Hey babes! Back again with a new one for ya, as part of DoctorRose Bingo! The prompt for this one was: Canon Divergence. Took me a while to figure something out, but I finally got it together. This is my first time writing the Ninth Doctor, and thankfully most of it was just pulled straight from the episode. All I really had to do was figure out the ending.

Hope it's Canon Divergent enough for you.

Enjoy!

Stumbling back at the bright lights emanating from the TARDIS and falling to the ground, the Doctor's hearts sink into his stomach the moment he processes the sight of a truly ethereal Rose standing before him. He'd sent her away for a reason, had sent her away so she wouldn't have to continue being involved in any of this and wouldn't have to have it weighing heavy on her, whatever choice ended up being made. He should have known she wouldn't listen.

"What've you done?" he can't help but to ask, even though he has an inkling of a feeling of precisely what might have happened after she got home.

"I looked into the TARDIS," Rose says, her voice sounding almost like an echo, "and the TARDIS looked into me."

"You looked into the Time Vortex," he explains with a pained voice. "Rose, no one's meant to see that."

"This is the Abomination!" the Emperor of the Daleks declares, his voice resonating through the nearly abandoned control room.

"Exterminate!" one of the few Daleks in the room says, the telltale sound of its laser following.

Rose's eyes glow gold as she deflects the beam with the palm of her hand, sending it back toward the Dalek.

He can't help but stare in shock and disbelief. What has she become?

"I am the Bad Wolf," she states, as if hearing his inner thoughts, her attention on him again. "I create myself. I take the words, I scatter them in time and space." She waves a hand through the air, the words 'BAD WOLF' disappearing from the wall above them. "A message to lead myself here."

"Rose, you've got to stop this," he pleads with her as she continues to stare ahead, her eyes still glowing. His hearts beat rapidly inside his chest, nothing but concern and worry for this precious human filling him completely. "You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're going to burn."

She looks down at him, the glow from her eyes fading. "I want you safe. My Doctor. Protected from the false god."

"You cannot hurt me. I am immortal."

She looks up at the Emperor. "You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence, and I divide them." Her eyes glow, her arm raises, and a Dalek nearby disintegrates. "Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies." She raises her other hand and the other Daleks in the room disintegrate one by one. "The Time War ends."

"I will not die. I cannot die!"

He can't take his eyes off of Rose even as he listens to the Emperor practically beg for his life, seconds before he's nothing but tiny atoms in the vast universe. Tear tracks are visible on her cheeks, even as her eyes continue to glow and her hair billows in an artificial breeze.

"Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go," he begs.

"How can I let go of this? I bring life." Her eyes glow brighter.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he feels an uncomfortable prickling. He pushes it aside for the time being, his one concern is Rose. "But this is wrong!" he tries again. "You can't control life and death."

"But I can," she says, looking down at him, the glow lessening. "The sun and the moon, the day and the night. But why do they hurt?" she asks, her voice catching.

He fights back a lump in his throat. "The power's going to kill you and it's my fault."

"I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be."

He stands then, not quite believing what he just heard. Sure, he knew it was possible given what she did, but it's another thing entirely to actually hear that it's happened. "That's what I see," he tells her, gently. "All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?"

"My head. It's killing me." She stares at him, practically through him, her head tilting. "But I can make it stop."

"Then do it," he begs, not understanding the quick, sudden change from wanting to keep this power to potentially willingly giving it up. But he certainly isn't going to complain, not if it can save Rose. "Please. Make it stop."

Seconds later, the glow of the TARDIS' heart engulfs Rose completely until it slowly pours from her eyes and mouth and drifts back into the console, to its rightful place. The console snaps shut, the lights around them dimming back to a normal level.

Thankful once again for his heightened reflexes, he manages to catch Rose as she falls, preventing her body from hitting the floor. He picks her up easily and carries her into the TARDIS and then down to her room (he sends a silent thank you to the TARDIS for moving Rose's room closer to the console room). He carefully places her under the covers of her bed, making sure she'll be as comfortable as she possibly can be, not knowing how long she'll be asleep and not wanting her to wake up with any neck cricks or sore muscles.

Hesitating for just a moment, he leaves the room and wanders back out to the console room. He flips all the right levers and switches to send them into the vortex and away from the mess they're leaving behind. In the back of his head he hopes Jack will understand.

He swears it's only a few minutes, though somehow it feels like a lot longer, when Rose enters the console room.

She looks a bit dazed, one hand rubbing at her head and her eyes squinted slightly. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember?" he asks as casually as he can, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the console as she walks around it to join him.

"It's like…like there was this singing."

He smiles and nods. "That's right. We sang a song and the Daleks ran away," he tries for a joke.

Rose's brows furrow. "I was at home." She shakes her head and then winces slightly. "No, I wasn't, I was in the TARDIS, and there was this light. I can't remember anything else."

"Don't push yourself too hard trying to remember. Might just make things worse. It'll come back when it's good and ready to."

She wanders closer to him, turning to lean back against the console and then rest her head against his arm. "Think I've got a headache."

"It'll pass. You should rest, though."

She shakes her head. "Where are we right now?"

"Vortex."

"Can we go home? Just for a bit? Mum's probably worried."

"If that's what you really want."

"It is. But try not to get me home a year late this time, yeah?"

He tries not to sound offended. "Still got you home, didn't I?"

Rose snorts. "Yeah. 'Cept everyone thought I was dead and that Mickey did it."

"Oh, Rickey boy was fine," he reminds her as he turns to face the console, careful not to jostle her too much, and starts inputting the coordinates to take Rose home. "Now then," he says before she can say anything else, "London, England, the Powell Estate. Mere moments after you left." He looks up at Rose, hand over the lever that'll set them in motion. "You're sure you want to go home?"

She nods. "Yeah."

"Then here we go." He flips the lever and the TARDIS jerks. It's bumpy, but no bumpier than usual, and they both hang onto the edge of the console to keep themselves as steady as they can.

Soon enough, the shaking stops, and the TARDIS settles as she lands.

"Right then, here we are," he tells Rose, watching as she rights herself and fixes her hair a bit, pushing it out of her face. He folds his arms across his chest and gestures to the doors. "Go on and see your mother, have some tea. But try not to take too long, would you? We've got places to be."

She stares at him. "You're not…you're not coming with?"

"I'd rather not get slapped again, thank you very much."

Rose levels him with a look. "She's not gonna slap you, alright? She told me she was grateful to you for sending me home."

He stands a bit taller. "I made her a promise."

"I know. But Doctor, please, just come with me?" She takes a few small steps toward him. "I promise I won't let her slap you. We don't even have to stay long. We'll pop up for tea, stay a couple hours to appease Mum, and then we'll be back here in the TARDIS off on our next adventure."

He stays quiet, watching her, and then lets out a heavy breath. He just can't say no to her. No matter how hard he tries to sometimes. "Fine." He follows a grinning Rose to the TARDIS doors, nearly running into her back when she stops short in the doorway. "What is it now?"

She snickers. "Don't think I'm gonna be able to keep Mum from slapping you."

His brows furrow. "What do you mean?"

She turns toward him and steps aside, patting his shoulder as she does. "At least it's not an entire year late this time."

He steps down out of the TARDIS and sighs heavily at the colorful lights strung up on the nearby buildings and the festive music blaring through various open windows. Jackie and Mickey are in the distance, but rapidly approaching.

Rose's chin lands on his shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Doctor."

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!