Chapter Text
“ROSE!”
The Doctor screamed as he watched his best friend - his other half - lose the precious grip she had on the handle.
The look on her face was enough to further steal the Doctor’s breath: her expression as she fell to what would likely be eternal torture and nothingness was not only one of sheer terror, but also that of forgiveness. Her face communicated “I don’t know what will happen next but it’s not your fault”.
Rose cried out for him and ,in turn, the Doctor begged the Universe for a miracle.
Just as the Doctor was finishing his silent prayer, the void started to close in on itself and the impossibly strong pull towards it ceased entirely.
If the Doctor were not so distressed, he would have noticed the strong golden glow in Rose’s eyes just before the void was sealed off.
Rose hit the floor with a thud and ,to the Doctor’s horror, made no movement or sound. The Doctor shook off his overwhelming shock and lingering fear and rushed forward.
He reached her in only a few quick strides and crumpled to the floor beside her. He pulled her into his lap and cradled her head, repeatedly pressing his lips to her hair. The Doctor’s inner turmoil was becoming so overwhelming he almost completely dropped his mask and showed the full extent of his emotions. The idea that Rose was just a hairs breadth away from being trapped in the void with some of the most hateful creatures in the Universe caused his breaths to become shallow and his jaw to tighten.
It was then that he realised that Rose had still not gained consciousness since tumbling to the floor. He mentally chastised himself for letting his emotions get in the way of getting Rose to safety and away from the blasted wall that nearly separated them forever.
The Doctor lifted Rose’s limp body with ease and carried her back to the TARDIS who welcomed her Thief and Wolf warmly. The TARDIS’s presence in the Doctor’s mind was filled with something that was close to relief in human terms.
He made a quick request to his beloved ship to move the door to the infirmary as close to the console room as possible. Still carrying Rose, the Doctor made his way through the already open door to the infirmary and laid her down on the hospital bed.
Her blonde hair perfectly framed her pale face and the Doctor wondered to himself how she always managed to look so beautiful- even in situations like this.
He pushed aside those thoughts and set to work checking her heart rate and blood pressure and her head for any injuries. She was okay. She didn’t have any worrying injuries apart from slight bruising where she had fallen to the floor not long ago. Other than that she was perfectly healthy.
The Doctor breathed out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding and collapsed into the chair next to Rose’s bed. Running his fingers through his already tousled hair, the Doctor felt utter relief rush over his being and leaned his head back against the chair.
Just then, Rose let out a small moan and shifted on the bed she was occupying. The Doctor was on his feet in less than a second and took the hand that Rose had suddenly clenched.
“Shh. I’m here Rose. I’ll always be here. Shh” the Doctor muttered close to her ear repeatedly, trying to reassure her with his words. Rose slowly blinked her eyes open and the Doctor met them in an instant.
“Hello” she said weakly with a small smile on her face.
“Hello” the Doctor responded with a large grin.
“What…what happened Doctor?” Rose’s voice was hoarse from screaming and the Doctor rushed to pass her a glass of water which she gulped down greedily.
She met his eyes and the Doctor watched as she slowly started to remember the events of the day. He saw how her eyes dimmed as it dawned on her that her mum was gone. She would never see her again. The Doctor’s hearts clenched and guilt coursed through his veins, taking over his body. He hung his head and curled in on himself. He had failed her. She was now fully alone in the Universe and would never see her family again. Of course, he knew how this felt all too well so was completely familiar with the toll it would take on her and the guilt that it was his fault made his mind fill with sorrow.
“Doctor please look at me” he heard Rose implore with such a small, shaking voice that he felt compelled to snap his head back up to meet her eyes.
To his shock (and secret joy) her face was filled with ,not only sadness from the loss of her family, but confidence in her decision to stay with him. His hearts momentarily stopped in awe.
“Rose…” the Doctor started, although he didn’t have enough time to figure out what to say next before Rose interrupted.
“Doctor you know that I stayed here by my own choice alrigh’?” Rose met his eyes and smiled “I promised forever and I intend to keep that promise…as long as you want me of course.”
Rose looked away with a slight pink tinting her cheeks. The Doctor put his hand to her cheek and regarded her softly.
“I will always want you here Rose.” He stated it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Honestly, it is the simplest thing in the world. The Doctor would let her stay as long as she wanted to. Of course he didn’t expect her to stay indefinitely; that would be absurd. She would surely not want to spend her whole life with him. She deserves someone who can give her everything humans crave: domesticity, a house, a family. He can’t give her those things but what he can give her is as much adventure as she wants in the time that she chooses to stay with him and the TARDIS.
The Doctor shook himself out of his thoughts and found Rose to be looking at him with an expression that was a mix of happiness and skepticism.
Deciding that this was as much emotional talk as the Doctor could currently stand, he stood up, clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back on the balls of his feet with a large grin overcoming his face.
“Right!” He all but shouts, making Rose jump slightly and shaking her out of the thoughts she seemed to be trapped in, “we are now going to grab some food from the galley and go to the media room to wind down from the entirely stressful day. Perhaps we can get some chips even! I know you adore your chips, Rose Tyler, and it’s only the best for you!”
Whilst he was talking he hadn’t noticed the way Rose’s eyes were starting to droop and how utterly exhausted she looked.
“I’d really just like to go to bed if that’s alright?” Her voice was still slightly hoarse which made the Doctor painfully recall the amount of trauma she had been through in the past 24 hours.
“Of course. My apologies Rose, you go off to bed and have a nice kip, alright? I’m sure the TARDIS has some repairs that I need to tend to.” the Doctor hovered awkwardly in the door way and stared at Rose’s sullen face.
Her eyes were dim and her forehead was creased as she stared at the floor in such a gloomy manner that the Doctor had to quickly swoop her into a hug.
He felt her melt into the embrace and tilt her face into the crook of his neck. She breathed a deep sigh and tightened her arms around him. He also tightened his grip on her and buried his nose in her hair, letting himself feel all the built up emotions he had been trying to surprise for just this moment. The two stayed like this for what felt like too long just as much as it felt too short before they slowly unwrapped themselves from each other. They remained as close to each other as possible without touching for a moment more, staring intensely into the each other’s eyes. The Doctor was the first to step back.
“Thank you” Rose said, smiling at him trying to hide the sorrow and grief in her face. The Doctor noticed, of course. He looked down at her with the softest expression possible.
“Any time.”
With that, the Doctor swiftly left the infirmary to go tinker with something that didn’t really need tinkering with whilst Rose began to slink to her room to sleep off the events of the last day.
——————
Rose awoke not 4 hours later and sat up in her pink bedding slowly. As she started to think back to yesterday, tears formed in her eyes and threatened to spill over and onto her face. She feebly tried to hold them back to remain strong but it was at that moment that she caught sight of the photo sitting on her dresser.
The photo was taken when Rose was 6 years old and it holds just her and her mother. Rose was wearing a pink button-up coat that reached her knees and a multicoloured hat, scarf, and mittens. The photo showed them in the park in the estate and was taken just after Jackie had pushed her on the swings with Rose begging to go higher and higher. She was grinning wildly whilst being cuddled by her mum who was also smiling broadly. It was a lovely picture.
Upon seeing the framed photo, the tears finally spilled from Rose’s eyes and she felt the full emotions of grief and sadness overcome her. She didn’t hear the knocking that sounded on her door and did not notice when the Doctor entered upon not hearing a response. She did, however, feel when the bed dipped next to her as he sat next to her and she felt as his thumb started rubbing comforting circles on her hand. At this, Rose crumpled and turned into the Doctor to cry in his arms instead. Somewhere, in the back of Rose’s mind, she realised that he probably would not like this in the slightest and would be highly uncomfortable. However, she knew that he would put up with it for her right now so she could not find it in herself to care.
Unbeknownst to her, the Doctor currently only felt concern for her and a little bit of admiration that Rose was strong enough to show her emotions to him right now.
Rose continued to cry into his chest until she ran out of tears and slumped against him unceremoniously. He continued rubbing circular patterns on her back whilst she attempted to catch her breath and calm down. Rose slowly removed herself from the Doctor’s arms and slightly shifted awkwardly, avoiding looking him in the eye.
“Sorry. I’ve drenched your shirt.” Rose let out a watery giggle and looked away from him. The Doctor smiled fondly and tried to catch her eye.
“Ah well! I have about 10 shirts that are exactly the same so no harm no foul.”
This time Rose laughed properly and loudly at his silly comment and turned around to him properly. He smiled at her and held out his hand.
“Come on, I have something to show you.” She hesitated for a moment and the Doctor elaborated, “I promise it’s worth it and I would not make you come at this moment if it were not very very important.”
His face had turned serious which notified Rose that it was in her best interest to follow him now. She accepted his extended hand and he pulled her up and out of her door and into the console room. Rose realised then that she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday and so stripped off her blue jumper and laid it on the railing, leaving her in just her jeans and a white cami.
“Doctor, what could possibly be so important right now that I can’t stay in my room wallowing in self pity?” She asked, only half joking.
“I’ve been busy!” The Doctor exclaimed, grinning madly and running around the console, “see, I found a gap. It’s a small gap mind you but it’s enough. The TARDIS detected it and I spent the time you were sleeping trying to find it. Of course, I did. Seeing as I’m brilliant. So I followed the small signal and ended up orbiting a supernova! Of course, I needed enough energy to get the signal across so now I’m using the power from the supernova for all this to work!”
All that information was given in such quick succession that Rose felt as though she had whiplash.
“So what does this mean then?” Rose asked. Unfortunately although the Doctor had said so much, very little of it was actually comprehended by her, especially in her current mental state.
The Doctor’s smile didn’t even falter.
“It means, Rose, that we can get a message to your mum. You can say goodbye to her.” He elaborated. His expression had now become incredibly sympathetic and Rose’s breath hitched.
Her eyes began welling up again.
”Seriously?” Her voice was so quiet and wobbly she was surprised he had even heard and understood her.
”Seriously.” He said softly, still smiling and rocking back slightly on his feet.
Rose pulled him into a tight hug and thanked him so quietly she was sure this time that he hadn’t heard her. When she pulled back, she looked up at him and tried to communicate silently how much she appreciated this and how much she appreciates him. He clearly got the message because he looked back at her with a warm (dare she say loving?) expression.
“Okay Rose what I need you to do is put your fingers into here and think of your mum and only your mum as strongly as you can. Is that alright?” He motioned to a glowing section of the console that she had never seen before that had a few holes that would fit her fingers.
“Alright.”
Rose moved over to the console and pushed her fingers into the holes. She shivered in reaction to how cold it was and also how wet it felt- like plunging her hands into ice water. Rose took a deep breath and filled her thoughts with her mother. She thought of how she raised her alone and still raised her so incredibly well and barely relied on anyone else. She thought of specific memories and they flashed before her eyes: the first Christmas she can remember with her mum, going to the park every Sunday morning, walking around town holding her hand. Every argument, every reconciliation, every cup of tea, every long chat in the middle of the night flashed before her eyes and tears started pouring down Rose’s face. It hurt. Thinking of her mother hurt so much but she forced the hurt to the back of her mind so she could focus on this. She had to speak to her mum, even if it was the last time.
From Rose’s perspective it felt like her fingers were in the console for an excruciatingly long time but in reality, she’d barely just put her fingers in when an image on Jackie formed on the other side of the console room. This greatly shocked and slightly scared the Doctor as Rose should really not have had the telepathic power to be able to send the signal that quickly. However, this was not the time to dwell on that as they had very limited time.
“Rose!”
Rose spun at the sound of her mother calling out her name and immediately gasped. A translucent image of Jaqueline Tyler stood not 6 feet away from her.
Rose removed her hands from the console and moved towards her mum.
“Mum!” Rose stopped directly in front of Jackie and covered her mouth with her hand to stop the cry that was about to escape her. She felt the Doctor move to stand next to her and she reached out for his hand which he immediately gave to her, squeezing reassuringly.
”Where are you?” Jackie asked.
”Inside the TARDIS, we’re taking power from a supernova to be able to project this image.” The Doctor explained, shifting slightly on his feet.
”He’s burning up a sun so I can say goodbye.” Rose smiled and looked at the Doctor with as much appreciation as possible. The Doctor met her eyes and smiled back, squeezing her hand again.
”Well at least he’s good for something I suppose!” Jackie tried to scowl but they all knew she didn’t mean it. The Doctor chuckled lightly.
“Why do you look like ghosts?” Jackie asked suddenly.
”Oh, hang on,” the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the console and the image of Rose’s mum became solid, “better?”
She nodded and took a step closer to Rose.
“Can I…?” She began reaching up to cup Rose’s cheek. Rose turned to the Doctor with hope etched over her features.
The Doctor shook his head.
”Still just an image I’m afraid.”
”Can’t we go through properly?” Rose suddenly turned to face the Doctor, silently begging the Universe.
“The whole thing would fracture. Two Universes would collapse.” He replied.
”So?” Jackie added, making the pair chuckle weakly.
“How long have we got?” Rose asked.
“About 2 minutes.”
Jackie gasped suddenly.
”Oh Rose I have to tell you! I’m pregnant!”
Rose gasped loudly.
“Oh my god mum! That’s amazing congratulations!” It suddenly hit her that she would never see her younger sibling and she started to well up again.
”They’ll learn all about their big sister and how she saved the world so many times over.” Jackie had also started crying at this point.
Jackie suddenly turned to the Doctor, pushing past her tears, and lifted her finger to his face.
“Now listen here mister. Don’t you go leaving my daughter behind anywhere. You can’t just drop her off on Earth, there’s no one there for her anymore!” Jackie looked frantically at him, searching his face for an affirmative that he won’t do that.
”Jackie, I swear I will take care of your daughter and I will never leave her behind.”
The Doctor absolutely meant this with all of his hearts but did not mention the fact that Rose will probably want to leave pretty soon instead.
The image of Jackie started to fade and Rose’s panic and despair increased dramatically.
”I love you mum!” She shouted quickly, her face stricken with fear.
”I love you too sweetheart!”
Jackie Tyler faded and the console room suddenly felt cold and empty without her. She was gone. Rose had lost her mum and would never see her again. The reality hit Rose like a truck and she crumpled into the Doctor’s arms. She allowed herself only a moment to grieve before she stepped out of his arms and looked up at him.
His expression was guilty but also so very empathetic as he regarded Rose.
“Rose, I’m so sorry.” He said, meeting her eyes. Inside his head was screaming don’t leave me please forgive me please don’t leave me
”It’s not your fault Doctor,” she said, taking his hand in hers, “thank you for this.”
She waved her hand about, motioning at nothing in particular but it was clear to him what she was talking about.
Before he had a chance to respond, Rose turned and quickly left the console room with tears streaming down her face.
The Doctor made a move to follow her when a gasp suddenly came from behind him. He turned around to face a ginger woman in a wedding dress.
”What?” He asked, for once having zero clue what was going on.
”Oh!”
”What?”
The woman looked him up and down slowly in slight disgust and confusion.
“Who are you?”
“But…but..”
”Where am I?”
”What?”
”What the hell is this place?!”
”What?!”