Now that Reinette is past them how will our favorite duo survive? Will they be able to have happy moments?

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Time Moving On

Mickey had been on the TARDIS for a week and, if Rose was being honest with herself, she wanted him gone. And for that she felt absolutely horrible for being annoyed so quickly. Sure, it was nice at times to have her old friend with her, but the situation was awkward enough as it was without him. After the 51st century spaceship and time-windows to France, she just wanted to be alone with the Doctor.

Still, she was sick of the rivalry that still existed between Mickey and the Doctor. Mickey and her had been broken up for ages, but at times it was as if Mickey didn't know that. Especially with her and the Doctor fighting like an old married couple after Reinette, Rose was sure he would realize that they were together. Either he was just really ignorant or just didn't want to acknowledge it. The Doctor even intentionally tried to take them places that Mickey wouldn't enjoy so that Mickey would go back to the TARDIS and he could go exploring with Rose. The worst had been when Mickey had asked Rose to dance and, when the Doctor deemed Mickey was getting a bit too friendly with Rose, had actually caused a scene and broken a rule on that planet that he had forgotten about. So angry at both of them for acting so childishly, Rose found herself sitting in a cold jail cell surrounded by short, blue men. Thankfully, the Doctor had managed to free her within the hour, but she still wasn't amused.

Even she could tell Mickey was getting at the end of his rope. Once he mentioned something about missing his work or some other little thing from London. Rose had asked him if he wanted to go back home, but he had quickly shook his head no like he knew if they went back there he wouldn't end up traveling in the TARDIS again.

Of course her relationship with the Doctor was still not back to 'normal'. They were obviously together in a way, but it wasn't any more defined as it was in the past. Above all else, she and the Doctor were best friends who loved getting into trouble. There were still taboo subjects between them, but Rose expected nothing less than that anyway. Needing his comfort more than anything, Rose had asked him to stay with her that night after Reinette and he had stayed, the two barely exchanging words as he held her until she fell asleep, but he was still there when she woke up. He had brought up the baby first, his hand delicately resting on her stomach as he softly reassured her that he was there, for both of them. He had progressed on discussing what she would expect from the pregnancy, how once the baby was born he had a plan for how to travel, that they could still have their life in the stars. Rose had managed to bite her lip to stop the tears from escaping and just nodded, committing the softness on his face as he talked about their daughter to memory.

Despite the Doctor now scanning food at alien markets to ensure it was safe for her to eat and the daily smoothie stuffed with god knows what ingredients the Doctor forced her to drink, claiming it had all the nutrients the baby needed, she didn't feel any different in her pregnancy. She tried to be more cautious on their travels, but their life was jeopardy friendly and more often than not they ended up running for their lives. The Doctor did seem genuinely invested in the pregnancy and the baby, in a frantic overprotective way, but Rose was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. That was the main reason she hadn't brought up telling Jackie yet, since she knew the tirade her mother would go on at the Doctor.

"Can I let go now?" Mickey asked, breaking Rose out of her thoughts, having been pressing down a button on the TARDIS for almost an hour.

"What?" the Doctor muttered, looking up at Mickey with a raised brow. With seemingly great effort, he paused in his story of a past adventure with Rose and a woman breathing fire. "Let go of what?"

"Oh," Rose squeaked out, realizing what Mickey was talking about in a moment. "He's talking about the button you told him to push an hour ago," she explained, pressing her face against the Doctor's shoulder for a moment so that she wouldn't start laughing at the stupidity of the situation. No need to mock him about it, she already felt terrible that he hadn't been able to contribute in their conversation.

The Doctor smiled, covering up his mistake quickly. "Well, you can stop now," he said, trying not to laugh just as Rose had. Sure, he did notice Mickey pressing a button about half an hour ago, but Rose was looking so adorable giggling about something that he said that he couldn't bear to interrupt the mood.

"How long could I have?" he asked, finally letting go of the button and taking a step towards the jump seat where they sat.

"Umm," the Doctor said, rethinking his idea to lie to Mickey. From the man's expression, he was already quite upset and he didn't want to get into another fight in front of Rose. "About fifty nine minutes," he answered quickly.

Mickey's expression changed as he observed how the Doctor's arm had protectively tightened around Rose's shoulders. "You forgot about me again, didn't you?" he asked, disbelief coloring his tone at just how rude the alien could be.

"No, no, no," the Doctor lied again, trying to think of what to say as he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "I know what I'm doing, don't I, Rose?"

"Oh, yeah!" Rose agreed, leaning up to get closer to Mickey. "Don't worry, the same thing happens to me all the time. I mean, the Doctor can't concentrate on one thing for long," she mock stage whispered to Mickey. Sure, she wanted Mickey to leave at times, but she didn't want him to be embarrassed.

"Oi!" the Doctor defended himself, leaning over whispering something in Rose's ear that made her blush. As Rose sat there with a pink face and biting her lip, she couldn't help but let out a giggle at the Doctor's attempt to keep building up the lie. "I was calibrating."

Just as the Doctor spoke up, the time rotor sparked and flashed. The Doctor jumped up towards the controls, but before he had taken a step the center console blew up, sending sparks everywhere as the ship shook. The sudden jolt catapulted everyone to the ground as the TARDIS continued to shake as the sparks faded away.

"What's happened?" Rose asked, grabbing ahold of a pillar to pull herself to her knees. She glanced over, thankful to see that Mickey was leaning up against a pillar as well, although he was rubbing his head like he had banged it during the collision. Not far away from her, the Doctor let out a groan as he quickly crawled over to the controls, pulling himself up to reach them. With a determined look on his face, he pressed a specific button then, as shock filled his face, he pulled a lever.

"The time vortex is gone," he mumbled as he continued to press random buttons and levers in an attempt for anything to happen. He looked up, an aghast expression on his face as Rose and Mickey both crawled over and pulled themselves up with the center console. "That's impossible. It's just gone," he whispered in a quiet voice.

Without a warning, everything stopped like the TARDIS had landed. It all seemed calm for a moment until eight gas masks dropped down from the ceiling, which had never happened before. Just as the masks fell, the lights went off until just a dim glow filled the room.

"Rose?" the Doctor asked, turning to look at Rose a few feet away as he rose to his feet, offering her his hand as well. "Are you okay?" he muttered, helping her up as he planted a kiss on her forehead and gave her hand a quick squeeze, his eyes flickering back and forth from her stomach to her face with concern.

"I'm fine," Rose answered, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong. It wasn't like the Doctor to crash the TARDIS. Sure he wasn't the smoothest driver, but she had to admit that he did know what he was doing. "Are you okay, Mickey?" she asked, feeling guilty that the Time Lord had completely ignored him as he pulled himself up on his feet.

While Mickey assured Rose that he was fine, the Doctor circled the controls, his expression unfathomable. "She's dead," he whispered, pushing a lever down to no avail yet again. "The TARDIS is dead."

"But you can fix her, right?" Rose asked, trying to keep her voice positive. After all, she knew how the Doctor could lose all hope in a moment's time after traveling with his prior regeneration for so long.

"No, she's perished," the Doctor answered, clenching his jaw. "The last TARDIS in the universe…" he mumbled to himself as he placed a hand on the dark time rotor.

"Someone can come and help us," Rose said, grasping for anything that would be positive in this situation. She knew from the Doctor's expression what he was going to say next, so she just kept on talking. "We landed somewhere," she argued. "Someone will be able to help us."

The Doctor furrowed his brow, not noticing that Mickey had walked over to the doors to see what was actually outside. "Rose, we fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness," he explained, wishing he was wrong for once. "We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension. We will be stuck inside the TARDIS."

As he kept on naming how desolate their hopes of survival were, Mickey called out, having stuck his head out the TARDIS door. "Otherwise known as London," he announced, stepping out into what looked to be modern day London, plus the added zeppelins.

Rose quickly followed Mickey outside, a smile on her face that something was familiar. However, the Doctor kept back for a moment, a realization of where they really were dawning to him. He cautiously followed Rose, knowing nothing good could come from this, especially now.

Without looking back at Mickey, Rose stepped into the TARDIS. She literally sagged against the door when it closed behind her. She was exhausted, emotionally and physically. This was one of the longest days she could possibly imagine and it wasn't even over yet. Not only had Mickey decided to stay in the parallel universe forever, but she had to see her mother die and her father walk away from her.

"The Powell Estates?" the Doctor asked, breaking Rose out of her trance like state. He had already changed out of his tux into his trusty pinstripes and Rose glanced down at her waitress outfit.

"Yeah," Rose answered with a whisper. It was exactly what she needed right now and she was relieved that the Doctor knew that. "Just let me change into different clothes first."

Before Rose had walked out of the console room towards her bedroom, the Doctor reached out and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around to face him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just," Rose stammered, glancing down at the ground at her uncomfortable boots. "Tired," she finally admitted, relieved when the Doctor sighed and pulled her into his arms just like she wanted him to.

"Hey, we've got each other," the Doctor countered, resting his chin on the top of Rose's head as he tightened his arms around her. "And we always manage to work it out in the end, don't we?"

Rose had to admit he was right and nodded, but then pulled away to read his expression. "But we always cut it so close, almost losing each other."

Taking a moment before responding, the Doctor sent her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "That will never happen," he said like a wish. "And the three of us will get up to mischief like always, but come home safe and sound to the TARDIS," he finished, hesitantly resting his hand on her abdomen.

Covering his hand with hers, Rose stared down at the 3rd member of their family letting the pleasant image console her. "I know she wasn't planned or anything, but I have never been happier," Rose admitted, reflecting on the previous night when she woke up to the Doctor, face to face with her stomach, speaking in the Gallifreyan melodic language she couldn't understand. Even though she couldn't fully translate his words, Rose knew he was sharing his people's history with his daughter, no longer fully the last of his kind. "Can you imagine how we will have to baby proof the TARDIS? Or you wearing a baby carrier while I lug a diaper bag through an alien market?"

The Doctor hummed in agreement, sending her a toothy smile. "I can picture it," he said, so matter of fact Rose felt her cheeks turning red. "And I'll make sure nothing will ever hurt her. Or you," the Doctor promised once again.

Rose squeezed his hand under hers before pulling him in for a much needed hug again and breathing in his comforting scent. She believed him, but right now, still in her server outfit, her main concern was the close call in the parallel world. "But, all those people," Rose protested, biting her lip so that she wouldn't cry. She had almost forgotten about Mickey, about losing her mother in the alternate universe, all the sacrifices needed to destroy the Cybermen. "They died, Doctor. They died in pain and afraid…"

"We can't save everyone," the Doctor explained as Rose pulled out of his embrace to change and see her mother. Rose noticed a strained look on his face as he spoke, the cause of which she didn't know, but decided to ignore it for now as she left him staring at a monitor on the console.

This chapter is a bit short, but I think we all deserve some promises and future plans now.

What is next?

Gabrielle