"Rose River" AU
'The Oncoming Storm'
Chapter Eight
- Tempus -
The only sound in the lift was the hum of the motors. Lynda stood behind the Doctor and fretted with her fingers. She didn't really want to look at him. His eyes were too frightening. But, she really didn't know where else to go. So instead, she watched the numbers as they increased, getting more and more anxious as time went on.
When they got to the four hundreds, the Doctor spoke quietly. "Just keep back and your head down. I wont let whatever's up there hurt you. Promised I'd get you home, and I meant it." Inside his head, he could sense that he was getting closer to the TARDIS. That was good. That was very, very good.
The lift slowed, and the Doctor's knuckles cracked when he closed his fists. When it came to a stop, the door opened. His spatial awareness took in everything in a split second. Six people were on the far side of the room, two were on either side of the door. And, there was a woman wired into the computer core at the far, far end, against the wall.
He took a single step forward, and saw two civilians swinging makeshift clubs towards him. Bending time, he saw them slow down. Not bothering with fancy Venusian moves that ponce learned, he stepped between the seconds. His right hand whipped out and caught one man in the larynx. He then pivoted and kicked out with his right leg, catching the other man under his chin.
All the others saw from the other side of the room was a blur. One man was on the floor choking, while the other was flipped backwards. "Oh my God," a curly headed man whispered.
The lady next to him, who looked to be from India, froze completely. Terrified. The others all backed away to opposite corners.
Stepping forward again, the Doctor stalked towards the woman was hooked into the computer core. "Who's in charge here?" he hissed.
Completely stunned, Lynda finally exited the lift. Looking at the man on her right, she could see he was turning blue and gasping for air. The other one wasn't moving at all, and she could see a pool of blood forming under him. Eyes wide and full of horror, she stared at the other side of the room. "What the hell are you?" she whispered.
"I'm the Doctor, Lynda," his whispering voice carried throughout the room, "and this stops. Now." He looked at the woman who was just standing in the same spot, completely unable to move. "I'll ask you again. Who is in charge of this station?"
"I-i-i-it's the [unintelligible] Con-Conglomeration," she stuttered in a whisper.
"The wha'?" he spoke up.
The curly haired man tried to rescue her from the stare. "The [unintelligible] Corporation."
He turned his glare to him, that was different before. "SPEAK UP!"
"The Bad Wolf Corporation!" he shouted in a panic.
Flinching at the words, the Doctor grunted and held his head. Memories and flashes of light nearly blinded him. Forcing that away, he looked up at the woman wired into the system. "Who's she?"
"I… I don't know," the man said. "No one knows. She was installed when she was five."
"Her whole life wired into a machine," he whispered. "Who do you work for?" he shouted at her.
"She can't answer you," the man said. "You're not staff, so you don't register to her."
"Reminder," the woman intoned like a computer. "Solar Flare Activity in Delta point Zero Fifteen."
"And what does that mean?" the Doctor asked.
"S-solar flares disrupt the transmission," the man explained. "Earth gets some reruns. Nothing special. Happens all the time."
Finding her voice, the other woman spoke up. "Please let us go, the staff are terrified."
He looked at her again, causing her to stiffen. "This is the same staff that execute thousands of contestants on a daily basis."
"Not our fault," she whispered, the spoke in a somewhat normal voice. "We're just doing our jobs."
Snarling at that, the Doctor's arm snapped out. The woman flew backwards from the impact on her sternum, and landed some fifteen feet away. "This is wholesale slaughter! Your own people! Does life mean nothing to you?"
Shoving the man to the side a bit more gently than the woman, he moved to the control console that handled the stations transmat system. All they saw was a blur as his hands flew over the keyboard. Coming to a stop, his right hand hovered over the last key. "Goodbye Lynda with a Y. Have a fantastic life."
Pressing the final button, everyone in the room besides himself and the woman – who was hardwired into the system – were transmatted to Earth. Cascading down, the system went floor by floor – from floor 499 down to 001 – teleporting the people back to the planet.
Taking a deep breath, the Doctor forced his rage down. He opened his eyes in time to see the lights dimming.
"Doctor?" the woman whispered.
He looked up. "I'm here."
"Can't see. Blind. Blind. My whole life, blind, but I saw you."
Wedging himself between two stations, he reached up and took her hand. "I'm right here, love. Tell me what's happenin'."
She gripped his hand hard. "All I see are numbers. Solar Flare hiding me. My masters can't hear me. My masters listen, but they can't hear me now. The sun. The sun is so bright."
"Who are your masters?" he asked.
"They wiped my head. The name's forbidden. They control my thoughts. My masters. My masters. I have to be careful. They monitor transmission, but they don't watch the programs. I could hide you inside the games. I knew you would find me."
"I'm here now," he said, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "Tell me."
"They've been hiding. My masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth. So, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity. Hundreds and hundreds of years."
"Who are they?"
"They wait, and hide, and plan, and grow in numbers. So strong now. So strong, my masters."
"Who are they?"
"They speak of you," she looked down at him, unseeing and completely terrified. "My masters, they fear the Doctor."
"Tell me, who are they?"
"Sliding pepper pot," she gasped as the flare passed. The lights came up and she went back to reciting numbers. "Twenty one. Twenty two."'
"No," he whispered in denial, letting go of her hand. "It's not possible." Turning, he searched the consoles, looking for the power levels. "This station is hiding something. What is it?" he bellowed in frustration.
"Doctor!" the woman screamed. "Coordinates five point six point zero seven slash nine point four."
"They can hear you!" he shouted.
"No! My masters I defy you! Three four sigma seven seven eight FIVE!" she screamed loudly and there was a flash of light.
He looked at where she was and his eyes darkened again. "It wont be in vain," he promised the empty room. Moving to the keyboard, he typed in the coordinates and hit a key.
A holographic screen came up showing empty space. Moving to another console, he cut the power to the transmission. Looking back up, he wasn't surprised at what he saw. He was infuriated. Dalek saucers numbering two hundred. With two thousands or more inside, that numbered around two million.
"Not again," he whispered, eyes completely dark once again. The screen changed to an interior of one of the ships. The largest and the flagship most likely.
"I WILL TALK TO THE DOCTOR!"
He stood, glaring at the screen. "I'm here. What you want," he said quietly.
"THE DALEK STRATEGEM NEARS COMPLETION. THE FLEET IS ALMOST READY. YOU WILL NOT INTERVIENE."
"Give me one good reason why not," he said.
The screen pulled back, revealing the woman that was hooked into the core. "WE HAVE YOUR CONFEDERATE. YOU WILL OBEY OR SHE WILL BE EXTERMINATED."
"Her dying wish was to see you destroyed. Has that changed, love?" he asked gently.
"No, Doctor. Do it! I don't matter!" she cried out.
"It's done." The Doctor killed the communication. Moving to each console, he turned everything up, blowing the transmitters to full in all directions. Setting it on an oscillating frequency, he ensured transmats would be completely disrupted.
Turning, he went to a door in the far corner. Feeling the TARDIS on the other side, he opened it and smiled at the sight of the Police Box. "Don't worry, old girl. I wont let them get you."
Raising his sonic, he activated a remote dematerialization program. He felt her crying out to him, but it faded as she did. "Bye old girl. Thanks for everything. You were fantastic." That done, he turned to transform the station into a delta wave transmitter.
In the TARDIS, the ship was crying heavily. It's time! It's now! The panel closest to the door opened, and it was the same one that Blon gazed through. I free you! There was a soft keening wail sounding far away, and particles spewed out from the console.
The Doctor stumbled over his work, the memories and flashing overwhelming his consciousness. He felt time changing around him, and he screamed as his personal history changed.
The TARDIS landed on Earth in late 2006, while the golden particles still spewed outward. The wailing became louder as the particles coalesced into the figure of a woman. Hair sprang from her head as her skin formed. Time spun backwards from the moment she became flesh, weaving her existence into history once more.
With the TARDIS' help, she formed a temporary bridge with humanity, enabling Rhuzmarioonteeler: slain wife of the Other, to become Rose Marion Tyler: Shop girl and companion of the Doctor. As soon as she formed completely, clothes and everything, her scream transformed.
"Doctoooooor! I shall not let you die!" Holding her hands over the console, she and the ship set the return trip.
The Doctor's mind was blasted with new memories, completely overwriting him.
Finding and saving a girl from shop window dummies.
Showing her the Earth blowing up from the sun expanding.
Meeting Charles Dickens, and seeing her in a stunning dress. "Beautiful..." he checked himself, "for a human."
Having her help with the Slitheen, "I could save the world and lose you." 'Do it.'
Finding a lone Dalek survivor and thinking her lost, only to save her again.
Her attempts to show off to a stupid genius boy who was selfish.
Taking her to help her 'father' not die alone, and having that man end up saving the entire world including him.
Meeting a scoundrel during the Blitz, only to have him redeem himself and come aboard... with threats to his person if he ever touched Rose.
Discovering a Slitheen survivor, and fighting to keep her from breaking Rose's neck.
Dealing with so called demons in ancient Japan.
Being separated by the transmat that brought them back to Satellite Five, now the Gamestation. Thinking Rose dead, only for Jack to discover the second transmat system. Saving Rose with a daring landing around her. Talking with the Dalek Emperor, and finding that he's insane. Tricking Rose into the TARDIS to send her home.
To right now, standing over the lever that will end the fleet and over half of the Earth. Possibly all of it.
"Doctor!" Jack could be heard from down the corridor. "You've got ten seconds, maximum!"
"Rose," the Doctor whispered, shaking his head rapidly to try to clear it. "What happened?"
"EX-TERM-INATE!"
"Yeah I kinda figured that," he heard Jack snark, right before hearing the blast.
"Jack," the Doctor whispered. "I'm sorry." There was a sound of power up beneath him, as his hand cocked the lever. "It's ready!" Looking up, he saw Daleks rolling into the room, surrounding him.
"You really want to think about this," the Doctor said, all hints of his darkness completely gone. "'Cause if I activate this signal, every living creature dies."
The Emperor wasn't impressed. His the only true visage of what's inside a Dalek on the holographic screen. "I am immortal."
"Do you want to put that to the test?" the Doctor asked, not believing what he was hearing.
"I want to see you become like me," the Emperor said. "Hail the Doctor, the Great Exterminator!"
"I'll do it!" he shouted defiantly, hands on the lever.
"Then prove yourself, Doctor," he taunted. "What are you, coward or killer?"
The Doctor set his chin and his arms shook. Grimacing, he remembered what Rose told him in the bunker. 'What about you, Doctor? What are you changing into?'
His breath quivered as his hands fell away from the lever. Standing straight, he admitted it. "Coward. Any day."
"Mankind will be harvested, because of your weakness," the Emperor stated calmly.
"And what about me?" he asked. "Am I becoming one of your angels?"
"You are the heathen," the Emperor's voice reverberated. "You will be exterminated."
The Doctor's right leg went back, accepting the inevitable. "Maybe it's time." Standing straight, he closed his eyes and waited for his death.
Grinding engines slowly became audible, and then filled the room with the noise of the most fantastic ship in the universe.
"ALERT! TARDIS MATERIALIZING!" one of the Daleks said unnecessarily.
The Doctor spun about, completely gobsmacked. He heard his ship screaming in his mind as it thunked into existence.
"You will not escape!" the Emperor cried.
The doors opened, shining the room with golden light. The Doctor could see her outline, then it vanished as the energy flowed out of the ship. Rose appeared directly in front of the Doctor, causing him to fall back in complete surprise as the particles coalesced into her body.
"What have you done?" he shouted.
~I looked into the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into me.~ her voice was doubled, and the Doctor knew his ship was speaking with her.
"You looked into the time vortex. Rose, no one's meant to see that!"
"This is the abomination!" the Emperor shouted.
"EXTERMINATE!" a Dalek declared, firing its weapon.
Rose caught the beam with her palm, and sent it backwards through time into the weapon that fired it. "I am the Bad Wolf," Rose said in her own voice. "I create myself.
She looked at the BAD WOLF corporation logo. "I take the words." ~I scatter them~ "in time and space. A message to lead myself here."
The Doctor was nearly hyperventilating at this point. It couldn't end this way! "Rose, you got to stop this. You've got to stop this now! You've got the entire vortex runnin' through your head. You're gonna burn!"
~I want you safe. My Doctor. Protected from the false god.~
"You cannot hurt me, I am immortal," the Emperor proclaimed.
~You. Are. Tiny. I can see the whole of time and space; Every atom of your existence, and I divide them.~ She raised her hand and discorporated the Dalek that fired on her into nothing.
The Doctor just stared at her in fearful awe. Her eyes glowed, and every fibre of his being wanted to save her from this.
~Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies.~ Raising her other hand, the other Daleks on the station fell into atoms.
~The Time War Ends.~
"I will not die," the Emperor said in denial. "I cannot dieeeee!" His ship was the last to disintegrate, and he was silenced.
"Rose, you've done it." the Doctor pleaded with her. "Now stop. Just let go."
~How can I let go of this? I bring life!~
A shiver went down the Doctor's spine as he felt Jack come back to life. The spark of wrongness around Jack staggered him. "This is wrong! You can't control life and death!"
~But I can,~ she looked down at him and he felt waves of love bombard his mind. "The sun and moon."
~The day and night.~
"But why do they hurt?"
The Doctor looked away, feeling completely lost as her voice went back and forth. "The power's gonna kill you, and it's my fault!"
~I can see everything. All that is. All that was.~ "All that could ever be," her voice cracked.
He stood and looked at her in awe. "That's what I see, all the time. Doesn't it drive you mad?"
~My head,~
"Come 'ere," he took her hands.
~is killing me.~
"I think you need a Doctor." It was a lame pick up line, but he didn't care. All he could see was that she was in pain, and he would never stand for that. With what he felt as his last chance, he leaned down and kissed her. She melted into it, and he pulled the power slowly out of her.
When it was equally held between them, time stopped and he remembered both histories at once. 'Thank you for saving me, my wife,' he thought to her.
'I will always save you, husband. Throughout space and time, I am forever yours.' her original voice came through to him loud and clear. Just hearing her low timbres made him thrum once more.
Together they saw everything. All the possible futures before them. With the Eye of Harmony destroyed and no longer regulating dimensional stability, they decided to do all of them – splitting themselves into the multiverse. They felt the divide and let their other selves go their own way.
Seeing the future they wanted, they saw their time spent in separation. Knowing that he would suffer more than she, they sent the future of their beloved ship to a small planet, where their first daughter would be born. Robbed of this in the past, they made sure of her existence.
Feeling 'Jack Harkness', they knew where he came from and smiled. Brothers and sisters to them both on the horizon, and the children that would come. They wouldn't be alone and it was good.
Seeing another required split to save the universe from Davros, they looked through space and time, and saw Dalek Caan in his emergency temporal shift. Filling his mind with the vortex in that moment, they showed him what his race had done. He shrieked in horror of his own existence, and agreed to lead their future selves to the moment of duality. With his agreement, and seeing that he would do as he said, they shoved him through the time lock of the Time War.
Witnessing themselves with their newly born brother and sister on what they would always call 'That Damned Beach', the Doctor pushed his new brother to act, while Rose pushed her future self in her moment of doubt.
No more leaving things to chance, Rhuzma and the Doctor secured the future they wanted. Placing their attention on the newly formed body of Rose Tyler, they took it a step further and returned her to her previous state of biology. It would be slow in reforming, but it would be there when she needs it most: When she will be alone with her adopted family in that alternate universe.
Kissing once more, it turned into an actual snog. Their unity echoed 'Soon' between them, and they pulled away again, letting time move forward once more.
Letting Rose fall asleep, the Doctor lowered her to the floor, taking the last bits of the vortex energy into himself. Standing, he thanked his ship for saving her, and promised to never keep them apart as much as possible. Hitting the trigger within himself, he felt the echo of his wife manipulating his impending regeneration.
Exhaling, the Doctor released the energy back into the TARDIS. Stumbling a bit when it was gone, he smiled and looked down at his wife. Kneeling down, he touched her face lovingly. Picking her up, he stepped into the TARDIS with a mental apology to Jack that wasn't expressed telepathically.
The doors closed behind them, and he rested her on the floor. Knowing her memories would be locked away when she awoke, like his would be soon, he put the ship into the vortex.
Stirring, Rose was confused. "Wha' 'appened?"
"Don't you remember?" the Doctor couldn't help teasing her.
"It's like," she sat up slowly. "There was this singing."
"That's right," he grinned. "I sang a song and the Daleks ran away." Oh, he was beside himself, he was so happy. She wasn't ready yet, but he could play on words like mad.
"I was at home," Rose said, then corrected herself. "No I wasn't, I was, I was in… the TARDIS, and…"
Oh, more than you realize, the Doctor thought, grinning.
"There was this light," she paused.
The Doctor saw the light running through his veins, and sighed. It was almost time to forget again.
"I can't remember anything else," Rose said in confusion.
He turned to look at her and had a half smirk on his face. "Rose Tyler," he snickered at all the stuff they were going to do together. Both before and after her change was completed. So many wonderful things.
"I was gonna take you to so many different places," he smiled. "Barcelona? Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it. Fantastic place. They got dogs with no noses," he snickered and laughed, seeing a smile on her face.
"Imagine how many times a day you end up tellin' that joke, and it's still funny," his smile was wide now.
"Then why can't we go?" she asked, playing along and loving how he was looking at her.
"Maybe you will, and maybe I will," he was babbling now. Oh no, I'm going to be a babbler! he thought with a touch of horror. What the hell did you do to me, woman? "but not like this."
"You're not making sense," Rose said with a large smile, standing up from the floor.
"I might never make sense again," Rassilon, the changes are already hittin' me personality. "I might have two heads, or no head!" He was laughing a bit manically now, still trying to hold on to the memories.
"Imagine me with no head," Oh but her smile is beautiful, "and don't say that's an improvement," he gasped a bit with the hysteria, then clamped it down. "But it's a bit dodgy, this process." Damn, her smile's fading. Nothing else for it now. "You never know what you're gonna end up with." Oh but that's a lie. I can see me already.
Light flared from his skin, forcing him backwards.
"Doctor!"
"Stay away!" Wincing, he fought to hold on for a bit longer. Too much to say and not enough time, he thought with irony.
"D-Doctor, tell me what's goin on."
Lie to her. "I absorbed all the energy from the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that," he grunted. "Every cell in my body's dyin'."
"Wh- C-can't you do something?" she stuttered.
"Yeah," he grinned, "I'm doin' it now." My God you're beautiful, he thought with his impending new voice. "Time Lords have this little trick. It's… sort of a way of cheatin' death. Except, it means I'm going to change."
He saw her shake her head, not understanding. "And I'm not gonna see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face."
Oh, I love you. "And before I go."
"Don't say that," Rose said, getting properly scared now.
Damn, I'm not doing it right. Oh I'm so rubbish at this. "Rose," he thought of everything they were going to do together, realizing this was their 'first moment' with each other. "before I go, I just wanted to tell you that you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic." Oh I wanna kiss you one more time! "And you know wha'?"
She shook her head.
"So was I," he grinned like a loon, feeling the memories starting to fade. Watching her smile was the only thing worth anything, and it was the last thing he saw with those eyes. He kept his own, forcibly, up till his body blew apart with regeneration.
Rose stared wide eyed, as the only man she'd ever truly be in love with exploded right in front of her.
No I wanna keep em! I wanna. What did I want? The light blew away, and he remembered only the altered timeline. "Hallo, okay. Ah-ah ooh. New teeth," he ran his tongue around inside his mouth. "That's weird." What the hell did I want? "So where was I?
"Oh, that's right," he paused, admiring Rose openly. "Barcelona," he enunciated with a voice that came south a bit, then smiled wide.
Rose just stared at him, completely lost.