A/N: Dumb school... :o

Chapter 12 – Shattered Rose

Flashback…

The Doctor eased open his eyes to the world outside.

Figures swam into focus, two of them towering over him. Blurs evolved into shapes, which evolved into the forms of Rose and Gabrielle each sitting next to him, but not looking at him. They were in a beautiful forest in the midst of the summer season, light catching the bright green leaves with the sound of trickling water and rustling leaves both close and far away. He had a large, thick hide covering him; ropes around his chest securing him to the surface he was laying on, presumably some kind of makeshift stretcher. Someone was holding his hand (Rose?) and someone was absently dabbing at his brow (Gabrielle…) with a cold cloth.

He turned his head slightly to the left, catching an agitated Captain Jack Harkness pacing up and down the forest floor. It seemed silent – too silent. Last thing he remembered was being in the room of the Healer struggling to stay conscious with Rose beside him, mopping his brow as Gabrielle was now.

Next he turned his head to the right, seeing primarily Gabrielle sat cross-legged beside him, staring off into the distance in a daydream. Behind her he could see Father Jace, hands clasped together in prayer, muttering under his breath.

The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand who seemed to jump in surprise, eyes snapping down to meet his gaze as he grinned cheekily. Jack jumped forward and dropped to his knees beside him, doing a covert scan with his manipulator.

"Doctor!" Rose exclaimed, in turn startling the rest of them. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," the Doctor replied with a smile. It was true, too. All of his symptoms had seemingly vanished in the time he'd been unconscious. His body was pain free, his airways clear, his eyes focused. He scratched at the side of his neck and yawned as Jack hid the future technology from the medieval citizens, checking the results.

"Your temperature's at 18 degrees Celsius," Jack announced, sound surprised. "Almost back to normal."

Father Jace joined them now, resting his hand on the Doctor's head. "I do not understand your terminology," he said to Jack. "But I can see Mondrith has lifted her punishment on you, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled again before he gestured around the forest clearing that surrounded them. "We on a picnic?" he asked cheerily.

The others, having been so wrought with guilt, hate and anger, were relieved to able to smile once more. Jack began to explain all that had happened whilst the Doctor had been unconscious: the raid on the village, the plan to get the sick Time Lord out (he neglected to mention the sacrifice of the villagers – the Doctor already had enough to think about) and the so-far two-hour long wait in the forest.

"The combat has most likely stopped by now," Father Jace was saying. "But we did not feel it right to go back."

The Doctor nodded, understanding as Jack began to untie him from the makeshift stretcher. He pushed himself to prop up on his elbows, Rose engulfing him instantly in a bone-crushing hug.

"Invincible Time Lord," she whispered in his ear with a smile as they embraced.

"You bet!" the Doctor replied, holding her tight. Jack couldn't help but smile as his best friends held onto each other tightly as though they'd never let go.

Suddenly the Doctor tensed in her arms, and Rose instantly drew back, somehow fearing a relapse. "What is it?"

His demeanour changed within seconds. "Get down," he grated with a sense of urgency that no one dared ignore, letting go of Rose and pushing her gently to lie down. "Stay silent."

They did so, straining to see or hear what the Doctor was getting that they weren't. They remained in silence for ten seconds before Jack finally picked up on the sound.

Twigs cracking beneath heavy footfalls – footfalls that could only be made by big, heavy, bandit boots.

Rose sought out the Doctor's hand again, clutching it tightly. How many of them were there? Four? Five? Six? Too many for the gathered party even if they were all strong enough to fight. Jack could fight but Father Jace was too old, Gabrielle and Rose too unable to match the bandits' strength, and the Doctor still weak from his illness. They didn't stand a chance.

A bandit came into view, hobbling towards them with a huge smile on his face.

"Dere you are!" he grunted with glee. "On yer feet, all o' yer!"

"Do as he says," the Doctor commanded, Rose helping him to his feet with the others following."

The bandit stepped forward and drew out his sword, waving it around to declare his authority. "Who wants t'go firs'?"

Jack exchanged a look with the Doctor – they were both waiting for the other bandits to arrive. But… if this was the only one…

"I'll go first," Jack announced, stepping forward to the bandit. The bandit seemed surprised, but it only took a moment to regain his demeanour as he drew out a mace from the assortment of weapons his belt, smiling.

"You're a little outnumbered, aren't you?" the Doctor suddenly pointed out correctly.

"Yeah, where're your little friends?" Jack asked, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.

The bandit looked surprised again. He didn't really seem to have an answer. "They're comin'!" he said, sounding sure of himself.

The Doctor and Jack gave each other another knowing smile. "Can't hear them myself," the Doctor continued, lowering his hands and shoving them in his pockets. "They must be on tiptoes."

The bandit could see he was obviously losing authority. "They'll be righ' 'ere!"

"Uh huh," Jack murmured, dropping his hands and turning his back on the bandit, walking back to the laughing crowd, who by now had also dropped their arms to their sides.

The bandit resorted to waving his mace about again ineffectually. The Doctor rolled his eyes, sighing heavily as he also turned away and began to walk back towards the others.

The bandit's look of shock suddenly morphed into one of anger and he once again raised his mace, running straight towards the Doctor who still had his back turned. Rose watched, horrified as the mace began to fall with force straight towards the Doctor's spine…

"No!" Rose screamed, running forward in a flash and pushing him out the maces path, but as she turned back towards it she realised with a sense of impending doom, she was IN it.

The Doctor heard a loud crack as he lay on the floor, too dazed and confused to comprehend what the cause of the sound might be. Seconds later he heard the thud of a fallen body and the entire forest seemed to sink into silence around them. He looked up, shocked as Rose registered in his vision lying on the ground next to him in a pool of blood…

"ROSE!" the Doctor screamed hysterically, clambering to his feet and almost tripping over himself in a panic to get to the girl. He dropped down next to her unconscious body, reaching down to her head, her hair already soaking with warm, crimson blood. He stared in utter disbelief, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

"What the HELL have you done?!" Jack screamed at the bandit, striding forward in a few small steps directly in front of the bandit, throwing a punch to his face. He staggered and fell to the floor, dazed. "You bastard!" the ex-Time Agent yelled, pinning the man's arms behind his back in what looked like an incredibly painful position. Jack spun his head back to the Doctor, who was cradling the limp woman's body in both arms, seemingly paralysed by the sight.

"Rose…" he whispered, resting his fingers on her neck for a pulse. She was alive, her heart was beating, she was breathing. Focus Doctor, he told himself, Rose needs you, she needs you to save her…

Tentatively he reached up to her blood-matted hair; delicately touching the side the blood seemed to be pouring from. There was too much damage: her skull was shattered, her brain was injured, he couldn't do anything…

"Doc?!" Jack yelled, breaking through the shock the Doctor seemed to be in. "Is she gonna be okay?!"

The Doctor couldn't bring himself to answer, feeling the tears welling in his eyes. If she survived, brain damage…

Jack swore again, not needing the verbal answer. The bandit yelled in agony as Jack put more pressure on his arms. "You've killed her, you've killed Rose!" He turned back to the Doctor but he was still holding Rose in both arms, staring at her now with silent tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Doc!" Jack implored the Time Lord, "speak to me!"

The Doctor couldn't hear him, his ears screaming with his vision swerving in and out with the shock. He set her gently on the ground, brushing back the hair from her eyes before he finally looked up at the bandit, his face blank of emotion.

"Doctor," Jack said slowly, eyes wide, staring at the Time Lord. "Doctor, please, listen to my voice, calm down…"

The Doctor couldn't hear anything for the shock. He gazed at the bandit as if deciding what to do to him in return for killing Rose Tyler, his usually warm brown eyes now devoid of emotion – cold and empty. Relentless. Unforgiving. Pure, undivided hate.

He started moving forwards towards the man lying helpless on the ground.

Jack hardly had time to let go of the bandit before the Doctor was upon him, grabbing the bandit by his throat and lifting him in the air and slamming him against a tree with strength Jack didn't even know the Time Lord had in him.

"No!" the bandit screamed, thrashing around, trying desperately to get away from the Oncoming Storm. "Please dun't kill meh!"

The Doctor didn't utter a word as his grip around the bandit's neck began to tighten.

"Please!"

"Doctor!" Jack said firmly, moving towards the Doctor and grabbing his arm, trying to pull it away – but it was though he was a statue. "Let go! You're killin' him!"

But what the Doctor said next sent chills through his spine.

"That is the intention."


Donna's legs felt like lead. Her heart was in her throat and her brain didn't seem to want to coordinate with her limbs as she stared at the Doctor's broken body lying on the ground of the camp in a pool of his own blood. She couldn't speak. She couldn't think. No. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Travelling with the Doctor was the trip of a lifetime, the best days of her life, seeing new planets and life and…

Not this.

Definitely not this.

There was a sudden dull thud as the metal bolt fired from Martin's crossbow impacted directly into the bandit's chest. He didn't cry out, but merely smiled, silently sinking to the floor as he died on the spot.

Donna didn't even know she was moving. She suddenly found herself over by the Doctor, standing above his prone form lying silent and unmoving in the now calm evening air.

"Doctor," she whispered, dropping to her knees beside him, tentatively pushing him over to lie flat on his back. He flopped awkwardly with her push; his now upturned throat exposing the four-inch gouge in the skin, bleeding profusely. She swallowed. "Doctor," she whispered again. "What do I do?"

He didn't answer her.

And Donna didn't know if he ever would again.