the electronic voice everybody were hearing until now. "Sorry, no Sally Calypso, she was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor. And this is an order. Everyone drive up. Right now." The Doctor grinned. "I've opened the roof of the motorway. Come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you, the whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast! We've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up and get out of the way."
All of the cars soared up to the opening, heading for the open sunlight as fast as they could. The screen in Rose's car was getting the Doctor, too.
"Oy! Car Four Six Five Diamond Six! Rose! Drive up!" He grinned again.
"That's the Doctor!" Rose reached out and touched the screen, chuckling.
"We can't go up! We'll hit the layer!" Milo protested.
"Just do as he says! Go up!" Rose scoffed. She looked at her hands. The skin there looked normal. There wasn't any glowing now. She let out a sigh of relief.
"You've got access above! Now go!" The Doctor said meanwhile.
The car swung free of the last of the snapping claws and burst up out of the fog, heading for the opening like everybody else. Cheen, Rose, and Milo gazed up, the sunlight hitting their faces. Rose was smiling.
"It's daylight! Oh my God. That's the sky, the real sky!" Cheen laughed.
"He did it! Rose said quietly then she screamed with laughter, claps, and gave Cheen a hug. "I told you, he did it!"
The Doctor, holding a microphone, was watching the proceedings from a viewscreen in the Senate room. Novice Hame continueed to twirl a wheel next to the Face of Boe.
"You keep driving, Brannigan, all the way up! 'Cause it's here, just waiting for you." The Doctor was saying meanwhile. He danced over to a window to look out at the over-city. "The city of New New York. And it's yours."
It's truly gorgeous — everywhere, cars were rising out of the under-city and flying around abandoned skyscrapers. Almost like the time he and Rose had arrived here for the first time. Of course, now the city needed rebuilding, but the Doctor was sure it could go back to its former glory.
"And don't forget — I want that coat back." The Doctor chuckled.
"I reckon that's a fair bargain, sir." Brannigan answered him over the transmitter.
"And Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, I've sent you a flight path. Come to the Senate." The Doctor stared at the window.
"On my way!" Rose's voice echoed over the transmitter and the Doctor grinned.
"It's been a while since I saw you, Rose Tyler."
"Doctor!" Novice Hame shouted, leaning desperately over the Face of Boe, as the case that encloses him began to crack. The Doctor looked to them, his face falling.
Rose leaped happily into the Senate room, but it was a bit subdued by the skeleton lying on the floor in front of her. "Doctor?" She called him.
"Over here." He called her.
"Doctor!" She chuckled when she saw him standing in front of her. His arms wrapped around her tightly and they both stood like that for a moment. Then Rose pulled back. "What happened out there?" They knelt along Novice Hame, in front of the dying Face of Boe. She frowned. "Oh no! Is it…"
"It's the Face of Boe. It's all right. Come and say hello. And this is Hame. She's a cat, remember her?" The Doctor held Rose's hand through entire time. She looked at Novice Hame and nodded instead of hello. "He's the one that saved you, not me." The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand.
"My lord gave his life to save the city." Novice Hame added. "And now he's dying."
"No, don't say that. Not old Boe. Plenty of life left." The Doctor shook his head.
"It's good to breathe the air once more." The Face of Boe said.
"I wish I know more about him." Rose said quietly. "Do you know him better, Doctor? How old is he?"
"I don't even know." The Doctor answered. "Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now."
"Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most." The Face of Boe said again.
"The legend says more." Novice Hame said quietly.
"Don't. There's no need for that." The Doctor tried to stop her.
"It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller." Novice Hame continued.
"Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?" The Doctor shook his head.
"I have seen so much. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind — as you are the last of yours, Doctor." The Face of Boe looked at the Doctor.
The Doctor was absolutely desperate now. He did not want this at all. It was hitting him probably much harder than the death of this entire planet did. "That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go."
"I must. But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone." The Face of Boe uttered
Though before it seemed as though the Doctor would weep, now he was astounded. He stared, uncomprehending, as the Face of Boe's eyes close for the last time. Rose leaned her head on the Doctor's shoulder, trying to support him. She was full of respect, and Novice Hame began to sob. Rose was the first to stand, and the Doctor got up after a moment to put an arm around her shoulders.
Back in the alley where Rose and the Doctor first met the pharmacists, the two travellers sauntered through again. It was deserted.
"All closed down." The Doctor looked around.
"Happy?" Rose furrowed her brow.
"Happy happy." He hummed. Rose laughed softly and the Doctor inspected one of the empty booths. "New New York can start again. And they've got Novice Hame. Just what every city needs — cats in charge! Come on, time we were off."
They walked to the TARDIS when Rose asked. "But what did he mean, the Face of Boe? "You're not alone.""
"I don't know." The Doctor shrugged and let Rose come in. She then turned around and looked at him.
"Do you think he meant me?" She trailed off. "I mean… what I've become?"
"I… I don't know." He sat on the seat near the console, scratching the back of his neck. "Maybe? I don't know."
"Well," Rose licked her lips and sat close to him. "Maybe you're not alone after all." She rested her head on his shoulder. Maybe you're not the last of your kind after all."
"It really doesn't matter." The Doctor sighed, wrapping his arm around Rose.
They could hear behind the walls of TARDIS, the sound of music was rising. It was the new New New York citizens, singing another hymn. Rose smiled softly, closing her eyes. "The city is singing." She pauses and then whispers. "I just wish you could talk to me sometimes. Tell me what's wrong now?"
"I could pretend." The Doctor finally spoke. "Just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky." Rose could feel the sadness in his voice, but keeps listening. One of her hands lay on his thigh when he continued. "I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else. The war… The Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song…"
Rose just kept listening to his voice and his words. Her heart full of love for him and wishing she could help him somehow. "I love you." She said all of a sudden and he stopped when she looked up to see his face. "Just…" She kissed him. "Just… wanted to say it." A small smile came to his face and then he pressed his lips to her in return. Rose sighed smiled as well. Her Time Lord.