~oOo~
Before Joan could fire, a flash of light erupted and Joan's body crumpled to the ground. Gun in hand, Clara crossed the room. In quick succession she fired three more shots, hitting each Family member in turn.
"You killed them," Rose declared, feeling an odd mingling of relief and disgust. "And where did you get that?"
Clara shook her head. "UNIT issue, set to stun, more or less. They're just knocked out, which is more than I can say for the poor people that they used for their bodies."
Stumbling, John made his way back over to Rose. "What the bloody hell is going on here? They killed him, the police officer who arrested me. He was trying to help, and they just killed him. And the Doctor, they said they were looking for the Doctor."
Rose grabbed his hands and squeezed. "Calm down, love. I promise I'll explain everything. We just need to get out of here." She turned to Clara. "Keep an eye on them and don't let local police take them away. They could still cause a lot of damage if they wake up any time soon and local authorities wouldn't know how to handle it."
"No problem, just hurry back." Clara nodded, not taking her eyes off the four bodies in front of her. "I'm sure UNIT is dispatching a team as we speak, and if we want to clean this up without their interference, we're gonna need the Doctor."
"You'd rather not have your guys handle clean up?" Rose asked, a little skeptical.
"The less alien tech that's available on the planet the better, in my opinion. Just bring back the Doctor so the three of us can get this sorted," Clara replied before holstering her weapon and turning to Rose. The two women shared a meaningful look before Rose turned back to John.
"Come on; we've got a lot to talk about." Tugging on John's hand, Rose pulled him from the ballroom and out to his Range Rover. Numbly he handed over the keys when she asked for them. His mind raced to try and make sense of what was happening while she paid no mind to speed limits or stop signs on the short trip back to her house.
He had so many questions. How could she stand there earlier and talk of the Doctor as if he were a real person? Someone that she simply needed to fetch? Why did she seem to know exactly what was going on? What about Clara? How did she know about the Doctor? Why, when she had talked with a Southern accent since they'd met, did she suddenly sound British? How much of this town, of his life here, was a lie?
"Clara's accent?" he finally asked as he followed her up the stairs to her room, the room they had shared for the last few weeks. He hadn't even registered that they'd made it to the house until this moment.
"Apparently, she is a member of UNIT, the Unified Intelligence Taskforce," Rose explained. "My friend, our friend Martha worked with them for a while before starting a family and going freelance. UNIT helps defend the Earth from alien threats. They're good people for the most part."
He scoffed. "You sound mad, completely certifiable."
"Yeah, well, I've spent the last twelve years of my life sounding mad. At least I do when I actually do talk about my past." She took a painting off the wall, revealing what looked to be a safe. It opened after she pressed her palm against the door. "I spent over a year travelling across time and space with an alien with two hearts. A man who could change his face. And I can't talk about it without sounding like a complete nutter."
"I don't understand what you're talking about," John said, shaking his head. This was Rose; why was she saying things like this? Acting like everything that had happened in the last hour had been normal?
She'd pulled a pocket watch out of the safe and cradled it protectively in one of her hand. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Doctor."
His knees buckled, and he only barely managed to stay standing. "The Doctor's not real. He can't be."
"John," she said softly. "He is real. You're him and he's you. All those things in your dreams, they're real. All the places, they're real. Those adventures that we have together are real."
"It can't be," he whispered even though he sensed the sincerity of her words. It was almost as if he could feel his world crumbling around him. "How can it be true? I'm human. What, did you bribe the doctors in the hospital to ignore the second heart?"
Rose reached out and took his hand. "The Family, the aliens that attacked the party tonight, they were hunting the Doctor. Hoping to use him to live forever. They have short lifespans, see. So the Doctor hid himself here as a human. Inside this watch he hid the Time Lord part of himself and the rest of your memories. Three months and then it would be time to open the watch."
His eyes went wide in realization. "It's been almost three months since we met." Blind panic overtook him, and he jumped away from Rose. "But that's not true, is it? We've met before, haven't we?"
"Yes, I was nineteen, and you blew up my job." A wistful smile graced her face while she spoke. "You had a different face back then. In your dreams, he was the one in the leather jacket."
Images floated through his mind. A man in a leather jacket dancing with Rose. The same man running hand in hand with Rose and collapsing with laughter when they reached a blue box. The memories shifted, this time of Rose laughing with the Doctor with John's face. Then Rose was crying. She always tried not to let him see her cry. Walking away, leaving him. He'd pushed her away.
No, he wouldn't become that man just to lose Rose.
"I don't want to be the Doctor; you left him," John cried, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. He could feel his panic rising when another realization hit him. "He's the one who hurt you. The one you loved, but you didn't think loved you back. How can you ask me to become him? Why did you agree to this in the first place?"
Rose laughed mirthlessly. "Agree? I didn't have much choice, did I? Yes, I left the Doctor. Not because I didn't love him, but because he made me feel like I didn't matter." Pausing, she took a deep breath. "Like I was expendable." Her jaw clenched, and she looked away for a moment.
"Ten years, that's how long it's been since I left, for me at least. And he never forgot about me, even though he never came to see me. He even visited my mum... My mum! So that he could make sure that I was alright," Rose laughed and then her face turned serious. "I never had a choice in any of this, John. The TARDIS dropped you off here with instructions to keep you safe and open the watch in three months. I'm so sorry."
"And you just expect me to die?" A hard lump settled in the pit of his stomach. Had any of this been real? Had she cared for him at all, or was this all just an act?
"No," Rose said firmly. "Listen to me. Listen very carefully. When you open the watch you won't die. You won't just be gone, the same way that the Doctor isn't really gone right now." Slowly she walked over to him and took his hand again. "John Smith and the consciousness in the watch are two parts of the same man. You, John Smith, are the Doctor, and he's you. When you open the watch you'll simply be made whole again. And when you open that watch my feelings for you won't have changed."
She seemed so sure. Maybe she was right. Maybe Rose was right. Maybe he wouldn't really disappear. Only for her, he thought as his hand sought the watch in hers. The moment he touched the metal his mind was flooded with images.
He was down on one knee, at their favourite spot overlooking a valley below. The word yes was out of her mouth before he could pull out the ring.
Walking down the aisle in that white dress, accompanied by her mother, she had never looked more beautiful. When her hand slid into his, he knew that the promise of forever they were making today was one he would never break.
They were dancing around the kitchen. His hand rested on the gentle swell of her abdomen, identical grins plastered on their faces.
"Say hello to your son," Rose said, handing over a small, wriggling bundle. Impossibly, his heart swelled with more love than he had ever thought possible. What had he done to deserve this woman and the beautiful family she was giving him?
Year after year he aged, laugh lines turned into deep set wrinkles. The hair at his temples turned grey, and his joints began to ache. Yet his Rose stayed young and beautiful. She begged him to open the watch, to stay with her and stubbornly, he refused.
He lay on his deathbed, so many years later. Rose steadfastly sat by his side. These days she looked more like his granddaughter than his wife, always so beautiful. Holding his hand as he slowly peacefully drifted off to sleep one last time.
"No," Rose cried, wrenching him from the visions of the future. "I'd never let you just die like that. Not when you don't have to." Her hands squeezed the watch tighter, and this time visions of a different future appeared.
Wearing a pinstriped suit, he was running for his life. Rose was by his side, laughing. "I missed this," she told him as they reach their ship. "Me too, traveling with you, I missed it so much," he agreed before pulling her into a kiss.
It was a little unconventional, the way their daughter was brought into existence. His hand was covered in Rose's DNA. So it was no wonder that when his tissue was used in the progenation machine their genetic material was mingled and that the girl born from it looked so much like his Rose. Somehow, when it shouldn't have been remotely possible, they had been given a family.
Together, the three of them ran across time and space. Saving planets, overcoming tyrants and doing what needed to be done. Occasionally they stopped to visit friends, and occasionally they took a new friend with them. It wasn't the life he'd expected when he'd run away from Gallifrey, but it was one that he desperately loved.
Rose was by his side when his face changed again. And again. She lived through his eleventh and twelfth selves still looking almost as young and even more beautiful as the day that he met her. With each passing year, he loved her more. This was more than he could have ever asked for, having Rose Tyler by his side forever.
He was once again pulled from his visions when Rose dropped his hand. "All of time and space, together, if you want," Rose murmured.
This was almost too much. He liked his life here, his life with Rose. But there was the something about living the life as the Doctor with her by his side that was calling to him. "I don't want to lose you," he breathed, pulling her into his arms.
"You won't, not if you still want me." She nuzzled into his neck. "We'll have things to work out, but I don't plan on going anywhere unless it's with you."
"I love you," he said, wanting her to know one last time that his feelings were real.
"I love you too. Both as John and as the Doctor," she assured him. "Now please trust me and open the watch."
His lips met hers, and he kissed her softly. It may not truly be goodbye. However, it was the end of this chapter of his life, and a part of him didn't want to go.
There was a soft click, and the room filled with a warm, golden glow. Rose made to pull away, and he held her tighter. His kiss moved from languid to one of desperation. The watch fell to the ground as the Doctor threaded his fingers into Rose's hair.