Doctor 10.5 and Rose find a rift in the universe and time is about to collapse. What happens when they travel back to their own universe, only to bump into a new Doctor and the Ponds? I don't own DW. If I did, Donna would still be around. I do, however, have the Doctor Who theme (series 1-2) as my ring tone, so I feel ridiculously cool whenever I get a call.
I'm The Doctor
The Doctor stared back at the Valeyard, anger searing through his veins. He couldn't be angry, though. The more negativity radiated from him, the more powerful the Valeyard would get. And the stupid smirk on the Dream Lord's face would widen. He knew how it worked. It happened before, and he had been naive to not think it may happen again. No, he had to get a grip on himself. He looked to Rose, whose chin was quivering as she tried to fight back tears. She leaned into John, depending on him for strength. Not him. Never him. He remembered a time when they were together. When she loved him unconditionally. He knew Donna had spotted his little diary, once again. Drawings, dreams of the life they could have had. Could've, would've, should've. It's all gone now. It had been gone. Rose didn't belong with him.
Donna looked at him, and as if reading his mind, squeezed his hand in reassurance. She nodded slightly, letting him know that she was always there. That he always had a friend. That he was loved.
As much as he longed for her, longed for her touch, for her words of comfort, for her lips on his, she was gone. He was reluctant to regenerate. As much as he loved continuing his adventures, and he'd gotten used to this body, part of him loathed it. It wasn't the form she recognised. It was the form that had never held her. Never taken her hand and run for the hills. Never made a joke she had laughed at. Yes, she hugged him when her and John appeared in front of the TARDIS, but it was all too brief. It wasn't a hug between two people who loved each other, but two friends. And that might just be enough.
He had seen the ring on her finger. The complete adoration she looked at John with. And he slowly began to acknowledge it was for the best. He could never give her the life she deserved. But John could offer her the best of both worlds. He is the Doctor, after all, just in human form. They could do domestic, while still traveling amongst the stars. They were perfect for one another.
There was no need for the Doctor to carry around this angst with him any longer. The saying was that if you love someone, set them free. The first time, she was stolen from him. The second time he left her with John. This time, once they had survived, he'll let her go. She would be free to go on living her life, happily. She deserved a happy life with John, with children and later grandchildren. He would always love Rose Tyler, but he could let her go now. He can move on. He smiled a little, feeling lighter. Donna grinned, once again the rock that he depended on.
"Wipe that grin off your face, human," the Valeyard drawled.
Jack growled and lobbed a shot at the Valeyard, who dodged, laughing. He sent another beam to the Dream Lord, who was stunned temporarily. The Valeyard rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" the Doctor asked.
"Our dear friend here," he gestured to the Dream Lord "needed a helping hand. Since things didn't go his way, he decided to help me reclaim Gallifrey."
"That's in violation of the Shadow Proclamation," John gritted his teeth.
"And who are you?" the Valeyard asked.
"I'm the Doctor," John replied seriously. The Doctor grinned slightly. Two Doctors were always better than one. River winked at the Doctor, as if thinking the exact same thing.
The Valeyard's smug expression fell before being replaced by a steely glare. Fine, he could destroy them both then and there. His gaze travelled to the blonde, who was clinging onto the Doctor for dear life. He snorted. Yes, them holding hands was such a show of solidarity. Dumb gits.
Donna looked between them, and broke free of the hand-holding circle. She took the Doctor's and Rose's hands and clasped them together. Rose looked up at the Doctor with a shy smile, and he grinned back like an idiot. Donna looked immensely proud of herself. She moved to Jack, who stealthily handed her a gun. She snuck around to the TARDIS. She sneakily moved around, behind the Valeyard. If he tried anything funny, he'd have a gun wielded by Donna Noble at the back of his head.
"Oh, for crying out loud! How tedious you all are," the Valeyard grumbled. He wanted to finish this as soon as possible.
"You were dead. Gone, how'd you come back?" the Doctor began to interrogate him. The more time that he could buy, the better. He was working out a way to defeat him. He knew he could blast the TARDIS at him, but it was already rundown.
He didn't notice that the group had dissipated. Martha and Mickey held their lasers steady, looking to Jack for the signal. Amy and Rory had tied up the Dream Lord's hands with Amy's ridiculously long scarf. River had whipped out her little laser, aiming it at the Dream Lord's head. Rose took the laser from River, motioning for her to go back to the TARDIS. She knew how to pilot it, thus it was her job to get it up and running again. John held his slightly-malfunctioning sonic in his hand, scanning the TARDIS. That left the Doctor to decide how he wanted to proceed.
"You didn't want to leave," the Valeyard said simply.
"What?" the Doctor's eyes narrowed.
"So full of anger, you were. Going to say goodbye to your loved ones. To her," he glanced at Rose, "so relunctant to change."
The gears in the Doctor's brain began working. He should have realised. His relunctance to regenerate from his tenth self into this re-created the negative feelings. He tried so hard to extend his time, and the Valeyard was the result. The cracks had been the Valeyard, his way of retalliation. The the Dream Lord had gone along with it, wanting a way back to Rose. The Doctor had been looking for a way back to Rose, but he didn't want the universe to be destroyed. He had just wanted to see her again. No, this had gone too far. Too long. It should have been stopped when he had the chance. He shouldn't have been so depressed about changing. He knew it was part of his nature as a Time Lord. Now he could accept it, and move on. He would say goodbye to Rose Tyler, but first, he had to destroy all the evil within him, manifested in the Valeyard and Dream Lord. He would weaken the Valeyard from within, by merely daring to be happy.
"I accept my fate," the Doctor said quietly, "I know I change. I accept it. I am the Doctor. I'm over 900 years old. I travel alone, but know I have my friends waiting for me."
The Valeyard appeared shocked. He felt weak, like a Dalek had just exterminated him. He stared back at the Doctor, recognising the determined look in his eyes. Companions came and went. The Doctor loved them all. He was used to it, now. Rose had a life of her own, and she was free to live it. All the Doctor had to look forward to were more fantastic adventures with Rory and Amy, and later still unknown companions. The song would go on.
"You hold no power over me," he roared, "I hold it over you!"
With that, he looked to Jack, nodding. Jack smirked, motioning to Martha and Mickey to take aim.
"Are you sure you want to sully the hands of your companions with even more blood? Taking humans and turning them into warriors for you, as usual," the Valeyard spat, echoing the words of Davros.
The Doctor glared at the Valeyard. Jack took aim, nodding the Mickey and Martha. He and the Jones-Smiths lobbed their lasers at the Valeyard.
"No!" the Valeyard shouted as the beams of light came flying at him, "You'll never be rid of me! I can always come back!"
The lasers hit him, making him disappear into dust. Donna stood at the pile of ashes, eyes wide with relief. The Dream Lord looked panicked as Rory gave him a punch, "That's for calling me stupid."
Amy looked at him, and he shrugged. He needed to get that out of his system. Jack aimed his gun at the Dream Lord, destroying him once and for all.
The Doctor slumped to the ground, emotionally drained. He had more blood on his hands, yet he felt lighter. John kneeled down next to him, offering his hand to help him up. After slight hesitation, the Doctor took Jonh's hand, standing. The two Doctors stared at one another a long while. The Doctor studied his old face while John looked at what he would've looked like. John cracked one of his grins and hugged the Doctor. The Doctor smiled softly, clapping John on the back. It felt odd to be hugging himself, but right. Rose rushed up to them, smiling. She watched as they separated from the hug. She gave the Doctor a hug, holding him tightly. He relished the feeling of holding her one last time. She pulled back and kissed him on the cheek. It was enough. He released her from the hold, and she lunged at John, kissing him soundly. The Doctor didn't feel pain in his hearts, but complete and utter joy. He had bestowed that happiness to them, and for that he felt proud of himself.
"Thank you," John mouthed as Rose hugged him.
The Doctor nodded, happy that the whole ordeal was over. River came out of the TARDIS.
"It's up and running, and, even better, the console shows that the rift's been closed!" River beamed, "the destruction of the Valeyard got rid of the rift."
Donna dropped the gun and rushed over to the Doctor, hugging him.
"That was brilliant!" she enthused.
"Thank you, Donna," the Doctor said, referring to her never wavering support.
"Call me Donna Noble: Supertemp!" she grinned. She looked around to see Martha and Jack in the midst of a hug and bristled, saying she'd be right back.
"Oi! Jack," she nudged Martha out of the way, hugging a frightened looking Jack. He was used to hitting on others, not being hit on. Rory laughed at his predicament, glad Jack wasn't attempting to flirt with him.
Amy nudged him, "Stop your laughing." She kissed her husband, enjoying the smile that crossed his features.
Martha and Mickey were in the midst of an embrace, grinning madly at each other. Rose and John took turns hugging them.
"Rose, we're gonna miss you," Mickey told her.
"We're working on a way to get through without destroying the universe," Rose confided, "our only trouble is that we're a few years ahead of you lot."
"Brilliant, the two of you," he shook his head.
After everyone had congratulated one another on a job well done, Rose looked at John. "So this is Gallifrey?"
"Yep," he said solemnly.
"I'm glad I got to see it," Rose said, taking his hand.
"Let's get goin' then," Jack shouted.
The Doctor stepped towards John, looking out at their lost planet one last time.
"Goodbye, Gallifrey," John said quietly, tears threatening to fall.
The Doctor gulped, clapping John on the shoulder, "So long."
"Time to go, I s'pose. Allons-y," John whispered, looking at the orange sky.
The Doctor followed his gaze, nodding solemnly. He would never again be back. And that, now that, was hearwrenching. The two of them understood each other so well, which was to be expected. After all, they were nearly the same person. The Doctor accepted facts, accepted life. If he couldn't be happy with Rose, then at least he could be happy with the knowledge that John was happy with Rose. He looked to the TARDIS and had hope. The TARDIS was truly home.
"Allons-y," the Doctor said so quietly only John could hear. The latter smiled broadly, clapping the Doctor on the back as they moved towards the TARDIS, joining their friends.
It was time to go home.
Doctor/John friendship, anyone? And Donna Noble: Supertemp would be an awesome spin-off.
One chapter left! It's coming to an end. Please review.
I'm already a few drafts and chapters into a story revolving around John and Rose before this whole thing. A prequel, if you will. I plan to post it as soon as this one's done. I also have a sequel concerning Donna's daughter finding her way to the TARDIS unintentionally.
SPOILERS
SERIES 6 started off with a bang! I thought it was really brilliant, though I was left with a sinking feeling about poor Rory before I saw the preview for the next epsiode. River was quite amusing, but the Doctor shouldn't call her Mrs Robinson, seeing as though he's about 900, and she's nowhere near that. Enjoyed the joke, nonetheless. I now really want to know who the astronaut was. SPOILERS: I think it was River, also known as Amy's daughter, though I could've sworn she was Romana. I dunno, but River did say that the last time she meets the Doctor, he doesn't know her at all (Silence in the Library). Me thinks dear Moffat has been planning this since series 4. (hence Silence in the Library, and now the Silents).
I liked the little tribute for Elisabeth Sladen. I actually cried when I found out dear Sarah Jane was gone. The last time I cried for an actor was Heath Ledger. :(