This is another one that was not requested, but that just sort of hit me. It's on Dark Side, by Kelly Clarkson. Some important things to note before reading this: The first one is Rose with the Tenth Doctor. The Second one is Rose with the Eleventh Doctor. So in some unexplained way, she came back to the fist universe and started traveling with the Doctor again. This means that she's post-torchwood Rose, and she's harder, tougher. Keep that in mind when things get a bit...tense.
His was all fire and rage. It was ancient and it was lonely, and it burned.
Rose had long since glared the technicians holding her in the control room into submission. The Doctor had ordered them to bolt the doors, keep her inside, keep her safe.
Rose Tyler was having none of that, thank you very much.
As the technicians clacked away at their keyboards, removing the many digital locks holding the physical lock in place, Rose stared tersely at the monitor that showed her what was happening one room over.
It was what was happening in that room that made Rose so desperate to leave her prison. It was what was happening there that had caused her to shout, threaten, and eventually stare her guards into submission.
It was the Doctor.
They'd known things were going to go bad before they'd even landed; honestly, it was a given at this point. But just how badly it was going to go…neither of them had seen it coming.
There'd been a distress signal; they'd answered it, of course. And it had been a trap, of course. They were used to that. But the thing that had set the trap…
They were supposed to be gone. She herself was supposed to have gotten rid of the last of them. But there was one more, there was always one more, and it wanted revenge….
The Dalek had lured them away from most civilizations and into a bunker. It was like Utah all over again. But this time, Rose's touch hadn't been the thing to awaken it; Rose's touch hadn't been the thing to heal it. This time, it was one hundred present Dalek, and it wanted them dead.
The Doctor…the Doctor. He had reacted as the Doctor always did; he shut down and he shut Rose out—both literally and metaphorically.
Rose knew there was no way this was going to end peacefully; there was no way things were going to end the way they had in Utah, or even on the Game Station. Everything was going to end so much worse…
It wasn't even the Dalek that was scaring Rose, either; it was the Doctor. He'd dispatched the Dalek rather quickly, having found enough odds and ends around the bunker to make some sort of plasma cannon. But now he was pacing, and mumbling, and messing with the screwdriver. Rose knew that look on his face; the Doctor was out, and the Oncoming Strom was in.
Finally, the locks on the blast doors thudded back into their holes, and Rose rushed from the room. "Doctor?" she called hesitantly as she hurried into the room, stopping a few paces from him when his head flew up. His eyes were hard, and his mouth was pulled into a feral snarl. He was like nothing she'd ever seen before.
"Go back inside Rose, and wait for me there," he snapped, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver again.
"Doctor, what are you doing?" Rose asked, ignoring his order and taking a step closer.
The Doctor made a noise of frustration, almost a growl, before he apparently found the setting he was looking for on the screwdriver. With that oh so familiar wheeze, the TARDIS started to materialize in the room. "I said wait for me here. I'll be back." He snapped, marching towards the TARDIS, his coat billowing behind him like some sort of cape. Only, just then, he didn't make Rose think of a super hero.
"Where are you going?" She demanded, panicked, grabbing his arm to stop him.
He shook her off, but stopped walking. He didn't turn to face her, which was just as well, because Rose wasn't sure she could handle the look in his eye right then. "One of them survived," he spat. "And if one of them survived, there are more out there somewhere. And I'm going to find them."
"You can't!" Rose cried, alarmed. The thought of him against an army of Daleks was enough to send her flying around him, blocking his entrance to the TARDIS.
"Move, Rose," the Doctor ordered, barely controlling his rage.
"I won't," she said, just as stubbornly. "You're hurting, I get it." The Doctor scoffed, and glanced away. "Okay, maybe I don't completely understand, but I do get it, at least on a smaller level," she persisted. "They killed your people, destroyed your home. And you're hurting. I know. But Doctor, going on some suicidal revenge mission isn't going to bring your home back!"
Suddenly the Doctor was very closer to her, his face inches from hers. "Don't you think I know that?!" He snarled, his eyes glassy with rage. "I know they're not coming back! I know Gallifrey is dead and gone! And I also know that there are still Daleks out there. And that can't happen. They cannot be allowed to continue existing." With that, he all but shoved her out of his way, and marched to the TARDIS.
Rose stumbled, but caught herself. The TARDIS started to groan and wheeze as it took off, but Rose wasn't having any of it. She flung herself to the doors, jerking herself inside before the TARDIS could become intangible to that specific space/time location.
The Doctor was at the console, furiously throwing levers and muttering to himself. Rose squared her shoulders and marched over to him. He looked up just as she got within arm's reach, and, before he could so much as glare at her, she smacked him across the face.
"That's for trying to leave me again," she snapped. The Doctor had yet to turn his head back from where it had snapped to the side form the force of her blow. "You want to go hunt down Daleks? Fine. You want to avenge your people? Fine. But I'll be damned if you're going on this godforsaken suicide mission alone!"
The Doctor was absolutely still; he hadn't turned to face her yet. Rose softened a bit. "You don't have to do everything alone, Doctor. I'm not a Time Lord; I'm not one of your people, and I never can be. I know that, and I'm not trying to replace them. But I'm also not going to let you go and get yourself killed on some misguided revenge mission." Hesitantly, she reached for his hand. "They wouldn't want you to die."
The Doctor deflated a bit. "Are you saying I should just leave them out there?" He asked quietly. Rose almost flinched at the hollowness of his voice; it echoed like a lonely wind. "I should just leave them out there to kill other innocent people? Rob others of their homes and people?"
Rose shook her head violently, even though he couldn't see it. "I'm saying you don't even know they're out there. For all we know, that one was the only survivor. I'm saying if you want to look for them, fine, we'll look for them. But we need to be smart about it; you can't just run around out there and hope you stumble on them. You need a plan—one that includes having an attack plan before you attack. Okay?"
The Doctor was silent for a moment longer before he finally turned to face Rose. She winced a bit, seeing the pink outline of her hand on his face. "Thank you," he said quietly, before wrapping her in a hug that nearly cut off her ability to breathe. She rubbed his back quietly, and if she felt the shoulder of her jumper grow a bit damp, she said nothing about it.
Hers was the quiet before the storm. It was ice and fury, and it was deadly.
If she had spontaneously developed the powers of Bad Wolf again, he wouldn't be half as terrified, the Doctor thought. Rose Tyler properly, truly enraged was not a sight he'd ever wanted to see to begin with, and if he never saw it again, he would be very happy with his life as a whole.
It had been funny, at first. They'd landed on a fairly religious, yet beautiful, planet, with a plan to sight see and not have to run for their lives for once.
Technically speaking, they had done pretty well with that goal; there'd been no running.
But somewhere along the way, the locals had decided that Rose looked like one of their deities, and had brought them both to a temple where they could worship Rose in the way they thought she deserved.
That—along with the ornate white and gold robe they'd dressed her in—had been the funny part. The scary part was now, when Rose looked every bit the avenging goddess they thought she was.
They'd been sitting in the throne room—her on a dais, him on a step below her, because heaven forbid his head be higher than hers—when the high priest led in two guards dragging a young girl between them. It didn't take a genius to see what the girl was intended for, and the Doctor had felt himself start to grow angry.
But when the guards held the girl prostrate before Rose, and the priest had offered Rose a sword with which to do the deed herself, well, that was when things had gone really bad.
Rose had taken the sword from the priest and then, with a move the Doctor hadn't even known she was capable of, and promptly planted her foot in his chest and kicked him down the short flight of stairs.
"How dare you," Rose said softly, her voice like ice. She wasn't yelling, and that was perhaps what scared the Doctor the most.
"Rose—" he started, standing and reaching out to stop her.
She turned those frigid eyes on him and stopped him in his tracks, before turning back to the priest, laying on the floor, stunned. Rose moved down the stairs slowly, stalking him almost, the sword still in her hand. "What kind of holy man are you?" She demanded, stopping before the frightened man now. "What kind of gods do you serve that demand the sacrifice of a little girl?"
"Y-y-you, your grace," the priest stuttered. The Doctor practically groaned aloud.
"Me?" Rose asked, her voice still far too quiet for the Doctor's liking. "You must be mistaken. You see, I would never require such a barbaric ritual. I would never ask anyone to lay down their life before me in a show of piety. And I would never bring into my employ a so called Holy Man who seemed to enjoy it!" The Doctor winced, as Rose's voice finally rose to a shout with the last sentence.
"Rose, stop, we'll fix this, I promise, just drop the sword," the Doctor said firmly, moving slowly down the stairs towards Rose.
"Why should I?" She asked, her voice icy and calm once more. She lifted the sword in front of her and inspected it for a moment. "Why shouldn't I give to him just what he wanted for her?"
"P-p-please, have mercy…." The man begged, crawling backwards away from Rose.
The Doctor saw Rose's spine stiffen. She stepped forward onto the end of the man's robe, trapping him before her. She shifted her grip on the sword, holding it in an unmistakable offensive position now. "Mercy?" She chuckled, and the Doctor shuddered. "What do you know of mercy?" She leaned forward a bit. "Why would you even deserve it?" She lifted her arm back, and began to swing the sword down, but the Doctor caught her arm.
"Rose," he all but begged, his voice strained.
She turned her cold, cold eyes to his, and stared at him for a moment. Then, slowly, slowly, he watched her thaw. Her arm went limp in his, and he relaxed a bit. He took the sword from her, and for the first time, he noticed that her aim was just a bit off; had she finished that swing, the sword would have gone into the marble right next to the priest's ear.
"It's alright," he whispered soothingly, tossing the sword aside and pulling her into his arms. He glared at the priest, who was still on the ground, over Rose's shoulder. "There are to be no more sacrifices. Honor your Gods with your prayers; not your blood," he ordered. He waited until the priest nodded his trembling assent, before he hurried Rose out of the temple.
He managed to get them to the TARDIS without any bother, and sent them into the Vortex once the doors were shut. He stalled for a moment, then turned to face Rose, who was sitting on the jump seat.
"Feeling better?" He asked quietly, leaning against the console.
Rose nodded silently, threading her fingers through her hair. "I wasn't going to hurt him," she murmured after a while. "I just…I dunno, wanted to scare him, I guess…" she trailed off. The Doctor watched her silently; she didn't seem to want his words right now, just his ear. "I…lost myself, for a bit there…"
"I'll say," the Doctor muttered. Rose cringed, and the Doctor had the urge to hit himself. "I meant…I've never seen you that angry before," he clarified.
"I don't know that I've ever been that angry before."
They were silent again for a time. "Do you want me to leave?" Rose asked, looking up from her lap for the first time since they'd gotten on the TARDIS.
The Doctor started, and moved away from the console a bit. "Do you want to leave?"
"No!" Rose shouted, eyes wide. "No," she repeated, quieter. "But…I just thought…after…that, maybe you wouldn't want me…anymore…"
"Rose," the Doctor sighed, and moved to sit next to her on the jump seat. He gripped her face between his hands so that she had to look at him. "You have seen me at my absolute worst." He paused. "And that's saying something. But you stayed." He stared at her for a moment, searching, trying to make sure she understood. "You stayed. Not many would have done that. Especially not after…" he trailed off, but they both knew what he meant. When he'd thought the Daleks had come back. That was the darkest Rose had ever seen him. "So if you can handle me at my worst, I can handle you at yours." He watched her for a moment, to make sure she understood, then smiled, and pulled her into his arms.
"Thank you," Rose whispered, burying her face into the tweed of his shoulder.
The Doctor smiled, and held her tighter. They'd be alright. So long as they had each other during those black moments to remind them who they really where, they'd be just fine.
If you want me to write a story based off of a song you like, just send me the song! I can't guarantee when I'll get to it, but I will eventually!
Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed!
Until next time!