DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Doctor Who. Still don't make any money from this. But if he doesn't stop leaving TARDIS prints in my flower bed, we're gonna have words…
SUMMARY: Something goes horribly, horribly wrong in the Parallel Universe and the Doctor's not there to save the day.
A/N: I have the best reviewers! You guys made me grin like a loony every time I get a review! Love it!
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Over the next few days, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory made themselves at home in the Hub. Well, in the TARDIS in the Hub. Martha and Mickey were surprised at the Doctor's regeneration, but only in his appearance. They thanked him for saving them, again, when the Sontaran had had them pinned down years before, so they'd been expecting him to change.
Gwen and Rhys were easier since they'd never been properly introduced.
Plans were made for John's funeral and his body moved to a stasis chamber in the TARDIS while the Doctor and Jack's team continued researching what could have brought John back to this universe.
Two more weeks passed surprisingly fast without one complaint from the Doctor about being "stuck" in one place for so long. Amy and Rory had made fast friends with the two Torchwood couples, and everyone could be found most nights having dinner in the Hub's conference room or in one of the TARDIS kitchens.
Soon after the Doctor had arrived, Jack had made it a point to "talk" to the TARDIS, to tell Her what was happening. He felt the sentient machine's sadness at John's death, but also Her happiness at having Jack back on board.
This had brought the man to tears again and he'd stroked the walls of Her corridors when he visited. Often during this time, when Jack couldn't be found anywhere else in the Hub, he'd been found asleep in the jump seat in front of the console or curled up in the swing under the console floor.
Once, Amy had walked in to see him laying flat on his back on the glass floor, arms behind his head and legs crossed at the ankle, talking to himself in broken words and sentences. She told the Doctor about this and he'd dropped what he was working on to see for himself.
The Doctor smiled at the sight, himself hidden near the door. "Amy, he's speaking to the TARDIS telepathically. What you're hearing is Jack speaking out loud and well as in his mind." He grinned down at her. "They're old friends and happy to have each other again."
He frowned then and looked back at Jack. "Captain! I'll thank you to not flirt with my ship, sir!"
Jack just smiled at the Doctor. "Make me," and turned back to gaze at the ceiling to continue his conversation.
The Doctor just grumbled under his breath when he felt the TARDIS' chiming laughter in his head. "Women."
This started Amy laughing so hard she collapsed on the couch near the wall, tears streaming down her face.
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The Doctor sat in the jump seat in front of the TARDIS control panel, legs crossed at the knees, listening to his ship hum in his mind.
"I can't figure it out, dear. How John got back here, what that flash of light could have been, nothing! It's maddening!"
The security tape from the Hub surveillance didn't help any, though Jack's reactions to the Rift spike was interesting. Time for that later, though.
He sighed and scrubed his hands over his face, then through his hair, semi-reminiscent of his previous self. He'd felt the prodding from his ninth and tenth selves for days now, and the tension and worry of not knowing Rose's whereabouts and condition was driving him more insane than he already was.
"Well, old girl. I'm stuck. Well, maybe not stuck. Maybe confused. Confused and stuck."
The TARDIS hummed sootingly in his head, Her own worry still evident.
"If John is in this universe and Rose isn't, then we can assume it wasn't an intentional jump." He remembered Rose doing just that, just so she could return to him. 'Striding parallel to parallel' as Davros had called it. He smiled at the thought of her, then closed his eyes and begged every deity he'd heard of - or even met - to please please please let her be safe.
"So what now, eh?" The Doctor drops his head back and, with another sigh, groaned in frustration.
A sudden tingle on his skin and in the deepest recesses of his mind jerked him back to awareness. He looked up in time to see a beautiful, glowing figure walking around the console, trailing a hand atop the controls. The movement of the air above the controls swirled with gold and light and Time, like glitter and silk caught in the currents of a whirlpool.
The figure, a woman, smiled at him, the light of the Vortex and the depth of the now-extinct Untempered Schism reflected in her eyes.
The Doctor's own eyes grew amazingly wide and his jaw dropped, astonished, thrilled, hopeful, terrified. He was halfway to his feet when she held up a hand and he dropped back down. He flinched at the raw power she held.
"Rose?" He could only manage a whisper.
Her gaze dropped from her perusal of the time rotor to him. "No, My Doctor. Not Your Rose."
"Bad Wolf."
She smiled again at him. "Yes." The word rang in his mind like the Cloister Bell.
He jumped to his feet this time. "You should not be here. You shouldn't even exist anymore. I took you out of her!" His hands slashed the air between them.
"Yes, My Doctor, you did. But you, Time's Champion, should know better. I create myself."
"So, why now? After all this .. well, time… why now? What more could you possibly want?" He yelled the last part at her, then turned to stalk around the console.
"I protect you, My Doctor, and the Valiant Child. Our Rose." Tears fell down her cheeks and splashed onto the glass floor, glowing for a moment before being absorbed by the TARDIS. "But I was so weak. I failed and was released from Our Rose."
The Doctor froze at the implication. "No." His previously flushed countenance now paled dramatically and he squeezed his eyes shut, gripping a random lever hard to hold himself upright. "Please, no. She's not dead. Not Rose. She's supposed to be safe."
The TARDIS groaned, feeling the overwhelming grief from the two creatures in existance She was connected to so deeply, and Bad Wolf choked on her sobs. The light in her eyes faded slightly.
"No, not dead, but she's so close, My Doctor. So close to The Darkness. You must help her. Please, My Doctor. More depends on this than you can imagine."
He stalked to her, barely restrainiing himself from grabbing and shaking her. "Tell me."
"I cannot. I'm sorry, but I cannot." The light flared back.
"Can you take me to her, then? Safely?"
She closed her eyes, breathing deeply and concentrating. "Yes, My Doctor. I can."
"What happens to you then? The Bad Wolf."
She sighs and tucks her chin into her chest. "I will return to Our Rose, dormant, but I will help her in any way I can. But you must be quick, My Doctor. Your life, hers, my own, and so many others will depend on it."
A bright flash of light, not very different from the one on the Torchwood security films, and the Doctor ceased to exist.
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