Still don't own anything…damn!
Mickey cursed himself for having run off without Rose. Mickey cursed himself for finding the Romanovs so quickly. Mickey cursed himself for having barrowed in unannounced, scaring the living daylights out of the Tsar and his family. Mickey cursed the fact that his gun had been taken from him and he was being held down by four guards. Mickey cursed the strange man in the mask who had just walked into the room and demanded the Tsar relinquish the throne to him.
At any other time Mickey knew he would have sniggered at the man in the monk like cowl wearing a gold and silver mask but something about his air and the way he moved struck fear into his soul. He resonated with the same power as the Doctor but it was tainted horribly and Mickey knew that he was the enemy Rose had spoken of. The guards released Mickey, moving to defend the Tsar from this new threat as the calls of the crowds began to increase outside. He heard the whimpering of the Tsar's two youngest children as they clung close to their mother's skirts, her beauty now marred by a fear that showed her difficult years.
"Who are you?" demanded the Tsar, stepping tentatively between Omega and his family.
"No one that will concern you for much longer," said Omega.
Mickey crawled towards the ice gun resting against the wall, his fingers just brushing it as he felt cool, electric fingers close around his wrist. He looked up into the childlike eyes of the girl Rose had called Romana.
"It won't work," she said, "The gun does not have enough power to stop Omega. Keep still and keep watch, Omega will talk for a while before he acts. Rose and the Doctor are close."
Mickey's eyes flicked back to the scene before him, Romana was right. Omega paced in front of the terrified family, giving a speech on how he would rise to greatness. Mickey turned back to Romana only to see she had disappeared once again, all that hung in the air was a wisp of gold dust that flew back down the corridor and down several flights of stairs.
XXXX
The Doctor tried again to get to his feet but his leg protested angrily and he fell back to the floor. He slammed his fist into the stone work in anger, flinching as the blood and dust mingled on his knuckles. Rasputin struggled in the corner, gagged and bound before the low level ice burst had worn off. Rose slipped her arm around the Doctor's shoulders and tried once again to help him to his feet, feeling his grip tighten on the sleeve of her dress as the pain flared once again.
"It's no use!" he cried as he connected once again with the floor, "I can't get up."
"Yes you can," said Rose, her dress tattered once again to provide a bandage for his bleeding hand. She heard the growing roar of the crowds outside but it was the screams that had now been silenced that worried her the most, "Those people up there need us and we're not going to give up."
"Find Mickey and go back to the TARDIS Rose, get out of here before its too late," pleaded the Doctor, his head rolling onto Rose's shoulder as the blood loss left him weak, "If I die, I'll regenerate and then I might have a chance to bring Omega down but I want you safe."
"And I'm not going to let you regenerate again! I lost you once I'm not going to again, not so soon," she said intertwining their fingers and holding the link up before his face, "You see this? This means that you and I are one and that we never give up. We never have and we never will. Now get up!"
"Rose…"
"Get up!" she said before crushing her lips to his in a kiss that for the first time since his regeneration filled him with all the love and affection she had ever borne for him.
As she released him he struggled to his feet, still using her shoulder for support but finding a strength he had thought long dead. They made for the stairs, ignoring the muffled cries of Rasputin as they climbed. They could barely see in the gloom but a distant light kept flickering just ahead of them and they both followed it on instinct, the climb slow but steady. Rose could hear the Doctor's breathing, heavy and laboured, and committed his face to her memory in perfect detail. She felt the fear rising in her heart that he would regenerate again, it had taken them over three years to come to terms with what had happened and she didn't know if she had the strength to do it again. She shouldered her gun and reached her hand into his, trying in whatever sense she could to give him her strength. He turned to her with the boyish grin she loved, his deep brown eyes still shining in the darkness.
They emerged onto an ornate corridor and the Doctor pressed his back against the wall as voices echoed from a nearby room, one he recognised clearer than all the others. He gave Rose's had and point to the door before placing a finger on his lips. Rose nodded and kept against his side as he edged closer to the door. She could hear who she assumed to be Omega rattling off some speech on how he would become a god but her eyes were drawn to the family cowering in the corner. She watched Alexandra gently hugging the boy she assumed was her son close to her, tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched the growing purple bruise on his arm. Rose tugged the Doctor's sleeve and gestured to the pair. He paled at the sight and pulled the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. Handing it to Rose, he nodded for her to try to get to Alexis knowing she'd know what to do when she got their. She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears and pride before pressing her lips to his. Her hand slipped from his grip as she slipped beneath the large desk that stood against the wall, crawling through on her belly before disappearing behind the drapes by the window.
Rose peeked through a gap in the curtains to see Mickey sat in the corner, his eyes fixed on the scene before him. She wanted to signal to him, to tell him that the Doctor was barely ten feet away but she couldn't risk drawing any attention to herself. She watched the Doctor as he crouched low, having noticed Mickey in the same instance that she did. He scrambled beside the wall, moving without making a sound on the wooden floor. He clamped a hand over Mickey's mouth and held him fast so he couldn't wriggle. Rose saw Mickey relax as he recognised the Doctor and watched as he whispered something in his ear. The Doctor's eyes caught hers for a brief second, a glance that told her everything she needed to know.
The Doctor got to his feet and the guards beside the Tsar turned their attention away from Omega to the newest intruder. The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets, whistling as he scuffed at the floor with the sole of his shoe. Rose recognised the tune as one he often hummed over Susan's cradle when she was a child. It must have been from Gallifrey as she saw the semblance of recognition pass over Omega's form as he turned to the Doctor. The Doctor ran a hand through his fly away hair and gave Omega a cheeky grin.
"Hello again," he said, "Sorry old man, got a bit caged up back there and I didn't finish telling you how I was going to stop you."
If it was possible in his expressionless garb, Rose thought she saw Omega bristle at the Doctor's cheery words.
"How did you escape?"
"Now that would be telling wouldn't it," said the Doctor, "And as you're not willing to play nice then neither am I. I…"
Rose turned her attentions from the Doctor's ramblings and returned to the chance presented to her. She carried on behind the drapes until she reached the Royal family. She touched Alexandra's wrist and placed a finger against her lips as the Tsarina turned to face her. She slipped her hand into Alexis' and Alexandra reluctantly let him disappear behind the curtain. The little boy followed silently and gravely, his eyes never leaving the now large bruise on his arm. Safely back behind the curtain Rose flicked the sonic screwdriver to the correct setting, remembering from her adventure with the old Doctor how to cauterise wounds and internal bleeds.
"This won't hurt, I promise," whispered Rose as Alexis paled at the sight of the screwdriver's blue glow.
"Am I going to die? Where's Rasputin?"
"I'm here to help you now. Rasputin ran away," said Rose, gently applying the tip of the sonic device to the boy's arm. She watched as the dark bruising slowly faded and Alexis' skin returned to its natural pigment, "See, all done."
"You're not a Lady from England are you?" said Alexis, his sapphire eyes staring up into hers.
"No I'm not, but I'm a friend," said Rose, "And I'm going to get you out of here."
They scrambled behind the curtain, Rose mindful not to hurry to young boy. She reached the gap but couldn't risk the dash to the door without being seen. The Doctor was still rattling away and Rose could sense Omega's anger. Her husband's eyes flicked over to her and he moved further towards the other side of the room. Drawing his gaze away from Rose and Alexis. Seeing the opportunity Rose darted for the door but a cry from the other side of the room sent Omega spinning to face them.
"Halt!" cried one of the guards, "She has the Tsarevich."
"Shit," said Rose, seeing Omega's hand raise as she bolted to the door. A hand shot out and grabbed Alexis' from her. Romana pulled the little boy behind her and out of the door just as Rose's hands were bond with cold metal chains. She tried to move but fell as her ankles received the same treatment. She saw the black robes stop beside her and felt herself lifted up by the back of her dress.
"Leave her alone!" cried the Doctor but stopped as Omega pulled Rose fully up right, his gloved hand closing around her delicate throat. Rose choked as he tightened his grip, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she managed to cry, feeling her own pulse racing against Omega's fingers.
"Now Doctor, we have a bargaining tool and perhaps you'll start being more co operative."
"Please Omega just let her go, let her leave and you can do whatever you like with me," said the Doctor, the pleading in his eyes only lifting slightly as he saw the movement of the Royal family, sneaking passed their distracted captor and following the beckoning of Romana. The Doctor clasped his hands behind his back and indicated for the guards and Mickey to follow suit. He paled as he saw Alexandra hovering by the door, her eyes filled with tears as she looked over to him. Without any warning she launched herself from the door, away from Romana's grasp and jumped onto Omega's back. The Gallifreyan released his grip on Rose as Alexandra pulled his hood back, tumbling to the floor. As Omega struck the ground Rose's bonds faded to dust and she scrambled to the Doctor's side. Crying out as Alexandra was knocked out cold by the impact and Omega got to his feet, the mask and hood fallen away to reveal nothing.
"He's not real," said Rose, "He's not there."
"Omega is pure will, you can't see something that doesn't exist as matter." said the Doctor as he saw the door slam to all outside help and the walls begin to close in around them. Omega's laughter echoed in the shrinking room.
"You will not escape me Doctor, not this time. This time I shall be victorious and you will be the one to die."
Rose clung to the Doctor's arm, childhood nightmares of faceless assassins running through her head. The nightmares her mother always consoled her from by telling her they couldn't hurt you if you didn't believe in them. She looked up at the Doctor, saw the same hopeless fear in his eyes that was present in her own. A childlike fear of something nothing could defeat, even a Time Lord but a child could always defeat its nightmares, convinced by a parent that they weren't real. She stepped away from the Doctor and up to the non existent form of their enemy.
"I don't believe in you!" she said, her voice hissing through clenched teeth, "You're not real and I don't believe in you."
The Doctor looked on in amazement as Rose spoke and saw Omega take a step back. Drawing herself up onto her tiptoes she placed her face right in front of where Omega's should have been.
"I don't believe in you. You don't exist. You died years and years ago. I don't believe in you."
The Doctor looked around the room, the walls had stopped moving. He felt a hope rising in his chest that pushed its way out in a cry, "I don't believe in you!"
"Shut up!" came the cry from Omega's form as the walls began to recede, "I command your destruction. I will your destruction."
"Can't be hurt by something we can't see," said Rose, "Something we don't believe in."
"You're not real Omega, you haven't been real for centuries," said the Doctor coming to Rose's side, "You are just a nothing and I know that a nothing can't hurt me!"
"You can't be doing this, you can't be," cried Omega as the door swung open to reveal the shocked faces of Mickey, Romana and the Romanovs, "My will is law."
"Your will has no power here," cried Rose, "Not when we have hope and love. Friendship, family, honour and prayer, all those things are so much more powerful than the will of evil. Things we can feel, things we can touch. The friendship that makes a girl face a Dalek army for those she loves.The honour that makes a man strand himself in the past for a woman he doesn't know. The love that makes his wife forgive him and the family that will hold them together. The prayer that somewhere in this stupid universe they mean something. That's our power Omega and you have none."
Rose took the Doctor's hand and felt the power of life flowing between them, felt their power growing as Omega's faded. Romana rushed over to them, taking the Doctor's other hand. He felt the same electrical pulse and looked down into her eyes, seeing the shimmering gold lurking behind them, the gentle flicker around the outside of her frame. Pure, unbridled love flowed back to him and he knew who stood beside him, impossible or not. He liked impossible today.
"I don't believe in you," cried Romana, "You were defeated. You died and you never returned. You have no power over us Omega."
"Stop it!"
Mickey soon joined the group followed by the Romanov children, all crying out disbelief, holding onto to each other and repelling the nightmare. Almost childlike they chanted, even the brash Russian guards joining the call, each one filling every cry with hope. The Doctor could feel Omega's power fading, heard the crowds possessed by his will quieting outside. He looked down at Rose, her face more alive than he had ever seen it, bearing the same innocence and truth as the first day she had stepped into the stars. Her gaze flicked up to him and she let go of his hand for a moment to pull his wedding ring of her finger. She took his left hand and slid it back into place. She smiled up at him as he reached into his pocket and pulled out her ring.
"I believe in you," he said as he slid it onto her finger, the band glittering in the candle light of the room, "I'll always believe in you."
Omega gave an almighty cry, pushing out once more with his will but he was depleted and the cowl fell to the floor, empty. The Doctor felt the energy fizz in the air around them for a second before it finally dissipated into the ether.
"We did!" cried Mickey, "We bloody well did it."