TITLE: Distantly in Love
AUTHORS: Gillian Taylor(Dark Aegis) & NNWest
DISCLAIMER: Don't own them. We just like playing with them...a lot.
Chapter Nineteen
"Stand away from him," the Doctor snarled to the two women flanking his bloodied companion. His hearts broke to see Jack in this condition. Guilt stabbed him; they had taken far too long to get here while Jack bore the horrifying consequences of his and Rose's dalliance.
"Doctor!" Jack exclaimed. "It's all right."
"No, it's not. She's working for them." He indicated Janette. "She was there when we were captured."
"No. This is Janette, my partner when I worked for the Agency. They were blackmailing her to get to me, to get to my memories." Jack could see the Time Lord still didn't trust her and probably never would, but at least the murderous look in his eyes had receded slightly.
"Hardly seems efficient since they took them from you in the first place."
Rose squirmed through a space between the Doctor and the doorframe as the Time Lord replied. She let out a small strangled cry when she finally saw Jack's condition.
"I'll be okay, Rose," Jack said to her reassuringly before answering the Doctor. "I assumed the Agency had done it. My memory's returned and now I know that I did it to protect my sister, Emily. She's between the Agency and something they want, and I used to be between them and her. That's not true anymore and we have to warn her."
Maria had been watching the Doctor intently. Now satisfied that he had been somewhat placated and wasn't going to come after them, she spoke, "What has happened to the guard?"
Rose eyed her warily. "He's...sleeping."
"Quickly, drag him in here before someone sees him and raises the alarm!" Janette ordered as she started towards the door.
Rose looked up at the Doctor beside her and shrugged. "She's got a point."
The Doctor moved aside as Janette checked the corridor. "Clear." She moved forward, the Doctor right behind to help. Together they dragged the insensate man into the room.
"If the corridor is clear you should make your escape. There is not much time before Danninger and the interrogator return," Maria advised as she checked the fallen sentry for signs of permanent damage.
"And you are?" the Doctor asked.
"Doctor Maria Alvarez. You do not remember, señor. I was the one ordered to wipe your memories. Your young friend's too." She stood up and inclined her head towards Rose. Standing her ground firmly against the Doctor's darkening expression, she continued quickly, "They can be restored. The machine stores a copy before the memories are erased. You'll find the disks for you and the señorita in the memory storage lab, up three levels, east wing of the complex. Now please, you must go."
Jack pushed himself out of the chair, swaying dangerously before Janette put out her hands to steady him. He smiled his thanks to her. Seeing the anxiety on Rose's face, he told her, "Give me a sec, I'll be fine. Really." Rose nodded and reached out to him, adding her support to Janette's.
The Doctor regarded his companions, making a decision. "Rose, you and Jack get out of here. I'll get those disks." He held up a hand to forestall Rose's inevitable argument. "Meet you back at the TARDIS."
"There's no way you'll get him out alone. I'll help," Janette said to Rose.
"No, Jan," Jack stated flatly. He gently drew his arm away from her to show he could stand on his own. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he let his gaze meet hers. "The Agency can't find out you were involved. The guard saw you come in, you're already in danger. What we need is some way to throw off suspicion."
"Señor, I know just the thing." Alvarez dug in the carry-all of medical supplies she'd brought with her. "This." She held up a glass ampule before she slotted it into the dermal infuser she'd used earlier. "A powerful sedative," she explained in response to Jack's questioning look.
Jack nodded appreciatively at the plan. "We leave you unconscious and it looks like we had to force our way out."
"Sí."
Janette's expression was dubious. "Jan, it's the only way."
"Okay, Jack," she accepted grudgingly. "See you in hell." Janette looked to Maria. "Do it."
Maria pressed the infuser to Janette's neck and caught the woman a second later as she swooned under the drug's influence. She eased the Time Agent to the floor and kneeled beside her. "Now go," she commanded and administered a dose to herself. The Doctor arrested her fall as she lost consciousness.
"Excellent advice." He crossed to check the hall. "Rose, you and Jack get to the TARDIS. Don't take any chances. I'm going to find that lab." With that he slipped out of the room.
"Good luck, Doctor," Rose murmured as the Time Lord disappeared.
Jack stooped gingerly to retrieve the infuser from Maria's limp hand and to touch Janette's one last time. Pocketing the device, he met Rose's stare. Her eyes glistened with forming tears and he knew she had finally been given the time to process what had happened to him. He couldn't even imagine what he must look like.
He stood and gathered her in his arms. "Rose, I'm fine. All surface damage." It was a lie. Even as he held her close to him, he could feel the ache of at least one cracked rib and he dreaded to see what a medical scan would reveal. Fortunately, the pain killer Doctor Alvarez had given him earlier was doing its job and none of his injuries seemed life threatening. They were certainly nothing the TARDIS med bay couldn't handle. He and Rose just had to get there.
He caressed her cheek. "Okay?" She nodded mutely and Jack lowered his head to kiss her forehead. At the last moment Rose brought her chin up, her lips connecting with his. His breath hitched at the contact. It had been unexpected, but there was also something in the touch that shook him to the core. He knew he loved Rose, but was it possible she could love him as well? The kiss broke and he stared into her eyes as if searching for something. Reluctantly, he decided this was not the time or place for such an analysis. "We can't stay here. Do you remember how you came in?"
"Yeah, I think so. They sort of zapped us here from the bar and then dragged us to a cell." Jack was glad to see her regret take a backseat to the problem at hand.
"Teleport, great! Can you find the chamber from here?"
"It's up a couple levels, so there was a lift. From here, it would be that way." She pointed.
They left the interrogation room and started down the corridor. Turning a corner, they came to the lift doors. As they reached it, the doors suddenly parted, revealing a slightly startled man in Agency dress. He opened his mouth to apologise and noticed Jack's battered condition. Surprise gave way to bewilderment as he tried to determine what to make of the situation.
In the split second the Time Agent's indecision gave him, Jack was moving. He drew the dermal infuser from his pocket and triggered it against the skin of the man's neck. Rose checked the uniformed man's fall, staggering some under his weight before Jack helped her drag him out of the lift.
"Good thing he didn't remember he had this," he said as he pulled the blaster from the Time Agent's holster and dropped the empty infuser. Thus armed, he took Rose's hand and stepped into the lift.
Two levels up, they stepped out into a conveniently deserted corridor and Rose paused briefly, searching her memories for the appropriate direction before deciding upon the left. They covered the remaining distance to their destination with minimal trouble, only once having to duck into an unoccupied washroom to avoid a small group of enlisted personnel coming off duty.
Outside the teleport chamber, they stopped and Jack pressed an ear against the door to listen for signs of life while Rose kept watch. After a moment he pulled away, frowning. "I can't tell if there's anyone on duty or not," he said in a low voice. "Guess we'll have to risk it. Stay low. I'll go first. Wait for my all clear before you follow." Weapon at the ready, Jack threw open the door.
Pressing the advantage he gained by his sudden intrusion, Jack rushed in, sweeping the sonic blaster over the room and firing once at the sole occupant, a confused technician. The young man crumpled to the floor beside the bank of electronics he'd been inspecting and made no further move.
Jack motioned to Rose who was crouched near the open door. She cast one final glance down the hall and entered, pushing the door shut behind her. Jack was already working at the teleport control panel. "Rose, bring me his wristcomm."
She looked at the fallen man with a certain amount of trepidation. Right before he had launched himself through the door, Rose had caught a glimpse of something in Jack that was foreign to her; his movement held an uncompromising efficiency, his steel blue eyes cold and implacable. There had been no trace of emotion in him as he fired at the teleporter technician. Granted, she'd lost her memory so she didn't know if she'd seen this side of him before, but it was so at odds with the easy-going, bantering man she'd known since the memory loss it left her slightly unnerved. "He's not... I mean, you didn't-"
"No. I used the lowest setting. He's only knocked out." She nodded and bent to comply with his instruction, noting with some satisfaction that the man was still breathing, his pulse strong as she unfastened the wristcomm. Jack regarded the technician coolly before continuing to key coordinates into the teleport console. "He's going to be very cranky when he wakes up though. We should definitely try to be gone before that happens."
Rose crossed the room to get a closer look at his handiwork and to give him the wristcomm. "What you doing?"
"I'm setting the teleport coordinates to what I hope will be something close to the TARDIS. Then we take the wristcomm - thank you," he said as he accepted the device from her, "and set it to erase the destination logs after we leave. That way they won't be able to follow us."
Watching him deftly key the program into the tiny computer, Rose ventured, "You've done this before."
"Oh yeah." He smiled. "Used to do this all the time to sneak off base. Had a deal with the tech - nice girl, redhead. Taught me everything I know about teleporters...and an awful lot about redheads." Jack's tone was nostalgic as he made the last connection from the wristcomm to the teleport's control console.
"Ready. Stand over there," he instructed, gesturing to what looked like a target painted on the floor. Rose took her place and a moment later he dashed to her side.
A low electronic whine filled the room and they found themselves standing on the beach; the sound of waves filling their ears, the cool sea breeze washing over them. Both breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the sturdy blue box, its familiar lines stark in the brilliant moonlight. They were home.
Chapter Twenty
The image of Jack's bloodied body was not one that he could easily forget. While he had given into the temptation that was Rose, his friend had been tortured. He shook his head, fighting back the vision his mind's eye conjured in a vain attempt to pay attention to his surroundings. The Doctor needed to find the memory storage lab, and quickly, before his own guilty conscience caused him to make a fatal mistake.
In his tortured mind, he saw cold, impersonal hands wield sharp implement after sharp implement in an attempt to force Jack to talk. The Doctor could imagine the agony that Jack must have endured; he could imagine the urge to speak, to say anything that would make the pain stop. "Stop," he told himself sternly, blinking away the guilt. He forced it back into a mental box - a box which, when he had his memories restored, he could examine fully.
According to Doctor Alvarez, the lab should be just around the corner. He pressed himself against the wall and peered around the corner. Thankfully, the corridor beyond was deserted. Darting across the hall, he opened the door without bothering to check if the room was empty and slid inside.
"Ah, Herr Doctor. What a pleasant surprise," Klein greeted him with an oily smile. A sonic blaster was leveled at the Time Lord's stomach. He used the weapon to gesture the Doctor away from the door.
"Can't say the feeling's mutual." He sighed as he obeyed Klein's instructions, coming to a stop next to a counter covered with chemical supplies and beakers. This, he decided, was turning into a bad day.
"I'm hurt. After all the memories we've shared." Klein's smile turned into a grin as he revealed a tiny metal disk grasped between his index and thumb. "I believe this is what you're after."
The Doctor's eyes hardened. "I'm not prone to physical violence, Klein. At least, I don't think I am. Nor have I ever felt the urge to punch someone. For you, however, I'm willing to make an exception."
Klein laughed. "Even without your memories, you're as droll as ever. Threats mean nothing, Herr Doctor, when you cannot follow through."
"Try me."
"Such bravado," he complimented the Time Lord. "You can't fool me that easily, Doctor."
"Shame. And here I was thinking you were a run-of-the-mill miscreant."
The German fought back a growl at the insult. He knew what the Doctor was trying, and he had to give him credit for trying to anger him. "Clever. Too bad it won't work."
The Doctor shrugged. "Oh well, was worth a shot." With the last word, he grabbed a beaker off the counter and threw it at Klein's head.
Klein had been expecting such an act and dodged easily, though in that moment of distraction the Time Lord made his move. In the space of a heartbeat, the Doctor managed to knock the Director to the ground in a full tackle. The impact of his soft flesh against the hard concrete sent the blaster and the memory disk flying from suddenly numbed fingers. "You can't defeat me," he hissed at the alien, trying to use his bulk to knock the other man off of him.
The Time Lord grinned and in that smile Klein had a sudden suspicion that he might have wronged someone far more powerful than the Time Agency. "'Course I can. I'm the Doctor." Without even the smallest measure of guilt, he drew back his fist and hit the Director's chin.
Leaving the other man's unconscious form where it lay, the Doctor recovered the fallen memory disk and searched through the cabinet for Rose's. With the two tiny diskettes in his possession, he looked coldly at Klein. For a moment he was tempted by a darkness that he did not know was within him to extract revenge for the events of the past few days. Revenge for Jack. Revenge for Rose. Revenge for himself.
This was the man who had, poisoned by power, stolen his and Rose's identities. Though he knew Klein had not wielded the knife, he had done as much by standing aside while an interrogator slowly tortured Jack. He was unworthy of the pitiful little life he had. The Doctor's eyes grew dark and had the Director been awake he would have feared for his existence. The 'Oncoming Storm'. The 'Destroyer of Worlds'. They were labels this Doctor knew nothing about without those stolen memories, but from the look in his eyes it was all too obvious just how those names had been given to him.
An image of Rose and Jack flashed in his mind and he knew, in that instant, that he could do nothing to Klein. The Director would live, blessed only because of the knowledge that this was not how he worked. He did not kill out of anger. He did not extract revenge for wrongs wrought upon him or those that he loved. However, there was nothing to say that the Doctor would make it easy for Klein to get out of the mess he found himself in. Working quickly, he trussed the German with the medical tubing he had found in one of the drawers. Once that was done, he slid the disks into his pocket and left the room.
After his confrontation with Klein, escaping the Time Agency complex was almost ridiculously easy.
Pulling the door shut behind them, Jack suddenly felt the weight of everything that had happened in the last several hours settle on him. The feeling threatened to grind him into the flooring where he stood. The relief of making it back to the TARDIS was washing some of the adrenaline out of his system and he could feel the pain of his injuries gnawing at the edges of his perception. The painkiller was wearing off, actually probably had worn off long ago; only the desperate need to escape had been holding the agony at bay. Now cocooned in the relative safety of the TARDIS, his body was betraying him.
His distress must have registered in his face or posture; the next thing Jack was aware of was Rose taking his hand. She interlaced her fingers with his as she gently tugged him to follow her, leading him down the corridor to the medical bay. Its harsh lighting jarred him, reminding him of the interrogation room for a brief moment as she silently guided him to an exam table and motioned for him to rest.
Jack sat on the edge of the table while Rose filled a basin with warm water and found a clean cloth. Her approach stirred him out of his reverie and he looked up into her compassion filled brown eyes. He was relieved that there were no tears, only a look of solemn determination.
"Jack, we need to get your shirt off," she said softly as if she were addressing a small, lost child. "Then I want you to lie down and we'll do a scan, okay."
A small smirk worked it's way past his exhaustion. "Always knew you wanted my body for your wicked purposes." Regardless, he tried to comply with her instructions and found that there was too much pain as he tried to lift his arms. He winced and shook his head.
"It's alright, just lie back," she soothed as she helped him. Rose stood on tiptoe for a moment while she keyed instructions into the scanner.
'Functional memory's intact,' Jack thought abstractedly as he watched her, fighting the impulse to close his eyes and sink into sleep. Like the Doctor, she could still remember how to do things, just not who she was. He hoped for the Doctor's safety and quick return, and that he would be successful at retrieving the memory disks. Though certain things between them were moving a whole lot quicker, Jack couldn't help remembering what those missing two years had done to him. He couldn't fathom what having an entire life taken would be like, be it as relatively short as Rose's or as long as the Doctor's.
Once she finished setting up the med computer, Rose had returned to the supply cabinet and found a pair of shears. Returning to Jack's side, she set them near the basin and took up the cloth.
"What are you going to with those?" he asked mostly to avoid thinking about what was going through Rose's mind as she set about the task of cleaning the blood from his face.
"When I get done here..." She trailed a feather-light caress over his forehead and into his hair. "I'm going to cut your shirt off. It's ruined anyway."
"Don't take no for an answer, do you?" The quip came out quietly, barely a whisper. Sleep was dragging determinedly at him now and he gave up, succumbing to oblivion before she even replied.
"Nope. Persistent, me," she murmured, grateful that she wouldn't cause him any more pain as she washed his wounds. "Always get my man."
Daubing the last dark red stain from his neck, Rose set to work on his t-shirt. She grimaced as she cut away the bloodied fabric and saw the blossoming black-and-blue marks on his chest and sides. While her heart broke to see him in this condition, she was not quite sure how she felt about the events of the day. From Jack's injuries, to the Doctor's and her interlude, both should evoke far more potent emotions than the numbness that she felt. She was tired. Tired of the rollercoaster ride that they had been on. Tired of fearing for their lives. Just tired. It had been a very, very long day.
A moment later a chime signaling the completion of the medical scan interrupted her contemplation of Jack's visible wounds. Turning to the output the scanner had produced, she looked it over. Beyond the obvious contusions and cuts, the scan output reported that Jack had two broken ribs and some bruising of his internal organs. Thankfully nothing in the medical scan had been marked as critical. She was quickly running out of things she could do for him. Rose knew the medical equipment surrounding her could heal Jack in no time, but she didn't know how to use much of it beyond the scanner.
Lying on a nearby table, Rose spotted the dermal regenerator the Doctor had used earlier - 'could it only be yesterday,' she thought in amazement - to mend her lip after the brute in the alley had hit her. At the time, she'd got a pretty good look at how to use it. She switched it on; if she could do nothing else, she could at least start on Jack's face and chest.
She had nearly eradicated all signs of the abuse he'd suffered from Jack's face when the Doctor had appeared in the doorway. He looked shaken when he took in the damage to Jack's prone form, but had said nothing. He'd simply accepted the tight hug that Rose offered and gone on to study the scanner monitor.
With the Doctor's help, Jack's remaining injuries were healed. Together, the Doctor and Rose finished cleaning up the ex-Time Agent, discarding the rest of his stained clothing and wrapping him a clean bedsheet. Rose followed as the Doctor carried Jack to his room and put him to bed. "I'm gonna stay with him," she said.
The Doctor nodded and pressed a kiss into her forehead. "That's good. I'll be back in the medical bay working out how to get our memories back. Call if you need anything."
"'Kay. Good night, Doctor." She watched as the Time Lord exited the room, feeling her own need for rest pull at her. Toeing off her trainers, she crawled onto the bed next to Jack and let sleep take her.
Chapter Twenty-one
Early the next morning, the Doctor burst into Jack's room, a triumphant grin on his face. "I've got it!"
Jack bolted upright. His muscles protested violently to this, making him painfully aware of the previous day's exertions. "Ow," he stated ingeniously. His eyes then trailed to the warmth at his side, where Rose was only just beginning to stir. "What the hell happened last night?" The last thing he recalled was being in the medical bay with Rose. Jack decided things there must have gone well enough considering he was only suffering some muscle pain this morning. He certainly didn't remember asking Rose to accompany him to bed.
Rose blinked, her mind too sleep fogged to recognise what either of the two men were talking about. "Wha'?"
"I know how to restore our memories. Get to the med bay as soon as you get some clothes on, Jack. Once that's done, we're off to rescue your damsel in distress." With those words, the Doctor was gone leaving his mystified companions in his wake.
"And a good morning to you too, Doctor," Jack mumbled to the now empty doorway. Thinking to himself that if his sister Emily was anything it was not a damsel, he looked to Rose beside him. "Hello," he said, a trace of confusion in his voice.
"Hullo," Rose echoed with a faint smile. She made no move to get out of bed. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here."
"A little, yes."
"I was worried 'bout you. So when the Doctor carried you in here, I decided to stay. Jus' to make sure you were alright," Rose explained anxiously. She suddenly felt somewhat flustered under his gaze. Nothing had happened; she was still fully clothed, but it had suddenly become rather awkward in Jack's room.
Seeing her anxiety he gave her a reassuring smile. "Thank you." Distractedly he added, "You're always welcome in my bed," as he began to extract himself from the sheets. His mind returning to thoughts of Emmy and the peril she faced from the Time Agency, he headed to the wardrobe. Opening the doors, he searched through the closet for fresh clothing.
Rose's jaw dropped as Jack got out of bed, naked. Quickly, she averted her eyes and blushed a brilliant scarlet.
"I think you'd like Emmy," Jack said conversationally as he pulled out his selections. "She's..." his voice trailed off as he turned towards the bed. Rose's face was turned away from him and he could see that the tips of her ears had turned red. At that moment he became aware of his nudity. "Sorry."
"'S alright," Rose replied, still looking at the opposite wall.
He quickly pulled on his jeans. "You can look now. You could look before, but..."
She carefully turned towards him, "'Kay." Her brow furrowed in thought as she considered her next words. Taking a deep breath, Rose began, "Jack..."
"Yeah?" Jack asked as he put on his t-shirt.
"I'm scared," she quietly confessed.
"Oh Rose, honey." He crossed to her, her distress muting his other concerns. Kneeling in front of where she sat on the bed, he gathered her into his arms. "What's wrong?"
"I'm going to lose you."
He pulled away enough to look her in the eye. "How could you think that? You aren't gonna lose me." He gave her a small smile. "You're stuck with me."
Her eyes were bright with forming tears. "No I'm not, not me. When I get my memory back, we'll go back to 'we don't do this'. And I'll lose you, and I'll lose the Doctor, and I don't want that."
Jack was confused at the phrase. "How do you mean 'we don't do this'?"
Rose paused, catching her lower lip between her teeth as she considered her words. "Us. All of us. Love. A relationship. The Doctor told me that I said 'we don't do this.' And I don't understand why not."
"Well, he's right. Or, as least...we haven't." He drew back from the hug, letting his hands drop to cover hers. "I want you to know that I love you, that I love the Doctor. But there's always been something in the way: another adventure, another megalomaniac, another injury. We were too busy living to consider what could be."
"We were stupid. I don't want to go back to that. I want you. I want the Doctor. I want us to be together." She knew that she sounded like a spoiled child, but she didn't care.
"I know," he soothed, "and I'd be lying if I told you I felt otherwise. But you can't hide from your past. Believe me, I know. That's all that you'd be doing if you didn't get your memories back."
"I don't like it."
"I told you, you're stuck with me. I'll still be here for you when you get your memories back." Jack smiled encouragingly.
Rose's gaze dropped to her hands, covered with Jack's, her mind whirling with one thought. "And the Doctor?"
"Him too." Though he was not sure if it would be in the way that she wanted.
Rose smiled weakly as she looked at him. "Thank you, Jack," she whispered.
Jack leaned forward to brush his lips softly against hers. As he pulled away, he murmured, "You're welcome." Standing, he smiled and put his hand out to take hers. "Come on, the Doctor's waiting."
The TARDIS medical bay now seemed ominous to Rose Tyler as she followed Jack inside. Though it seemed like any other room, admittedly with a lot more gizmos and whatchamacallits than anywhere else that she had seen so far, it was not as friendly. The console room thrummed with the ship's heartbeat, something which - despite its alien nature - made it feel like home. Here, however, the sound was muted leaving only the glowing lights and the low hum of various instruments to echo in her senses.
Part of her, she realised, did not want the memories back. Though memories make the man, or in her case, the woman, she knew that they would keep her from the men that she loved. In the blank slate that had become her life, she felt strongly about three things. She loved the Doctor. She loved Jack. She did not want to lose that.
Rose pinched the bridge of her nose as Jack and the Doctor fussed over the device that they would use to restore their memories. How could she go back to 'we don't do this?' She blinked away tears.
"I'm going first," the Doctor declared once they were finished. Lying down on the bed, he boldly met Jack's eyes and dared him to disagree.
"You sure about this?" Jack asked, though he did not need to see the Doctor's nod to know the answer. With a deep sigh, he activated the device and proceeded to destroy this happier version of the man he loved.
Across the room, she watched the Doctor's body arch off of the table, his mouth open in a silent scream. Rose's hand drifted to her mouth as she watched almost a thousand years' worth of memory return in the space of a heartbeat. His chiseled features grew heavy as the weight of those years returned, and though his eyes had yet to open again Rose knew that the old Doctor, a stranger to this new her, had returned. A tear of mourning escaped her eye as she wished the man she knew farewell.
The whine of the device faded to nothingness, replaced by the normal sounds of the medical bay. The Doctor's body lay unnaturally still; only his shallow breathing indicated that he still lived. Jack wiped back a tear at the sight. To have all that pain, all that weight of times long past, return so quickly after being absent had to be heart breaking. He held out a hand to touch the other man's shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie, perhaps, but more out of concern.
The Doctor's eyes, no longer a clear blue but a darker, more ominous, sapphire snapped open. Jack dropped his hand in shock as it suddenly dawned upon him that this man was no longer as open, no longer as willing to accept and give comfort, as the memoryless version.
"Well," the Time Lord said, pressing the palm of his hand against his forehead, "That was fun."
"You're kidding, right?" Rose asked, before belatedly recalling that this was not the man she knew.
His head turned at the sound of her voice and he gave her a strange look before he pulled himself off of the bed. Standing somewhat unsteadily, he smiled for his companions' benefit. "I think I know why the Agency chose to put their mindwipe victims in a bar."
Jack shook his head, still feeling somewhat awkward around this new-old version of the Time Lord. "Rose, you're next."
Rose's eyes widened as she stepped away from them. "I don't want to go back to the way it was! I don't want my memories back."
"Rose..." Jack began, but the Doctor cut him off.
"Rose," he said, holding out a hand, "We need you back. I need you back. Without your memories, you're not Rose Tyler."
She sniffed, shaking her head in denial. "I am Rose Tyler."
"Rose, please."
Rose looked deep into his eyes and read that his love was still there, but hidden. She resolutely wiped away reflexive tears as she nodded sullenly. They had to do it, yes. She had to become Rose Tyler once again, and not have this blank slate of a life. Rose slowly made her way across the room and climbed onto the bed. Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, she turned towards the Doctor.
"Doctor, before I go," she raised her hand to forestall any objection on his part. "Before I go, there's something that I want to do." Reading the silent approval in his gaze, she grasped the edge of his shirt and pulled him down to her level. Rose pressed her lips against his in one last kiss, lingering for a moment before pulling away again, tears pouring silently down her cheeks. "Good bye," she whispered, and nodded for Jack to activate the device.
Her reaction was not as dramatic as the Doctor's, nor was she silent in her expression of the pain she felt at the onslaught of her memories. Rose's scream echoed through the medical bay, bringing tears to the eyes of both of the men who watched her anxiously. When she stopped, the room echoed with its newfound silence. Her lips moved, silently voicing the thought that was foremost in her mind.
The Time Lord moved to her side, his hand gently touching her shoulder. "Rose?"
"Damn the 'we don't do this.'" Rose said, and opened her eyes.