The Master jerks his head to indicate to Rose that he's going to work with the TARDIS to begin their half of the task; the rest is up to her. With a silent nod as he recedes into the darkness, Rose slowly makes her way over to the Doctor until she's kneeling before him while tentatively stretching her arm out to him, not wanting to upset him further.
"Doctor?" Her gentle inquiry echoes throughout the hushed recesses of his mind. "It's me, Rose." She strokes her fingers softly through his hair in an effort to soothe him as she tries to hold her own tears at bay. "Everything's going to be fine now, Doctor…you'll see." Rose watches as he stills at the feel of her hand and the sound of her voice, and then she releases a sigh of relief when he almost instantly relaxes into her touch.
"Rose?" he croaks as he raises his head off of his arms and stares at her in a mix of grief and amazement. "Are you really here?" At her nod, he launches himself into her arms and pulls her tight against him. "It worked, Rose, it actually worked!"
He draws back just far enough to lean his forehead against hers and whisper against her mouth. "I tried everything to get back to you, Rose, anything that I could think of, no matter how dangerous. The last gamble was the worst and I wasn't that sure if either the TARDIS or I would survive, but it was worth it, my Rose, because you're here, you're finally here!"
Rose's answering nod is almost imperceptible but she whispers back in her most gentle tones. "That's right, Doctor, I'm back. I'm right here and I'm never going to leave you, not as long as you need me." She swallows harshly and blinks back a fresh wave of impending tears. "That's why the Master and I-"
"The Master?" chokes the Doctor in a hoarse voice as he thrusts her away from him. "Are you out of your mind? Why is he still here? I thought that other me was taking care of him?"
"Doctor," began Rose as she hesitantly reached for him again, "I told you, everything's alright. He's not going to hurt me and he's not going to hurt you. He's trying to help you, we all are." Her eyes narrow as she tries to assess his level of reasoning at the moment. "Doctor, what did you mean by 'other you'?"
His returning stare is suspicious, as if he's not quite sure who she is anymore given from what she's just asked him. He watches her for a few more moments before deciding that he can trust her, that he can take that chance. After all, he's taken so many of them already, what's one more to add to the list?
He slowly pushes himself away from the wall of his mind as he scoots towards her. "You know exactly who I mean, Rose Tyler, when I say 'other me'. Or can you honestly tell me that after all the time that we've spent together, after everything that we've been through, that you believe that the man outside of my mind is who I truly am?"
"Of course not, Doctor," she rushes to assure him with a fervent shake of her head. "The moment I saw him step out of the TARDIS, I knew that there was something wrong with you, um…with him…whatever, you know what I mean," she dismisses with a frantic wave of her hand. "What I don't understand is, how did all of this happen?"
He watches her with a kind expression, almost mournful in a way, at her incomprehension of the situation and of him, at how far he's gone for her and what he's still willing to do to keep her, no matter what it costs either of them. "I became a new man when I lost you, Rose. Colder, harder, so much worse than how you found me after the Time War. I knew that I couldn't go on that way, that the universe would suffer as I was suffering without you and I just couldn't let that happen."
The Doctor timidly reaches a hand out to hers before quickly withdrawing it and turning his face away to avoid her gaze completely. "That's when I gave into the darkness. The monster that lurks inside me, the one that's always been there, that's him. He's the one who had the strength and the courage and determination to bring you back here."
He stares down at the floor lost in his shame as he finally allows the tears to flow down his cheeks. "Not me, never me, Rose Tyler, because I'm the coward who runs away from you, every single time."
He lifts a pain filled gaze that matches her own and explains, "I had to give in to him, Rose, I had to relinquish total control to him in order to bring you back. The ferocity with which he worked, the sheer audacity at the attempts he made before he succeeded, he did things that I never did and never would!" She hears the agony in each syllable that he utters as he reveals, what to him is his darkest secret. "Things I wouldn't do, not even if they meant saving you."
So that's it then, realizes Rose miserably, the man who claims that I've made him better is actually broken because of me. She sighs as she looks around her into the darkness. Now what do I do?
You make him better, Rose, just as you always do, replies the Master in encouraging tones in her mind. You didn't do this to him, he did this to himself. Both the Doctor and I were broken men long before you came into our lives and it wasn't simply your presence that healed us, it was you, it was all of you. You helped him once, you can help him again. You know what to do, Rose, help him with your heart, not with your mind.
With those final words, the Master's presence recedes from Rose's mind and when she looks at the Doctor again, she knows exactly what to do. She extends her arm until her hand lies atop his and tightens her grip when he tries to pull it away. "I told you," she grits between clenched teeth as she uses all of her strength to force his hand still as she forcibly interlocks their fingers together, "I'm not leaving you, not as long as you need me!"
Her words cause him to pause momentarily as he takes them in and he affirms in a whisper, "I will always need you, Rose Tyler, always." His eyes suddenly shine with gratitude and awe as he watches her shift closer to him, never once taking her eyes off of him or letting go of his hand. "Thank you, Rose, I'll never forget this, not as long as I live." He chuckles mirthlessly. "And we both know how long that is."
She smiles wryly in response and draws him towards her to cradle him against her. "We're all here for you, Doctor, and we're all going to get you through this, I promise."
"All of you?" he questions disbelievingly as he pulls away to stare uncomprehendingly into her eyes. "You can't be serious, Rose! You and the TARDIS are all that I need, the Master has to leave! And as soon as I'm strong enough to take over again, he will! I refuse to have that man near you or my ship!"
Rose opens her mouth to try and reason with him when he shakes his head in denial and spits, "He's my enemy, Rose, the worst of the lot! How could you even consider trusting him after all that he's done? I need you, Rose, not him! I'm the one that you need to focus on so that you can make me better, so that I can be the man that you remember and need me to be!"
"And you will be, Doctor, I promise you that!" She hauls him back to her and nearly crushes him with her embrace. "I am never giving up on you, no matter how long it takes, I swear it!" She slowly releases him and vows wholeheartedly, "My entire focus will be on you until you're well again!"
"You really mean that?" he questions hopefully. "You'll stay here until I'm better, you'll put all of your focus on me and not him?"
She runs her hand through his hair again and trails it down to cradle his jaw. "Yes, of course, I'd do anything for you, Doctor, you know that."
He lifts his own hand to touch her cheek and trace its contours as he slides his fingers tenderly into her hair. When he knows that he has regained her trust in him, he lightly trails his other hand through her hair on the other side of her head and curls his fingers against her temples as he drags her flush against him. "That's all I needed to hear, Rose Tyler!"
Her gaze widens in both shock and fear as he growls, "Now, Bad Wolf, it's time for you to huff and puff while I let myself in!"
The pain is excruciating. Not so much from the tangling of his fingers in her hair holding her in place so that she can't pull away from him, but the relentless onslaught of his forcing his mind into hers. He's pouring his essence into her, trying to dominate her and bend her will to his, make him see what sick and twisted reasoning has become his reality and why she should follow along without any protest.
And although he has violated her mind with his warped and perverted views of what he perceives of what their life will be like together, it his violation of her trust and faith in him that pains her the most. It for that reason alone, as she is forced to witness in memory all of the vile things and unimaginable acts that he has done in order to reclaim her from Pete's world, that she blissfully accepts the blackness that claims her as she falls into a state of complete unawareness.
To Be Continued…