Time Can Be Rewritten
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
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The Parting of The Ways
"You know the Doctor! You understand him! You will predict his actions!"
Rose smirked, "He's gonna do exactly as he said. Save me, save the planet and wipe every one of ya outta the sky!"
"Tardis detected. In flight!"
"Launch missiles! Exterminate!"
"As if that's gonna kill him," Rose grinned, she moved to the side, ducking down as the Doctor and Jack came into focus, the Tardis materialising around her and one Dalek.
"Exterminate!"
The Dalek fired at Jack, who just dodged and fired back with the massive gun in his hands. The Dalek exploded with a scream.
"Blimey!" Rose breathed out as she stood up, grinning at them, "You did it!"
The Doctor walked over to her without a word and wrapped his arms around her, tightly. He muttered into her hair, "That's it, you're never leaving the Tardis again."
She let out a laugh, pulling away to grin up at him, "Jeopardy friendly, that's me!"
"That's understating it!" He snorted, he was still holding her like he thought she might disappear, he eyes taking in every inch of her, "Told you I'd come and get ya."
"Never doubted it, not for a second."
He smiled softly at her, wonder filling his eyes at her blatant devotion, "You've never doubted me from the second we met."
She pressed her lips to his, a reassurance, she was here, and she was alive.
"And I never will."
Jack cleared his throat behind them, they turned to him, startled. He just grinned at the pair of them lasciviously, "Don't I get a kiss?"
"Ah, come here." Rose grinned at him.
Jack teased playfully, "I was talking to him." They laughed as Jack picked her up in a bone crushing hug as she placed a kiss on his cheek, "Welcome home!"
"Ohh, I'm glad to see you both!"
"Oh, you were lucky – that was just a one-shot wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. Now it's just a piece of junk." He wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked over to where the Doctor was examining the Dalek.
"You said they were extinct, how comes they're still alive?"
"One minute they're the greatest threat in the universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space." Jack added.
"They went off to fight a bigger war…" The Doctor answered, "The Time War."
Jack looked surprised, "I thought that was just a legend."
"I was there." He replied, "The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords. With the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed, but they took the Daleks with them." He paused, staring at the Dalek before he added bitterly, "I almost thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing."
"There's thousands of them now. What're we gonna do?"
The Doctor stood and turned to them cheerfully, "No good stood round here chinwagging! Human Race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have got the answers – let's go and meet the neighbours."
Jack and Rose exchanged a concerned look as they followed the Doctor.
Cries of 'Exterminate!' echoed around the ship as every Dalek in range fired at the Tardis. The Doctor raised his hands, mockingly, "Is that it? Useless! Nul points." He turned to Jack and Rose, "It's alright, come on out. That force field can hold back anything."
"Almost anything." Jack corrected.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "… Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that. Thanks."
"Sorry." Jack smiled sheepishly.
The Daleks remained silent as the Doctor stepped forwards, "D'you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld? The Oncoming Storm. You might've removed all your emotions… but I reckon that right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear." He paused, looking between the Daleks, "Doesn't it just BURN when you face me? So, tell me – how did you survive the Time War?"
A rumbling voice answered, "They survived through me."
The Dalek Emperor was illuminated as the three stepped towards it.
"Rose, Captain… this is the Emperor of the Daleks."
"You destroyed us, Doctor." The Dalek Emperor said his name like it was a curse, "The Dalek Race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."
"I get it," The Doctor interrupted.
"Do not interrupt!" Every Dalek on the ship echoed.
Jack flinched as he pulled Rose closer to his side, protectively as the Doctor looked round, mildly annoyed, "I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor. And if there's one thing I can do – it's talk. I've got five billion languages, and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So, if anybody's gonna shut up, it's YOU!" The Daleks shuffled back at the fervour in his voice as the Doctor turned back towards the Emperor, his tone light again, "Okey doke. So, where were we?"
"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth. Harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed – they all came to us. The bodies were filtered, pulped, sifted. The seed of the Human Race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."
"So, you created an army of Daleks out of the dead."
"That makes them, half human." Rose added.
The Emperor's voice rose, "Those words are blasphemy!"
"Do not blaspheme!" Again, every Dalek echoed the words.
"Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek."
The Doctor looked around at them, disturbed, "Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?"
"I reached into the dirt and made new life! I am the God of all Daleks!" The Emperor announced.
"Worship him!" The crazed cry echoed out.
The Doctor turned to face Jack and Rose, "They're insane! A hundred years hiding in silence – that's enough to drive anyone mad." He stared intently at the Daleks, "But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity." He shook his head sadly, "You hate your own existence. And that makes them more deadly than ever." He faced the Emperor, "We're going."
"You may NOT leave my presence!"
"Stay where you are!" The Daleks demanded as they made their way back into the Tardis, the Doctor turned and grinned at the Daleks mockingly before shutting the door on them.
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The Doctor strode out of the Tardis and towards the controls on Floor 500, Rose's hand grasped tightly in his, "Turn everything up. All transmissions, wide open, full power. Now! Do it!"
A male programmer asked as he obeyed, "What does that do?"
"Stops the Daleks from transmatting onboard. How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?"
"Well, we tried to warn them, but all they did was suspend our license because we stopped the programmes."
"And the planet's just sitting there, defenceless." The Doctor noticed the woman, "Lynda! What're you still doing on board?" He rounded on the male programmer, "I told you to evacuate everyone."
"She wouldn't go."
"Didn't wanna leave ya." Lynda smiled shyly up at him as he tensed.
Rose grinned, squashing the feeling of jealousy, "I know that feeling." Jack snorted, the Doctor's lips quirking up as the tension lifted.
The female programmer spoke, "There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here… we've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero."
"Oh, my God." The male programmer stared at the screen, "The Fleet is moving. They're on their way."
The Doctor ripped out armfuls of wires from the desks as he spoke quickly, "Dalek plan – big mistake. Because what have they left me with? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, come on – it's obvious. A great big transmitter – this station." Jack's brow furrowed in concentration as he stared at the Doctor, "If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it – anyone?"
Jack finally worked it out, "You've gotta be kidding!"
"Give the man a medal!"
He looked incredulous, "A Delta Wave?"
"A Delta Wave!" The Doctor confirmed excitedly.
"What's a Delta Wave?" Rose asked.
"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy. Fries your brain – stand in the way of a Delta Wave and your head gets barbequed." Jack answered.
"And this place can transmit a MASSIVE wave! Wipe out the Daleks!"
Lynda grinned at him, "Well, get started and do it then!"
"Trouble is, wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take about – ooh – three days? How long till the Fleet arrives?"
The male programmer checked the computer, "22 minutes."
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"We've now got a force field so they can't blast us out of the sky." Jack said, "But that doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading."
The male programmer asked, "Do they know about the Delta Wave?"
Jack nodded, "They'll have worked it out at the same time. So, if they wanna stop the Doctor, that means they've got to get to this level – 500." He indicated the diagram on the screen, "Now I can concentrate the extrapolator around the top six levels, 500 to 495. So, they'll penetrate the station below that at level 494 and fight their way up."
"Who're they fighting?"
"Us." Jack stated softly.
"And… what're we fighting with?"
"The guards had guns with bastic bullets – that's enough to blow a Dalek wide open."
The female programmer looked sceptical, "There's five of us."
The Doctor shouted over, "Rose is helping me. I need all these wires stripped bare."
"Right! Now there's four of us!"
"Then let's move it! Into the lift! Isolate the lift controls!" Jack ordered.
The programmers immediately hurried off as Lynda approached where she and the Doctor were working on the wires. The Doctor stood up awkwardly as Lynda stuttered, "I-I just wanna say, um… thanks, I s'pose. And… I'll do my best!"
"Me too." The Doctor agreed, they shook hands awkwardly as Lynda laughed embarrassedly looking at Rose nervously. She smiled back gently; she had been jealous last time, but Lynda died helping them. She stripped a wire with unnecessary ferocity as she realised, she couldn't help anyone here, not if she wanted her Doctor to have enough time.
She got up as Jack approached them, he laughed, "It's been fun!" The Doctor smiled back sadly, "But I guess this is goodbye."
Rose shook her head, "No, don't talk like that! We're gonna do it, just watch!"
"Rose," He sighed, cupping her face in his hands tenderly, love lacing his voice, "You are worth fighting for." He leaned in, kissing her softly. He stepped away and turned to the Doctor, grinning, "Wish I'd never met you, Doctor!" He cupped the Doctor's face just as tenderly and with just as much love said, "I was much better off as a coward." He pressed his lips against the Doctor's just as softly as with Rose.
He stepped back, smiling at the two of them, "See ya in hell."
Rose blinked back tears as she grabbed the Doctor's hand tightly, "He's gonna be alright."
The Doctor smiled back gently, his eyes sad.
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"Suppose…" Rose broke the companionable silence they were working in.
The Doctor looked up at her, "What?"
"Nothing." She shrugged, wanting to put off him sending her away as long as she was able, the Tardis hummed sadly in her mind.
"You said 'suppose'."
"No, I was just thinking…" She leaned back, "I mean, obviously you can't but… you've got a time machine. Why can't just go back to last week and warn 'em."
He kept working as he replied, "Soon as the Tardis lands in that second, I become part of events. Stuck in the timeline."
"Yeah," Rose nodded, "Thought it'd be something like that."
"There is another thing the Tardis could do," He glanced at her, a faint smile on his lips, "It could take us away." She smiled back at him, "We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989."
"You'd never do that."
The Doctor met her eyes, his look was so tender, so full of love and wonder, "No, but you could ask." She looked down at the wires as he continued, "Never even occurred to you, did it?"
"Well, I'm just too good." She joked, smiling at him.
He grinned at her, the computer whirred in the background suddenly and the Doctor jumped up, alert as he looked over it. "The Delta Wave's started building. How long does it need?" He sat in one of the chairs as Rose peered over his shoulder, he pressed a few buttons and stared at the monitor as his face fell.
"Is that bad?" His head sank downwards, "Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?"
He suddenly perked up, jumping to his feet as he announced gleefully, "Rose Tyler, you're a genius!" He kissed her hard, she smiled weakly at him as he pulled back, "We can do it! If I use the Tardis to cross my old timeline… yes!" He shot off towards the Tardis, they burst through the doors and the Doctor indicated towards a lever, "Hold that down and keep position."
"What's it do?" Her voice was faint.
The Doctor wandered over to the monitor, "Cancels the buffers. If I'm very clever – and I'm more than clever, I'm brilliant – I might just save the world. Or rip it apart…"
"I'd go for the first one."
He grinned at her, "Me too. Now, I've just got to go and power up the Game Station. Hold on!"
Before he could run out, Rose grabbed his arm, pulling him towards her, and wrapping her arms around his neck and she kissed him passionately, letting everything she felt into that one kiss. All her love, all her joy, all her grief. Everything.
She was breathless as she pulled away, the Doctor stared at her silently, Rose just smiled, it felt forced as she whispered, "For luck."
She held the lever down as he watched her, before he turned and ran out of the Tardis, the doors swinging shut behind him. Rose felt tears roll down her cheeks, selfishly she wanted more time with her Doctor, she wanted him to stay but she wanted to give him forever.
The Tardis engines started. She let go over the lever and rushed over to the doors, "Doctor! Doctor! Let me out!" She screamed as she banged on the doors, her heart breaking as she knew the next time she saw him, she was going to kill him, not permanently perhaps, but her leather clad Doctor would die because of her. She sobbed, her hands trailing down the doors helplessly.
"This is Emergency Programme One." She turned around as she heard his voice, "Rose, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing. We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape." She bit her lip as a pained sound left her, "And that's okay. Hope it's a good death."
Rose pushed herself away from the doors and towards the hologram, "But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The Tardis is taking you home. I'm sorry to leave you like this, but the Tardis can never return for me. Emergency Programme One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So, this is what you should do: let the Tardis die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it, no one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on, and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all. One thing." His eyes locked with hers, the love blatantly clear as he said the next words, "Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life. Rose Tyler."
The hologram flickered, fading away as the Tardis grinded to a halt. Rose cried silently as she walked outside, sinking to the floor as she leaned back against the doors. She barely noticed as Mickey rounded the corner at a run, she only looked up when she felt his arms around her, his voice confident as he said, "You'll get back to him, Rose."
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"Faster!" Rose shouted to Mickey, "It's not moving!"
The chain shuddered and snapped.
"Maybe it's for the best, sweetheart." Jackie said softly, wrapping an arm around her daughter, "God knows I have hated that man, but right now, I love him, and do you know why? Because he did the right thing. He sent you back to me."
"No."
"Lock the door. Walk away."
"The Doctor is 200,000 years in the future, dying!" Rose cried out, "How can I walk away, I love him mum." Mickey walked over to them as she cried, standing to the side awkwardly, "Dad wouldn't give up."
Jackie started at the non sequitur, "Well, he's not here, is he? And even if he was, he'd say the same."
"No, he wouldn't." Rose looked up at her mum, eyes shining, "He'd tell me to try anything, if I could save the Doctor's life… try anything."
"Well, we're never gonna know." Jackie responded dismissively.
"Well, I know." Rose said stubbornly, "Cos I met him. I met dad."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Remember when dad died?" Her voice cracked, "There was someone with him. A girl, a blonde girl. She held his hand…" Her mum looked away, "You saw her from a distance, mum! You saw her! Think about it! That was me, you saw me-"
Jackie cut her off, "Stop it."
"That's how good the Doctor is-"
"Stop it! Just stop it!" She jumped up and ran from the Tardis.
Mickey sat down next to her as Rose rested her head on his shoulder, tears still streaming down her face.
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A massive yellow truck rounded the corner towards the Tardis. Rose grinned as her mum climbed out and strode towards them, "Right, you've only got this until six o'clock, so get on with it."
"Where the hell did you get that from?"
She tossed the keys over to Mickey who headed over to the truck, "Rodrigo. He owes me a favour. Never mind why. But you were right about your dad, sweetheart. He was full of mad ideas, and this is exactly what he would've done. Now get on with it, before I change my mind."
Rose beamed at her mum before rushing into the Tardis.
"Keep going!" She shouted back.
Jackie shouted to Mickey, "Put your foot down!"
"Faster!"
"Give it some more, Mickey!"
The metal of the console began to creak, "Keep going!"
"Come on, come on!"
The chain became more and more taut as the metal creaked even louder in protest. 'Sorry girl,' Rose thought as she shouted, "Keep going!"
"Give it some more!"
Finally, the catch ripped off and the panel flew open releasing the blinding light. Golden tendril reaching up and surrounding her, two golden streams flowing into her eyes. The Tardis doors slammed shut as Mickey and her mum shouted her name.
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Rose Tyler smiled as the time vortex flowed into her mind.
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The Tardis doors were flung open, golden light flooded out, curling around her as she stepped towards the Doctor. He stumbled backwards, falling to the ground as he stared at her, terrified, "What've you done?"
She gazed down at him, her eyes glowed gold with the power of the time vortex. Her voice ethereal as she spoke, "I looked into the Tardis and the Tardis looked into me."
"You looked into the Time Vortex!" He said desperately, "Rose, no one's meant to see that!"
"This is the abomination!" The Dalek Emperor screamed.
"Exterminate!" She held up her hand as the Dalek fired at her, reversing the bolt back into the Dalek. The Doctor stared at it, amazed before he turned to face Rose, his gaze intense.
She smiled down at him, "I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words… I scatter them in time and space," The words 'Bad Wolf' were raised from the wall and floated away, "A message to lead myself here."
The Doctor spoke urgently, a desperate plea, "Rose, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now." Rose stared straight ahead, as though she hadn't heard him, he implored her to understand, "You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're gonna burn!"
She turned to him suddenly, "I want you safe." He looked utterly taken aback, seeing traces of tears on her cheeks, "My Doctor. Protected from the false god."
"You cannot hurt me. I am immortal." The Emperor stated confidently.
Rose sneered back, "You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space – every atom of your existence, and I divide them." She raised her hand and the Dalek in the centre of the room was reduced to golden, liquid-like particles, "Everything must come to dust… all things. Everything dies." She looked around and the rest of the Daleks were reduced to nothing, "The Time War ends."
The Emperor's voice rose in fear, "I will not die! I cannot die!" It screwed up its eye as it's ship and all the others were reduced to nothing, dissolving away into oblivion.
Rose stood with her arms raised, stating ahead, trembling.
"Rose, you've done it." The Doctor pleaded softly, "Now stop. Just let go."
Her voice was hushed and blissful, "How can I let go of this? I bring life…" She felt Jack return from life and smiled as she gifted her Captain with something.
The Doctor was near tears as he responded, "But this is wrong! You can't control life and death!"
Rose looked back to him, "But I can. The sun and the moon, the day and night," Her voice trembled, "But why do they hurt…?"
A tear escaped him, "The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault."
"My Doctor," He looked up at her, "I can see everything… all that is… all that was… all that ever could be…" Her voice cut off, the pain of the vortex in her mind just as intense as the first time.
He stood abruptly, "That's what I see, all the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?"
Her voice was scared, "My head…"
"Come here." He opened his arms to her.
"… is killing me…"
He held her to him, "I think you need a Doctor." He gazed down into her eyes before he leaned down and claimed her lips with his, the Time Vortex flowing out of her. They parted slowly; her eyes fluttered closed as she collapsed against him.
OoOoOoOo
Rose woke up suddenly, bringing her hand her head as she looked up at the Doctor from the floor of the Tardis. He smiled softly at her as she stumbled to her feet.
"You're dying." She said quietly, he looked at her surprised, "You took the vortex outta me and now, it's killing you."
"Yes." He looked at her gently, "You remember that little trick I told you about, that Time Lord's have to cheat death?"
"You're gonna regenerate."
He grinned at her, "Yeah, I'll still be the Doctor just with a different face-"
"And personality."
"Are you alright?" He looked at her concerned; his hearts couldn't take it if she rejected him.
She tried to bite back the sob, but was clearly unsuccessful as his face fell, "I killed you."
"No!" His voice was sharp, she looked at him, her eyes filled with tears, "Without you, me and every person on Earth would have been killed by the Daleks. This wasn't your fault. It could never be your fault, Rose Tyler."
Her lip trembled, "You'll be, okay?"
He laughed, "As long as I have you with me? Always."
"Can I…?" Rose walked over to him, he just pulled her to him and wrapped her into a hug.
"I love you, Rose Tyler." He whispered into her hair as she clung to his jacket, "No matter what face I wear, no matter my personality, know that for as long as I live, my hearts beat for you."
"Doctor…" She was cut off as he winced in pain and pushed her back gently.
"Stay back." He winced again, "Before I go, I just wanted to tell you, you were fantastic!" He grinned at her, she smiled back hesitantly, "Absolutely fantastic… and d'you know what?" Her heart pounded in her chest, her eyes shining as she drank in the sight of her leather Doctor, "So was I!"
He smiled widely at her, through the pain before suddenly he convulsed and golden energy exploded from his skin. Rose let out a choked sob and staggered backwards as she kept her eyes fixed on him. The golden energy faded away, the Doctor looked surprised for a moment as he turned to Rose.
"Hello! Okay-oo." He gulped, running a tongue over his teeth, brow furrowed, "New teeth. That's weird. So, where was I? Oh, that's right! Barcelona." He grinned widely at her.