Disclaimer etc.: see Prologue.

And it is over.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, to the forty of you who stuck this on your alerts, the twenty-one who have it on favourites and the seven C2s that archived me. My little duology is finished, and thanks to those who've been along for the ride.

For the final time, read, review, but most of all, enjoy!

Golden Death

Epilogue - Impossibly Far Away

The TARDIS spun in the Time Vortex, oscillating and circling around an invisible point, known only to her. She was quiet, resting, recuperating.

But those inside her… Well, not so much. The pair were too active, to thoughtful, to rest.

---------

Rose leant against the railing in the control room, half-watching the Doctor as he absently flicked switches and hopped channels on what looked like a sort of intergalactic TV. A faint smile traced her lips as he bounced around, but only faint. She couldn't bring herself to smile fully – not yet.

She couldn't explain it; this sudden bout of melancholy. Before, when her mother had chased her lover around her house, slaps abounding, she'd laughed. Laughed, and smiled. But now…? The thrill of safety and victory had worn off, and she was tired.

And she was thinking – not about herself. About Jackie. About that self-same mother that had chased her Doctor. He hadn't said anything, but she knew it, inside. Her mother had nearly died. And if they hadn't been there, she would've.

She shivered.

The metal beneath her gave slightly as he leaned beside her. "You okay?"

She was tempted to give the answer that would appease him, to plaster on a smile as she did makeup and give a convincingly-chirpy "Yeah!" Tempted, but she couldn't quite bring herself to say it. She couldn't lie to him: not now.

She looked up, and their eyes met. She smiled, weakly. "No."

Nothing more was needed to be said. A hand on her shoulder, and then she was in his arms, gripping fiercely onto his lapels, burying her face in his chest. He held her close, one hand rubbing lazy circles on her back.

They were silent. Her shoulders shuddered, now and then.

He finally broke the silence. "It's your mother." Not a question.

She sniffed. "Yeah." She could feel the tears in her eyes. "She could've died."

His arms tightened. "Yeah."

"I…" She swallowed. "It was my fault. She would've been fine."

"No," the Doctor murmured into her hair. "Not your fault. The Angels."

"They used me." Eyes closed. One tear, slipping lose.

"I know."

A second sob; a third. "They used you against me."

His eyes closed too, now. "I know."

"They broke me." She was crying freely into the front of his shirt. "They used me, and I let them."

"No." He was suddenly impassioned. "No. You did not let them."

"How do you know?"

He pulled back and cupped her face between his palms. "Because," he started softly, dark eyes searching gold-flecked, "you are Rose Tyler." A smile, just a little one. "My Rose Tyler. My Bad Wolf." She smiled at that. He went on; encouraged. "And there is no way that you would ever let anybody use you like that."

A flicker of doubt, of grief, still clung to her features.

"Anybody," he reasserted.

She smiled fully, inexplicably convinced. He did that to her sometimes. "I guess so."

He chewed his lip lightly and his hands dropped to her hips, fingers cool through her clothes. "Well…"

Worry. "Doctor?"

"Well, you'd probably let me use you," he pondered out loud, "considering just how amazing I am…"

She thwacked him on the arm, hard. "Y'know, it's good I'm around," she told him, with a whack to his other arm. " 'Cause otherwise your head would be so big it'd explode."

He yelped as she hit him again and rubbed his arm. "That is not true!"

Thwack. "So is."

"Fine. Maybe," he acquiesced. He rubbed at his arms, a mock-sullen look on his face. "What is it with you Tyler women and slapping me?!"

Her face fell, just a little. She crossed her arms across her stomach and looked up at him. "Can we go away?" she asked. Her voice was tiny, soft. Like a child's. "Far away from Earth. And Mum."

"Rose…"

"Please, Doctor." Their gazes met. "I need to get away from her. To keep her safe."

He nodded wordlessly. Two steps took him to the console. Three buttons and a switch later, the TARDIS juddered sharply, sending Rose bouncing into the railing. She winced, grabbed her side, and glared at the suitably-sheepish Doctor, poised at the controls. "What was that?" she yelped.

"The TARDIS—"

Her hands went to her hips as she interrupted. "Don't you dare blame her!" Rose ordered. "She is not at fault for your crappy driving—"

And further insults were cut off as the TARDIS shuddered again, almost reluctantly. Rose suddenly felt a wisp of something reluctant, almost fearful in her mind, but it faded instantly, and she brushed it away. Nothing is going to go wrong any more, she told herself firmly. Not now. Not now that you have him.

As if picking up on her thoughts, he looked up and flashed her a cheeky grin.

She rolled her eyes.

He stood back from the console. "And we're here!" His gaze linked to hers. "A galaxy far, far away."

She smiled.

---------

They stepped out of the TARDIS together, close together. The Doctor turned back to the panelled blue box, and Rose felt that quiver again in her mind. "I wonder what's wrong with her," he mused, lightly stroking the door panel. "She's sort of…"

Queasy?

"… queasy," he completed. "Indigestion. Like she didn't want to land…" There was a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Rose put on her 'worried' face. "If you think there's gonna be trouble, we could always get back inside and go somewhere else…"

Yeah. Sure.

They burst out laughing.

He flashed her a grin, one of her grins, the ones he never showed anyone else, and turned to study their surrounding. "I think…" he ventured, "we've landed inside a cupboard." Another glance; another devastating smile. "Here we go." And he cracked the door open, and they stepped out, into another adventure.

Together.

--end--