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Despairs Darkest Destiny
Chapter Three
The sun slowly dragged itself into the sky spreading weak beams of light into the Tardis. Its rays were barely breaking through the dark clouds that covered the sky line – it seemed as though the whole world had sunk into the darkness with Rose. The Doctor has sat in Roses' bed all night long holding her in his lap. She had lain there – not sleeping nor talking, just thinking, sometimes she would sob and sometimes she would shake but the Doctor just stroked her hair and murmuring soothing words into her ear.
When morning finally broke the Doctor was more that worried. He'd spent the night watching Rose, holding her – he'd spent the entire time thinking. From all his thoughts and his vast knowledge he could only come up with two explanations of what was happening to Rose. Either these were psychological problems, her fears and worries being released as these terrible images in her mind or someone – something was haunting her, deliberately hurting and scaring her. The Doctor prayed with all his heart it was a monster, because monsters he could deal with – monsters he could fight. But if it was Roses mind – he couldn't fight that, nor could he predict or understand it, thinking that I could just be Roses' mind and her problems causing this scared the Doctor like nothing else could.
He tucked Roses hair behind her ear and knew that only time would tell him the answers. When the first signs or morning fell through the Tardis the Doctor knew what he had to do – he had to keep his promise and keep her mind distracted.
'So Rosé' he began trying to return things to normal. Rose rolled onto her back – her head was still on his lap and her weary face showed the troubled of the night. She glared up at him
'I hate it when you call me that' she muttered – the faintest of grins pulling at her lips. The Doctor used his finger to trace the line of where her smile would be
'Where do you want to go?' he asked her watching her eyes
'Anywhere but here' she murmured. The Doctor nodded totally understanding what she was saying. She needed to be out of the darkness – away from the places where her nightmares clawed at her. He framed her face
'I have the perfect idea' he told her with a smile – the familiar glint in her eye was beginning to return
'Surprise me' she tantalisingly whispered
'I fully intend to' he grinned. He kissed her nose as she squealed before reluctantly climbing out of bed, he turned and held his hands out to her – she paused for a moment warily, then she gratefully accepted them. He gently hauled her off the bed so that she stood in front of him. He placed his hands on her waist – he could feel the coldness of her skin through the thin nightgown that floated down to her knees. It was made of black cotton and Roses' pale face sunk out of the depths of it, Rose smiled gingerly at him before placing one palm on his face
'Thank you' she tenderly told him – the Doctor raised his eyebrows in question at her, she stroked his cheek
'For looking after me'
He just smiled sweetly at her before sweeping her into his arms. Rose held him tightly breathing in his familiar scent and soothing her nerves. The Doctor squeezed her with one hand wrapped around her neck and the other hand cupping her cheek, he looked carefully into her eyes – they were world weary with signs of the night's terrors clinging to them, but also they had the tiniest sparkle in them.
'So how are you this morning?' he carefully asked. She almost sighed as she looked down thinking about her answer
'Better' she finally told him 'I feel better'
'Good' she rested her head on his chest, her ear pressed against his hearts just listening to them beat. The Doctor littered kisses in her hair before resting his chin on top of her head.
About an hour later they were both dressed – the Doctor in his pin stripped suit as always and a brown shirt – the exact same colour of his eyes. His jacket was missing though – it was damp - the only evidence of the night before. Rose stepped out of her room – if you didn't know her you would think she was happy – but the Doctor did know her and he could see the strain in her eyes and the tiny invisible tremors that ran through her body. Her blonde hair was pulled back off her face and set as plaits on either side of her face, half a dozen curls had escaped and danced around her face, she worse black combats with trainers and a green hoody that she snuggled into despite the warmth – she was trying to starve off the chills. The Doctor watched Rose as she absently fiddled with her hair – she felt the Doctors eyes on her, she glanced up and he gave her a mind blowing grin. He held his hand out to her as she skipped up to it, gleefully accepting it; she loved how perfectly her fingers fitted in between his and how their palms joined in perfect unison. Rose looked up at the Doctor and he beamed at her – she could tell he was thinking the same thing.
'So my surprise?' Rose asked, her eyes gleaming
'Ah, your surprise' the Doctor began slowly, his eyes sparkling. He raised his ither hand and wrapped one of her loose wild curls around his finger, watching as it sprung back into position as he released it – he smiled to himself
'Well?' she asked excitedly tugging on his hand like a child – the Doctors eyes were dancing now – Rose was returning to her normal self. There were no signs of her nightmares – none other than the dark bags under her eyes and her taunt pale skin. He stoked her hand with his thumb as he led her towards the control panel
'Right then' the Doctor exclaimed grinning manically at Rose – she beamed back. The Doctor began to randomly hit buttons on the consol as the Tardis began to move and her familiar sound filled the control room ringing in their ears. The Doctor glanced up to see Rose wincing and clutching her head – the Doctor looked at her worriedly
'You okay?' he cautiously asked. She glanced up and smiled at him reassuringly
'Yeah I'm fine – just a head ache' she lied not wanting to tell him of the intense pain in her head – it was like there was something in there trying to break out. He studied her cautiously willing her to tell him the truth
'I'm fine!' she exclaimed not wanting to be assessed by him, she was sick of him worrying about her. He gave her one more searching glance before returning to manically hitting buttons. The Tardis shuddered then came to a halt – the Doctor swirled around to look at Rose – he grinned his customary grin, and despite Roses' pain and fears; her heart melted. She blushed and beamed back – the Doctors' eyes sparkled as he held his hand out to her. Rose grasped his hand
'Okay – surprise me' she told him grinning
'Be prepared to be blown away Miss Tyler' he told her smiling. He led her to the door and let her walk out first; she looked at him one last time, her eyes shining with excitement. She grinned at him one last time before she turned to open the doors; the Doctor was grinning to himself, she was nothing like the Rose of the night before sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. She never ceased to amaze him with her strength, courage and determination – there was nothing her could do but be extremely proud of her.
Rose pushed the doors open and gasped; the smell hit her at once filling her head and her lungs – it almost made her light headed. It was the smell of a thousand flowers, fields and fields of every flower imaginable covered the ground around her all the way to the horizon. They had landed in the rose field; red, white, pink and yellow flowers covered the land, each in bloom and reaching up towards the sun Roses' hands went to her mouth as she stepped out into the beauty. The sun rising over the countless flowers took Roses' breath away, it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, the Doctor stepped out of the Tardis and squeezed Roses' hand
'You like?' he asked grinning, knowing her answer
'Oh, Doctor' she breathed unable to tear her eyes off the endless sea of flowers, the Doctor put his arm around Roses' shoulder and pulled her close as the sun brought the colours to life. Rose rested her head on his shoulder and smiled up at him
'Thank you' she tenderly told him, her smile conveying it all. He looked down into her eyes and couldn't help but lose himself in her eyes, after locking eyes for a few moments he finally spoke
'We are on Earth – 2020' he told her, her eyes gleamed as she looked at him wanting to hear more
'This is the Botanical Gardens, they breed every type of flower in the hundred' Rose looked around in awe
'It's amazing' she whispered
'The is the rose garden' the Doctor told her, she raised an eyebrow at him
'It's beautiful'
'Reminds me of this great girl I know' he told her warmly, winking at her. She grinned for a moment before resting her head back on his shoulder
'Are we the only ones here?' she asked. The Doctor nodded
'Yep – doesn't open to the public for another two hours' he told her. She beamed, grabbing his hand as she dragged him towards the gravel pathway – the Doctor obligingly followed. They walked down the pathways, their hands intertwined and swinging in the air, the sound of the gravel crunching under their feet and their laughter were the only sounds sweetening the air. Roses spent the hours pointing out unusual flowers sand grinning as she had a wonderful time, the Doctor smiled and laughed with her as all mentions of the nightmares faded away. Slowly but surely the public began to filter into the paths breaking the serenity that surrounded the Doctor and Rose. Rose now clutched a single rose in her hand that he Doctor had picked for her, it had a dark green stem with light red petals swirling into a tight bunch, Rose thought it was the most beautiful flower she had ever seen. Rose happily squeezed his hand so grateful for the peace he had brought to her today.
Rose suddenly looked up as a scream ran through the gardens; a tall blonde girl had ice cream all down her trousers, next to her stood a sheepish looking teenage boy holding an empty ice cream cone
'Beau! You idiot!' the girl shouted angrily. All the colour drained from Roses' face as her hand went to her head – she winced
'Beau' the name called through her mind, whispering and taunting her
'Rose?' the Doctor cautiously asked – she dropped the flower to the floor, everyone in the area stopped and stared as the flower hit the floor – its body broken forever. Rose doubled over in pain; she fell to her knees in the gravel scratching at her face. The Doctor dropped down beside her
'Please Rose, not here, not now' he quietly begged her. Rose stared up at him, her eyes wide and frightened
'I'm trying' she whispered – her voice cracking. Her hands were clawing at her face as she screamed out in pain
'Hold on Rose – hold on please' the Doctor frantically begged her as he held her. The crowds around were murmuring to each other, faint whispers reached the Doctors ears.
'She's lost it'
'Look at the crazy girl'
'The poor sweetheart is bleeding'
'Rose!' the Doctor called out as blood began to stream down her face with the tears
'Beau' Rose whispered as she rocked back and forth, she let out a soul wrenching scream before she collapsed unconscious into the Doctors' arms.
'No Rose' the Doctor whispered as he stoked her hair
'Please no' he asked, his voice cracking. Around them mothers clutched their children to them – tourists took photos and old ladies gasped. Everyone watched in horror as the once beautiful moment faded into a terrifying scene. They looked on as a man held an unconscious blood stained girl in his arms, as he rocked her back and forth talking so no one could hear him but her. They looked on as his world fell apart.
The Doctor picked up Rose and began to carry her through the crowds that silently parted for him, each person scared by the look of total despair and determination on his face. The crowd fell silent as they all looked back at the single red rose that lay on the ground – the final symbol of defeat. Inside Roses' head she was screaming at the horrific images that played through her mind, one name was calling out to her
'Beau'
As the final petal wilted from the dead rose, the final piece of roses' mind broke and the final hope of the Doctors' shattered.