Here we are then! Thank you, everyone, for you support!
The whole base was dark, the shortage of power making it look even more hideous than before. Rose had her gaze fixed on the deep pit, going down to the shaft where the Doctor and Ida were now down with no way out.
Only the TARDIS could bring him back to her now.
"We have to bring them back!" Jack said to Jefferson urgently. His words ringing in Rose's ears like a wake up alarm. Bring him back!
"There's no point, Jack," Rose said faintly. Her voice steady despite her inner turmoil. Jack turned to look at her incredulously. "There's nothing we can do." She shook her head slightly. "He has to come back on his own."
"You sure?" Jack asked her again.
Was she? Sure? Was there nothing... nothing they could do? The never ending tunnel ahead - just dark, hollow space and dust. No cable. No transport. No way in. Yeh... that sounded like a sure way of nothing they could do.
He would come back... Her Doctor... He would come back... She would wait. Five hours, five days or five weeks. As long as it takes. She would wait for him to return, just as he did wait for her. Because the one thing she was absolutely sure of - she had faith in him.
Rose stared at the dusty space some more and with making her resolve, breathed. "Yeh."
A loud bang on the door made everyone jump in surprise.
Jefferson came forward first, watching the door warily. "Captain? Situation report," he said into his wrist device.
A sigh came through the tannoy. "It's the Ood," Zach spoke. "They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in."
"Yeah, it's the same on Door 25," Jefferson replied, after checking the doors.
"How strong are those doors?" Jack asked.
"Well, it's only a basic frame, it should take ten minutes," Jefferson said, when yet another bang could be heard, making him twirl around and back to facing Jack and Rose. "Eight."
"I've got a security frame, it might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you." Zach's voice.
Rose took a deep breath. No better time than now to start thinking about their survival. "Right," Rose exclaimed. "So it's time we all started working on our part here. We need to stop them - or get out - or both-"
"I'll take both, yeah?" Danny cut her, his voice uneven, watching the monitor for answers. "But how?" he asked in desperation and lost hope.
"You heard the Doctor. Why do you think that thing cut him off?" she asked him like it was obvious. "'Cos he was making sense! He was telling you to think-" She gestured with her hands. "Your way out of this. Come ON!" she shouted out for them in urgency to snap out of their daze. She came too far to let them fall because they were too scared to move.
"For a start, we need some lights," she continued urgently. "There's gotta be some sort of power somewhere."
"There's nothing I can do. Some captain, stuck in here, pressing buttons," Zach said bitterly.
"Look there, Captain," Jack said the word bitterly. "I'm putting my title off for you to take charge of my life so don't fall so short."
"Maybe you should come here, then," Zach retorted.
"I'm not the captain of this crew. You are! So get your act together, man," Jack said, barely holding his composure himself.
"Jack is right, Captain," Rose agreed. "So do your job. Press the right buttons!"
"They've gutted the generators!" Zach snapped. "But the rocket's got an independent supply," he then said with realisation. "If I could reroute that..." He trailled off. "Jack?"
"Yeh?"
"Thank you," Zach said, making Jack grin.
"Anytime."
"Mr Jefferson?" Zach continued. "Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety..."
"Opening bypass conduits, sir," Jefferson announced while pressing the appropriate buttons. Jack and Rose both smiled at each other.
"Channeling rocket feed. In 3... 2...1... power," Zach announced.
The lights came back on before everyone's eyes. Rose looked around, smiling in contentment.
"There we go," she exclaimed happily. "See, you can do it!"
"Let there be light!" Danny cheered.
"What about your Strategy Nine?" Jack asked.
"Not enough power. It needs a hundred percent," Jefferson paced about.
Danny had his eyes fixed on the monitor. He suddenly sprung around, facing Jack. "Wait a minute. You had some kind of device with you, right?" he asked in a hopeful voice.
"The Vortex Manipulator?" Rose asked, glancing from Danny to Jack, who seemed to shift a bit uncomfortably on his feet.
"Whatever you say. So?" Danny asked again.
"Jack?" Rose looked at him questioningly. "You still have it with you, yeh?"
With a bit of hesitation, he finally opened his mouth to talk. "Yeh," he breathed.
"Then come on!" Rose urged him, not understanding why was he so reluctant. "Give 'em that power boost!"
He scanned the concerned faces before him and with a reluctant movement, pulled his sleeves up to take his device off. He handed it to Danny.
"But hold on," Rose said, her forehead wrinkled in concentration. "I thought your Vortex Manipulator was not working," she said, eyeing him over.
"It's as good as new on everything except escaping the planet," Jack said meaningfully. Rose swirled her tongue inside her mouth, nodding. The Devil's work again.
"It's not working..." Danny said.
Rose frowned, stepping forward near the monitor. "How d'you mean not working? What's wrong?" She was watching the screen intensely.
"There is just... nothing... it doesn't give away any energy," Danny said helplessly.
"But..." Rose shook her head.
"Did you try extending the range of power consumption? This thing can overload it if not careful," Jack suggested.
"Of course I did! You think I'm stupid?" Danny snapped. Clearly getting overemotional from stress.
"Hey there, bud." Jack extended his hands in defence. "I'm just offering you information with a piece of device you are not familiar with. No harm meant."
"Either way, there's nothing." Danny lifted his hands in a frustrated shrug. "See for yourselves." He gestured on the screen. Jack came forward.
"Hmm..." Jack hummed. "The energy needs to be transferred to the control room."
"And you can do that, yeh?" Rose asked, standing near him, watching the screen even if it did not really say anything to her.
A broad grin formed on Jack's face. "Thought you would never ask," he exclaimed with sudden vigour, and jumped towards the controls. Rose chuckled silently.
"Captain?" he called out into the comm. "I need the password of your control systems."
"Hold on," Zach said. "I'm putting it in...Okay, it's x9-" he began but cut himself short. "Oh, no."
"What is it?" Rose asked warily.
"We can't access your device. Got only basic power systems here. It would burn the whole thing down if used."
Jack sighed in frustration.
"Oh, just great," Danny muttered. Jack gathered his Vortex Manipulator back, taking it back on his wrist.
"All right," Rose breathed. "So Strategy Nine is off," she said, keeping her voice calm. "Plan B. We need a way out. Zach, Mr Jefferson, you start working on that," she instructed the men. "Jack, I'm sure you can give them some advice from your side."
"The only still bright thing in this situation is you being bossy." Jack winked at Rose.
"Shut it," Rose chided him, hiding a smile. She then spotted Toby, still crouching down a few meters away from the group. She couldn't say she trusted him fully, that nagging feeling she had in her was not going away, but she had to give the man a chance.
She decided to take a step forward. "Toby, what about you?" she asked softly, standing right beside him. He looked up.
"So you talking to me now?" he replied bitterly. Rose shifted uncomfortably on her feet, lowering her gaze.
"Look, whatever you think I was or am, I'm not. I'm me, alright?" he said. "And I'm certainly not that thing down there." He gestured, his face troubled. "So unless you start treating me as a human being, I don't think I can help you."
Rose kept her guilty stare at him. She was really too hard on him. He didn't deserve a treatment like that. Nobody would. She bit on her lower lip and squatted down to meet his eyes level.
"I know," she began softly. "I know, and I'm sorry for treating you like that." She locked his gaze to his, who was debating with himself whether to believe her. "I really am," she said with conviction in her eyes.
He looked away. Rose nodded in understanding and stood up, ready to walk away, when his voice stopped her.
"I still don't know much about that language..." he began, as she turned to look at him. "But I'll try to work on that."
She could only grin at him. She then briskly walked up to the group at the monitor. "So, any progress?"
"I've managed to stabilise the controls as much as possible," Jack began. "But the Ood is not my department."
"What? Captain Jack Harkness never walked upon an Ood before?" Rose teased him.
"Can't say I have." Jack laughed at the thought. "They're a bit..." He looked at her.
"Ood," Rose said together with him, chuckling moments later.
"Well then, Danny-boy - you're in charge of the Ood - any way of stopping them?" she asked.
"Well... I don't know." Danny shrugged.
"Then find out," she said as a matter of fact, pulling him over to the computer. "Do what you do best. Look after the Ood. Shift," she ended, playfully smacking him and walking over to the railing to look at the never ending shaft.
The Doctor stood up, watching what was left of the capsule with his eyes. Ida was brushing herself off of dust, getting her breathing back from the shock the two just experienced.
"Guess we found our way down," Ida said, looking at the fallen cable. The Doctor gave her a side-way glance.
It was too convenient. The solution literally falling down from the sky. Well, whatever was down there, he couldn't wait to meet it.
"How much air have we got?" the Doctor asked suddenly.
"Sixty minutes," Ida answered breathlessly. She then checked her wrist device. "Fifty-five."
The Doctor inhaled, raising his eyebrows. "Well, then, better not waste time. Come on, let's get this out." He urged her, bending down to gather the cable.
"The drum's disconnected," Ida said faintly. The Doctor looked up at her questioningly.
"We could adapt it," Ida said like it was obvious. "Feed it through."
The Doctor's face lit up. "Of course! That's brilliant! Ida... you are-" He looked at her adoringly. "Brilliant!" he exclaimed with a silly grin.
Ida smiled at him, feeling a slightly bit awkward. "Right, so, let's do this," she said while getting her hands full of cable. "If we ever get back, might as well try this."
"I'll get back," the Doctor said in a low, serious voice. "Rose is up there." He locked his gaze to hers, without letting her negate the possibility.
Everyone was busy, working in the exploration deck. Rose kept her eyes on everyone in case someone decided to give up and would require some kicking in the their bum.
"Open junctions five... six... seven..." Jefferson was talking over the loud bangs on the door in the background. "Reroute filters sixteen to twenty-four. Go."
Toby was working on the symbols, writing something desperately.
"There's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood," Danny said casually. "Trouble is, we haven't got them on board," he ended edgily.
"Well, that's handy," Rose began sarcastically. "Listing all the things we haven't got," she muttered. "We haven't got a swimming pool either," she said seriously, looking at Danny. "Or a Tescos." Danny only rolled his eyes, annoyed.
Suddenly the computer bleeped. The word 'affirmative' flashing on the screen. Danny's eyes popping wide in excitement.
"Oh my God. It says yes! I can do it!" he said like he couldn't believe his luck. "Hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare... it can disrupt the telepathy! Brainstorm!" He hit his forehead, grinning broadly.
"And the Ood guys?" Jack asked, casually leaning on the railing.
"It'll tank them, spark out!" Danny talked with enthusiasm, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"There we are, then! Do it!" Rose encouraged him.
Danny was almost saying something but cut himself short, his face falling. "No, but..." he breathed, shaking his head. "I'd have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to go to Ood Habitation."
Rose thought about it for a moment. "You are forgetting something," she said in a strong voice.
"What would be that?" Danny asked in exasperation.
"We've got him," Rose said in an obvious tone, dragging Jack to the monitor. "Come on. You said you can channel the energy from control room before."
"Can you do that?" Danny asked in a newly gained hope. "Can you do it? Connect me to the Odd Habitation?"
"Will try," Jack replied, stepping near the monitor. "Can't be that hard with basic controls." He grinned to himself.
"Good to have you, Captain," Rose said, smiling with tongue between her teeth.
"Not the captain of this base, Rosie."
"Yeh?" Rose asked softly. "Well, you are our captain," she ended with a tender smile. Jack smiled at her himself.
"What can I say?" Jack said casually, pressing various buttons and getting deeper into showed numbers on the screen. "Doc is a lucky man."
"Well, he better get his bum here first. Then we will see about that," Rose said seriously.
"Don't worry. I bet he will come back with more than his bum," Jack said, smirking. Rose stared at him for a moment, her cheeks becoming rose-colour.
"You just can't... I just can't talk in... metaphor with you, can I?" Rose shook her head with a disbelieving smile on her face.
"Never." Jack winked.
"Are you done playing around?! Hurry up!" Danny was starting to get his panic get the better of him once again.
"Relax, bud. Almost there," Jack said blithely and with the last press on the button, the Ood Habitation computer access appeared on the screen.
Basis 100 flashed on the screen.
Everyone's faces flashed in huge grins, until the bliss was cruelly disturbed by a loud bang on the doors from one side, making everyone turn their heads at them. The mirrored sound soon followed the doors on the other side.
"How much time has passed?" Rose asked urgently.
"It's already passed eight minutes," Jefferson said. "They're breaking in!" He came to stand on guard on one side. "Jack, you hold the other side down!" he instructed. "Pray that us two will be enough," he muttered, loading his gun.
Rose watched how Jack came to stand on the other side and then back again to Danny.
"Come on, Danny! It's all up to you now!" Rose urged him.
"I know!" Danny yelled out and the same moment the doors on Jefferson's side burst open, revealing a group of red-eyed Oods, dangerously stepping further into the room.
Bang
Jefferson shot and one of the Ood fallen down. Rose watched the exchange with her own panic rising, but after seeing Danny's fretting state, she told herself to calm down. He would never get it done with those trembling fingers.
With a loud bang, the doors, where Jack was positioned at, opened up, revealing yet another group of the, anything but friendly, looking Oods.
"Bad day for you, guys," Jack said in a sneer and shot two of them at once. That, of course, didn't make their numbers all that less. With the two fallen down, the rest just kept going in.
Bang
Some more shots could be heard from Jefferson's side.
"Damn," Jack cursed. "Danny, transmit!"
"I'm trying, I'm trying! I'm getting at it-!" Danny yelled out hysterically, his fingers trembling from received pressure.
"It's alright," Rose tried to soothe him. "You can do it. Just breathe in. Take a deep breath and press the right buttons." She took hold of his forearm. Danny momentary looked at her in the eyes and felt himself loose a bit of shaking in his body.
"Danny, I need some transmition help! I'm running out of bullets here!" Jefferson shouted out over the shooting.
"I know! I..." Danny shook in frustration, searching the screen in desperation. And with the last press on the controls, Danny bunged the required piece into the computer. The reading flashed and quickly went down to Basic 0.
At once, every Ood in the room froze in place and clutched at their heads, stumbling about. They finally collapsed to the floor. Silence fell.
Everyone took a moment to take their breaths back. "You did it!" Rose began, smiling at Danny. "We did it!" she exclaimed, jumping into Danny's arms from sheer joy.
"Yes!" Danny exclaimed, still a bit dazed but just as happy.
After Danny released her to hug Jefferson, who was looking a bit unsure of this gesture, Rose found herself in a tight embrace of a certain Jack Harkness.
"We did it, Jack!" she squalled, jumping about, after being released.
"Captain, sir, reporting, the Ood are taken care of," Jefferson said into the comm.
Some static noise could be heard.
"Captain, report!" Jefferson said with more strength in his voice. Rose's face began to fall, when-
"Good work, everyone. I'm on my way to you." Zach's voice came through.
Everyone sighed in relief.
"Now, only the Doctor is left," Rose said, biting on her lower lip and watching the shaft.
The Doctor and Ida were working on securing the cable so they could abseil down the pit.
"That should hold it. How's it going?" Ida asked, while holding the drum with the cable around it. The cable was slowly beginning to unravel.
"Fine!" the Doctor exclaimed blithely, while walking backwards, nearer the pit. "Should work... doesn't feel like such a good idea, now," he muttered, when standing on the edge of the pit.
"Ha..." he breathed. "There it is again. That itch. Go down, go down, go down, go down, go down." He bobbed up and down crazily.
"The urge to jump," Ida said while doing some adjustment to the drum. "Do you know where it comes from, that sensation?" she asked softly. The Doctor looked up at her.
"Genetic heritage. Ever since we were primates in the trees. It's our body's way of testing us. Calculating whether or not we can reach the next branch," she explained.
"No, that's not it..." the Doctor said in faint voice. "That's too kind," he said thoughtfully. He looked around. "It's not the urge to jump, it's deeper than that." Then it hit him.
"It's the urge to fall!" he breathed and jumped backwards down the hole without a second thought.
Ida snapped her head at once. "Doctor!" she called out for him and pressed a button - the cable becoming taut.
The Doctor suddenly stopped falling, his feet meeting the wall of the pit, hanging by the cable a short way into the pit.
"Are you okay?" Ida asked in concern.
"Not bad, thanks," the Doctor replied nonchalantly. "The wall of the pit..." He looked around. "Seems to be the same as the cavern, just..." He bent his head down to shine the torch down the hole. "Not much of it," he said faintly as he really didn't see much of what was going on down below.
"There's a crust about twenty feet down and then... nothing. Just the pit," he said. He started to think that maybe his whole trip down the hole in the search of the TARDIS was after all absurd. There was no real, certain way she was there. Maybe he missed her by accident and she was actually up here, with Ida...But being the Doctor as he was-
"Okay, then," he breathed. "Lower me down," he sang half-humorously." Oh, well. Not like he could back down now. Might as well go all out.
"Well, here we go, then," Ida said, her voice cracking a bit. She was starting to question her own ideas about this whole thing. But she pressed the button again anyway. With that, the Doctor was slowly lowered down the pit.
"You get representations of the Horned Beast right across the universe," the Doctor began in a casual way, keeping the conversation going as he was still being lowered down the pit, in complete darkness.
"In the myths and legends of a million worlds. Earth..." He stopped his pace to think. "Draconia, Velconsadine... Daemos... the Kaled God of War..."
"It's the same image, over and over again." His voice back to casual. "Maybe... that idea came from somewhere. Bleeding through... the thought at the back of every sentient mind," he said thoughtfully.
"Emanating from here?" Ida asked from the top of the pit.
"Could be," the Doctor said blithely.
"But if this is the original... does that make it real? Does that make it the actual devil, though?" she breathed, concerned of the truths.
"Weeell," the Doctor began. "If that's what you want to believe," he muttered. "Maybe that's what the devil is, in the end. An idea."
And suddenly the Doctor was jerked to a halt. He looked up to see what was going on, though he was beginning to suspect just what.
"That's it," Ida noted. "That's all we've got," she said softly, checking the end of the cable.
The Doctor went to press buttons on the device on his wrist.
"You getting any sort of readout?" Ida asked hopefully.
"Nothing," the Doctor said, his device just bleeping. "Could be miles to go, yet." He looked down, inspecting the pit. "Or..." He considered. "Could be thirty feet. No way of telling," he said faintly.
"I could survive thirty feet," he whispered to himself, thinking about it.
"Oh no you don't," Ida said at once, probably having heard what was he planning. "I'm pulling you back up." Her voice a bit scared.
She pressed the button to hoist him back up. The drum spinning the cable back, but at the same moment, the Doctor pressed a button on his own end, stopping her.
"What're you doing?!" Ida asked in desperation, striding to the edge.
"You bring me back, then we're just gonna sit there and run out of air," he said in a low voice. "I've gotta go down. I told you."
"Back then I thought you would survive!" she said, scared.
"I will," the Doctor whispered. He had to believe that.
"Based on what!?" Ida asked.
"Call it an act of faith," the Doctor said through his teeth, while releasing one of the hooks securing him to the cable. He had to believe the TARDIS was there. Because he had to get back to her. It was the only way back.
"But... " Ida faltered, looking sideways. "I don't want to die on my own."
"I know," the Doctor said softly, releasing another hook.
"What about communication? Can we reach the Doctor and Ida yet?" Danny asked, when Zach finally reached them in the exploration desk.
"The comms are still down," Zach began. "I can patch them through the central desk and boost the signal." He suddenly looked at Jack. "You want to give it a go?" he suggested, gesturing to the monitor.
Jack glanced at him and the screen in thought. "No, you work. Your base and all." Jack grinned at him.
Zach only nodded at him. "Just give me a minute," he said as he began working on it.
Rose stood there, with a blank face, not really hoping for anything. It was too soon. The Doctor... she wouldn't be able to reach him yet.
She closed her eyes.
The Doctor released yet another hook.
"I didn't ask - have you got any sort of faith, or...?" the Doctor asked softly.
"Not really," Ida said, sitting on the edge of the pit. "I was brought up Neo Classic, congregational... because of my mum, she was..." She paused, reminiscing. "My old mum..." she whispered sadly. "But no, I never believed," she said after a while, her voice wavering.
"Neo Classic - have they got a devil?" the Doctor asked, while he was busy working on the hooks.
"No, not as such." She shook her head, stifling her tears. "Just um... the things that men do."
"Same thing in the end," the Doctor muttered in a low voice.
"What about you?" Ida asked. It came as a surprise to the Doctor. Here they were, talking about faith. He paused.
Faith... Something he believed...
"I believe... I believe I haven't seen everything, I don't know..." He trailed off, thinking. "It's funny, isn't it? The things you make up - the rules. If that thing had said it came from BEYOND the universe, I'd believe it, but BEFORE the universe..." He cringed his nose. "Impossible," he breathed. He inhaled deeply. "Doesn't fit my rule."
Then there was also that fact that he was not capable of creating a year's worth of time loop. It would require a different kind of power. An immense source which shouldn't even exist or be possible! But he could dwell on those later. Now he could only see her in all those moments with a burden she shouldn't had been left to deal with alone.
Getting to know one another from scratch.
If anything, Rose Tyler done the impossible.
"Still, that's why I keep travelling," the Doctor said after a long while. "To be proven wrong."
Rose Tyler must have shattered most of his impossible rules. A great portion of them he still couldn't remember. He could feel that. Why had he let himself conceal the memory?.. He knew… but no reason was good enough. It was time he fixed that.
"Thank you, Ida," the Doctor said in a low voice, after he was almost done with all the hooks. Only the main cable left...
"Don't go!" Ida said, suddenly standing up.
"If they get back in touch... if you talk to Rose... just tell her..." he faltered with his mouth left open. Tell her... tell her...Oh, Rose.
"Tell her I..." It was on the tip of his tongue. His both hearts burning to say those words. To let her know. To let her know what he always knew. What was always there. What he was sure was before, in the memories he did not remember and will be in the future.
It was there.
But no. A third party telling her… Ida...no, he had to tell her that himself. He will come back.
"Oh, she knows…" he breathed and released the final hook, falling into nothingness.
And as he was falling deep into the pit...he released his final lock on his own mind. Whatever was down there – he would be ready. And when he came back to her, he would be whole again.
He believed he would see her again...
"We got the comm back," Zach announced, looking at Rose, who stared at him for a moment and then instinctively dashed to the comm.
"Doctor? Are you there? Doctor, Ida? Can you hear me?" She was talking through the comm. Maybe.. Maybe... Just maybe she could hear him once more...
"Are you there, Doctor?"
"He's gone," Ida's voice, which sent Rose unmoving. Too late... Too late again. No, she couldn't speak again.
Jack snatched the comm from Rose's grasp, his brows furrowed. "Your lovely Jack Harkness speaking," Jack said sarcastically. "What do you mean, "he's gone"?"
"He fell," Ida said simply. "Into the pit." Her voice cracking. "And I don't know how deep it is - miles and miles and miles."
Rose closed her eyes, her lip trembling. Her heart heaving. It's alright.. It's alright.. Everything will be alright...She didn't trust her voice to speak up.
"Look here," Jack was beginning to lose patience. "What the hell does "he fell" even mean?"
"I couldn't stop him," Ida said in defence. She felt their grief too. "Rose..."
Rose looked up, her eyes fixed on the comm, just staring.
"He said your name..."
Jack glanced at his dear friend, who was having a hard time holding on. He handed the comm back to Zach, who only took it gently.
"I'm sorry," Zach said in comfort.
She found herself in a tight, comforting hug of her Captain, rubbing circles on her back. And she just kept staring ahead, silent.
"Ida?" Zach spoke into the comm. "There's no way of reaching you." He shook his head. "No cable, no back-up... you're ten miles down..."
"We can't get there," he said regretfully.
"You should see this place, Zach," Ida said quietly. "It's beautiful. Well, I wanted to discover things..." Her voice cracked as she teared up. "And here I am."
"We've got to abandon the base," Zach said. "I'm declaring this mission unsafe. All we can do is make sure no one ever comes here again."
"But we'll never find out what it was?" Ida said, her voice unsteady.
"Well, maybe that's best," Zach breathed.
"Yeah," Ida said sarcastically, taking calming breaths.
"Officer Scott-" Zach began, but was cut short.
"It's all right."
Zach lowered the comm, closing his eyes and pressing his lips together.
"Just go. Good luck."
"And you," Zach breathed, placing the comm into his rightful place.
"Danny - Mr. Jefferson - close down the feed links. Get the retrotopes online. Toby, don't fall behind. Everyone. Get to the rocket - strap yourselves in. We're leaving."
"And the Doctor?" Jack asked in defence, stepping a bit away from Rose.
Zach stopped for a moment, facing him. He shook his head. "There's nothing...nothing we can do for him anymore. I'm sorry."
"Yeh, that's great, nothing you can do, so you just leave them behind. Great, Captain, just... great."
Rose exhaled a long held, shuddering breath. "It's alright, Jack. He'll be back." She formed a small smile on her face, trying to reassure him, but couldn't fully relax herself. Not until she saw him again.
Jack narrowed his eyes in disbelief at her. "From there?" He gestured towards the shaft. Rose exhaled a watery laugh.
"Yeh." She nodded, pressing her lips together. "From there. TARDIS, remember?" She looked up at him, her forehead wrinkling.
Jack sighed in relief. "Oh...that man." He chuckled.
Everyone else in the base were watching the two of them like they had gone mad. "I'm sorry..." Zach began. "But he's...dead." He was making sure of their sanity. Nobody would survive miles and miles and miles of a fall.
Rose exhaled and then forced to look up at Zach with clear eyes. "He's not," she began. "He's... alright." She nodded. "You don't know him." She shook her head, when Zach tried to protest. "I know how it sounds." She gave him a half-smile. "But he's-"
A flickering sound on the screen disturbed everyone in the room. The view on the screen, made Rose's heart stop right there.
Before their eyes, laid the body of the Doctor, somewhere dark in the pit, his eyes closed, his helmet glass shattered to pieces - no signs of life.
Rose just stared at the imagine with wide eyes, them gathering up with tears. Her lips trembled as her forehead wrinkled. She titled her head. "No," she said, shaking her head. "No, no, it's not... it's not him." She was shaking her head and getting closer to the screen, her breath speeding up.
"There's no oxygen there," Toby said.
"Oh God," Danny breathed.
"Turn that off!" Zach commanded and Jefferson began to take a step further.
"NO!" Rose yelled, placing herself in defence of the screen.
The base's crew all looked at her sympathetically. "Don't look at me like that. Because he's not! He's not! He just..."
"He's not regenerating, Rose..." Jack said in a grieving voice. Rose shot him a painful look. "Don't you... don't even go down there.." Rose pointed at him.
Jack took a step forward, grabbing her by her wrist. "Jack, he's not. You know him! Please, you know him, Jack," she pleaded him with her eyes.
Zach tried to grab for her, but she shook him off, together with Jack, stepping away from them both. "I'm not leaving!" she yelled out.
"Then I apologise for this," Zach said regretfully. He locked his gaze to Jack. "Make her secure," he said and Rose just knew what was coming next.
"No - no!" She was backing away but Jack grabbed for her first. "No! No! No! Let me go! Jack! Don't do this to me!" she screamed at him in desperation, straining. Jack could only look at her with painful eyes.
"Get off me! I'm not leaving!" She still tried to struggle. She sprung her head on that cursed screen, which showed the still limp body of her Doctor.
No no no. She was not leaving him again. Not with this outcome. She just couldn't. Living. Not alone. Not like this!
"REGENERATE!" she screamed from the bottom of her lungs. "Just, regenerate!" she sobbed and that was her last thought when a needle in her arm brought darkness to her.
"Regenerate..."
The Doctor was laying face down at the bottom of the pit. His helmet shattered. Slowly he began to stir, groaning. He opened his eyes.
Hell? Rocks in every direction ahead… well, this could be hell… hold on, that was his… pieces of glass from his helmet. Oh. He fell down. Right. Into the pit. To visit the Devil. Or Satan. Or Lucifer. Or however he preferred to be called. Didn't matter really.
He slowly stood up, taking in his surroundings.
Right. He had been here before. Now he could remember. Sigh… his other self was really determined to get those memories back. Now he was not so sure if that was a good idea. His memories were finally intact and not swirling messily around but now he had to get his personality in check.
If he was gonna do this, he had to do it as his one self, not some… duo. And they thought regeneration was weird enough…
It wasn't that horrible the first time at Pete's World! Why was it now? Oh… oh… he got too influential… this other self… could he even call it his other self anymore? Guess not. He was still him but not only him.
Okay… He might have a little bit time to sort himself out, considering he wouldn't have to check the cave out like the last time.
"Can you hear me, Ida?" he asked into his comm. It only crackled. "Guess not," he breathed.
"Dislocating B-Clamp...C-Clamp... raising...nitrates to maximum...Toby... negapact feed line?"
A background sound woke Rose up, she began to stir in her seat.
"Clear!" Toby shouted. "Ready to go, sir. For God's sakes, get us out of here!"
Rose looked around. She was in the rocket. Sitting, on the seat, in that bloody rocket again! No. This couldn't do. Her whole body was shouting that she had to get away from this place.
"Captain..." Danny began, after noticing Rose waking up. "I think we're gonna have a problem passenger..."
"Keep an eye on her," Zach informed him.
"Wait... " Rose shifted in her seat. "I'm not..."
"It's all right, Rose - you're safe-" Danny tried.
"I'm not going anywhere!" she shouted at them.
"Rose," Jack began in a soft voice. He was sitting right next to her.
Rose wanted to hear none of his nonsense. Not after what he did... "Get me out of this thing! Get me out!" She was tugging at her seatbelt.
"And... lift-OFF!" Zach announced with enthusiasm. Toby, Jefferson and Danny were cheering, watching their rocket going up.
The Doctor turned his head in time, from the bottom of the pit, to watch as the rocket flew into the sky.
"A rocket..." he whispered. But unlike the last time, when he thought he would never... She would be safe, but he would never see her again... This time, his mouth twitched into a gentle smile.
"I'm coming back for you, Rose." He will see her again.
He watched as it flew further and further away.
Rose glanced at the gun, which laid on the same spot as the last time. She couldn't shoot anyone. But... She was not staying here either.
"Why have you done that.. Jack..." Rose asked in a faint voice. Jack could only sigh.
"He told me to take care of you if something happened. If he didn't make it!"
"Do you think I would have stayed that long otherwise? As a third wheel with you two going at each other?" he almost chuckled. Rose only lifted the corners of her mouth. Now she understood... Of course it would be him...
"I promised him I would take care of you," Jack ended softly, begging her to understand just how important her safety was to him, to her Doctor.
She nodded, biting her lip. "And I promised him something too..." she said softly, and turned to look him in the eyes. Her own eyes full of emotion.
"I told him I that I was never gonna leave him," she said firmly and the next moment Jack felt something being ripped apart from his wrist. He ducked his head to see his wrist free of his Vortex Manipulator. He only had time to tilt his head to look at Rose with horrified eyes.
"Rose, no-" but she just smiled sadly at him and pressed the button.
"ROSE!" Jack shouted, but she was gone.
Rose Tyler ceased to exist in the rocket.
The Doctor shined his torch on the wall of the underground cavern - there were crude drawings of a horned beast and tiny stick figures surrounding it.
"History of the big battle. Battle battle battle..." he muttered. "Boring. All the same!" he exclaimed. "How could one bare to watch all the same things. Over and over. Ah." He put his tongue out and back in again, expressing his disgust.
"Nah, better meet the neighbour. The beast." He pointed with his mouth and was ready to go near the vases when a light, right to his side, took his attention.
He turned around and his mouth fell open, eyes wide. His both hearts started to beat wildly. Dread and warmth filling his insides. He thought he saw many impossible things in his long lived life. But apparently not nearly enough.
"Rose."
to be continued...
Yeh, there is going to be the last part. There's still some major things I want to settle in this arc, but I can't do that today it seems. So, till the next time ^^