Never Meeting Rose Tyler

Rating: K

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor, the characters, canon story lines, etc.

Spoilers: Post Doomsday

Summary: "Doctor, I need you to never meet Rose Tyler."

Notes: And here goes the main part- sorry if you dislike longer ones- horray for those that do. There will be one last snippet after this chapter as to complete my short story. I should mention that this was a random thought of mine that started with her showing up in the Tardis (as you saw in the first part) and it evolved into this. Initially there had been no descriptions- only quotes and most of the quotes were the major points. How interesting stories are developed, right? But yes, so although the descriptions and some filler quotes are not my favorite, overall, I enjoy the story. So hope you enjoy too!

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"Doctor, I need you to never meet Rose Tyler."

"No!" His anger turned worse, appalled at her words. "It would be a paradox. I can't do that. I won't!"

She shook her head. "No, Doctor, it won't."

"It would destroy two universes, and if somehow it didn't because of the paradox it would kill all the people that Rose helped save while traveling with me."

"Doctor, you'll find a way to save them. You always do."

He looked at the young woman. "Why? Why would I ever do what you asked?"

She took a deep breath and took a step forward. "Because, Doctor, you once told Rose Tyler that if she was ever separated from you to have a fantastic life. You said, 'Have a…'"

"'Have a fantastic life Rose Tyler. Do it for me, have a fantastic life.'" He whispered, hearing what his said in his memory.

Ella nodded. "Doctor, she didn't live a fantastic life. Not at all."

His eyes tilted up to hers, having been lost to the counsel in nostalgia.

"She's dead, Doctor. She died only 7 months after seeing you at the bay."

Trying to hold all his emotions in, he found himself asking, "How?"

And very simply, she answered, "She went mad."

The Doctor shook his head in disbelief. "No. She would never go mad," He argued, fully sure of himself.

Slowly, Ella walked around the Tardis- circling the counsel. Her eyes danced over the ins and outs of the chaos that was the Tardis controls. All the while, the Doctor's eyes burned into her. Finding the seat on the other side of the counsel from the Doctor, Ella sat down, her eyes now focused back on the Doctor's.

Calmly, she began, "Doctor, what do you know about Gallifreyan pregnancies?"

The Doctor's face filled with confusion… but only for a few seconds before it dawned on him. "Rose… she wasn't," He could only choke out the words.

Ella nodded, sadness in her eyes.

And the Doctor knew. "She went mad because of the psychic connection with the baby." He paused. "My mum nearly died because of it. She was human. She couldn't handle the time vortex that existed in my mind. Without my dad, she would have gone."

Ella nodded, "Rose couldn't either. She died only moments after the birth. Torchwood couldn't save her- don't think they really cared to either."

The Doctor looked up in question. A question that he was so afraid of. "And the child?"

"Yes, Doctor, she survived," Ella's voice stayed in the same key, the same serious tone.

The Doctor's face also stayed as it was. However she could see the coldness and grief etching his features and the relief in his eyes.

"No Doctor, it was to no relief that the child survived."

The relief in his eyes vanished and coldness filled them. "What happened?"

"Torchwood took her, told Rose's parents both had died- they even found a replacement body to give them." Ella shook her head as if still not believing they did this. "Torchwood took her and experimented with her, tortured her…"

The Doctor cut her off, anger resurfacing. "Is she alive?"

Ella looked at him intently for several second, surveying him, until finally she nodded her head. "Yes, Doctor. When she was eight-years-old a group of Time Lords found her. They took her to the academy as they do to all kid Time Lords at that age."

Dodging between two questions in his head, the Doctor settled on the later question and asked, "The Time Lords still exist in that universe?"

"Oh yes."

With wide eyes and a dawning face, he quickly voiced his train of thoughts. "And if the Time Lords still exist there, then travel to parallel universes is possible without consequence. And if my daughter," his fast paced talking stopped here and he smiled a small smile. "If my daughter were anything like me, and I'm better she is exactly like me, then she would find her way…"The Doctor fell silent as his mind caught up with his words.

Sadly, Ella shook her head ever so slightly. "Doctor, it would be best for the both of us if you just do as I ask."

Silence still overtook the Doctor as he looked at her in awe.

"You don't need to go back and do it. Just give me a date and place and I'll take it from there," She told him, trying to convince him.

The Doctor took a moment to walk toward her, stopping directly in front of her. He couldn't make sense of all the thoughts running through his head. She had told him so much.

After a long wait, the Doctor quietly voiced, "She died and the child, my daughter, would rather cease to exist than let the past and present stay as is?"

"Yes, Doctor."

He looked her in the eyes- chocolate brown orbs, deep and strong.

"She would vanish. She would be erased from time and space. Nobody, no one would hold any memory of her, nothing." Something inside of him prayed the girl would change her mind, but in his mind, he already knew she wouldn't.

Ella's eyes met his. "Wrong… you would remember. If you come with, if you do what I ask with me, you will remember- just you. New memories will come, but you will remember her, you'll remember meeting me."

Confused, he asked, "How?"

"Because I'm a genius." She didn't explain any further. Nor did she leave any time for him to question. "Will you help me or no?"

Not entirely knowing why, he agreed. "Yeah, I will."

Avoiding his eyes by looking down, she whispered, "Thank you." Although quiet it reached the Doctor's ears clearly and he heard the relief tracing her words. At this point, the Doctor had an overwhelming want to know what had happened to the girl to make her wish for this to come to pass.

Silently, the Doctor pushed in the appropriate coordinates and time. He was extra careful to make sure they were accurate to reach their destination with no pit stops.

As normal, the Tardis shook and bumped and landed with a band. As normal, the Doctor's hands kept hold of the counsel for balance. In surprise, Ella slid from her seat and fell to the ground.

A mix between a frown and a grin fell on her face. "Did you pass your Tardis test?"

For the first time, the Doctor turned to her with a wide grin on his face, so familiar to the she flashed him. "Nope! Didn't even finish the classes!"

Ella rolled her eyes, but a smile still played on her lips. "Graduate academy?"

Again, a grin stayed on his face and a mischievous glint danced in his eyes. "Nope!"

Ella shook her head in disbelief. "No wonder your flying skill!"

"Hey!" He called playfully. A moment later, his jubilant manner vanished. "You're a Time Lord, then?"

"Took you long enough," Ella smiled. "Yeah."

The Doctor scanned her. "I thought so but… you have one heart."

Wide eyed, she shook her head. In a slightly offended voice, she retaliated, "No, I don't! I have two… one just stopped working years ago."

"Why didn't you just regenerate?"

Ella looked down and shrugged. "I'm on my twelfth regeneration. I'd thought to take my chances with one heart rather than take a risk at living my last regeneration. I was only a kid then, don't much think about it anymore."

Aghast, the Doctor looked at her again. "You've been on your twelfth since childhood?"

"Yeah," Ella quietly mumbled. She turned to the door, having noticed they had landed a few minutes ago. "We there?"

The Doctor nodded, despite his wish to lie and get her out of there. "Yup."

She quickly reached the door before he moved. The Doctor took his time, his brain trying to decide if this was the right course of action.

Standing next to her, he pointed to a shop across the road. "She works there. At closing, she will take the lottery up to the top floor where she will meet me and I will blow the building up. To make this work, you need to make sure she never goes up there."

Ella nodded and looked him in the eyes. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Yeah…" He paused and looked over to the shop. "I'll wait here for you to come back."

"No," Ella argued taking his hand in hers and pulling him along. "If you want to remember, you need to be there- you need to see."

Trying to protest, Ella pulled him into the shop. Both took notice of a blonde shop girl rearranging some clothing. Upon their entrance, the young woman looked up at them. For a split second, a sense of familiarity flashed through her eyes and then it was gone. She simply offered a small smile before going back to work.

The Doctor longed to talk to her, to hold her, to… he longed to do a lot. His greedy eyes noticed a similar longing look in the eyes of the woman standing next to him. Her sad eyes watched Rose Tyler with a loss as great as his own.

The Doctor pushed her forward through the front entrance. The security man told them, "Shop closes in five."

"We'll only be a moment," The Doctor told him walking past him, his and Ella's hands still together.

"Fire alarm?" Ella questioned him in a tone more suggestive than questioning.

"Yeah," The Doctor quietly voiced. "Yeah."

And so they did- five minutes later as Rose started walking toward the door, the Doctor placed his hand on the alarm and pulled.

"FIRE! Everyone out!" Ella passed the Doctor and ran to the door. Quickly, Rose got out the door bypassing the security guard.

And this it was so. Rose Tyler never met him. And as the Doctor stood by the alarm, he watched the two young women run from the building.

At the last moment, Ella turned around and mouthed him a "thank you" before fading into the air and vanishing from all existence.

The Doctor looked down, sorrow so evident on his face.

He slowly walked back to the Tardis. He walked inside silent and solemn. He just lost them… lost Rose again and lost Ella… his daughter with his love. He had just broken the circles of time and yet, like she said, the world hadn't ended. It was still here. He was still here.

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