Seventeen
'Hiding in a Church'
- aka Fathers' Day (Part Two)
Darkness shrouded the church as the doors closed and a nervous silence rippled among the guests as they listened to the screeching and flapping of the aliens outside. There were a few tense moments where the Doctor was looking around almost frantically just waiting for them to appear out of thin air inside the church and attack again. But they didn't.
They flew past the high windows, their large figures imposing, but they made no visible attempt in trying to break in.
"They can't get in," The Doctor said, cutting through the silence as he followed the shapes of the aliens from outside. "Old windows and doors. Ok? The older something is, the stronger it is. What else?"
One of the aliens screeched loudly, forcing the Doctor into action as he began to move around the space of the church, checking all possible access points as he went. "Go and check the other doors. Move!" He ordered, pointing at Jackie.
The woman followed after him as he made his mad dash around the church, clearly not listening to his instructions. "What's happening? What are they?"
"There's been an accident in time. A wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage," He looked through to one room that was rather empty, noting that there was no exit from it.
Jackie was still following him, wasting his time while she should be doing what he asked. She was just as confrontational as ever, just as doubtful of him. Of course she was.
"What d'ya mean 'time'? What're you jabbering on about 'time'?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Oh I might've known you'd argue. Jackie, I'm sick of your complaining -"
"How d'you know my name?" Jackie screeched with wide eyes. As if he didn't have enough problems at the moment and now he has to add Rose's mother on that list.
"I haven't got time for this -"
" - I haven't met you in my life!" She insisted.
"No, and you never will unless I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this. Jackie Tyler. Do as I say. Go and check the doors!"
Jackie took a step back, followed the arm that was pointing in the other direction and gave him a reluctant nod, seemingly put back in her place for now. "Yes sir," She said lowly, moving away from him.
Ella walked over to him then from the direction that Jackie was moving to and he pinned her with an excitable grin because for once the woman had listened to him instead of talking his ear off.
"I should've done that ages ago," He told Ella, still grinning.
She looked over her shoulder and then spoke to him with a quiet voice, like she didn't want what she was about to say to carry through the silence of the church. "I already checked those doors."
"Oh well," He replied, shrugging nonchalantly. At least it got her off his back for a minute and gave him time to think.
But it seemed like everyone was lining up to interrogate him on what was happening because the groom moved forward then with one of those old brick cordless telephones. He was nervous, shuffling on his feet when the Doctor looked at him inquisitively.
"My dad was out there," His voice shook with emotion.
"You can mourn him later," The Doctor said, trying not to sound too callous but they needed to stay calm and he needed room to think. That couldn't happen if he was surrounded by a bunch of hysterical humans. "Right now we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive."
"My dad had -"
The Doctor put up his hand to silence the man. "There's nothing I can do for him," He said, putting it as bluntly and as clearly as he possibly could.
The man just shook his head and held up the phone. "No, but he had this phone thing. I can't get it to work. I keep getting this voice."
Snatching the thing out of his hands, the Doctor lifted it to his ear, listening intently. A smile shot to his lips as he heard the voice and he pointed to the phone. "That's the very first phone call. Alexander Graham Bell."
"What, like a recording?" Ella asked from his side.
The Doctor nodded, a grim look falling onto his face when he handed the phone back over. "I don't think the telephone's gonna be much use."
"But someone must've called the police," The man insisted.
Turning away from the door he was tugging on to test its strength, the Doctor shook his head. "The police can't help you now. No one can. Nothing in this universe can harm those things. Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilise the wound...by consuming everything inside."
He spared a look at Ella who was standing closer by him next to a row of pews and then made his way to Rose. Surely the blonde would have to realise why this was happening by now. This is what happens when you try and change a fixed point in time. Everything collapses in on itself, trying to even out the imbalance that changing the course of time created. Judging by the way Rose gulped and stuttered her way through her question he gathered she was beginning to understand the sheer intensity of their situation.
"Is this because…is this my fault?" Rose asked.
He didn't warrant the question with an answer, simply brushing past her to continue his search.
It was Pete Tyler of all people that followed him out the back, peering out at the city through the windows just as the Doctor did. He, unlike some of the humans taking refuge in the church, didn't seem too freaked out.
"There's smoke coming up from the city but no sirens," Pete said, looking over at the Doctor. "I - I don't think it's just us. I think these things are all over the place. Maybe the whole world."
Out the window the same brown car destined to kill Rose's father appeared with a flash of light and raced around the corner, all screeching tires and everything before it disappeared again. The thing was following them, attached to the man who was supposed to die. The Doctor could think of one easy solution to this problem...Pete dying like he was supposed to.
It was a tempting thing to do. Save the planet and then convince Rose to understand his reasonings later. He'd lose Ella and Rose's trust easily by condemning a man to death but wouldn't it be worth it? They'd still be alive.
And then he thought back to his entire planet burning. If he was able to find a way to save them, he would without a second thought. There must be a way for him to figure this out without death. He just needed some time to sort through all of his mounting thoughts.
Pete Tyler narrowed his eyes out at the view of the street. "Was that a car?" He asked.
"It's not important," The Doctor assured, slipping past the man and moving out of the room. "Don't worry about it."
Balanced against the railing leading up to the altar, Rose stared at the large cross in the middle of the table. She'd never been a religious person, only being dragged along by her mother on Easters and Christmases and even then it had been a drag, but she was praying for help now. Help to solve this thing, help her to do the right thing and to get her friends back.
The Doctor couldn't even look at her and Ella was practically avoiding her. She'd gone and messed it all up. And now they were going to die and it was all her fault. The guilt was eating her alive.
A shadow of a figure lingered in the doorway caught her attention through her tears, and she hastily wiped at her cheek with the back of her hands to try and pull herself together. It was her father, walking towards her uncertainly. Even he didn't trust her and she'd saved his life.
"This mate of yours…" Her father said, stopping by the stairs and Rose walked closer to him. "What'd he mean this is your fault?"
Rose shrugged. "Dunno. Just everything."
"I gave you my car keys. You don't give your keys to a complete stranger."
Rose felt like a complete stranger to him. How could he know her, he never got to see her grow up and even now as she stood right in front of him, he just looked straight through her. But he was questioning her now and she didn't know which one was worse.
"It's like I trusted you," He continued. "Moment I met ya. I just did...A wound in time...you called me dad. I can see it. In my eyes. Jackie's attitude...you sound like her when you shout."
He reached a hand out, fingers stroking the side of her face exactly the way she used to imagine it. Rose choked on her tears, closing her eyes and leaning into her dad's touch. She was probably breaking some other massive time travel rule by letting him figure everything out but at this point she didn't care. It was nice to be recognised.
She was quick to grab his hand and bring it back to her face when he went to move and that was enough confirmation for her father to know who she was. His eyes widened and if Rose looked close enough she could see a tiny tear forming in his eyes.
"You are," He breathed with certainty. "You are. You're my Rose. You're my Rose grown up," He pulled her into a hug, the embrace warm and comforting and she held onto him tightly, letting herself cry.
"Dad. My dad...my daddy."
A reaper smashed against the set of main doors, the sound reverberating around the church. Who knows how long they have before they manage through, or some idiot opens the door. The Doctor felt like he was running out of time as he made his way over to one of the doors and began running his sonic over the frame. It was a simple distraction from really thinking of a plan, because every time he even touched on the topic he drew a blank.
"Excuse me...Mr…." The groom called out to him, two sets of footsteps echoing over to him.
"Doctor," The Doctor filled in shortly, not bothering to turn around to greet them, he was too busy.
"You seem to know what's going on."
"I give that impression, yeah."
In reality, he couldn't think of anything to do, any way to help except for checking the doors and windows, keeping them locked safely inside.
"I just wanted to ask -"
"- Can you save us?" The bride cut in, sounding anxious.
At that, the Doctor stopped his sonic screwdriver, tucking it into his pocket as he made his way closer to them. They were standing close together, clearly caring for each other greatly, and the woman had a hand poised on the bulge of her stomach.
"Who are you two then?"
"Stuart Hoskins."
"Sarah Clark."
The Doctor nodded down to her growing stomach. "And one extra, boy or girl?"
"I dunno," Sarah said, giving her stomach a rub over the beaded fabric of her flowing wedding dress. "I don't want to know, really."
"How'd all this get started?" He asked.
They shared a glance, looking at one another like they'd known each other their entire life. They could hold a conversation with even the simplest of looks. The Doctor missed having someone like that in his life.
"Outside the Beatbox Club, two in the morning…" Stuart started, looking at his partner to take over.
"...Street corner, I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi…"
A little smile appeared over Stuart's face at the memory and he blushed. "...I took her home."
"Then what?" The Doctor inquired genuinely. "Asked her for a date?"
Sarah smiled, a little emotionally too. "Wrote his number on the back of my hand," She recalled.
"Never got rid of her since. My dad said…" Stuart's face fell. He was the one that lost his father earlier outside of the church and while the Doctor had told him to focus on making sure they were safe, it seemed to still be affecting him greatly.
Sarah's eyes watered and she bit her lips as it trembled. Shakily, she reached out and grabbed for her to-be-husband's hand and ran her fingers over the back of it, offering her support. When she turned back to the Doctor she was well on her way to crying, the sound of a wailing Reaper outside only adding to her scaredness.
"I don't know what this is all about, and I know we're not important -"
"- Who said you're not important?" The Doctor interrupted with incredulity clear in his voice. It was very rare that a human would ever think that of themselves, but grief and the prospect of death does silly things to their minds, gets them all muddled up.
"I've travelled to all sorts of places," He continued softly. "Done things you couldn't even imagine, but...you two. Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes," He said after a short pause, smiling over at them. "I'll try and save you."
His eyes flickered over to Ella by the pews comforting one of the guests.
Some of these people were taking the news better than others. It wasn't their fault, they'd never experienced any of the things Ella had, but their mounting stress wasn't helping anything. The Doctor would figure it out - he always did, and in the meantime they've all just gotta keep their heads, not get too broken up over it.
So Ella had tried to distract herself. She'd checked the doors like the Doctor had asked and then taken to sitting in the rows to try and get out of the Doctor's hair. He had his thinking face on, focused on trying to get them out of the mess Rose had made, and she didn't want to get in the way. And for the most part the people left her alone.
That was until some woman in a bridesmaids dress had come and sat down right next to her and started balling. There was an awkward moment where Ella hesitated, not sure what she should do to help, until she settled with simply putting a hand on her shoulder. The reaction was immediate, the woman sprung forward and trapped Ella in an uncomfortable hug.
The bridesmaid's breath was hot as she blubbered against her neck and her fake nails dug into Ella's arm, twisting and clawing in her emotion. Ella patted her back awkwardly, eyes tracing the length of the church until the landed on the figure of the Doctor, who was staring at her over the shoulders of the bride and groom. They made eye contact and Ella mouthed two words: 'help me'. The Doctor simply smiled, but didn't make any effort to pry the woman off Ella.
It was Jackie that had made her way over with baby Rose in her carrier. She shot Ella a sympathetic glance before placing the baby carrier down on the seat and leant over to pat the sobbing woman's shoulder.
"Come on sweetie, why don't we get you some water, clean that face up?" Jackie suggested kindly, really mothering the woman.
The bridesmaid sat up straighter, releasing Ella in the process and hiccupped over to Jackie, Ella sliding along the wood of the seat to put some distance between the two. Jackie bent over and helped to haul the woman from her seat, who just continued to blubber along the way.
"We're going to die!" The woman exclaimed hysterically, her behaviour only further agitated by one of the massive bat creatures bashing itself into one of the doors with a howl.
Jackie patted her back. "Someone's had a bit too much bubbly," She muttered, before looking over at Ella. "Do you mind watching Rose? Shouldn't be too long."
Ella looked down at the carrier, eyes focused on the alert baby. Baby Rose, the younger version of her supposed friend. She'd rather do this than the drunk lady. She nodded, glancing back at Jackie who was waiting for an answer expectantly. "Sure," She said.
"Cheers," Jackie said with a breath of relief before leading the sobbing woman away.
Inside the baby carrier, Rose stirred slightly, looking anxious at the disappearance of her mother. Her mouth opened and for a second Ella thought she was going to burst out into tears, which would've been just her luck going from one crying person to another, and so when the bottom of the baby's lip began to tremble, Ella quickly went to comfort the girl. She tickled her belly, cooing at her. Soon enough the baby was gurgling little giggles and blowing spit bubbles. It made Ella smile.
"Having fun there?" The Doctor said over her shoulder, the sudden sound of his voice made her jump and she turned slightly to glare at him.
"Thanks for your help back there," She told him, getting more annoyed when he simply grinned at her in response.
He didn't say anything in return and instead moved around the pews to get closer to baby Rose that she was babysitting. She watched as he bent over and began talking to her in that high-pitched voice that every adult ever always adopts when talking to a baby.
"Now Rose, you're not gonna bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?" He asked, his tone growing more serious as he uttered the last two words.
Ella shoved him in the shoulder and gave him a hard look. "You're not supposed to speak to babies like that, it'll ruin their confidence."
A shadow loomed over their shoulders, Rose coming to stand above them a little nervously. Ella spared her a quick look before she was focused back on the baby. At least this little baby version of her didn't understand the concept of saying cruel words.
While Ella was more than comfortable not saying anything to the girl, it was the Doctor who broke the awkward silence. "Jackie gave her to us to look after...how times change."
"I'd better be careful," Rose said, it was obvious that she was trying to keep her voice as light as possible in the face of the building tension. "I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken."
She reached forward to touch the baby, but the Doctor was quick to push her back with his forearm. The aliens outside the church screeched louder than Ella had ever heard them before, as though the action excited them.
"No," He said. "Don't touch the baby. You're both the same person, that's a paradox. We don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. A paradox might let them in."
Well that's great.
"Can't do anything right, can I?" Rose asked smally, emotion dripping from her words. Her eyes were rimmed with red, clearly she had been crying again. There was a split second where Ella caught her eyes - but then she looked away. The reminder that she was alone in the world with no parents and no one to care for hit her in the gut again.
"Since you ask, no. So, don't touch the baby," The Doctor said seriously, pausing between each word to ensure he had pronounced it properly.
Rose held his gaze with a glare. "I'm not stupid," She insisted.
The Doctor scoffed. "You could've fooled me." He paused, the anger seemingly fading from his face. "Alright. I'm sorry. I wasn't really gonna leave you on your own."
"I know," She said with no hesitation.
"Between us," The Doctor said, gesturing softly. "I haven't got a plan. No idea. No way out."
That was not something that Ella wanted to hear from the Doctor.
"You'll think of something," Rose said.
Ella leaned forward, caught the Doctor's eye. "You always do. I mean, you do have a bit of knack for figuring it out very last minute. But you can do it."
The Doctor looked forlorn as he broke eye contact with her and stared down at the thick purple material that the baby carrier was shrouded in. "The entire Earth's been sterilised. This, and other places like it, are all that's left of the human race. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end. The walls aren't that old. And there's nothing I can do to stop them."
He shook his head as though trying to forget a hideous memory. "There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening. My people would've stopped this...but they're all gone. And now I'm going the same way."
"If I'd realised…" Rose started a little helplessly, silencing at the haunted look the Doctor pinned her with.
"Just...tell me you're sorry," He said, because it seemed that if they were all going to die in a matter of moments the Doctor would rather go out knowing he held no grudges against anyone. Ella could see reason in that.
The reply that left Rose's lips was very genuine, her voice breaking slightly. "I am. I'm sorry."
A grin broke out onto the Doctor's face and he maneuvered to pull both women into a hug. Ella placed her hand on his leather jacket clad chest as she leant into the half hug, and maybe she would've stayed like that, resting in that very comfortable position, had something underneath her palm not heat up so quickly and so much that Ella had to draw back in confusion.
"Your jacket's burning," She said.
The Doctor furrowed his brow at her and stuck his hand into the inside pocket, pulling out the offending object. He hissed, tossing a glowing Tardis key onto the ground like it had just burnt him. A laugh rippled from deep within his chest as he shrugged off his leather jacket and then moved to grab up the key. He looked like a kid on Christmas Day.
"It's telling me it's still connected to the Tardis," He said jovially, holding it up and inspecting it in the limited light the church could offer.
Without a second of hesitation he bounded up to the altar, stood before the people and demanded their attention. The key was still firmly locked between his jacket and the Doctors' hand, glowing away brightly. See this is what Ella meant when she said that the Doctor could think of anything. Even when he surely thought they were all going to die he found a way out of it.
"The inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound, but we can use this to bring it back. And once I've got my ship back, I can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?"
Stuart rushed forward with his father's telephone, raising it so the Doctor could see. "This one big enough?" He asked.
The Doctor grinned, moving down the steps to meet the man halfway. "Fantastic."
"Gold ol' dad. There you go," He handed over the battery.
Sonic screwdriver in one hand, and battery and key in the other, the Doctor set to work. "Just need to do a bit of charging up," He said distractedly, the sonic whirring away when he pressed the base of it to the battery. "...And then we can bring everyone back."
Outside, the aliens were gaining intensity at the door. It was like they were gaining energy the longer they were there.
"You uh, you never said why you came here in the first place," Her father said, coming to sit down on a chair next to her. "If I had a time machine, I wouldn't have thought 1987 was anything special. Not 'round here anyway."
"We just ended up here," Rose said, lying through her teeth.
Her father didn't seem to think anything of it. "Lucky for me, eh? If you hadn't been there to save me-"
"-That was just a coincidence," Rose cut him off quickly, too quickly. "That was just really good luck. It's amazing."
Pete Tyler just kept prodding. "So, in the future, um, are me and her indoors still together?"
Rose thought back to all the times she used to obsess over the what ifs if her father was still alive. The way her mother had talked they were destined to be together, so in her eyes they'd be the couple still hanging around together madly in love in their nineties.
So she told him exactly what she thought...just without giving away that he was actually supposed to die. "Yeah."
"You still living with us?"
Unintentionally, Rose's face fell at the reminder that she was nineteen and still had the majority of her belongings at her mother's apartment. Some of it has travelled to the Tardis, but it was barely enough to make a dent in the mess of her room. She could still barely see the carpet whenever she came home for a quick stay, but there was no way in hell she was gonna spend her limited time with her mother cleaning up.
Rose nodded a little reluctantly. "Yep."
Her father almost looked pleased at that answer, and then leaned forward to ask the big questions. "Am I a good dad?"
Rose's heart broke into two at that point. She would never get to know if he was a good father. All she had were lies that she's spun in her mind from the desperation of wanting to have him in her life. And those lies came tumbling out of her mouth like word vomit.
"You...you told me a bedtime story every night, when I was small. You were always there, you never missed one," An emotional smile broke out on her face. She could feel the tears starting up again, as if she had more energy to cry. "And um...you took us for picnics in the country every Saturday. You never let us down. You were there for us all the time. Someone I could really rely on."
Confliction passed over her father's face and after a second of scrutinising every little expression on her face, he shook his head. "That's not me."
Rose shrunk under his gaze. He was catching onto her lies, he was starting to wake up to it all.
It was the unexpected thrumming sound of the Tardis' engines that proved to be a welcome distraction for Rose. If she squinted hard enough into the distance where the Doctor stood, she could see the faint outline of the ship, those same square edges. The Doctor ran to the stage again, began to address everyone.
"Right, no one touches that key! Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be, well, zap!" He said, thrusting his arm out. "Just leave it be, and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us. Stuart, Sarah...you're gonna get married, just like I said."
A silent chatter spread through the crowd as they waited. At the very front of the church stood the Tardis, moving in and out of focus as it tried its hardest to materialise. The Doctor acted like a buffer between her and Rose, though it seemed like he hadn't wanted to be. Rose had been sending her desperate looks from time to time too, the ones that told Ella that she wanted to try and sort everything out. Thing was, Ella wasn't one to let go of things too easily. She was a dweller by nature.
"When time gets sorted out…" Rose's voice cut through the silence as she regarded the Doctor.
"Everybody here forgets what happened," He confirmed. "And don't worry, the thing that you changed will stay changed."
"You mean I'll still be alive," Pete Tyler spoke up from the row behind them. "Though I'm meant to be dead. That's why I haven't done anything with my life, why I didn't mean anything."
"Doesn't work like that," The Doctor said.
"Rubbish. I was so useless I couldn't even die properly. Now it's my fault all this has happened."
Rose rushed forward with such intensity. She wanted to tell her father that he was wrong. "This is my fault."
"No love. I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault."
Jackie, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, let out a gasp at the news. "Her dad? How are you her dad? How old were you, twelve? Oh that's disgusting!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes at the dramatics and leaned over closer to Ella to escape it. "I've said it once and I'll say it again, I want nothing to do with the domestics."
A smirk pulled at Ella's lips as she too lowered her voice so she could speak to the Doctor. "Thank god she won't remember any of this. Could you imagine? She'd die of stress."
He rolled his eyes again, standing from his seat and taking a step away.
"Jacks, listen. This is Rose."
Ella watched as Jackie screwed her face up in disgust. "Rose? How sick is that? Did you give my daughter a second-hand name? How many are there? Did you call them all Rose?"
"Oh for God's sake, look. It's the same Rose," Pete said in annoyance, and Ella only just realised what he was doing when it was too late. He leant over and took the baby from Jackie, passing her over to Rose.
Ella leaned over in her seat, hoping to get there quick enough, making a strained sound just as the Doctor clued on to what was about to happen.
"Rose, no!" He exclaimed, dashing over.
But it was too late. Rose held baby Rose in her arms for a split second before the Doctor yanked her back but that was all it took. An alien appeared within the church, sprung out of mid-air. Screams filled the air because they thought they were safe and suddenly they were thrust into danger again. The Doctor called for everyone to get behind him, stretching his arms out wide and ushering people back behind him as they ran.
Ella watched as the alien creature spread its wings, two large thin arms curled up in its middle. It was dangerous, she'd seen as much when they had devoured some of the guests earlier, but this moment right here, watching the thing flp about, the fear really gripped her now.
"I'm the oldest thing in here," The Doctor declared, he began to walk closer towards the thing. Ella's heart squeezed in terror, wondering what he was about to do.
With an ugly screech, the monster moved forward. It swooped, not stopping once as Rose called out desperately to the Doctor. Ella watched desperately as the Doctor disappeared. The things wings covered him for just a second and then he was gone. There were no shouts of agony, nothing he just...ceased to exist.
It was at that moment that the crowd dispersed, running in every which direction, trying to save themselves but Ella found she couldn't move, stuck staring at the place where the Doctor had once been. A hand slipped into hers, squeezing tightly in the most familiar way. Despite everything, Rose was there, holding her hand.
The monster continued to loop around the building until finally it crashed into the glowing shape of the Tardis and disappeared in a flash of light. The Tardis key that was hovering in the lock, charging the Tardis back into existence, fell to the ground.
Ella rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside the thing. She lifted her key up in her hand but it was cold to the touch. Any charge it had was gone along with the image of the Tardis. They were stuck, No Doctor. No way out. They were just counting down the minutes before the monsters got full access to the church and everyone in it. They'd be torn to shreds in minutes.
"It's cold," She said with a shallow breath as Rose came to a stop next to her. "Key's cold. He's dead...we're dead."
She looked up at Rose, the blonde a blur of emotions. "Oh my god. It's all my fault," She said in realisation, jerkily moving towards Ella and broken key. She dropped down next to Ella, threw her arms around her.
Ella sniffled, tears stinging at her eyes as she leant into Rose's embrace.
Slumped in one of the uncomfortable plastic seats in the church, Ella had the battery from the phone in one hand, and her own Tardis key in the other. She fiddled, pressing the two things together and just hoping that it would sizzle to life and bring the Tardis back. It wouldn't help, she didn't know how to solve any of it but she needed to try something. She couldn't just give up and die like the rest of them.
Rose lowered herself down into the chair next to her, sniffling and sticking her hands in her pockets. Ella spared her a split second look and then returned to trying to get the keys to work.
It seemed that Rose had wanted to take the opportunity to confront Ella, her voice small as she spoke. "I'm sorry."
Ella sighed, dropping the key and battery. "It won't work," She said. "There's really no way out of this one."
"No, Ella, I was wrong," Rose sniffed, running a finger under her nose. "You've been looking after me since day one. You care for the Doctor too. I should've never said that before. Never ever," Ella looked over at her, a little surprised. "I was just...I wanted everything to be perfect. And now we're gonna die because of it."
"The Doctor really cared about you," Pete Tyler interrupted as he came to stand by the two of them. He had his jacket in one hand and was rolling down the sleeves of his purple button up in the other. "He didn't want you to go through it again, not if there was another way. Now there isn't."
Rose stood up from her seat, confused, "What're you talking about?"
"That car that should've killed me, love. It's here," He shrugged on his jacket. There was a watery smile on his face. "The Doctor worked it out way back, but he, um...he tried to protect me."
Oh, Ella thought as she watched the forlorn look on his face. He was going to sacrifice himself, hope that it helped restore what was wrong in the world. And the Doctor had known about it being a solution...but he'd tried to think of another way so that Rose didn't have to give up her father. Not that it mattered anyway, the Doctor was gone and Rose was going to lose her father again despite it all. It really was a lose lose situation.
He made eye contact with Ella then, nodded down at the key and battery she held limply. "And there's no chance of getting that working again?" He asked a little desperately.
She shook her head, her mouth dry with emotion. She didn't want to have to tell the man that death was the only way out of this nightmare. But she didn't have a choice. "We lost the connection. I'm sorry." The man nodded, not seeming surprised.
"Still...he's not in charge anymore," Pete said, straightening his tie nervously. "I am."
"But you can't," Rose protested, sounding like she had started to cry once again.
"Who am I, love?" He reached out, cupped Rose's face in his hand. With his other, he motioned for his hovering wife to join them, she stood off to the side watching the whole thing unfold."
Ella watched a little helplessly as Rose's shoulders began to shake. "My daddy."
"Jackie," The man implored. "Look at her. She's ours."
Jackie stared at Rose like she was trying to realise the connection, until finally her eyes widened and she took in her daughter. "Oh god," She breathed, pulling the girl into a hug, Rose practically falling into it.
"I'm meant to be dead, Jackie," Rose's father stated softly when they pulled away. "You're gonna get rid of me at least."
Jackie shook her head. "Don't say that," She told him desperately.
"For once in your life, trust me. It's gotta be done. You've gotta survive, 'cause you've got to bring up our daughter," He pulled her into a kiss just as the woman began to cry, a lingering moment of love.
Ella felt like she was intruding on the moment between the family, and tried to get up to leave, but it was Rose's hand that caught her wrist that made her stay. She looked down at her hands instead, trying not to ruin the moment.
"I never read you those bedtime stories," Rose's father said with conviction. "I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you."
A sob left Rose's mouth at the confrontation. "You would've been."
"But I can do this for you. I can be a proper dad to you now."
"It's not fair."
Pete smiled a watery smile. "I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that. And on top of that, I get to see you...and you're beautiful. How lucky am I, eh? So, come on, do as your dad says."
Shakily, Rose reached out and grabbed for the vase, holding it in her hands for a second before handing it over. Pete brushed a hand over her hair again, trying his hardest to hold back his tears as his daughter sobbed for him. And then he peered over his shoulder to Ella, fixed his eyes on hers.
"You're gonna look after my daughter?" He asked. "All that time travelling must get dangerous from time to time, yeah?"
Ella nodded, trying to keep her emotions out of her answer. It wasn't her place. "'Course."
Pete looked down at his daughter. "You gonna be there for me?" At her reluctant, teary nod, he pulled her into a final hug. "Thank you for saving me."
At that, he rushed from the church. The aliens screeched at his appearance, and for a second Ella wondered if they were going to devour him like they did everything else but then there was the noise of the car tires screeching, a crash of impact, and the haunting sound of the vase Pete Tyler carried smashing on the road.
Rose shuddered out a breath and Ella followed her as she came to a stop by the door, watching as the hit and run driver pulled the car to a stop and get out, looking down at what he had done in horror. The alien bats had disappeared, and it seemed like everything was returning back to normal.
Ella placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking softly to her friend and urging her to go and do what she needed to do, to be there for him like she should've in the first place. "Be with him," She said, giving her a slight push to get her moving. "Go say goodbye."
That was all it took for Rose to throw herself from the church, running over to her dying father and dropping down to cradle his head. As Ella watched, someone came to stand beside her, a hand pressing itself to hers. She looked over so quickly she could've strained her neck by the way it whipped. The Doctor was back, standing right there next to her, watching the events occur just like she was, watching as the history changed just slightly, but not enough to evoke the alien bats of death.
She'd launched herself at him before she even really knew what she was doing, hands curling around the leather of his jacket and pulling him close. His arms instantly slid around her waist, hands spreading out over her back as he leaned into the embrace.
"Hello," She said finally, pulling away from the hug after a couple of long seconds.
The Doctor smiled. "Hello."
Rose stared at her reflection in her bedroom mirror. Bare faced, eyes puffy and red from crying, Rose felt the most exhausted she had ever felt in her entire life. There was a heavy feeling of dread in her stomach at the thought of having to go out into the console room and face the Doctor and Ella again. While everything was solved and fine now the fact that she let them down still nagged at her.
And there were these memories that weren't hers flooding into her mind, trying to overtake all of the things her mother had told her about her dad before Rose had gone to see him. Where there once was her mother brokenly recounting how they never found the driver, how her father had died alone, was replaced with memories of a woman sitting with him as he died, with the driver stopping and waiting for the police.
Pete Tyler had rushed from that church with no reason to do so, and threw himself in front of a car. He died within minutes, with a woman holding his hand and smoothing back his ginger hair. The memories felt wrong in her mind, an invasion, one that she had to live with for the rest of her life. The guilt that she caused such a massive change weighed heavy on her heart.
She looked to her bed, eyed the bag she'd stuffed with some of her belongings and sighed. She needed to be with her mum right now, needed to sort through everything and get her head on straight. And she couldn't sort through all the muck in her mind with the Doctor constantly hovering, constantly worried that she was going to mess something else up.
She'd lost their trust. That hurt her too.
Moving forward, she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder, taking one last look in the reflection before she shuffled out.
In the console room, Ella was sat on the chair, knees tucked up under her chin and fingers picking at her nails and the Doctor was busying himself under the grating, his sonic screwdriver melding some wires together.
Ella looked up at her appearance, eyes immediately catching the bag Rose held. "What're you…" She trailed off, gesturing a bit hopelessly.
"I wanna go home," Rose said with a small voice. "Just for a few days...just to get my head on straight," She hastened to add after Ella's eyes widened in shock, thinking that she was leaving forever.
The Doctor hummed as he pulled himself up from the grating and moved over to the panel, starting to punch in the coordinates for her home. He couldn't even look at her. "It's a good idea."
The Tardis was pulled into flight, rocking Rose around softly. She could feel Ella staring at her intently, still questioning her. And then, just like that, the ship slowed to a stop and she was home. Her fingers tightened over the strap of her bag and she tried to remind herself that she needed to do this.
"You are coming back right?" Ella asked, standing from her seat, her eyes still locked on her.
Rose nodded. "Yeah definitely, umm…" She looked to the Doctor, not sure if he was going to tell her he would be back in a set amount of days or what. He looked at her blankly.
"Call the Tardis when you're ready to come back," He told her blankly, before looking away once again.
Rose swallowed the hurt and nodded and turned to look at Ella. "Right, well...I'll see you in a few days then," She said.
Ella leaned over, pulling Rose into a hug that the blonde honestly didn't expect to receive. Ella patted her back, once, twice, three times before she pulled away and took a step back.
"I hope you feel better," Ella told her genuinely. Rose mustered a smile.
The Tardis disappeared before her very eyes practically as soon as she stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind her. She sighed, looking back at Powell Estate. If she looked hard enough in the distance to where her apartment was she could see her mother rushing from the front door. There was no turning back now, especially now that her mother had caught sight of her.
She ran her sweaty palms over the back of her jeans, hands sliding over the shape of her mobile phone and then her hands fell short, her touch falling. The other pocket in her jeans was unnaturally empty, usually she would feel the beading of the necklace that had her Tardis key strung up on it, but the denim was smooth to the touch.
The Doctor hadn't given her key back.
A/N
Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I actually had a lot of fun trying to write Rose's family and all the drama so I hope it doesn't suck. Big thank you to the people who have left a review on my story, it encourages me to get these chapters written!
Anyway, thanks for reading!