6Hello! Welcome to my Doctor Who fic!
I'll admit, this probably isn't the absolute best i've ever done, but I'll let you guys decide that.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, nor the quotes used in this story.
Rose stood at the side of the path, fuming as she stared at the blank patch where, barely a few seconds previously, a big blue police box had been standing, waiting for her return.
And now it was gone. Disappeared out of thin air. Almost like it had never been.
Rose glared at the concrete. He'd left without her, dammit. It was her fault really, she'd been in the TARDIS, and then realised she'd dropped her phone. She'd run out, and then when she'd returned the TARDIS had already vanished. She cursed her luck, and then cursed The Doctor for not noticing she was gone, and then cursed herself for not noticing the damn thing was missing in the first place.
When she had finished her cursing rampage, she stomped her foot in annoyance and sighed. No need to panic. She thought, he'll be back any second.
She waited.
Any second now.
She waited a bit longer.
Yep. Any second.
Nothing happened. No sound, no TARDIS, no Doctor. Nothing.
Rose cried out in frustration and lay back against the wall behind her. The Doctor probably hadn't noticed she was gone yet, and even if he had he might have punched in the wrong coordinates and ended up in the future. She might have to wait here for hours, maybe days. She shuddered to think she may even have to wait years.
Don't be silly. She told herself, he'll be back. Don't worry.
But the point still stood. She'd have to wait until he came back, and unless he appeared right now there was no point in standing here for hours like a complete idiot.
Maybe she should visit Shereen. She hadn't seen her for ages and it would be nice to see her again. She could crash there for a while, like old times really, until The Doctor turned up. Perhaps she could introduce him…she snorted as she imagined Shereen drunkenly advancing on him and studying him from top to bottom.
Hey Rose, what bar did you catch him from? He's a beauty! Must be married, too cute to be single! Can't go out with a married man, simply won't do. She's probably got some pompous-y name too, like Juliette or somthin'. Hey, you like port? Got lots of port...
In better spirits, Rose turned and began the short walk to Shereen's place. It was a nice day, the sun was shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. A cool breeze lightly touched her face as she walked, tickling her cheek and making her grin. Earth was a great planet, she decided. She'd travelled far and wide, through time and space and to many planets alike, but Earth was still her favourite.
She rounded the corner and was about to head down the street when she noticed something. To her left was a dead end path between two apartment buildings that she'd actually passed several times. But she wasn't surprised about finding the street. She was surprised because at the end of the street was a big, blue box.
She grinned. He'd come back, and so quickly too. She was surprised he hadn't come out in the year 3087 at the rate he was going. She waited for him to pop out and say hello, but when he didn't she assumed he had gone to look for her. She reached for the TARDIS key which she carried at all times in her left pocket, and then ran down the street and stood in front of the TARDIS. Before she even put the key in the slot, she paused.
This was the TARDIS; she had no doubt about it. And yet, suddenly, she felt something was wrong. She pulled back and studied the TARDIS. It seemed the same, felt the same, and certainly looked the same. But something was different, something just didn't feel right.
Tentatively, she pushed the key into the slot and turned. It took a couple of shots, which surprised her because it usually opened on the first go, but eventually it turned roughly in the lock and the door swung inwards, groaning on it's hinges. Another thing that didn't usually happen, but it didn't worry Rose too much. Things like that do happen. She could have put the key in wrong, and the doors could have just snagged on something.
But then she walked inside and everything changed.
Again, she knew it was the TARDIS as soon as she stepped in, but yet it felt different. It was dark, for one. The only light was a dull glow coming from the control panel, and even that wasn't as bright as Rose remembered. But it was more than enough to see by, and Rose hesitantly shut the door behind her and walked up to the panel.
The first thing she noticed was that the panel was dusty. She pressed her finger onto the cold, metal surface and drew it along the rim of the panel, then pulled it away and examined her finger. It came away grey, and that worried her. The Doctor would never, never ever, let his precious TARDIS get dusty. She constantly caught him up in the middle of the night with a cloth in one hand and a bottle of surface cleaner in the other, gently polishing the smooth surface until it was practically sparkling. And it wasn't just the control panel, the whole room was dusty. Rose could see the layer of grime covering everything, and even noticed that she'd left faint footprints in the dust as she'd walked in. The air was stale and lifeless, and Rose had to fight the urge to cough.
Something was defiantly wrong. She wondered how long The Doctor had actually been gone. Months? Years? But then why was the TARDIS here, like this? Had something happened on the way back?
"Hello!" she called, "Hello! Anyone here?"
Her voice echoed down the corridors of the TARDIS and rung in her ears. She waited, but no-one came running up to her.
The lights are on but there's no-one home…
She ran out of the control room and began to make her way down the corridors to her bedroom. She noticed that they were grimy to; even the walls were slightly off-colour.
The Doctor must have been in heaps of trouble to let this happen to his poor ship. In fact, where was he? He can't have got that far…
She found her bedroom door and opened it. The room was just like the rest, grimy and dusty, but then she came further into the room and was shocked to find that it looked different.
For one, her bed was in the wrong place. Last time she'd checked it had been in the left corner, but now it was sitting parallel to the back wall. And where had all her stuff gone? Her shelves had been full of stuff, pictures of her family and friends, a few pictures of her and The Doctor, and even a few pictures of good old Jack. But the pictures there now were not hers. She went over to the shelves and took one down, but she had to rub the dust off with her shirt before she could see the picture properly.
In the picture was a thin, pale woman wearing a black tank top and a pair of dark blue jeans, her stylishly layered blonde hair neatly curling around her face. Beneath a side fringe, deep set blue eyes sparkled underneath layers of eye shadow. Next to her was a man she didn't recognise. He was tall and also thin, but not as sticky as the girl. He was wearing a pair of navy blue pants and a t-shirt, which didn't quite compliment the crown of short, ginger hair atop his head. Both people were smiling and had their arms draped over one another. Rose glanced down at some writing at the bottom of the picture.
Julia and The Doctor, January 8th 5078, Earth.
Rose's eyes widened. Who the hell was Julia? Maybe she was the one who had fiddled with her room. How dare…
Suddenly, an idea formed in her head. The TARDIS could travel anywhere in time, right? So what if this TARDIS was from the future? The words swam around in her head as she stared at the photo.
A future, it seemed, without her.
She didn't dwell on it for long, however weird the situation. Instead, she returned the photo to the shelf and examined the others. Most of them seemed to be family, there were a few more of Julia and The Doctor, and a couple of pictures included a boy with spiky, black hair and dark skin. The captions down the bottom said his name was Dominic. One picture showed some kind of snowball fight, with Dominic smiling down the camera, holding The Doctor in a headlock, all but his flaming ginger hair buried in the boy's arm.
Rose grinned. He'd always wanted to be ginger.
She put the photo back and quickly walked out of the room. She didn't need to see more. She suddenly felt like she wasn't supposed to be here. What if The Doctor was looking for her? What if he came around here and saw the TARDIS? That wouldn't be good. She had learned her lesson after trying to save her Dad from dying and creating a paradox, and she did not wish to make that mistake again.
She came to another door which she didn't recognise. After a second, curiosity got the better of her and she opened the door and walked in.
As soon as she'd taken a step, she knew where she was. She was in The Doctor's room. She'd only been here once in her version of the TARDIS, The Doctor had fallen sick one day and had asked Rose to bring him some medicine from the sick bay. Even then she hadn't got a good look at the place. It felt weird, being in The Doctor's room. Like the feeling you get when you are a kid and you are asked to go to your parent's room. It feels forbidden somehow. But that didn't stop her from taking a little peek…
She walked over to the bed. It, like everything else, was disgustingly dirty, and she was afraid that if she shook it out she'd choke to death, so instead she looked over at the bedside table. On the table was exactly the same photo she'd seen of Julia and him, and there was another photo of that Dominic kid. Feeling slightly left out, she glanced over at a drawer and, curiously, opened it.
Inside were hundreds of photos. Rose pulled the top one out and grinned. This was a picture of her and The Doctor, right after they'd met. She could remember that photo like yesterday. She turned it over and found her scrawled writing on the back, and realised this photo had been taken from her room.
Or, at least, what was her room.
The next photo was another one of The Doctor and Jack. Jack was lying across his bed, fast asleep, and The Doctor was creeping up behind him with a glass of water. Rose laughed. Jack had been so pissed at them for doing that…
The next photo was a picture of her Doctor, but he was with a brown skinned woman with dark brown hair. But…even though he was smiling, this guy seemed cold and hard, much unlike himself. Rose knew regenerations gave you a different personality, but this?
He'd seen something, and obviously it had hurt him. A lot. Was it to do with her?
Rose frowned at the photo, and quickly put it down. It's not good to know your own future, that much she knew. As she grabbed more photos and saw more people, it began dawning on her. All these photos were of him and his 'assistants'.
She found several more of her and The Doctor, and several more she couldn't recognise. A few photos showed him wearing an unforgivable jumper with question marks, and there was one photo of a shrine for someone named Adric, and that sent shivers down her spine. She found another photo of the brown skinned woman with a man who was wearing a suit similar to the pinstripes her Doctor wore, but his features were sharper and his hair was jet black. The previous hurt had gone from his face. There was even one photo that she could have sworn was of him and Sarah-Jane.
When she had gone through them all, she put them back neatly, shut the drawer and, ignoring the dust, sat on the floor. This future TARDIS was seriously beginning to freak her out…a lot. Where were all the pictures of her? Rose thought she and The Doctor would be together forever, but obviously fate had other plans. But what kind of plans? Was she going to die? Become separated somehow? What if this whole thing was the last time she'd see The Doctor? What if he never came back?
Rose shook her head. Don't think about that. The Doctor wouldn't leave without saying goodbye.
But then again…it was The Doctor. He had so many secrets. So many hidden things that Rose had no doubt would turn her life upside down.
Suddenly, something caught her eye. A shoebox was lying under the bed. It wasn't a particularly flashy shoebox, but it was the words written on the shoebox that caught her eye.
Emergency letters.
She pulled the box out, blew the dust off and opened it. Inside were several envelopes, some crinkled and yellowed with age and some new, the white standing out against the dirty room. Rose picked out the first one and read the name on the front.
Dominic.
The next one was addressed to Julia. And the one after that was addressed to the girl called Martha. Rose read through the names carefully.
Mickey. Jack. Grace. Ace. Mel. Peri. Turlough. Tegan. Nyssa. Adric. Romana. Leela. Harry. Sarah-Jane. Jo. Liz. Zoe. Victoria. Jamie. Polly. Ben. Dodo. Sara. Katarina. Steven. Vicki. Ian. Barbara. Susan.
Rose stared at the letters. These were the names of every single companion The Doctor had ever had. When she had asked if she was the latest in a long line…she didn't realise how long the line really was. But where was her letter? She double checked in the shoebox, but there was nothing left. Where was it? Didn't The Doctor write her one? Rose felt very left out, like she had just been thrown out and dumped in the cold. What made her different from any of the others?
She pushed the letters back in and was about to push the box back under the bed, when she spotted something. Underneath the bed, next to where the box had been, was a dusty envelope. Rose picked it up and shook it, coughing as the dust flew off it into the air. She turned the envelope over and read the writing. It was faded, aged, but the swirly signature was still clear enough to make out.
Rose.
Rose opened the envelope and a letter fell out. Her hands were shaking as she picked it up and read the note.
Dear Rose,
If you are reading this letter, it means that I am either dead or dieing or you are in danger. Or you have snuck into my room in the middle of the night, naughty girl! But back to the serious matters.
I need to tell you some things.
First of all, I must congratulate you on being the first person I have had to ask twice to travel with me. Usually people jump right in, but no, you had to be asked twice. Which just goes to show how much I wanted you to come. As soon as I met you I knew there was something special about you.
Next, do you remember that time when you met Sarah-Jane? And you asked me if you were the latest in a long line? Well, you'll hate me for this, but I'll tell you the truth. I've had twenty seven other companions travel with me. And every time I had to forget about them, every time I had to leave them behind. You were the first one to stand up to me about my decision to forget. I never thought about it the way you put it out to me. It may hurt to remember, maybe my past does make me scream at night, but I can't just let their memories disappear. I promise your memory will be carried on through the centuries, and the others. I'll remember them with pride instead of hiding.
I'm the Oncoming Storm. But I'm a coward. Or I was until I met you.
There are things about my past you need to know. But I can't tell you all of it. I do have to keep some secrets. But I will tell you this.
I had a family once. I had a daughter, a wife; I even had a grandchild, Susan. But they all died during the Time War. And I killed them. I had reasons, sure, and in the end I had to do it too keep everyone else alive. But I still did it. This is why I never talk about it. Even to this day, I can hear them screaming in my head.
Did you ever wonder why I travelled like this? It's because I exiled myself from my people. Timelords are not supposed to travel like I do, and we certainly aren't allowed human companions. Consider yourself lucky young lady! The fact that I'm actually half-human doesn't help me in the slightest.
That's another thing I need to talk to you about. I'm half human. From my father's side. That's why I like Earth so much; it's the human blood in my veins. It's the only planet I can fight for now really.
And now we come to the real thing. The real reason I asked you twice.
I think I love you Rose. The real love. The I-really-want-to-be-with-you love. Which will probably never happen, considering I'm either dead or dieing or you are in danger. But that is beside the point.
I've loved you ever since I laid eyes on you. And I just wanted you to know that, just in case I was so stubborn and idiotic not to tell you. And I want you to know that whatever happens, I'll always, always love you.
If I ever meet you again, I may even get a mortgage.
And that, Rose Tyler, is it. Finito. Caput. But I guess I'll just leave you with one last thing before I leave you.
Love you deeply,
Gabriel.
A tear fell onto the writing and wormed into the paper as Rose read the letter. When she'd finished, she sniffed and returned the letter to the envelope, silently tucked it into the box and pushed it back under the bed.
Poor Doctor. Rose wished she hadn't read that letter now. There were so many things he'd kept secret from her, and only in a letter had he been able t tell her.
Tell her about his family. About being half-human. And his real name…Gabriel.
And, of course, the amazing revelation that he loved her. And that she loved him.
Rose gazed at the dirty room around her. This was all that seemed to remain of The Doctor and his ship, and even that was dieing. What had happened here? Obviously she never got the letter, because otherwise it wouldn't be with her now. Was she going to die in the future? How would they get separated?
Would he ever tell her all these things?
Rose shook her head. It's no good to think about your future, even worse to know what's going to happen. Just walking in here could have damaged the time vortex. The faster she got out, the less damage would occur.
She stood up and walked out of the room, without looking back. She passed the control panel and noticed that the light emanating from the panel was fading.
This can't happen. She thought, not to him.
She remembered something The Doctor said, long ago when they'd opened the Rift in Cardiff.
Time is in flux, changing every second. Your cosy little world can be re-written like that.
Maybe she could stop this from happening. She couldn't tell The Doctor about it, but maybe she could change things. Or if she didn't, maybe someone else would for her. Time wasn't definite, she knew that. Not when you were with The Doctor.
She reached for the door and opened it. She glanced back into the room one more time, just to see the TARDIS control panel flicker and die. Feeling saddened, she shut the door and headed back out to the street, away from her dead future.
As soon as she got back onto the road, she heard shouting. She whirled around and grinned as The Doctor ran up to her, face red from running and breath coming in short gasps.
"Rose!" he said breathlessly, "Thank God! What happened to you? I thought you were still on the TARDIS for god's sake!"
Rose pulled him into a tight hug.
"Doctor." She whispered, "You're here! You're alive!"
The Doctor frowned.
"Yeah…" he said, confused, "Not like I could leave you here, could I?"
"I thought you'd never come back!" Rose said, digging her face deeper into his jacket.
"I've only been gone half an hour." Replied The Doctor "Can't have missed me that much…"
Rose grinned, "I'm just glad you're back, that's all."
The Doctor smiled, "Okay…I'll agree to that. Now, why don't we get this show on the road? We've got a planet in the Starlengthia Galaxy with our names on it."
Rose let go of him and he began to make his way back to the TARDIS, which Rose could see was parked a few metres away from them. She glanced back at the alleyway behind her, at the other TARDIS, and then followed, a new spring in her step.
"How long am I going to stay with you, Doctor?" she asked as she boarded the TARDIS.
The Doctor turned to her and grinned, and Rose could see behind him the control panel, lit up like a beacon.
"Forever." He said, and then he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the TARDIS.
A man watched as The Doctor pulled Rose into the TARDIS and then it slowly began to dematerialise. He sighed and shook his head, causing his ginger hair to fall into his eyes.
"I'm sorry Rose." He whispered as the TARDIS disappeared, "Forever just wasn't enough."
He clutched his chest as a stabbing pain ricocheted across his body. He'd always imagined what death would be like, but he never thought it would be this bad.
Oh well. May as well get it over with.
He made his way to the TARDIS, and then swung the rusty doors inward and crawled inside. The doors slammed shut, and then the street fell silent.
He'd done everything he could. Now, at last, the last Timelord could sleep.
I think you need a doctor.
So where was I, oh that's right, Barcelona!
You can spend the rest of your life with me...but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords.
I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it…Rose Tyler…
I want you to know that whatever happens, I'll always, always love you.
Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies. The Time War ends.