Has it been nearly 3 years since I updated? Yes. But every once in a while I'll get a review out of the blue and the fact that there's still people reading gives me the motivation to keep going. Honestly I completely understand if you've stopped reading, so if this is just for the one person who reviewed recently so be it! Enjoy.
"I never even asked," Cheen said, looking ashamed. "Where's home, Rose?"
Rose smiled wistfully. "Oh, not too far from here. Where you guys took me, just up the street. There's this big, blue box. The Doctor and me, we travel in it. So does Martha but she's only been with us a few times. We go anywhere – everywhere! And it sounds silly, but that big, blue box… it's home."
"So who is he then, this Doctor?" wondered Milo. "What makes you so sure he can help us?"
"He's the most incredible person you've ever met," Rose answered. "All he does, everyday, is help people. I've seen him save planets, and galaxies, and anyone who's in trouble really. To him, every single life is worth saving, no matter how small or ordinary. And he never stops trying. He won't leave you all here once he knows what's going on. Just you watch, he'll find a way to save every single person on this motorway."
"He sounds like a hero."
"He is."
The Doctor's hearts stuttered when the car number that held Rose appeared onscreen. "Car four six five diamond six. It still registers! That's Rose! I should've known she'd be able to take care of herself."
He ran back towards the two women and pointed to a thick cord of wires. "Martha, hold that in place. Think, think, think, think. Take the residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity grid."
"But there isn't enough power," Hame argued.
"Oh, you've got power," he countered, sonicking the electricity grid. "You got me! I'm brilliant with computers, just you watch. Hame, every switch on that bank, up to maximum. I can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people."
"So what are you going to do?" Martha cried.
"This!" He threw back a yellow lever but instead of opening up the motorway roof like he'd hoped, all of the lights and electricity failed.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he shouted. He dropped down to the electricity grid again.
"The transformers are blocked," he realised. "The signal can't get through."
"Doctor," the Face of Boe called, but the Doctor brushed him aside.
"Yeah, hold on, not now."
He was only vaguely aware of Boe saying, "I give you my last…" before the power came back on. Comprehending what Boe had done, the Doctor shouted for Hame to look after the telepathic head.
"Don't you go dying on me, you big old face," he added to Boe as threw down the lever for a second time. "You've got to see this. The open road. Ha!"
He raced over to the monitor and hacked into the computer system so that every car on the motorway would be able to see him on their dashboard screen.
"Sorry, no Sally Calypso," he said into the mic. "She was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor. And this is an order. Everyone drive up. Right now. I've opened the roof of the motorway, come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you. The whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! You've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up, and get out of the way. Oi! Car four six five diamond six. Rose! Drive up! You've got access above. Now go!"
"Did I tell you, Doctor?" The crackling voice of Brannigan came through the speaker. "You're not bad, sir. You're not bad at all! Oh, yee-hah!"
"You keep driving, Brannigan. All the way up. Because it's here, just waiting for you. The city of New, New York, and it's yours. And don't forget I want that coat back."
"I reckon that's a fair bargain, sir," the cat man agreed gleefully.
"And Car four six five diamond six, I've sent you a flight path. Come to the Senate."
He hadn't even realised how heavy the weight on his chest was until he heard Rose's voice and could suddenly breathe again.
"We'll be there soon!"
"It's been quite a while since I saw you, Rose Tyler," he said softly.
"Doctor!" Called both Martha and Hame from behind him. He whirled around to see the Face of Boe's glass jar had cracked through the center.
He moved over to them, gently tugging them away so that when the glass shattered it wouldn't hit them.
When Rose found them they were sitting cross-legged by Boe, who was lying on the floor, no longer protected by his glass jar.
"Doctor?" He heard her call. The Doctor rose to his feet.
"In here," he called back.
She raced around the corner with a cry of "Doctor!"
His face split into a grin as soon as he saw her, despite the somber situation. Her blonde hair was a mess and her t-shirt and jeans were covered in rips and holes. He'd never seen anyone so beautiful.
"Rose," he breathed, rushing forward to meet her. They crashed into each other and he instantly lifted her in a hug. She clung to him, nose buried in his shoulder and feet off the ground.
"I'm so sorry," he said into her hair. "Maybe if I wasn't being such an idiot and keeping away from you, you wouldn't have been taken."
"Hey," she said gently, pulling away from him to look him in the eye. "You have nothing to be sorry about."
She was so sincere, her brown eyes brimming with such warmth and compassion and downright love that all his carefully constructed walls crumbled before her, as they always did. And then he was kissing her. He poured every ounce of love he felt for her into the gesture, and he felt her do the same.
They broke apart, foreheads touching, and he took her hand.
"Come on," he said softly. "There's someone we have to see."
He took her over to where Boe was lying and she gasped.
"The Face of Boe," she whispered, placing a gentle hand on one giant cheek.
"I'm glad to see such love again," he said faintly. "One last time."
"What's wrong with him?" She asked, looking up at the Doctor fearfully.
"My lord gave his life to save the city," Hame explained. "And now he's dying."
"No, don't say that," protested the Doctor. "Not old Boe. Plenty of life left."
"It's good to breathe the air once more," the psychic being declared.
"Who is he?" Martha asked quietly.
"I don't even know," the Doctor admitted. "Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now."
"Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most."
The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand but otherwise didn't respond.
"The legend says more," Hame offered.
"Don't," the Doctor warned, remembering her words from his first visit to New, New York. "There's no need for that."
Hame ignored him and continued to speak. "It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveler."
"Yeah, but not yet," the Doctor insisted, trying his best to avoid the inevitable. "Who needs secrets, eh?"
"I have seen so much," Boe announced. "Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind, as you are the last of yours, Doctor."
"That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go," he begged.
"I must. But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone."
Boe's eyes slid shut and the Doctor's brain whirled with possibilities, the Face of Boe's last words etched in his mind. Tears were streaming down Rose's face and he rubbed soothing circles on the back of her hand. He glanced up to Martha, who was gazing at Boe, devastated, while Hame sobbed by Boe's side.
Rose went over to the cat nurse, brushing the tears off her own cheeks, and wrapped an arm around the distressed woman. The Doctor did the same for Martha, still thinking about Boe's final secret.
What could it mean? Another Time Lord? It was impossible, surely. He shook off thoughts about the possibilities it brought up. He must be mistaken, the Doctor concluded, although he knew he was kidding himself.
You are not alone.
"All closed down!" The Doctor announced as the three of them made their way back through Pharmacy Town.
"Happy?" Martha asked him.
"Happy happy," he confirmed. "New, New York can start again. And they've got novice Hame. Just what every city needs. Cats in charge. Come on, time we were off."
"I thought you weren't a cat person," Rose teased him, tongue between teeth.
"Well," he drew out the word. "I might need to reconsider. Novice Hame and Brannigan have swayed me."
"But what did he mean, the Face of Boe?" Martha interrupted. "'You're not alone'."
"I don't know," the Doctor frowned, although Rose knew that wasn't quite true.
"You've got me and Rose," she speculated. "Is that what he meant?"
"I don't think so. Sorry."
"Then what?"
"Doesn't matter," he dismissed. "Back to the TARDIS, off we go."
Martha plucked an upturned chair from where it lay, abandoned, on the side of the street, and sat down. Rose shared an incredulous look with the Doctor.
"Oh right, are you staying?" He said sarcastically.
"'Til you both talk to me properly, yes. He said last of your kind. What does that mean?"
"It really doesn't matter," the Doctor responded evasively.
"You don't talk," Martha argued and Rose remembered being in the very same position after her first adventure. It had dawned on her out of the blue, that she was travelling with this strange man who didn't tell her anything about his past or his home, and she'd been terrified.
"You never say," Martha continued. "Like when we were with Brannigan and Valerie. You told me you lied, but then you raced off. No explanation, nothing."
None of them had a chance to say anything else because at that moment a soft chorus floated across to them, uplifting and joyful.
"It's the city," Martha realised. "They're singing."
"They're celebrating," Rose smiled.
All three of them paused, taking in the heartfelt sound.
"I did lie," the Doctor admitted to Martha after a moment. "Because I liked it. I could pretend. Just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky."
He turned to Rose and gave her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "That's why I was avoiding you. Because you know the truth. You've always been able to see right through me and I… I was scared. I knew if you looked at me the illusion would shatter. I'm so sorry, Rose."
"Don't be," she said softly, twining her fingers into his.
He gave her another sad smile and turned to Martha again. "I'm not just a Time Lord," he announced sorrowfully. "I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else."
"What happened?"
He peered at Rose. "I never told you much, did I?"
"S'okay," she reassured. "I don't need to know."
He gazed at her for a long moment with a sad half-smile. "Rose Tyler…"
For a second she was transported back to freezing cold beach, a universe away, on the worst day of her life, and she thought he was finally going to finish his sentence.
Instead he gave a slight shake of his head and said, "You deserve more."
He dragged a chair over to Martha and Rose did the same, sitting next to her friend so that both girls were facing the Doctor.
"There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks…" Rose shivered at the name and the Doctor caught her hand but continued speaking, "…for the sake of all creation. And they lost. We lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky."
He paused for a moment, the same wistful expression he'd had earlier that morning when talking about his lost home gracing his face once again. "Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song…"
The Doctor felt lighter than he had in a very long time. He was lying in Rose's room, the woman herself curled snugly into his side. He was still awake and the only noise in the blanket of darkness, besides the familiar hum of the TARDIS, was the comforting sound of Rose's gentle breathing.
He'd spent the afternoon sharing his memories of home with his two friends, something he knew he should have done a long time ago with Rose.
Both of them had been brilliant about it. They'd let him talk without interruption, listening in rapt attention until he'd eventually grown silent. If he was being honest with himself he already knew the reason he hadn't told Rose much about his home. He was a coward. He'd been so worried that once he told her, she'd look at him differently. She already knew that he'd had a part in the Time War – although how big a part she had no idea – so surely when she learnt about the beautiful planet that he'd helped to destroy she'd be horrified.
But all he'd seen in her eyes when he'd run out of words worthy of describing his lost home was understanding and a deep sorrow.
Of course she didn't blame him. He was an idiot for even thinking that she might. Nobody was more compassionate or willing to forgive than his Rose.
He instinctively drew her closer to him and pressed a feather-light kiss to the top of her head.
"Doctor?"
Shoot. He hadn't realised she was still awake. He was glad she couldn't see his face, as he suspected it had turned an embarrassing shade of red.
"Yes, Rose?" He answered quietly, keeping his voice even.
"I…" she hesitated, and he had the feeling she was about to say something important. He wasn't prepared for it though.
"I want to go home."
He tensed instantly. She wanted to leave. She'd rather be back with her mum, and Pete, and her brother, and probably Mickey too. Of course she would, and he understood – really, he did. But it didn't stop him from feeling as though he might throw up (something he hadn't yet done in this regeneration) because it was his fault that she wasn't with them. He'd trapped her whole family a universe away and she wanted to go back to them but there was nothing he could do and did she hate him for that? Even Rose, incredibly forgiving and understanding as she was, must have a limit? He didn't think he could survive the next few centuries with the knowledge that Rose Tyler hated him.
All of these thoughts crashed over him in a heartsbeat, but it only took Rose another second to interpret his rigid posture.
"God no, Doctor, I didn't mean it like that," she said quickly, sounding horrified as she scrambled out of his arms so that she could face him. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to think – I just meant that I want to go back to the Powell Estate and collect mine and mum's stuff, honest."
His breath whooshed out in a relieved huff. "Oh. You mean… you don't regret– "
"Doctor," she cut in before he could finish, leaning over to the bedside table and switching on the lamp. He blinked at the sudden light until his eyes adjusted and he could see Rose clearly from where she sat beside him. Her blonde hair was slightly mussed but her eyes were blazing in conviction.
"I keep telling you. I'm staying with you forever, no matter what. I miss Mum and Dad and Tony and Mickey, of course I do, but you are just as much my family as they are. I'll never regret being here with you. Never."
She was practically shining with sincerity, causing a rather large lump to catch in his throat. If only he could tell her the truth.
He loved her with every fibre of his being. Being separated had nearly killed him – would have killed him, if it wasn't for Donna. All he had to do was admit it. Finish the sentence he'd started on Bad Wolf Bay all those months (years, for her) ago.
Rose Tyler, I love you.
He took a deep breath but changed tack at the last second, choosing words that were probably not going to overwhelm her, but were equally true.
"I don't deserve you, Rose Tyler."
"No," she agreed. "You deserve a hell of a lot more than me."
He didn't even have time to protest before she was turning the light off again and lying down beside him.
"Was that a yes to going back to the Estate then?" She asked.
"Of course, if that's what you want to do."
"Yeah." She was whispering now, and he wished he could see her face again. "I just can't stand the thought of all our stuff being used by someone else or thrown out, you know?"
He wrapped his arm around her and they were quiet for a few minutes.
"Do you want to go before or after we drop Martha home?"
She wriggled beside him. "Actually, I've been thinking…"
"Oh, here comes trouble," he teased, earning him a poke to his ribs.
"It's just that Martha didn't really get a great deal with that last trip. We never got to show her the nice side of New, New York, all she saw was the motorway and the slums! I think we owe her a scenic trip."
"I was thinking the same thing," he admitted. "And I've got the perfect place in mind."
Hope you liked it!