Chapter Six – The End of the World

"She wants one last adventure, one last trip in the TARDIS. She wants to leave this time and this place, to die out there, where she belongs. Are you going to deny her that? Because I'm not."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Rose woke, the Doctor had already moved the TARDIS into her bedroom. Just a quick hop through space—no risk, this time, of arriving later than he intended. She let Jack dress her, and then the two men who loved Rose carried her inside and arranged her on the jump seat.

The amber glow of the time machine lit up Rose's features so that she looked years younger. Even Jack could hear the purr of welcome from the TARDIS.

"She missed you," the Doctor said fondly, patting the time rotor.

He threw a smile to Rose, and then Jack moved into place beside him and the two of them began working the controls as if they'd never been apart. The Doctor typed a long series of numbers into the keyboard, then ducked while Jack reached over him to flip a switch. Jack leaned back to let the Doctor reach past him in order to spin a set of dials. Finally, the Doctor released the handbrake and the groaning sound of time being torn open filled the air.

"Not bad," the Doctor said, dusting his hands off. He gestured to a particular control that had to be held down in tandem with another on the opposite side of the console. "On my own, I always end up reaching for that button with my foot. Quite uncomfortable, but I imagine my companions enjoy the view." He winked at Rose; to his delight, she grinned back at him.

"So, where're we going?" she asked with sparkling eyes. Despite the wrinkles and white hair, she looked as beautiful as the first time he'd seen her, all those years ago. The Doctor thought that maybe he loved her even more, now.

With a mischievous expression, he said, "First, I thought we'd stop off and get some nibbles."

"Food?" Jack sat down beside Rose, looking every bit the stern father. "No candy! The last thing we need is a hyperactive Time Lord bouncing off the walls."

"Oh, but Jack—don't spoil his fun," Rose said.

"Not candy," the Doctor replied indignantly. "I had something else in mind. Anyone for chips?"

The TARDIS came to a shuddering halt, and the Doctor ran for the door. Over his shoulder, he shouted, "Be right back!"

True to his word, he returned in minutes with an armful of paper bags from the chip shop around the corner from where Rose grew up. Vinegar and salt leaked through onto his suit, but he didn't mind. Not if it meant seeing Rose smile again. And smile she did.

"Oh, I haven't had chips in years," she said, sitting upright in delight.

"That's because they're full of sodium and carbohydrates and—" Jack stopped. A flicker of sorrow passed over his face as he met the Doctor's eyes, then looked back down at Rose. "And you can eat as many as you want today."

"D'you remember these chips, Rose?" He flipped one of the bags around so she could see the logo printed on the greasy paper.

"How could I forget? Our first date," she informed Jack. "He'd just taken me to watch the sun explode and bought me chips to make up for it. Except he didn't buy me chips, 'cause he never had any money. I had to pay for 'em. Matter of fact—you still owe me five quid!"

"Do I? Oh, er, well . . . here. Will this make up for it?" He gave her a bag of chips, then handed the rest to Jack. "Eat up, but save some for later, yeah?"

"Why? What happens later," she asked, snagging a hot chip from Jack's bag.

"Oh, you'll see when we get there! But you'll want something to snack on during the show, so don't eat every last chip now."

"Show?" Jack looked doubtful.

"Well, I say show. . . ." The Doctor moved back to the console. He took his reading glasses out from his jacket pocket and slid them on. While squinting at the view screen, he continued, "I really mean more of a spectacle."

Jack rolled his eyes in disbelief at the pun, while Rose, fortunately in-between bites, began to laugh.

He set the TARDIS in motion once more, this time without Jack's help. From the moment Rose had made her request, he'd known exactly where to take her—somewhere they'd been before—and had already set the coordinates. He needed to time this carefully so that they wouldn't miss the grand event, but also in order to minimize a dangerous paradox. No need to worry about crossing paths with his previous regeneration, and Jack hadn't been travelling with them yet, but things could get tricky with two of Rose in the same time and place. To be safe, he directed the TARDIS to materialize quite some distance from where they'd been the first time.

"Almost ready," he declared, sticking his glasses back into his pocket. "Give me just a tic."

He vanished into the depths of the TARDIS, only to reappear several minutes later with three folding chairs. Two were plain beach chairs, but the third had a thick cushion sewn to the seat and to the back. He leaned them against one of the support columns and then moved to Rose's side. "C'mon, then, haven't got all day. You ready?"

She insisted on walking, though Jack and the Doctor supported her every step. When they reached the bottom of the ramp, the Doctor opened the doors with a flourish.

A reddish glow lit up the inside of the TARDIS—a sun, swollen and dying. Rose's eyes reflected the light as she looked out at the solar system. For several minutes she didn't say a word, just stared at the sun and the blue-green world that hovered off to one side. "S'beautiful," she finally murmured.

"It is," Jack responded. "Earth?"

The Doctor nodded and slid his arm around Rose. "Our first date—d'you remember?"

"The day the sun expanded," she said with a trembling voice. "We were on that posh space platform, with all those rich aliens. That was the first time I ever saw an alien! Cassandra . . . Jabe . . . the Face of Boe . . . oh, and that nasty little blue fella who spat on me. God, that was disgusting!"

"The Moxx of Balhoon," the Doctor supplied.

Jack crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "You were here before? I'm just a novice time-traveller compared to you, Doctor, but isn't that a bit dangerous—crossing your own timeline and all?"

"Oh, we're safe enough. Platform One is all the way on the other side of the Earth. It's my old self over there with Rose, so she's the only one who's essentially the same person. You—" He stopped mid-sentence to blink at Jack. He'd been mistaken. Jack was over on Platform One with Rose and his previous regeneration; not only that, but he'd sponsored the entire event. Not the Jack Harkness they knew and loved, of course, but a much older, wiser version—five billion years older, to be exact, and rather lacking a body. He'd often wondered how Jack had managed to go from a handsome human (with all body parts attached) to a bloated head floating in a jar of smoke . . . but he'd lacked the nerve to find out.

"Well, you weren't with us yet," he finished.

"I don't get it," Jack said. He'd grabbed a bag of chips and popped one in his mouth before continuing. "This is the day the sun expanded, right? The day the earth is destroyed—and what a lovely idea for a first date, by the way—but you were here when it happened, as guests on Platform One. Why come back?"

"We were too busy saving ourselves," Rose said quietly. "No one saw it go."

"Exactly!" The Doctor pulled the padded chair over and helped Rose to sit. A forcefield kept their atmosphere in place, but it tended to get a bit chilly near the door, so he draped a soft blanket across Rose's lap. "Such a historic occasion, the end of the earth! And we missed it. So, here we are—a second chance. Pass those chips, would you?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It turned out to be quite the show. The sun sent angry white flames to lick at the gravity field that held it back, until finally the field dropped and nature took its course. The Doctor felt Rose inhale beside him as the wave of fire spun outward. For a moment, the orange-white flame seemed to pause against the purple-blue of the earth, as though reluctant to destroy the planet that had been there for so very long . . . and then it consumed the earth.

They stared, transfixed as a white-hot shockwave spread over the curve of the earth's surface. It lasted only a moment, and then the planet erupted into flame. Oceans evaporated into geysers of superheated steam, the air ignited, mountains melted into liquid fire . . . the heat and pressure became too much—and the world exploded.

All things come to an end.

The TARDIS shuddered under an assault of molten rocks but her shields held, as did the shields of Platform One. In the distance, they could see the shimmering blue light that protected the observation platform. Within, a very young Rose began to face the universe around her, clearly seeing the wonder and the danger for the first time, while a much younger Doctor began to heal from wounds inflicted by the Time War. The sun hung nearby, bloated and glowing and sated for the moment.

A beginning and an end—quite poetic, thought the Doctor. He turned to say so, but found Rose with her eyes closed. His breath caught in his throat.

"Rose?"

Jack turned, but remained silent as the Doctor brushed his fingers against Rose's neck, searching in vain for a pulse. When he found none, he touched her cheek in an unsteady caress. His hand shook as he smoothed her hair one last time, and then Jack held him as he began to weep.

(To Be Concluded. . . .)