The Storm's Wake

"Can't you hear?" Silence now, her screams had stopped. "You can't save her, Doctor, when she's already dead."

The words played their way through his system and flowed into the Doctor's now empty head. Dead. Not Rose, it couldn't be Rose. But he couldn't feel her life anymore. The tingling just knowing that Rose was alive had…gone. Flickered and died. She had died without him there by her side. The grief in him made its way to the surface. He sunk to his knees before Adam, head hung low. She was dead and so was his mercy. There was no-one to hold him back anymore. He could do whatever the hell he wanted. And he wanted to kill Adam. The tears of anger spilled out of his black eyes. Adam looked down on him and sneered; "Pathetic. She was pathetic, stupid and an idiot to trust you. Torchwood took me and this is my revenge. You failed, Doctor. Give in to us. You can't win anymore."

The Doctor looked up at Adam. Adam saw pure hatred in his blank eyes. Seething fury. The Doctor had a lust for revenge. It spilled out of him. Standing up, he spoke to Adam, voice shaking in a whisper. "You don't realise what you've done, do you?" He grabbed Adam's shirt collar with one hand, "You've opened the gate, Adam. The Oncoming Storm will devour and no-one can stop it. Welcome to Hell."

There are children standing here
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.

He let go of Adam's shirt and turned around to face the door. His face held a vat of steely blank darkness. No emotion. Not now. He died when Rose died a long, painful death. He had let her down, and now he had nothing to lose. He walked forwards slowly, hand that made to grab him were repelled by a force. A soldier ran towards him, blazing in fury. When he was three inches from the Doctor's body, he was thrown back with such a force that the wall behind him cracked. The Doctor was protected from them. But no-one is immortal. He walked to the door and slammed it open. A northern accented voice could be heard echoing from the Tenth Doctor's body, "The Oncoming Storm will devour. No-one can stop it. Only she held the key."

Houses burnt beyond repair.
The smell of death is in the air.
A woman weeping in despair says
He has been here.
Tracers lighting up the sky.
It's another families' turn to die.
A child afraid to even cry says,
He has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness

He ran down the corridors to Rose's cell, where he could smell the freshness of her blood. Darkness invaded his hearts and they broke with a resounding crack. Opening the door, he saw a table at waist height. Her body limply lay across it, straps still there, holding her down. Her pure blonde hair was tainted by blood and spread across her face. He could see the same gash in her stomach as before, but no blood spilled now. Her skin was white, whiter than snow. She was still beautiful. He looked over her dead body, undoing the restraints and grabbed her limp form up to him. He hugged her with all his strength, willing it her to come alive again. He brushed the top of her head lightly with a kiss. The smell of her was his undoing. She was still warm, her smell was still of Rose and he finally shattered into a million pieces. His tears were salty on his lips as he remembered Rose's red lips on his, he remembered her laugh, her smile, her eyes. The life in her eyes was what he lived for. The spark behind them that said that she loves him. Had loved him. Past tense, he reminded himself, she's dead.

She had been tainted, he remembered. Adam had raped her. Twice, maybe more. What killed the Doctor was that he didn't know how many times, how long she'd had to suffer the long, slow death. Knowing that he wasn't there, when she hoped he would rescue her. He had failed her. The rapist was right. Clutching her body tightly to him, he scooped her into his arms and laid her on the floor. He brushed the blood-red hair out of her face. Shock poured over him.

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
But no one asks the question why,
He has been here.

It wasn't Rose! This girl's features were different, her face was squarer and her eyes were blue. Understanding dawned into his hearts; this girl had been a decoy Rose. Rose's blood splashed onto her body and the same marks made to stall him. To make him broken. He was the oncoming storm and this girl had been caught up in its wake. Used, abused and killed to give them time. He didn't even know her name. He closed her open, dead eyes with his hand, slowly and laid her on the floor again, whispering in a mantra, London accent once more, "I'm sorry, I am so sorry." He stood up and simply felt. He was searching for Rose, her life, her force. His eyes spread wide open in shock and he felt everything.

She was still alive, but just barely. Her heart beat slowly thudded along. But her soul was ebbing away. He could feel her pain. Her stomach was bleeding; her blood and her innocence had been taken from her by force. He could feel her anguish, her disappointment that he wasn't there by her side. But just at the back, there was a flicker of something. Hope. It was hope. He wasn't about to disappoint her even more. She would be safe again, with him. The Doctor sped up and ran with all his might towards the flicker of hope. But the storm raged on.

Old men kneel to accept their fate.
Wives and daughters cut and raped.
A generation drenched in hate.
Says, he has been here.

She was alive, that's all that mattered to him anymore. The storm brew wilder and wilder in his body. It reached from the top of his head down to the bones of his toes. It spread and grew wild, willing to do anything to save her. He owed her that, at least. He sprinted through blackened corridors, past monitors and controls towards the flicker of hope. The Doctor knew what he had to do. It was either him or Rose, and he wanted her safe. That left him only one option. He ran faster and faster, the acid in his leg muscles burned him inside out and he relished it. It was a distraction from her pain, her distress. And her regret. He rounded the last corner and saw Rose's body on the floor, her eyes shut in pain as Adam raped her once more. The Doctor's mercy broke again and he hurled the lone Adam off her. He looked back at his Rose. She was glowing gold. Her eyes opened and she saw him as she sat up weakly.

"My Doctor, I'm sorry…I couldn't…I can't hold on." Her face darkened, her eyes closed and he felt something else take over her body. It invaded her. She spoke now, her voice dark and of something he had felt before as her eyes opened to gold once more. "I am the Bad Wolf and I hold the key."

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness