Of Roses and Storms
"I am the Bad Wolf and I hold the key." The Doctor's mouth hung open and agape. Rose wasn't there anymore. But this wasn't real, it couldn't be happening. The Doctor's voice forced its way up. "How is this possible? Rose!"
Adam scrambled to his feet again and started to lunge at the Doctor's knees. Rose's hand shot up and he was propelled backwards into a wall with a sickening crack. His body sunk onto the floor. Her voice was sharp and plain, untainted. "I am not Rose, I am the Bad Wolf."
His arms flailed around at her. "That's impossible! You can't still be the Bad Wolf! You just can't!"
"The Bad Wolf never left this body. She doesn't burn anymore. She remembers now. She remembers everything, sees everything but she doesn't burn."
Now he was still, quiet and serious. "What d'you want with Rose?"
A smile crossed her face briefly. "She is still with me, oh, very much still here."
"What d'you want her for!"
She looked into his eyes deeply, serenely and he saw Rose's love. "She felt it coming. I had to stop it. We wouldn't let you become this. We can't let it happen. Not again."
Confusion rang through his senses into overload. "Let what happen?" No answer came. "Tell me!"
"It's what you are now. You are the Oncoming Storm and I have to stop it."
I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far
His anger went into overdrive, "I want to talk to Rose! Give her back to me!"
"She will not change her mind."
His voice became quiet and dangerous. "Give. Her. Back. To. Me." Suddenly her body lurched and slumped to the ground with a soft thud. Her eyes jerked open and her body convulsed. "Rose?"
Voice weak, she said quietly, "Doctor?"
He bent down and gently caressed her face, "It's me, Rose, I'm here."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She was crying silent tears down her face. "I'm sorry…It won't let me stay here…I'm sorry…I love you." Her body lurched and she became a spectrum of golds once again.
Devastation hit him like a ton of bricks. "No! No! I want her back, give her back!"
"If I do, she will die. I am keeping her alive for now."
"For now! What the hell does that mean!"
"I can't sustain your Rose for much longer. The Oncoming Storm is brewing again." Her back arched off the ground and her fingers became splayed across his chest, "I can feel it!" Rose's voice spoke normally to him now. "My Doctor. I've got to save you from this. I can't let it happen."
"Let what happen? Nothing's going to happen, Rose." His hand wiped the tears from her cheeks and his restraint weakened.
"Yeah it will, Doctor. I'm dying and nothing's gonna stop it. I've seen the future. I see what you become after I die. You become a killer."
I lose my way
And it's not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes
I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh
Every day of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with
Her eyes bore down into him, the brown in her irises becoming all-too familiar "I see your carnage. I see the storm unleashed on innocent people. You can't stop it. It'll take over you! I can't let you become that!" Her fingers dug into his jacket and she pulled him closer to her eyes. "The Bad Wolf will stop it. It'll go into you."
He looked at her, horrified, realising the consequences. "No! No! You'll die! I can't let you die!"
"It's only sustaining me, I'll die anyway. Remember?"
He heard the words he had spoken to her years before. Humans decay. You wither and you die. "I remember."
Her eyes glossed over again, "it's better this way, Doctor. I couldn't go on, I couldn't survive. I'm not strong enough."
"But I can heal you, Rose!"
She shook her head gently, "physically, yeah, yeah maybe you could. But I don't think even you could stop my dreams. My nightmares. Neither of us could handle me screaming in my sleep, remembering Adam on top of me, forcing me, raping me. I'm not strong enough. I'm just not strong enough."
He gripped her body tight to his, "please, don't leave me, Rose…I can't lose you."
"I have to do this, Doctor, I'm sorry. I love you, I love you so much." Rose's body arched unnaturally as the Doctor let her go. The gold life returned to her eyes. Standing up slowly, she looked at him. "This is it, Doctor. She has to do this."
I watched you die
I heard you cry
Every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry
In the middle of the night
For the same damn thing
"What do I have to do?"
She smiled. "Let her in." Rose's hands pressed lightly against the Doctor's chest.
He breathed deeply and marvelled at the things he saw from Rose's simple touch. He saw everything! He saw Rose when she was a little girl and felt her pain, her pure anguish at knowing she had no father. A young woman plagued by boredom. A Rose he remembered; her meeting his ninth self. Her joy at running from aliens. He felt her safety even in great danger. He saw the Daleks on Satellite Five again, her becoming this for the first time. He felt her confusion and grief as he regenerated. The embarrassment as Cassandra kissed him in Rose's body. Her jealousy as she met Sarah Jane. Her pain at seeing him a broken man after Reinette died.
He felt her disbelief knowing that he'd left her a second time, alone without an explanation. Her pain of going through life without his smile, his voice, his touch. He felt her reluctance when he found her again. The next sense overwhelmed him. Love, oh, so much love for him that it made him weak. The pleasure, joy, love and purity of their joining.
But now he felt her pain, her anger, her fear and pure revulsion at what she saw. He would become a killer because of the Oncoming Storm. She wouldn't let it happen. He sensed her heart and soul reaching into him and pulling at the Storm brewing inside of him, ready to escape. He felt the fire inside as the Bad Wolf poured into him. Fire burned in his eyes. All that is. All that was. All that ever could be.
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid