AN: Here we are, at the very end. I want to answer a few quick questions before getting to the epilogue.
Yes, I will be covering Time Crash. That's the first chapter of the Voyage of the Damned story.
No, there will be no metacrisis in this story. I've taken away every ingredient necessary to create the metacrisis-there was no way I was going to make Rose choose between two versions of her husband, and leave one of them without his bond mate.
Epilogue: The Stars Are Going Out
When the astronomers in Pete's World first claimed the stars were going out, everyone laughed at them—everyone except for Torchwood. Director Pete Tyler had seen too many things to discount a theory just because it was out there. He brought in Dr. Malcolm Taylor, the lead scientist, and asked for more information.
When Dr. Taylor finished his rambling explanation, complete with slides that showed regions of space going dark, Pete thanked him and asked him to wait outside. Then he turned to his two deputies. "Well?"
"It explains what the Zinzi said three months ago," Jake said, referring to the transdimensional species who'd claimed they were seeking refuge in this universe because of the darkness.
Mickey nodded. "The Zinzi and those other ones—the ones who wanted to turn the Earth into a water planet to replace the one they ran from."
"The Saturnyne," Pete supplied, tossing the case file onto his desk. He'd pulled them both out before the meeting with Dr. Taylor, guessing the scientist's news might explain a few of those mysteries.
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his bald spot. "The question is, what are we going to do now?"
"We need the Doctor," Mickey said bluntly. "Get Malcolm Taylor back in here, and ask him to take the old hoppers and build something similar that wouldn't damage the universe as much."
"Are you sure, Mickey?" Pete asked.
Mickey leaned forward and rested his elbows on the edge of Pete's desk. "Look, Boss. We've seen it happening here in this universe, and we know it's happening in at least one other. The stars are going out. That's the fabric of reality, just falling apart. And if that's happening, the Doctor is the only one who can help us."
"But the Doctor said travel between universes is impossible."
Mickey snorted. "Yeah, he said a lot of things like that. And yet, somehow, it never really stopped things from happening anyway." He reclined back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "And I know he also said we endanger both universes when we cross over like that, but if reality is falling apart, it sorta seems to me that they're both in danger already."
Pete nodded; that had been his conclusion as well. "Jake?"
The blond man looked at his partner, then at his boss. "Mickey's got a point, Pete," he said. "It seems like things are falling apart anyway, whether we try to find the Doctor or not. And if he could possibly stop this all from happening, why not?"
Pete Tyler tapped his fingers on his desk, considering the possibilities. Despite Jake's, "Why not?" he had plenty of reasons to be hesitant about approaching the Doctor. The problem was, they were all personal reasons.
The Doctor had certainly taken care of difficult situations both of the last times they'd met, but not without casualties either time. The first time, Pete had lost his wife. The second time, Jackie had lost her daughter. They had a son now. Could he risk Tony?
And speaking of Jackie, if she found out they were travelling across the Void to the universe that held her daughter, there would be hell to pay if he didn't find a way to let her see Rose. He sighed when he remembered her tears after they'd said goodbye in Norway; she wouldn't be satisfied with seeing Rose—she would want to move back to the other universe.
But being head of Torchwood occasionally meant risking his own family, and right now, he held the fate of the multiverse in his hands. "Fine," he said after several long moments. "But for the moment, this stays between the three of us and Dr. Taylor."
Mickey cracked a grin. "Don't worry, Boss. I know better than to tell Jackie Tyler that I'm going to see Rose, and she's not allowed to come."
oOoOoOoOo
On the Crucible, Dalek Caan started laughing. It was all happening like he had foreseen when he had fallen through the time lock and all of time had been revealed to him. Soon, the Doctor and the Bad Wolf would destroy Davros' new Dalek Empire.
That glimpse of absolute reality had opened his eye. He had finally understood the cruelty of the Dalek insistence on exterminating everything else, and he had decided it must end, once and for all. With Time his to control for that brief eternity, he had pulled timelines, arranging the necessary circumstances that would bring the Doctor and the Bad Wolf to them at the opportune moment.
They were not ready yet. They had been too damaged by the Master to dive into travels fraught with yet more danger. To encourage them to rest, Caan had arranged for a Christmas voyage that would show them just how much they were hurting.
And on that trip, they would meet a man whose granddaughter they'd already encountered once. The Doctor and the Bad Wolf would need a new friend, someone who could remind them why it was important to care, even as tragedies happened all around them. Donna Noble was the perfect choice.
When the stars went out and the man from another universe returned, they would be ready.
AN: Thank you to everyone who commented and added this story to your favourites/follows. I look forward to seeing you all in six weeks when I start posting The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, the VOTD story. Next Tuesday, look for the conclusion to Hope is Where Forever Begins, the honeymoon story.