CHAPTER 31. FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
Rose stared at Nazerra's body, lying crumpled on the floor below. The Doctor's scream still echoed in her head. The Shadow's forceful grip had trapped her against the railing, but the attack on Nazerra had distracted it enough for her to break free. She raced towards the other side of the walkway and the terminal there. It was all in Gallifreyan, the only language the TARDIS could never translate for her. Only then did she find the strength to gaze up at the Doctor. Her heart sank. It had to be too late. His face was ashen, eyes closed, all resistance gone now. The Shadow had lost interest in her and was once again attacking the Object.
She turned back to the terminal, then cursed. If there was any hope of surviving, she needed the Doctor back first. She leaned over the railing and yelled at the top of her lungs. 'Doctor! Wake up!'
He had closed his eyes, ready to embrace his true death. For the first time in nearly a millennium he felt neither sorrow or fear anymore. He simply wanted it to be over. His consciousness was already slipping into darkness, and he was ready for it.
Another cry echoed through the chamber.
For a moment he believed he heard himself again, but then his failing consciousness roused. The voice was female—and agonisingly familiar. He gathered what was left of his strength and opened his eyes again, fully expecting to be hallucinating at this point.
There across from him on the walkway was Rose, alive and calling for him to hold on. Confusion spiralled and kicked against his mind. He gazed down at the place where only moments ago Rose had plummeted to her death, and then the light of understanding finally blazed through him.
Every cell in his body felt like it had been shocked back to life. He was still only minutes from dying, but now those minutes could have been years. He would get out of here. If only he could move.
Rose watched as the Doctor raised his head and looked at her. It took only a second for the light to return to his eyes. She gasped in sheer joy.
'Doctor,' she called again, 'I'm here. I'm here!'
At the sound of her voice he began a renewed struggle against the Object's grip. The Shadow had wound its way around both, constricting them like a giant snake made entirely of darkness.
She called out again, but the Doctor was losing his battle.
Rose was startled by a voice behind her. She spun around and was stunned to find Adam there. Her first instinct was to fight him and her body instantly geared up. Adam retreated, lifting his hands in front of him.
'Rose, stop.'
She halted, ready to correct her mistake if necessary.
'It's me.' He shook his head. 'I mean it's me, Adam. Not that... thing. I'm not that anymore. You did it, Rose. You saved me.'
His eyes told her he spoke the truth. For once she didn't second-guess her own instincts.
'There's no time,' she said. 'He's dying and the bloody terminal is in Gallifreyan. I can't work it.'
A wide grin spread across Adam's face. 'But I can.' He rushed towards the terminal. As he passed Nazerra's body, Rose could see grief blow across his face like a cold wind. Then he tucked the pain away again and joined in an attempt to finally end the unfolding horror.
The Doctor slipped in and out of consciousness, each time struggling to the surface only to be pulled back under again. Rose was there. It was his only thought as he saw the light break once more. The love of his life had not been reduced to blood and broken bones.
The Shadow was squeezing the life out of him, but only now he noticed that the Object wasn't struggling anymore. It had detached, looking down at both the Doctor and the Shadow as if it were a god. The Shadow's black poison continued to swirl and infiltrate, but it was almost as if the Object was still deciding whether to allow its own corruption or not. It had existed for millennia, never knowing the essence of good or evil, raised high above the world.
He suddenly understood. This was why the Time Lords had shut down their creation. The Object's capacity for good or evil was infinite, either the solution or the final destruction—and he had brought it back to life, ready to taste the universe, to decide once and for all what it wanted to be.
The Object had returned its attention to him, searching his mind, finding knowledge and emotion it still did not understand. The Doctor could feel it examine his memories of Rose.
Why? the Object asked. Why associate with such a fragile being? Is it this 'love' that occupies the Time Lord's mind?
He didn't know how to answer that question, didn't even know if he could. In his head he only heard himself repeat the lies he told Rose. He should have become human, saved everyone and still be able to be with her.
Why? The Doctor repeated the question to himself. Why had he denied himself love?
The darkness does not love, the Object mused. It does not care for fragility. Yet it thrives. There is solace in darkness, in the oblivion it creates. Why chose otherwise? An animal does not say it loves, but it lives its life in the knowledge of eternity. The Doctor is but an animal. There's no love of self there, only survival.
The Object's words were like arrows, piercing his consciousness, digging inside. He had to convince this being that the darkness wasn't the right path to take, but he had run out of smart arguments, with nothing left in his repertoire of clever philosophical retorts—nothing but the truth, locked away for so long.
'Because,' the Doctor said, 'I always believed that love would diminish me.'
Then why not embrace the darkness?
'Because love makes me stronger. It makes me want to fight. It's the reason I'm still alive.'
The Doctor could feel the Object as it prepared to make up its mind, once and for all.
If this is the truth, the Doctor is done now. He can go back and be that person. He only has to ask for it.
He didn't know if the shout of joy came from his mouth or if it was only in his mind. In any case, it didn't matter.
'Yes! Yes, it's true!' he shouted.
He looked down at Rose, reaching out for her, only to be reminded that their connection was gone. The Object touched his mind again and for a moment, just a moment, it was enough for him to feel her in all her glorious being. One last chance, please. He wanted to live—desperately.
The words tumbled from his mouth. 'I choose light over darkness. I choose love, not death.'
A gust of energy passed through him, the Object finding clarity for the first time in its life. It released his mind, all that trapped energy rushing back to the Rift, fixing it and making it whole again. Making him whole again.
Rose punched in command after command as Adam yelled out instructions over the side of the terminal. The Gallifreyan writing looped and swirled in front of her eyes until she no longer needed to know what it meant or what she was doing.
Only then did she realise Adam had stopped giving her instructions and she was completing the sequence on her own. Her hands flew, and it was as if she could see right through the terminal and into its very heart.
A new force field was coming into a being, surrounding the chamber, making it impossible for the Shadow to escape again. Whatever happened, the Shadow was going down—with or without them.
Blue energy surged in front of the Doctor's eyes. Already the Object was growing more powerful than it had ever been. The Shadow reeled in fear and it hissed and growled at its unexpected new enemy. The darkness was merely a nuisance now, a false god. The Object lashed out, ripping at the Shadow and tearing it apart. Fear had only taken up a distant place in the Shadow's consciousness, and now it was reminded of how it felt to face oblivion. It tried to flee, but the Object sensed its growing fear as all escape paths were blocked off. Slowly, the Shadow began to grow weaker. The Doctor tried to tell the Object to watch out as blind panic took over the Shadow and it lashed out in every possible direction, one last desperate lunge for freedom.
Rose glanced up at the top of the chamber, finding a horrific scene. Even in the dim light, the cracks in the stone ceiling were clearly visible, the roof no longer able to support its own weight. Fragments of debris were coming down and crackling against the force field as it repelled them from below.
'The force field will hold out,' Adam shouted, 'but I'm not sure for how long.'
Rose looked back towards the Doctor. He was alive, but still suspended. 'Doctor!'
His eyelids fluttered open.
'Rose…?' His voice was weak, but even this small sign was enough for Rose to feel a rush of joy. The Doctor wanted to say something else, but the Object's grip on him suddenly fluctuated and she watched in horror as he plummeted to the floor below. Rose ran down the walkway as fast as she could, almost losing her footing in the mad dash. She fell to her knees beside him.
'Doctor? Say something, please.'
He turned on his back and Rose breathed out to steady herself. There was a gash on his forehead and he was battered and bruised, but there were no other visible injuries.
The Doctor's eyes suddenly focused on her and he lifted a careful hand, brushing her face.
'You're real.' He made to get up but Rose put a hand on his chest.
'Don't move yet, you may have other injuries.'
He shook his head. 'I'm all right. If there was anything wrong, I'd know. Superior biology, remember?' He lifted his right arm for her to see. 'Look,' he said. 'The disease is gone. The Object did that. Rose, I'm cured.'
Rose leaned her head down and pressed her mouth against his shoulder, fighting to hold back all that those words made her feel. There would be time later.
'The Shadow…' he suddenly muttered. 'It's still up there. The Object is fighting it.'
A shout came from the walkway. Rose glanced up to see Adam pointing up in the air. A swarming mist of black energy had gathered there, a furious mix of forces beyond their control, a storm about to be unleashed. The physical Object had gone from an undefined metallic colour to a bright golden glow and was only gaining in intensity.
'The Object is winning,' Rose said. 'It has to.'
The Doctor stared at the Object, open-mouthed. 'It's regenerating,' he said. 'It must have spent too much energy on fighting the Shadow. We have to get out of here.' Rose helped him to his feet and he looked unsteady for a moment.
'There's a way out through the House of Ceremony,' the Doctor said, 'but we have to hurry.'
'The force field is still active.'
'That won't help much. If this thing is really reinventing itself, nothing is going to stop it from tearing the place apart.'
They hurried up the walkway where Adam was waiting for them. Adam reached out to help and the Doctor flinched, but then he recovered and nodded at his double. The Object's golden glow had gained the intensity of a supernova and rocks began to fall as the force field weakened further. The golden energy spiked and obliterated the last traces of the Shadow, burning it away and purifying itself.
They had nearly reached the top of the walkway as the ground suddenly gave way. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her up just in time. Rose reached for Adam, but was thrown back as the power from the collapsing force field blew upwards. Rose called for Adam, then for the Doctor, but dust and debris hit the open air and blurred her vision until the world was nothing but grey.
The smoke was slowly clearing, finally allowing the Doctor to see the true extent of the damage done. The site had been destroyed, but the Object sat in the middle of the rubble, pristine and undamaged. The Doctor's hands trembled as he approached, but his fears proved unjustified. The Object was undamaged, but it had retreated, rendering itself dormant. He would have to make sure it was looked after later. For now, the danger was over. The Shadow had been defeated.
From somewhere nearby came a wracking cough. The Doctor immediately began to clear away rubble, tearing at it with his bare hands. He yanked away another piece of plating and then she was suddenly there, covered in dirt, her clothes torn, but alive.
The Doctor helped Rose up and she clung to him for dear life. Both his hearts skipped a beat as reality finally sank in.
'Rose,' he said, 'we've made it.'
Rose coughed again, then laughed, clutching him tighter. He needed to confirm his feelings, so he buried his face in her hair, not caring a jot that it was dusty and filthy. To him she was perfection embodied, all warmth and relief—and real, so very real.
Rose said something, but her throat was clogged up. He released her just enough so she could make herself understood.
'It's over,' she whispered.
He didn't answer, but pulled her close again. There was just too much he wanted to say, the words remaining stuck in his throat. He would try to make up for that soon.
Rose could have stayed in the Doctor's arms for at least the next decade, but she knew there had to be a better time and place than standing here, in the middle of a destroyed alien installation. With considerable effort, and regret, she drew away. Looking in the Doctor's eyes, she knew he felt the same. The world was rushing back at them and a sense of urgency took hold.
'Adam,' she said, 'we need to find him.'
They began to search through the rubble which lay in great heaps, scattered over a large area, the gaping hole in the ground resembling a meteor crater. Rose prayed that Adam wasn't down there. If only she had reached further, she could have saved him. Tears were already stinging her eyes. He had been there, at the end, the real him—the person he should have been all along.
A piece of debris shifted and Rose stared at the pair of legs sticking out from underneath.
'Doctor! Help me!'
There was a weight on top of him and it took the two of them to finally shift it and free Adam's entire body. Rose swallowed down her shock and kneeled beside him. His eyes opened and he stared at her, the white of his eyes standing out against the black and grey dirt that streaked his face. He was alive, but Rose didn't need more than a glance to understand he was beyond help. Adam reached out with his free hand and Rose took it. The truth was there, in his eyes. He knew he was dying.
'I'm so sorry,' Rose whispered.
The Doctor kneeled down next to Rose and gently put his hand on Adam's chest, trying very hard not to cause him any more pain. He motioned for Rose to stand back and she quickly got up. A strange yet familiar glow began to emanate from the Doctor's hand. It took only a few seconds for the golden energy to engulf Adam. The Doctor also backed away then. He took Rose's hand and they watched as Adam's features were consumed by the ancient force of regeneration. The powerful light spiked and Rose had to shield her eyes against the intense glare, and then it finally faded. Where the Doctor's double had been, there sat a little boy now, perhaps no more than a year old. As he looked around, he started to cry. Rose picked up the child and hugged him closely. The comfort of her arms calmed him down and the tears stopped as he snuggled up to her. Rose stared at the Doctor who looked a little paler underneath his cuts and bruises, but was otherwise all right.
'That was the last of my regenerative energy.' He stepped closer and drew a gentle hand across baby Adam's silky hair. 'I'm still a Time Lord, but I can't regenerate again.'
Rose had trouble letting the Doctor's words sink in. She looked at Adam, then gently kissed the top of the child's head. 'I hope you like your gift,' she whispered.
Rose handed the child over to the Doctor, and they began to make their way out of the debris field. Only now did she notice that the night was over and dawn was already peeking over the horizon. A new day was about to light up the city, chasing away the last of the darkness that had almost swallowed them whole. It was really over.
~x~
On their way back to the TARDIS, Rose and the Doctor were met by Aleas and Niyoli, with Donna not far behind. Unable to contain her joy, Rose almost ran into Donna, arms stretched wide. Donna laughed and drew her into a bear hug.
The Doctor greeted Aleas and Niyoli with a broad grin.
'The Temple has been deserted,' Aleas announced. 'When the earth began to shake, part of the Temple collapsed and people found out about the scam. There's tons of evidence of all their trickery. Most of the priests have fled the City, at least the ones who managed to get away.'
Niyoli smiled widely and pointed at Donna. 'She is formidable. Before the High Priest decided to flee, he and his soldiers came to the Sacred House to take Adam away. They hoped that another public sacrifice would placate the mob, but Donna told the sisters at the House to stand their ground. They didn't budge, not even when the priests ordered the soldiers to break down the door. The sisters held out, right until all the priests fled.'
'Except one,' Donna said gleefully. 'He didn't get out fast enough and we caught him. So now he's going to explain himself to the people and tell exactly what they were up to at the Temple for all those years.'
Aleas took Niyoli's hand. 'The Keeper has been taken to the Palace to be looked after. The People already understand she wasn't what they claimed she was, but they don't blame her. She's only a small child.' He took a sidelong glance at Niyoli, a small smile playing across his lips. 'And there's no Guardian anymore, either. We are free to go where we want, do what we want.' Niyoli shared a look with Aleas that Rose could only interpret as a deep mutual love.
Niyoli turned to Rose. 'After the siege, Adam wanted to find you. Where is he?' She glanced at the little boy without realising the truth yet. Rose had barely come to grasp what happened herself. The Doctor stepped forward and looked at Niyoli, then to baby Adam.
Out of the blue, Aleas said, 'It's him, isn't it?'
Niyoli looked shocked, but the Doctor nodded. 'He has a new chance at life now.'
The Doctor handed the sleeping child to Niyoli and she sat down with him, amidst the debris, cradling his tiny body in her lap.
Rose could feel nothing but gratitude and humility for this young woman's resilience—her open mindedness and ability to accept the amazing things the universe had to offer.
Niyoli cradled the child in her arms. 'When he grows up, will he remember his old life?'
'No,' the Doctor said. 'I'm absolutely convinced he won't. We'll take him with us in the TARDIS for now, but first thing I'm going to do is make double sure that his mental illness hasn't regenerated with him. I was very cavalier about Adam before, but I won't make that mistake again. I promise.'
The Doctor had trouble looking at her now, so Rose simply took his hand, entwining their fingers and sending him a silent message. She had no telepathic abilities anymore, so the unspoken understanding they had always shared had to suffice. The moment she touched his hand, his fingers closed around hers. Rose closed her eyes for a moment and smiled. Not all was lost yet.
~x~
An hour later, the TARDIS wheezed into existence in a nearby alley. Rose emerged and took in the quiet tucked-away street with the brown wooden door leading to Aleas' modest house. Niyoli had explained that Aleas occupied these rooms since his mother had left the city. Now Niyoli was the one who opened the door, a smile on her face. Rose did want to say one last goodbye.
Niyoli let them into the house, and Aleas' greeting mirrored Rose's mixed feelings.
'There is good news as well,' Niyoli said. From the other room, a figure emerged.
Rose gasped. 'Sunaq!' She looked older, new lines etched on her face, but her eyes shone. 'We thought you'd fled the city.'.
'That's the word we put out,' Aleas answered, 'but she's been here all along, making sure that others of our kind were able to get out safely. She sacrificed her own chance at escape for that.'
'I did no such thing,' Sunaq said. She looked at her son, a mischievous quality to her smile. 'If I had left, you probably would have starved to death. Always so busy with your books, you forget about the important things.' She turned to Rose and the Doctor. 'What I am going to do is send out word to the others that it is safe to return. Maybe one day we will all be reunited again.'
Niyoli stepped in. 'What about the child?'
Rose felt a little awkward as she glanced at the Doctor.
'I've run a dozen tests,' he said, 'and they prove there's absolutely nothing wrong with him. He is literally a new person. No chance he will ever remember anything, either. He will even look different.' He turned back at Rose. 'But we haven't decided yet what would be the best place for him, to grow up, I mean.'
Niyoli glanced at Aleas and nudged him. 'Actually, we discussed this and we wanted to ask, would you perhaps be prepared to consider us as Adam's new parents?'
Rose was taken aback for a moment. 'Of course,' she said, 'but are you absolutely sure about this? He's caused you a lot of misery. Won't you resent him for that?'
Niyoli shook her head. 'Not at all. As far as we are concerned, this is a little boy with no one to care for him. He didn't ask for this existence, so why not give him a home? A chance to live a full life, to be loved and cared for?'
Rose swallowed down a sudden lump in her throat. She couldn't help herself and pulled Niyoli into a tight hug, letting her know how much she admired her spirit.
It only took the Doctor a few minutes to bring Adam from the TARDIS. He gently handed him over to Aleas and the little boy, still half asleep, clutched his new daddy tight.
~x~
The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors and stepped aside to let Donna pass. Outside, evening had already arrived, lights illuminating the streets of Chiswick. It was drizzling, but to the Doctor it felt like a welcome relief. He'd had enough of scorching deserts and sand for now.
Donna looked around and grinned. In the Doctor's eyes, she had never looked happier than she did now.
'Why don't you come with us?' he asked. 'Travel the universe again, the three of us? Could be fun.'
Donna smirked. 'Nah,' she said. 'I've got things to do here, loads of them. So many in fact I will need to make a list first.'
'Lists are good.'
'There are people here who need me just as much as all those aliens.' She shrugged. 'Besides, I'm not going to hang around and watch you two snog all day long.' She pulled a face, then winked at Rose. 'Maybe I can even grow my own TARDIS someday. That would be the absolute best, won't it?'
The Doctor smiled. 'We'll come back to check up on that.'
'Sure.' Donna turned around and began her short walk home. In the distance, a door was yanked open and Wilfred ran out, arms stretched wide. With Rose standing by his side, the Doctor watched for a few more moments, until his friends has both gone inside. He followed Rose into the TARDIS and carefully shut the door behind them.
~x~
Except for the gentle purr of the rotor, the TARDIS was silent. Rose leaned against the jump seat as the Doctor examined the console, checking if everything functioned properly. She had a definite sense there was a malfunction somewhere, but it didn't involve anything mechanical.
Rose walked up to the Doctor until she was right by his side. He adjusted various controls, his outward calm only betrayed by the tiniest tremble of his fingers. She reached out and touched his hand in the middle of his trying to adjust a dial. Now he looked up. They were completely alone again, with no sudden interruptions, no people to rescue—and also with absolutely no idea about how to go from here.
She didn't want to push the Doctor into baring his soul, but neither did she want to leave here tonight without knowing where they stood. After all that had happened, they were right back where they began: as human and Time Lord. The telepathic connection they once shared had been reduced to a feeling of nostalgia at the back of her mind, a memory to be treasured but never experienced again. All she could hope for was that they weren't entirely broken. What had once been there could still be. She willed the Doctor to share that feeling, searching for a sign of hope hidden away somewhere behind those unfathomable eyes. He had to understand that she couldn't possibly carry the weight of the universe on her own.
Her hand slid away from his and she turned away slowly. She was almost out of the console room when he suddenly spoke her name. Rose turned around and her heart sank as she watched the Doctor stand there, like a lost little boy.
'Any place you want to go?' His voice almost faltered.
Rose smiled. 'Right now, I really want to crawl into bed and sleep.'
The Doctor glanced down at his feet. 'Maybe tomorrow, then. We could go to Woman Wept, do a bit of ice skating? Might be a nice change from all that dusty heat.' With that, he turned back to the console.
'Does that mean we're travelling together again?'
The Doctor kept his eyes resolutely fixed on the console. 'Yeah,' he said, 'of course.'
This was what she had wanted to hear from him for so long, but now everything felt empty. She stared at him as he worked. Perhaps only time would tell. Goodness knew they had plenty of that.
TWO WEEKS LATER
Rose sat on the jump seat and watched the Doctor as he ambled back and forth over the grating, a deep frown scrunching up his brow. Waiting for him to go into manic-mode was like witnessing the run up to a space shuttle launch; you never knew the exact time it was going to happen, but when it finally did, you were guaranteed one hell of a spectacle. However, after two weeks of watching the Doctor change moods as if he were switching channels, she was becoming a bit fed up. She always loved the Doctor's energy, but there was only so much a person could take.
'Hah!' The Doctor exclaimed suddenly, startling her. 'I know exactly where we're going, Rose. We need to go to Quaq!'
'On the—wha?'
'Quaq!' he repeated cheerily, sounding remarkably like a certain aquatic animal. 'That's a planet, by the way.' He was already bouncing around the console, doing this and that. 'Lovely place. Gorgeous beaches. Oh, they even have a whole city built over the sea, with streets made of glass. Imagine, Rose, popping out in the morning to buy a coffee, and there are whales swimming beneath your feet!'
'Yeah, sounds great, but remind me, why do we need to be there? Think I missed that part.'
'To take a little holiday, of course. Can't have my Rose going all funny because I kept you cooped up in here for too long. On this planet, there's a place where they specialise in mental stress relief. Bit like a sauna for the mind, really.'
'Hold on, you wanna take me to a sauna?'
He ignored her mock-insult and continued plotting the course. 'Mind out of the gutter, Rose. I said like a sauna, and don't knock 'em either. Perfectly respectable institution all over the universe, saunas. It's not like the Swedes invented them, or something. Well, they might have, come to think, but it certainly wasn't 'cause one of them went 'owh, feeling a bit randy today, let's build a hut and raise the temperature until my eyeballs bulge'. Which doesn't happen in a proper sauna, by the way, unless of course…'
'Yeah, right. Back to topic, now. I'm not having anyone poke around in my head. That's your prerogative. What do they actually do on…' Rose pursed her lips in a thoughtful manner. 'What's it called again?' She looked over, grinning expectantly.
The Doctor opened his mouth and closed it again, looking like a fish suspicious of the bait. He eyed her with a slight pout. 'Oh, it's quite good, trust me. One or two days over there and you'll feel right as rain. These Renites are the best.'
'Why are they called Renites, when the planet's called Quaq?'
'Ehm… What d'you think?' The Doctor looked up from the console again. 'If you were from a society of healers, would you like being called a qua—'
'Yeah, okay. Fine, I get it!' She got up from the jump seat, but then paused. She walked up to the Doctor, almost mirroring their return from Calius, but as she touched his arm, a sudden tremble went through him. Her first instinct was to pull back; instead, she took a deep breath. They could no longer tiptoe around this. It was time.
'I know,' she said softly. 'Something is eating you up, but I can't make out what it is.'
His fingers curled around the edge of the console.
'Please, Doctor, talk to me.'
Finally, he turned to face her. 'I almost left Adam with you. I fought for it, Rose, for you two to be together, thinking I was doing the right thing. Turned out that I couldn't have been more wrong. What if the TARDIS hadn't stopped me?'
'Another timeline,' Rose said. 'There must be billions of them where things turned out badly, but none of them are your fault. We're here. It didn't happen.'
The Doctor looked up, and Rose was shocked by the doubt and uncertainty in his eyes. It was disconcerting to see that expression on the Doctor.
'Maybe I made another mistake. I left Adam with Aleas and Niyoli.'
'I thought you said you did tests on Adam, and that he was completely normal?'
'I did. Still, there's was no way of telling how he would turn out. Just like the first time.'
The moment he spoke the words, Rose knew that this was it, the thing that had bugged the Doctor since their return. He was afraid to stop and look behind him, afraid to find another evil version of Adam, afraid that his friends had once again paid for his mistakes—the one reason why he always kept running.
Rose took his hand and held it tight between her own. 'We can go back and see what happened.'
His eyes shimmered with a strange light. 'You would be prepared to do that? Despite what we may find?'
She swallowed down a moment of insecurity. 'I trust you. I know you didn't make a mistake.'
'The TARDIS hates that place. We won't be able to go back to when Adam was still a child, only to a more recent time period. If we do go there, whatever we find will have become a fixed event. No changing or saving anyone, not this time.'
Rose circled her arms around his waist, feeling relieved when he welcomed her embrace and settled into it.
'We'll go back,' she said. 'One last time. Together.'
FINAL CHAPTER TOMORROW!