This is my first attempt at Doctor Who fanfiction, so hopefully it manages to entertain some of you. I've also taken some creative liberties with the Barcelona Planet, as not much is mentioned beyond there being no-nosed dogs.
This story follows canon up through S7:E5 - The Angels Take Manhattan, and takes place shortly after those events. Mostly, that means that Clara plays no part in this fic, and the TARDIS doesn't go through the remodel post Amy and Rory.
Enjoy!
The Doctor hated endings.
No body knew that better than his companions, as he rarely did goodbyes. He would just drop them off one day, acting as if he'd be right back, only to never return. Many speculated that he did it because, in a way, he was convincing himself that he really would be right back. That it wasn't the end at all. Just one more trip, one more mission, and then he'd be there to pick up his friends in the TARDIS.
Perhaps it was a cruel kindness, but some of them had to be left behind. Traveling like that: never really sure of how much time has passed, danger following you wherever you may go; it does things to a person, and not all of it is good. It makes you hard and cold, and no one deserved to become like that. No one deserved to be like him.
There were, however, institances where rather than being left behind, his friends were taken from him. Those losses hurt the old Time Lord the most.
His most recent losses were the Ponds. First, there was Amy and Rory, whose futures were stolen by the Weeping Angels, who sent them back in time to the 1930's. And because of all the time-distortions, the Doctor, the time traveling mad man, would never be able to see them again. As unwelcome as their fate was, the Doctor took some comfort in the fact that they had lead good lives.
Then, second, was Amy and Rory's daughter, River. The Doctor's wife. She was there to comfort the Doctor in the aftermath of her parents' death. For a time, she even traveled with him, but she told him from the very beginning that she could not stay. He knew she was right, of course, but it hurt to know that he would never see her again after she departed. Her time was running out, and it wouldn't be long before she was running off to meet his past self to die in the Library. Knowing all that, he was still unable to tell her goodbye.
The last thing that he said to her was a promise that he would not travel alone, which was something he had not yet fulfilled.
He traveled to a number of places and times, interfering in situations when the occasion called for it. It was the same old life he'd always led, just without anyone to share the wonder with.
Then, one day, on a whim, the Doctor decided to go to Barcelona--the planet, not the city. He had been there once before and had talked about going there again many times, but never got around to it. So, he punched in the coordinates, and off he flew.
When the TARDIS landed, the Doctor opened the door to reveal indigo grass and viridian skies. Twin suns beat down on the scene, illuminating the small city he had landed in. Buildings that seemed to be made of shining, black obsidion stood tall, reaching for the sky, and trees with pearlesant leaves were placed throughout.
The natives of Barcelona were a brilliant sight to behold, as well. They were hairless creatures, with four arms, long pointed ears that curved downward, and bright vermillion skin. Here and there, a few of them could be seen walking dogs that appeared to be a sort of mix between a Rottweiler and a Jack Russell, but they had absolutely no nose. Instead, their muzzles were made up entirely of their jaws and mouths, and nothing else.
The Doctor explored the place for many hours. He even ventured into a little antique shop ran by a lovely Barcelonian female named Roarscia. She told him that she had inherited the shop from her late grandmother, and that her fondest memories from childhood were about the shop. Eagerly, he listened to her stories, and how she hoped to one day pass on the shop to her daughter Catta.
Then after some time, he bid her a good afternoon, and departed. Though, not before purchasing a miniature figurine of some creature that appeared to be a hybrid of a warthog and a house cat. According to Roarscia, it was called a P'Xara and was said to bring good luck.
The Doctor smiled at that as he placed the figuring into the pocket of his tweed jacket. He could do with a bit of luck.
After leaving the shop, he wandered about the city for a little while longer. He saw food vendors on corners, families walking together, and even someone juggling, which was far easier to accomplish when one had four arms.
Then, suddenly, the Doctor came to a halt in front of a wall of a building. It was absolutely covered with various flyers and posters. One advertised Koni Benjay's Instant Stain Remover. Another one was for the Barcelonian Opera House. There was also several posters for amatuer bands and flyers with freelancers' contact information. But none of that was any concern of the Doctor's. Instead, his focus was on seven different posters, each having a single letter on it. They were all typed in different sizes and fonts, but they were close enough together that they could be read as two words: Bad Wolf.
"Impossible," the Doctor whispered to himself.
With remarkable speed, he raced back to the TARDIS. Immediately, he typed in the coordinates for the Powell Estate, the previous residance of Rose Tyler. After a stumble and a tumble and a wheezing groan, the TARDIS landed.
The Doctor stormed out of the doors and began to franticly look for any other sign of the Bad Wolf. He was not disappointed.
On the park bench that stood not 10 feet from him, someone had scratched the words into the wood. At the same time, a man walked by wearing a T-shirt with 'Bad Wolf' written on it in big blocky letters. Then the wind began to pick up and a flyer struck him in the face. He pulled it away and read the advertisement: 'Tamora's Obediance School - Tame the Bad Wolf in Your Pooch!'
The evidence was too tangible for the Doctor to write it off as coincidence, but he still could not believe it. Without a second glance at the world outside, he retreated back to the TARDIS to cool down.
Once inside, he heavily threw himself into the pilot's seat, and pressed the hills of hands to his eyes. "This cannot be happening," he muttered to himself. "This must be a dream."
That was when he heard it: the groan of the TARDIS materalizing. But he knew he had not given his TARDIS a destination, nor did he feel the dizzying effect of flight.
He looked up and was stunned right out of his seat when he saw a blue police box appearing in front of him. It wasn't quite the same as his, though. The paint job was better, but it was a muddier blue. The wood looked grainier, too. Much like it had been during his previous life.
Then, with a whine, the door opened, and out walked a girl he knew instantly. She looked to be in her early twenties, with eyes the color of whiskey, and hair that was honey blonde, rather than the bleached platinum that he was accustomed to seeing her with.
"Now I know I'm dreaming," he said with a humorless laugh.
This captured the girl's attention, and she turned to him with raised brows and parted lips. "Doctor?" she whispered unsurely.
"You're not real," the Doctor said matter-of-factly. "This has to be a dream. I need to wake up!" He then began to slap both his cheeks in hope that it would shock him into waking.
He ignored the girl when she began to protest and insist that she was real, and he continued to slap himself for several more seconds. When it became clear that he would get no results from this, other than a sore face, he stopped.
"Okay, definitely not a dream," he concluded. "That brings me to my next question--wait... Did I ask a question? Oh! I did just there, didn't I? Bugger, there I go again! Okay, let me just start over." He then whipped out his screwdriver and pointed it directly at her, then asked, "Who are you, and why are pretending to be Rose Tyler?"
The girl held her hands out in front of her to show him that she was no threat. "I am Rose Tyler!" she told him, desperation in her tone.
He then began to scan her with the screwdriver. Then he took a moment to analyze the results. When no indication appeared that she was a shape shifter or able to use his own mind against him, he was pleasantly surprised. But still he was unable to allow himself to believe that it was really Rose standing in front of him.
"You can't be her," he replied stiffly. "Rose Tyler no longer resides in this universe. If you were Rose, then the whole of time and space would rip itself apart. As you can see, that isn't exactly happening. There must be something manipulating the results."
The girl rolled her eyes and huffed in frustration. "If you would just listen," she growled, "I'll explain everything!"
"I'd be happy to listen, if you were telling the truth!" the Doctor shouted. "Now, I'm not opposed to lying, especially when it comes to protecting the people I care about, but this..." he trailed off, the power he spoke with previously dwindling. "This is just cruel."
The girl's expression softend and she dropped her hands. "Look," she started calmly, "I know this is hard. Really, I do. But I swear to you that I'm telling the truth."
They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them backing down. Then, finally, the girl's eyes lit up with realization.
"Wait!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I can prove it."
The Doctor fixed her with an unsure look. "How?" he asked, his voice laced with doubt.
Slowly, as though she were approaching a wild animal, the girl walked towards him. Once she stood directly in front of him, she stopped. She then gave him a sad look before saying, "I'm sorry that you have to find out like this." Lightly, she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed up onto her tiptoes. Then, bringing her mouth as close to his ear as she could manage, she whispered one word. Just one word.
His name.
This was all the proof the Doctor needed.
With a sob, he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Rose," he cried, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "My Rose."
Rose hugged him back just as fiercly, and it wasn't long before she began to cry, too.
After the intial shock and happiness was over, the Doctor finally released her, though he still held on to her hand. A part of him was afraid that she would disappear if he didn't hang on to her.
"I don't understand," he told her. "How are you here? Why aren't you with the Metacrisis me?"
Fresh tears sprang to Rose's eyes. "Don't call him that," she plead. "He was so much more than that. Call him the Doctor or John, but not that."
The Doctor's brow furrowed in concern. He brought up his free hand to cup the side of her face, lightly sweeping his thumb over her cheek to wipe away her tears. "Oh, Rose. What happened?"
Rose sighed shakily, trying to calm herself enough to be able to get the words out. "He's gone," she croaked out. "The Doctor--John... He died."
The Doctor threw his arms around her once more. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."
"You were right," she said into his chest with a short, mirthless laugh. "He did grow old, just not at the same time as me."
Her words took him a bit by surprise, and he pulled back from her again. Then blurted, "Wait, what?"
Rose was calm enough now that she was able to speak with a steady voice, but instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own. "How long has it been for you, Doctor? I can see you've regenerated again, which means it's probably been a while. How many different faces have you worn since then?"
"Just this one," he assured her. "And, yeah, it's been a while. 300 years, give or take a few decades."
"You weren't alone all that time, I hope?" she worryingly asked.
He shook his head. "No, not the whole time. I traveled with this couple, Amy and Rory Pond. You would have liked them, but they're gone now." Rose gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze and told him that she was sorry to hear that. "I also, traveled with their daughter, River, off and on."
"River Song?" Rose asked. The Doctor nodded. "John told me about her," she explained. "He told me that her knowing your name meant that you and her were married."
The Doctor shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Rose, however, simply smiled and gave him a playful jab with her elbow. "Oh, c'mon, Doctor. I was trapped in another universe. Plus, it's been 300 years! You don't have to feel guilty about getting married."
"I also married Marilyn Monroe--er, but let's not get into that," he amended when he saw Rose's eyes widen comically. "How long has it been for you?"
It took her a moment to answer, but when she finally did, she said, "56 years."
The Doctor's eyes widened and his brows shot up to his hairline. "But that's--"
"Impossible?" Rose finished for him. "Yeah."
He gaped at her for a moment, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. "How?" he asked finally.
"Do you remember when I absorbed the Time Vortex?" After he nodded in confirmation, she continued on. "I should have died. Think about it, Doctor. I held on to the power of Time Vortex for almost an hour, and nothing really happened to me except a touch of amnesia and a headache. You were only able to hang on to it for a handful of seconds, and it destroyed ever cell in your body. Haven't you ever wondered why?"
The Doctor didn't reply. He only continued to stare at her with horror and fascination.
"When I made Jack Immortal, I also bestowed that curse upon myself. But, unlike him, I don't age." She gave him a half-smile. "Perhaps that last bit was at the expense of my younger self's vanity."
"But, that would make you a temporal paradox!" the Doctor spoke finally. "Why isn't the TARDIS rejecting you?"
"A piece of the TARDIS still lives inside me. We are apart of each other." She then took his hands in both of hers and closed her eyes. "Can't you hear her singing?"
Truthfully, he could not hear anything, but he was not ignorant to energy that emitted from TARDIS. It gave him a sort of giddy sensation that made him want to laugh and cry all at once. Thinking back, he mentally kicked himself for not realizing it before. Of course the TARDIS never felt the same after losing Rose, but he had always believed that to be him projecting his own feelings about her onto the TARDIS.
"How are you here right now?" the Doctor asked in awe. "How is it that the world isn't falling apart?"
Rose opened her eyes and dropped one of his hands. She held onto the other for a while longer, but then seemed to think better of it, and released that one, too. "A Dimension Cannon," she told him. "It took John and I almost 6 years to realize I don't age. After that, it was quite the dominoe effect.
"I had to quit my job at Torchwood. John did end up making me a Preception Filter, but the psychic training in that place is next level. It was only a matter of time before they realized what was going on. That meant we to had leave. So, we said goodbye to Mum and Dad and Tony, packed up our growing TARDIS, and moved to Turin, Italy.
"John and I got married in that first year we were there."
"So late?" the Doctor asked surprised. "I'd have thought you'd be married much sooner."
Rose gave him one of her tongue-in-teeth smiles, and his hearts soared at the sight. He missed that smile.
"We were," she told him cheekily. "We married by the laws of Gallifrey three months after being reunited. Italy was our human wedding. It was just a courthouse wedding, though. We originally weren't going to bother because we were already husband and wife in every way that mattered. The only reason we went through with it is because of the baby."
"You had a child," the Doctor said with a bright smile.
Rose nodded. "A daughter. We named her Donna."
"Donna," he repeated, his smile deepening.
She returned his smile for a moment, but then her expression grew serious. "It was by no means perfect," she told him. "I rarely saw my family and I had to hide who I was from everyone outside of John. He was the only one who knew the truth about me. Everyone else was fooled by the Preception Filter, including our daughter.
"Despite all that, I really enjoyed my life there. John worked as teacher at a public school. He taught astronomy," she smiled fondly as she revealed that piece of information. "I was a stay-at-home mum for a long while, until Donna started school. Then, I worked as a receptionist in a doctor's office.
"By the time Donna was 15, our TARDIS was done growing, and we took many trips together as a family. It was actually on one of those trips that I found out that I couldn't die.
"John and I had gone on a trip, just the two of us, to another planet, and as you can imagine, we got ourselves into a bit of trouble. We were being chased and shot at, and one of the blasters ended up hitting me. I immediately collapsed, and by some miracle, John was able to carry my body back to the TARDIS without any fatal injuries.
"When he was sure that we were safe, he assessed my condition, only to discover that I was dead. But then, all of sudden, I woke up, gasping for air. My body had somehow healed itself.
"That was when John decided that we had to make another Dimension Cannon. One that we could install into the TARDIS. 'Cept, it could only be used once, otherwise the world would fall apart. I didn't understand why he felt the need to do that. I was completely happy with my life. So, he explained it to me.
"He reminded me that he would eventually die, as would Donna, and I would be left on my own. However, with the Dimension Cannon, it would be able to send me back to this universe, where I could find you." Rose shook her head at the memory. "He was so sure of himself that he couldn't fathom the possibility that you'd moved on. 'We're the same person,' he'd say. 'No matter how they've changed or who they've become, the Doctor will always love Rose Tyler.'"
The Doctor wanted to affirm this claim, but he sensed that Rose still had more to tell him, and he did not want to interrupt her tale.
"Years went by," she went on. "We traveled to new planets and times. Tony got married and had children. Dad passed away, then Mum. Donna got married and had twin boys named Allen and Michael, my beautiful grandsons. John and I retired. We traveled a bit more until it got to be too much for John. Then my world shattered.
"John--my Doctor passed away. Physically, he was roughly 86 years old when he died, and never was there a time that I wished that I could die, too."
It broke the Doctor's hearts to hear her say that, but he understood. Better than most people, probably.
"That was six years ago. I stayed because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Donna and her boys. But she is 49, now, and I still look no more than 20. Without the Preception Filter, one would think that she was my mother.
"One day, she will die, and I will still be living. I couldn't bear to see her die, too. That's when I realized that I had to leave, so I made all the necessary arrangements and faked my death. That brings us here," she finished, tears beginning to spring to her eyes.
"I understand, now," she said softly. "Why you'd always shut me out. Why you'd never allow me to get too close to you... It was to prevent your heart from breaking." She then gave into her tears and began to openly sob.
The Doctor instantly stepped forward, and took her into his arms. She clung to him desperately and weeped into his chest. He gently rubbed her back, occasionly kissing the top of her head and saying, "It's okay. I've got you."
They stayed like that for several minutes. Slowly, Rose's sobs subsided to heavy sighs and sniffles. Then, when she had calmed, she stepped out of his embrace.
"I want you to know, Doctor," she began as she wiped the remainder of her tears from her cheeks, "that I don't expect anything from you. What we had was a long time ago. You've had 300 years to move on and forget about me. It's not fair for me to come storming back into your life." She swallowed thickly. "I only came here because I promised John that I would, but I'll be gone just as soon as I've collected myself."
The Doctor stepped toward her and took her hands in his. "I could never forget you, Rose. Not ever!"
She looked at him unsurely, but didn't say anything. So, he continued. "I've lost so many people. More than I care to admit. It's never easy, but I mourn them and then I move on. But you...Rose Tyler...you are the hardest person I've ever had to let go of."
He released one of her hands so that he could cup her cheek. "I've had centuries to move on, and there were times that I could almost convince myself that I had. Then, just as soon as I'd tell myself that, I'd come across something that would conjure up some sort of memory of you, and you'd come flooding back in. No matter how much I've tried to ignore it, my hearts have always belonged to you, Rose."
Rose shook her head. "You're married. It isn't right."
The Doctor sighed and drew back his hands. He looked very sad all of the sudden. "What exactly did the other me tell you about River?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "Just that she was from your future and that her knowing your name meant that you were married. I dunno, John always seemed sad whenever she was brought up, and I never had the heart to ask."
"River dies in that library," he said bluntly. There really was no way he could have sugar-coated it. "The first time I ever met her was the day that she died. And I've already seen her for the last time." He chuckled darkly. "Of course, I was too big of a coward to tell her goodbye."
"Oh, Doctor," Rose murmured sympathetically.
He frustratedly raked a hand through his hair and began to pace for a moment. Then he stopped in front of her and looked her full in the eyes. "Look, I am not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you that I didn't love her because I did. I loved her so much. But loving her was like loving the moon. Loving the moon is complicated. It isn't always there to light up the night sky, and even when it is, there's usually parts of it missing."
He paused for a moment, trying to gauge Rose's reaction. A whirlwind of emotions blew across her face faster than he could read them. Then after another beat, he continued.
"The first memory I have of her, is of her dying. And neither of us were ever whole when we were together. There were always gaps in our history. So, tell me how I could ever allow myself to fall completely? She was dead before I even knew her."
For the first time that day, it was Rose throwing her arms around the Doctor. "My Doctor," she breathed. "My poor Doctor."
He held onto her tightly, and chuckled half-heartedly into her hair. "I'm still your Doctor?" he teased.
She gave him an airy laugh of her own. "You never stopped being my Doctor," she told him as she snuggled into his chest.
He smiled at that, but he still felt a little unsure. "Will you stay?"
"If that's what you truly want, then I'll stay."
He pulled back a bit so that he could see her more clearly, but he kept his arms securely wrapped around her waist. "Of course I want you to stay," he told her. "How many different ways do I have to tell you that I love you before you get it through that thick skull of yours?" He punctuated his point by lightly tapping on her forehead a couple of times.
Rose smiled brightly up at him. "Say that again," she requested.
"How many times--"
"No!" she cut him off, rolling her eyes. "The part where you said you loved me."
A tender smile graced the Doctor's lips. "I love you, Rose Tyler," he told her with a kiss to her forehead.
"And I love you," Rose replied. Then she grabbed him by the lapels of his tweed jacket and pulled him in for a real kiss.
The Doctor was a bit surprised at first, but it wasn't long before he was responding.
When they finally broke apart, Rose laughed a bit at the disheveled look on his face. Then, she smoothed her hands against his jacket and said, "Y'know, 'm not really sure how I feel about your styling choices. You dress a bit like my Grandad Prentice," she giggled, giving his bowtie a little flick. "Right down to the bowtie."
"Bowties are cool," he replied, adjusting it a bit as he said it.
She smiled and gave her head an absent-minded shake.
"And what do you think about the rest of me?" he asked a bit nervously. At her look of surprise, he elaborated. "You don't think my hair is too floppy, or my chin is too chin-y?"
She couldn't surpress the bubble of laughter that escaped her lips. "Your hair is just the right amount of floppy," she assured him with a teasing smile as she lightly ran her fingers through the hair that rested on his forehead. "And your chin is prefect," she finished, giving him a peck on the corner of his mouth.
Then, she looked him in the eyes and smiled, all teasing gone from her expression. "You're different, Doctor, but you're still you. No matter how you've changed or who you've become, I'll always love you."
The Doctor's hearts soared at her words, and he swooped down to capture her lips again in a quick kiss.
"So," he said when the moment had passed. "Where do we go from here?"
"Well," began Rose thoughtfully, "I don't think we can pick up where we left off. We've both been through too much for that. We've got a good foundation, but some rebuilding is required."
He nodded in agreement. Then Rose gave him one of her tongue-touched smiles.
"All that can wait, though," she said. "First... you have got to give me a tour of this remodel!"
The Doctor laughed. "You like it, then?"
She nodded excitedly. "There's so much light in here now! Oh, and all those stairs."
He took her hand and began to drag her up one of the staircases. "Well, c'mon, then. There's lots to see."
She giggled. "It's a good thing we've got time."
"All the time in the world, Rose Tyler."
THE END