My Doctor
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its related... stuff. You know what I mean.
She was floating. Floating through nothing and everything, every moment of time consumed by the hunger now flowing through her veins. A hunger that could only be satisfied by absorbing more and more of the time and space now running through her head.
Rose Tyler was no more. Everything that she was and could be was pushed to the back of her mind and locked away, kept safe from the ravenous Wolf she had become.
Her Doctor was in danger. And that was all that mattered.
She combed through the endless streams of time, searching for that one moment that would alter his destiny. So he wouldn't have to die.
The moment, however, was not as she expected it to be.
"Time Lords of Gallifrey, Daleks of Skaro, I serve notice on you all. Too long I have stayed my hand. No more. Today you leave me no choice. Today, this war will end."
She saw her opportunity. The chance to save her Doctor from his greatest enemy- himself.
She reached out to him, gold tendrils folding out from her palms. But before she could envelope him in the warmth of her love, she was blinded by a flash of light, and in an instant, the time vortex was gone. She was the Wolf no longer.
Rose fell on her knees, feeling the unfamiliar cold ground beneath her hands. She opened her eyes, but was unable to see anything due to the thick mist that rose from the ground.
"Doctor!" she cried out in alarm. Her head was pounding, her heartbeat thundering, everything was so confusing. She felt the panic rising in her throat.
"Please, please!" She pounded her fists in defeat. "I don't know where I am."
"Hush, my child. You are safe here." The soft, melodic voice was comforting to the young lost girl. She looked up, tears streaming down her face, and scanned the mist for any sign of its source.
"Who are you?"
"I go by many names. Although I have grown fond of the one bestowed on me by the first child."
Rose processed her words and stood up in realization.
"You're the TARDIS! But, I don't understand...how can I hear you?"
"In this place, thoughts become voices and voices become thoughts. I brought you here to keep you safe."
"Safe? From what?" Suddenly, the memories came rushing back. "The Doctor! We need to save him! Please, we need to get back to the platform!"
"I'm sorry, my child. I have not enough power within me to make the trip. I only have the necessary power to keep you safe."
"Keep me safe from what?" she yelled out in frustration.
"From the Wolf."
Rose reeled from the familiar word. "Bad Wolf?"
"You have taken the time vortex into your mind. It absorbs all of space and time until there is nothing left of you. It hungers for power, and will not stop until the threads of time have been woven to its liking. But you are safe here. I can keep the Wolf at bay."
"But we can't just leave him to die! Please!" She was sobbing openly now, the thought of losing her wonderful Doctor too much to bear. Suddenly, she stopped, resolve adorning her features.
"Can I save him?" She dried her eyes with her sleeve.
"If I let the Wolf run free, can I save him?"
The TARDIS remained silent for a short moment, then replied.
"Yes. But he will lose you."
She shook her head. "Doesn't matter."
"If it is what you desire, my child, I will take you there. But I will not be able to control the Wolf. Are you afraid?"
Rose chuckled. "Am I afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
She ran her hand through her hair nervously.
"Nah. It's nothing more than a nursery rhyme."
The ravenous beast surged through her mind, seeking out any threats against her precious Doctor. Clawing through time and space, she sought out her love, tossing aside anything and everything that got in her way.
True to her word, the TARDIS materialized back on satellite five, moments away from the Doctor's last defeat.
With a blast of light, she burst through the doors, reaching towards him with her golden fingers.
"What've you done?"
The TARDIS reached into her mind and kept a grip on the Bad Wolf, just enough so Rose was able to reach through.
"I looked into the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into me."
She sought out that moment, the one she had so eagerly reached for before. The one that would release the Doctor from his burdens of grief.
"You looked into the time vortex. Rose, no one is meant to see that!"
Reaching far into the depths of the Ancients, she cocooned her power around the small device that would be responsible for the death of an entire race. With a burst of energy, she allowed a small piece of herself to enter the cube. To stand in judgement of anyone who would dare to defy her borders. Until he could come and release her from her prison.
"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself."
She reached out to her past, ensuring that events would bring her here. To save the Doctor.
"I take the words; I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here."
"Rose, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're going to burn!"
The Doctor's panicked voice did nothing to deter the Wolf. But the part of her that was still Rose Tyler, still holding on to herself, fell back towards his voice.
"I want you safe. My Doctor."
She created portals for her Doctor to reach through; she pushed each of his incarnations along and led them to that moment, so they could all save the day together. Even if it meant she could not be with him.
"Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies. The time war ends."
She saw her death. That fateful moment on Canary Wharf where she was ripped away from the Doctor forever. She couldn't save him from everything.
"Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go."
The Wolf within her seethed at the thought of losing him. With a snarl, it grabbed the vile Dalek Caan and mercilessly threw him into the time war. If she couldn't have the Doctor, she would create the next best thing. She watched with glee as the Dalek lost his mind and manipulated events to create a new Doctor.
"How can I let go of this? I bring life."
There was so much she could do for him. However her time was running short.
"But this is wrong. You can't control life and death."
"But I can. The sun and the moon, the day and night. But why do they hurt?"
Suddenly, the time streams lurched. The sudden shift caused the TARDIS to lose her hold, and Rose was plunged back into the recesses of her mind. The Wolf had full control, and she was furious.
"The power is going to kill you and it's my fault."
All her hard work was unraveling. She sought out the source of the disturbance, but it was in the one place she could not enter. The Doctor's own time stream. She pushed with all of her might to try and enter to right the wrongs, straining Rose's mind even further.
Deep in her subconscious, Rose saw everything that the Wolf could see, but was unable to control it. The Doctor was dying. Everything was spiraling, and she was useless to help. All she could do was stand there, tears streaming down her face.
"I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be."
"That's what I see all the time! And doesn't it drive you mad?"
The Doctor kept dying. Over and over again. Killed by a ruthless force who goes by the Great Intelligence. Rose watched it happen countless times, every single one burning deep in her heart. Hopeless, she fell on her knees, letting the pain wash over her.
And then she heard it. The melody of another lost girl.
A scent and a sound, I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the Wolf
Strut on a line, it's discord and rhyme
And I'm hungry like the Wolf
With a growl, she reached out and snapped herself back in control. Suppressing the Wolf down into her subconscious, the pressure of the vortex was suddenly upon her.
"My head."
She could barely see the time streams anymore. The pain was dulling all of her senses, but she kept going. She had to find her. The girl with the voice.
"Come here."
She could see it now. See the Doctor's saviour just within her reach. But the pain was getting to be too much.
"It's killing me."
"I think you need a Doctor."
With one final blink of gold, she managed one last feat before the Doctor took the pain away.
At that exact moment, twenty-five years earlier, a leaf snapped off of its branch and swung wildly into the face of the innocent bystander beneath.
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