I found a deleted scene from this episode that is literally 2 seconds long and contains the hug in this chapter. 2 seconds. Really? www. Youtube watch?v =BDARFSPYOhY&list =PL26A9B88E9354CBCF&index =40&feature = plpp_ video

All the dialogue during the hug and on the walk back to the TARDIS is original.

My friend made me watch The End of Time last night. All emotions have now been locked away in the tiny corner of my brain where they can't break free and turn me into a sniveling mess.

Lucky I wrote most of this before that happened so hopefully it still retains its emotional integrity.

Songs for this chapter: The Daleks and The Lone Dalek (both from series 1 and 2 soundtrack)

Just the sunlight

The Dalek was gone. There was nothing left. The last dalek in existence. Dead.

Rose was standing next to him. Alive.

It was over.

The gun slipped from his grip and suddenly she was in his arms, clutched tight against him.

She was shaking, her breath was heavy and fast on his neck.

He had come so close to losing her. "I'm so sorry." He choked on the words as he spoke into her neck. His arms tightened possessively around her waist. He didn't care that this was wrong; how close he was holding her. Her chest was against his, his face all but buried in her neck, their legs inches away from being tangled hopelessly together. It took him a few seconds to realize she was hugging him back just as tightly.

"I was so scared…" She murmured, her voice trembling. His left heart swelled in compassion as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I thought I was going to die…" Her voice broke on the word.

He held her tighter as she finally started to cry. She was always so strong. "You were fantastic Rose…" He whispered in her ear. "Fantastic…" She had talked the dalek out of killing. She had talked him out of being the monster the Time War had made him.

She sobbed quietly into his shoulder and tightened her grip as well, her hands twisting themselves into his leather jacket. "Thank you Doctor…"

He smiled. Standing here, holding her like this, it was hard to remember where he was, what they had just been through.

Rose sobbed quietly into his shoulder as his memories began to resurface:

A dalek. Another survivor of the war. Why did it have to be an enemy? Why couldn't it have been another like him?

He shook off the guards that had dragged him from the vault and stalked down the hall. He had to kill it, he had to destroy it. If that thing got out, if it started killing…

A surge of battle-fury filled him taking him back to his days as a soldier. Throwing grenades, firing bullets, lasers, plasma blasts… watching in satisfaction as daleks screamed and exploded, ripping open, bits of metal flying everywhere… standing over that switch, high above two armies, both their fates resting in his hands… "do it Doctor! Do it now!..."

"… Doctor."

The voice pulled him back from his thoughts and he turned to face Van Statten.

"This dalek." The billionaire tasted the name like a new kind of truffle. "Is it completely made of metal?"

He shook his head. "The metal's just battle-armor, the real dalek creature's inside." He explained as they filed into the elevator.

"What does it look like?"

He repressed a shudder. "A nightmare." He explained the origin of the daleks to Van Statten and his assistant Goddard making sure to emphasize their complete lack of emotion. But nothing seemed to get through to the pretentious billionaire. If anything he seemed even more intrigued by the thought of having a death machine in his collection. Especially if it was the only death machine of its kind left in the universe.

Several unfortunate turns of events later, he found himself being poked and prodded and scanned and examined like just another specimen. He begged and pleaded but the man just wouldn't listen. At least not until the emergency signal rang out.

Slowly, he raised his head. "Release me if you want to live."

Just as he had predicted, the dalek tore through the base, no one was left alive who crossed its path. Rose was in its path. But she was still alive. As long as she kept running. He clutched desperately to that thought as the dalek marched onward. He knew the fastest, easiest way to stop it: seal the vault. Lock it away until he could destroy it for good. But he couldn't seal the vault, not until Rose was out. If nothing else, he would get her out alive before killing that thing.

He sent it through the weapons testing area. With these weapons, they stood little chance of actually killing the dalek but it would give Rose more time. Time to run. Time to make it above the vault if he had to close it.

The ploy bought little time. The human soldiers didn't listen to his advice and they paid the price. Dozens of men. Dead. He'd had to look away from the screen. It was too similar, this fight and the Time War. A whole battalion brought down by a single dalek.

Van Statten spoke. He sounded terrified, truly terrified. "Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place." 200 men. That's how many it took for Van Statten to consider giving up his prized collection.

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir." Goddard reminded him. "We can't get out."

There was no choice. He'd just have to hope luck was on his side. "… You said we could seal the vault…" He began slowly. There was still time. Maybe he could get Rose out and seal the dalek in…

"It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war." Van Statten explained as he moved to the computer. "Steel bulkheads can be lowered…"

"There's not enough power," Goddard interrupted. "Those bulkheads are massive!"

"There's emergency power," He reminded her. "We can reroute that to the bulkhead doors."

"We'd have to bypass the security codes, that would take a computer genius!" Goddard protested.

"Good thing you've got me then." Van Statten pointed out, a bit of his former arrogance seeping into his tone.

Apparently the man did have a heart. "You want to help?"

"I don't want to die Doctor, simple as that." No, still just self-absorbed. "Nobody knows this software better than me…" Van Statten claimed as he set to work.

"Sir." Goddard was staring at the screen. The dalek was back.

It stood in the middle of the room, water raining down from the ruptured sprinklers.

"I shall speak only to the Doctor!"

He stepped in front of the screen. "You're gonna get rusty."

"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler." It explained. "Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveler regenerated me."

Of course. Dalek regeneration with TARDIS radiation and DNA. A trick they had acquired in the Time War. If this was what a human time traveler could do… what about a Time Lord? "What's your next trick?" He inquired.

"I have been searching for the daleks." It replied.

He nodded and walked around the table to stand closer to the screen. "Yeah, I saw. Downloading the internet. What did you find?"

"I scanned your satellites and radio-telescopes."

"And?"

It paused. "Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?"

"You're just a soldier without commands." The last survivor of the war.

"Then I shall follow the primary order of dalek instinct: to destroy, to conquer!" It declared.

"What for? What's the point?" It didn't answer. "Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for." The two mightiest civilizations in all the universe, reduced to dust.

The dalek spoke slowly. "Then what should I do?"

"Alright then. If you want orders, follow this one." Maybe this could all end. Maybe he wouldn't need more blood on his hands. "Kill yourself."

"The daleks must survive!" It protested.

"The daleks have failed." He shot back. "Why don't you finish the job and make the daleks extinct? Rid the universe of your filth! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE?"

It was silent for a moment.

"You… would make a good dalek."

The screen went blank.

He wasn't a senseless killer… he didn't kill because it was fun. He felt. Throwing that switch had been the single worst emotional experience of his life, the hardest decision one could be faced with: your people or all of creation. He wasn't a dalek. He was not like that thing. He couldn't be.

There was no longer any doubt in his mind. The decision was already made.

"Seal the vaults."

"This isn't the best time…"

Like he didn't know that. "Where are you?" He asked as he pounded on the keyboard, scanning through security data.

"Level 49." Rose said her voice distorted by the phone connection.

"You've got to keep moving, the vault's being sealed off up at level 46."

"Can't you stop 'um closing?"

He hesitated for a fraction of a second. "I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Now for God's sake, run." He stayed on the line but stopped talking. She was going to get through this. For a few endless minutes there was no sound but his fingers on the keys and Rose's labored breath in his ear.

"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads." Van Statten informed him.

Goddard examined the screen. "The dalek's right behind them."

"We're nearly there, give us two seconds!" Rose called through the phone.

"Doctor I can't sustain the power, the whole system is failing." He looked up. She was so close, less than half a floor away. She just needed a little while longer…

"Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads." Van Statten pleaded.

So this was it. He had to gamble Rose. Her fate rested in his hands. He stared down at the enter key. If he hesitated, it could mean the end of the human race. If he closed it, she might die. Rose or the world.

He couldn't be that selfish. "I'm sorry." He pressed the button.

He stared at the screen, watching the little moving dot that was the dalek. Rose was just in front of it somewhere. He did not pray often as he did not believe in some higher power in the universe but he prayed now. Come on Rose… come on…

The dot got closer and closer, it was practically on top of the doorway…

"The vault is sealed." Van Statten said.

He leapt out of his seat. "Rose, where are you? Rose did you make it?" His hearts hammered. She had to… she must have… she….

"Sorry I was a bit slow."

Both his hearts abruptly stopped. Her voice crackled in his ear, her breathing heavy.

"See you then Doctor." She hadn't made it… he'd locked her in. He'd killed her.

"It wasn't your fault. Remember that okay? It wasn't your fault." She was still trying to save him. Still trying to make the murderer into an angel.

"And d'you know what?" He listened desperately. Her last words. Words that would be with him forever as he traveled on, her death constantly on his shoulders.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Her voice. So clear, so strong, her fear and sorrow betrayed only by a slight tremor at the end. He couldn't move, he could only listen.

Her breathing ceased, she must have moved the phone. But she hadn't hung up, he still heard everything.

The mechanical whirring, the slide of gears. A voice he had heard so many times before, a voice that had chased him across the stars and haunted his dreams for all of time.

"EXTERMINATE!"

He ripped the ear piece off. She was gone.

A few minutes later, Adam reached the control center. He pounced on him immediately.

"You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind!"

"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" He shouted back.

A robotic voice from the t.v. screen interrupted them before the painful truth of Adam's words could really sink in.

"Open the bulkhead, or Rose Tyler dies."

On the screen was the dalek, but he barely recognized it because of who was standing next to it. Alive.

Both his hearts soared as he stumbled forward. "You're alive!"

"Can't get rid of me…" Rose said flatly.

She was upset. Well of course she was. He'd left her to die. "I thought you were dead!" He explained.

"Open the bulkhead!" The dalek cried.

"Don't do it!" Rose called. His face fell. She would die for him. She would sacrifice herself for the good of the human race. It was the only way out. But how could he kill her again?

"What use are emotions," the dalek taunted. "If you will not save the woman you love?"

His gaze hardened. Because it was right. He did love her, he realized. He loved Rose Tyler. The thought of losing her had been too much to bear. Sealing her in the vault had been more difficult than destroying his entire planet. The dalek somehow knew this and was clever enough to use it against him. But he couldn't let it continue. Even one dalek was enough to wipe out the human race.

He turned to Van Statten. "I killed her once." He said hardly. "I can't do it again." He pressed the enter key.

He steadied the weapon and aimed it at Rose's back. "Get out the way!" He shouted, causing her to turn around. But she didn't move, she just stared at him.

"Rose, get out the way now!" He commanded.

He was going to blast that thing back into hell. It would finally all be over.

"No. Cause I won't let you do this." She said gently.

"That thing killed hundreds of people!" Why couldn't she just move? Just let him end it?

"He's not the one pointing the gun at me." Rose pointed out.

His anger slipped, just a bit. "I've got to do this!" He protested. "I've got to end it. The daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left!" But who was he trying to convince? Rose or himself?

Rose was shaking her head. "But look at it…" She moved aside slightly but not enough for him to get a clear shot.

The creature sat there basking in the sunlight, oblivious to everything but the warmth. "What's it doing?"

As he watched, one tentacle stretched desperately upwards, waving in the light.

"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants." Rose told him her voice taking on a hint of pleading.

A death machine, a dalek's only wish was sun and warmth? "But it can't…"

"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me, it's changing." Rose said. "What about you Doctor?" She asked tentatively. He finally looked at her. "What the hell are you changing into?" Her face was a mix of horror, disgust and pity.

His breath caught in his throat. She honestly believed he was good. She thought him decent, caring and gentle. Everything he wasn't. But no, he realized. He was those things. To her. She had changed him. She had taken that angry, damaged coward from the greatest war of all time and turned him into… himself.

But the moment he'd seen the dalek that had all disappeared. Vanished beneath the pain of remembering the Time War and realizing it was not yet won.

The gun slipped and dangled loosely by his side. What had he done?

"I couldn't…" Her look didn't change. He glanced back at the dalek. It was sitting there: vulnerable, weak, pathetic. It was no longer even capable of killing. And he had been ready to blast it away without a second thought. Just like a dalek.

"I wasn't…" His voice was breaking. He met Rose's eyes, ashamed. He expected her to hate him, to turn away and leave him there. But there was no judgement in her eyes. Only pity. She stared back at him, searching for the man she knew, the man she cared about. The man she couldn't see now. He was never going to raise a gun on another creature again. Not if it made Rose see him like this.

"Oh Rose, they're all dead."

The dalek spoke in a slow sickly voice. "Why… do we… survive…?"

"I don't know." He said. He really didn't. He didn't deserve to survive.

He returned to the present. It was over. The Time War was finally over. Rose was in his arms.

They had been embracing for quite awhile. This was bordering on something more than mere relief. Reluctantly, he let go and stepped back. Rose wiped her eyes, seeming a little embarrassed at her display of emotion.

"Let's go." He said, starting to walk away. She caught up and slipped her hand hesitantly into his. He knew he shouldn't but he squeezed and held on.

Hand in hand, they silently made their way back to floor 53 and the TARDIS, dodging the worst of the carnage by taking back corridors and stairs. The Doctor let go of her hand and gently stroked the box as they approached. "A little piece of home… Better than nothing."

"Is that the end of it?" Rose asked. "The Time War?"

He nodded. "I'm the only one left… I win." He said bitterly. "How 'bout that?"

"The dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too." Rose consoled but he heard the hopelessness in her voice.

He shook his head. "I'd know… in here. Feels like there's no one." The great, echoing loneliness than was always there. His mind had not touched another in what seemed like forever.

"Well than, good thing I'm not going anywhere." Rose smiled at him.

He tried to smile back. "Yeah."

Adam ran up, duffel bag in hand. "We'd better get out. Van Statten has disappeared and they're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed."

"'Bout time." Rose said.

"I'll have to go back home." The boy said sounding dejected.

"Better hurry up then." He checked his watch. "Next flight to Ethro leaves at 1500 hours."

Rose spoke up. "Adam was saying that, all his life he wanted to see the stars…" He didn't like what her smile suggested.

"Time to go and stand outside then."

"He's all on his own Doctor, and he did help."

"He left you down there!" He protested.

"So did you." She pointed out, renewing the sting of guilt that refused to leave him alone.

"What are you talking about? We have to leave!" Adam told them.

He examined the boy. "Plus, he's a bit pretty…" He observed.

"I hadn't noticed…" Rose shot back.

He sighed. "On your own head…"

He ignored Adam as he opened the door and set the coordinates for a new location, far away from here. He ignored the fire that flared in his stomach as Rose took the boy's hand to show the dumbfounded kid around. He tried not to glare at their retreating backs as they walked out of the console room.

He didn't like that kid. His nonchalance, his ambition, his general treatment of his Rose… Rose he reminded himself. Just Rose. It didn't bode well with him.

Still, maybe this was just what they needed now… a buffer. Something to stop him from grabbing her and never letting go.

That was just because I almost lost her… I'll control myself in the future… next time she's in danger…

But no. There couldn't even be a next time. He would keep her out of danger. But still, the universe had an odd way of making even the most mundane and ordinary things dangerous around him.

Jackie Tyler's parting words came back to him: "What if she gets lost? What if something happens to you Doctor and she's left all alone standing on some moon a million light-years away? How long do I wait then?"

He flipped on the vortex manipulator. Maybe he'd better build some emergency programs into the TARDIS… just in case he needed to send her out of danger.

A rush of protectiveness swept though him, so strong it set both his hearts burning and filled him with a deep, unsettling worry. He'd almost caused Rose's death today. That would never happen again.

Nothing would ever harm her again. He would not lose her.