Disclaimer etc.: see Prologue.

Heya guys, me again.

Right, I forgot to put this in the last two chapters, so just to let you know, this is set basically the same day that 'Breath of Life' ends (but you might have figured that out from the coffee references in the Prologue… my friends did).

Thank you to people who dropped me a review. You are all very amazing! Enjoy!

Golden Death

2 - Needing

"Rose Tyler?"

She hurt all over; her body and her mind were one big raw nerve. She didn't think she could summon the strength to open her eyes, and she didn't even try. There was a harsh blue and white glow blazing onto her closed eyelids, and that just made her hurt all the more.

"Rose Tyler? Are you alright?"

Her mind refused to form coherent thoughts, and she just rolled away from the source of the musical voice, but it followed her; it wouldn't leave her alone. Her subconscious just wanted to sleep; she just wanted it to go away. Her sleeping mind just wanted him; he would make it all alright.

But her conscious thoughts registered none of her subconscious desires, and as the calm voice swirled around her, all that Rose Marion Tyler could think was:

Ow.

>>>>>>>>>

The sonic screwdriver buzzed in his hand, the blue bulb on the tip flashing intermittently. There was a curse in a long-dead language that had millennia still to live, and the Doctor whacked his palm against the malfunctioning device. Another string of violent alien curses spilled from his lips as he was forced to shove the screwdriver back into his jacket pocket.

The red being just watched him, semi-motionless.

The Doctor suddenly whirled on it. "Why did you bring me here?" he demanded, vicious anger and frustration twisting scarlet wire around his voice. "Why? You could have left me on the TARDIS; then I would have been able to go after Rose on my own! But no, you had to bring me here. You couldn't just leave me!"

"If I had left you on your ship then they would have taken you too," the being said, its voice calm. "And her fall would have been all the faster."

"But at least I would have been with her!" the Doctor almost-yelled. "At least I could have done something useful! At least I could have tried to save her!" He slammed his palm into the wall angrily, before slumping down. "I have to get to her," he whispered softly.

"I am sorry, but it is impossible," the red being consoled. "There is nothing you can do."

The Doctor was silent for a second. "Why?" he asked finally, softly, calmly. "Why is it forbidden?"

The being frowned. "I never said 'forbidden'," it protested. "I said 'impossible'. Nothing forb—"

"But the impossible is only impossible because something forbids it from being possible," the Doctor interrupted, his eyes closed, his circular logic making perfect sense. He opened his eyes and stared over at the red being, his dark eyes unreadable. "So my question stands. Why is it forbidden?"

"I—"

"And I wouldn't advise lying to me," the Doctor added, his voice icily calm, scarily calm. A flicker of something lashed across his gaze; a brush of blackness. "It's been a hard few days." His lips twitched up. A dangerous smile; a crazed grin. "I might get a little cranky."

There was silence for an eternal instant; the red being transfixed by the underlying currents of something in the Doctor's intense stare. "Answer me," the Time Lord ordered dangerously.

"It is forbidden in order to keep the balance," the red being whispered, answering on autopilot, as if in a trance.

"What balance?" the Doctor questioned, rising slowly from his slumped position. "What balance is worth Rose's life?"

"The balance," came the reply. "The eternal balance of the universe." The being's voice was becoming lethargic; the Doctor's influence draining it. "It is worth anything and everything to keep the scales in order."

"There was balance before." The Doctor watched the being as he spoke. "Rose and I. We balanced each other."

"But there was no equality between us," the being murmured.

" 'Us'?"

"Heaven. Hell."

"Ah. 'Us'."

"Hell held to much power; the Angels were jealous."

" 'Held'? Not anymore?"

A lazy shake of the being's head. "No more. The power was stripped from us; this place became a holding pen for those who could help the helpless."

The Doctor's head rose slightly. "Like me."

"Yes. And now the balance must be maintained." A pause. "Rose Tyler is broken in Heaven and the Doctor must be restrained in Hell. It is what must be."

"That isn't balance." The Doctor looked up to the ceiling of the crimson-tinted room. The red being blinked and swayed as its regained full control of its mind once more. "That's control. Domination for them. Subservience for you."

"It is how it must be," the red being answered hoarsely.

There was silence as the Doctor's gaze roved back and forth over the vaulted roof. Then he looked back down at his companion. "Who was it?" he asked softly.

The being looked up and his gaze linked with the Doctor's. As the Time Lord watched, it remembered, and pain skipped onto its features. "My…" Its voice broke for a second; memories flooding back. "My son," it completed in a whisper. "They took him. Took him so long ago."

"I need your help," the Doctor said softly.

The being didn't answer; too absorbed in its own misery.

The Doctor straightened up, stepping away from the wall. Slowly he extended his arm, his long fingers stretching towards his new acquaintance. The atmosphere in the room was electric; charged passions and agonising memories blasting into the air. The red being watched the Time Lord numbly; immobile.

"Help me," the Doctor whispered.

>>>>>>>>>

The voices were back again; insidious whisperings inside her head.

He left you. He feels nothing for you. Poison, seeping through her mind. Give in. Give in to us.

Shut up! Shut up! He loves me!

Twisted laughter. Foolish child. He is a Time Lord; the last of a majestic people. And you think he would love you? More laughing, more voices joining in the hilarity. Arrogant weakling.

Shut up! Just leave me alone! She was nearly crying. All the doubts that she had entertained mere days before were being forced back onto her, and she hated it. She hated them. Why were they doing this to her?

Why hasn't he come for you then? If he loves you so much, where is he? Snickering in the background. Your knight in shining armour. Where is your Doctor now?

It was his name that fortified her. His name uttered from unseen lips that bolstered her defences and kept her whole; kept her sane.

Shut UP! She retreated into herself; wrapping herself around memories of him and her. He would come for her; he would save her.

But still the voices didn't give in. Come now little girl, accept it. You are nothing to him. Just someone to be used and then cast away.

NO! SHUT UP!

Giggles. Insane giggles.

LEAVE ME ALONE!

Mocking voices, imitating her impassioned screams.

What do you want? Her voice was softening. Why are you doing this? She was weakening now, her hastily thrown up barriers crumbling under the weight of her despair. They sensed it; they attacked.

We want you! a plethora of voices screamed back at her. We want your power! We want your mind! We want it all! Everything, burning and breaking inside a whirlwind of blood and death. You will give it to us!

Get away from me!

Give it to us!

The dam broke; the pain poured in.

Screams of the dying tore free from her lips as she writhed in emptiness. She couldn't form words, couldn't form his name.

Give it to us!

I don't know what you want! she screamed back piteously.

Give it to us! Give it to us!

Give you what!

YOU!

It hurt so much. It hurt too much.

She needed him. But he wasn't here. Doctor…

She couldn't help it.

She gave in.

But she didn't fall.

>>>>>>>>>