A/N: I am so terribly sorry about the wait! Life's been a bit crazy and on top of that I was working on getting my other story, Forgetting Forever, wrapped up. Thank you so much though to my faithful followers, to everyone who has favourited this story, and to all you lovely readers who continue to leave the most encouraging reviews. I sincerely adore every single one of you. I hope you all like this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related. That all goes to the BBC. *Some lines below are borrowed from the episodes Journey's End and The Wedding of River Song. Credit for those lines belong to their respective writers.*
Every being in the Vault watched in rapt attention as the TARDIS became a solid image before them.
"But that's," the Doctor started.
"Impossible," Davros finished.
The front doors to the TARDIS swung open, and with it poured out a gold mist. When the shining vapor dissipated, it revealed Donna Noble, standing at attention with a large gun type contraption in her hands. She wasted no time as she raced forward, weapon drawn.
"Donna, no!" Rose warned with a shout, but was too late. Davros, seeing what the ginger woman intended to do, raised his hand and sent a bolt of energy her way, flinging her backwards.
The Doctor's eyes widened in concern. "Donna! Donna! Are you all right, Donna?"
"Destroy the weapon," Davros commanded a Dalek. It obeyed and shot the gizmo. Turning towards the Time Lord, he continued, "I was wrong about your warriors, Doctor. They are pathetic."
Jenny frowned at his words and looked to her father for guidance. "Dad, how did Donna come back? And what was that gun she had?"
"Never mind that now. We've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb," he said breathlessly.
Rose's head whipped towards him, her eyes glowing suspiciously gold. "There's always a way."
The Doctor could only shake his head. There was no point in arguing with her. Not now. Because as far as he could see it, they were doomed. Every single one of them. And there was not a damn thing he could do about it. How Donna possibly saved the TARDIS and flew Her back to the Crucible, he had no idea, and he wasn't likely to ever find out. None of that mattered now though. He was going to lose them all. His dear and old friend Sarah Jane, the flirtatious Captain Jack, Rose's mother and best friend, the brilliant Doctor Martha Jones, his daughter Jenny, and his beloved Rose. They, along with every person on the planet Earth, were about to die and it would be his fault.
The Daleks began their detonation countdown as Davros cackled, "Stand witness, Time Lord. Stand witness, humans. Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and, oh, the end of the universe has come."
Everyone watched with nervous energy as the Dalek's countdown came closer to an end., everyone but Rose. She kept her eyes closed tightly, her lips barely moving with unheard words. The Doctor made to reach out to her, but remembered the holding cell he was contained in at the last minute.
It was almost over now. The Daleks were near the end of the countdown. "Three, two, one-" Suddenly the screen before them shut down and an alarm started blaring.
Donna popped up behind the control panel she had been thrown against, saying, "Mmm, closing all Z-neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop. That button there!"
"Donna, you can't even change a plug!" the Doctor gaped.
"Do you want to bet, Time Boy?"
"You'll suffer for this," Davros threatened, raising his hand towards her. Donna smugly lifted a lever, causing the an electrical zap to travel up his arm. "Ahhh!" he screamed in pain.
She made a face at him. "Ohhh, bio-electric dampening field with a retrograde field arc inversion."
"Exterminate her!"
"Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate," the Daleks chanted, but were unsuccessful in their efforts as Donna worked more controls on the panel. "Weapons non-functional."
Donna smirked and sounded exactly like the Doctor as she made a mocking noise. "Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix."
The Doctor observed her in utter disbelief. "How did you work that out? You're-"
"Time Lord," Rose finished with a small chuckle, her eyes still glowing faintly. "Oh my god! She's part Time Lord!"
"Part human," the ginger added. "Oh, yes! There was a bit of a biological metacrisis back there on the TARDIS. Half Doctor, half Donna."
"The Doctor Donna," the full Time Lord recalled. "Just like the Ood said, remember? They saw it coming. The Doctor Donna."
Donna worked a few more controls and suddenly the beams of light sealing them in disappeared. "Holding cells deactivated. And seal the Vault. Well, don't just stand there, Spaceman! Let's get to work. Come on, Jenny. Come help your old Dad and Auntie Donna!"
"Stop them!" Davros ordered. "Get them away from the controls!"
As the Daleks come towards them Donna flipped a switched and spun a dial, causing the Daleks to begin spinning uncontrollably. "And spin."
"Help me! Help me!" the creatures pleaded.
"And the other way," she said, spinning the dial in the opposite direction causing the Daleks to do the same.
Rose began laughing with the others at the sight. "Oh my god! This is madness!"
"What are you doing to them?" Jenny asked.
"Trip switch circuit-breaker in the psychokinetic threshold manipulator!" Donna answered.
"Wicked!"
The Doctor frowned slightly. "Why did I never think of that?"
"Because you're just a Time Lord, you dumbo, lacking that little bit of human. That gut instinct that comes hand in hand with Planet Earth. I can think of ideas you couldn't dream of in a million years. Ah, the universe has been waiting for me. Now, let's send that trip switch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you," Donna wiggled her fingers, "best temp in Chiswick? Hundred words per minute."
Jenny giggled. "I don't even know what that means, but I am so excited to find out!"
As the Daleks began scrambling, Donna continued, "Come on then! We've got twenty seven planets to send home. Activate magnetron."
"Stop this at once!" Davros commanded as he began to move towards the three working at the control panel. "You will desist!"
Jack raced inside the TARDIS and pulled out to large guns. When he came back out he called, "Mickey!" tossing one of the guns towards the other man.
Catching it deftly, Mickey raised his weapon towards Davros. "Just stay where you are, mister."
"Out of the way," Captain Jack cried, kicking a Dalek that had spun towards him.
Rose beamed in delight as everyone began working together to save the day. Seeing a Dalek moving towards Sarah Jane, Rose rushed forward and helped the older woman push it away.
"Good to see you again," Sarah Jane said happily.
"You too!" Rose smiled before turning towards the one person she had been waiting to see. "Mum!"
Jackie Tyler stood before her, seemingly in shock. "Rose? I thought... I thought you were..."
"Shhh." Rose stepped forward and gave her mother a quick hug. "I promise to explain later. Let's get through this then we'll have a proper reunion on the TARDIS, yeah?"
"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" she said with a small eye roll.
Her daughter laughed. "Oh, I've missed you!" she told her before stepping away and going to help Martha with another Dalek.
As the others sorted the Daleks, Donna, Jenny, and the Doctor had readied the controls to send every planet back to it's rightful place. "Ready?" Donna questioned before pulling out a pair of rods, the Doctor and Jenny each doing the same. "And reverse!"
"Off you go, Clom," the full Time Lord announced.
Jenny grinned brightly. "Back home for someplace called Adipose Three."
Donna joined in, saying, "Shallacatop, Pyrovillia and the Lost Moon of Poosh. Sorted. Ha!"
"We need more power," the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. As they continued working, the others slowly began gathering around them.
"Yeah, could someone fill me in on what's going on?" Captain Jack requested.
Donna smiled with a twinkle in her eye. "Earlier the Doctor was shot by a Dalek and began to regenerate. Rose sucked out all that regeneration energy and poured it into his," she pointed to the Doctor, "spare hand. I touched the hand, and ended up having a little convo with an entity called Bad Wolf-"
"What!?" the Doctor screeched.
She sighed heavily. "Later, let me finish! Meanwhile, that extra energy fed back into me, but it just stayed dormant in my head till the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros! Part human, part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind."
The Doctor was still focused on one thing. "Sorry, could we go back to that whole 'had a conversation with Bad Wolf' thing?"
Rose stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Let's not worry about that right now. We've got more important things to worry about. We can circle back to that once we're finished here."
"So there's two of you?" Sarah Jane questioned.
"Two Doctors?" Jack smirked. "I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now."
Rose leaned in and whispered, "Tell me later?"
"Oh, you betcha," he replied.
"So what do you think?" Donna asked the Doctor.
He shook his head. "You're so unique the timelines were converging on you. Human being with a Time Lord brain."
"But you promised me, Dalek Caan," Davros injected. "Why did you not foresee this?"
"Oh, I think he did. Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages, getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time," the Doctor pointed out.
"This would always have happened. I only helped, Doctor," Caan added in a sing-song voice.
Davros burned with fury. "You betrayed the Daleks."
"I saw the Daleks," the mad creature corrected. "What we have done, throughout time and space, I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed, no more!"
Rose's eyes burned gold as she repeated Dalek Caan's statement. "No more."
The Doctor's breath quickened. "Rose-" he started to say, but was cut off by more Daleks rushing into the Vault.
"Heads up," Jack warned.
The red Dalek took the lead. "Davros, you have betrayed us."
"It was Dalek Caan," their creator blamed.
"The Vault will be purged. You will all be exterminated." The red Dalek zapped the control panel, but was stopped from doing more damage by Jack Harkness.
"Like I was saying, feel this!" he shouted as he shot the Dalek, causing it to explode.
The Doctor stared at the control panel. "Oh, we've lost the magnetron. And there's only one planet left. Oh, guess which one. But we can use the TARDIS!" he shouted, racing towards his blue box. "Jenny!"
"On it," she replied. "Holding Earth stability. Maintaining atmospheric shell."
"The prophecy must complete," Dalek Caan stated clearly for the Vault to hear.
"Don't listen to him," Davros said, frightened of what it meant.
"I have seen the end of everything Dalek, and it must happen. The Abomination or the Doctor, who shall it be?" Caan taunted.
Rose gasped as various timelines began racing through her head. Her eyes shone brighter than ever before as she took a steadying breath. "He's right. Because with or without a Reality bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos. They've got to be stopped."
"Rose, what's happening to you?" Jackie asked, trying to step towards her daughter.
Donna put her arm out towards the older blonde in warning. Turning to her old friend, she said, "Rose, why don't you wait for the Doctor."
"No. No more," she stated firmly, her voice taking on an ethereal tone. "I am the Moment. This is what I was created for." She raised her hands and said, "Maximising Dalekanium power feeds and blasting them back!"
One by one the Daleks all began to explode not only on the Crucible, but everywhere in the Medusa Cascade. Hearing the commotion, the Doctor raced out of the TARDIS only to find Rose in all her Bad Wolf glory. "What have you done?!"
She turned to him, her eyes, still gold, glistening with unshed tears. "I see everything, my Doctor, and the prophecy had to be fulfilled."
Slowly the Bad Wolf energy receded and left Rose looking around the Vault with a dazed expression. "What just...?"
The Doctor leaned forward and tucked a strand of hair behind his beloved's ear. "Oh, Rose," he said sadly. "Do you know what you've done? Well, no time for that now. We need to get in the TARDIS. Everyone! All of you, inside! Run!" he began shouting to their friends and family. "In! In! In! In! Martha! Sarah Jane! Rose! Jenny! Jackie! Jack! Mickey!" As the explosions began destroying the Vault, the Doctor paused in the TARDIS doorway and held out his hand to his old enemy. "Davros? Come with me. I promise I can save you."
Davros shook his head. "Never forget, Doctor, you and your Abomination did this. I name you both. Forever, you are the Destroyers of the Worlds!" His final scream turned into a gurgle as a wall of flames overtook him.
The Doctor paused for only a second before closing the door. There would be time to dwell and mourn later. But not now. Now he had a TARDIS full of people he loved and cared about, and with their help, he would save the Earth. "And off we go!" he shouted The TARDIS dematerialised just as the Crucible exploded.
The time ship gave a mighty shake as Sarah Jane reminded them of the task still at hand. "But what about the Earth? It's stuck in the wrong part of space."
"I'm on it," the Doctor told her, flipping on the monitor. "Torchwood Hub, this is the Doctor. Are you receiving me?"
"Loud and clear," a woman with dark hair and a strong Welsh accent said appearing on screen. "Is Jack there?"
"Can't get rid of him. Jack, what's her name?"
"Gwen Cooper," the Captain chimed in.
The Doctor turned back to the monitor. "Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?"
"Yes, all the way back to the eighteen hundreds," she answered, looking at him suspiciously.
He grinned brightly at Rose. "Ah, thought so. Spatial genetic multiplicity!"
"Oh, yeah!" she giggled. "Our first trip to Cardiff."
"Yeah, it's a funny old world. Now, Torchwood, I want you to open up that Rift Manipulator. Send all the power to me."
Another man appeared next to Gwen. "Doing it now, sir."
Donna moved to stand next to the Doctor. "What's that for?"
"It's a tow rope," he replied quickly. "Now then. Sarah, what was your son's name?"
"Luke!" she supplied. "He's called Luke. And the computer's called Mister Smith."
"Calling Luke and Mister Smith. This is the Doctor. Come on, Luke. Shake a leg!"
A young teenage boy appeared on screen. "Is Mum there?" he asked worriedly.
"Oh, she's fine and dandy," he told him enthusiastically as Sarah Jane cheered in the background, happy to hear her son still alive. "Now, Mister Smith, I want you to harness the Rift power and loop it around the TARDIS. You got that?"
"I regret I will need remote access to TARDIS base code numerals," the computer voice responded.
"Oh, blimey, that's going to take a while."
Sarah Jane rushed forward. "No, no, no! Let me. K9, out you come!"
The metal dog beamed in next to Luke saying, "Affirmative, Mistress."
"Oh! Oh ho! Oh, good dog!" the Time Lord cooed. "K9, give Mister Smith the base code."
"Master. TARDIS base code now being transferred. The process is simple."
Mickey hooted with laughter. "Look at the Tin Dog saving the day!"
The Doctor winked and began moving Sarah Jane back to where she had been before. "Now then, you lot. Sarah, hold that down. Mickey, you hold that. Because you know why this TARDIS always is always rattling about the place? Rose? That, there. It's designed to have six pilots, and I have to do it single handed. Mind you, Rose is learning, but still. Martha, keep that level. Jenny, watch that. Not any more! Jack, there you go. Steady that. Now we can fly this thing." He paused in front of a certain blonde and shook his head. "No, Jackie. No, no. Not you. Don't touch anything. Just stand back. Like it's meant to be flown. We've got the Torchwood Rift looped around the TARDIS by Mister Smith, and we're going to fly Planet Earth back home. Right then. Off we go!"
Though the TARDIS was flying smoothly with Her multiple pilots, there was still a strain as She towed the Earth back to it's rightful spot. It was a strain Rose could feel deep in her mind. This was no easy task for the TARDIS, but for once, Rose did not mind the discomfort. It was amazing to see everyone she loved and cared about working together, each with their appointed tasks, except her mum of course. But even without a job, she could see Jackie's eyes glistening with pride.
Through all Her efforts, the TARDIS was singing with joy. This was how she was meant to be flown, and everyone in the control room could feel it.
Donna circled the room, taking in every bit of it she could. She knew what was to come, but for right now she wanted to enjoy this very minute. She paused by the handsome Captain. "That's really good, Jack. I think you're the best."
He gave her a smirk and shared a smile with Jackie Tyler.
Within minutes the Earth was back in it's rightful spot and everybody aboard the TARDIS burst into cheers. "Good job," Jackie cried over the sounds of everyone's celebrations. The Doctor laughed heartily, pulling Rose into his arms. He kissed her soundly for a minute before she pulled away.
"We did it," she whispered.
"Yes, we did."
"Angry with me?"
He gave a brief shake of his head. "Not with you. Never with you. Don't think we won't be discussing what happened back there later though."
Rose bit her lip. "I was... Bad Wolf was just doing what she thought was right. What she knew was right."
"I know." He kissed the tip of her nose. "But later, Rose. Now let's enjoy these few moments with our friends."
Her face lit up as she stepped away and raced towards her mother. "Mum! Oh, Mum!" she cried as she finally embraced Jackie like she had been waiting to do.
The Doctor smiled as he observed everyone in the room hugging and celebrating. Jenny and Martha were linked arm in arm, both giggling like school girls. Sarah Jane was fussing over Mickey like the proud mother she had so recently become, as Jack had been captured in Donna Noble's embrace. Finally the Doctor's gaze rested back on Rose and Jackie. Both women were openly weeping as they quickly spoke over one another, trying to fill each other in on every moment they missed since they were separated. He chuckled as Rose pointed towards Jenny and Jackie screeched, "I'm a gran!?" Yes, he would most definitely let his love explain that one.
It wasn't until he leaned back to rest against a coral strut, that he reached his hand in his suit pocket and felt something unfamiliar. With a furrowed brow, he pulled the foreign item out and found it to be a long strip of deep red silk like material. The edges were bordered with a gold circular pattern that he easily recognised as the language of his people. He turned his attention to the TARDIS.
"Did you do this?" he asked quietly. She quietly answered back with a soft hum that he instantly knew meant, "Yes." A small beam of light rested where Rose and Jackie were still embracing and instantly he knew what the Old Girl wanted him to do.
"Oh, you are brilliant. Thank you," he told Her, resting his hand on the strut. Pulling away, he moved to the other side of the control room and grabbed Rose's hand. "Sorry, Jackie, need to borrow Rose for a moment."
"What's going on?" Rose asked as the Doctor led her to the TARDIS ramp.
"You'll see," he teased. "Attention, everyone!" he called out.
Jack crossed his arms. "What now?" he asked with a boyish grin.
"I promise, I will return you all back to your rightful homes shortly, but before that happens, there's something I've been waiting to do for a long time now. And what better moment than right here surrounded by everyone Rose and I care about."
Rose clutched his hand tightly, trying to figure out what the Doctor was up to. "What are you going on about?"
The Doctor merely smiled at her and motioned for her mother to step forward. "Jackie, would you mind coming and standing right over here. Yep, a few steps away from Rose," he directed. "Perfect."
She followed his orders, but eyed him warily the whole time. "What do you got going on up in that alien brain of yours?"
"So much, Jackie. So, so much!" The Doctor pulled the foot long strip of cloth out of his pocket and held it out. "Rose, take one end of this. Wrap it around your hand, and hold it out to me."
Rose gasped. "Are we doing what I think we're doing?"
Jackie's gaze darted between the pair. "What do you think you're doing?"
Tears began streaming down her daughter's face and she replied, "Getting married!"
"All this time flying in this mad box and you haven't married her yet!?" Jackie aimed towards the Time Lord.
"Well, we've been a bit busy!" he defended. "Besides, I've been trying to find a way for you to be here."
"Really?"
"Of course. Mother of the bride, you're pretty important."
"Oh, Rose," she sighed. "You're wearing jeans and trainers on your wedding day."
Rose laughed. "I don't care!"
The Doctor grinned at her. "I think she's gorgeous." He cleared his throat and wrapped the other end of the cloth around his own hand, meeting Rose's in the middle. "Back on Gallifrey there would have been a lot of pomp and circumstance around all this. Lots of long boring monologues and speeches, but since I've always been a bit of a rebel, I think we can skip all that."
"Do we make vows?" she asked.
He nodded. "We can."
"Then I'll go first. Doctor, I think I've loved you since 'run,' though I may not have realised it right away. You've taught me so much. You love me for who I am and, despite any changes I've gone through, you continue to love me everyday. You have saved me so many times and I swear, I swear, to continue to try my best to save you in return. Every single day."
"Rose, I... I knew from the moment I first saw you surrounded by those shop window dummies that you were special. I was so broken when I met you that I fought the very idea of you. I tried my best to push you away, but quickly learned that I needed you. So I asked you to come with me, twice I might add! And I'm so glad I did. Better with two. Our lives will never be normal, the slow path will never be for us, but I promise to spend the rest of my lives with you. Together. You and me."
Rose let out a giggle mixed with a sob. "Oh my god, we're so cheesy and I love it!"
"Oh, yes!" he agreed enthusiastically before turning to the woman next to Rose. "Now then, Mother of the bride, will you please say 'I consent and gladly give.'"
Jackie swiped a stray tear off her cheek and folded her arms. "Well who says I do?"
"What? Really?"
"Oh, I'm only teasing, you plum," she tittered. "Go on then, I consent and gladly give."
"Now what?" Rose asked with an anxious grin.
The Doctor rested his free hand on her cheek and said, "I'm about to whisper something in your ear, and you have to remember it very, very carefully, and tell no one what I said. This is the most sacred of things I could possibly share and I'm trusting it with you, Rose Tyler."
With that the Time Lord leaned forward and whispered the most beautiful word Rose had ever heard in her ear. I eyes slammed shut at the sound as her mind processed what he just shared. Finally, as he pulled away, she was able to open her eyes and reply, "Thank you."
"I just told you my name," he said with reverence. "You are now my wife."
Rose gave him her signature tongue in teeth grin. "Ha! And you're my husband!"
"And you may now kiss the bride!" Jack shouted causing everyone to cheer in agreement.
The Doctor acquiesced with the request and pulled Rose in for a kiss like none they had shared before. The kiss of man and wife.
Coming Soon: Until We Meet Again...
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