The Devil in the Garden

by DonnaForPresident

Set after Journey's End. The Doctor never gets the chance to leave Rose and the Metacrisis behind in Norway. Instead, the three of them become stranded on an alien desert world where nothing is as it seems. Amidst shadows and monsters, will the Doctor and Rose finally find their happy ever after? Or will the secrets that threaten this world tear them apart for good?

29. Cry Wolf

CHAPTER 29. CRY WOLF

The floor suddenly buckled beneath their feet.

'Get out!' Rose threw her full weight into the Doctor and shoved him out of the way just as the floor cracked open and collapsed. No more than a second later an explosion of light seemed to split the room in two. Rose squeezed her eyes shut against the blinding glare. She heard the Doctor calling out, but the light had momentarily blinded her. She felt herself being lifted to her feet.

'Rose, look.'

She managed to focus just in time to see the Doctor point the sonic at the now exposed structures inside the basement. The dust was still settling but the metal beams glowed red with a fierce energy. In the centre of the room she could make out a figure. It was Adam. He sat on all fours, coughing and retching from the transition. Rose remembered that it had felt like being turned inside out, but only for a few seconds. Adam looked up. His face was contorted with anger and from his throat came a sound more like a growl than anything human.

Rose simply stared at Adam, finding it difficult to believe what she was seeing. The Doctor was already busy clearing the stone steps of debris so he could descend.

'Doctor, what are you doing? Stay away from him!'

He had almost descended the final step when Adam suddenly leaped up and lunged. Then there was another flash and a cry of pain as Adam was propelled backwards against the floor.

'A force field,' Rose muttered. She stared down into the basement. 'You've created a prison.' She quickly made her way down to the Doctor. Adam was face down on the floor. As he turned on his side, Rose was shocked by the transformation. The darkness in his face had gone, and he looked very much like the Doctor again. His eyes were large with fear and confusion. He tried to speak but had trouble forming the right words. Adam finally mouthed a single word.

'Rose…'

She took a single step forward, but the Doctor's hand closed around her arm, holding her back.

'Don't let him fool you,' he said.

'I don't believe he's faking it. Look at him, that force field must have affected the Shadow.'

The Doctor released her arm and she turned back to Adam. By now he had pulled himself up to a sitting position, arms hugging his legs, his entire body visibly shaking. Rose kneeled on the dirt floor. Adam looked up and slowly mouthed her name again. For a moment Rose let herself believe that the Shadow had been destroyed. Adam edged closer, still having trouble speaking, but he was clearly trying very hard.

His voice was only a raspy whisper. 'It… It's still here. Inside me.'

Rose looked up at the Doctor as he stood there, watching his double in stoic silence.

'I can feel it eating away at me,' Adam said. 'Please kill me now. If… if it takes over again it will escape and destroy everyone. I know what it wants.'

Rose shook her head. 'No. We're going to save you. The Rift has been secured. The Shadow can't get to it anymore.'

Adam looked from Rose to the Doctor, his expression a weird mix of despair and anger. 'The Object…' he stuttered, 'it's a weakness.' He looked back to Rose, clearly wanting to say more, but a violent tremor ripped through him, rendering him mute.

'Doctor,' she called, 'he's in pain. Can't you do something?'

'He's fighting it,' the Doctor said. 'It won't last long.'

The tremor subsided as quickly as it had come and Adam lay still, unconscious. Rose felt hot anger curl against her skin. Her own inadequacy was bad enough, and now the Doctor's stoic refusal to act made it worse. 'What did he mean by 'weakness'?' she said.

The Doctor didn't answer.

From inside the prison came a growling noise. Rose turned back and what she saw horrified her. The darkness had returned and the Shadow had taken control of Adam's body once again. Despite his terrible physical state, the Shadow seemed to give his body an unnatural strength. Adam stood up with ease and turned to the Doctor. He smiled then, a terrible mocking grin, aimed squarely at the Doctor.

'You're a coward,' Adam said. 'A coward and a liar, not even capable of being honest to yourself.'

'Don't listen to him,' Rose said. She tried to pull the Doctor away, but he kept his eyes fixed on the creature inside the prison.

'Maybe,' said Adam, 'you should kill yourself.' He grinned. 'Get it? 'Yourself'?' He laughed again, finding his own joke hilarious. Rose felt her skin crawl as Adam's gaze turned to her. She knew this wasn't him, but her body instinctively recoiled.

'I know about you and him,' Adam said. 'I've seen you together, all over each other, like animals, writhing and moaning.'

Rose laughed. She didn't even think about it, the giggles simply springing from her throat. Adam looked disturbed.

'You know what I think?' she said, 'You've spent so much time in the dark, you've forgotten what it is like to actually live. Oh, you cling to it, but there's no memory anymore of what it really means. You see others walk in the light and it burns inside you. The hurt. The jealousy.'

Adam roared, or rather, the shadow behind his eyes did. Rose still clung to the idea that they would be able to free him, but time and chances were rapidly running out.

'You're all going to die,' Adam shouted.

The Doctor suddenly whipped out the sonic and aimed it at the beams. The force field crackled and Adam screamed, in pain this time. The Doctor showed no sign of relenting.

'Doctor, stop! You're killing him.'

The whir of the sonic abruptly ended. Inside the prison Adam lay on his side, one arm outstretched. He was still conscious, but barely. The Shadow had been temporarily silenced. The Doctor stared at him, equal parts revulsion and pity playing across his face.

'He'll make it,' the Doctor said. 'He's only stunned.'

Not thanks to you, Rose thought. The Doctor's callousness was getting to her.

'What did he mean when he talked about the Object?'

'He probably meant it's extremely dangerous. The Shadow knows that the Object can be used to defeat him, but that would be at great cost to everyone. Too great a cost.'

The Doctor turned away and walked out, unable to face his double any longer. He'd had trouble looking at Adam before, but now he found it near-impossible to acknowledge the creature that bore his face. As he made his way outside, the Doctor was reminded of an earlier vision. Was it really Adam in that prison, or perhaps a reflection of his own twisted self? There was something wrong, but he couldn't see it. The uncertainty was beginning to wear on him. He reached up and massaged his right arm, trying to find some relief from the ache that had been nagging at him for a while now. It had to be some sort of injury from his fall, earlier. He removed his jacket and pulled up his sleeve. Even in the half-dark, the purple lines on his skin were clearly visible. A rush of abject terror made his hearts skip. His mind refused to understand the truth, but realisation was rapidly sinking in.

The Doctor heard Rose coming and quickly yanked down his sleeve. He had no conscious desire to hide from Rose again, only an overwhelming need to ignore the truth.

'There's not much time left,' Rose said. 'We need to find a way to kill the Shadow. Is there any chance we can save Adam as well?'

There is now, the Doctor thought, but he didn't want to lie any more than speak the truth. If only he could just pretend that everything was all right, only for a few minutes more.

'I will fetch the TARDIS first.' He looked at Rose then rushed off, leaving her behind looking a bit shocked.

~x~

Rose had returned to the house and sat beside Adam's prison. He was still in the same position, lying on the dirt floor, unconscious. He even looked peaceful. Rose felt strangely glad for this. At least he didn't have to suffer for now, not until he woke up again. She had no idea what would happen to him once this was all over. Could he even have a future, knowing his past? Looking at Adam, Rose was again amazed how much he resembled the Doctor. She wondered how much of his mind, his personality, would still be like the Doctor's once he was cured. Or perhaps, he'd become an entirely different person by now.

Rose felt the guilt bubble up inside her at the thought of how cruelly they had treated him—the Doctor and her both, being so self-involved that they never even noticed his struggle until it was too late. It wouldn't surprise her if he wanted to run far away from them.

The one thing she could do now was hope for a kinder future for this man that she still loved. The only person she wanted to be with was the Doctor, but she couldn't ignore what Adam had been, and perhaps still was.

Outside, the sound of the TARDIS materialising rose to a wheezing pitch. As usual, the familiar sound created a hope inside the pit of her stomach. They would find a way to save Adam and to go home again. She just couldn't believe anything else.

The wheezing died down and seconds later the Doctor came rushing down the stone steps. Rose's heart sank when she saw how grave he looked.

He didn't waste time. 'We can expel the Shadow by powering up the force field, but he's only held in check now by his host. As soon as Adam is free, that thing is going to use all its strength to destroy the prison.'

Rose shook her head. 'But when he gets out, he'll try to possess you.'

'No,' the Doctor said. His voice was calm. Too calm, Rose thought.

The Doctor looked at her, his eyes conveying that strange dispassionate stare. 'No,' he repeated, 'it won't. That creature will find some other way to reassert itself, perhaps even attacking the Rift, but he won't come after me. I'm not what it wants anymore.'

Inside the prison, Adam had regained consciousness. He was now on his feet and watching them like a caged tiger. His eyes shot to the Doctor who held the subdermal injector just out of sight. Once the treatment entered Adam's system, the Shadow would have no choice but to abandon his victim. The Doctor covertly handed her the small injector and she almost felt it burn in her hand. Adam didn't have a clue about the plan, she was sure of that. If it went wrong, she would be the one who killed him.

Adam suddenly scoffed. 'That is one ridiculous plan, even for you.' He looked at the Doctor. 'What are you going to do, watch me die of boredom?'

'Nope,' the Doctor said. He took out his sonic and aimed it at the point where the lines of the force field met, amplifying it. A shock wave rippled through the prison and Adam began to convulse as the energy was drained from him. He fought it for a few moments, then slumped to his knees and fell to the ground.

With a single buzz the Doctor deactivated the force field and Rose stepped inside. She quickly administered the injection and stepped out again. The Doctor immediately reactivated the prison and it crackled into place once more. Adam lay still as a corpse now. Rose feared it was already too late. Then, his body suddenly began to convulse. Rose could do nothing but watch. After a few seconds, the convulsions subsided and Adam crawled to his knees.

'Come on,' the Doctor muttered, 'stop fighting it.'

Adam's body seemed to fluctuate somehow, almost as if moving from one state of being to another. Rose couldn't tear her eyes away from the terrible spectacle. All of a sudden, Adam let out a terrible scream and without warning the force field exploded outwards. Rose instinctively dropped to the floor, dragging the Doctor with her. A cloud of light and dust surged where only seconds ago the prison had been, a mad vortex, raging and twisting. There was nothing to stop it now and the Shadow rushed past them and up into the night sky.

Rose scrambled to her feet and rushed towards the destroyed prison. Adam was still there, lying very still, eyes closed, his clothing singed with a small trickle of smoke coming off of it. He was alive and there were no visible wounds, for which Rose was immensely grateful. The Doctor quickly checked him over.

'No traces of Time Lord DNA anymore. One hundred percent human now. The Shadow won't be able to use him as a host ever again.'

'We should take Adam to the Sacred House,' Rose said. 'Sunaq once told me that the Sisterhood doesn't take their orders from the Main Temple and that they've helped the shapeshifters in the past. They must know what is going on.'

~x~

The Doctor landed the TARDIS near the Sacred House, and they quickly brought Adam inside. The sisters were a bit puzzled, but they were still welcoming. He quickly explained the situation, at least as best he could without going into too much detail.

'He's nothing more than a wounded man now,' the Doctor added. The head-priestess was an intelligent woman in her late sixties, her manner friendly but concerned.

'We'll be back as soon as possible,' Rose assured.

The priestess looked at them questioningly. 'Doctor, will you be able to help?'

The Doctor tried to sound more confident than he felt. 'I've seen the future. There's nothing there that I want to see repeated.'

The priestess took Rose's hand. 'So many sacrifices,' she said softly, 'so much suffering.'

The Doctor looked down at his shoes. 'I have to go check on Donna.'

The moment the doors closed behind them, the Doctor rushed past the console and towards the stasis room. To his massive relief Donna's pod was intact, but it was teetering on the edge of a major malfunction.

'These things are utter trash. Never buy anything at knock-off prices.' He quickly realised he was talking to himself, so he shut up and focused on stabilising the pod. To his growing annoyance, it proved harder than he thought. Life signs were dropping and it seemed like Donna was having trouble breathing. His annoyance threatened to become a full-fledged panic. What a brilliant Time Lord he was, unable to fix even a basic stasis pod. He stopped and refocused.

There was really only one thing he could do now.

He clicked the release and the pod began to open. As soon as the lid had opened far enough, he took Donna out and placed her on the floor. She was dying, now. Fortunately he was the Doctor, and he always had a last trick up his sleeve. At least, he hoped he did. He touched his fingers to Donna's temple and focused his mind. For a moment nothing happened, then a yellow-orange light began to grow, surrounding Donna. A wave of dizziness made everything spin as he tapped into his regenerative energy, transferring it. Focus, he told himself. Too little and Donna would still die, too much and it would be the last thing he ever did. Donna wasn't a telepath, but the Doctor was able enough to feel her mental and physical strength return in leaps and bounds. Her eyelids began to flutter and he withdrew his hand, severing the connection. His shoulders slumped and for a moment he feared he would pass out.

Donna let out a sigh and clutched at her forehead. She looked up at the Doctor, then smiled widely.

'Hell yeah,' she said. 'I'm back!'

'How do you feel?'

'Super!' She scrambled up from the floor. 'And, I also actually remember how to fly this thing, plus a whole lot of other stuff.'

'You won't have to be afraid of your mind overloading again.'

'What did you do, then? Not that I wouldn't understand, because I do, but with being unconscious and all…'

'I gave you part of my regenerative energy. It changed your physiology. You're only about zero point eight percent less human than before, but it's just enough to make it count. The Doctor Donna.' He grinned.

'Fantastic! How long was I out? Did I miss anything this time?'

The Doctor drew in a deep breath. 'That's... quite a long story. I suggest that we go back to the Sacred House and Rose can tell you herself.'

Rose had just checked up on Adam when she saw Donna come through the doorway.

'You're alive!' She dropped the stack of blankets she'd been carrying and pulled her friend into a bear hug.

'And still the improved me.'

Rose laughed and the two friends squealed with joy. She then looked over Donna's shoulder. 'Where's the Doctor?'

'Dunno, still in the TARDIS I guess. What's up with you two, anyway? I have this memory of talking to him, but it's a bit blurry.'

'Did he say anything, just now?'

'Not really. Is there a problem?'

'I think he's going to do something terribly dangerous.' Rose hesitated. 'I don't know what to do.'

Donna heaved a sigh. 'Can't believe that man.' She nudged Rose in the shoulder. 'Well, off you go, then. Go and stop him!'

Rose looked at Donna one last time, then ran towards the TARDIS.

~x~

Rose swung open the TARDIS door and hurried up the ramp. There was no one there. She quickly checked the internal scanners and located the Doctor somewhere she didn't expect him: her old room. She hesitated for a moment, paralysed by a terrible sense of foreboding. She turned from the console and sprinted into the corridors. She could have sworn that her room used to be farther away, but perhaps the TARDIS had moved it closer.

The Doctor stood in the room, holding a photograph of them both, and he was staring at it pensively. He startled as he heard her approach and quickly put the frame back on the night table.

'I'm sorry,' he said.

'Why? It's your TARDIS.' She could have said something nicer, but she didn't feel like it.

The Doctor looked away. 'Right.' He made to leave, still avoiding eye contact. Rose took a step to the left, blocking his path.

The Doctor rolled up his sleeve and held up his arm. Rose instantly grew cold. The Shadow Plague was all over his skin.

'But you can't... ' she muttered. 'I mean, I found the cure for you. We just have to get more.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'It's not a new infection. It's the same illness that never went away. What you gave me should have worked, but apparently I'm one of those Time Lords who don't respond to any cure.'

Rose forced herself out of the shock. 'Then there has to be another cure somewhere. Last time we were almost too late, but we have time now. It can be done. We just have to get out of here and find some planet where they know about this stuff.'

'The Shadow was a Time Lord once. I'm not going to sit around, waiting to become like him. And even if we did have time, Adam doesn't have that luxury.' The Doctor hesitated. 'I'm going to use the Object.'

Rose stared at the Doctor, almost dumbstruck, fully aware what he meant to say but refusing to believe it. 'Okay, hold on for a moment. You're going to activate an ancient Time Lord device? The one that you know will probably kill you?' She spread her hands wide. 'Are you insane?'

'In the best case scenario, I will just regenerate.'

'And how is that any better?'

The Doctor raised his chin, a gesture that indicated he had made up his mind and wasn't going to listen, no matter how much she argued. 'No, you're right,' he said. 'It's not any better. You're human, and you will come to hate my next incarnation, even if you don't believe so now.'

'That's stupid. Of course I won't.'

'Honestly, will you ever be able to look at that person without resenting the life he has?'

'You'll still be the Doctor.'

'Yes,' he said, 'but it won't be me. I will be dead.' He clenched his jaw and looked down at his feet. 'Best to end it now. I'm actually giving you a ticket out of this life, Rose. You should grab it with both hands and not look back. Not for a single second.'

A great gaping hole was opening up beneath her, sucking in all the emotion except anger. Anger fuelled the part of her that still wanted to fight.

'After everything we shared, everything that was said, all the promises, you're still afraid to trust me?' She heard herself speak, but the sound seemed to come from somewhere else entirely. 'You can't just leave me like this. Not again.' The Doctor had withdrawn behind a blank mask. Rose's anger turned to despair and she was ready to play dirty. She drew herself up. 'So why even pretend to care? Why go through the motions, make me believe I meant something to you? It's just a case of the stupid ape again, isn't it?'

A glimmer of emotion broke through, but only for a moment, then the mask was back in place. 'There's no other way,' he said.

The sound of her heart pounding in her ears drowned out his words. He was going to sacrifice himself. That was all she could think of.

'No,' Rose said, her voice nearly breaking. 'You're not going to leave. You can't.' She had expected him to continue his distant behaviour, so she was shocked to see tears in his eyes. It broke her heart all over again. 'I know you think you don't have a choice, but you're the Doctor. Why won't you even try to come up with another solution? Why do we always have to end up like this?' She opened her mouth to say more, but the words were dying along with her hopes.

'Rose... Listen, I can't... This is not to hurt you. I need everyone to live. I need you to live.'

The Doctor took a step forward and let his fingers slide along her temple and into her hair, pushing it away from her face. 'Remember what you promised me, that night you brought the cure?'

'I told you we're going to be together forever.'

'Yes, and it's still true.'

'Say it then, that you will come back.'

'I'll come back to you, Rose. I will always come back.'

Rose nodded through her tears. 'And we'll be fine, won't we?'

'Yes. Always. We'll go to Jarax and eat cake, and then visit the gardens on Chimeria.'

He drew her closer to him, until they were face to face. His mouth then touched hers, and she pushed into it. There was a desperate quality to his kiss, an intensity that rushed through her body like a wildfire. The Doctor deepened the kiss, and Rose suddenly realised how much she had needed this. She felt it taking them over.

'Tell me again, Doctor.'

'We're never going to stop, Rose. Not us, not ever.'

'Never... ' She moaned as he pulled her tightly against him and she ground her lower half against his front.

He answered by literally sweeping her off her feet and carrying her the short distance to the bed. He placed her on her back and leaned over, one knee brought up beside her hips, his groin pressing hard against her thigh, allowing her to feel the extent of his arousal. His mouth found hers again and she lifted her face to meet him. She was almost frantic by now, no longer satisfied with his lips as she dipped her head lower to draw a path of open-mouthed kisses along his throat. Then he suddenly slowed down.

Even without the bond, she already felt his mental resolve waver, about to end this on whatever excuse he could come up with. She simply couldn't let him speak, because she knew he would be right and that meant she had to let him go. Even the thought of endangering her own sanity wasn't enough to make her stop. It was simply too late to care.

She lifted her leg just a fraction, rubbing it against his hardness. He moaned against her neck and Rose repeated the movement, her hands aiding her as she clasped his bum and squeezed it, melting away any lingering resistance on his side.

With that, the floodgates were opened.

With a deep growl, the Doctor raised himself up and yanked her trousers down over her hips. Everything became a blur as they made short work of each other's clothing, not even taking the time to undress fully, the only aim to touch bare skin and find that blessed release. By the time the Doctor's trousers were gone and his shirt half undone, Rose couldn't remember where her own knickers had landed. With her T-shirt pushed up above her breasts, all she cared about was his mouth suckling her flesh, lapping at it, her breasts filling his palms. His tongue flicked over the hard peaks of her nipples and she cried out for more.

She lifted her legs to let him know how much she craved feeling him inside, but he had other plans. With one quick move he turned her on her stomach, then pulled up on her hips. She got her knees beneath her and grabbed the headboard, creating space for his hands to roam everywhere he could reach. His fingers slipped between her legs, sliding through her damp curls. Soon, even this was no longer enough.

'More,' she gasped. 'I need you. Now.'

He didn't hesitate and grabbed hold of her hips. She spread her knees wider to receive him, then groaned as he thrust upwards, filling her completely. His fingers dug into her flesh as he pumped into her core, hard and fast, their bodies and minds merging, finally together again, one last time.

Every sensation, every move, every second that they were joined, it would never be enough. Rose released the headboard and leaned down on all fours, now fisting the bed sheets as the Doctor hit another spot deep inside that made her want to cry out at him to go faster. She didn't want this to be over and any second they slowed down reminded her of the terrible farewell that was coming, but she needed him to make her forget. She broke then, hot tears dripping down on her hands.

He immediately slowed down and Rose sensed his turmoil, even as she was facing away from him. He slipped free and she turned around. 'There's nothing wrong,' she said, then touched his cheek. 'It's just… I need to see your face. Your beautiful face.' The Doctor drew closer and kissed her softly, infinitely tender, but it only lasted a moment. Below the surface, their needy desires where still churning like a maelstrom. He held her upright as she straddled his thighs, aligning their cores and she eased herself down, taking him in once more. He clutched her buttocks with both hands and she steadied herself, holding his shoulders. This time he didn't thrust, instead setting up a slow grinding rhythm, watching her intently as they moved together.

His eyes were dark and hooded and Rose wanted to see him spiral further out of control, to see that glorious look on his face as she showed him how much she loved him. The tears were still falling, but she wanted to lose herself in him again and not be reminded of the end. The new pace was beginning to drive them on, her current position allowing her to set the rhythm, and her breath came out in ragged gasps.

She could have taken her fill, right then and there, but she already knew she was holding back—and he knew it, too. They could have stayed like this forever, trapped in an eternal limbo of need, unable to let go because it would mean the end of everything. But she had them balancing on a precipice and they needed to fall. The Doctor lifted her from his lap and lay her onto her back. She gazed up at him as he spread her wide with his hips and pushed his hard length inside.

It was such a perfect fit, she almost climaxed on the spot.

'Not yet,' he begged, then grasped her hip tighter as he intensified the pace and she held on to him for dear life.

The Doctor's mind was suddenly there, guiding her, extending his love, letting it diminish the sadness and heighten the pleasure until it filled them, even threatening to overflow.

She was already accustomed to feeling him inside, but now she threw her head back as he started pounding into her body as well as her thoughts and feelings. With every movement, his grip on her mind grew tighter, until the pressure began to grow painful. Still, the pleasure he was giving her made it possible to ignore the dull ache in her head.

She heard her own voice urging him on, her climax right there within her grasp once more, building higher and higher as they clung to each other. His pleasure, his desperation and his love for her all mingled together with her own raging emotions.

The pressure on her mind only grew as the Doctor continued to pump into her. She had welcomed it at first, needing it to make her feel. Now the strain was becoming nearly unbearable, overwhelming and all-consuming. She fought against it, every fibre of her being wanting them to finish together. One second she teetered on the edge, the next moment his mind withdrew and the pressure in her head was gone.

Rose forced sound from her throat. 'No… Don't…'

The Doctor was still hard inside her and he quickly began thrusting again, this time aimed solely at her own physical pleasure, every muscle straining as he desperately tried to hold back his own need. He had become a stranger having sex with her, a body made to please.

She was too far gone to prevent the storm from overtaking her, and her nails dug into his biceps as her inner muscles spasmed around him in a shuddering climax. The Doctor kept himself braced on his arms and continued to rock into her, slowly bringing her down, until the shivers finally subsided and she was able to stretch her legs along his.

Neither of them uttered a word as he quietly slipped from her and rolled over, lying on his side as he tried to regain his breath, one hand still touching her arm. Rose shut her eyes tightly, holding on to the feeling of her still throbbing core. Even now, her body was already aching for him, for what she knew they could never have again. She turned on her side, unwilling for him to see her cry. She wanted to shout and scream at him, don't go, don't leave me, but her mind had gone numb. Behind her, she heard him search for his discarded clothes. Come back don't leave me go away never come back.

Then the door closed behind him and she was alone.