Twenty-Two
The Doctor crumbled to the ground, tears falling from his eyes. He had killed her. He had killed his Rose. He had known this place was dangerous even before he had known the Dalek was here. Had felt the danger when they had exited the TARDIS. He had told himself to tell Rose to go back into the TARDIS. But he hadn't wanted to be away from her. Had wanted her right beside him while he checked out the signal. And now, because he had been so stupid, so selfish, he had killed her.
The Doctor closed his eyes wishing to be able to just die. There was no reason for him to live any more. His Rose was gone. He had killed her. His actions and decisions had killed his Rose. He had trapped her in the vault with the Dalek and killed her. He would no longer be able to look upon his Rose's sweet face. No longer be able to take in her calming scent, or hear or lovely voice. He would no longer be able to hold her in his arms as she slept.
The Doctor faintly felt the TARDIS brush against his mind. He knew he should get up and return to the TARDIS. Should return to Jackie and inform her that he had killed her only daughter. But he just couldn't find the energy.
"Rose." The Doctor cried out.
"I'm sorry." He heard Van Statten whisper to him. Anger flooded his body, and soon it was the only thing he felt. This human, this stupid ape was sorry? Rose was right, he wasn't at fault here, Van Statten was. The Doctor could have killed that Dalek when he had had the chance, when it was weak. But this stupid ape had stopped him! Hadn't wanted his living specimen the die. And now, because of that, his Rose was dead! Faster than Van Statten's and Goddard's mind could register, the Doctor got to his feet, glaring at Van Statten.
"I promised to protect her! Rose was only here because of me, and you're sorry?" The Doctor growled out dangerously as he stalked over to the desk separating him from the human, fear flashing through his eyes as he tried to back away, but hit the wall. "I could have killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me."
"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten argued. The Doctor bolted over the desk faster than Van Statten or Goddard could react causing Goddard to scream and back away. Van Statten tried to dodge to the side, but the Doctor quickly grabbed him by the collar.
"Your collection?!" The Doctor roared causing Van Statten to whimper in fear. "Well, was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth my Rose?" His eyes flashed dangerously as he felt the true force of the Oncoming Storm awaken. Electricity began to run throughout his body, spark occasionally skipping up and down his arms. Van Statten whimpered in pain when a few sparks touched him, zapping him. "Rose was the key to making sure the I got you out of here alive." The Doctor told the man darkly. Realization of the situation Van Statten had put himself in flashed through the man's eyes. The Doctor was done being the good guy. He was done saving people (human or not) like Van Statten. He was done.
The Doctor was going to find away to destroy that Dalek and avenge his love. And if he didn't actually die in the process, then the Doctor would collect Rose's body and take her back to her mother. He would make sure that his Rose had the perfect funeral before returning to the TARDIS and finding the closest black hole and throw him and his TARDIS into it. Because without his Rose in the universe, there was no reason for him to live.
"Let me tell you something, Van Statten." The Doctor growled at him, releasing the man and allowing him to take a breath. "Man kind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater-"
"Exactly!" Van Statten cried out, cutting him off. "I wanted to touch the stars!"
"No!" The Doctor roared causing the man to flinch away. "You didn't want to touch the stars. You just wanted to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get." He snarled at the man, the sparks of electricity were jumping up and down his arms faster. "And you took her down with you." He told him dangerously. "She was 19 years old." The silence that covered them was thick with Van Statten's and Goddard's fear of what he would do to them.
~Replay~
Rose let out a sigh of relief when she heard the shot from the Dalek's gun hit the bulkhead beside her. It had decided to spare his. Her body began shaking with both adrenaline and relief. She had survived. Her DNA had corrupted the Dalek enough to have it spare her. Rose slowed opened her eyes and turned to look ta the Dalek. It was looking at her as well. "Aren't you going to kill me?" Rose heard herself ask it. The Dalek did nothing but stare at her. "What do you want?"
"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose." It informed her and Rose knew that it was confused and angry as to why she was not dead. Fear shot through her. Would the Dalek decide to use her to have the Doctor open the bulkheads like last time or would it just grow too furious with its new feelings and take it out on her by killing her?
"They're all dead because of you!" Rose found herself yelling at the Dalek.
"They are dead because of us!" The Dalek yelled back. Pain shot through Rose, knowing that it was right. It was her DNA that had given it the strength to escape and rejuvenate itself.
"And now what?" Rose asked it. "What are you waiting for?"
"I feel your fear." The Dalek told her slowly.
"What d'you expect?" Rose asked it.
"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear!" The Dalek yelled before shooting at either side of her. Rose flinched, wondering if it would kill her. "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated!" The Dalek screamed, panicking. "You have done this to me! You will undo this!"
"I can't. You took my DNA, that comes with consequences." Rose told the Dalek and flinched when it shot next to her head.
"Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!" The Dalek demanded. A picture of the Dalek killing itself from last time flew through her mind. Bad Wolf was telling her to order it to kill itself. It wouldn't get the freedom that it wanted, but at the same time the Doctor wouldn't have to feel like he had to take on the Dalek.
"The only way to fix it is to kill yourself." Rose told the Dalek.
"The Daleks must survive!" The Dalek yelled at her.
"You are not a Dalek anymore!" Rose told it causing the Dalek to pause.
"What am I?" The Dalek asked her fearfully.
"You are something different, something new." Rose told it sadly. It was silent for a long moment.
"I will not die here." The Dalek told Rose before moving to stand next to her it's gun pointed at her, and looked up at the camera.
"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" She heard Adam yell as the connection was made between the Dalek and the building's system.
"Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies." The Dalek ordered. She heard the Doctor gasp out in shocked relief at seeing her alive.
"You're alive!" He cried out.
"Can't get rid of me." Rose told him with a small smile.
"I thought you were dead." The Doctor told her, his voice broken causing Rose's heart to tighten at the sound. It was even more broken then the first time around. He was never going to recover from this.
"Open the bulkhead!" The Dalek demanded.
"Don't do it!" Rose cried out.
"What use are emotions, if you will not save the woman you love?" The Dalek taunted. It was silent for a minute.
"I killed her once. I won't do it again." She heard the Doctor whisper seconds before the bulkhead began to move. The Dalek cut off connections and forced Rose to walk through the open bulkhead once it was open. The trip to the lift was still long and slow, yet it seemed to go by faster than last time. Once in the lift Rose quickly hit the floor that held Van Statten's office and they began to move.
"I'm begging you, don't kill them. You didn't kill me." Rose pleaded knowing that the death of Van Statten and Goddard were still a real threat.
"But why not?" The Dalek asked her turning to look at her. "Why are you alive?" It turned back to look at the doors of the lift. "My function was to kill. What am I? What am I? What do I do now? What is my purpose now?" Rose didn't have an answer for the Dalek and they stood in silence for a few seconds before the lift dinged, alerting them that they had reached their destination. The lift doors opened to Van Statten cowering against the wall and Goddard standing off to the side, motionless with fear.
"Don't move!" Rose ordered Van Statten when she saw him getting ready to run. "Don't do anything! It's beginning to question itself." Rose informed them before following the Dalek out of the lift.
"Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?" The Dalek asked the man.
"I wanted to help you, I just... I don't know, I was trying to help." Van Statten stammered out as the Dalek drew closer to him. "I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you... I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I swear, I just wanted you to talk!" He cried once the Dalek was right in front of him.
"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Dalek cried.
"No! Don't do it! Don't kill him!" Rose yelled moving to stand in between Van Statten and the Dalek, facing the Dalek, knowing that it would not, could not, kill her now. "You don't have to do this any more. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?" Rose watched as the Dalek's eye-stock shifted to look over her shoulder before shifting to look back at her. The Dalek looked between her and Van Statten a couple of times in a tense silence as it thought. Finally the eye-stock stayed on her.
"I want... Freedom." It told her slowly.
"Freedom? That's it?" Van Statten asked causing the Dalek to turn its attention back on the man. Rose felt him flinch.
"How do we get out of here?" Rose asked Goddard quietly.
"Through that door, to the right. The first hallway you see, make a left. Keep straight and you'll reach the ramp to the helipad." Goddard quickly told her.
"Thank you." Rose told her before turning her attention back on the Dalek who had been silently watching her. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Let's get to freedom." Rose whispered to it. The Dalek stayed there, watching her for another minute before slowly turning around and exited the room. They followed Goddard's directions for a good three minutes before the Dalek came to a stop and shot the ceiling, allowing in the sunlight. Rose stared at the sunlight in awe.
Even though she had known the probability of her surviving was high, there had still been that small chance that something could have changed. There was a chance that she would have never seen the sun again. Never seen the Doctor again. But here she was. She had trusted Bad Wolf and she had survived.
"You're out. You made it. We made it." Rose told the Dalek. "I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again."
"How does it feel?" The Dalek asked before opening its suit. Rose moved in front of the Dalek, knowing that the Doctor would be there any second with a gun to kill the Dalek. She wouldn't have that. She would not see the Doctor become a murderer. Rose understood during the war, the Doctor had to make some tough decisions, had to sacrifice what had made him him to survive in the war, had to kill Daleks. But that was then this was now. Rose would not allow him to go through that again. She would not allow him to take another life if she could help it.
Rose stared at the creature inside the shell. It always amazed her how horrifyingly disgusting it looked. All octopus like with its tentacles covered in goo and its comically huge brain and single eyeball. Rose watched as it slowly and weakly lifted up one tentacle towards to light.
"Get outta the way!" Rose heard the Doctor order from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to find the Doctor there, his eyes flashing wildly like lightning in a storm, sparks of electricity jumping up and down his arms as he held a large blaster pointed at her and the Dalek she was standing protectively in front of. "Rose, please, get outta the way! Now!"
"No!" Rose told him with a shake of the head hoping that he wasn't too far gone in his anger and fear. "'Cause I won't let you do this."
"That thing killed hundreds of people." The Doctor growled at her.
"Because of me, Doctor." She told him softly. "It was my DNA that rejuvenated it. If you're going to blame it, then you'll have to blame me as well." The electricity stopped jumping up and down his arms as his eyes stopped flashing wildly.
"Rose, please, I've got to do this. I've got to end it." The Doctor begged her. "The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left!"
"You've got me. And you've got the TARDIS." Rose told him and the Doctor lowered the gun a little. "Besides, look at it." Rose shifted just enough to give the Doctor a good view of the Dalek yet still blocking it enough to keep the Doctor from killing it.
"What's it doing?" The Doctor asked in confusion.
"It's the sunlight. That's all it wants." Rose told him.
"But it can't..." The Doctor said, his mind not able to comprehend what he was seeing.
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. My DNA is changing it. It is no longer a Dalek. It is part Dalek part Rose Tyler. What about you, Doctor? What are you allowing yourself to change into?" Rose explained and the Doctor dropped the gun to the ground staring at her in desperation.
"Oh Rose. I thought I'd lost you. I had nothing left to live for. I just wanted to end it all. I couldn't stand to live in a world without you. I wouldn't live in a world without out." The Doctor told her, tears falling from his eyes. Rose was reminded of the Time Line where she failed, how the Doctor had allowed himself to just fade away into nothing until both he and the TARDIS had died. "They're all dead, Rose. My people are all gone. You are the only thing making life worth living."
"Why do we survive?" The Dalek asked him.
"I don't know." The Doctor told it.
"I am the last of the Daleks." The Dalek said.
"You're not even that. Rose was right, her DNA did more than regenerate you. It's changed you, mutated you." The Doctor informed the Dalek cementing what Rose had tried to explain to it earlier.
"Into what?" The Dalek asked.
"Something new." The Doctor told it. "I'm sorry."
"I can feel so many ideas." The Dalek said slowly. "So much darkness. Rose. Give me orders. Order me to die. This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you! Order my destruction!"
"Do it." Rose whispered to it, tears in her eyes.
"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?" It asked her and Rose almost wanted to laugh. This was quickly becoming their inside joke.
"Yes." Rose told it.
"So am I." The Dalek informed her. "Exterminate." It said before the shell closed. Rose quickly made her way over to the Doctor. The Doctor pulled her into his arms as she gripped onto him while they watched as the Dalek levitated before the metal balls in the outside of it's bottom half of the shell surrounded the Dalek in an electromagnetic field before the Dalek imploded. Rose buried her head into the Doctor's chest as he buried his nose in her hair.
It was silent between them. They didn't need to speak. There was nothing that they could say that their presence near the other couldn't say. They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a long five minutes, just enjoying being with the others.
"I never did get to take you on that trip." The Doctor muttered causing Rose to give a wet laugh.
"Right now, Doctor, all I want is to go back home to the TARDIS. I want to take a nice, long, relaxing bath with you, before curling up in bed and just staying there, with you, in the TARDIS for the next couple of days." Rose told him.
"I think that can be done." The Doctor told her before he lead them back towards where they had left the TARDIS.
~Replay~
"Little piece of home." The Doctor whispered, his head resting on the outside of the TARDIS, his eyes closed as he took in the feel of her in his mind while he lovingly stoked her. "Better than nothing."
"Is that the end of it? The Time War?" Rose asked knowing that it was far from over. It wouldn't be over until she became Bad Wolf once more and erased the Daleks on the Game Station.
"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?" The Doctor said dryly as she caught the sound of Adam running up to them. She bit back a groan, knowing that after everything the Doctor had just gone though, he was not going to be happy about having Adam on board. That was if even allowed Adam on board.
Do not worry, My Wolf. The Doctor will allow the boy on, me and Bad Wolf will make sure of it. The TARDIS whispered to her.
"We'd better get out." Adam said coming to a stop next to Rose. She shifted so that she was closer to the Doctor and the TARDIS than Adam. "Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're gonna fill it full of cement, like it never existed!"
"'Bout time." Rose said.
"I'll have to go back home." Adam told her.
"Better hurry up, then." The Doctor growled at him, gaining Adam's attention. "Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours." Rose felt a mental nudge from both the TARDIS and Bad Wolf and knew that it was time to ask for Adam to join them. Rose gently laid her hand on the Doctor's arm, gaining his attention.
"Adam was saying that all his life, he wanted to see the stars." Rose told him, the Doctor's eyes hardened.
"Tell him to go and stand outside, then." The Doctor growled.
"He's all on his own, Doctor. And he did help." Rose heard herself say, the Doctor's eyes flashed in anger.
"He left you down there!" The Doctor reminded her.
"So did you." Rose heard herself remind him and mentally sucked in a breath. "Just one trip? To say 'Thanks'?"
"What are you talking about? We've got to leave!" Adam cried, moving to take Rose's hand and pull her away, but Rose quickly moved her hand out of the way.
"Plus, he's a bit pretty." The Doctor told her glaring at Adam.
"You're the only I've got eyes for." Rose told him honestly, the Doctor smirked at the boy before taking Rose by the hand.
"If he gives us any trouble, I'm tossing him out of the airlock." The Doctor joked as he quickly dug out his TARDIS key and unlocked the door.
"Come along, Adam." Rose called back as she allowed the Doctor to lead her into the TARDIS.
"What are you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking, we're gonna get sealed in!" Adam called from outside the TARDIS as Rose and the Doctor walked up the ramp towards the console.
"So much for that bath." Rose heard the Doctor mutter.
"Come here." Rose said pulling the Doctor towards her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. "It's just gonna be one trip. Not like we're gonna keep him. We'll show him to his guest room, let him get settled, then have that bath. It's not like the TARDIS will allow him to wander around her unaccompanied. Who knows what he'll do."
"Rose? What are you doing standing inside a box?" Adam called out, still outside the TARDIS.
"If he harms my TARDIS, I'll seriously toss him out into a black hole or something." The Doctor told her seriously.
"He's not gonna harm our TARDIS. She won't allow him." Rose told the Doctor before giving him a kiss. She knew the second Adam had stepped into the TARDIS, for the Doctor's hand quickly grabbed her ass possessively as he bent her slightly backwards while deepening the kiss. The Doctor was staking his claim.
"Down boy. We've still got to get Adam settled into his guest room." Rose whispered onto the Doctor's lips as she pulled away.
"It-it's bigger on the inside!" Adam claimed, looking like he was going to faint as he dropped the bags the Rose just noticed he was carrying onto the floor while the TARDIS closed the door behind him.
"At least wait until we get you to your room to pass out. I am not gonna drag your arse to your room." The Doctor growled at him as he quickly set to work in setting them to drift in the Vortex.
"I wasn't going to pass out." Adam told the Doctor defiantly.
"Right, so your knees weren't just shaking and your body wasn't feeling faint. If you're going to waist my time with lying then just stop talking. Follow me, your room temporary room is this way." The Doctor told him as he quickly turned and began to walk towards the hallway that held the guest rooms. Rose had never been down that hallway, not even the first time the Doctor had allowed Adam to travel with them. He had sent her to her room for a nice, relaxing bath. And Jack hadn't been given a room in the guest wing, he had been given his own room near hers and the Doctor's rooms. Rose quickly followed after them, wanting to see what the guest rooms looked like.
They came to a metal, spaceship looking door. The Doctor hit a button and the door slid upwards, like one would expect a door to do on a spaceship. Rose glanced into the room and blinked. It was barely the size of a closet. It had just enough space for a small cot, a small toilet, a tiny sink on the right wall and a small metal table with a metal stool and a tiny locker on the left. Prisoners got more room in their cells than this. Was this how every guest room looked?
No, just Adam's. The TARDIS informed her and Rose nearly laughed.
'You really don't like him, do you?' Rose asked her as she watched as Adam slowly entered the room, looking around in despair at the size of it.
Hate him, really. If he wasn't needed I would never have even allowed him on board. The TARDIS told her.
"Is this my room?" Adam asked.
"Is there a problem with the room?" The Doctor asked.
"It's tiny! There barely enough room for me in it! There's no place to put my clothes! And there's not even a shower!" Adam cried. The Doctor lent forward to stick his head in the room to look around.
"You've got a bed, a toilet, sink, a desk and chair, and even a locker. The communal showers are right across the hall," the Doctor pointed towards the second metal door across the hall, "what more do you need for one trip on the TARDIS?"
"Space to move around?" Adam asked.
"What do you need that for? It's not like you're staying. You're getting one trip and then we're dropping you off home." The Doctor told him. Adam went to argue but was cut off by a loud, angry hum from the TARDIS as she dimmed the lights. "Right, its your curfew. Good night." The Doctor pulled his head out of the room and shut the door, locking it.
"Don't I get to have a shower?" Adam called through the door after trying, and failing, to get the door to open.
"You wasted the time you could have had to shower by complaining." The Doctor told him.
"You can't leave me locked in here like some prisoner!" Adam yelled.
"When there's someone available to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't do anything to my ship, then the door will be unlocked." The Doctor informed him.
"'When there's someone available to keep an eye on me'? I'm not some child that need a babysitter! And anyway, why can't you or Rose 'keep an eye on me'?" Adam asked angrily causing the Doctor to smirk.
"Because I'm about to take Rose back to our room, run her a nice relaxing bath. After our bath, I'm then gonna take her to our bed and fuck her until she can't walk anymore." The Doctor said causing Rose to blush and her lower lips clench at the thought of him inside her. Without another word, the Doctor took Rose by the hand and led her out of the guest wing and to their room, where the TARDIS had a nice relaxing bath waiting for them.