Chapter 6

Rose swore she was getting an entire order of chips to herself after running up 30 flights of stairs, maybe two orders. At least the androids were no longer trying to kill them, but it seemed the ship was. The shuddering was getting worse, making it hard to keep their balance on the stairs, and she feared they were going to crash after all.

Once they reached the bridge, the Doctor ordered Rose to grab the wheel whilst he tapped screens and flipped switches furiously. It was getting hotter and hotter as the ship breached the Earth's atmosphere.

"Hang on, Rose, don't pull up yet!" the Doctor shouted as he rushed furiously from console to console.

"What do you mean, don't pull?" she shouted back. "We're going to crash!"

"Just a little more and...yes! Secondary storm drives are online. Now pull!" Suddenly the ship felt like it was moving, not just falling. Rose used all of her weight to pull back on the giant wheel of the ship, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's not moving!" Rose cried, panic starting to creep into her voice. The Doctor stood behind her, putting his hands on either side of hers and helped her pull back. It felt like taking an airplane out of a nosedive, with the ship straining and shaking. Slowly but surely, they were starting to come up.

"We're gonna hit it," Rose exclaimed, her eyes wide at what she saw through the viewscreen.

"Well, would you look at that. The Titanic made it to New York."

The stern of the ship clipped the tiara of the Statue of Liberty as they pulled up, knocking out one of the spires. The Doctor winced as he caught sight of the damage on another screen. "Sorry!"

Soon the shuddering lessened and the bridge started to cool as they cleared the Earth's atmosphere. The Doctor let go of the wheel and consulted the computer screen. "The Titanic is back in orbit where she belongs," he said with a grin.

"We did it!" Rose hugged the Doctor fiercely, and he lifted her up, spinning them around before setting her down. For a moment, it felt just like old times—adrenaline followed by elation. In that moment, she forgot about the metacrisis and her confusion over the two Doctors. But then her feet touched the ground again and the moment passed.

"What about the passengers?" Rose asked, moving away from him.

"Oh, they'll be all right. I triggered a distress call the last time we were up here. Help should arrive in less than an hour."

She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall. "Is this how it went last time?"

"Sort of. A lot of people died last time, including the woman who stopped Max Capricorn," he said sadly, leaning backwards until he was shoulder to shoulder with Rose against the wall.

Rose took his hand, wanting to comfort him. "I'm sorry. But without you, a lot more people would have died."

"I'm sure Torchwood could have stopped it," he said, not meaning it. This world's version might be better, but he could never forget Torchwood's part in letting Daleks and Cybermen loose on Earth. They had nearly cost Rose her life.

"No one else could have," Rose insisted, interrupting his thoughts. "Without you, this ship would have crashed in London and made all of southern England uninhabitable. Without you, millions of people would have died."

"But we're over New York," the Doctor said slowly. "Not London."

"Donna's alternate timeline," Rose explained. "The one where she never meets you and you drown stopping the Racnoss."

"Donna stopped me. She pulled me away. In that moment, I didn't care what happened to me." He looked at Rose. "But none of that actually happened. You shouldn't remember any of it once the timeline fixed itself."

Rose shrugged. "I don't know. The walls were falling, and I was moving from world to world trying to find you. I finally did, and you were dead. No regeneration, just dead." Her voice faltered slightly on the last word, and the Doctor gave her hand a comforting squeeze. She had finally found him; only it was too late in a timeline that never should have existed. "And then I find you again and you get shot by a Dalek," she admonished, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, that did put a damper on things. But on the other hand—no pun intended—I wouldn't be here." He wiggled the fingers of his right hand in front of her.

Rose smiled briefly before turning serious again. "If you...I mean, this version of you hadn't been created, would he still have brought me back here?"

The Doctor's face fell. There was no answer he could give that wouldn't hurt her. They'd had a similar conversation (argument, really) years before, and he'd told her he wouldn't leave her behind like he did Sarah Jane. But he'd lied, not just to Rose but to himself.

He could see how the metacrisis made the other Doctor's decision so much easier. Rose was with her family. She had a man that he knew without a doubt loved her, would protect her, and wouldn't have to watch her grow old and die whilst he would most likely live on for centuries. It was the curse of the Time Lord—or at least of the Time Lord known as the Doctor—to be alone.

"Doctor?"

He sighed. "I think he would have...to keep you safe. To keep you with your family."

A tear rolled down Rose's cheek, and she slid to the floor, clutching her knees to her chest. "It was all for nothing."

"But it wasn't," the Doctor insisted, kneeling beside her. "You helped Donna restore the timeline. I got your warning. And to see you on that street after three years…" He thought back to the jolt of excitement he felt when he saw her running towards him down a darkened street littered with abandoned cars.

"Four," Rose whispered.

"Sorry?" he asked, not quite understanding.

"It was four years for me. Time moves faster here."

"Oh, Rose…" he trailed off, not sure what to say.

"You said I could spend the rest of my life with you, but you couldn't spend the rest of your life with me. But you—he wouldn't even give me that." She looked at him accusingly.

"And that's what's different between us. I'll spend the rest of my life with you, if you want me. I promise you, Rose."

Her expression softened, though her eyes were still wet with tears and she hugged her knees like a lifeline. "I'm sorry," she said. "You didn't exactly get sent here by choice, and I abandoned you."

"I'm nine hundred and four years old. I've spent much of my life traveling alone. I think I can handle a month in London in an alternate universe," he said lightly, trying to cheer her up.

Rose swiped at her face. "I just," she started, trying to find the words to explain how she felt but failing.

"I know." He sat beside her and took her hand again. "Do you know why Donna had to stop me under the Thames? Why I didn't just leave?" Rose shook her head. "Donna Noble appeared on the TARDIS moments after I spoke to you at Bad Wolf Bay. Your jacket was still hanging in the console room. There was a part of me that just wanted to give up."

Rose looked shocked at this revelation.

"I love you, Rose Tyler. I know he would never tell you because it would make it that much harder when the day came he had to let you go. And he always knew that day would come."

"Never say never ever," Rose quoted softly without looking at him.

The Doctor frowned at the recollection. He'd only meant to temper Rose's expectations, never imagining he would lose her so soon afterwards. This was the trade-off, he supposed, and there was always a trade-off. His other self got the TARDIS and superior fully Time Lord physiology, but he got the chance to spend his forever, however long or short it may be, with Rose Tyler. This was his chance, and he couldn't waste it. "I've loved you since before we blew up Downing Street. Even a Dalek could see it, but I was too afraid to tell you."

The Doctor was quiet, strangely exhausted from his speech. His poor solitary heart was pounding. Everything was laid bare, and now it was up to Rose.

She watched him silently for a moment with a wondrous expression. She turned towards him and smiled, and most of the Doctor's anxiety abated. She hadn't run away or slapped him or told him to leave. He was still learning about human relationships, but he thought that was a good sign.

The silence, however, was starting to concern him. "Rose?" he asked cautiously.

She shifted to sit a bit more gracefully on the floor in her short dress and placed a hand on his chest much like she had on the beach in Norway. The Doctor involuntarily held his breath at the light touch as if any movement would frighten her away. Rose's hand clenched the white cotton of his tuxedo shirt, pulling him down to her and pressing her lips to his.

It was Dårlig Ulv Stranden all over again as he tentatively wrapped his arms around Rose. But this time there was no distraction, no sound of the TARDIS dematerialising to remind her that his other self was leaving her behind again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, running a hand through his hair and pulling herself even closer. Feeling more confident now, the Doctor pulled Rose from the floor onto his lap.

When they finally broke apart for air, Rose made no effort to move away, keeping her arms draped over his shoulders. She smiled, and he couldn't help but return it. Rose was content to stay that way for a very long time, and she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Titanic, come in please," a familiar voice sounded from a console by the wheel.

"Caught by my dad," Rose whispered before carefully standing up. The Doctor hopped to his feet and grabbed Rose's hand, leading her over to the console. He pushed several buttons before nodding to her. "Torchwood, this is Rose Tyler and the Doctor." She couldn't keep the smile from her face.

"Rose," Pete Tyler sounded anxious. "Are you all right?"

"Fine, fine," Rose replied breezily. She looked up at the Doctor and cocked her head towards the console.

"Yes, everything's under control, and a rescue ship will arrive shortly to tow the Titanic back to Sto."

The radio cut in and out a few times before Pete Tyler's voice was heard again. "I'm told there was a collision in New York."

The Doctor frowned, and Rose tried to stifle a laugh. "Well, just a small one," he admitted.

"You'll be coming into transmat range in about a minute. We'll beam you back. And good work, both of you."

"The stuff of legend," the Doctor said privately after closing the comm channel, squeezing Rose's hand.

She looked up at him and grinned. "The Bad Wolf and the Oncoming Storm. Together we're unstoppable."