Sherlock turned down another hall. It was empty, but there was a door halfway down. He made his way to the door and opened it, carefully. Voices reached him. They were far off, but one of them sounded like the Doctor and the other one was…the clone! They were in that room. Rose might be with them and if she wasn't the clone would know where she was.
He opened the door and stepped inside as silently as he could. He was in a shadowed alcove. The voices were coming from further into the room. He stuck close to the wall, staying hidden in the shadows as he crept along. The voices grew stronger and he could make out what the clone was saying.
"…since I'm feeling generous I'll give you a chance. If you can talk her into letting me kill you then I'll let her go," the clone said.
It looked like an old television or movie station. The detective wondered if this was where Moriarty made that tape. There were catwalks in the room and the voices seemed to be coming from the top of them. He maneuvered around the room, trying to stay hidden while he found a spot where he could get a look at what was going on atop the catwalks.
"Rose, don't do this!" the Doctor yelled.
Don't do what? What was she doing? Something dangerous. Sherlock gleaned that from the Doctor's voice. The Time Lord was worried and afraid and that didn't sit well with the detective.
"Oh, Doctor, you're going to have to try much harder than that," the clone replied.
He finally came to a spot where he could see them. The Doctor at one end and Rose at the other. The sight of Rose standing at the edge of a drop off sent a wave of fear through his heart. The clone stood between them, pointing a gun at the Doctor's chest. Sherlock had to get up there, had to save her. He couldn't shoot the clone from this distance and if he climbed up there and tried to overtake James the clone would see him before he had a chance. There was a ladder at each end. One near the Doctor and one near her.
There was a large bloke near one of the ladders. Muscle. He scanned the rest of the room. No one else. Well, get rid of that bloke first then he could save her. Sherlock tucked his gun into his waistband and silently made his way across the room, drawing up behind the other man. He jumped the bloke, hooking his arm around the man's throat in a chokehold. The bloke swung around, trying to grab the detective, but he held on, even as the man turned around and slammed Sherlock's back into the metal ladder. The bloke stepped forward and slammed him into the ladder again. He groaned as pain lanced through his back, but he pushed it aside. The man began to weaken and a moment later the bloke dropped to his knees and then he was out.
Sherlock crossed the room to the other ladder and began making his way up as quietly as he could. It wouldn't do for James to realize he was there and what he planned on doing, which was to save her, any way he could. If that meant making himself a target then so be it, but the one thing he couldn't do, no matter what, was lose her because without her there was nothing.
-0-
Amy raced down the corridor with her hand in Rory's. An explosion behind them rocked the ship. She stumbled, but kept her footing and somehow her husband did the same.
"Amy what the hell did you do?" Rory exclaimed.
"What? It's not my fault!" she yelled.
The Doctor didn't really let her use his sonic. All she knew was point, click, and think. She'd been thinking about stopping the ship. Okay, so maybe she was a bit upset with Kovarian, still, it wasn't her fault the sonic translated that into exploding the engine core.
"You're the one with the sonic!"
"Yeah, but it's not mine and it's not the Doctor's. That voice whats-it-"
"TARDIS voice interface."
"Whatever. It said it's River's, maybe it works different."
She knew that, most likely, wasn't true, but it sounded good. They rounded the next corner and the TARDIS loomed before them. She raced up to the door, opened it and dashed inside, followed by Rory. The door slammed closed and the Time Rotor began to move.
"See? I told you we'd make it," she said, giving her husband a smile.
"We almost died," he argued.
"Almost doesn't count."
"Uh, yeah it does."
She gave him a kiss.
"You worry too much, husband."
-0-
The Doctor stared at Rose as she stood on the edge of the catwalk on the other side of the meta-crisis. Somehow he had to get her, not only to not jump, but to let the meta-crisis kill him and he had no idea how he was going to do that. If she was anyone else they wouldn't be there, but Rose had always protected him. The only person who cared nearly as much as her was Amy and that was because to Amy they'd known each other her whole life.
He'd done that though, for Amy, to save her, taken away her belief in him. He had to try to do that with Rose. It was the only way to save her. He knew it would tear him apart inside, but better him than her.
"Rose," he called, she turned, looking at him and he could see she was afraid, but she was also determined, set. She'd made her choice and now he had to make her change her mind. "I…I did this to you."
"What?" she asked and he could hear the confusion in her voice.
"This is all my fault."
"Doctor, no," she shook her head, "it's-"
"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be up here," he interrupted. "He wouldn't be trying to kill you."
"This isn't your fault," she protested. "You didn't know."
"But I did. I knew something like this would happen. I knew it before I asked you to come with me the first time. I knew it because it always happens. My life is dangerous, Rose. People always die, but I survive and you know why? I survive because I let them die."
"That's…" her voice broke, "That's not true!"
"Yes, it is. Davros was right. I fashion people into weapons and use them!"
"You're just saying that. It's not true. I know you, Doctor. I know who you are."
She didn't believe him or didn't want to. She loved him. Still. Even after everything. He could hear that in her voice and it broke his hearts to continue, but he had to shake her belief or she'd die.
"I asked you to come with me, to travel with me, all those years ago because I wanted to feel special. I wanted to be adored. That's why I take people with me. I knew this would happen, but I didn't care," he said.
"Stop it! Why are you saying that?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears and it tore him apart, but he knew it was the only way.
"Because it's true, Rose."
"I know how you feel about me. You can't lie to me about that!"
He steadied himself, pulling the mask over his face because the next bit was going to be the hardest, but if he was going to sell the lie he'd have to finish it.
"You're right," he said, keeping his voice steady, betraying no emotion. "I did care about you, loved you. I can't deny that, but when I walked away I let you go. I moved on and I never gave you a second thought."
"How…how could you say that?" she demanded. "What about everything you said?"
"I'm married, Rose."
She froze, just for a moment, stunned. And then it was there, hurt, pain, disbelief, and the sight of it wrenched his hearts. It was worse than walking away, worse than seeing her kiss the meta-crisis.
"What?" she asked, her voice so low he couldn't be sure she said anything.
"Do you think I'd marry someone else if I was still in love with you?"
"You're lying!"
She was trying to deny what he said, but he was prepared for that.
"No, I'm not. If one or both of us are going to die I want you to know the truth and the truth is I don't love you anymore, but when I saw you again, realized that you started to move on I got selfish. I wanted you to adore me like you used to so I lied. Made you believe I still loved you."
"Stop! Just stop it!" she sobbed.
"You have to forget your love for me, Rose. I'm not special. Not worth throwing you life away on. I'm just a mad man in a box. It's time to live your life, Rose. It's time to let me go."
Sherlock had been inching his way up the ladder toward Rose as the Doctor spoke to her. He could tell she still had feelings for the Time Lord, but that didn't matter at the moment. That could be sorted out later. What mattered was keeping her alive.
He was almost at the top when a shot rang out. He hurried over the top and reached her a moment later. She had slumped down on the catwalk.
"Are you all right?" he asked, bending down next to her, nearly panicked that she'd been hit. She was crying and didn't immediately answer. "Rose," he gave her a forceful shake. "Were you hit?"
"N-no," she sobbed.
He breathed a sigh of relief, pulling her close. He wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face in his chest. She was upset by the Doctor's words, but she wasn't hurt, at least, not physically. He knew the man's words were said to make her hesitate, but that didn't mean they hurt any less. He glanced over at the Time Lord who was examining the clone.
"Is it him this time?" Sherlock asked.
"Yeah," the Doctor replied without glancing over. "He's dead."
Must have been John. A moment later his theory was proven.
"You all right over there?" John's voice called from across the room.
"We're all right," Sherlock called back.
He wanted to take Rose home. Distance her from everything that happened, but she was too upset at the moment so he held her because that's all he could do. He laid his cheek against her hair grateful that she wasn't hurt. Grateful that he still had her because he knew if he ever lost her he'd lose himself as well.
Standard Disclaimer.
Thank you to all my brilliant readers!
If you have time reviews are always welcome. :)
