Sorry for the delay guys. Life has been happening and I've been away from the internet. Hopefully, I can get my posting back on track within this next week. As always, thank you for reading!

Time Lord Victorious

Joshua woke the next morning with a pounding headache. He wrote it off as a hangover, although he really didn't remember drinking that much. He lay in bed for a bit, hoping it would go away but he had no such luck. Rose was already up and about, probably talking to Jackie about wedding plans. Joshua got out of bed slowly, each movement making the pounding worse. He managed to get dressed, and started his way slowly down the stairs, towards the kitchen.

He shuffled his way slowly across the floor, each step trying not to jar his head. Now that he was up and moving, he felt nauseous as well. He almost made it to the kitchen, but a fresh wave of pain and nauseous hit him, so intense that he fell to the floor. He was unconscious before he hit the floor.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

Joshua looked around at the scenery. He was standing on a red planet with his orange space suit on, staring across the landscape. In the distance, he could see what appeared to be a small colony unit. The white of the walls contrasted greatly with the red of the sand.

He started forward, head in the direction of the colony. Even though he'd parked only about a mile away, it seemed like forever before he finally reached it. He used his sonic screwdriver to get inside. The halls were mostly barren, which he kind of expected. These types of exploration colonies usually didn't hold more than ten people at a time. Something about this one set his stomach to churning, but he attempted to ignore it.

It didn't take long before he was captured and brought in front of the commanding officer.

"State your name, rank, and purpose."

"The Doctor. Doctor. Fun." There he goes, being a smart-ass when he has a gun pointed towards his head.

It was at this point that Joshua realized he had been sucked into his counter-part's mind. He tried to sever the connection, but something kept him held in place. No matter how he tried, he couldn't disconnect. He watched the scene unfold like a horror story.

The leader seemed to mistrust him, and rightfully so. Not that he had a malicious intent, but because he'd walked into the base. As far as they knew, there wasn't technology out there that could do that. So he was treated with suspicion.

As the adventure progressed and things became tense, it finally dawned on the Doctor why he'd felt so nauseous. This was a fixed point, something he couldn't change. He wanted to, so badly. He was so tired of following all the rules whenever all the Universe did was take away everything he ever wanted. For once, he was going to do what he wanted, damn the rules.

Joshua cringed. Joshua was supposed to be the violent, self-destructive one. At least that's what the Doctor had said. But this, this was beyond destructive. It wasn't exactly suicidal, but it was evil. Joshua knew what happened to a Time Lord who didn't follow established rules. Those rules were there for a reason.

The Doctor watched as the entire team was taken over by the water. He had an escape plan, but knew that no one was supposed to live through this encounter. It was fixed, but he didn't care. He was determined that Adelaide would live. Even if he couldn't save everyone, he could save her. Damn the rules.

They landed on Earth and Adelaide left the TARDIS. Snow was coming down, and lights were up on the flats. Christmas time, he assumed. He confessed to Adelaide what was supposed to happen, that she was supposed to die that day. Her and her crew never made it back from that expedition and no one ever knew why. He called himself the Time Lord Victorious and time would bend to his will.

Adelaide went inside her home. The sound of a gun shot would echo through the Doctor's mind for centuries. A warning to himself that he could go too far. That he did go too far. He stumbled back to his TARDIS, horrified at himself and what he'd become. His song was ending soon. He'd seen the signs and had an idea of what they meant. His final death. And he was so, so afraid.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

Joshua woke slowly. His head was still pounding an his body ached. He could feel harsh bright lights shining on him, making him close his eyes tighter. He could hear the beeping of machines. Someone's hand clasped his own, drawing soothing circles on the back of it.

He groaned and turned to his side, facing whomever had his hand. He heard a gasp. Whoever squeezed his hand gently before getting up and walking out of the room. He was left alone and almost started panicking. He calmed immediately when he heard Rose's voice yelling down the hallway.

"Mum! Dad! He's awake!"

~DW~~DW~~DW~

He kept his eyes closed through the entire interrogation because that's what it felt like. It took the doctor coming in and turning off the lights to coax his eyes open. Standing around his bed were Rose, Jackie, Pete, Jack and the man who had given him his physical. Doctor Martin was his name. Joshua had chuckled a bit and called him "Doc Martin". Rose and Jackie got the reference but it went right over Pete's head. They didn't have that brand of shoes here.

Doc Martin went over his vitals with him. Apparently, he'd passed out on his way to the kitchen. Rose and Jackie heard him fall. When they'd gotten to him, he'd been unresponsive but otherwise fine. His vitals fluctuated the entire time he was out, but nothing too alarming. It'd only been a couple of hours since he'd arrived at the Torchwood operated hospital, but the entire family had been tense. Well, everyone but Rose. Rose had stayed calm and collected through the entire ordeal. Even now, she seemed to not be bothered one bit by his strange episode.

'Are you alright, love?'

Rose raised her eyes to his and he bit back a gasp. They were completely golden. Not glowing like when she had absorbed the Vortex, but definitely not her normal color either. Her eyes were lighter and reminded him of a wolf. She bent down and whispered in his ear. The two-toned sound of her voice gave him chills.

"Doctor, this will not break you. But you have to stop running. It is time."

She sat back and seemed to shiver. When she looked back at Joshua, her eyes were mostly normal again. He blinked rapidly, trying to process what had happened.

"It was horrible, Rose, what he did. Tell me it wasn't true."

"I'm so, so sorry, but he has no one. He's lost everything, including a part of himself. He's gone a bit mad. It's not wonder he tried to do this."

"You...you know what happened?" Rose nods, pursing her lips together.

"I have seen all that was, is, and could be. Of course I saw this. But yes, I used the bond to take a peak. I wasn't pulled in like you were. Not wholly. It felt more like watching the telly."

"Oh..." Joshua felt the brush of her mind against his.

'We'll talk when we get home, love.'

Joshua nodded. Jackie and Pete finally broke away from Doc Martin. The doctor smiled at Joshua before starting to unhook him from the machines.

"Well, you gave your family quite the scare. Your vitals spiked, but nothing to alarming. It was mostly you passing out that startled them. We've had dealings with psychic attacks before and if you don't mind, I'd like you to stop by daily to make sure you're mind isn't damaged, for at least a week. Rose explained the nature of your connection. I'm fairly certain that you are fine and won't have any problems. Mostly, I'm just worried about a relapse. What will happen the next time something traumatic happens to him?"

"Well, honestly, I'm sure it will happen again when he regenerates. He could hold a body for centuries but he seems to think that he's coming to an end soon. So, I can only assume that I'll still be alive when it happens."

"Ah, well, this might sound a bit, overprotective of me, but for mine and your family's piece of mind, could you make sure you have someone near you most of the time?"

"You're treating me like a seizure patient, aren't you?"

"Not exactly, but at the same time, yes. We're won't be putting you on medication, but this episode is very similar to a seizure-like episode. Like I said, a bit overprotective on my part, but I'd rather not risk you getting seriously hurt because you fell."

"I'll consider it."

"No driving, either. Not until we're sure this has passed." Joshua closed his eyes and sighed. He honestly, at that moment, hated the Time Lord. He could properly get on with his life because of him!

'I love you.' Rose breathed through his mind, soothing him.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

Jackie insisted they come back to the mansion that night and refused to take no for an answer.

"Look, Doctor, you were just ill not twelve hours ago. I'm not sure if my heart can take something happening to you. Especially not since this is the happiest I've seen my Rose in years. You're coming home with us and I just might make you move in. Never did like that flat she moved to."

"Don't...Jackie, please don't call me Doctor." She blinked her eyes at him.

"Why the heck not? It's who you are, isn't it?"

"No, I'm my own person." Jackie pinched the bridge of her nose before replying.

"Doctor. Joshua. Doesn't matter which I call you, really. A person is the sum of his memories. My daughter told me that after you got here, trying to convince me that you were the same person. You have over 900 years of memories still in your head. You are the Doctor. Not a copy. Not a cheap throw-away."

"I...I appreciate what you're trying to say, Jackie. Really I do. And you don't know how glad I am that you and Pete are taking this as well as you are. But I want to be seen as a separate person from him. Rose understands that. Please, call me by the name I picked for myself."

"Oh alright. I'll try. If anyone in this world understands, it's me. Some of Pete and my biggest rows have been one or the other comparing. Lord knows I'm not his Jackie nor he my Pete, but we've made it work. Just remember, -Joshua, we want what's best for the two of you."

Joshua smiled the most genuine smile he'd ever given Jackie. Soon they were hugging and laughing and crying and Joshua felt an intense sense of home. Not for the first time since landing here, he wondered how he had gotten so lucky to be the one left here.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

Later, in their room in their wing of the mansion, Joshua finally brought up what had been bugging him all day.

"Rose, why didn't you tell me?" Rose looked quickly away, hurt flicking across her face. She didn't answer so he continued talking. "You telepathy is outstanding for a human. And today, your eyes glowed gold and you were...you were Bad Wolf again. How long as this been going on?"

Rose took a deep breath and held it. When she exhaled, it was shaky. Joshua realized that she was scared to breach this subject with him. Terrified even. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly to him, murmuring soft words and caressing her.

"It's okay, Rose. I'm sorry I brought it up. I didn't...I didn't know it was such a touchy subject for you. You don't have to talk to me about it right now, love."

'It started right after we arrived here. Only thing I can think of is that the particles were dormant. I was so afraid when I fell that they triggered, but it was too late. Pete had already caught me and brought me back here. I was in agony for days, cut off from you, the TARDIS and the Vortex. Finally, though, the pain seemed to subside. I walked through the world numb, barely living. Mum and Mickey tried everything but it was Pete who finally was able to pull me out of it by giving me a purpose.

I started Torchwood, not really wanting to be there. That first day, though, I created the allegiance with the Arcadians. I couldn't figure out why everyone was looking at me weirdly. I didn't know that I was speaking their language perfectly. I just assumed they were speaking English. That was the first indication that Bad Wolf had awakened.

The next wasn't until I started the dimension cannon. They tried at first sending something that wasn't human. Nothing alive. It came back corrupted. Pete and Mum didn't want me to go but Jake, Mickey and I snuck in one night. We fired it up and I went through. I'm not even sure where I landed, actually. They only let me be gone for a few minutes before bringing me back. They said what I landed, I was glowing yellow. Mickey knew what it meant. I'd told him how I'd gotten back to you at the Game Station. But this is the first he'd seen with his own eyes.

I went to so many worlds. Saw so much heartache, and evil, and have died a thousand deaths. You couldn't tell that looking at my body. I have no scaring from my dimension hopping. But I've been broken and scattered. I've seen worlds where you didn't exist. Some where you were evil. Some where I was evil. It made me go a bit mad. I finally had to make myself a tape to listen to after each jump so I could know I was in the correct place and not losing my mind.

That's why I have nightmares. That's why I've been clinging to you in my sleep. Because I have so much to hide. And I'm so afraid that if I let go of your in my sleep that you will disappear. I'm not sure if I could bear that.'

Joshua didn't say anything. He just kept rocking Rose and murmuring soothingly. He sent her a wave of love down the bond and wrapped her tightly in it. His ministrations finally started calming her and she stepped back, wiping tears from her face.

"Thank you, Joshua, for everything. For just listening. I've never...Mickey, Jake, Pete...none of them know what I went through trying to find out. They suspect quite a bit but none of them know. And I'm just...one days, I'll let you see the memories, if you want. But not right now. I want...I want a good long soak in the bath and then bed."

"Your wish is my command."