A/N: ...(Jaw drops) EIGHTEEN REVIEWS?(!) Omg, you guys really know how to make someone happy don't you? XD So a big thank you to ALL reviewers, that's; doctor katy timano floorpie WhisperLuna Purple-Rosie Lady Ardana RagamuffinSundrop Ignoramus 0 Keelie 0 P.K. - 91 horsefly Scout Girl Reichenbach lupinsstar Her.Freezing.Hell Mikkifavo KooTheDancer one of the riddles.

Phew. That took a long time!

Anyway, apologies to people who haven't seen it yet - but Torchwood! Sorry to keep bringing it up, but it's bloody amazing! I can bet you by tuesday there will be a fic up about Jack seeing The Doctor and/or Rose in a future vision...

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Chapter 10 – How Utterly Depressing Part 4

He was burning.

He could feel the searing heat travel up his leg, and it seemed he could do nothing but yell in pain as it strayed towards his knee joint.

There was a warm glow in his chest – the sure sign of oncoming regeneration. But he couldn't regenerate. Not now. Anytime but now. If he regenerated infront of all these people, the humans would take him away, runs tests, and he'd never see Rose again. She was already in danger from the Darkeese. Someone was after her, and they wouldn't temporarily stop just so he could recover from his regeneration, and then start again.

Rose was in danger. Although the question on his mind wasn't 'who?' as maybe it should have been, but it was 'why?' instead.

The tepid glow in his chest started to get even warmer as the fire went past his knee, climb up even higher. This was it then. Goodbye body number ten, nice knowing you. Can only hope body number eleven is as handsome looking as you were, because Rose seemed to like it.

The metal crushing him offered a little bit more protection, but frankly, if the fire didn't kill him it would be the lack of oxygen. The air was now thick with smoke fumes, making it heavy to breathe in. Katie was coughing beside him, choking on the smoke. Maybe he should let her die by the smoke. It would be much kinder.

She wouldn't have to feel this pain.

He wished he could pass out and wake up in his TARDIS bed, the past day or two being just a horrible nightmare that could easily be forgotten.

Actually, no. He wished he could wake up from the Jackie Tyler slap. If he woke up too early, that would mean he'd never had sex with Rose, and he rather like that part. Okay. Jackie's slap had knocked him out, and he was currently lying on the sofa in the flat, Rose bustling about him in worry while Jackie just stared on in distaste.

He thought about this scenario hard, willing for it to happen, his eyes screwed up tight in concentration. For a moment he thought it had worked, as the pain in his leg started to die down, along with the warm glow feeling in his chest. Wow. That was the first time it had ever worked…

He opened his eyes, fully prepared to see the interior of Jackie's flat. He was gullible. As the blooded face of a smiling Rose Tyler bobbed into view, he realised, with almost disappointment that it was raining.

But he could go with that too.

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Rose's anguished face all of a sudden burst into a happy smile, a manic grin at the sheer gloriousness of it all. She jumped onto her feet, laughing openly into the night as she faced towards the sky, spinning around in a circle with her arms widespread. Thank God for the balance of nature - it was raining!

She whooped and cheered, tears of joy now running down her face. She punched the air. Screamed in triumph. Everything was going to be all right! She poked her water-drenched head back into the opening, grinning hysterically at the pain faced Doctor, who opened his eyes to look at her.

"Everythin's gonna be fine Doctor!" she yelled in delight, feeling the heat the fire created starting to die down from the rain. "I'll get ya out! I promise!"

The Doctor smiled gratefully at her, feeling the fire that had once been consuming his leg start to shrink back, as if it lived in fear of him. The cool rain hammered down onto his burnt leg, and despite how he couldn't see it, he knew the cracked burns were starting to surface on his skin.

He was kind of glad he couldn't see them.

He heard Rose tug at a piece of metal that refused to budge, helped by a few more bystanders. He held onto Katie tight, feeling the bus shake slightly from the disruption. He knew Rose's confidence was ill found, but alerting her to how close he was to regeneration would just make her panic even more.

Soon the whole of the side of the bus had been ripped off, leaving him and Katie exposed to the world. He was laying under about three feet of metal drenched in blood, and Katie…well, Katie…thank god she couldn't see her foot, because it was sticking out at a very weird angle from under the seat.

Then they all heard sirens. Smiles broke out everywhere in the street, and for the second time that night Rose was whooping and cheer – dancing in the rain.

They eventually realised it was the Fire Brigade, if but a little late to put out the fire, they could still cut the girl and The Doctor free. Rose waited by the crushed Doctor and now unconscious child, fearing the worst as The Doctor slowly became more out of focus – his consciousness fading away. It was either the amount of blood loss, or just the fact the metal piled on him was crushing his lungs and now he had a lack of oxygen in his body.

"Doctor, hold on, they're gonna cut you free any second…" she dared to lean forward towards him despite the voiced concerns more metal would collapse, brushing the hair off his face. At least she didn't have to worry about the fire anymore, hypothermia from the rain was probably a bit more of a threat right now. "Just stay with me."

These murmurs continued as the firemen finished cutting the girl free and turned their attentions to The Doctor, lifting a few layers of metal off of him. Rose was aware his eyes had started closing for a few more seconds than a normal blink now, and despite her best efforts to make conversation he'd just made throat noises in reply. He was fading, fast.

"It's okay Doctor, you can do it…just hold on…" She climbed onto the metal, and rested a hand on his head. "I believe in you."

With a final heave, the last piece of metal was off of The Doctor and all that was left was a lying figure on the floor, drenched in blood, covered in bruises, and burns up his leg that looked pretty nasty.

And the ambulances still hadn't arrived.

Three firemen laid him on the soaked ground, and his head lolled to the side uselessly, eyes closed. Rose could feel her heart attempting to crash through her ribs with every beat with the ultimate fear. She ran to his side, crashing down to the wet concrete on her knees. He had saved so many lives tonight – it just wasn't fair that he had to die for it. He didn't deserve to die. Not in a stupid thing like this. As she knelt by him, she was able to watch his chest rising and falling as he in took long, deep breaths.

"Doctor!" she screamed as rain trickle down her face, but he didn't move. She suddenly drew his rain-soaked body into a tight cling, rocking him back and forth in a terrified hug. A quiet moan escaped his lips, and Rose held him tighter in the moment. "Doctor?" she asked, her mouth dry.

"Rose…" the sound came out as a whisper, and despite how everything else around her was screaming, she clung onto the quiet sound of his weak voice.

"Don't leave me now Doctor. Don't leave me. We've come too far."

"Rose…" he whispered again. It seemed to be the only thing he could say. But Rose didn't care; it was good enough for her.

"I never wanna lose you, you've gotta hold on." The hot tears poured down her cheeks as she glanced around the road – there were ten's of injured people laying blooded on the ground, and not one ambulance in sight. "Don't go Doctor. Please don't go. You can't go."

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, and Rose felt fury stream freely within her, screaming at her own powerlessness. If she were the one hurt, The Doctor would save her in a flash. But she was nothing. A human. A stupid ape; capable of only running, screaming, eating and sleeping.

Not even Rose could tell the difference between her tears and the rain as it continued to pour down onto the street, soaking both of them down to the bone as she continued to rock his blooded body back and forth.

"Doctor, listen to me. I'm gonna tell you a story, and you'd better listen hard, 'cause I need you to tell me whether it's true or not." She looked for any sort of reaction, and saw him nod slightly.

"It's said, thousands of years ago, that people used to have four legs, and four arms. But then a lightnin' bolt struck down from the heavens, splittin' people into two. So then they only had two legs, and two arms. Now, everyone spends their life searchin' for the other half of their torn soul," she paused, watching him intently with watery eyes. "Doctor?"

He opened his eyes, blood spilling out his mouth with every word he spoke. "If that were true Rose," he slowly raised his uninjured hand and took Rose's, placing it on his chest, where she could feel his two hearts beating as slow as a funeral march. "The other person with my torn soul would have to have two hearts."

Rose stared at him, realising that he was right. Even lying dying in her arms, he could still point out what a stupid ape she truly was. He raised a small smile at her expense; knowing what battle was being fought inside her mind as she looked into his eyes, despair overtaking her. She couldn't move her gaze from his eyes, nor take her hand off his chest. She had to tell him now. He had to know before he died…

Just as she opened her mouth, there was a rumble of thunder from the sky, and as if on cue he drew in a sharp intake of breath, his eyes flickering closed.

"No!" she yelled hysterically, shaking his limp body by the shoulders with both hands. "Somebody help him!" she screamed out loud into the on looking crowd pleadingly, the tears rushing thick and fast down her cheeks. "Please help him!"

But no one could.

It seemed all she could do was hold him in her arms, never letting go, never taking her eyes off his - watching him die in the darkness of the night. The firemen were surrounding her and The Doctor now, but without medical equipment they couldn't do anything but lend moral support. There was no chance she'd be able to get him out of here now. Even if she did save him they would just take him away for tests once they found out he had two hearts…

Then came the sirens.

As cheering erupted around her, Rose did not feel compelled to join in. She had a nagging, nasty feeling at the back of her mind – that it already might be too late.

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A/N: That wasn't too much of a cliffie, was it? BTW, my name's Laura, so could you please write it on a tag and put it with me to make it easier for the police to identify the body. Many thanks.