Title: "No Greater Love"
Spoilers: 'Tooth & Claw,' 'The Impossible Planet,' 'The Satan Pit,' 'Army of Ghosts,' & 'Doomsday.'
Summary: An ancient evil returns and it's up to someone to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Author's Note: As much as I loved 'Doomsday,' it felt almost like a copout the way the whole 'Rose is going to die' aspect was resolved. I thought if she did die, the show would have matured a little, and Rose certainly would not have been the first companion to die. Not to mention that I found it difficult to believe that a being as powerful as the Beast couldn't tell Rose's technical death from her real one. So, I wrote this story on one possible way she could have died. The idea came when I watched 'Tooth and Claw' and remembered that there was still some reference to 'Bad Wolf' that either didn't get explained or was forgotten. I also wanted to introduce a third villain and only hope I explain well enough how it came to be. Be warned: this story has not been beta'd, so please be gentle. Much angst ahead.
Reviews and Critiques welcomed.
Rose Tyler laughed.
A cybernetic maelstrom of screaming Daleks surged past her, helplessly falling headlong into the gateway leading to the void between the worlds.
As she clung to the clamp anchored to the wall, Rose looked through the haze of flying bodies at the one person she cared for the most. The Doctor, grinning and laughing as well at the predicament of his two worst enemies, locked gazes with her. The roar of the void drawing in the millions of marauding machines made speech almost impossible. No matter. The closeness they'd shared over time made talking unnecessary. A single look and each got a feel for what the other thought.
Rose could tell the Doctor felt gleefully vindictive at seeing the Daleks and Cybermen get sent right back to a hell to which they both belonged. Given what the Daleks had done to his home planet during the Time War, Rose didn't blame him. For her part, she felt relief at sparing the world from being a battleground for these two menaces. She was also glad she was doing it right by the Doctor's side. A twinge of guilt marred Rose's features at not having said goodbye to her mum, but as she'd told the Doctor, she'd made her choice.
There was no place in this universe – or in any other – she'd rather be than right by his side.
Something, either Dalek or debris, suddenly slammed into the control lever a few feet away from Rose. Sparks flew everywhere and when she blinked away the spots in her eyes, Rose watched in dismay as the lever started to move down, slowly cutting off the power enabling the gateway to remain open.
"Offline," intoned the female computer voice loud enough for all to hear.
Daleks, still banging against each other like cosmic billiard balls, began to slow down in their uncontrolled rush. Rose tried reaching for the lever but it proved just beyond her reach. In another second just one Dalek would recover enough wits to try and shoot, possibly even hit something critical enough to shut down the gateway.
Without another thought, Rose, hair whipping everywhere from the still potent gale force winds, let go of the clamp and grabbed on to the lever. She held on for dear life since, also filled with 'void stuff', she felt herself pulled towards the glowing corona of the void.
Rose spared a glance over at the Doctor, who looked fearfully on – able only to watch but do nothing else. She smiled nervously and winked at him, letting him know that she had it covered. Pushing mightily against the forces clawing at her, Rose shoved the lever back into its upright position.
The tumult of flying bodies started once again in earnest, the force pulling at them far stronger than ever before.
"Online and locked," the computer announced.
But before Rose could do anything else, she felt a massive tug into the vortex. Her feet slipping on the floor, Rose tripped and almost smashed her head on the floor. Already her arms and legs were aching from the strain. Sweat was making it hard to keep a grip on the control.
As the last few invaders flew through, the gateway pulsed and writhed, the edges glowing brighter than the coronal center. Rose waited for the doorway to close, her arms growing tired by the moment.
The opening pulsed a few times, sputtered…but did not close.
Confused, Rose looked over at the Doctor, who also looked perplexed. He began fumbling in his pockets when a sudden thunderous roar ripped through the opening, so powerful that it shook all of Torchwood Tower down to its foundations.
As quickly as it came, the howl vanished into the still strident winds of the lab. Then, a voice, from nowhere and everywhere, rang throughout the gateroom: brilliant, ominous…and frighteningly recognizable.
"The valiant child who will die in battle…"
Rose's eyes widened in horror. She shook her head. It couldn't be! She remembered vividly shooting that bolt gun into the canopy window and hitting the release button on 'Toby's' seat harness. She could still see the look of sheer fury directed at her as he tumbled towards the black hole.
A deep, rumbling laugh came in response to the thought.
"You sent my mind into the black hole, child – or as you so eloquently called it, 'Hell.' My physical body was destroyed on the planet, but my mind lived on."
"That's impossible!" The Doctor yelled. "Nothing can survive inside a singularity!"
"You are wrong, Doctor. True, neither time nor space exists within a black hole, but such is the case of the Void. As a being of who came before time and space, I was able to jump into the endless depths between the dimensions; trapped, but still existing."
"But that hasn't happened yet," Rose said. "That's in the far future."
More laughter. "Since time has no meaning in the Void, girl, I can be at any time or place I chose – provided there is an opening to take advantage of. I waited, biding my time, marshalling my power, until I chanced upon a rip between the worlds."
"The Daleks," the Doctor ground out. "When they came through in their Void ship, you saw your opportunity, didn't you? So why haven't you come through, eh? What's holding you back?"
"I cannot cross into your world else my mind die," the voice rumbled in anger. But I can hold the gateway open and expand it until you, your companion, your world and your entire universe is consumed by the Void. Behold."
The gateway's color changed to a blackened crimson. Energy erupted from the center and leapt towards the edges, making them grow. Tremors rocked under Rose's feet. Cracks appeared on the cement floor and ceilings. Bricks and other debris started falling from above, here and there smashing machinery.
A sudden lull in the winds gave Rose enough time to make a dash towards the opposite wall and into the arms of the Doctor. As they held each other, the winds picked up again and both could only watch helplessly as the crackling portal grew ever wider.
"It's not supposed to end like this," Rose whispered.
"If I could only get to the Tardis…" the Doctor muttered.
Both Rose and the Doctor, clinging to the clamp – as well as each other – hugged the wall as chairs, glass, machinery and other debris started to fly past them at furious speed.
The demon just beyond the portal, seeing the distress of the last Timelord and his human companion, laughed and taunted them, its voice booming out.
"I am Despair. I am Pain. Once you two enter this realm, you will be intimate with both for all eternity. For what you two have caused me, this I solemnly swear to you. You both shall be kept alive while you watch as I annihilate this universe. All those that live in the Light will be engulfed in my Shadow. I will be as the wolf amongst the sheep."
Rose blinked and her eyes lost focus at that last sentence.
Everything blurred around her and a memory arose unbidden in her mind: the hooded man sat inside the cage, his darkened eyes looking deeply into Rose, seeing more than any human had any right to. As the first rays of the moon came out, he said:
"You have something of the Wolf about you. You burn like the sun."
Wolf…Bad Wolf…Bad Wolf.
The phrase ran over and over in Rose's mind, like a mantra to ward off evil. Deep inside a darkened corner of Rose's consciousness something awoke. Immediately, it sensed the danger to itself, the being it inhabited…and the Doctor. It spread out tendrils of energy and slowly, gently merged once again with the human that had knowingly, and unknowingly, housed it all these long months.
Rose gasped and threw her head back, shuddering slightly.
"Rose! Rose, what is it?" the Doctor asked in concern.
She straightened, her head bowed forward. Several moments passed before she lifted her head. When her eyes slowly opened, it was the Doctor's turn to gasp.
Incandescent, golden fire glowed and shimmered deeply within those brown eyes. When they turned to regard the Doctor, they wrinkled as Rose smiled and tenderly cupped his face with a hand.
"Doctor." Her voice had changed to a timbre, echoing a power that the Doctor recognized all too well.
"This can't be," he said, shaking his head in dismay. He brought both hands up and cupped Rose's face, looking from one eye to the other. "I took in the time vortex and channeled it back to the Tardis. There should not have been anything left!"
'Rose's' smile grew larger. "No. A small part was allowed to remain. Not enough to burn, but enough for what was needed."
The Doctor frowned. " 'What was needed'? " He was about to say something else when he snapped his head back towards the growing gateway, whose surface had taken on a fiery translucence.
"You foresaw this?" he asked incredulously. The strangely altered Rose nodded.
"A small portion remained behind for this one moment, so that I might keep you safe one last time."
"Rose…" the Doctor started, "you don't have the full might of the Vortex in you, only a small fraction. And even if you did, you couldn't fight something as strong as that." He pointed towards the opening, and the evil that lay beyond.
"I don't need to fight the Demon, merely close off his access to this universe."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "How can you hope to close that rip? The only way you could possibly do it is…" His voice trailed off and his mouth opened in dread. "No, I can't allow that! You'd either burn yourself out or get sucked into the Void!"
"There is no other way," she said quietly. "I would gladly choose to save you over the universe, but I cannot do that. This must be done. If I am to die in battle, then it will be a battle of my choosing."
The Doctor blinked several times and swallowed, unable to speak. "I – I can't lose you."
"And you won't," Rose said with a mournful smile. "As the Vortex is a part of me, I am part of it. Wherever you go, I will be there." And before the Doctor could say anything in response, Rose leaned in and captured his lips with hers. The destruction of the world around them seemed to pause, ever so slightly, as the two locked in tender embrace. The kiss was short, but it carried the love of a lifetime within it. As they parted, the Doctor leaned in and whispered fervently into Rose's ear. She snuggled close to him.
"Me, too," she whispered. Then, slowly, reluctantly, they parted, each holding the other's hand.
"Goodbye…my Doctor," Rose said. With that, she let go. Both arms spread out before her as scintillating starfire danced and spread out from her eyes and enveloped her entire body. As it coalesced around her, she started walking backwards. Suddenly, like a puppet on strings, she was pulled backwards and landed right in the middle of the rippling, liquid-like rip between the worlds.
A sudden, tempestuous roar of fury exploded forth as the demon reared back slightly at the power of the Vortex radiating from the tiny human. A blast of light erupted and the Doctor had to blink several times to get rid of the spots. When his vision cleared, he could only stare in dismay at what he beheld.
There, right in the very center of the opening, floated Rose, feet together and arms spread out. Golden, ephemeral energy branched out from her body and touched the edges of the rip. And right behind her was the gargantuan form of the Beast. Although its body had long been annihilated, its mind assumed the form it once remembered. Stories tall, with long curved horns on its head, blackened, rotting flesh for skin and crimson, burning eyes, it howled in frustration at its efforts being thwarted by this tiny being before it.
Although the Beast was only able to affect things directly inside the Void, Rose, from where she was poised, was caught right in the very middle between both worlds. She screamed as the devil swiped at her with its mental limbs.
The rip, meanwhile, actually slowed in its growth as energy and the Beast's concentration were diverted towards the noisome little pest in its midst. Power crackled between the monstrosities' clawed hands. It sent wave after wave of fiery energy at Rose, trying to knock her away. Though battered and bloodied by the assault, Rose tenaciously hung on.
"Ignorant child!" it taunted, its massive, hellish, goat-like face mere meters from the floating form of Rose. "Your power is nothing compared to mine. Even if you succeed, you will either die or face eternal torment at my hands. Why? For what possible reason could you sacrifice yourself for this one man?"
Rose, her power waning and tears running down her cheeks, smiled wearily as she gazed down at the Doctor. "You would never understand, Beast. But I will say this: sometimes the Doctor…is worth the monsters."
With that, she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and concentrated. More and more tendrils of energy leaped out from Rose's body, grabbed at the edges and pulled. Slowly, the expanding gateway crawled to a stop. Bit by bit, the edges of the rip started to contract; slow at first, then gaining in speed.
The winds howled around the Doctor as electrical energy arced out from the gateway, blasting anything they hit. Then, as the edges just made contact with Rose's glowing body, the entire area erupted yet again in a detonation of pure light, blasting anything – including the Doctor – away from the area.
The light suddenly faded and silence slammed down on the area. The torrential winds that once whipped through the complex now died down. Only the sound of falling debris could be heard…as well as that of something small and metallic dropping to the floor with a clink at the spot where the rip used to be.
Nothing moved for the first few minutes. Then a groaning Doctor picked himself up, brushing papers and dust off of him. He staggered forth to ground zero of the whole event and found nothing but an almost perfect, massive hole gouged out of the walls, ceiling and floor. The entire side of the floor had just disappeared, exposing what was left to a birds-eye view forty-five stories up.
The Timelord stared down onto war-torn London. The city burned here and there from the initial fighting against the Cybermen and then from the Daleks. Through the smoke-filled haze that had risen even to this height, sirens from emergency vehicles could be heard already on the way. The scene below him was certainly playing out in every major city that the Cybermen had invaded. Many people had certainly died today. Somewhat selfishly, he was concerned with only one person in particular
He wearily looked around from where he stood for some sign, any sign, of Rose, but no body could be found. He almost turned away when sunlight glinted off something that caught his eye. The Doctor bent down and picked it off the ground. As he stared at what lay in the palm of his hand, his eyes slowly began to sting and blur.
Rose's Tardis key.
"How long you going to stay with me?" he'd asked her once on some far away world.
"Forever," Rose had promised with a twinkle in her eye.
A deep, cold pit of dismay formed in the Doctor's stomach when he realized that Jackie, Pete and Mickey would never, ever find out what had happened to Rose.
He clenched his hand around the key as he slowly sank to his knees. Pressing the fist to his head, the Doctor squeezed his eyes shut. After a moment, he bowed his head as shudders wracked through his body. Tears unashamedly fell to the dusty floor as an anguish more powerful than after having watched the destruction of Gallifrey pierced through the Doctor's soul.
And in the silence of that burnt-out lab, a single sound floated through the air…
…the cries of a grieving, lonely Timelord.
-FIN-