Chapter Fifteen: Old Habits Die Hard

"So…Donna Noble…where'd you find her?" Rose asked, ignoring the pang of jealousy in her stomach.

"Oh, she showed up in the TARDIS. Just appeared from thin air."

"Just like me and Koschei."

He had trouble hiding his true feelings. "Not exactly the same, no. You call him Koschei?"

"Yeah. He told me his name," Rose nodded. While he thought about that fact, she looked at him somberly. "Are you and Donna a thing?"

"We're not a couple," he grumbled with an eye roll. Did everyone have to ask that?

"Oh. I just assumed that you were."

"Why?"

She shrugged and fiddled with her broach. "I only meant that you had a new companion. She's not bad looking. Ginger, which I remember you like. And she's not afraid to express herself. Really quite bold if you think about it. I'd be happy for you. That's all."

They grew quiet. He was too stubborn and hurt to admit that he came all that way, risked to universes, mostly because of her. She was too hurt and surprised to admit that she always loved him and probably always would. It wasn't how either of them pictured their reunion. The silence was maddening, so she had to ask. If she didn't, she knew she would regret it.

"What was the end of that sentence?"

"What sentence?" he muttered distractedly as he straightened his brainy specs.

"Bad Wolf Bay. You said Rose Tyler and nothing else. How was that sentence going to end?"

He froze. "Why are you asking me?"

"I want to know."

"Does it need saying?"

She rolled her eyes. "You are infuriating. Forget it. Just…never mind."

The Doctor had finished the preparations. They only had to wait for the Master to contact them. In the meantime, he took off his glasses and stared closely at Rose. "No, go on. Say what's on your mind."

"I feel like I don't know you anymore. You're so quiet. You've hardly looked at me. After all this time, I thought we'd be happy to see each other. And I am. I am really happy to see you."

"Me too…" he agreed as a grin appeared on his face.

Suddenly, with passion and fire, they embraced tightly. She buried her face in his shoulder and allowed her tears to flow. He couldn't believe that she was back in his arms and had to soak in the moment. Then, he remembered that she was with him now and gently let go. He went back to the console and pretended to check a few things. She knew that something was wrong.

"Doctor…you're pretending to push things when you really aren't. Will you at least tell me what I did wrong?"

That got him to snap up instantly. "How do you mean, Rose? You haven't done anything wrong."

"Really? So, you're not upset with me?"

"No. Of course not. I couldn't be upset with you."

"Okay…so we're good?"

"Yep."

Silence.

"Then…why don't things feel like they're good?"

Before he could stop himself, he blurted it out. "What made you get with the Master?"

"He wanted to and I like him. There was finally someone here that knew everything I did and more. He's smart and funny. Completely mental and twisted, though. I just thought that it was time."

"Time for what?"

"To move past you. Years, Doctor. I tried to get you. I went to Bad Wolf Bay to feel closer to you. I thought that you couldn't come through or two universes would collapse. But, Koschei did. He told me that our meeting was a fixed point in time. I figured that was the universe's way of telling me that you weren't coming. And you didn't. You could have. I would have gone to you, but I'm not a genius or a Time Lord. I'm just a girl, and hoping wasn't working."

"The parallel jumper was a myth. Once I knew that it was possible, I started to build straight away. It took me and Donna months get the parts. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to build a jumper that's safe for travel when it has to carry the entire TARDIS? Any at all? It's very hard, Rose Tyler. I risked trillions of people, two universes, to get here. I could have caused the end of two Earths just to find you."

"To find me? You said you came here for the Master."

"All right, yes. I did. Partly. I knew that he'd try something like this, but I was worried about you. I was worried what he might do to you. And, I…" he took a steadying breath and, for once, decided to take a chance. "I missed you. A lot."

"I missed you. So much it hurt."

He gave a handsome smile and his hearts sunk. Did he risk trillions of lives to say hello to a mate and leave? No. He wanted to bring her home. Like that would happen. Even if she wanted to, he couldn't live with her and the Master. Dealing with Mickey and the other pretty boys was one thing. But the Master? That was like lemon juice in a paper cut. The Master would make sure to flaunt it too. He knew better than anyone how much he loved Rose.

"Well, here we are after all this time. Congratulations on your relationship. It's good to know that you've found love."

She stared at him strangely. "Who says I love him?"

That stopped the Doctor dead in his tracks. "Sorry?"

"I haven't once said to anyone that I love him. He loves me. I don't love him. He knows that. I like him. Genuinely, I do. He has some great qualities. But, he was never you."

"He wasn't?"

"Of course not, stupid. Old habits die hard. I love you. Not him."

On a lower deck, the Master and Donna were held up at the entrance to the engine room. A gigantic blobby alien was guarding the door. She looked at its size and shook her head. "Someone needs to lay off the calories. How do they move?"

"They don't really. If they have to, they have a cart underneath them. Most of their fighting is done telepathically. They command fleets of unmanned pods."

"Carts, you said? Like a little platform with wheels?"

"Yes. That would be a cart. Congratulations on working that one out."

She glared. "I don't like you, spaceman number two. Not a bit. How fast do those things move?"

He calculated the formulas in less than two seconds. "About a half a foot a second."

"If I were to leave one of my shoes on the floor and tell it to come get me, would the shoe trip it up? Get caught in the cart and short it out or something?"

Suddenly, he grinned widely. "That could actually work. You're not as dumb as you look."

"Thanks. I think."

She pulled off her shoes and tossed one down the hall. Then, she darted in front of the alien and waved her arms. It charged forward and got snared on the shoe. Quickly, the Master ran to a panel by the engine room and beamed it into the dungeon with the same guards from earlier. They ran into the engine room and he tore open the console. His finger hit the intercom unit.

"We're in position. Initiate the override sequence in ten seconds."

The Master's voice interrupted the conversation between Rose and the Doctor. Instantly, the Doctor moved to the console and prepared to enter the codes. They counted down over the intercom and set to work. Halfway through, it seemed to be working. Then, their overrides were overridden.

"What? No, that can't be right. Master, are you seeing this?" the Doctor questioned.

"Oh yes! Their system is more advanced than we thought. Fail safe protocols everywhere! This won't work."

"Get back up here. They'll be onto us, but I can keep this room on lockdown. We have to talk about another plan."

The Master and Donna darted out of the engine room and towards the nearest method to get upstairs. In the meantime, the Doctor turned the room into a virtual fortress. He finished quickly, but he kept going to keep his mind occupied. Rose still loved him? Brilliant. But what did that mean exactly? She cleared her throat and caught his attention.

"You're doing it again. The pretending to push buttons thing. I used to do that when my mother asked if I was studying."

He nervously smiled. "Oh, I didn't notice. The mind wanders sometimes. Doesn't consult the fingers. Complete disconnect. Where were we exactly?"

"I love you."

"Quite right."

There was a pause and she pushed him onwards. "And you?"

"Sorry? What's the question?"

"Don't play dumb, Doctor. The Master told me."

He gulped. "He did?"

"He said that you used to talk about me all the time. That it hurt when we were split up, and you loved me. Was he lying to me then too, or was one of his truths?"

Everything had led up to this moment. Her eyes were searching his face for a reaction. His tongue felt heavy and useless. Their pulses were raging. Finally, he found his ability to speak and answered her questions.

"No. He wasn't lying. That's how the sentence ended."