Have your tissues at the ready for this chapter. That's all I am going to say.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
The Master is shouting orders to shoot down the ship that the Doctor is currently flying. He has his copies in other countries sending up that country's military arsenal to stop the Doctor. Since the unknown ship had made its location known, the Master has begun to worry about whether the Doctor will stop him before the final preparations can be completed.
Rose, who had been brought to the Master's side about an hour earlier, can only watch what is happening around her. She had tried to sleep during the night but between keeping Bad Wolf in check and the increase in contractions, Rose was lucky to have gotten a grand total of three hours of rest.
Now here she was, watching the Master trying to keep the Doctor from stopping his plans to bring the Time Lords back. She is standing a few feet in front of a wooden desk that the Master had been using earlier. Rose had kept her full attention on the Master and his many copies. Especially since only a few minutes before being brought here, she had received a message from the Doctor.
"Send up the second wave of missiles." The Master shouts to his copies as he marches over to where Rose is standing. "You have a connection with the Doctor. Tell me, what is he planning?"
"How should I know what his plans are?"
"Don't play coy with me." The Master growls at Rose before reaching one hand out to take hold of Rose's chin. "I know what it means for a Time Lord to take a mate. You can enter his mind just as he can yours. Now I suggest you tell me his plan before I become angry. And if the Doctor has told you anything about me, you know what I am capable of."
Not breaking eye contact with the Master, Rose growls out her reply.
"I'll never help you."
The Master's face contorts into one filled with rage, and his grip on Rose's chin tightens. Then he lets out a series of chuckles before giving Rose a gleeful smile. Releasing his grip the Master turns as if he is going to walk away; however, he turns back around to face Rose before slapping the woman across the face.
The force from the slap causes Rose to take a few steps back, bumping into the desk. Keeping herself from being bent backwards, over the desk, Rose places her hands on the surface. Then, as she turns her head, Rose finds herself face-to-face with the Master invading her personal space. She can feel the warmth of the Master's body pressing against her bump through her blue and green paisley printed, mid-thigh reaching, buttoned down blouse.
Just as Rose is about to tell the Master off, he grabs the back of Rose's head and forces his lips against hers. Not letting this assault continue for a second longer, Rose uses Bad Wolf to send the Master flying back and away from her. Being free of the Master's assault, Rose moves herself away from the desk. Then a powerful contraction rips through her body, which sends Rose falling onto her hands and knees. It lasts longer than any other contraction that came before it. But it is when the contraction ends that sends Rose into a panic.
Laughter fills Rose's ears as she feels a pressure in her pelvis that will not be going away any time soon. Glancing up, through her lose blonde hair, Rose watches as the Master comes towards her again and kneels in front of her.
"Not long now. Whether you like it or not, that child will be born soon." The Master says to Rose. "And when it arrives, I will see that it is raised like a true Time Tot should be."
Rising from the floor, the Master decides to focus on completing his plans.
"The Doctor is too late. They're coming." The Master says before the machinery begins to glow with the surge of power.
The Master begins to laugh as the glowing gets brighter and brighter as something begins to manifest in front of the machinery. Then, within the glowing light, the beginnings of vivid red robes begin to appear. With the growing appearance, wind begins to blow out from the energy that is drawing the figures in.
Rose, as she breathes through another wave of pressure in her pelvis, watches as several figures begin to appear. Within her mind, Bad Wolf senses danger approaching and lets out a howl out into the time vortex. This howl is also sent to her mate, attempting to warn him what is happening. Rose, herself, can't help but feel as though things are going to end badly.
As the figures within the light finish their manifestation, the sound of glass breaking from above and Rose places her hands over the back of her head. A few small shards of glass cut into her shirt and a loud thud on her left reaches her ears. Lifting her head so that she can see what made the sound, Rose lets out a gasp at seeing the Doctor lying on the stone floor.
"Doctor." Rose softly calls out to him.
Letting out a groan, the Doctor opens his eyes and tries to raise the gun in his hands. However, he is in so much pain from the impact that the gun falls out of his hands. Closing his eyes, the Doctor tries to force his body into cooperating with his mind. Through the link he has with Rose, the Doctor can feel her worry for him; and as he takes a breath, he knows that Rose is in the room. But what gets the Doctor to force his body to move is the sound of Rose's heavy breathing which is followed by low, animalistic groans of pain.
"My Lord Doctor…" Rassilon says as he takes a few steps away from the other four in the group. "And Lord Master. We are gathered for the end."
Rose lets out a loud cry as the pressure in her pelvis doesn't lessen, and the need to bear down is too great to ignore. Bad Wolf's energy can no longer hold back the progression of birth, and Rose can feel something large moving lower in her pelvis.
"Doctor." Rose whimpers out before lowering herself to the ground, curling into a fetal position while lying on her right side.
This whimper catches Rassilon's attention and his surprise is etched upon his face at hearing this pregnant female call out for the Doctor.
"So, you have created an abomination with this human female, Lord Doctor." Rassilon snarls in outrage at the idea of a child of Gallifrey mixing its blood with that of a lesser species.
"It's not an abomination. It is an innocent child." Rose growls out at the Time Lord, before she allows Bad Wolf's energy to shine in her eyes.
Rassilon, and two of the four others in the group, let out a gasp of surprise to see the energy that the female human holds within her. Yet one of the Time Lords in Rassilon's group speaks so softly, that his comment is missed by everyone, but Rose.
"So this is where it chose its interface from."
"Listen to me. You can't…" The Doctor says, pulling everyone's attention away from his laboring wife. Having lifted himself up to his hands and knees, which took great effort to accomplish, the Doctor is still going to try and protect Rose from his own people.
"It's a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child." Rassilon says after turning his attention from Rose to the Doctor. "And your two abominations will not be allowed to join us in this salvation."
"Oh, he's not saving you." The Doctor growls out at Rassilon. "Don't you realize what he's doing?"
The Master, not wanting the Doctor to give away his accomplishment, interrupts what the Doctor is trying to tell Rassilon. "Hey, no, hey. That's mine. Hush!"
Then the Master proceeds in addressing Rassilon. "Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel, little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every Time Lord. Oh yes, Mr. President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're gonna look as me."
During the Master's rant at Rassilon, the Doctor had slowly crawled towards Rose and had taken hold of her hand. Even though he didn't speak a single verbal word to her, the Doctor is giving Rose encouragement through their bond. For a moment, he can feel what she is feeling, and he can even feel the underlying presence of their child's mind through the bond. Knowing that Rose is so close to giving birth to their child, the Doctor's possessiveness ramps up more than ever before. Not only is Rose in danger from whatever the Master, or Rassilon, is planning but so is their unborn child.
A metallic clank sound catches the Doctor's attention and he looks away from Rose. His eyes lock on to Rassilon's left hand and the metal glove that covers it. Not knowing what will happen next, the Doctor places himself in front of Rose as she shimmies her black knit capri and under garment down towards her knees.
The metal glove on Rassilon's hand glows blue as the Time Lord uses its power to reverse what the Master has done to the humans. Even though he is focused on that task, the head of the Time Lords watches the Doctor out of the corner of his eyes. He is sickened by how attentive the Doctor is to the pregnant female, and by how powerful the unborn child's mind is.
As the reversal is completed, Rassilon addresses the humans in the room.
"On your knees, mankind." Rassilon's voice is dripping with authority as well as an underlying threat to any who would defy him.
As the humans drop to their knees, Rose lets out a low growl as she shifts herself from her side to being back on her hands and knees. Then she reaches her hands out to take hold of the Doctor's brown pin-striped jacket to pull him closer to her. After he has shift himself a bit, he wraps an arm around her back so that he can cradle her against his chest while still being on his knees. She presses her forehead against his shoulder and lets out a whimpering moan.
'Doctor. I can't stop this. She is coming. Now.' Rose practically screams through their bond.
'It'll be alright, Rose. I promise.' The Doctor replies with their bond.
Slowly moving a hand, the Doctor reaches underneath Rose's long blouse and discovers what he is looking for. He uses his hand to gage just how much time they have before their child makes its appearance. So far he doesn't feel the child's head, so that is a good sign. Yet after pressing two fingers inside of the birth canal, he can feel the top of the head with only half of the two fingers inside. This means that the Doctor may have only a few minutes till his child is born.
"That's… That's fine. That's good. Because you said 'salvation'. I still saved you. Don't forget that." The Master's voice calls out, which brings the Doctor's attention away from Rose.
"The approach begins." Rassilon says as the ground begins to quake.
"The approach of what?" The Master asks, confused as to what Rassilon might be referring to.
"Something is returning. Don't you ever listen?" The Doctor growls out at the Master. "That was the prophecy. Not some-one, but some-thing."
"But what is it?"
"They're not just bringing back the species. It's Gallifrey! Right here! Right now!" The Doctor yells out at the Master.
Both Time Lords look at each other with a certain, all knowing look in their eyes. Before either one can say anything else, Rose lets out a half-groan, half-scream which pulls not only the Doctor's attention, but the Master's as well, back to her.
"It's time, Doctor." Rose whimpers out before taking a deep breath and begins to bear down.
The Doctor shuffles himself around so that he can face Rose, and tries to figure out how the two of them are going to get through the birth. Before he can suggest to Rose to lay back, someone else's arm wraps around Rose's shoulders.
"You've got to be kidding me." Rose growls out as she sees exactly who it is that has their arm around her shoulders. "I hate you, you know."
"I know." The Master replies before looking at the Doctor. "Don't look at me like that. She needs someone to support her weight since you will be making sure that your child doesn't land on the floor head first."
Not arguing with the Master's observation, the Doctor turns his focus onto the task as hand. With the ground shaking beneath, Rose bears down yet again with the Master helping keep her body upright. The Doctor, had already moved Rose's knees apart and opened four of the bottom buttons to Rose's blouse. With an easier way to see what he needs to, the Doctor can already see his child's head crowning. Pulling off his pin-striped jacket, the Doctor gives Rose an encouraging look before mentally telling her to bear down.
It only takes Rose two strong pushes to bring her child into the world. The child, covered in white mucus and some blood, lets out several healthy wails at being removed from its warm home.
"A girl." The Doctor says with a chuckle before looking up at Rose. "We have a girl."
"And she is just as vocal as her sire." The Master says as he watches the Doctor wrap the child in the jacket.
"Oh shut up." Rose says to the Master as tears run down her cheeks. She lets out a quick, low grunt as something else slips out of her body.
Using his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor severs the umbilical cord before handing his daughter to her mother. He can't help but think that his daughter reminds him of his former companion Donna. What he doesn't realize is that Rose could hear his thoughts.
"Donna. That will be her name." Rose says out loud to the Doctor as she tries to find a more comfortable hold of her child.
Before the Doctor can give a reply to Rose, he notices that the Master has released Rose and was now standing up. This is when the Doctor realizes that the Master is now addressing Rassilon. Letting out a sigh, the Doctor knows what he needs to do to keep Rose and their child safe. He knows that Rose doesn't have the energy to escape the room, and with the shaking ground beneath them, she can't get far if she crawls.
Sizing up Rassilon, the Master decides to confront the powerful Time Lord. "This is fantastic, isn't it? The Time Lords will be restored. Not by breeding with lesser species, but by our people's return."
Placing a gentle kiss to Rose's lips, then to baby Donna's head, the Doctor attempts to face what is coming. He gives Rose a sad smile before mentally telling her to try and crawl to safety. Watching as more tears fall down Rose's cheeks, he looks away from her and places himself in front of his two girls.
To keep the attention away from a now slow crawling Rose, the Doctor begins to speak.
"You weren't there in the final days of the war." The Doctor tells the Master. "You never saw what was born. But if the time-lock's been broken, then everything's coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been-King with his army of meanwhiles and never-weres. The war was turning into hell."
Keeping his eyes focused on the Master, the Doctor can see in his periphery vision that Rose is slowly pulling her body back towards one of the wooden desks that is further away from them. He knows that he needs to keep everyone's attention on him, so he keeps talking.
"And that's what you've opened up. Right above the Earth. Hell is descending."
"My kind of world." The Master says to the Doctor, silently hoping that Rassilon will punish the Doctor for his transgression with Rose. However, he wants the Doctor removed so that he can have Rose and her Bad Wolf power all to himself.
"The Time Lords can't survive that!" The Doctor shouts as he gets up onto his feet.
"We will initiate the Final Sanction." Rassilon says, keeping his eyes on the Doctor while his telepathy trained on the newborn in Rose's arms. With her birth, the time lines have begun to shift and change around her and is something that Rassilon doesn't like. "The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart."
"That's suicide." The Master says, slightly glancing towards where Rose is crawling. Even though he doesn't want to admit it, he finds himself caring about how that will affect Rose and her power.
"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone," Rassilon says, raising his arms out. "free of these bodies, free of time and cause and effect. Creation itself will cease to be."
"You see now?" The Doctor says to the Master. "That's what they were planning in the final days of the war. I had to stop them."
"Then take me with you, Lord President." The Master appeals to Rassilon while hoping that he may be allowed to take Rose with him. "Let me ascend into glory!"
"You are diseased." Rassilon snarls out at the Master. "Albeit a disease of our own making. No more."
As Rassilon begins to power up the metal glove on his hand, the Doctor takes his chance. With quick reflexes, the Doctor swoops down to take hold of the gun that Wilf had given him aboard the ship. As he comes up the gun clicks in preparation to be fired. The Doctor aims the pistol at Rassilon as he places himself between the Master and Lord President.
On the other side of the room, resting against the short end of the wooden desk, Rose lets out a gasp at what the Doctor is doing. In her arms, Donna lets out a whimper but doesn't let out any other sound. For what Rose isn't conscious of is that Donna can feel her parents' emotions through their parent-child bond.
"Choose your enemy well. For we are many." Rassilon says to the Doctor before aiming the glove towards where Rose and Donna are in the room. "The Master is but one."
"But he is the Lord President, and he is threatening Rose and your child." The Master calls out from behind the Doctor. "Kill him and Gallifrey could be yours."
At hearing the Master's suggestion, the Doctor does a 180 degree turn and aims the gun at the Master. Even though the Master has caused this all to happen, the Doctor still can't ignore the fact that the Master was once his best friend. Nor could he ignore the fact that the Master had helped him and Rose with Donna's birth. Yet in the Doctor's mind, both Rassilon and the Master are threats to Rose and their family.
"He's to blame not me!" The Master exclaims, but then realizes that he has just proven why the Doctor is aiming the pistol at him. "Ohh. The link is inside my head. Kill me, the link is broken, and they go back."
The two of them stare at each other, and the Master knows that the Doctor won't pull the trigger unless he is provoked. So, to help his friend do what needs to be done, the Master decides to antagonize him.
"You never would. You coward. Go on then. Do it!"
Knowing that he truly can't kill his former childhood friend, the Doctor whirls back around to aim the pistol at Rassilon. Knowing that he wouldn't survive an assault on Rassilon, the Doctor can only play for more time to figure out some way into sending the Time Lords back into the time-lock.
"Exactly!" The Master says from behind the Doctor. "It's not just me, it's him! He's the link, kill him!"
"So the final act of your life is murder." Rassilon says to the Doctor. "But which one of us? And to what repercussions will it have on the female and your child, Doctor?"
"There will be no repercussions." Rose's voice states from beside the Doctor.
No one, not even the Doctor, had expected Rose to become involved. Yet there she is, standing next to the Doctor, their child being held with one arm, and the golden glow of the Time Vortex swirling around her. Seeing Rose like this, the Doctor fully understands that there was no way Bad Wolf would allow Rassilon to destroy the whole of creation without putting up a fight.
"You would destroy all of time itself for more power?" Bad Wolf asks Rassilon before raising her free hand. "I forbid it!"
With the power that is flowing through her, Bad Wolf causes the glove on Rassilon's hand to disappear. Then the staff in his hand disappears as well, followed by the staffs being held by the two guards that stand behind the two-people hiding their faces behind their hands.
As Bad Wolf does this, the Doctor notices that one of those hiding their face, has allowed their hands to fall. When the face is revealed, the Doctor tries hard not to let the identity of the person affect him. Yet, through his bond with Rose, he can feel Rose's shock at what the Doctor is feeling. His eyes connect with the woman's for only the briefest of moments, and even though their link was severed way back the Doctor can feel the woman's mind gently caress his own. Then he feel's Rose and Donna's mind gently come through his link with them to gently reach out to this long-lost family member.
It becomes a bit too much for the Doctor, and to keep Rassilon from knowing just how affected he is by the presence of his own mother standing before him, whips around yet again to point the pistol at the Master.
"Doctor." Bad Wolf says softly while worrying about what her mate might do.
"Get out of the way." The Doctor says to the Master as he finally makes a choice on how he will stop the destruction of the Time Vortex and the return of the Time War.
Giving the Doctor a smirk, the Master leaps out of the way just as the Doctor pulls the trigger. The bullet from the gun hits the machine that was behind where the Master stood, which fries the electrical working of the machine. It shorts out and sparks fly into the air, signaling its destruction.
Turning to face Rassilon, the Doctor shouts at the Time Lord. "The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell."
"You'll die with me, Doctor." Rassilon says as he pulls a weapon out from beneath his robes.
Yet, before Rassilon can discharge the weapon, Bad Wolf once again uses her powers to cause the weapon to disappear. This enrages Rassilon and he yells out at her.
"Unholy abomination!"
"I will protect my Doctor, our family, and the whole of creation from you." Bad Wolf says, not realizing that the two guards have also pulled out their own hidden weapons as well.
The Doctor notices and quickly tries to place himself between them and Rose before the Master calls out to him.
"Get out of the way."
The Doctor moves himself, Rose, and their child out of the way as the Master unleashes his own energy upon Rassilon and the guards. Once they are out of the way, the Doctor sees that Bad Wolf has released Rose from the vortex energy, and the two of them watch as the Master takes on Rassilon after knocking the two guards out.
"You did this to me!" The Master roars as his energy slams into Rassilon's chest. "All of my life! You made me!"
As the Master begins to count each hit to Rassilon, the Doctor gently moves Rose and Donna away from the battle. He takes them over to behind one of the desks that Rose had originally crawled to and makes sure that the two of them are protected from the reverse wind flow that is coming from the closing portal. Knowing that they are now safe, the Doctor heads back out into the wind in an attempt to help the Master.
The Doctor only makes it so far before realizing that the Master had started moving towards Rassilon and the portal. As the light gets brighter, the Doctor can barely make out the Master as the portal closes. But as the portal closes, the machines that once powered the opening explode, sending the Doctor to the ground from the sheer force of the explosion. He lands on the ground and rolls twice before coming to a stop on his back.
When the smoke and dust clears, the Doctor begins to gently move his limbs. As he rolls himself onto his side, the Doctor is finding it hard to believe he is still alive. For he had thought that with the closing of the portal that he would either be sucked back into the time-lock or would be removed from existence. That was why he had left Rose and Donna's side. He didn't want to see their sorrow at his death.
"I'm still alive." The Doctor gasps out before letting out a few airy chuckles at his luck.
However, his happiness is short lived as he hears four taps against glass. When it happens again, the Doctor can't ignore them and turns towards where the sound is coming from. Standing inside of one of the control boxes is Wilfred, who the Doctor hadn't noticed go in there earlier.
"Doctor." Rose calls out as she begins to stumble out from where she and the baby were hiding.
She is having a hard time keeping her body upright from having used Bad Wolf after giving birth. Yet the hold she has on their baby in her arms is strong. When she reaches where the Doctor is kneeling on the floor, her legs give out. Rose braces herself for the hard impact that she knows is coming, but it never does. Not noticing that she closed her eyes, Rose opens them to see the Doctor looking down at her. During her fall, even though he himself is weak, the Doctor had caught her and reinforced her hold on their daughter with one of his own arms. Gently, he guides Rose to the floor so that she will be lying on her back with their daughter nestled against her chest.
"Doctor." Rose whispers to the Doctor as he leans down to press his lips against her own. She lets out a whimper of protest as she hears, and feels, the Doctor's apology for what he is about to do.
'Let me help. Bad Wolf could get Wilf out of there.' Rose telepathically whispers to the Doctor.
'You've spent too much energy as it is, Rose. If you use anymore, you'll die. Right now, you need to focus on taking care of our little Donna.' The Doctor sends back to her.
'But you'll die.'
'Yes. It is part of the prophecy that the Ood shared with me, Rose. I was always going to die, just a matter of where, when, and how. Please, don't cry.'
"I love you." Rose whispers to the Doctor as tears fill her eyes.
"And I, you." The Doctor replies softly before giving Rose one last kiss. Then he gives Donna a kiss just as she begins to cry softly.
Slowly getting up, the Doctor turns his back to his family and faces where Wilf is in the glass control box. He can't help feeling cheated by the universe again. Not only has he missed out on his son's early years, but now he will never get see any of his children grow up. This is how the universe thanks its last living Time Lord. By forcing him to sacrifice himself for someone else.
"They gone, then?" Wilf asks the Doctor through the glass box. "Yeah good-o. If you could, uh, let me out…"
"Yeah."
"This thing seems to be making a bit of noise."
"The Master left the nuclear bolt running." Slowly the Doctor makes his way over to the glass box that Wilf is standing inside of. "It's gone into overload."
"And that's bad, is it?" Wilf asks the Doctor.
"No. Cause all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All 500,000 rads about to flood that thing."
"Oh. Well you better let me out, then." Wilf chuckles out, trying to lighten the Doctor's somber mood.
"Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods. Even the sonic would set it off."
"I'm sorry." Wilf says to the Doctor. "Look, just leave me. You've got a new baby, and I can see that your Rose there is too weak to get to the Tardis on her own."
"Alright, I will, then. Cause you just had to go in there, didn't you?" The Doctor rails off while trying to keep his emotions in check as he paces the floor. "You had to go and get stuck, oh yes! Cause that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this.. Waiting for me all this time."
Glancing over to where Rose is on the floor, the Doctor notices that she has slowly moved herself so that she is leaning against a toppled over computer chair. Her eyes are filled with sorrow and pain which shows by the tears rolling down her face. At some point during her movements, Rose had somehow managed to get part of her blouse open so that Donna could have her first meal. His eyes fill with even more unshed tears at the sight before Wilf's voice pulls his attention away.
"No, really, just leave me." Wilf had noticed how the Doctor and Rose were looking at each other, and the thought of him being the cause of their pain is too much for him. "I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time."
"Well exactly, look at you." The Doctor snarls out, letting his anger at the universe seep into his words. "Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more. So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. Well, it's not fair!"
The Doctor, after shoving some papers and a few items off a desk, notices the pained look on Rose's face and it is too much for him to bear. Even through their bond, he can feel her trying to calm a startled Donna as well as trying to protect her from the anger that the Doctor had allowed to come through. He hadn't even noticed that his emotions had not only gone through his bond with Rose, but also through his parental bond with Donna.
Feeling how affected Donna was by his emotions, the Doctor lets out a heavy sigh and tries his best to send his daughter some soothing thoughts. Once she has calmed from the Doctor's outburst, the Doctor then turns to face Wilf and resigns himself, again, to his fate.
"Lived too long." The Doctor says as he makes his way back over to Wilfred and the glass control box.
"No. No, no, please. Please don't. No, don't. Don't." Wilfred pleads as the Doctor comes closer to the other control box's door. "Please, don't! Please!"
The Doctor takes hold of the door's steel handle and looks directly at Wilfred.
"Wilfred, it's my honor. Better be quick." The Doctor tells the old man before opening the door and rushing inside.
Once inside he presses the button that locks the door to his box and unlocks the door to Wilfred's box. Then the lights within the box that the Doctor is standing in turns red as the radiation fills his compartment. He lets out several groans of pain as his body absorbs the radiation. When it gets to be too much for him, his legs give way and the Doctor slowly falls towards the floor of the box.
Rose, who had been watching, looks down at her daughter when she is no longer able to watch her Doctor's pain. She can feel a small amount of the pain through their bond, but she knows that the Doctor is trying to shield Donna and herself from feeling his pain.
It is at this point that one of the closed doors to the room opens. A fully healed Jenny enters the room first, followed by her little brother Jack, and Jack Harkness. Taking in the scene in front of them all three rush over to where Rose is.
"Rosie, you alright?" Harkness asks as he surveys the room. Then his eyes fall on the glass box and the Doctor's body on the floor of the compartment. "Oh god, Doc!"
As Jack Harkness rushes towards where the Doctor is, Jenny and her brother crowd around Rose. Jenny tries to take account of any injuries that Rose might have, while Jack cuddles up to Rose's side so that he can see his new baby sister. Neither Jenny nor Jack are paying attention to what is happening to their father since they can't feel him through their own bond with him.
Harkness, however, tries the door to the compartment but finds if locked. So, he goes down to one knee and slaps the glass multiple times to get his friends' attention.
"Doc. Doctor are you alright? Come on Doc, talk to me." Harkness calls out through the glass, but he gets no response.
It's when the red light finally goes out inside of the glass box, that Harkness sees the Doctor's hand move. Letting some of his fear disappear with his sigh of relief, Harkness once again tries the door. The door opens as the Doctor lifts his upper body with his elbows.
"Doc!" Harkness says in relief as he moves to help the Doctor get out of the box.
"You still with us?" Wilfred asks the Doctor as he watches Harkness drag the Doctor out and away from the glass box.
"Yeah." The Doctor groans as he tries to brush off the former time agent's helping hands.
"Well here we are then, safe and sound." Wilf says, thankful that the Doctor hasn't died. "Mind you, you're in one hell of a state. Got some battle scars there."
The Doctor, once sitting up on his own, rubs his hands down his face and the injuries he once had disappears with a sizzling sound.
"Doc?" Harkness says cautiously. He has seen this Doctor begin to regenerate before aborting it, but now, he isn't so sure that the Doctor can once again cheat death.
"It's started." The Doctor says as he can feel the beginnings of regeneration starting.
One more chapter to go folks. So, have your tissues ready for it because it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Reviews are welcomed, cherished, and loved.
Selene