Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Hold on! Rose!” Please Rassilon, please hold on Rose, my Rose...don’t fall… please just hold on! His screams mingled with hers and the cacophony of the void, as the force of the wind wrenched her from the lever.  She was falling straight into Hell. The rift was like a hungry mouth, waiting to swallow her up.  

And then suddenly time stopped.  Rose stopped. The Doctor, even with his impressive Time Lord brain couldn't process the sight before him.  All he was sure of was that he didn’t cause the temporal hiccup.  

Rose was suspended in midair, the void wind still howling.  She wasn’t screaming any more, though. Her eyes were fixed on the Doctor’s, glowing bright gold.  Bad Wolf.

Then time began again, and she was falling, falling and he couldn’t understand why he’d see Bad Wolf in her eyes again as she was ripped away from him.  She didn’t stop the Daleks and Cybermen, nor did she stop her death plunge into the howling. 

He became aware of another noise, a grinding, wheezing sound. To his shock a TARDIS materialized, doors open, catching his Rose.  The time ship dematerialized as quickly as she’d arrived. He heard a sucking sound as the rift closed, then silence. 

The Doctor let go of the magna clamp, stumbling to the floor. His breathing was harsh, his respiratory bypass having utterly failed him.  Scrambling to his feet, he glanced around the room, wide-eyed. He dug his sonic out of his pocket and scanned the building. His TARDIS was still downstairs, and she’d never moved.  Rose had disappeared into a blue police box TARDIS, but it wasn’t his. A future me? A past me? Not this me, obviously, but who has Rose?

The Doctor spun around in a full circle, his hands tugging at his hair.  “Rose? What? Where are you?” His voice echoed in the empty white room.  “Rose? It’s safe, come on back!” Still there was no answer. Why wouldn’t that TARDIS rematerialize?  His mind reeled in horror at the silence in the room. He couldn’t feel her, or anything at all. 

Because it was never there to begin with.  I hallucinated it. I didn’t want to see her fall into Hell so I imagined it.  She’s gone. He staggered forward towards the wall, his hand stretched out like a blind man.  When he reached the flat white expanse he pressed his cheek against it. He couldn’t sense anything out of the ordinary about it.  Rose had blinked out of existence. The two minutes since he’d imagined the TARDIS seemed like decades. He shuddered to imagine what the next centuries would be like without her.  Tears stung his eyes. He knew he needed to go, could hear the chaos below him, but he couldn’t make himself move away from the wall. Moving was acceptance.

Then he heard it.  A wheezing, groaning noise, sounding like hope and a miracle combined. Brings hope to whoever hears it.  Even you, a memory echoed in his mind.  The Doctor opened his eyes.

A TARDIS materialized in front of him.  It wasn’t exactly his, he realized. The notice under the phone was black, as was the Police Box sign above the door.  The Doctor’s knees nearly buckled at the thought that maybe the universe had been kind, just this once.  

He moved hesitantly towards the blue box, stopping short as the door swung open.  Another me.  I was right, it’s another… his mind babbled as he steeled himself to meet yet another incarnation.  

His eyes widened in shock as a woman stepped out of the box.  She was another Doctor, there was no doubt about it. Her telepathic signature confirmed that.  Okay, well, regeneration is a lottery.  Suited the Corsair, though. No reason why it wouldn’t suit me.

The blonde woman wore a long pale blue coat over a very eclectic collection of clothing. The effect wasn’t nearly as blinding as the cacophony of color he’d worn in his sixth life, but it was nearly as cheerfully eccentric. Her lips quirked into a smile as she said, “You’re catchin’ flies.”  This Doctor had a Yorkshire accent.

Back to the north, he thought as his mouth closed with a snap. Focus… “Is Rose there?  Is she okay? What the hell happened?  Why did it take you so long to rematerialize?  I thought I’d imagined the whole thing!”

To the Doctor’s further shock an older man poked his head out the door.  “That’s really another one of you, Doc? Gob must run in the family.”

The older Doctor glanced back at her companion, and with a chuckle she told him, “Yep, me, three me’s ago.”  The younger Doctor frowned, raising an eyebrow. “I see ya doin’ the maths. Don’t worry about that now. Your Rose is in here, and she’s fine.”  

The Doctor’s body sagged against the wall in relief.  Once again, his knees nearly buckled. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, his hearts sped up as he shakily followed the older incarnation onto her TARDIS.  

The younger Doctor barely noticed the unfamiliar interior, because sitting on the illuminated step between a young man and woman was his Rose.  She was leaning against the woman’s shoulder, her eyes wide. His gaze locked on Rose’s and she jumped up, running into his embrace.

“Doctor, oh, God, you’re here, you’re here,” she whispered, her tears dampening his collar.  

“My Rose,” he sighed. His arms tightened around her, swaying her back and forth.  “I love you.”

Rose raised her head. She stared at him, her eyes puffy and rimmed with running mascara.  She’d never looked more beautiful. She rasped, “I love you, my Doctor.” 

“So glad we got the chance to say it,” he murmured as he zeroed in on her lips.  She moved first, though, and he found himself being quite thoroughly kissed. He melted into the sensation of her lips on his, savoring her taste even as his own tears fell.  He paid no attention to the sound of a throat clearing behind them. 

“I’m guessin’ we closed that loop thing, yeah?” a deep voice spoke behind them.  

“That we did,” Rose said.  The Doctor’s eyes popped open.  He was still snogging Rose, so how was she…

He pulled away to see the older Doctor reaching out to grasp the hand of- Rassilon’s gauntlet!

Another Rose was holding her hand.  The older Time Lord was gazing at her, just as lovestruck with her Rose as he was with his. He glanced at the three others.  The young woman in the star jumper was smiling, teary-eyed, while the two men watched, amused.  

Although it pained the Doctor to let go of her, he turned away from Rose, a million questions whirling about his brain.

Before he could speak, the other Doctor raised a hand to stop him.  “I know you have a bunch of questions. There’s so much I’d love to tell you but I can’t.  Really, all you need to know right now is that the storm has passed. You and Rose’ll be together in your TARDIS, just as it should be.”

“Forever,” the other Rose chimed in.  

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed.  “You say you’re three regenerations ahead of me, but that’s not possible, and you know that.  How old are you?”

“Oh, good luck gettin’ a straight answer on that one,” the older gentleman laughed.

“Never ask a lady her age, s’what she always tells us,” the young woman added.  

“We all have taken bets on it but she won’t talk,” the younger man said, rolling his eyes.

The Doctor wrinkled her nose, chuckling.  “Meet the fam. Wish we had more time for you to get to know ‘em, but meet Graham, Yaz, and Ryan.  They do ask my age but I genuinely don’t know. If I tell ya a number, chances are I’m probably lyin’ because it’s the age that pops into my head.”

“I can attest to that,” the other Rose said.  “And don’t bother askin’ me, either. Age on a time ship is relative.”  She shrugged.

The younger Doctor locked eyes with that Rose, and he was sure he caught a glimpse of gold in their honey depths.  “Bad Wolf changed you,” he murmured. “I thought I took it all from you…”. He turned to his Rose. “I’m checking you out in the infirmary as soon as we get back.”

“Doctor,” the Time Lord spoke, “Go ahead and check, but I think you already know what you’ll find.”  

“Just know this,” her Rose stepped forward to take his hand. “We’ll never be apart. I saw it all… everything that was, is and will be.  I’ll love every you that comes burstin’ into my life. A lot’s gonna happen. Some of it’s bad, but most of it’s fantastic. And we’ll be together, forever, through it all.”  She beamed at him. He looked back at his Rose, who was wearing an identical smile, the one that he’d fallen in love with so long ago. The older Rose squeezed his hand, then let go.  He embraced his Rose again. 

“The Storm is over,” his Rose sighed.

“Oh, yes,” her Doctor confirmed.  Another thought occurred to him. He let go of Rose to glare at the other Doctor.  “You never told me why it took so long for you to rematerialize. Thought I’d hallucinated it.  It was a bloody long two minutes.”

“I remember how it felt,” the other Doctor told him, her brow furrowed.  “Couldn’t be avoided though. Rose was brilliant, stoppin’ time like she did.  Gave me a chance to slip into your timestream. But then we had to pop into the vortex once we caught her, to avoid gettin’ sucked in.  What I didn’t account for was the temporal turbulence as the rift closed. Knocked us back to Cardiff at Christmas, just for a mo. Almost ran into an even younger me n’ Rose. Time coordinates were all over the place.  But we got back!” She looked extremely pleased with herself.  

The Doctor couldn’t argue with that explanation. “Thank you,” he said.  “I can tell my… our future is in good hands. Even if it’s sort of impossible for you to be the thirteenth regeneration.”  He raised an eyebrow, daring her to argue that with him.  

She shrugged. “And maybe your numberin’s off.  Or maybe you’re right, but somethin’ amazin’ happens down the road.  I can’t tell you, you know that. Besides, you need to get back to the future!  Or… well, you know what I mean.” She pulled a silver object out of her inside coat pocket and triggered it. 

“Ah, that’s your sonic, then? Brilliant,” he commented.

“That’s one hundred percent Sheffield steel, plus a little alien extra.  Love my sonic.” Her Rose chuckled, and the older Doctor shot her a look of annoyance tempered with fondness.  The younger Doctor observed this exchange and was oddly pleased to see that her Rose was still taking the mick and apparently the older Time Lord loved it.  With a smirk, she continued, “There, summoned your TARDIS so you don’t have to go downstairs. Sooner the pair of you get you back to yours the better. Oh, by the way…. whaddya think of the place?”  The Doctor stretched her arms out, inviting him to look around.

He took it all in, the illuminated stairs, the crystals, the round things which now looked like the inside of a steampunk clock.  He wrinkled his nose. It really wasn’t his style. He was about to tell her so when the older Rose interrupted. “I love every TARDIS interior, just like I love every Doctor.  They’re all a part of who you are.” Obviously she’d seen how this exchange had gone before.  

The Doctor shrugged.  “If she likes it, then who am I to complain.”  

“I think it’s gorgeous,” his Rose told him.  She gazed at the other Doctor and Rose. “Thank you for… everything.”

“We won’t remember this.  The time streams will be out of synch when we step off this TARDIS,” the younger Doctor said.  

His future regeneration shook her head.  “You’ll remember what you need to know when it’s time to close the loop, but beyond that, no.  I hope you do remember this, at least: one, it always needs sayin’, so never miss an opportunity to tell each other I love you. And two, travel hopefully.  It’s gonna be an adventure gettin’ here, but it’ll be brilliant.  The Doctor and Rose Tyler, together in the TARDIS…”

“As it should be,” he finished.  He took his Rose’s hand and with a wave to the occupants of the future TARDIS, he and Rose walked across the threshold to the empty room.  The door closed behind them, and they watched as her TARDIS faded into thin air.  

The Doctor shook his head, trying to sort through the jumble of timelines settling.  Rose gripped his arm. He panicked for a moment, asking, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Bit dizzy for a second.  But m’okay now. Doctor, what just happened?” 

The Doctor closed his eyes, reaching out, concentrating on timelines straightening themselves out.  He saw his, stretching on, but it was Rose’s that took his breath away. He grabbed her hand and they entered their TARDIS.  

“I’m not sure. Well, I have a suspicion and if I’m right… Rose Tyler, it’s gonna be fantastic.”

He didn’t let go of her until they stopped in front of the console.  He glanced at the viewscreen. His fingers worked quickly, turning dials and throwing levers.  He flipped the dematerialization switch and the timeship lurched, sending her into his arms. Neither one minded.

They still had much to do to wrap up this adventure.  He wanted to scan Rose, to see if what he suspected about her extended lifespan was true.  London was in chaos and they had to see what happened in the aftermath. They had to deal with the fact that her mum was in another universe.  But it could wait for a while. He had a more pressing need.

The Doctor gazed into Rose’s eyes and murmured  “Rose Tyler, I love you.”  

“Oh, my Doctor, I love you,” Rose returned, her voice wobbly.  He leaned down, and she grabbed his lapel, meeting him in the middle for a searing kiss.  They basked in the joy of their first declaration of love (which oddly had an echo of familiarity to it).   He could barely believe the storm had passed (and why did he feel like he’d heard that line before?) The memory of a timeline was barely there, too ephemeral to grasp.  They’d remember it if they needed to. What mattered was that they were there, together, and forever could begin.