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“Doctor. Take me home.”
The Doctor’s head snapped up, slamming on the bottom of the console. He muttered an ouch and waited for a sympathetic hum from Rose or even a brush of her hand on his shoulder but it never came.
Okay, a bit serious then.
Still, the Doctor decided the best thing to do was to play it off and hope they could sweep it under the rug along with the rest of the emotional baggage that seemed to be piling up between them lately. He stood up and feigned nonchalance, leaning against the railing.
“Sure, the TARDIS is due for a power-up anyway. I can drop you at your mum’s and camp out on the rift for a few days.”
“No Doctor, I want you to take me home and leave me there. I want to go home for good.”
The Doctor’s breath collapsed out of his chest and his ears started ringing. Rose was just looking at him, her eyes distant and, for the first time since he’s known her, cold.
“I mean it Doctor, I need you to take me home now.”
Her voice was shaking but firm. The Doctor found himself on the jumpseat, breathing still shallow.
“Right.” His voice was broken and quiet, already cracking before his brain was able to realize what was happening.
“Home for good. Just like that?”
“Yeah” Rose was looking at her feet scuffing her shoe on the floor.
“Can I ask why?”
She met his gaze, and again he was struck by the coolness it held. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Obvious? The Doctor ran over the last week in his mind. Yes, he had noticed Rose was more withdrawn than normal, but that was to be expected after their disastrous visit to Caitov…
“Because of what happened at the stronghold?”
“They’re dead Doctor.” She took a step towards him, her gaze like steel. “You killed them. Hundreds of men. When I met you, you gave everyone a chance. The Nestene Consciousness, the Gelth, Margret Blaine…even a Dalek, Doctor.”
She took another step towards him, her voice softening but her eyes growing colder than ever.
“And then you changed. And the first thing you did in this body was pull the floor out from someone 500 meters above ground.”
The Doctor had lost any ability to speak, or breathe, or move. His throat caught, nearly attempting to explain or to ask why now, or simply ask her to stay, but he thought better of it.
She sat down next to him stiffly, arms wrapped around her middle. The Doctor stared, still in shock.
“When I first met you, you tried so hard to erase what the time war had made you. You worked to live up to your name, to heal.”
She leaned in close to his face, close enough for a kiss.
“And now Doctor, you’re investing in a new identity. Solider, butcher, killer.”
Rose stood back up and stepped back.
“Now take me home Doctor.”
Somehow the Doctor was able to navigate the Tardis to London 2009 and watch as Rose took her already packed bag down the ramp without so much as a glance back. Because of this the Doctor never did see Rose’s smirk as her eyes flickered red.