Hey babes! Back with a new fic for ya for this lovely universe. The prompt I specifically had in mind with this one was: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf (though it might also partially be a fix-it but it's not the focus). Didn't take long to know how I wanted to use it. I've been loving sharing the fics for this universe, but this one's a bit bittersweet as it's the last one with Eleven. Fear not, though, I've got some great fics written for Twelve/Rose.

Enjoy!

He's tried so hard to avoid this place, to avoid coming here at any and all costs. And he'd gotten so good at it too, pushing the thought of it so far into the recesses of his mind. But it's done him no good. Because now he's here where he should not be.

There is a part of him that is grateful that Rose had decided to go and visit some old friends before he'd wound up in all of this madness. But then there's the other part that wishes she were here with him, right by his side, especially if this is his end. He just wishes it didn't have to end like this. In the grand scheme of things, they've barely had any time together again. He'd promised her forever and now he isn't going to be able to fulfill that promise.

And Clara…he can't leave Clara here like this. He knows that Vastra, Strax, and Jenny will help her get home safely, but he doesn't want her to see this either. It isn't what she signed up for when he and Rose first turned up on her doorstep. Adventure and excitement, sure, but not this. Not his potential end of days.

"What's that?" Clara asks, pulling him out of his head as they make their way up the long and winding steps to where the console would be.

"What were you expecting, a body?" he counters, unable to take his eyes off the swirling bright white strands in the center of the room. "Bodies are boring. I've had loads of them. Nah, that's not what my tomb is for."

"But what is the light?" Vastra asks.

"It's beautiful," Jenny remarks.

"Should I destroy it?"

"Shut up, Strax," Vastra practically snaps.

Clara steps forward. "Doctor, explain. What is that?"

"The tracks of my tears."

Simeon (or, the Great Intelligence posing as Simeon) looks less than impressed. "Less poetry, Doctor. Just tell them."

He glances at Clara. "Time travel is damage. It's like a tear in the fabric of reality. That is the scar tissue of my journey through the universe. My path through time and space from Gallifrey to Trenzalore." Somewhat reluctantly, he pulls out his sonic and aims it at the column of light, allowing the voices, his voices, to carry through the room, letting the others hear so many of his moments and memories.

"My own personal time tunnel," he remarks, his head feeling a bit out of sorts. "All the days. Even the ones I, uh…Even the ones that I haven't lived yet."

Before he knows it, he's on the ground, struggling to breathe properly and feeling as if both of his hearts might beat right out of his chest. Clara is next to him in an instant, and as much as he does enjoy her company, the only person he wants right now is Rose.

"I shouldn't be here," he says, his voice straining as he pulls at his bowtie. "The paradoxes. It's very bad." His eyes go wide as Simeon steps closer to the column of light. "No. No. No. What are you doing? Somebody stop him! Please."

Simeon smirks. "The Doctor's life is an open wound. And an open wound can be entered."

The Doctor shakes his head. "No, it would destroy you."

"Not at all. It will kill me. It will destroy you. I can rewrite your every living moment. I can turn every one of your victories into defeats. Poison every friendship. Deliver pain to your every breath."

"It will burn you up," the Doctor tries to make the creature see reason. "Once you go through, you can't come back. You will be scattered along my timeline like confetti."

"It matters not, Doctor. You thwarted me at every turn. Now you will give me peace, as I take my revenge on every second of your life." Simeon slowly backs up toward the column, each second he gets closer to it causing the Doctor a bit more pain. "Goodbye. Goodbye, Doctor."

Milliseconds later, a soft golden light encompasses the room, stopping Simeon in his path. Everyone in the room turns toward the light, waiting for the source of it.

The Doctor can't help but smile, already knowing what lies within that golden light, despite not entirely understanding quite how she got all the way here from Earth, but that's a matter for another time.

He chuckles quietly and looks toward Simeon. "It seems as if you made one very grave error today."

Simeon's face falls. "What?"

He struggles to sit up, silently grateful for Clara's assistance. "Tell me, Great Intelligence, are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Because you really ought to be."

The look on the being's face would be comical if the situation weren't so dire. "No," he says, staring at the center of the golden light as it dims in brightness, a lone figure standing in the center of it. "It's impossible. You can't be here. You're not real. You're a myth."

The figure smirks. "Do I look like a myth to you?" she asks, her voice echoing in the same way it did back on the Game Station. "I've held back, allowed you to roam free on this earth, hoping that one day you might see that your plan was only ever doomed to fail. But perhaps it was always meant to end this way."

"No!" Simeon shouts. "You cannot do this. I must stop the Doctor. Surely you must understand that."

"I cannot let you harm him." She looks over at him and smiles. "My Doctor must stay safe. He still has so much to do, so many lives to touch and make better."

His hearts swell at her words, reminding him of a time so long ago when he'd first fallen for this incredible woman, thinking she'd never feel the same about him. And now look at where they are.

Turning away from him, Bad Wolf's eyes glow a brighter gold than they already were.

Moments later, the entire room fills with golden light much like it did earlier. Only this time it's so incredibly blinding.

Turning away from the brightness, he grabs hold of Clara to try and shield her eyes from the sight, doing his best to ignore the screams coming from the Great Intelligence. It's a haunting sound, to say the very least, echoing all around him but at the same time, sounding like it's incredibly far away.

Not for the first time he's grateful that Rose has never been angry enough with him to unleash the full scale of Bad Wolf.

Soon enough, the screaming fades to nothing. But he gives it a few more seconds before he looks up, unsure of exactly what he'll find and not wanting to be unintentionally blinded by his love's alter ego.

He shifts just enough to get a look at Clara, his eyes quickly scanning her form for any injuries, even though he knows it's highly unlikely that she does have any. "Are you alright?"

She nods. "Yeah. But what was that? What just happened?"

"Bad Wolf happened. And thank goodness she's always on our side." He looks up fully now, his attention drifting to Rose. She no longer has golden waves coming off her, though she remains standing still with her back to him.

Scrambling up, he hurries over to her, getting there just in time to catch her as her legs give out from under her, her eyes rolling back. He catches her easily, lowering himself to the floor as he does so. "Rose?" he says gently, one of his hands running over her hair. "Rose, can you hear me?"

"Doctor?" Clara's voice drifts over. "Is she gonna be alright?"

"Of course, she'll be alright," he says with much more confidence than he's feeling at the moment. "She's always alright. I just don't know how long she'll be unconscious for. There's only been one other time that she's exerted any kind of power like that as Bad Wolf, and it was so, so long ago."

"What happened last time?"

He looks up at Clara and gives her a strained smile. "That's a story for another time. Right now, we need to get back to the TARDIS. I'm sure Rose's recovery will go much better there than here." He pulls Rose into his arms as he stands, being as careful as possible so he doesn't drop her or hurt himself, and then takes a deep breath. "Right then. To the TARDIS."

The trek back to his beloved ship is a bit more taxing than it had been on the way to the tomb, given that he's now carrying his love's unconscious body. Thankfully, he's able to feel her heartbeat against his own with her body cradled close, and that's all he really needs.

Once they finally reach the TARDIS, he can much more clearly feel the ship's distress at Rose being unconscious. Of course, it's not as much as it is whenever Rose dies, considering this little trick was most likely a joint effort to save his life. Which he, of course, is extremely grateful for.

"Be right back," he tells Clara once they're inside, heading straight for his and Rose's room. "Just need to make sure Rose is comfortable before we take off. I don't think she'd appreciate waking up on the floor again."

He sends a wordless thank you to the TARDIS for moving the bedroom closer, pushing the door open and then nudging it closed behind him once he's inside. He carefully lays Rose down on top of the mattress, sitting on the edge of the bed for a quiet moment.

He brushes her hair back again and smiles gently. "Thank you for saving my life, darling. I really appreciate it. Now you focus on recovering, I'll be here when you're up."

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!