hmmm....what to say...

um...

OH

Thanks SO MUCH TO LILYROSE WHO IS SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME, and thanks in advance to dramaqueen321 who's reaction will be priceless!

XXI

Clearing The Fog

The Doctor swallowed a lump in his throat and turned away from Rose. He didn't look back at her as he walked into the TARDIS, and though he was trembling, he tried to hide it. He found Jack, Holly, Artemis, Mulch and Foaly in the control room. They looked up as he entered.

"Doctor what-" Jack began
"I need a vacuum cleaner," the Doctor interrupted.
Jack gave him a strange look.
"NOW!" he shouted at them.
"I'll get it," said Artemis. He half-ran to get a vacuum cleaner from a cupboard.
"Jack, I need you and Holly to get Rose to the infirmary, and quickly."
Jack just nodded and he and Holly exited the TARDIS, with the Doctor on their heels.
Jack fell to his knees beside her body.
"Doctor…what happened?" he asked, turning to the Time Lord.
"I…," the Doctor couldn't bring himself to tell them what he had done, "…Opal stabbed herself…Rose…and then she left Rose's body, there she is," he finished, pointing at the Opal mist which was swirling around in the air.
Once the Doctor had pointed at the Opal Mist, she began to swirl away from them. Swirling as fast as she could, which wasn't very.

Artemis tumbled out of the TARDIS with a vacuum cleaner which he handed to the Doctor without a word, and then helped Jack and Holly who had picked up Rose, to take her to the TARDIS infirmary.
The Doctor watched them disappear behind the TARDIS doors, before he took off after the Opal Mist with the wireless alien vacuum cleaner in hand.

He chased the Opal Mist around the grounds of Fowl Manor. The Opal Mist was unwilling to go too high in case the wind separated her already fragile form. She began searching the area for her actual body and trying to escape from the Doctor at the same time. The Doctor reached her finally and turned on the vacuum cleaner. The Opal Mist tried in vain to push herself away, but the pull of the vacuum cleaner was incredibly strong. The vacuum cleaner faulted for a second and she zoomed off, but then the Doctor switched up the setting and chased after her again. He caught up with her at the gate of Fowl Manor. She slipped through the bars and turned back to laugh at the Doctor. But the Doctor just stood there, stony faced, before raising the vacuum cleaner and turning the dial up to the highest setting. The Opal Mist's atoms were drifting towards the vacuum cleaner; she was falling, falling into its pull. And then she was trapped. Trapped inside the vacuum cleaner with no way out.

The Doctor didn't celebrate; he didn't even smile at her capture. He just set off for the TARDIS.

Once he was inside the TARDIS, he wasted no time. He didn't have any to waste. He grabbed the prototype red button they had made, which contained all the parts of the old yellow button. He opened it up and switched the settings so it could be used once only, then hung the string of the button around the vacuum cleaners handle. He didn't say anything to her. He didn't need to. He just pushed the red button, and just like that, she and the vacuum cleaner were gone.

The Doctor ran to the infirmary which the TARDIS moved closer for him. He muttered a quick thanks to her before entering the room. The others all looked up as he entered.
"Opal's gone," he managed to choke out.
They just nodded. Then their eyes flickered to Rose and then back to the Doctor.
"We'll be in the kitchen, Doctor, if you need us," said Holly, before she dragged Artemis, Foaly and Mulch out of the room.
"Doctor," Jack said.
"I can bring her back-"
"WHAT?!" Jack exclaimed, jumping up from his chair beside Rose's bed.
"Why didn't you say so, come on then!"
"…I think."
Jack's face fell, he sat back down with a thump.
"Might as well try," he told the Doctor.
The Doctor just nodded, not trusting himself to speak much.
He rummaged through the cupboards and drew out a large machine with wires sticking out of it.
"Jumpstarts brain and heart activity," The Doctor explained when he saw Jack's curious look.
Jack nodded, jumping up again to help him attach electrodes to Rose's temple. The Doctor tried not to actually look at Rose as he did this. The sight of her lifeless body, pale and still, made him want to collapse on the ground and sob. But he didn't. He just clenched his jaw and tried to look at everything but her. Which was difficult.

The Doctor turned the machine on, and it gave an encouraging whirr. He glanced at its screen, reading the Gallifreyian symbols while Jack just stood there awkwardly. The Doctor glanced briefly at Rose, but the machine didn't seem to be doing anything yet. Different symbols appeared on the screen and the Doctor frowned as he read them.
Jack held back the urge to ask him what it said, and just sort of patted Rose's arm and fidgeted.
As the Doctor read, his face grew even more miserable than before if that were possible.
He turned away from the screen and stared at one of the white walls, not moving and not saying anything.
Jack opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking.
"Doctor? What is it? What's wrong?"
The Doctor swallowed and without turning to Jack, replied.
"Opal."
"But I thought she was gone," Jack said.
"She is, well…most of her. There is this tiny little sliver of her still in Rose's brain, and it's blocking me."
"What does that mean exactly?" asked Jack, impatiently.
The Doctor finally turned to Jack, and Jack saw to his amazement that the Doctor's mask was down. He could see everything he had been through. All the losses, all the death, all the grief the Time Lord had been through was showing on his face. The Doctor swallowed again before replying.
"It means I can't bring Rose back."

Sorry about the cliffhanger...again...but the next chapter shall be up right now because I am just that nice

Yonder Sneak Preview

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE?!" Jack yelled at him.
"Because it comes at a cost," the Doctor told him harshly, swivelling his whole head around to stare at Jack.