TIME CAN BE REWRITTEN
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
This chapter has been rewritten and due to a suggestion from Tamaki Sakura, I have also started posting this story on AO3 under the same name. Please enjoy!
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The End of the World
Rose was still grinning like a loon as she shut the Tardis door behind her. The Doctor had still asked her twice, her heart was racing at the risk she had taken, her pinstriped Doctor had told her that he never asked twice – that once you said no, that was it, no second chances.
The Doctor looked up at Rose and smiled as she gave him her tongue in tooth grin, "Right then, Rose Tyler," he smirked at her, "you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards, or forwards in time, what's it gonna be?"
Rose rushed forwards, leaning towards the Doctor, almost trembling with excitement, "Forwards, definitely forwards."
He pressed a few buttons on the console, "How far?"
"As far as you like."
He chuckled at the challenge as he pulled a lever and turned a knob, the engines lurched for a few moments before they stopped, "Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire."
"You think you're so impressive." Her voice was almost taunting as she smirked at him, he never could resist a challenge.
"I AM so impressive." Came the expected indignant response.
"You wish."
The Doctor smirked, "Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go," he pumped a lever furiously, "Hold on!"
Rose laughed happily at the Doctor's enthusiasm, "Where are we?" he smirked and gestured towards the door as Rose beamed at him, "What's out there?"
She couldn't hold herself back anymore as he gestured towards the door again, she opened the doors, it never got old, stepping out of the Tardis on a different planet or in a different time, wondering what adventure they'd fallen into this time. Though she was cheating a little until Canary Warf happened again.
The Doctor followed her out slowly, watching her reaction as he opened the shutters of the enormous window with his sonic screwdriver. Rose still stared in awe at the sight beneath them, almost transfixed, she would try and ensure everyone survived Cassandra this time, still not able to fully believe anyone could be so selfish.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, the Doctor grinned, "You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to be killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. Maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day… hold on," he looked at his watch, "This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."
"I'm not afraid of dying." She said before she could stop herself, not looking to see the Doctor's reaction.
"What are you afraid of?"
She could feel his gaze on her, almost burning with curiosity, "Being left behind," she paused, thinking of that day on Bad Wolf Bay, "Knowing someone you love is out there, but just… out of reach…" she trailed off not knowing what else to say.
"Speaking from experience?" His voice was unusually soft, she turned to face him and could see pain in his eyes.
"Nah," She tried to shake off the lingering pain from the aftermath of Canary Warf, "I'm just a 19 year old shop girl – I've had my mum and Mickey all my life," she smiled brightly at him, his own lips quirking upwards at her attempt to lift the mood.
He was about to reply when an automated voice echoed through the room, "Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."
Rose scoffed, "The destruction of the planet, followed by drinks?"
He chuckled, "Yep, the great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn, it's an observation deck," he led her through one of the doors he opened.
"So, what? Rich aliens just turn up to watch Earth burn for fun?"
"Yeah."
Rose pulled a face, it still didn't sit well with her, "What about the humans on Earth?"
"It's empty," The Doctor assured her, "they're all gone, all left."
She nodded, "I thought the continents shifted, but the planet looks the same?"
"They did, but the planet's now property of the National Trust, they shifted them back, that's a classic Earth. The trust was keeping the planet preserved, see down there?" He pointed to the tiny glints of light orbiting the Earth, "Gravity satellite, that's holding back the sun, but now the money's run out, so nature takes over."
"How long?"
He looks at his watch, "About half an hour, and the planet gets roasted."
"Lovely," She said dryly, staring solemnly at her planet.
"Who the hell are you?!" The rude voice of the steward made them both turn quickly.
"Oh! That's nice, thanks," The Doctor responded sarcastically.
"Is this how they treat all their guests?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow as the Doctor smirked at her.
"Exactly, that's us," He continued before the Steward could say anything, "We're guests, look! We've got an invitation," He flashed the psychic paper at the Steward, "Look, there you see? It's fine, The Doctor and Rose Tyler, that's us. That alright?"
The Steward looked at a loss for a moment, "Well… obviously," he moved passed the Doctor, "Apologies, etcetera. If you're onboard, we'd better start. Enjoy."
The Doctor grinned at her, "Paper's slightly psychic, shows them whatever I want them to see, saves a lot of time."
"Go party crashing often?"
"Do you?" He shot back.
Rose shrugged, "You could say that."
The Steward interrupted any further comment from the Doctor, "We have in attendance, the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Thank you! All staff to their positions." He clapped his hands and all the little blue aliens started scurrying around. "Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along! And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest, representing the forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa," the Steward paused as they walked through the doors, "There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon,"
Rose leaned towards the Doctor and whispered in his ear, "Did you bring gifts then, Doctor?"
He patted his pockets, "Ah."
"Not so prepared then." She teased with her tongue in tooth grin as he rolled his eyes. She searched her own pockets and found some loose change at the bottom, she held out her hand full of coppers and the odd 5p, "Old earth currency?"
The Doctor snorted but accepted the coins off her as the Trees approached them.
The female, Jabe smiled warmly as she passed a cutting to the Doctor, "The Gift of Peace, I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather."
"Thank you!" The Doctor grinned, passing the gift to Rose as he offered a few coins to Jabe, "We give you old earth currency."
Jabe smiled at them both, nodding slightly before she moved on.
"Quick thinking," He praised Rose quietly, "I didn't have any other ideas, except perhaps the air in my lungs."
Rose snorted, "Wouldn't that be like snogging her?"
The tips of his ears turned red as the Doctor turned away to greet another guest, casually ignoring Rose, "The Moxx of Balhoon!"
Rose discretely shifted behind the Doctor, not wanting to get spat on again, "My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily saliva."
Rose sniggered as he then proceeded to spit in the Doctor's eye, he gave the coins over and scowled at Rose as the Moxx of Balhoon moved on, "You're only laughing 'cos he missed you."
"Yup."
"Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme, a gift of old earth currency," The Doctor offered the coins over, ignoring Rose's continued giggling at his expense.
"A gift of peace, in all good faith," One of them replied monotonously, handing over a large silver egg, which the Doctor again passed over to Rose, who rolled her eyes at him.
They turned back to the Steward as he announced, "And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth, The Last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen!"
The Doctor watched for Rose's reaction out of the corner of his eye as Cassandra spoke, "Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am."
Rose clenched her fist, simultaneously hating and pitying Cassandra as she watched her continue to speak. She wished there was something she could do to help Cassandra realise sooner that she could be a better person, but unfortunately there wasn't, it was being inside the infected woman's head and Chip's, that helped her change and see herself for how she was.
"…last remaining ostrich egg," Cassandra paused as the egg was brought into the room, "legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils," she paused, "Or was that my third husband?" A round of laughter was drawn from the guests as Rose really tried to quell her anger, "Who knows! Oh don't laugh, I'll get laughter lines!" She mumbled to herself for a moment, behind her a large jukebox was wheeled in, "And here, another rarity, according to the archives, this was called an iPod, it stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers." Rose bit her lip, "Play on!"
As Tainted Love started playing, Rose couldn't stop a snort of laughter, especially when the Doctor bopped around happily, she looked around quickly and ran out of the room, much as she had last time, only this time she wasn't overwhelmed by anything except laughter.
She kept giggling to herself as she sat on the steps. The Doctor came in shortly after her, looking worried until he saw her laughing, "What's ticked you then?"
"I'm sorry," Rose tried to keep the laughter out of her voice, "I just couldn't stop myself then, 'classical music from earth's greatest composers?'" She giggled again, despite herself and the Doctor chuckled as well.
"What do you think then? Other than the 'classical music'?"
"They're just so alien!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, "The aliens are so alien, it's brilliant!"
He grinned back at her, only his eyes showing his surprise at her easy acceptance.
"How comes they're all speaking English though?"
"Nah, you just hear English, it's a gift of the Tardis – telepathic field, gets inside your brain, translates." He explained, still smiling at her, with an almost fond look in his eyes.
She nodded, "Where are you from, Doctor?"
He paused as if considering telling her, before he repeated his first evasive answer, "All over the place."
"No specific planet?"
"It's not as if you'd know it." He answered curtly, he got up and walked over to the window.
"True, but it isn't everyday you get to ask that question!" His lips twitched, "What species? Can I ask?" When there was no answer forthcoming, Rose sighed, "Alright, as my mate Shareen says, 'don't argue with the designated driver,'" the Doctor did smile then, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it up, "Besides, can't exactly call for a taxi, there's no signal, we're a bit outta range."
The Doctor turned to her, a smile in his eyes at her changing the subject, "Tell you what," he took her phone off her, "with a little bit of jiggery pokery," he started messing around with the phone.
"Is that a technical term?"
"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?"
She laughed, "Nah, failed hullabaloo."
He chucked, fitting a new battery into the phone before passing it back, "There you go!"
She grinned as she took it back and dialled her mum's number, "Mum?"
"Oh, what is it? What's wrong? What've I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits! You should get your money back. Go on! There must be something, you never phone in the middle of the day!"
She couldn't help but laugh at her mum's very typical rant.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, just wanted to see how you are?"
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be? Are you okay, sweetheart?"
"Yeah, um, I was just calling 'cause I might be late home."
"Are you sure you're okay darling?"
"Yeah! I'm fine, top of the world!" She joked, hanging up as the Doctor chuckled.
"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill!"
Rose grinned at him and threw her arms around him before she could think better of it, she felt him stiffen in surprise before he slowly raised his arms around her, "Thank you, Doctor," she whispered, smiling against his neck before she pulled away, her hands resting on his shoulders for a few more seconds as he just nodded, slightly dazed from the unexpected contact.
The ship shuddered then.
The Doctor came back to himself then as a mischievous expression crossed his face, "That's not supposed to happen," grinning at each other, they headed back to the observation deck.
Just as they entered, something caught her attention as she overheard the Moxx of Balhoon say, "…this is the Bad Wolf scenario…" she didn't know whether she should be sad or happy at the mention, she knew that was when her leather Doctor died for her and became her pinstriped Doctor. Part of her wanted to stay with her first Doctor, the one who had always put her first, but she couldn't deny she was looking forward to seeing her second Doctor again. She loved them both so much, with every fibre of her being, she shook her head, she couldn't change it, not that, she couldn't choose between them, her Doctors.
The Doctor had walked ahead of Rose as he spoke, "That wasn't a gravity pocket, I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that," he started fiddling with a control panel as they were approached by Jabe, "What do you think, Jabe?" He asked as he noticed her, "Listen to the engines, they pitched up about 30 hertz, is that dodgy or what?"
Jabe shrugged, looking puzzled, "It's the sound of metal, it doesn't make any sense to me."
"Where's the engine room?"
"I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest's suite, I could show you. And…" she looked at Rose then, "…your wife."
Rose snorted before she could go any further, "I'm not his wife, but tell you what, you two go, I'm gonna catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson." She started to make her way over to Cassandra.
"Don't start a fight." The Doctor chuckled.
She assumed a look of pure innocence then, "As if I would."
He snorted, before he turned to Jabe and offered her his arm, "I'm all yours."
She grinned, "And I want you home by midnight!" He grinned back at her before he left with Jabe.
Rose waited a few moments, wondering if she should approach Cassandra, before she built up the courage, "Cassandra?", the trampoline blinked at her, a mockery of a smile playing over her lips, "My name's Rose."
"Hmm, yes of course, walk with me." Cassandra moved over to the window with Rose trailing behind her, "Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy. Down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice," she sighed, "I had such fun."
"But you're not the last human." Rose said bluntly, trying to keep the hostility out of her voice.
Cassandra seemed to sneer at her then, "I am the last PURE human, the others… mingled," she made a noise of disgust, "Oh, the call themselves, 'New Humans' and 'Proto-humans' and 'Digi-humans', even 'Human-ish', but you know what I call them?" She lowered her voice to a whisper as she spat out, "Mongrels."
Rose scoffed, "Right, and you stayed behind."
"I kept myself pure."
"No, you wiped everything that was human about you away, how many operations have you had?"
"708, next week, it's 709. I'm having my blood bleached, is that why you wanted a word?" Cassandra asked seeming to forget her previous hostility, "You could be a little flatter, Rose, you've got a little bit of a chin poking out."
"I'd rather die." Rose said, "'Cause you're not human, not anymore, Cassandra. Your eyes are the only thing you have left of your humanity now, they are the only beautiful thing you have left, but everything else got chucked in the bin. Without them, Cassandra, you're just skin. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking."
She stormed over to the other side of the room, until she heard a familiar voice in her mind, "Hello, Rose Tyler." She turned around, eyes wide as she looked for the source, "You look as beautiful as ever."
She noticed, the Face of Boe was the only one looking at her, the voice chucked, "I suppose I do look different to when we first met, dancing to Glenn Miller, Moonlight Serenade in front of Big Ben." There was a wistful tone to his voice now.
"Jack…" Disbelief and confusion coloured her tone as she spoke, "How? What? I don't-"
She was cut off, "I can't tell you that, Rosie." She knelt beside him, placing her hand on the glass, "just know, I love you and always will. Trust yourself."
"You're not on your own, are you? The Doctor visits you at least?"
"He doesn't know who I am, not yet, perhaps never."
Her eyes filled with tears, "But you have someone?"
"Don't worry, there are people who care for me, and I have no doubt, you will keep in touch with me if you do indeed change Canary Warf."
She laughed a little, "You know then?"
"We are best friends, aren't we?"
"Of course!" Rose sighed, "I missed you, Jack, the Doctor told me you survived the Daleks but you were off doing something you needed to do, I wish, I-"
The Face of Boe made a noise of amusement, "You know, I cant tell you what happened in this timeline, Rosie."
She rolled her eyes, "Okay," A thought occurred to her then, "Oh, I remember telling you about this adventure, you know what happens!"
"Of course, but I cannot mess with the timeline, you, however, do have more leeway in that regard."
Rose giggled, "Oh, Jack, I love you, you know?" She pressed a kiss to the glass gently, "Almost as much as I love him." Her voice was quieter than a whisper.
"I know. I feel the same, you both made me a better man. Go to your Doctor now, we'll speak later." She felt him nudge against her mind, warmth flooding her as she stood up, she smiled gently at him before she turned away and looked for the Doctor.
He was staring at her, looking puzzled, he reached up but stopped just short of her face, his voice was gentle, "You're crying…"
"Oh!" Rose quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks, not realising she had started crying, "I was just speaking with the Face of Boe."
"I saw," He hesitated, "You kissed him," there was a strange inflection in his voice, like he didn't quite know how to ask.
She nodded, "It was an enigmatic conversation."
He chuckled, but dropped the subject, sensing her desire to move on as he turned to look for Jabe who was heading in their direction.
She was staring at her computer as she spoke loudly, "The metal machine confirms, the spider devices have infiltrated the whole of platform one."
Cassandra gasped dramatically, "How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me!"
The Doctor took the destabilized spider out of Jabe's hand as the Moxx of Balhoon shouted, "Summon the Steward!"
Jabe shook her head sadly as Rose shut her eyes, guilt overwhelming her, "I'm afraid the Steward is dead."
"You can't save everyone, no matter how hard you try." She heard Jack's voice echo in her mind, but it was difficult to assuage the guilt she had forgotten someone else.
The Doctor looked at her concerned as all the other attendees starting casting blame around. It was when Cassandra yelled, "Talk to the face! Talk to the face!"
Rose nearly snarled at her, but Jack's warning nudge against her mind stopped her saying anything. The Doctor's look of concern increased at the open hostility towards Cassandra, "Easy way of finding out, someone brought a little pet on board." He showed them all the spider, "Let's send him back to Master." He placed the spider on the floor and they all watched as the spider started to scuttle towards Cassandra, looking up at her stern face quickly, before it turned and moved to the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.
Cassandra, as one for the dramatics, gasped, "The Adherents of the Repeated Meme! J'accuse!"
The Doctor snorted, "That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it," he paused as one of the Adherents attempted to strike him, he caught its arm and ripped it off, "a Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea." He ripped a wire out of the arm and all of the Adherents crumpled into a bundle of black cloaks causing everyone to gasp as Cassandra rolled her eyes.
"Remote controlled Droids, nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo!" The Doctor nudged the spider with his foot, "Go home!"
The spider ambled back over to Cassandra who hissed at the Doctor, "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed!" The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, as both Jack and Rose mentally rolled their eyes.
Cassandra shouted, "At arms!" causing her two bodyguards to raise their canisters at the Doctor.
Rose held back a laugh as the Doctor mocked, "What're you gonna do, moisturise me?"
Cassandra sneered at him, "With acid, oh, too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, passed every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face."
"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it?" The Doctor scoffed, "How stupid's that?"
She rolled her eyes, "I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."
Both Jack and the Tardis gave her a mental embrace as they felt her anger towards Cassandra grow. "You'd think after five billion years, there would be a better motivation than money." Disgust was clear in Rose's voice as she glowered at Cassandra.
Cassandra sneered at Rose, "Do you think it's cheap looking like this, you freaky little kid, I am the Last Human, not you."
The Moxx of Balhoon cut in, "Arrest her!"
"Oh, shut it, Pixie. I've still got my final option, and here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go?" Cassandra's voice lowered menacingly, "'Burn, baby, burn.'"
"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe snapped back, glaring at Cassandra.
The 'Last Human' smiled, smugness radiating from her, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but… I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders – activate." A series of explosions echoed around them following the command, "force fields gone, with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick, just like my fifth husband," she giggled softly, "Oh, shame on me. Buh-bye, darlings! Buh-bye, my darlings…" her voice trailed off as she and her bodyguards teleported out.
"Heat levels rising."
"Reset the computer!" The Moxx of Balhoon shouted desperately.
Jabe shrugged helplessly, "Only the Steward would know how."
"Can we do it manually?" Rose asked.
The Doctor grinned at her, "Brilliant, Rose, there must be a system restore switch. Come on!" Rose and Jabe both followed the Doctor out of the room as he turned and called out, "You lot – just chill!"
"Only you, Doctor." Rose said, shaking her head with a small laugh as he smirked at her.
He led them down to the ventilation chamber, annoyance laced his voice, "Oh, and guess where the switch is."
Rose grabbed the lever next to them and pulled it down, causing the fans to slow down. The Doctor and Jabe looked at her, "Jabe you should get outta here, I've gotta feeling it's gonna get hot."
The Doctor nodded, "Go back to the observation deck, get everyone away from the windows, they'll start to crack."
Jabe nodded, clearly reluctant to leave, but she smiled teasingly as she left, "Then stop wasting time, Time Lord!"
The Doctor grinned and ran to the first fan, dodging it swiftly before anxiously looking to the next one. Rose gripped the lever tighter as her hands started to burn, sweat pouring off her as the heat in the room began to rise.
He dodged under the second fan as Rose gasped out in pain, feeling her skin start to burn and blister from the heat of the metal. The Doctor looked back, concern in his voice, "Rose!"
"I'm alright! Just hurry up!" She bit her lip and tried not to cry out again as the searing heat felt like it was burning her skin away.
"I'd like to see you do this!" He shot back, turning towards the final fan.
"Maybe next time, hurry!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but quickly dodge the last fan and rushed over to the switch, pulling it down, "Raise shields!"
Rose let out a relieved brief as she careful peeled her hands off the lever, she bit back a whimper, trying not to look at the damage as she turned towards the Doctor who was walking back through the fans which had slowed down considerably.
When he was clear, Rose rushed over to him and threw her arms around his neck, the Doctor laughed in relief as he put his own arms around her.
"We did it!" Rose exclaimed happily as she pulled away, wincing as her hand caught on his jacket, he caught it quickly and turned her hand over to examine it, frowning. He grabbed her other hand, seeing the same injuries.
"Rose, you said you were okay!" The was worry in his voice as he scolded her.
"I am, it's just a little burn."
He rolled his eyes, "This is not a little burn, I'll take care of them when we get to the Tardis."
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Jabe rushed over to them as soon as she saw them, "Are you both alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine." Rose smiled at the other woman, "How about up 'ere? Any casualties?"
Jabe grinned, "No, you raised the shields just in time."
The Doctor ignored them both as he looked around the room, "You know what, Rose? I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one – teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two – this feed must be hidden nearby."
"What about the ostrich egg?" Rose asked, nodding over to where the egg was perched.
He grinned at her as he strode over to the egg and broke it open, the teleportation feed falling to the ground. He picked it up, "Idea number three – if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed."
He twisted the feed causing Cassandra to reappear before them, apparently in the middle of gloating, "Ah, you should have seen their little alien faces," she stopped, finally noticing her new surroundings, "Oh."
"The Last Human." The Doctor's voice was deceptively calm.
Cassandra was flustered as she attempted to stammer out an excuse, "So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the er… the human club."
"Someone died, Cassandra!" The Doctor stepped to the side as Rose snarled, her eyes glinting dangerously, "You murdered the Steward, you might have killed others and more would have followed, and you're concerned about being the last 'Pure Human'."
Cassandra opened her mouth to retort, "Don't!" Rose cut her off before she could begin, "You murdered people, for money."
Cassandra scoffed, "That depends on your definition of people-"
"No, it doesn't." Rose said shortly.
"Yes, well, that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries," Rose scowled, "So, take me to court then, Rose! And watch me smile, and cry, and flutter…"
"And creak?" Rose cut her off viciously.
"And what?"
"She said creak!" The Doctor cut in almost gleefully, "You're creaking!" Rose walked to the Doctor's side as they watched Cassandra dry out, all the anger had drained from Rose's body at the sight.
"What? Ah! Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturise me! Moisturise me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"
The Doctor smirked at Cassandra's desperate tone, "You raised the temperature."
Cassandra pleaded then, terror clear in her voice, "Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, Doctor! Rose!"
"Help her, Doctor," Rose whispered, unable to help herself, the Doctor looked down at her and could see only pity in her eyes now.
"Everything has its time, and everything dies."
"I'm… too… young" Cassandra gasped out as she shrivelled up before exploding. Rose looked up at the Doctor and noticed, like last time he appeared completely cold and not at all fazed.
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The Doctor was talking with Jabe before she left, whilst Rose walked over to the window, staring at the remains of the Earth.
He walked back over to her as the rest of the guests left, "The end of the Earth. It's gone, and nobody saw it go… don't get me wrong, I'm happy all the guests are alive and most of the staff…" She trailed off as the Doctor looked down at her, "But, all those years… all that history and no one was even looking, it's just…"
The Doctor gently took her hand, "Come with me."
He led her through the Tardis, to the medical bay, carefully tending to her hands, "You alright?"
She sniffed slightly, smiling weakly, "Yeah, I'm glad most of us made it, I just – I can't believe anyone can kill for money, and not even regret it." Her mind flashed back to Cassandra's gloating words, before she looked back at the Doctor.
He smiled softly at her, "I know."
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Rose followed the Doctor out of the Tardis into the middle of Piccadilly Circus, she watched the crowd move around them as the Doctor stood beside her, "You think it'll all last forever, people, and cars, and concrete. But it won't. One day, it's all gone. Even the sky." The both looked up and after a moment, he continued, "My planet's gone." Rose gently grabbed his hand, his fingers gently squeezed hers, "It's dead, it burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before it's time."
"What happened?"
He looked down at her, and Rose felt her chest constrict at the sight of unshed tears in his eyes, "There was a war, and we lost."
"We?" She questioned gently.
"My people, Time Lords – I'm the last of them, they're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own because there's no one else."
"There's me." She smiled at him, her affection for him seeping through into her expression.
"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?"
"No." She said, surprising him with her conviction, "I want…" she trailed off, I want forever, "Can you smell chips?"
He laughed, "Yeah, yeah!"
She smiled up at him, "I want chips."
He grinned at her, "Me too."
"Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is! You can pay."
His grin widened, "No money."
She rolled her eyes, teasing him, "What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me," his smile reached his eyes as he chuckled, "we've only got five billion years before the shops close…" they walked hand in hand as Rose nuzzled her head against his shoulder.
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Please let me know what you think.