I can't believe I'm finally able to post this. It feels like I've been working on it forever. This is technically the last chapter, with only the epilogue yet to come, and it is VERY long. Maybe I should apologize for that, but then I think, hey, it's essentially the season finale, so it should be extra long since it's special, right? LOL. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it and feel it was worth the wait. And thanks for sticking with me, you wonderful, loyal readers! 3
The landing is bang-on. Right spot, right time, down to the centimetre and millisecond.
Victor smiles as he yanks open the TARDIS' doors to find no petty tricks have been played on him either– there's no smelly rubbish bins or a wall in his face. Excellent. He's piloted this ship exactly once, and already he's garnering more respect than the Doctor ever has.
Pleased, he disembarks, stepping out into a shadowy cluster of tall trees and palms, and listens. Voices float over from a distance– it's just the sentries stationed at the lift and stairs, most likely. He hears no one else.
The air is sweet and floral, and his footsteps crunch on the chunky bark mulch as he makes his way to the outer curb of the raised garden he'd parked within. Pushing aside palm fronds, he looks left and right, and then emerges onto the penthouse's tiled floor without being noticed. Perfect. Hopefully Omara will think he's been lurking around here for ages.
He strolls, tall and regal, toward the sound of rushing water. Torchwood's penthouse is an all-glass atrium with a dizzyingly high vaulted ceiling, an enormous, posh event space, though Victor would wager it has never looked this beautiful. Thick groupings of trees and shrubs and flowering plants now grow in raised gardens that meander down the length of every wall, creating a leafy canopy over his head. Beneath his feet, the stone-tile floor winds through the greenery, all the way from the lifts at one end, to the pond and waterfall at the furthest.
As he rounds a curve and comes into the largest open area, he spots Omara, her long white hair spilling down her back as she talks with the marriage officiant and several Tesi dignitaries. Just past them is the waterfall, shimmering water tumbling from high, churning in the large pond below. Its pleasant noise fills the air, concealing Victor's approach.
He frowns. If only he were wearing proper dress shoes, and not these bloody trainers. He likes a nice loud clack clack clack. He likes how hastily people straighten up when they hear it.
That said, the looks of faint shock on their faces when he abruptly joins their little circle is not entirely unpleasant.
"Your Majesty." The marriage officiant is the first to greet him, bowing his turbaned head. The others quickly follow suit. Victor acknowledges them, and then draws Omara away with a hand on her arm.
"Are the wedding preparations finished?" he asks her.
Omara thumbs the screen of the small device she's holding, and the roar of falling water quiets, like there's cotton in his ears. "Per your instructions, the noise cancellation field has been installed around the waterfall, and the last shipment of trees from Tesilene have been placed." She gestures upward. Leaves fan out overhead, tiny and star-shaped and alien, all iridescent blues and purples that glimmer in the sunlight. Like jewels, Victor thinks. Sapphire and amethyst. They look lovely scattered amongst the emerald-leafed trees of earth.
Half the garden's trees are local varieties, half are native to Tesilene, symbolising the merging of two races. Victor shoves his hands in his pockets as he takes it in, unable to find a thing to criticise. On the contrary, the beauty of it all just reinforces within him the immense good he's doing.
Deep within his memories, Victor recalls a visit to Tesilene, a planet wonderfully clean and orderly, as strictly run as a military ship. He also remembers being intensely appalled by the means used to obtain the end, but that was the Doctor's idiotic opinion, not his own. Tesi rule will be a blessing to the people of earth, after millennia of living in their own filth and disorder.
"This will do," he tells Omara. There's so much to work with here, it will be easy to fool Rose's little human brain.
"Where is Rose?" asks Omara, as if she's read his mind. Maybe she had. The Tesi are moderately telepathic, and his thoughts had been rather loud.
"She's here. Human brides don't usually let anyone see them until it's time to say vows, you know. The real question is, why hasn't Ghareem arrived yet?" Victor rocks back on his heels. "He's promised to bring me a special gift, and we can't have the wedding without it."
"Ghareem has a perfect record of punctuality." Omara looks him up and down. "You may be late yourself, though, if you don't hurry off and dress."
"Why? What's wrong with the black?"
"It's your wedding. Where are your royal robes?"
"Oh," Victor waves dismissively, "I got to thinking, this ceremony is all about a merging of cultures. If I wear human attire today, it will bring more willing human compliance in future–"
Something catches his ear. It sounds like…like people. "What am I hearing?"
A smirk tilts Omara's mouth. "Why, it's only your compliant humans. They are celebrating the royal wedding."
Anger ignites in his belly, and Victor forces his way through trees and shrubbery order to press his nose to the glass wall. Far below, the streets practically writhe with humans, the air full of music and noise.
"I told you Rose wanted a private, secret wedding!" he shouts, whirling to glare through the trees at Omara. "That's why we're doing it early!"
She folds her arms. "Rose might want that, but I wonder if you do."
"What– I didn't leak our plans to the public, if that's what you're insinuating! This is a…a sacred occasion! Get some bloody troops out there and clear the streets!"
"It won't improve your image if you start arresting your supporters, you know," Omara replies as he stomps back toward her. "Those humans are celebrating you. You ought to be grateful."
"Grateful?" Victor nearly screams the word at her. The woman's ignorance is appalling; especially after the trouble he's gone to to make this wedding happen! And not just for his own benefit, but for hers and her people's too. What if Rose hears all that noise outside and gets suspicious?
Victor delivers a vicious kick to the mulch, sending a spray of it spattering over the tile floor. Several dignitaries startle at the sound and turn to look at him with astounded expressions. Ignoring them, he stalks out of the garden and across the dirty floor to rejoin Omara. "What?" he snaps, noticing her exasperated expression.
"I was just wondering how you ever earned your commander ranking."
Glaring, Victor jams his hands into his pockets. "How did the media find out about the wedding? Blast it, Omara, it's your bloody job to make sure…"
Like a flash of light, realisation comes to him. It's the Doctor's doing. It's got to be. The chaos outside is a massive distraction, exactly the sort of trick he'd employ to allow him the opportunity to sneak into the building.
Victor relaxes. Everything is falling into place yet again. Not that he ever doubted the Doctor would come after Rose, but having evidence of his imminent arrival is comforting nonetheless. His first preference was to have Ghareem deliver him in shackles, but maybe this way is even better. Let the rival Time Lord think he has the upper hand. It will make his subsequent defeat even more crushing.
He lets out a big, long-suffering sigh for Omara's benefit, as if he's decided to put up with her ineptitude. "I think you've forgotten that the criminal who abducted Rose still walks free. Who's to say he didn't cause all this ruckus, just so he can infiltrate the building and disrupt my wedding? I think that's worth worrying about."
Omara actually looks a tiny bit chagrined, which pleases him. "Make sure every soldier is on the lookout," Victor continues. "Any unauthorised person who's caught in this building is to be brought straight to me, even if it's during the ceremony. Especially then. No doubt the man is still hoping to void our treaty with Earth."
"Why bring him to you? He should be taken for immediate execution."
"Execution," scoffs Victor. "That's too good for him. I want his heart destroyed, Omara. His spirit. Not his sodding body."
Disquiet strikes him. Might the Doctor already be here? Could he be hiding amongst the trees? Or even in plain sight, disguised as a soldier or a guard or a dignitary?
His hands shake slightly as he fishes the sonic from his inner coat pocket and does a hasty scan of the area. Forty-two bodies, the first readout tells him, and he scans again. Forty-two heartbeats. Only one per person. No Doctor then. Victor feels more dismay than relief at the fact. What if the security is too good?
"What are you doing?" Omara watches him pocket the sonic screwdriver.
"Checking the acoustics," he lies. "Do we really need fifteen guards stationed at the lift and stairs?"
"Did you forget about the dangerous criminal on the loose already?"
Rolling his eyes, Victor turns and walks away. He's tired to death of this woman and her need to make every conversation into a battle. No number of sentries will keep out a desperate Doctor, anyway.
Let Omara enjoy her last little triumph. They won't chat again till he's officially married, which means he'll officially outrank her, and then he can finally, officially, charge her with treason.
He can't wait to see her face.
"What do you think, Doctor?" Pete's voice comes out of the bluetooth earbud. "Did I do too good a job?"
There's real worry in his question, and the Doctor chuckles a little. His stolen hoverbike idles in the air, vibrating beneath him as he surveys the scene. "It's impressive, I'll give you that. I can't believe the Tesi are allowing all of this."
Down below, the streets and open spaces between buildings have flooded, but with people rather than water from the Wharf. It's all motion and colour and noise, the likes of which the Doctor is sure hasn't been seen since before the planet was subjugated. Though dark metal slave cuffs glint on numerous sets of wrists, people's energy and excitement are at high levels, like that of children let loose on summer holiday.
Just ahead, Torchwood Tower looms, its glassy sides aglitter in the warm evening sunlight. It's taller than the surrounding buildings, topped by its distinctive pyramid-shaped atrium. The Doctor closes his eyes and reaches out telepathically for his TARDIS, finding she is indeed parked there, exactly where he expected. So Victor did move her. He really does intend to marry Rose at Tesi HQ.
He ought to be glad he was right, glad that Victor is behaving so predictably. But as he thinks of Rose, so close by and in such danger, desperation surges through his body. For one long, mad moment the Doctor eyes the building's atrium, longing to hurl himself through its glass wall like the ticking time-bomb he is.
"...see the royal wedding as quite a special occasion, thankfully," the Doctor hears, and realises Pete is speaking again. "In all seriousness, though, Doctor, I do hope such massive crowds won't make things more difficult for you."
The Doctor expels a breath. "No, no, I'm sure I'll be able to get into the building just fine," he assures Pete, wishing he felt as confident as he sounds. Thanks to this lovely hoverbike and the black police jacket he'd nicked, getting near the building will be simple enough. Getting inside it, far less so. Tesi militia swarm everywhere like flies, monitoring the crowds from a low altitude, very little escaping their notice. "Gotta say though, I do wonder how you managed all this with such a small team."
Pete chuckles. "If Victor can leak confidential wedding information to the media, so can I. I am the bride's father, you know."
"Pete!" The Doctor is appalled. "You may as well phone up Victor and tell him you're onto him!"
"No doubt he knows that already. Besides, it won't matter, since I'm certain you and Rose will strip him of power before he gives me a second thought."
It helps a bit, receiving the Pete Tyler vote of confidence. "Yeah, suppose that's true." Slowly, the Doctor begins to glide forward on his bike, toward Torchwood Tower. Toward Rose. Unbidden, his mind's eye flashes up an image of her from this very morning, contentedly laying against her pillows, watching him with luminous eyes. Despite everything, they'd been in a bubble of quiet joy. Finally secure in each other's love.
He's not sure if anything has ever meant more to him than his relationship with Rose. It's always been incredibly special, but bringing their feelings into the open has made it sacred. He will die before he lets Victor hurt her.
Jaw clenched, he's eyeing the Tower's atrium again. What is he even doing, mucking about out here, just puttering along? Rose is right there. He could be to her in seconds–
"Doctor?" Pete says his name loudly, like he's been trying to get his attention.
"Yeah?"
"Um…" There's muffled chatter, like Pete has covered his phone with his hand. Then: "You're fine, right?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Um–"
"Oh, give me that ruddy phone," he hears Jackie demand in the background. An instant later she's greeting the Doctor, all syrupy-sweet and motherly. "Hello, sweetheart. I just want to make sure you're doing okay. You must be so worried."
Emotion instantly swells his throat. If he didn't need this helmet to hide in he'd chuck it, along with Jackie's horrible sympathy, far, far away. "I'm fine," he fires back. "I've been doing this sort of thing for over nine hundred years. You think I haven't dealt with scarier situations than this?"
Jackie snorts dismissively. "No, I really don't think you have. I've seen how upset you get when Rose is in danger, and that was before."
"Before what?"
"Before you told her you loved her."
The Doctor's mouth opens, hangs, but before he can formulate a response Jackie jumps on him again. "You did tell her, right? You told me you would, Doctor. You promised."
She sounds so fierce the Doctor is glad he can answer in the affirmative. "Ehm, yes. Yes, I did, but–"
"Good. Now you listen to me. You've got a nice big brain, Doctor, so let it do your thinking today. Rose is no damsel in distress, and you are not her knight in shining armour. She knows what she's doing. Remember, she's managed Victor for months."
"Yes, you're right, all of that's true, but…" He sucks a big breath. "Jackie, Rose thinks he's me. Did Pete not tell you that?"
"Oh, sweetheart, that was hours ago. She'll have figured him out by now."
Her tone is immensely patronising, which comforts him beyond measure. "You think so?"
"Yes. So don't go charging in there like a raging bull and ruin all her plans. You can't help her if you get yourself arrested."
"I know that," mutters the Doctor guiltily. "Why do you think I asked Pete to create this huge distraction?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sure you have a nice little plan. But if it helps, you should know that Rose's old office was on the east side of the building. Sixth story. It's been empty for months."
"I can't break in there, Jackie. I don't have my sonic screwdriver."
"Sixth story," Jackie repeats. "That's why Rose never bothered locking the windows."
The Doctor eyes Torchwood Tower with renewed interest. "Brilliant."
His knock is expected but it still makes her jump. "Rose? Is everything okay? You've been in there for ages!"
"Yeah, be right out!" Rose calls from her perch on the spiral staircase, annoyed that her heart is thudding so hard. 'M nearly ready!"
"Really nearly ready, or Rose nearly ready? Which means I'll be waiting another hour or two?"
It's a very Doctorish response, she's got to admit. Never too patient or polite.
"Shut it," she retorts, circling the few steps down to the floor. No use putting him off, he'll only come barging in.
Her new bracelet hangs heavy on her wrist like a piece of armour, a comforting reminder that she's not without advantages in this situation. Not only does she have protection, her plan to expose him is nice and simple, and she's confident in her powers of deception. Victor may have managed to fool her for a few hours, but she had successfully played him for months.
You've got this, she thinks, and puts her hand on the knob. Tension coils in her gut but she is a veteran actress; all will be well once her foot hits the stage.
The slow, approving look-over Rose receives upon opening the door has her blushing, and not in a good way. His gaze lingers on the too-low-too-tight bodice of her dress, the heat in his eyes genuine, yet they are so void of real warmth that Rose's last flicker of hope sputters and dies. The truth of his identity may as well be scrawled over his forehead in ghoulish letters. The Valeyard.
"You look beautiful," he says, low, still staring at her in a way that makes her skin crawl. He's not going to try to kiss her, is he?
Smiling, Rose escapes him by casting her gaze to the floor in feigned embarrassment. "You like this dress better, yeah?"
"Oh yes, I'd say so. Blimey. Although, what really matters is if you like it better."
"Course I do," she lies glibly. "It's much nicer. But I gotta say," she adds, as her devilish side hijacks her mouth, "I was shocked I actually fit into it. Suppose that's one good thing about Victor, he did have me eating a lot healthier. Not near as many chips."
"You do look amazing, Rose. So fit." She glances back up to find him smiling at her, eyes crinkled at the edges and everything. Genuinely pleased.
"Ta," she replies, holding back a snort. What an ego. The stress of life with him robs her of her appetite for months, yet in Victor's warped reality, he's helped her get healthy.
Victor offers her his elbow. "Shall we?"
Rose takes it, relieved he's not trying to hold her hand. It's almost like he's more nervous about them touching than she is. Interesting. It must be awfully important that she not discover his true identity, after the lengths he's gone to to deceive her.
Well, too bad for him.
Stifling a smirk, a feeling of triumph, as well as the urge to poke her tongue out at him, Rose decides to up her game. Might as well treat him exactly like she would the Doctor. "So, what planet did you take us to?" she asks, playfully hanging on his arm as they trek down the corridor.
"It's a surprise, Rose."
"Have I been here before?"
"You'll see."
"Yeah, exactly. I'm gonna see it in like two minutes, so you might as well tell me."
"That's exactly why I shouldn't tell you." Victor smiles, obviously doing his best to pretend he finds her antics amusing and adorable.
"Please, Doctor," she begs, batting her lashes at him. "You know I hate surprises."
"Says the woman who loves it when I set the coordinates to random!"
"Did you set the coordinates to random this time?"
"No." Although he's still smiling, his jaw has tightened.
"Fine," sighs Rose, secretly delighted that she's annoying him. "Don't tell me. I think I've guessed it anyway."
Victor sniffs. "I highly doubt that."
"This is an alternate universe." Rose hip-checks him as they come into the console room. "Which means it has to be a planet you're familiar with that also exists in our universe, with the same exact coordinates as in our universe. That's gotta limit the options, yeah? It can't be somewhere new."
"It's new to you," he says firmly. "Now stop it."
Rose begins to giggle, partly from nerves, but also because their pace to the door has become quite brisk, as if Victor is genuinely afraid she might guess correctly if given enough time.
Too late, she sing-songs in her head. I know we're on earth.
Slipping free of her grasp, he bounds up the ramp and, with a grand gesture, throws open the TARDIS doors. Rose blinks in genuine surprise when she sees, not the posh wedding venue she'd expected, but trees. Lots of them. "Oh, wow. Are we in some sort of forest?"
He laughs. "Not exactly. Come on, I'll show you."
Victor hops out into the dappled light, then holds back a cluster of what looks like palm fronds. Gathering her skirts, Rose exits too, glancing around with a puzzled frown. They seem to be on the edge of a clearing. Here, trees crowd the TARDIS, their leafy branches nearly blocking out a pink and orange sky. And while many of the trees are coloured in planet earth's usual palette, a good half are not. The canopy is an unexpected patchwork of greens and purples and blues.
"So, what do you think?"
"It's beautiful." She makes herself smile, though her heart is troubled. Are they having an off-planet wedding after all?
"Well, yes, but aren't you wondering why we're in the woods?"
"Yeah, I suppose."
He grins. "I've only parked here to hide the TARDIS. C'mon, let's get you and your pretty dress out of this brush."
It doesn't matter where we are, Rose tells herself as she follows him, bunching her skirts up high so they don't snag on anything. He'll have Tesi witnesses here, wherever we are. I can still expose him as a fraud.
The distance to the treeline is short, and as they step into a wide clearing the ground beneath their feet gives way to level, flat stones. Rose can hear the sound of rushing water.
Victor says nothing as she turns in a slow circle, inspecting. The clearing is more like a wide roadway through the woods, and the sky seems small. Trees and shrubs grow together in a way that is almost artistic, more deliberate than wild… is this a garden, perhaps, and not a forest? There is something odd about it. Something that makes her eyes hurt.
She feels Victor's gaze on her. "Okay, I admit it, this planet is totally new to me," she says, and treats the psycho to her most charming smile. "What's it called?"
"Vionelle." Victor pronounces the word slowly and with flair, alien syllables rolling off his tongue like music. "Well, the famous floating gardens of Vionelle, to be precise. I've landed us inside one of them."
"A floating garden? Like, for real? It floats in the air?"
"Yep."
"We can't fall off an edge of it, can we?"
Victor snickers. "No. It's hard to tell, but this place is entirely enclosed in glass. Well, not glass, exactly, though it performs a similar function, safety-wise. This stuff offers more in the way of privacy, though."
"How is it private?" Rose is genuinely curious. If what he says is true, it's the clearest, cleanest glass she's ever seen.
"Well, it blocks sound, just like regular glass can when it's thick enough, but this sort is specially made to mute all telepathic communication. And by that," he adds quickly, "I mean it prevents anyone outside this place from overhearing anything, not the other way round."
"Why?"
"A bonding ceremony is incredibly private and intimate. Telepathic vows should never be witnessed by anyone but the marriage officiant." Victor shoves his hands in his pockets, smiling crookedly at her. "Let's just say I'm glad this planet exists in this dimension. I don't know of another spot that marries couples in this way."
"Bonding is that rare?" she asks breathlessly, hoping with all her heart that he's making it all up. There must be Tesi witnesses here. There must be.
"Yeah. Aside from my people, there were only a few other species that practised it. And it had fallen out of favour long before the Time War."
"Why?" Rose fingers her bracelet, hating that she still can't tell if he's lying.
"Too permanent."
"Ah."
"So…are you still sure you want to do this?" Victor gazes at her, doing a good job looking vulnerable, like he's afraid he'll be rejected. Is he testing her?
Rose refuses to take the bait. "When I said forever to you, Doctor, I meant it."
It must do the trick, since Victor visibly lightens and offers her his arm again. Rose takes it, and as they walk, he points to a flower here and a shrub there, sharing their complicated names in an alien tongue. "This is one of the most earth-like planets I know of," he adds. "Well, aside from the gardens that float and the telepathy. We should visit Vionelle again sometime, in our proper universe, the whole planet's as nice as this garden. Gives an idea of what the earth could look like, if humans weren't continuously working to ruin it. Actually, you know what's funny? Earth probably would end up being this beautiful, if we left the Tesi in charge for a decade or two."
"Yeah," she retorts, "cause they'll have killed off seventy percent of the humans."
He chuckles. "Probably."
Victor rattles on but Rose hardly hears him, stuck on what he'd said. This is an earth-like planet. He'd nearly had her convinced it was an alien world, but now she wonders anew. Her eyes still feel funny. Sort of like when Mickey made her try his virtual-reality headset.
Pay attention to where you don't want to look, she remembers the Doctor having said about perception filters. Find the mundane, the boring, and focus on that.
Rose trails a hand over a branch as she passes it, rubs a leaf between her fingers and feels its sharp edges. She bends to sniff a fragrant pink blossom. Listens to her heels click against the stony path.
When she finds she has no interest in inspecting the ground further, she forces her gaze there, and then, for a quick but clear moment, the stones under her feet aren't stones at all. Stone-coloured, maybe, all greys and browns, but their shapes are square and regular.
Rose nearly gasps as she realises. It's tile. And it's not just any tile, it's the exact tile she'd helped her dad choose three years ago for the remodel of the Torchwood Tower penthouse.
She hasn't visited the penthouse since the Tesi invaded and took over the Tower, but she remembers the layout well. The atrium was big and open with a winding floor-plan, and a magnificent waterfall at the far end of the space. Beyond the bend just ahead of them now, the noise of crashing water grows ever louder. It fits.
Drawing as deep a breath as her stupid dress will allow, Rose marvels at the sheer audacity of the man strolling along at her side. Not only have they not left earth, Victor hasn't even bothered to change their wedding venue? These gardens must be the reason for the endless construction noise of the last few weeks. And all the other changes, like the path of stones and the perfectly clear walls and ceiling, must be due to a bit of Time Lord trickery.
As they round the curve the waterfall comes into view, white water sluicing down over rocks to churn up the pond below, rising as mist in the air. Rose squeezes Victor's elbow. "Wow," she says, pretending to be impressed, when in reality she's almost insulted. The falls are the height she remembers, and though the pond is surrounded by new greenery it's also recognisable. How thick does he think she is?
At the pond's stony front edge stands a thin, pale man, wearing white robes and a turban on his head. Rolled out at his feet is a long carpet runner in red and gold. No other person is in sight.
"That's the marriage officiant, waiting for us," says Victor gravely. "You ready for this?"
Rose nods. She wants to scrutinise everything, certain Omara is lurking nearby, along with other Tesi higher-ups. For all she knows they're close enough to touch, but hidden by whatever hologram or perception device Victor's got running.
"You alright?" he asks suddenly, speaking into her ear so as to be heard over the roaring water.
"Yeah, course." Rose makes herself laugh as she eases the death grip she's got on his arm. "Sorry."
Every muscle in her body aches with tension, as if it has begun to realise the immense danger she's in. What if she's wrong about the tie-pin, and it's not a perception filter? What if the Tesi already know he's not one of them? What if he overpowers her? Being permanently bound to this man…it's unthinkable. Unimaginable. Victor repels her, despite all his attempts to please her and win her over.
It hits Rose then: she's only seen the best of this man. What might he be like once he no longer needs to feign love for her?
What might a life with him be like?
A fervent longing for her Doctor sweeps over Rose. Oh, what she'd give to feel his strong arms around her, hear him warding off every threat with confidence and power. He'd never let Victor hurt her. He'd promised.
She knows she's being overly idealistic, but she can't help it. In her mind's eye she sees him amongst the trees, biding his time. He'll jump out, throttle Victor, and whisk her away in the TARDIS. It's really quite possible.
Her next thought makes her heart skip. It's equally possible that he's here, hidden out of her sight, but fully restrained by Tesi soldiers. Unable to even call her name.
It takes immense willpower not to look around for some sign of him. God, she hates that she has no real sense of whether or not he's near. No emotional energy of any sort touches her, blocked by the gold cuff on her left wrist. Rose briefly toys with the idea of taking it off, but it would be stupid to draw Victor's attention to the thing.
She startles when his lips brush her ear again. "Don't speak until you're asked to," he instructs, as they step onto the far end of the red and gold runner. "Oh, and if he bows to us, don't bow back."
Rose keeps her gaze on the officiant, who silently watches their approach. "His eyes look like Tesi eyes," she murmurs, because Victor surely knows Rose Tyler is not a totally oblivious idiot. "The same really pale blue."
"Wellll, they're similar, I suppose. But there's no ranking lines on his face. So don't worry." Glancing at her sidelong, he gives her a little smile.
They're there. As they come to a stop before the officiant, Victor tugs his arm from her grasp and they face each other. Mist from the waterfall cools the right side of her face.
"Put out your right hands," says the officiant, his deep voice ringing out in a shockingly sudden near-silence. Eyes wide, Rose looks over at the waterfall to find it still tumbling, though she can barely hear it.
A coughed laugh comes from Victor and Rose opens her mouth to question him, but he shakes his head. His right hand hovers in the air, palm up. Slowly, she puts her hand out too.
The officiant grips her bare wrist with his clammy, cold fingers, and then places her hand into Victor's. From inside his robes, he pulls out a long ribbon of crimson silk.
Deftly, the man begins to wrap the ribbon in a figure-eight motion, swish, swish, swish, around their clasped hands, binding her bodily to Victor. Her pulse hammers hard in her ears, drowning out the hushed sound of the waterfall. Rose worries Victor might hear it. Or see it, throbbing at her throat.
She hears something else now too. A dull roar louder than that of the water, the tinkle of music; it sounds like a distant funfair. Frowning, she glances up at Victor questioningly. He looks bemused, and gives her a little shrug just as she figures it out. There are crowds outside. Big, noisy crowds. Could it be the Doctor's doing?
Rose clings to the hope like a lifeline as the officiant begins to speak, having finished swathing their hands. It's all she can do to not jerk at the binding like a trapped animal.
Only when Victor begins to echo the officiant's words, his eyes locked on hers, does she realise– he's saying vows.
Her head begins to pound strangely –almost rhythmically– mostly drowning him out. A golden spark blooms to life in her chest, tiny but warm and comforting. Fear vanishes. It's only her hand that's bound, not her mind. And when her turn comes, Rose doesn't hesitate to let her mouth parrot the empty vows. Sweet, substanceless, candy-floss words.
Such an oddly fitting outcome, she decides, for a relationship wholly built on lies.
Through it all, she gazes unwaveringly into vibrant dark eyes that are so like, but not, the eyes of the man that she loves. Rose refuses to think about the Doctor. She thinks only of the tie-pin perception filter, surely secreted somewhere beneath Victor's waistcoat. When this ceremony ends she will find it. She'll strip him naked if she has to, to end this horrible charade.
"Tell me I can kiss my bride," Victor requests softly as Rose finishes her vows. "A human tradition for my human wife."
More proof that I'm right, Rose thinks. Nobody here believes him to be human like me.
As he leans in, Rose takes advantage. She presses her free hand flat against his chest and slides it slowly downward, inwardly rejoicing when she feels the hard outline of the tie-pin beneath his layers.
Then she hopes the bracelet is doing its job, because Victor is about to kiss her and she can't risk him picking up on her intent telepathically.
Rose lets her hand hover over the spot where she feels the tie-pin, ready to undo the buttons above it, and then freezes when Victor's mouth takes hers in a kiss that is open, wet, and forceful. As she gasps in shock, he gives her upper lip a disrespectful swipe with his tongue before pulling back to grin at her.
"Hello," he says, eyes glittering. "Did you miss me?"
"Victor." Rose tries to spit his name, but it comes out too breathily. The gold spark of courage in her chest flickers and fades.
"Well, duh, who else would you be marrying? I proposed and you accepted. Twice," he adds with an eyebrow wag.
His unbound hand pokes into his jacket and she hears the sonic buzz. The waterfall roars back to full volume, and the whole world shimmers. When it steadies and clears there are Tesi everywhere; dignitaries and officials seated in rows at each side of the pond, guards spaced at intervals along the edges of the gardens.
The officiant raises his voice. "Place your free hand on the other's temple."
Rose shies away from Victor. "Don't touch me."
"Now, love," he says, his breath hot on her ear as he hauls her close, "you can't expect to have it all your own way. That little snog was the human thing, psychic enmeshment is the Tesi thing. Well, the Tesi legal thing. A couple's not officially married till they've been integrated tele-empathically. You know the Tesi; they adore permanent commitment."
He lets go, and Rose glares at him. "I won't bond with you."
"Rose, dearest, of course you will," he says smilingly, in a voice low enough that only she can hear it. "You vowed eternal devotion to me, like, two minutes ago; this whole lot heard you. They're not gonna let you just walk away." His voice turns hard. "It's either a long life with me, or death. Your choice."
"Death."
He wasn't expecting that, Rose realises, when his mocking expression falls and his eyes darken to black ice.
Instinct makes her whirl away, forgetting their bound hands, and she nearly falls. Victor catches her, his arm snaking around the small of her back. Yanking her body tight against his, he slides his hand up her back to lodge it at the nape of her neck. Their foreheads bump together.
It bursts from her then, beyond her control. "Doctor!"
To her surprise, Victor laughs and releases her. "Good girl, that ought to get him here. I've been waiting forever."
Once, long ago, Mickey accused him of simply making things up as he goes along. The Doctor remembers his own glib answer: yep, but I do it brilliantly.
What he didn't admit then (because he hardly ever does, even to himself) is how rarely he wins by his wits alone. Luck is often a factor.
And oh, is he in desperate need of a bit of it now.
Eyes on his side mirror, he zooms his hoverbike toward Rose's sixth storey office window. So far, so good. No Tesi patroller has come up behind him yet, riding in his wake. The Doctor puts on a burst of speed, praying this will be his chance to climb in without being spotted.
He's going to climb in regardless, even if luck isn't on his side. He's orbited this building too many times already.
His fingers are tugging up the window's sash when he hears it– no, feels it, her terrified cry piercing him like a blade.
"Doctor!"
His fear and rage roar up, like fire hit by wind, and then all he knows is power and speed as he rockets his bike straight up the side of the building. The Doctor blasts past the atrium's glass roof and hangs momentarily, suspended in air. His time-sense begins to knock out a staccato warning beat– one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four.
He doesn't care. If this is how he dies, so be it. All that matters is saving her.
He flicks off the bike's anti-grav, his stomach dropping as he plummets toward a wide pane of glass that glimmers like a placid lake. And like water, it explodes as he hits it, its glistening spray raining over the trees and shrubs and tile below. The air is still full of startled yells and shrieks as the Doctor jolts his hoverbike to a stop. He dismounts, bits of glass crunching beneath his boots, and yanks his helmet from his head.
His vision tunnels. Rose, clad in a voluminous wedding dress, stands facing Victor in front of a tall waterfall. To his horror, their right hands are fasted tight with a crimson binding ribbon.
"Doctor!" Rose shouts to him. Jackie was right, he realises in relief. Rose knows.
His gaze shifts to lock with his double's, fire to ice. "Oh, get a new trick," drawls the other man. "This crashing your bike through a window thing is getting boring."
"Let her go," the Doctor grinds out, but before he can spring into action his arms are seized from behind by two guards. Using all of his Time Lord strength, he thrashes from their grasp and nearly gets free, but then a third and fourth guard joins the fray. Together, they force him to his knees.
From the front row of seated Tesi, a high-ranking woman stands up. "Remove the prisoner," she directs the guards.
"No!" Victor roars the word, looking more than a bit unhinged. "Don't you dare."
The heavy moment hangs. Then, wordlessly, the commander returns to her chair.
"You nearly missed my wedding," Victor remarks to the Doctor, as if nothing had happened. "I'd've never forgiven you for that."
"Omara, listen," Rose cuts in, addressing the Tesi commander. "That's my friend, he's trying to rescue me, because he knows the King is crazy. You know it too, all of you, you've seen it! But what you don't know is that Victor's not even Tesi, he's an imposter. He's just using this thing, a perception filter, to make himself look like he's one of you. Just like he made this place look like a floating garden, but it's not!"
"I am sorry, Your Highness," replies Omara to Rose. "But I am not sure what you mean."
Pride swells the Doctor's chest. Rose figured it all out. Mostly, anyway. "Victor altered your perception with the TARDIS, Rose," he calls out. "He must have set it to affect only human minds."
Rose stares at him, and he can see she's thinking fast. A heartbeat later she's got Victor's jacket in her fist, but as she tries to pop the buttons he snatches her wrist. Her pained cry sends another flare of rage through the Doctor. "Don't touch her!"
"Shh, love, it's alright," Victor coos to Rose mockingly. "Calm down, I've got you."
"Omara," says Rose, ignoring him. "Please believe me. Victor is not Tesi. He pretended to be one of your commanders when he called you here, because he knew if he was the first to report a planet in need of Tesi services his reward was the kingship. He knows all about the Tesi, but he's not Tesi, he's human!"
Her words ring out above the waterfall's noise, and although the crowd of Tesi are too well-disciplined to gasp in shock, they all lean forward in their seats.
"Enough of that." Victor hauls Rose in till they're nearly nose-to-nose. "I am not human and you know it. You, my dear, are a liar. A liar and a cheater, though I'd hoped to keep that little problem between us. But perhaps it's time we reveal the truth: you weren't abducted at all, were you? You ran off with another man. With him," he adds, indicating the Doctor. "Do you deny it?"
Rose says nothing, her expression defiant.
"I could have had you executed for that, you know. Instead, I decided to forgive you and make you queen, which I feel is rather big of me." His voice drops. "On one condition. You will agree to the psychic bond. Being it's the only way I can be sure you won't betray me again."
"I told ya," says Rose, "I'd rather die."
The Doctor and Victor both flinch at her words, but Victor recovers swiftly. "Nah, that's boring. How about this: I won't kill you if you won't bond with me. I'll kill him." Victor gestures to the guards, and the muzzle of a blaster digs into the Doctor's scalp.
"Stop it!" demands Rose. "Leave him alone!"
"It's okay," the Doctor assures her, and he means it. Victor is making a critical error. Liquid fury courses through his veins, preparing to erupt as real fire. If he regenerates, right here, right now, he can save her. "It's been prophesied, remember? I'm so happy to die for you, Rose, you must know that."
Understanding gleams in Rose's eyes, though she's shaking her head. She knows he sees this as their only way out.
When he notices how Victor is watching them shrewdly, the Doctor wants to scream in frustration. "Blimey, you two are the absolute worst," Victor groans, and waves a hand at the guards. "Lower your weapon. I've changed my mind again." Victor's gaze bores into the Doctor's. "I should've put this decision on you from the start. Does she bond with me? Or does she die?"
"Please," begs the Doctor. "Please let her go. I'll give you anything you want."
"Like what?" Victor snaps, offended. "I've got the TARDIS. I'm King of the bloody world, for god's sake! You have nothing to offer me."
As the Doctor's gaze locks with Rose's, the agony he feels is unbearable. It's like Canary Wharf all over again. That feeling of gut-wrenching helplessness as the woman he loves is ripped away from him, straight toward the open jaws of hell. There's nothing he can do. He can't tell her to reject Victor. He can't let her die.
Rose, for her part, looks increasingly determined. She gives him a meaningful look, like she's trying to reassure him. Before the Doctor can decipher what it means, Rose faces Victor and shuts her eyes, bowing her head in acquiescence.
Victor beams. "Smart girl," he says, and doesn't waste another second before he drops his forehead to Rose's. His eyes close.
"Rose!" the Doctor screams, adrenaline allowing him to fling off one guard, then another, and he's getting up, he's on his feet, he's moving. "Rose! Fight him!"
A heavy weight plows into him from behind, tackling him hard, and as his belly hits the floor the air whooshes from his lungs with an oof. But he's numb to the pain because Victor is frowning. His brilliant girl! She's not making it easy!
Victor lifts his head, looking murderous. He grabs Rose by the chin, tilting her face to inspect each of her ears, then her throat. His expression shifts when he glances down, like storm clouds breaking to let loose the sun. "Oh, clever," he says admiringly, and then Rose yelps as he roughly pulls a gold cuff off her wrist.
Psychic dampener, the Doctor realises, watching the bracelet hit the tile with a clink. Oh, so that's how she–
Victor grabs the back of Rose's neck, knocks their foreheads together again, and every thought but one vanishes from the Doctor's mind. "Rose!"
Water fills Rose's ears, muffling every sound to near nonexistence. It's dark, too, with her eyes squeezed shut so tight. She floats, untethered and alone.
Rose!
Eyes popping open, Rose barely keeps herself from gasping. It's the Doctor, he's calling her, his voice dim and distant. She looks around wildly, up and down, but there's no surface to swim to, no shoreline. There's nothing but the clear liquid she floats in and the muted colours of the world beyond. She's an insect preserved in an orb of glass.
Her chest heaves with panic and lack of oxygen, and nearby, someone laughs.
It sounds like the Doctor, too.
"You can breathe in here, you know," he says, and the hint of scorn in his voice answers all of Rose's questions. She's not underwater. She's with Victor. In his head.
Or hers.
Rose!
Vivid emotion swirls around her and through her– relief that the Doctor is still alive to shout to her. Glee that he's so afraid.
The glee isn't hers, she's sure of that. It hits her like a bad smell and makes her stomach turn. Victor, she thinks in disgust, and wonders why she can't see him.
She's startled when he replies, his voice reverberating all around her. "This is just a visual manifestation of your internal reality. You feel like you're underwater because you're not focusing, you're still too tied to what's going on in the room around us. Basic mistake of an inexperienced telepath."
Rose!
The colours sharpen for a moment.
"Ignore him," growls Victor, squeezing her with anger so intense Rose quivers. She can't help but try to obey.
"Alright, alright."
"Your empathic powers really are impressive," he muses, though she can feel the compliment is really for himself. He's pleased he's able to affect her so strongly. "You'll do well with our bond. Being human, you can't understand what a privilege this is. You lot, you get married, you live side-by-side your whole lives without ever really knowing the other person. This, right here, this is real empathy, literally experiencing another's reality."
Though he's not visible, Rose can feel his intent, how his presence slowly circles her, threads of his being weaving around her like a spider trapping a fly. She's got to distract him, to buy some time.
"Why can't I see you?"
"Humans." Her question both exasperates and amuses him. Suddenly, the fluid before her begins to shimmer, like a portal opening. A person comes through it.
It's… herself.
Victor laughs at Rose's shock. "The laws of physics don't apply in your head," he says. "Like all mental pictures, this is basically just a hallucination. I can't show you me. But I can share my perception of you."
As Rose lifts a hand and wiggles her fingers, the other Rose does too, just like a mirror image. Only the other Rose is far younger, baby-faced and big-eyed, dressed in wide-legged jeans and her old punky-fish hoodie. This is how he sees her? Not unattractive, but not a partner or an equal. More like a pet. This girl wears his disdain like cheap perfume.
The only bit that surprises Rose is how badly she wants to laugh. She knew it. All along she knew he'd thought her stupid and naive, and here's the proof. "I'm not a teenager anymore."
"I'm over nine-hundred years old, Rose. You'll always be a child, compared to me. This is how he sees you too, you know."
Linked as they are, Rose can tell Victor believes this. But she knows he's wrong. The Doctor has always seen the best in her. If anything, he perceives her as better than she actually is.
Well, if Victor likes being blind to her cleverness, she's gonna take advantage of that.
The outside world fades entirely as Rose focuses hard. She thinks about Victor, who he is as a person, the feelings he evokes in her, and just like that, another portal glimmers to life.
Long fingers emerge from it, sticky with blood, and then the rest of his body follows. Rose shudders at the sight of Victor's eyes. They aren't eyes at all, just empty black holes in a face that's almost fleshless, a skull thinly overlaid with skin. His sideburns are sparse and his hair is thin tufts, and his posh suit hangs from a skeletal body. He's repulsive, corpse-like, fragile.
Low thunder rumbles, tendrils of cold chill her skin, and then, like a sudden storm, a fierce whirlwind of rage sweeps over Rose, sucking her into a swirling blackness. It tumbles her round and round, arms and legs flailing, winds whipping her hair and stealing the breath from her lungs, but it can't scare her. She's too triumphant. All those brains, all that power, and he's undone by a blow to the ego.
"What, did you actually think I was in awe of you?" It's such a relief to let loose her contempt. "You thought I was intimidated?"
"I thought you knew me!" he screams back, winds whipping up to new levels of violence.
The spark reignites deep within her, flaring into fire. It spreads through Rose's body like electricity, charging her up, making her realise she has full control of this situation. She narrows her eyes, thoroughly fed up with Victor's nonsense. "That's enough!"
At once, her feet find solid ground. All is quiet but for a soft pulsing, like that of the Time Rotor. Victor stands before Rose, astonished, now looking mostly normal within the softly-lit foyer of her mind. "I do know you," says Rose. "And since you're here in my head, you'll know I'm not lying when I tell you that I never believed you were my Doctor. I knew something was off about you from the start. So I spied on you. I caught you up on that rooftop, calling in the Tesi. To stay close and keep an eye on you, I made you believe I loved you." She holds his gaze. "But I know who you really are. You're the Valeyard."
Victor leans in, teeth bared. "Joke's on you, then, since you married me anyway! I tricked you into coming here, I made you say the vows, I'm inside your stupid head right now! I've won!"
"You haven't."
"What, you still think the Doctor will save you? He can't do anything but scream your name!"
Rose gazes at him sadly. She's seen enough. Stripped of his charms, this man is as selfish and evil as she'd long suspected. Such a miserable person, believing his own fictions, believing power will bring him fulfilment when it's nothing more than a drug-like fix. Any life he lives will be one of discontent. He'll endlessly seek his next hit, each one bigger, more potent, and everyone around him will pay the price. He'll wreak havoc throughout the universe.
She gives him a choice. "Let me go, Victor. Renounce the throne and go live your life in peace, and let other people live without your interference. It's the only way you'll ever be happy."
Victor's laugh is angry as he reaches for her. "Time to finish this."
Her veins thrum beneath his touch, her skin crackles with power, and there's a soft pop as shimmering threads spiderweb through the air all around her. Rose turns a slow circle in the golden glow of their light. Without regret or compassion, she reaches out a finger, plucking a timeline like a guitar string. The one he'd chosen.
"Time to finish this," Rose echoes. "Your song is ending. He will knock four times."
Fear chills the air. It's his. "What do you mean, my song is–"
And then, from far away, four knocks ring out.
"How are you doing that? Stop it!"
There's a loud blast and Victor cries out, and then Rose's head spins as she's suddenly wrenched back into reality. She sinks to her knees and so does Victor, clutching his shoulder. Beneath his fingers there's a gaping, charred hole in his black suit jacket.
"Rose!"
Dizzy, Rose looks left to find the Doctor is watching her with terror in his eyes. The four guards still hold him fast, but they're staring at their injured King, looking pale and shaken. Rose stills as she hears it again, the sound of knuckles on glass. Knock knock knock knock.
The marriage officiant looks over. Most of the Tesi dignitaries do so as well, turning in their chairs. Above and behind them, a large, jagged hole now mars the glass wall. Backlit by pale orange sky, Ghareem floats outside on his hoverbike, a blaster in his hand.
"He will knock four times," Rose says again, and the whole room glows gold for a moment. The Doctor gasps.
"You shot me, Ghareem!" Victor's face is contorted with pain. "Did you forget I'm your King?"
Ghareem lifts his blaster. "That is the only reason I didn't kill you, Your Majesty."
Boots thunder as a dozen Tesi soldiers run forward, weapons drawn and aimed at Ghareem. The room holds its breath, but Victor's words have made Rose remember the tie-pin.
In one swift motion, she jams her free hand into his inner coat pocket, snatches the sonic and flicks it on. Several of his buttons pitter-patter to the floor like raindrops. Victor's waistcoat hangs open, exposing the silver bar pinned to his tie. Shoving the sonic down her bodice, Rose gives the tie-pin a good hard yank.
It comes free easily, and she hurls it into the shrubbery with a shout. "Look! The King's an imposter!"
Omara slowly rises from her chair, pale blue eyes locked on Victor, her expression a mix of disbelief and dawning comprehension. Rose exhales, certain that to Tesi eyes, Victor no longer shares the distinctive traits of their species. "See, Omara? He's not Tes–"
Victor's hand grabs her throat and squeezes, choking off the word. Frantically, Rose pries at his fingers, but she can't budge them, she can't breathe! His nose nearly brushes hers as he bends her backward, snarling.
BOOM! A blaster fires, glass shatters, and Victor jerks forward with a howl of pain. He releases Rose's throat as he topples them to the floor, his body falling on top of hers.
Rose barely has time to register Victor's weight before he's wrenched forcibly off her. He lands flat on his back at her side, his head cracking against the floor.
The Doctor hovers above them, fists clenched, his eyes wild as he breathes hard through flared nostrils. Omara appears next, strands of her long white hair falling over her face as she bends over Victor. "You're human," she states flatly. "Who are you?"
"I'm no stinking ape human." Prone and injured on the floor, Victor sounds remarkably haughty. "I am a Time Lord. The most superior race in the universe!"
"Time Lords don't exist in this universe," counters the Doctor, dropping to his knees at Rose's side. With trembling hands, he tries to undo the crimson ribbon binding her hand to Victor's. Rose squeezes his fingers, pausing his efforts, and then fishes the sonic screwdriver from her cleavage.
The Doctor's cheeks are very pink as he sonics the binding loose to free her. He helps her up, ushering her away. As they watch guards haul a cursing Victor to his feet, all at once Rose feels absolutely exhausted and she sinks against him, not sure she's capable of standing on her own. The Doctor wraps her into a tight embrace. "You're alright, you're safe," he murmurs into her hair. Rose isn't sure if he's reassuring her or himself.
An entire pane of glass had been blown out from one wall of the penthouse, and outside, sirens wail in the streets. Near the edge of the pond, Ghareem's hoverbike idles. Strong and tall, he strides toward Omara, but his gaze is on Rose.
"Thank you," she mouths, and smiles at him. Ghareem smiles back, bowing his head.
A pained hiss comes from Victor as Omara claps a slave cuff onto the wrist of his injured arm. "I'm not human," he insists furiously. "You can't imprison me. My home planet lies far outside Tesi jurisdiction. If you'd just scan me you'd see!"
"It's true," agrees the Doctor, thoroughly surprising Rose. "Victor's my brother; I'm sure you can see the resemblance. We aren't human. I came to Earth to stop him. He's my responsibility."
Rose pokes his chest. "He is not."
"He has broken many Tesi laws." Omara meets the Doctor's gaze levelly. "And he's made our subjugation of this planet illegal."
"Your deception caused the Tesi to break intergalactic law," Ghareem adds hotly, looming over Victor, who scoffs at him.
"Victor must be dealt with according to Tesi justice," says Omara, folding her arms. "Execution."
"I can't let you," the Doctor insists. Rose knows he'd be over there, inserting himself between Victor and the two Tesi commanders, if he weren't so unwilling to let her out of his arms. "Call in the Shadow Proclamation, let's bring it before their judges. You'll see. They'll agree with me."
At that, Victor smiles an unsettling smile. There's a strange light in his eyes, his one shoulder is raw and bloody and he looks half-mad, Rose thinks, like a rabid animal. Like he's found a way to win, after all. "What do you think you're gonna do?" he asks the Doctor, tone high-pitched and disbelieving. "Take me travelling with you? Will you lock me up on the TARDIS, or put me in stasis, perhaps?" He lets loose an uproarious laugh, and then his face goes blank.
"I think not. Cos thing is, if I can't be the Victor, I'd rather be dead."
The timeline flickers, like a reel of film rapidly reaching its end. Victor springs forward, lunging at Omara with clawed hands. Ghareem draws his blaster, firing it just as Rose buries her face in the Doctor's chest. The deafening blast makes her ears ring, a distinctive high-pitch to it that she recognises instantly. Disintegration ray.
The Doctor's hand comes up to cup the back of her head, and they cling to each other. Time passes; outside their little bubble there's motion, and talking, and the warm light of sunset fades into blues, yet they do not move, overcome with relief and gratitude. He is all Rose wants, and she has him. The Valeyard, and his reign, are in ashes.
It occurs to Rose that she ought to feel surprised about this.
"How did you know the words of the prophecy, Rose?" whispers the Doctor, as if he'd read her mind. "Your eyes…they were glowing when you spoke it. 'He will knock four times.' All this time–" He gazes down at her, and swallows hard. "I'm pretty sure I was the one who was meant to die today."
Reaching up, Rose strokes his scruffy cheek tenderly. "A song has ended," is all she says. "And it was his."
I ask this at the end of nearly everything I write, but– did I surprise you at all? Either way, I hope you enjoyed the finale. Stay tuned for the happy-ever-after!