Well, that was a longer hiatus than I had intended. My utmost apologies. As a result, this chapter is a little longer. The reason for the delay is that I hate rewriting episodes. Original storylines are much more to my taste, so look forward to more of those. :)
Disclaimer: definitely not mine, all rights to those who actually own things.
"Doctor!" She yelled, pounding on the doors but they wouldn't open. If he'd trapped her inside the Tardis again…
"What? Let her out!" The Doctor yelled, faintly muffled.
"This is not of Dalek origin." A Dalek said.
"Alright, River. I put my trust in you." Rose muttered, turning back to the console.
Moments later, the inside of the Tardis lost gravity. "Free fall!" Rose shouted to the air. She clung to the railing to keep herself in place. The Tardis impacted with something and it started to get very warm very quickly. The lights on the walls began to explode and the console… the console opened up, exposing the golden Heart of the Tardis. Rose stepped toward the light, blinded to everything else and sank into the glowing mass of tendrils. The two merged, more completely than they had the first time. Deep inside the Heart, a thought occurred. Was she Rose Tyler or the Tardis? Or both? Did it matter? As she cried out with a human voice against the pain of the star burning her shell, she decided on both. She moved the Tardis shell away from the burning and delved into the timelines. Davros was supposed to be safely tucked away inside the Time War. She saw that and the horrible things that could happen if he was breaking out. She saw the manipulations of Dalek Caan, getting Donna Noble to the Doctor just when she was needed. Then she smiled. The Tardis appeared in the Vault of the Crucible. The being which existed in the Heart of the Tardis stretched and separated once more. Rose Tyler, who was more than Rose Tyler, the Bad Wolf stepped away from the Heart of the Tardis. A thick golden cable of light reached from the Heart to Rose, connecting on the opposite side of her chest from her heart. Bad Wolf opened the door with a wave of her hand and golden light spilled into the dingy chamber.
Her arrival was met with silence. Her friends and family stared at her in shock. The Doctor was terrified.
Dalek Caan broke the silence with a giggle. "And so she returns, she who strides in the light bringing grace and forgiveness. She who rights wrongs in the dark and brings balance to the universe.
"This is an abomination!" Davros hissed. He extended his finger and shot a bolt of energy at her. She stopped it just as she had on Satellite Five, forcing it to return to his hand. "This does not change things, Doctor! My victory was foretold."
"Dalek Caan is an ally of Time." Rose said in a curiously layered voice. She waved a hand.
"System in shutdown." Screeched a Dalek.
"Planet lost. Two planets lost. Three. Four."
"What have you done?" Roared Davros.
"I return things to their proper order." Rose said. "You have leaked from wound in the Time Lock. You must go back in or the wound will not heal."
"But you promised me, Dalek Caan! Why did you not foresee this?"
"Oh, I think he did. Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages. Getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time." The Doctor said, finding his voice again.
"This would always have happened. I only helped, Doctor." The mad Dalek said, sounding moderately sane.
"Dalek Caan is an ally of Time." Rose repeated.
The Supreme Dalek descended into the vault, crying about betrayal and ordering their extermination.
"Exterminate this!" Mickey yelled as he and Jack leveled two of the big guns at the Daleks. They fired but the whole scene swam in front of their eyes. When it cleared, the whole group stood on a beach somewhere on earth which was back orbiting its own sun once again.
"Huh?" Jack said, lowering his gun.
"The Time War is closed again. And you are safe, my Doctor." Rose said, lowering her hand.
"Rose, you've got to let go. It will kill you." The Doctor said, standing in front of her so he could look into her burning, golden eyes.
"Don't be daft." Rose said, the second edge fading from her voice. While he watched, the glowing faded from her eyes and they returned to a normal color. Well, significantly more golden than he remembered, but normal. The rope of light between her and the Tardis dwindled to a thread and then faded out completely. The golden glow from the doorway ceased abruptly.
"Hello." The Doctor said to Rose.
"Hello." She smiled at him. Then fell over.
He caught her before she hit the ground.
He sat, lowering her with him until she lay with her head in his lap. He stroked the golden hair back from her face. He also completely forgot about the people around him.
"Doctor?" Jack said, "As much as we all love Rose, what the hell happened and where the hell are we?"
The Doctor looked up at the rest of his companions guiltily. "Right. Sorry. We're on Earth, Dårlig Ulv Stranden, if I had to guess. Rose sent all the planets home and the Daleks were forced back into the Time War."
"Bloody Norway! Again." Jackie screeched at him. "My son is in England. Take us home. Now."
"Jackie! Your daughter is possibly very hurt and you're yelling at me?"
"Yes. You weren't bloody doing anything about it, anyway. Besides, she woke up almost a minute ago."
"What?" The Doctor looked down and saw that, indeed, Rose's eyes were open and she was grinning at him, her tongue poking out between her teeth. "Rose Tyler, now is not the time to be taking naps." He told her.
"I agree. You're really too skinny to make a comfortable pillow."
"Skinny streak of nothing." Donna said. "That's what I always say."
Rose stood, giggling, and pulled the Doctor to his feet. "Alright, where to first?" He asked, looking around at all his favorite people.
"I think we should all have dinner at mine. After all, Doctor, some of us have sons to return to." Sarah Jane suggested. "And it sounds like some explanations are needed." She added, glancing between Rose and Martha.
"I was hoping to put that off a bit." Rose muttered.
"Why?" The Doctor asked.
"Martha's mad at me. And seriously, she's scary. Worse than my mum."
The Doctor winced. "Fair point. We could sneak off."
"All these people who care about you, Doctor, and you want to run away?" She studied his face. "Typical."
"Oi! Spaceman!" Donna hollered from the Tardis doors. "It's bloody freezing, are we going or not?"
"Come on, Doctor, you'll love my brother." Rose said and they joined the rest of the gang in the Tardis.
The Doctor laughed at seeing his ship so full and directed all of them to places to stand, which levers to pull. Finally, he had enough people on the Tardis to do it. They all toppled over, laughing, as they landed.
"Welcome to Bannerman Road." Sarah Jane said as they landed in her attic and the Tardis poured out passengers. Sarah Jane wrapped Luke in an impossibly long hug. Tony was asleep on Harriet's lap when they arrived, though he awoke when Jackie scooped him up. Pete hugged both of them. Rose hovered in the Tardis doorway, watching all the familiar faces, a smile floating softly across her face. Donna, after calling Wilf and her mum, flirted shamelessly with Jack. Sarah Jane offered to put up Pete, Jackie, Mickey, and Tony until they could establish new identities and find a place to live. Mickey softly declined, saying he'd go with Jack and help out around Torchwood. Pete though, accepted graciously while Jackie fussed over Tony.
"So." Martha said, appearing at Rose's side.
Rose gave her a bright grin and a tight hug. "Hello, Martha." She said.
"I want an explanation." Martha was undeterred by the friendly gestures.
Rose sighed. "I know. It's a bit complicated."
"Then uncomplicated it."
"I have this device, call it the dimension cannon, that can shoot me between universes when the walls are weak. The Master put big cracks in 'em."
"So you came back." Martha smiled, then it faded. "Straight into the mouth of hell."
"Yup."
Martha's smile came back. "You sound like him when you do that."
"'Spose some things wore off."
"Why not tell me who you were?"
"Names are powerful." Rose said, echoing what she'd told Donna in the aborted timeline, "If my name got out, a lot of things could have gone wrong. One, the Master might have heard. I can guarantee he knew my name. Then he would have hunted me down. He underestimated you, but if he'd had me, he would have used me to hurt the Doctor. Second, it was bad timeline, wrong and weak, sort of. My name in it could have ripped it apart. It was too fragile. And, well, I don't think you would have taken too kindly to me showing up calling myself Rose. You could have told the Doctor. Couldn't have that."
Martha's face grew hot at the last part, knowing it was true. She'd definitely put Rose in a tough position during the Year that Never Was.
"How do you remember?" Martha asked, "because, for everyone else, it never happened."
"I was on the Valiant, inside the Tardis. I have a way to teleport."
"Like Jack's vortex manipulator?"
Rose grinned, "Something like that."
"And that's how you got off the Sontaran ship?"
"Yup."
"Why did you let me think you were dead?" Martha's voice grew just the slightest bit plaintive.
"I'm sorry, truly. But it would have raised more questions. And you might've told the Doctor."
"You keep saying that! Why couldn't he know?"
"Shan Shen." Rose said, "The last place Donna and the Doctor went. Donna got sucked into an alternate timeline. The Doctor died. I had to be in the other universe when that happened so I could fix it."
"Oh." Martha replied, a bit overwhelmed. "I'm sorry. It must have been hard for you."
"A bit." Rose admitted, "I'm glad I got to meet you though. Twice." She grinned, thinking of their encounter at Royal Hope, then flushed. She might leave the kissing part out of that story. For multiple reasons. She wasn't sure how to tell Martha that she wasn't human anymore.
"How do you mean, twice?" Martha asked.
"When the Doctor died, in the other timeline, I saved the Royal Hope Hospital. After all, you told me exactly what to do."
Martha stared at her for a long moment, then burst out laughing. "Thank you, for saving my life. Again."
"Any time." Rose promised.
"I didn't catch your name." Mickey interrupted, holding out his hand. "I'm Mickey. Mickey Smith."
"Martha Jones. I've heard a lot about you." She shook his hand.
"Really?" He said, looking over at Rose, who grinned and slipped away. "Nothing too embarrassing I hope."
The Doctor was being interrogated by Jackie. He looked a bit uncomfortable. Rose recognized the look. The same look of forbearance he'd always used when it came to her mum. But there was another expression underneath. One of joy. As much as he complained about her, the Doctor really liked Jackie Tyler.
Harriet Jones was talking politics with Pete. In the other universe, she'd been the replacement president, and doing quite well. Having been planet-bound for a while, Rose understood more where Harriet was coming from when she ordered the destruction of the Sycorax. It wasn't something that she could risk lives on. Maybe Pete could get her back in power, the architect of Britain's golden age. They could do worse. Like elect another power-hungry alien bent on the destruction of the universe.
Sarah Jane and Luke called them downstairs to eat what appeared to be nearly the entire contents of their pantry.
"I would have called for takeaway," Sarah Jane explained, "But I don't think the shops will be open for a few days."
The meal was lovely, but Rose saw everything at a sort of distance. It was like a dream that she couldn't convince herself was real. So many people that she cared about, happy and safe in one place, and the Doctor was there. She'd done it. She'd really, truly, done it.
"Well, Doc," Jack said, late in the evening, "Since you've disabled my vortex manipulator, again, would you mind taking me home? There are some people I need to see."
Martha and Harriet added their agreement.
"Right, off again then." The Doctor said, "Sarah Jane, do you mind if I come back here? After I drop them off?"
"Of course not, Doctor. We'll be right here." She wrapped an arm around Luke's shoulders.
The Doctor nodded. "Rose? Would you like to come with?"
"If you want me to."
"I do, if you want to."
"Yeah, I'd like that."
"Blimey, are they always like that?" Donna whispered to Mickey.
"Drove me bloody mad." Mickey whispered back.
The Doctor turned to Donna. "And what do you want to do, Donna?"
"Stupid spaceman, you're going to take me home to make sure my family's okay, and then I'm comin' with you." Donna smacked him playfully on the shoulder.
"Ow! Alright, alright. Get in then, all of you."
They dropped Harriet off first, with her mother in Flydale North, then Martha with her parents in London. Jack and Mickey got off in Torchwood, though they both refused to leave until Rose promised to visit soon.
Rose and the Doctor both joined Donna as she checked in on Wilf and Sylvia. Rose thanked them again for the help. Sylvia spent the time glaring daggers at the Doctor.
"Always the mothers." Rose muttered.
"Every time."
Rose gave him a tongue in teeth smile.
Donna announced that she was ready to leave. The Doctor bounded back into the Tardis and piloted to Sarah Jane's, even managing to land the same day they left.
Tony had gone to bed by the time they returned, but the adults and Luke were sipping tea in the sitting room.
"So, Dad." Rose said as she flopped into her favorite chair in Sarah Jane's sitting room, "What's this plan you're got for money?"
Pete grinned and opened his backpack. He pulled out a sturdy plastic tube and popped off the end. He gently tugged out a rolled canvas. Everyone gasped as he unrolled it. The painting was clearly a VanGogh, but one that none of them had ever seen.
"My world has a lot of the same painters." Pete explained, "But some different paintings. Jackie helped pick out ones she'd never seen. I figure they should sell pretty well. 'New VanGogh, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Discovered by dead man'" He proclaimed.
"You humans. So brilliant." The Doctor beamed.
"Sarah Jane was sayin' she could make up new papers, identities an' such with that supercomputer of hers." Jackie said, "We'll do just fine."
"That's brilliant, Mum, Dad." Rose hugged Jackie, and yawned.
"I think it's bed time for all of us." Sarah Jane said, "You'll stay until morning, won't you? Doctor?"
"Course. Brilliant." The Doctor said.
"I've got room for Jackie and Pete, but I figure Rose can stay on the Tardis." Sarah Jane said and walked out of the room, the elder Tylers following.
"I'll see you in the morning, spaceman." Donna said and darted out of the room.
Rose giggled. "Well meaning they may be, but not subtle."
"What?" The Doctor said, turning back to the only person left in the room. Impossible, fantastic, brilliant Rose.
"Really, Doctor? They wanted to leave us alone."
"Oh. Right. Well." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, oddly uncomfortable. He wasn't sure just where to start.
Rose cocked her head to one side, studying the Doctor carefully. "Library?" She suggested and stood.
"Yes." The Doctor said in relief and reached automatically for Rose's hand.