Author's Notes: The Dynatrope was first introduced into Doctor Who during the Second Doctor's story, The Krotons. It was a machine that the Krotons created that could transform mental power into energy. The Matrix was first introduced in the Fourth Doctor's story, Deadly Assasin. It's a massive computer system on Gallifrey that contains the combined knowledge of all Time Lords and that has full access restricted to it for only the Lord President of the High Council through the use of the Crown of Rassilon while other Time Lords are able to obtain limited access as well.
Also, the first half of the story will be in italics to signify flashbacks of Rose and the Master in Pete's world. The second half will return to normal font when Rose awakens to confront the Doctor.
And a super special thank you to my husband who is always there to answer any and all Who trivia, although there are times that I am sure he wished that he had his own TARDIS to run to when he sees me and my note book coming, LOL! :)
Rose? Rose, wake up, whispers the Master across Rose's mind in an attempt to rouse her from the depths of her unconsciousness. Come on, Rose, come back to me, love. Everything has been taken care of and you'll be safe now, I promise. Trust me, Rose, just as you did once so long ago… His voice that echoes through her mind suddenly quiets down to the hush of the barest whisper and urges, Follow me, Rose Tyler, follow me.
Ever so slowly, the whisper changes from a soft trailing breeze into the sound of rushing water, a sound that grows stronger and stronger until it draws Rose into its currents as the sounds begin to twist and merge with images until they become memories which fly by in rapid succession.
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BOOM!
"What the hell was that?" yells the Master in outrage as bits and pieces of Henrik's department store continue falling around him.
"That, mate," answers a feminine voice from a blonde woman in her early twenties if he had to hazard a guess, "is Torchwood's reply to the Nestene Consciousness flooding London with their pilot fish, otherwise known as Autons." She pushes her way through the rubble and deftly avoids the falling debris as she heads towards him and shouts, "How did you get in here anyway? I cleared this building myself!"
The Master stares at her in disbelief. He may have a superior Time Lord physiology in comparison to most species but he's still disoriented from having tapped into the power of the Matrix to fuel a Dynatrope with enough energy to blast back an army of Daleks and thereby unexpectedly blowing him through a crack into another universe, a parallel universe by the feel of it.
As more of the ceiling comes crashing down around them, he calls out, "Would you mind terribly if we postponed the interrogation for a later time?" He scrambles over a few large chunks of mortar while noting in a sarcastic tone, "I mean, just look around this place. It's a bit too noisy for a nice quiet chat and you haven't even bought me dinner yet!"
Despite the situation, Rose smiles in spite of herself and holds out her hand to the stranger to assist him over the store's ruin's as she concedes, "Fair enough! So tell me, how do you feel about chips?"
And that was how they met.
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The nice quiet chat over chips didn't become quite the interrogation that the Master had envisioned as much as a battle for one-upmanship.
Rose clenches her jaw as he continues to tap his fingers against the table in that four beat rhythm that he's been drumming out for the past two hours. "So," he recaps in a bored tone, "you're a London shop girl who became one of the Doctor's little pets and then wormed her way into a high-ranking position at Torchwood through an overt display of nepotism while touting the title of 'Defender of the Earth'?"
"Mmm-hmmm," replies Rose in a bland tone while taking a sip of her tea and making sure to place it as far away from her as possible when she sets it down so as to remove the temptation of throwing it in his face. "And you're a big-headed blowhard of an alien who's found himself stranded in a parallel universe without even an ounce of Spock to call his own."
"I'm a Time Lord," he proclaims in a manner born of arrogance and birthright that indicates that the conversation was over and that he was obviously the victor.
"True," acknowledges Rose in an acquiescing tone as she clasps her hands and leans forward on the table, "but I've merged with the heart of a TARDIS and have seen all of time and space."
"Yes," grants the Master with a bemused grin and shake of his head, "but I've mastered all of time and space and thus learned all of their hidden secrets."
"And how's that mastering space part working for you then?" inquires Rose a little too innocently. "You know, seeing as you're stuck here on Earth with all of us, oh what did you call us…? Oh yes, that was it, lower life formalities."
The Master's gaze hardens and his voice is cold and disdainful as he answers bluntly, "I'd say about as well as it's been working for you." Rose leans back in her own chair, her arms crossing over her chest and tightening of her mouth her only outward display of her mounting frustration.
And that was their first stalemate.
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So this is the White Room, he notes with a dismissive scan. The Master walks into the room to find Rose staring at a white wall, continually stretching her hand out towards it but pulling it back at the last moment before she makes contact, almost as if she was afraid as if it would burn her.
After a half hour of badgering, Pete had finally admitted where the Master would find Rose. He wasn't proud of the petty pestering that he had used on the Director of Torchwood, he felt that kind of behavior was only barely tolerable in the most infantile of children and then only until they learned better. However, the Master was of the mind that Pete wasn't so much caving into his demand of knowing where Rose was as much as hoping the Master would drag her out of that room once and for all. Apparently, it was the anniversary of the day that Rose had become trapped in Pete's World and her father bore a grave countenance as he confessed that she visited the White Room each year in acknowledgement of that fact as if it were some morbid shrine of the occasion.
Well, her family might tolerate this melancholy behavior but he was sick and tired of pussyfooting around her about this. He wasn't that type of man and he wasn't about to be held in constant comparison to the man that she loved a universe away. So with a resolved stride, he took hold of his determination at the same time that he took hold of her shoulders and turned him towards her to give her a slight shake causing her to release a gasp of surprise at both the action and his presence.
His grip tightens on her shoulders and he brusquely declares, "I love you, Rose, but I won't stand in another man's shadow. If you truly want a life with me then you need to decide now. Are you able to let go of that universe? And even more importantly, are you capable of letting him go and letting me in?"
"You love me? Just like that?" she asks tearfully and more than a bit in awe of his ability to be so open. He moves one of his hands up from her shoulder to cradle her cheek and then nods solemnly. "No hemming or hawing or running away at the prospect of domestic?"
The Master's mouth contorts into a tight grimace before relaxing into a tender smile. "I'm not that man, Rose Tyler, I'm your man." He takes a deep breath and finishes, "That is if you want me."
His Time Lord senses assure him that it's only mere moments that have passed between them but each second suddenly feels as though it is an eternity as he awaits her answer. Her smile is still watery but gentles along with her eyes as she divulges, "Once upon a time, I thought that it would never be possible to love anyone else as much as I loved the Doctor." Her gaze darts away momentarily before flicking back to meet his head on full of passion and fire. "And then I met you and you made me better."
He scoffs a denial with a grunt of disgust. "I'm not a saint, Rose."
"No," she agrees readily with a thoughtful nod of her head, "you're not. But I had no idea how broken I was until the first time that you made me laugh and then it hit me right away. See, for once it wasn't a false laugh or an uncomfortable one just trying to pass the time from one moment to the next, it was a laugh that was real and true." She lays her hands on his chest over the spaces where both of his hearts lie. "Just like my love for you." She stares back at him wholeheartedly. "I love you, Master. And I'm so sorry if a part of me might always love him but I do love you with all of my heart and if I have to decide right now, then I can honestly say without a doubt that I choose you, I always will and for the rest of my life." Her fingers curl into his shirt as she steadies herself for her own inquiry. "Now it's time for you to make a decision. Knowing all of this, is that something that you can live with?"
The moments tick by just as slowly for Rose as they did for the Master before he finally extends a hand out to cradle the back of her head and tug her closer to him until she finds herself flush against his chest listening to his heartsbeats while he presses a kiss on top of her head. "Yes," he concedes, although she can tell that it's with great reluctance, "I think that if we're truly going to make this work then it's definitely something that I can live with, or at least learn to."
She crushes him to her in gratitude and he returns the embrace in acceptance, this first step of giving and taking in their new relationship paving the way for even greater progression of their version of forever, and with one last glance around them, they turn as one and leave the White Room behind them for the final time.
And that was when the healing began.
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"How did it go?" barks Pete's voice over the mobile phone. "Did you finally apprehend the Time Lord Victorious?"
"Yes," grits the Master through clenched teeth, "but only after we had to resort to using Rose as bait." He shudders inwardly at how close the Doctor had actually come to escaping this universe with Rose. It was only the unexpected appearance of Bad Wolf that had given them the momentary advantage that they needed to take him down.
Torchwood sirens blare all around them as various agents and representatives of the local and government-based law enforcement hold back the media and curious bystanders while the Master's gaze remains trained on Rose Tyler like a predator that's watching its prey. And that's basically what the Time Lord Victorious has treated her like during this whole disgusting escapade, his prey. The very thought of it sickens him.
The Master watches her tend to the Doctor's unconscious form while he listens to the exhaustion reflected in Pete's voice. He can definitely sympathize with that right now. "So tell me how my little girl's doing, Harry, and I want the truth."
The Time Lord releases a weary sigh and has to force himself to not look away when Rose starts running her fingers through the Doctor's hair while Mickey and Jake cuff his wrists with manacles that contain an energy dampening field of the Master's very own design as well as sliding a metallic headband over his head which was in actuality a telepathic inhibitor. "She's Rose. You know how she is, you give her Hell to contend with and she fights her way through it and gives it back to you in spades."
He stares on at her in sympathy as she wipes the last remaining traces of her tears away as Jake and Mickey lift the Doctor's body onto a stretcher and place him into the back of a Torchwood transport. "And trust me, Pete, there's no better or truer description for what she's been through today. Look, I have to go. I've already stepped away from them for far too long and I don't want to take the chance that the Time Lord Victorious is going to wake up without me present. I know that Jackie's worried so tell her that Rose is my main priority and that I'll be sure to bring her home safe and sound."
The Master disconnects the call before Pete can draw him into any further conversation and then he heads straight over to Rose who immediately offers him a brave face upon his arrival. "So are we all set then?" she casually inquires.
"Not yet," he replies curtly before turning to Mickey and Jake. "I need a few minutes alone to speak with Rose. Are you two going to be alright with him?"
"No worries here, Boss," affirms Mickey. "Whatever whammy you and Rose laid on him has put him down for the count." He stares down pityingly at the Doctor but also with the concerned eye of a Torchwood agent. "Still…don't take too long, yeah? I'll feel a whole lot better once we're all back at headquarters."
The Master's already pulling Rose away from them as she murmurs a rushed, "Thanks, mates," and taking one last glance back at the Doctor. When they're far enough away to obtain as much privacy as they're about to find amidst the aftermath of the Doctor's chaos, he draws her closer to him but not for the comforting embrace that she's been expecting.
"Rose, we don't have much time, the TARDIS is in a bad way," he announces gravely. "Once I undo the damage that the Doctor inflicted on her, I'll have to find a way to convert this world's rift energy so that she can absorb enough power to travel back to the other universe. The crash practically drained all of her power cells dry and there's not enough time for me to come up with something else that will allow her time to fully recover and survive in this universe." His eyes fill with concern as he takes her hand and squeezes it consolingly. "Rose, as soon as I'm done, I'll have to pilot the TARDIS back home and I can't guarantee that I'll be able to find a way back here."
Back home, she considers silently, without her. Except this time it's not just the Doctor leaving her behind but the Master as well. "I see," she accepts stiffly with a curt nod. "So when do you think that you and the Doctor will be leaving?"
He narrows his eyes at her as he questions, "What do mean 'me and the Doctor'? You're coming with us."
Rose's startled expression instantly becomes hopeful and then relieved. "I am? Then why do you seem so apologetic at the prospect of leaving?"
He stares at her in confusion and exasperation that's reflected in his voice as he wonders where the brilliant woman who has intrigued and impressed him and earned his love has disappeared to. "Because we'll be stuck in the other universe while everyone you love is over here and I'm not sure that we'll be able to return anytime soon if we're able to at all!"
He expects this instance to become one of those uncomfortable moments when tears will begin to flow so he finds himself completely flummoxed when Rose seemingly sighs in relief and drags him to her for a quick kiss. As he pulls back from her to find her beaming at him, he starts to seriously wonder if Slitheen exist in this universe and if he needs to verify that fact before releasing her when she offers him an explanation.
"Not everyone that I love will be over here," she clarifies for him. "Besides, I have absolute faith in you. If there's a way to return to this universe then I trust you to find it. And failing that, once the Doctor's cured of this madness then he can help us come back over, right? I mean you're the one who told me that travelling to parallel universes would be a snap as long as you had the help of another Time Lord. So once he's better," she tilts her head to indicate the Doctor lying in the transport, "then I'm sure that he'll be more than willing to help us."
The Master aims a disgruntled glower in the same direction. "Well, I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon, not in his sorry state." Then he casts a more serious gaze onto her. "Rose, I'd rather not separate you from your parents and Tony but the trip's going to be perilous enough for us, I don't want to endanger your family as well." He runs his fingers through her hair to draw her closer to him and murmur intently, "I'm sorry that you have to go through this but I won't let you go and I will never leave you behind and I refuse to apologize for that." With a brief yet passionate kiss, he hurriedly departs from her in order to instruct Mickey and Jake on the final protocols he's set in place before they move out.
She watches him with a bittersweet smile as he takes command of a situation that she never could have imagined in her wildest dreams while simultaneously making travel plans that she had once longed for but now only dreaded. Well, regardless of whatever was to happen, Rose was now confident of one thing. She may not be able to return home once she left but she was never going to be sent away or left behind again, at least not by the Master, of that she was sure.
She did feel guilty over leaving her family but she was positive that he would be able to find a way back to Pete's World and as she recalled once saying to the Doctor so long ago, everyone leaves home in the end. But in the end for her, it didn't really matter where they finally ended up because whether it was this universe or their original one or somewhere else entirely, Rose knew that as long as she was with the Master that she was home.
And that was when they made plans to leave Pete's World.
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Rose's eyes fly open after the last memory and she slowly sits up while holding her head with a groan. "Ugh, did anyone get the number of the lorry that hit me?"
"I've been called quite a number of appellations in my time, but never a lorry." The Master soothes her brow as he pushes her back down when she tries to rise too soon. "Give yourself a moment; I had to submerge your consciousness pretty deep so that he couldn't reach you anymore."
"So I have you to thank for this killer headache?" she mockingly accuses with a small grin.
"Believe it or not, but you should be thanking me," he retorts with his own teasing tone. "For once, I was actually the lesser of two evils."
"I can believe that," she assures him. "So fill me in on what's happened since I've been out."
"It's done, Rose, he's cured." He nods his head in affirmation when she shakes hers in denial and continues to stare at him disbelievingly. "It's true, it took practically everything that the three of us had but we did it. The Time Lord Victorious is gone."
"And the Doctor is back?" she asks with a trace of uncertainty. Instead of answering her aloud, he moves aside and gestures to the man in question who has pushed himself up into a sitting position and persists on staring at the floor."
"Doctor, are you alright?" she inquires uneasily when he continues to maintain the same position without a flicker of movement.
"I think I should be the one to ask that Rose, don't you?" he replies meekly. "After all, I'm the reason that you were forced into that condition."
"Oh good," comments the Master, "then it wasn't my fault after all."
"Master!" hisses Rose. "Don't you think that he's been through enough?"
"And you haven't?" he demands angrily. When both parties wince, he instantly relents. "Sorry," he mutters to Rose while darting a disdainful glare at the Doctor.
The Doctor stands shakily to his feet and takes a few hesitant steps before addressing Rose. "I know it might not mean much right now, if it means anything at all, but I'm sorry, Rose Tyler, I am so, so sor-"
"Enough!" bellows the Master as he swiftly rises to stand as guard between Rose and the Doctor. "If you're going to say anything to her at all, don't start with that overly used trite little saying that you trot out at the drop of a hat when things go so wrong that even you can no longer see yourself in the high regard that everyone else holds you to. What I'm saying, Doctor, is don't tell her that you're sorry until you realize what those words actually mean."
"How dare you?" growls the Doctor as he steps forward to reach out for the Master.
"Stop it!" cries Rose in aggravation. "I swear! You call yourselves Time Lords?" She snorts in disgust. "Time Tots is more accurate! Now do you think that it's, and excuse the term here, but that it's humanly possible for the two of you to shut up just long enough for me to get my head in order?"
Silence is her only reply. Rose isn't sure if she should be amused or mistrustful. Two of the most brilliant, and when the need arises, most devious minds, in the known universes stand before her and they're standing by quietly only because she requested it. She finds it hard to believe that with a mutual childhood and similar adult experiences that the only apparent thing that these two could agree upon would be her. It didn't really matter however; she'd take whatever she could get at this point.
Thankfully the two men continue to remain silent and when Rose feels as though enough time has passed, she refuses both the Master and Doctor's assistance and firmly pushes herself off of the floor and onto her own two feet. To her credit, her gaze remains perfectly steady as she makes one very special request of her lover. "Master, I need you to give me a few moments alone with the Doctor, we need to talk."
"Your mind must be as addled as his was if you think I'm moving from this spot," he informs her in a tone that brooks no argument while he keeps his eye trained on the Doctor.
"Master," she returns in a similar tone, "I need to do this." She then looks away from him to capture the Doctor's gaze. "I need to know how that sentence was going to end or if there was any ending to it at all."
Ah, closure. That he can understand. He can give her that. He glances over at the Doctor's expectant gaze, his whole form practically radiating hope. Unbelievable, that idiot still believes that he has a chance with Rose. Perhaps I didn't repair all of the damage to his mind after all. Well, that's his unfortunate delusion because I meant what I said back on Pete's World, I won't let her go and he has one hell of a fight on his hands if he assumes otherwise.
The Master walks off to the side until it appears as if his body has become enveloped by the blackness of the Doctor's mind, leaving the two former travelling companions to stare at each other warily with each one trying to decide how to approach the other. As usual, the Doctor is the first to speak. "So…long time no seeing my sanity then, eh?"
"Yeah," agrees Rose with a small, tired smile, "far too long for my taste actually."
The hopeful embers in the Doctor's eyes begin to dim just a bit as Rose watches him cautiously instead of with the unwavering love and faith that used to fill his hearts to overflowing. He can't blame her of course, that would be absurd, but still…the loss of trust that was once so boundless…it hurt.
She takes a small step closer in his direction while still managing the keep a good distance from him in case she needed to make a quick escape. He had taught her to be mindful of that technique, back when he was in his Ninth body, to protect her from aggressive behavior from certain species on alien planets. He clenched the hands in his pockets into fists and flashed a sad smile. He had never once thought that she'd feel the need to use that particular technique with him.
"I'm sorry, Rose." He remains where he is so as not to startle her with any sudden movement. "I know it's not enough, especially after everything that I've done, but I do mean it." He stares at her longingly as his fingers curl into his palms again, this time because they're so achingly empty. "I hope you know that."
"I do," she assures him and takes another step forward. Her gaze continually flicks over his form in assessment. Where once it had been flirty, now it's merely borne out of concern for his mental health and stability. The moment that Rose realizes this, she shakes herself out of her remote mode of Torchwood agent and remembers that she needs to be the friend to him that she once was and has been promising him that she always will be. Within seconds of this decision, the Doctor emits an ecstatic squeak as he finds himself with his arms full of Rose Tyler who immediately whispers into his ear, "I really do, my Doctor. I really, really do!"
It takes all of the strength that he has left in him but he swings her back and forth and he holds her tightly to him and he is utterly unashamed to discover his voice cracking like a teenage adolescent as he is overcome with the emotion of the moment. "Thank you, Rose Tyler, thank you so much."
Long minutes pass until his arms began to tire and weaken and the fear that he has that he will drop her is the only reason that he is willing to release her from his embrace. She still feels exhausted as he looks but there's so much that's been left unanswered, so much that's been left unsaid, and after his image faded away on that damn beach, she thought that she'd never have those answers that she so desperately sought. Fate had seen fit to give her a second chance and now that they had more than two minutes, she was finally going to know what only he had been privy to all along.
She slides her arms down from around the back of his neck down to grip his shoulders and inquires, "So, how are you feeling, Doctor?"
"Oh, you know me, Rose, I'm alright, I'm always al- CRACK!"
He was surprised that his jaw hadn't came off, as it was it already felt as though it was only hanging on by a muscular thread along with the sensation of fire spreading throughout his skull. When the pain recedes enough so that he can compose himself, he returns to his full height and tugs on his suit to straighten it out. "Honestly, I know that I shouldn't be asking, seeing all that I've done as the Time Lord Victorious, but may I inquire if that slap was for some particular indiscretion or perhaps just in general?"
"Don't you dare stand there and tell me that you're alright, that you're always alright!" growls Rose. "I know what you've went through, Doctor, and in case you've forgotten, I was there for the most of it." She instantly retreats from him when he reaches out for her in apology and shakes her head in disgust. "What's wrong with me?" she mutters more to herself than him. "When am I going to learn to follow my head and not my heart? Why am I am so stupid?" she berates herself. "It's not as if you're ever going to change!"
"I've changed before for you," he reminds her as they both recall a time long ago on a gamestation far off in the future, "I changed everything that I was for you."
"That was because of regeneration, Doctor," she huffs in annoyance while pulling her hair back behind her ear in frustration. "Maybe that was the problem. At least the first you wanted me, that is if you ever wanted me at all. I mean, after what you said about how desperately I wanted out of the Estates, I don't even know anymore."
His entire countenance is filled with shame as he recalls the memory and the cruelty of his words. He didn't mean a word of it, his only intention at the time had been to inflict as much pain as possible. He had obviously succeeded. "Rose, I can't even begin to apologize enough for my previous actions but I can assure you that I was completely out of my mind or I never, ever would have said that otherwise."
He drags his hands over his face and through his hair and then takes a deep breath as he turns away from her. "There were so many people that I've traveled with, Rose Tyler, but you were different. You didn't just worm your way into my hearts, you filled them, became part of them, and sometimes…I think that you were them."
"Then why did you always push me away?" she asks in a weary voice. "As soon as you regenerated, you couldn't get away from me fast enough." Her eyes reflect the pain at the first time that he verbally wounded her in this body. "Do you remember when you woke up in the TARDIS and came out to find that we were surrounded by the Sycorax? One of the first things that you said to me was 'you gave up on me'! I couldn't believe that you said that to me, Doctor, especially after everything that I had just went through to get back to you on the Gamestation! I wouldn't have asked Mum and Mickey to help me drag you back to our flat, care for you and then take you back to the TARDIS to keep you safe if I had given up on you!"
Both Rose and the Doctor quickly find that gates once opened, especially those that have held back long buried feelings of hurt, are sometimes quite difficult to close if not impossible, as she steadily advances on him with each word. "And I'm sorry that I wasn't mature enough back then to appreciate how much it would affect you to watch me 'wither and die' but for God's sake, Doctor, couldn't you at least once have acted your age and sat me down and flat out told me that it was never going to happen instead of throwing me mixed signals and continually accepting my promise of forever and then repeatedly throwing it back in my face? And don't give me that rubbish excuse that you're alien because you and I both know that you've been around humans long enough to know how we'll react."
Her eyes close as a wave of regret washes over her. "And do you know what the worst part is? The whole time that you discarded any possibility of our future, we actually could have shared a forever and you wouldn't have had to worry about losing me to my one life." Her mouth twists into an ironic grin as she shares, "Of course it wasn't you but the Master who discovered this little bit of information for me. He, in fact, was absolutely horrified to find out that you had never even once bothered to run a single test to determine if there were any aftereffects from Bad Wolf."
At the mention of the Master, the Doctor's jaw tightens and he haughtily insists, "I had just regenerated, Rose, and hardly under the best of circumstances. I couldn't possibly be expected to take anything under consideration while I was still…cooking."
"Cooking?" she scoffs as he steps into his personal space. "Huh, I guess that term does apply since you're reasoning is so half-baked. So exactly how long was your regeneration taking to settle in, Doctor? At what point do you think that you finally would have seen fit to run some tests on me? No answer?" she inquires when he retains a tight lipped grimace while he simply chooses to return her stare. "The Master didn't discover that Bad Wolf still lay dormant in me because he had a more stable regeneration or because he was smarter, Doctor, it was because he wasn't afraid of the consequences. He was ready to accept however long my life was to be and would have damn well told me if he wasn't! Oh, and then there was that small fact that now I'll also have to deal with watching the people that I love wither and die so it was nice to have that bit of knowledge beforehand so that I could prepare."
Rose begins to walk in a predatory circle around the Doctor because in addition to finding herself unable to remain still, she knows that a small part of her is expecting him to ready his own escape before everything can be said. "I trusted you, Doctor, I trusted you with everything that I had, my family, my planet, my love and my life. And I have to tell you, the moment that the Master told me the results of the tests, I felt as though none of that had even mattered to you at all."
"That's not true, Rose Tyler, and somewhere down deep beneath all of the hurt that I've caused you, you know that!" denies the Doctor hotly. "Now, I haven't said very much in my defense because after everything I've put you through lately, I don't feel as though I have the right, but I draw the line when it comes to how I feel about you! How can you not remember, Rose? There wasn't one moment that we weren't together that you weren't constantly in my thoughts or held in my hearts as my number one priority!"
"Really?" murmurs Rose casually with seemingly mild interest. "Then how do you explain Reinette? Because we were together for a good long run, Doctor, we were each other's hand to hold and yet all it took was one kiss from the uncrowned queen of France and then suddenly all I became was your messenger and left behind."
"I didn't break through the time window for a social call, Rose, I was saving an important figure in history," he asserts with a stern glare as though he was addressing a petulant child.
Nevertheless, even his superior attitude gives way to unease the longer he holds Rose's gaze. She looks at him, not with fire or ice or even sadness, but more reminiscent of a manner of assessment and he cringes inwardly to discover how uncomfortable he is at its heated intensity. He instantly realizes why he's experiencing this strange feeling of foreboding when her next declaration hits its mark with pinpoint accuracy.
She stops before him and crosses her arms over her chest while her stare determinedly pins him in place like a prize specimen. "You know, it took me a very long time to come to terms with Reinette, what I thought you and I had meant to each other and what I could see and have to imagine took place between the two of you. And after all of that time, I finally figured something out, something really important. I mean, it didn't take the sting away but at least it finally made sense. When you went through that window, you weren't only saving an historical figure or even the woman that you loved, you were running away."
"That's preposterous, Rose, you don't know what you're saying," he mutters with a slight shake of his head. But there is no outraged heat in his denial and no trace of disgusted indignity because to be honest, they both know that there is no good cause for any to exist.
He shuts his eyes to block out her visage but he takes care to listen to all that she says, including each accusation, he owes her that much at least. However, there is only so much that a man can withstand, even a Time Lord, and even though he can hear every trace of disappointment in her voice, it doesn't mean that he needs to witness it as well.
"I may not be a genius like you," she continues irritably, "but I'm pretty sure that if a horse can break through a time window then so can a TARDIS. Nobody had to be left behind on that particular adventure, Doctor, not unless you wanted them to be."
His voice cracks as he confesses, "Okay, that one I'll give you but only because I couldn't face losing you." Her snort of disgust makes her reply to that response rather obvious. "I'm not trying to be trite or gain your sympathy, I'm serious. I couldn't face the thought of losing you, much less the reality. Not again."
She stares at him curiously until he expounds, "The Wire didn't simply remove your face, Rose, she took you. I was devastated when I realized that you were gone. It was like when she stole everything of you, she took everything of me as well. I was nothing without you, Rose Tyler, nothing but a man who was incapable of feeling anything except blood, anger and revenge." He sighs in exhaustion as the memories pull at him and tug at his hearts. "And then there was Sarah Jane, having to see how she'd aged and having to finally force aside any fantasies that our dream of forever was ever going to last."
He stares at her soullessly as he reveals in a heartbroken whisper, "That was why I never ran any tests after Bad Wolf, Rose. Because you were right, I was running away. I was too much of a coward to face the permanence of a commitment, to have someone rely on me to stay and face the clean up when things became messy." He shakes his head resolutely and exhibits a frown. "I've never been good at that, Rose, not in any body."
Rose gives a swift nod and wipes away a few stray tears as she absorbs his answer. Well, she wanted the truth after all, but it still didn't mean that she had to like it. "So is that why you sent me away to Pete's World?"
"It was better that way," he replies curtly.
"Better for whom, Doctor?" demands Rose. "Because it wasn't better for me so that only leaves you. And that was the real problem when it came down to it, wasn't it? Of course it's only right for you to make decisions for yourself as you would know what's best for you, but you kept making mine for me without my consent, you would make them for us and especially when it came to pushing me away."
"But it wasn't because I didn't…well, you know how much I care for you, Rose, you must know that." He suddenly stares at her as if in a new light, as if something has just occurred to him that he has never thought possible and he questions, "You do know, don't you?"
Rose's laugh is bitter and she stares at him with pity and disbelief. "Even now, when you've went through the pain of losing me; you still can't bring yourself to say the words, can you? Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"
The Doctor opens his mouth to form some type of protest that denies the emotional distance that he puts between them when she becomes too close but after everything that has been established between them thus far, it would only be a lie and so he does what he does best and remains silent.
Rose rubs the bridge of her nose to try and relieve the returning ache in her head while releasing a frustrated sigh. "Have you finally run out of words then?" He watches as her mouth quirks upwards in amusement. "Running your gob, running for your life and running out of time, I have never known anyone who could run like you."
"What do you want me to say, Rose? I'm the same man that I've always been. Coward me, every time," he admits sheepishly while scratching the back of his neck.
"Yeah," acknowledges Rose with a fixed stare, "well this time I'm going to need you to stand your ground and tell me how that sentence was going to end."
He swallows harshly as he bides his time before he finally comes up with a reply. "Does it really need saying?"
"Yes, Doctor," she asserts with a pained smile, "it really does. You see, I'm not that nineteen year old girl who hangs on your every word and follows you around like a love sick puppy. I've grown up a lot during these past few years and I've experienced a life that you could never give me. Now thanks to Bad Wolf, I may have all of the time in the universe to stay with you but that doesn't mean that I want to waste it waiting around for something that may or may not happen."
"It might happen, Rose," he offers quietly, yearningly, "someday."
"I don't want to pin all my hopes on 'it might', Doctor," she stresses fervently, "not when I have something right now."
"And that 'something'," he questions harshly, "that's a life that you'd rather have with him over me?"
"You saved my life, Doctor, but he was willing to build one with me!" she shouts in annoyance. Pressing her hands over her mouth until she can calm herself down, Rose finally allows herself a deep breath and delivers her final argument. "You can't even finish a sentence for me, Doctor; do you truly believe that you could honor a vow of forever?"
His continuing silence is all the answer that she requires. He clears his throat as he gives a soft nod and drags his hand across his face to wipe away the tears that have gathered and spilled down his cheeks. "So that's it then, you've made your choice and I have to accept it," he darts a look at her that pierces straight into her soul, "for now. Because this doesn't mean that I'm not going to try and change your mind, Rose. Once I've had a bit of rest and an adventure or two to get my head sorted, don't think that I won't be back to ask you for a third time to see the universe with me."
She stares back at him for a few moments in exasperation before she releases a mad laugh. They've been mates, almost lovers, enemies and now…? Well, hopefully, now they're trying to find their way back to each other because they've been so much to each other and she doesn't want to lose her best friend.
Rose chuckles softly and offers a tongue in teeth grin before she strolls over and straightens his tie. "Just be sure to have someone with you, yeah? You're rubbish on your own."
He reaches out and grabs her hand before she can pull it away and raises it to his lips to place a kiss of gratitude. "You made me better once, Rose Tyler, and now you've made me well, thank you."
"I had help," she reminds him gently.
"I know," he confesses readily, "the TARDIS was brilliant!"
She rolls her eyes and persists, "I meant the Master."
He grimaces in distaste. "Yes, well, I was trying to forget that particular participant, thank you very much." He sighs wearily as he links his fingers with hers and leisurely swings their hands between them. "Now that I'm back to basics as it were, I guess you'll be leaving then?"
Rose nods mournfully, her eyes full of regret at the thought of leaving him so soon. "I think that would be best."
He hums noncommittally before giving her a sly look and inquiring hopefully, "On your own?"
Rose has to laugh outright at his teasing and they find themselves sharing the first true smiles of friendship since they were reunited. "No, I'm sorry, but apparently I'm rubbish on my own as well."
He tightens his grasp on her hand. "I guess that's what made us so perfect for each other."
"Yeah," remarks Rose fondly as she recalls far off memories, "I think it was."
His gaze speaks the words that he is incapable of saying before he shuts his eyes in pure bliss while she releases his grip to trace every line of his face as if to memorize his features. Not that she needs to, she muses, as she did that long ago.
Rose feels a slight flare in her mind from the Master pressing her to finish their conversation so that they can depart from the Doctor's mind and the TARDIS can ease the Doctor into a healing coma to ensure that his recovery is complete. "It's time for me to go, Doctor," murmurs Rose in a hushed tone.
"So soon?" he whispers back while she gives a quick nod and he leans down until their foreheads are resting against each other. Our song can't be ending, Rose Tyler. I don't want you to go, he pleads silently while trying to summon the strength to let her go.
"I want you to promise me one thing before I go, Doctor," she requests as he stares at her inquisitively. "Don't go out and live that same old life, live a better life, a fantastic life. Do that for me, Doctor, and then at least that way, I'll know that everything will have been worth it."
He offers a small grin and no verbal promise but he does wrap his arms around her and embraces her so tightly as if to draw her very essence into himself. "Rose Tyler, did I ever tell you that it also travels in time?"
She draws away from him so that she may take his face between her hands and tell him, "I'll let you in on a little secret, Doctor, it never needed to." She stretches up and presses her mouth to his to bid him farewell. "Just a little something that both of us can remember me by," she murmurs as she traces his bottom lip with her forefinger.
"As if I could ever forget you," he returns huskily as he moves in closer to forge his own memory.
"Rose!" a sharp voice interrupts them, "It's time to go."
With a final kiss to the Doctor's cheek, Rose steps back and walks over to the Master who immediately takes hold of her hand, much to the Doctor's displeasure. As their images begin to fade away, the Doctor notes the Master staring him down with a look that is completely devoid of compassion and pity or even hate but is most definitely filled with warning.
The Doctor instantly comprehends the silent message as he remembers all too well everything that the Master saw as he healed the Doctor's fractured psyche. He knows that he saw the origin of the Time Lord Victorious as well as a distant thread in his timeline that hinted at the distinct possibility of a Dream Lord.
However, neither of these instances truly bothered either one of them as one timeline had been resolved and the other was still in flux. What alarmed the two Time Lords was the result of the Time Lord Victorious' inception. Because between the beginnings of what never should have been and the potential of what may never be, the introduction of a new timeline came into existence, one that they both knew was an absolute as they had both already lived it.
For with the creation of the Time Lord Victorious, the spark of the Valeyard had been born.
To Be Concluded…