Guilt is never a good thing for anyone to carry. It weighs on the soul and the conscious until its hard to function at all without feeling a stab of pain. With any amount of guilt its hard to feel good or happy about yourself. Pretty soon all you want is to do something good, something to counter the horrible guilt. And no one carries as much guilt as the Doctor, or does more good. But its never really enough for him to feel good. He pretends all right, he pretends all the time. He puts on a mask when he's out in the world, a mask of ridiculous grins and laughs and sarcastic wit. He erects walls around his real emotions and hides them so deep in himself you'd never know they're there unless he lets you in. And he doesn't let anyone in anymore.

And he'll do anything he can to alleviate that guilt. The problem is, sometimes the good he does turns out to be bad.

Sometimes, when he's fooled into doing the wrong thing, it only adds to his guilt.

Rose never suspected any of that. Not until the Gelth. The blue, gaseous creatures that haunted the house of Mr. Sneed. She couldn't see behind his mask yet, though she had gotten glimpses. Glimpses of sadness bigger than anything she could comprehend and loathing, loathing for himself and sometimes for other creatures. Cassandra was the first time she saw that. The first time she saw his desperation to do good was the Gelth.

Because, how could he resist helping them? Their story was perfect: their physical bodies destroyed by the Time War, searching for a new home. Pity the Gelth.

So of course, it was his fault. The Time War was his people's fault, and the destruction wrought by it was as well. The only Time Lord left, it fell on him to help ease the suffering caused by it. He had to help the Gelth get bodies. He had to do it, to help himself as much as them.

So he didn't listen to Rose's objections, he encouraged Gwyneth. Anything to help get rid of this awful pain weighing down on his empty, lonely mind.

Then it all went wrong. Mr. Sneed's death, Dickens running off. Him and Rose trapped in the dungeon, side by side. Preparing to die.

"But I can't die," Rose says. "Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet, its impossible for me to die. Isn't it?"

He looks over at her. Fantastic, beautiful, clever Rose. And all he can think to say is "I'm sorry."

He has to explain, of course. How she can die before she's born. Die and become one of the Gelth.

He doesn't want to die. Surprising, that, considering he got this body by offing himself after he destroyed Gallifrey. But he doesn't want to. And he doesn't want Rose to die, no, never Rose. She doesn't deserve to die here because of his stupid decisions.

"We'll go down fightin', yeah?" She says shakily.

"Yeah." He replies.

"Together?"

"Yeah." He says again. She grabs his hand and as their fingers intwine he's struck by an emotion so powerful he can't even breathe for a moment. He doesn't know what it is, this burning in his hearts, but as he turns to look at Rose he vocalizes it in the only way he can.

"I'm so glad I met you." He says. His mask comes off as he does so when she looks up and smiles that beautiful smile of hers, she's seeing the real him. Doesn't even know it, but she is.

"Me too." She replies, squeezing his hand, and he smiles as well. That true, proper smile he only gets when he's around her.

Then Dickens is back, filling the room with gas and drawing out the Gelth. He barely has time to consider how brilliant that man really is before they're free and Dickens is dragging Rose out. He gives Gwyneth a kiss on her cold, dead forehead and runs, getting out of the house just as it blows up.

They say goodbye to Dickens and he chuckles at his expression as the TARDIS begins to dematerialize. But all the while the burning is still in his hearts, distracting him every time Rose speaks. When she announces she's going to bed he nods, then pushes himself away from the console to wrap her in a hug. He doesn't really know why, but he does anyway. He feels her bury her face in his leather-clad shoulder, the tension in her body relaxing just a bit.

No, he won't name that strange emotion he's feeling. He's not sure he can just yet. He just knows that this silly, stupid ape in his arms has become more important to him in two days than he thought anyone could again. And it's scary, but he doesn't really care. As long as she's here, he'll be all right. As she said just a few hours ago: its better with two.

So, I already have the next chapter written. If I get reviews, I'll update faster. Deal?

Also, a revised message from Valkyrie Elysia.

On a very serious note, a part of the SOPA bill, the stupid document that tried to take away our freedoms on the internet which the American government tried to pass a few years ago, is trying to be passed again. And this time around, if this bill gets passed, if a particular stream contains ANY copyrighted material in the broadest of terms the uploader and creator of the content could be found guilty and put in prison for years on felony charges. Also, anyone who streams a video with 'copyrighted' content, whether it be on YouTube, a walkthrough for a video game, or a kid singing a song could be faced with charges as well. Yeah, you heard me right - anyone who posts lets plays, amvs, fandubs, lyric videos, singing a lyric song in public, reviews which have movie clips in it, fan made movies or covers online could possibly be cell mates with serial killers and rapists. That is one of the highest form of criminal offensives for something as simple as uploading a video game walkthrough on YouTube, playing a song with lyrics of your favorite artist, posting a review with movie clips in it, or making a fan made movie or amv.

This doesn't just effects people in the States, but world wide. If this bill gets passed, many people who post videos with 'copy written' material, especially in the States, online could possibly end up with major charges, possibly being put in maximum security prison long side serial killers and rapists. These could possibly include your friends and family to people at thatguywiththeglasses to your favourite YouTuber.

This bill is taking away human rights and freedoms - that is wrong in my eyes. I don't know about you guys, but I want to do something about it and help put an end to this before it begins.

We, even those not living in America or not an legal adults, are not as powerless as we might think. We stopped SOPA before and we must do it again. If you want to stop this bill from being passed, please spread the word by posting an similar A/N in the next chapter of your own story; making a video with information about this on YouTube with a link to the petition; or even post messages about it on sites like Twitter, 4chan, Tumbler, Facebook and any other social media sites you can think of, informing people of this bill. You can even do your part by simply informing your friends and family members about this. Anyone can do these actions no matter what nation you live in or what age you are.

For those readers living in America, especially those who are legal adults, please for the love of God, sign the official petition stopping this bill online because you guys are the ones who could truly put an end to this madness easier then the rest of us living in other countries. If you ask me through a PM or even a comment, I can give a link to the official petition which any of my legal age, American readers can sign.

This bill is trying to be passed quietly and we can stop them in their tracks by simply letting as many people know about this as we possible can. I know we stopped this bill once before, but if we all have the "well, it won't get passed anyway since it did not last time" attitude and do nothing about it, informing no one about this, this bill will get passed. for sure. Do not sit idle by and let this bill happen, let people know about this and do your part! We can all take part and make a difference if we put up a fight for our rights

Link: .gov/petition/stop-sopa-2013/LMzMVrQF