2X13 - END OF DOOMSDAY
(In case you're wanting a good piece of music to listen to whilst reading this, I recommend 'I Love You Forever' by Thomas Bergersen & Two Steps From Hell. It is, and I cannot stress this enough, a literal Ten/Rose love theme. It also works for and as a Mergana love theme for the Mergana fic I'm also working on. Enjoy avid readers and allon'sy! - Trying to be like Stan Lee, god rest his beautiful soul.)
Woosh! Rose felt the rush of wind as Daleks and Cybermen were sucked into the void at a speed faster than light itself. From where she was hanging, it looked like an endless stream of Daleks and Cybermen being dragged screaming into the Void. "JUST HOLD ON!" The Doctor said, holding on for dear life, as Rose did too. Soon, the amount of Daleks and Cybermen wooshing past began to decrease.
But Rose was having trouble holding on. She could feel her grip on her clamp slipping, finger by finger until...
As if in slow motion...
"AAAHHHHHHHHH!" Rose screamed, as her last finger slipped and she fell towards the Void. "ROOOOSSSSEEEEEEE!" The Doctor yelled, as he let go of his own clamp and began falling towards Rose. Arms outstretched, the Doctor and Rose reached out toward each other as they fell toward the Void. Their fingers grazed feverishly until they finally clamped hands. The Doctor pulled her into his arms and they closed their eyes as the white nothingness overcame them...
"ACH" "UH" They both said, as they dropped to and hit the floor. "Is this what being dead feels like, then?" Rose said, as they sat up, the only living things left in Torchwood Tower. "We're alive. But..But we should have been sucked in with the Daleks and Cybermen! We should be in the Void right now, how did we survive that?!" The Doctor said.
"Maybe the Void finished up sucking all the Daleks and Cybermen just before we went in with 'em?" Rose said, as she sidled up to her Time Lord. But the Doctor's mind was juggling a thousand different thoughts all at once. When isn't it doing that, though.
"It couldn't be that simple, it never is. There's something at play here." he said, turning to face her. "Oh, Rose, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Jackie and Mickie and Pete..." he said, trailing off, his hand taking hers.
And even though the sadness was visible in her eyes, she smiled, powering through the grief.
"It's not all bad, though, stuck here with you." Rose said, grinning. "Rose, you can't ever see them again. You gave them up for me, why?" the Doctor said.
"I already said why: I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you. It's always going to be you, Doctor." Rose said. The weight of this wasn't lost on either of them. "We should go, I mean we should really go. All sorts are going to start showing up and rooting around. UNIT, the British Army, NATO, Torchwood. Like I said, all sorts." the Doctor said, as he and Rose exited the room.
"We're in Torchwood, though, Doctor. We just watched them destroy themselves." Rose said, lamenting the stupidity of her own kind. "Extraterrestrial technology and human stupidity, unbeatable combination - there are others, got to be. No chance this is the only Torchwood base." the Doctor said, as they disappeared from sight.
In time, the Doctor and Rose arrived back at the TARDIS. Rose entered first, relieved to be home. As the Doctor stepped into the doorway, he took one last look at the ruin of Torchwood One, looking over it in disgust, before turning and entering the TARDIS.
The Doctor headed up the ramp up to the console. With a pull of the lever they were off. He was going to get her as far away from Torchwood Tower as he could. "So, is that it then? The walls between the universes, are they sealed off?" Rose asked, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer. The Doctor nodded, sad. "Yes. It's the only way both universes can live. I'm sorry." He said.
He saw her sadness, and it ate away at him. He hated seeing her like this. So, he resolved to do something he knew the Time Lords would absolutely abhor if they were still around. "BUT," he began, annunciating the T with a pop. "There is something I can do. A way you can see your mother again. But only for a little while, then I have to seal the universes off. Permanently." He said, with a mix of soft and stern in his voice.
"What is it, go back in time to before Canary Wharf?" Rose said, like it was obvious to her. The Doctor shook his head as he worked the console. "No, not that. Can't go back through your own timestream, let alone tell Jackie we're from a future where she gets trapped in a parallel universe with Pete Tyler." The Doctor said, joking a little.
"She'd do her nut." Rose said, laughing. "She'd slap me. Again. And I'll tell you what, your mother has got one hell of a slap on her." The Doctor said, laughing with her. "But there is something we can do. You can see your mother again, say goodbye, make peace." The Doctor said.
"If we're not going back in time to do it, how are we going to do it?" Rose asked, now very curious and trying very hard to hold her emotions together. "There's still gaps in the universes closing up. Tiny little gaps. If we can get enough power in the TARDIS, we can send a projection through to Pete's World and you can see your mother again." The Doctor said. "How long would it give us?" Rose said.
"Just minutes. If there are any gaps left, they won't have long before they seal themselves up." The Doctor said, bolting around the console, firing the TARDIS up. "And I know how to find one!" he said, feeling triumphant, determined to do this for Rose. He owed her this much. She had just given up her entire life on Earth to be with him for the rest of forever.
The TARDIS rocked about as she took the Doctor and Rose to where they wanted to be. When the TARDIS came to a halt the Doctor raced down the ramp, and opened the doors, Rose following him. "Where are we?" Rose said, as they both looked upon the burning sun, golden light pregnant with an impending ending raining over them.
"That, Rose Tyler, is a sun in its final hours of life. Luckily for us, there's a gap right next to the sun. We can use the sun to give the TARDIS enough power for the projection to go through. You can see Jackie again." The Doctor said, taking Rose's hand as they stared into the dying sun's bittersweet flame.
She looked up at him. Desperate. Eyes searching. He looked at her, and she read his eyes like they were the most delicate and yet also the most ancient book in the library. "You still haven't let yourself believe it, have ya?" she said. "Believe what?" he said, looking at her with confusion. She did her tongue-tied smile, and ohhhh boy. The Doctor would never admit this, but that smile made him weak every single time. "What, Rose, what?" he asked again.
"That you've got me. That you've still got me. That you've always had me, and that you will always have me. Now and forever." She said. He could feel the love radiating from Rose, and it was an intense, strong, all-encompassing feeling that if you weren't careful, would sweep you up and whisk you away. Perhaps it had already done so to the both of them. Perhaps it was too late for them both. Either way, you and I both know they stopped caring long ago.
"Because I never win, Rose. Not like this. Yes, I walk out alive and my body intact. But I always lose something, or someone I…" the Doctor said, stopping because of the next word. A word that carries so much weight between the Time Lord and the Wolf. "What, Doctor?" Rose said, looking at him, so much innocence and caring and unending love in her eyes. The feelings he wished he was capable of reciprocating.
And then he was taken back at a moment in their past. When they talked outside the chip shop, when Rose was jealous of Sarah Jane's past with him, not that she'd ever admit it. "You don't get it, do you? I've been to the year five billion, but this… this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind!" Rose said, pausing. "Is that what you're gonna do to me?" she said, the fear so alive in her eyes. He looked at her, so serious. "No. Not to you." he said, staring at her so seriously. "But Sarah Jane. You were that close to her once, and now, you never even mention her. Why not?" Rose said. "I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay, you wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone you…" Rose was now fully aware that her heart is pounding, and her voice has dried to a whisper, and just like The Doctor had now, he froze, unable to say the words that came next. "What, Doctor?" Rose said, her heart about to reach out of her chest.
"Someone I love." The Doctor said, finding himself back in the present with Rose. Her heart had just skipped a million beats. "I always lose like that, and I always have to live on." He said. "Maybe the universe wants me and you together, and that's why I'm still in the TARDIS with you. Because I'm not meant to leave you. I'm meant to be here, Doctor…" Rose said, trailing off once she realised what words had just escaped her lips, and the Doctor reacted.
"Me and you…" he said, before Rose came in. "Not like that. Cause me and you can never happen, I know that, I was just…Oh god…" she said, walking back inside and up the ramp as the Doctor turned. "Rose, I know what you really mean, and…" he said, as their eye contact became palpable. "And what?" she said, her heart pounding as a million thoughts of what his next words could be ran through her head.
"And I wouldn't be opposed." He said, smiling. She smiled back. Wider and wider as she ran down the ramp and into him. He caught her and they looked at each other, grinning wildly. The words had finally been said, there was nothing left to hold them back. Rose's hands found the Doctor's face and just pulled him for the kiss. The dying sun exploding in a ball of unabashedly unrestrained loving flame in the background.
The kiss was filled with all the passion and angst and love in the universe. Like in New Earth, Rose's fingers raked their way around the Doctor's hair, his hands feeling their way up and down her back. It was a lid had finally been twisted off, a cap uncapped. A dam broken down and now the water was flooding through. Neither of them had any restraint or control, but slowly and surely they pulled away, but still remained close, still held each other.
"Right, well. That was, that was, that was…" The Doctor said, composing himself as Rose cut in. "We just kissed…It was interesting…" she said, equally as shocked and nervous. But they both also felt so much lighter. "Not the first time. New New Earth." The Doctor said. "Not me. Cassandra was having a party in my body. You were one of her victims." Rose said, as they giggled.
"Wasn't all Cassandra, though. Look at my hair." They both looked up, the Doctor's hair was a complete mess due to Rose's frenzied attack. "You ruffled my hair. Like "Cassandra" did." The Doctor said, doing his 'I'm so smart' grin.
"Shut up." Rose said, flirting unabashedly. "So. Shall we, Dame Rose?" the Doctor said, motioning to the sun, and flirting right back. "We shall, Sir Doctor." Rose said, keeping the flirtation alive.
The Doctor whipped around, pulling Rose with him as he ran back up to the console and opened up one of the mesh floor grates.
Within five minutes the Doctor had everything set up for Rose's projection. "The TARDIS is ready to go, the projection's feed is ready to be transmitted into their universe. Just stand here, and call out to her." He said, helping Rose position herself.
"Mum…Mum…Mum…" Rose said, saying it over and over until she saw sand. Dry sand and wet sand and water and cliffs. She was on a beach. And Jackie was at the other end, staring back at her.
"Mum!" Rose cried, as Jackie came running towards her. Jackie stopped when she was close enough. "Where are you?" Jackie said. "Inside the TARDIS." Rose said. "There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection, we're in orbit around a supernova." The Doctor said, coming into view and standing next to Rose, becoming part of the projection. "We're burning up a sun just to say goodbye." Rose said, managing a sad laugh.
"You look like ghosts." Jackie said. "Hold on." The Doctor said, taking the sonic out and sonicing, from Jackie's point of view, thin air, as he and Rose became real. Jackie moved closer to them, reaching her hand out to touch Rose. "We're still just an image. No touch." The Doctor said.
"Can't you come through properly?" Jackie said. "The Doctor says the whole thing would fracture. Both universes would collapse." Rose said, steeling herself to be strong. "So? She's my daughter, and you're…" Jackie said, unable to say any more. Rose and the Doctor just smiled. Good old Jackie Tyler. "Mum, where are we? Where did the gap come out." Rose said. "We're in Norway." Jackie said. "Norway. Right." The Doctor said, nodding. "About fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called 'Darlig Ulv Stranden'." Jackie said. "Dalek?" the Doctor said as he and Rose reacted to this. "No, you plum. 'Darlig'. It's Norwegian for bad. This translates as Bad Wolf Bay…how long have we got?" Jackie said. The Doctor and Rose chuckled. "Following us through time." The Doctor said. "About two minutes." Rose said.
"I can't think of what to say!" Jackie said, the emotions of it all starting to get to her. "You've still got Mister Mickey then? And this world's Pete?" the Doctor said. Jackie smiled. "There's four of us now. Me, your dad, Mickey and the baby." Jackie said. The Doctor and Rose looked at her in total shock. "Mum, what?!" Rose said. "You're not?" the Doctor said.
"Three months gone. More Tylers on the way." Jackie said, beaming and trying not to cry at the same time. "And what about Mickey and Pete? Are they…" the Doctor said, as Jackie cut him off. "They're still with Torchwood. They're rebuilding it. Merging it with the Reapers to form Unit." Jackie said. The Doctor beamed. "I used to work for Unit. Back home. Suppose I still do, actually. Never officially resigned." The Doctor said.
"You're dead, officially, back home. You, Rose, and Mickey." The Doctor said. "So many people died that day and we went missing. We're on a list of the dead." Rose said. "Yet here you are, living a life day after day. The one adventure we can never have." The Doctor said.
"Am I ever going to see you again?" Jackie said, the tears coming against her will, and against Rose's too. "You can't." Rose said. "What're you going to do?" Jackie said. "Oh, we've got the TARDIS. Same old life." Rose said. "Last of the Time Lords and Rose Tyler." The Doctor said. Jackie broke a little. "Why didn't you come with us, sweetheart?" she said. "Like I said…I had a life with you for nineteen years, except it wasn't a life cos I wasn't doing anything with it. Then I met the Doctor. And he showed me the most incredible things, took me to the most amazing places. And I've seen all the things he does for the entire human race, for the whole universe. He does it alone, Mum. He does it so alone. But he won't now. Not anymore. Cos now he's got me. And I won't ever leave him." Rose said.
"I love you. Both of you. Even you, Doctor. And believe me, I hated the arse off you for a long time, but I do. I do love you, Doctor, because for all the danger you get into, you always get her out. You always keep my daughter safe." Jackie said. "I love you too, Mum." Rose said, breaking down herself. "Make me one promise, Doctor. Just one: keep my daughter safe." Jackie said. "I love you!" Rose said. "I promise." The Doctor said, getting the final 'e' out as he and Rose disappeared from the beach in an instant. Leaving Jackie there. The gap permanently sealed.
The Doctor takes Rose into his arms and there they stand as he holds her as she grieves. They stand in silence. No words are needed. Until…
"Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire." The Ninth Doctor said. And then he realised, Rose was no longer in front of him. She had disappeared in front of him in the blink of an eye.
"What?" Ten said. Nine turned around to see Rose stood in the arms of a man much younger than him. And they were in his TARDIS.
"Oi!" Nine said. "What?" Ten said. Both Doctors equally confounded by each other's presence.
"But you're…" Rose said, also confounded.
"But…" Ten said, trying to think of something to say, but he couldn't.
"Who the hell are you?" Nine said, looking straight through Ten.
"Well…" Ten said, scratching his head nervously. "Bit of a long story, mate." Rose said, both knowing the answer would only set Nine off.
"You're not…" Nine said, looking at Ten and then Rose and then back at Ten, realising…
END OF EPISODE