Fic: "Independence"
Title: Independence
Raiting: PG-13/T (may go up)
Status: Completed
Pairing: 10/Rose, hinted 9/Rose
Doctor(s): Tenth Doctor, Nineth Doctor cameo
Spoilers: Parting of the Ways, set locations for season 2
Warnings: Very dark. Much hurt/comfort.
Summery: He wakes up and finds himself on a prison ship. She wakes up and finds herself as a slave. Both are playing a game of life and death where to live you have to kill. (10th Doctor/Rose)
Prelude |*| Chapter One |*| Chapter Two |*| Chapter Three
Chapter Four |*| Chapter Five |*| Chapter Six |*| Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight |*| Chapter Nine |*| Chapter Ten |*| Chapter Eleven
Chapter Tweleve
Author's Note: Our final chapter of the story. I'd love to thank all of you, from those that read from the first time I posted this story, to those that started up in various parts of the story. And yes it is not a rumor, "Indpendence" will have a sequel story! There will be more on this after the chapter.
~*~
A Ghost Laid to Rest
~*~
She sat in her bedroom, hugging her pillow close to her chest and head buried in it as the CD player switched songs in the background but kept low. The footsteps in the hallway were heavy and quick, the others aboard the ship rushing about to get things ready. Except her. She sat here in her room alone, lights turned off, and head in her pillow to hide from everything. He had come straight to her after spending time with Neu and told her about what had happened and what need to be done. She was deadly afraid of loosing not only him as a new incarnation, but the Doctor period. After all that had just happened she couldn’t fathom it.
The door to her room slowly opened and she knew instantly that it was him. She was glad that the TARDIS kept the lights off in the room even as he slipped behind her on the bed. She felt the smooth leather of the jacket against her skin as he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned forward against her back, head resting against the side of hers. Rose raised her head slightly, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against his. He held her closer.
“Something went wrong,” he explained softly. “Because of the Time Vortex…something in the processes of the regeneration went wrong. He’s still there, inside me, but he isn’t supposed to be. He’s supposed to be dead, but he is still alive. It was just one of the things that led to me contracting the Illness, but neither of us knew it at the time. If we don’t fix it now Rose, it will continue to get worse.” His hand came up and moved a piece of her hair from her face behind her ear. Her silence wasn’t comforting him or supporting him and something inside feared that she was angry with him. “Rose?”
She turned her head to look at him, eyes watering. He frowned and pressed a kiss to the side her head in comfort. Her eyes lowered as she put her forehead to the side of his face sadly. His hand stroked her hair as his arm around her waist brought her closer.
“You’ll be alright, won’t you?” she choked through a cry. “You won’t die, will you?”
He smiled sadly, the dull and haunted look still lingering in his brown eyes. “I can’t promise anything, Rose, because I don’t know….a bit funny coming from me, yeh? Not knowing.” He gave a ghostly laugh but it died out as he looked at the wall opposite from them. “….no, I can’t answer….I shouldn’t die….the worst case scenario would be another regeneration…”
Rose felt her heart stop. “W-what?”
He looked at her but did not repeat his sentence. She stared at him as water tricked down her face onto the pillow in the sight of the new revelation. He knew it was unfair to say but it was true, even if it sounded like a near-suicide mission. She turned completely into his chest crying softly and clinging onto the pillow. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, kissing her forehead again as the CD tracks changed again. He rubbed her back comfortingly as the song played, the volume very low but he could still hear it.
“I’m standing on the bridge, I’m waiting in the dark, I thought that you’d be here by now. There’s nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground, I’m listening but there is no sound…”
Rose hummed along with the song through her soft hiccupping cries, her face between the pillow and his chest. Her cheek rubbed up against the familiar yet foreign black jumper. It wasn’t him; he wasn’t supposed to wear it. It felt almost alien now, knowing that he was in it, and she knew that it made him uncomfortable. Somewhere during the middle of the song her voice had dissolved into her cries and he had picked up where she left off.
“Why is everything so confusing? Maybe I’m just out of my mind. Yea yea, yea yea. It’s a damn cold night, trying to figure out this life. Won’t you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new?”
There was a knock.
“Doc?” Darren’s voice came. “We are ready whenever you are.”
The Doctor waited until he could no longer hear the footsteps before looking down at Rose. She looked up at him slowly and sniffed, rubbing her eyes furiously. He lowered her hands and placed a small kiss on her lips before standing and taking her with him. The two walked down the halls as her cries stiffened.
“Do you have to?” Rose asked softly. He stopped and looked at her.
“Rose.” He said, lifting her chin up. “I am me, and he is him. I need my own independence from him, and he needs to be independent from me….it is for the best of all three of us, not just me.” He took her hand again and entered into the console room.
Neu and Darren were already there. Darren was configuring the TARDIS to fly smoothly and if she needed to land, to pick a nice quiet planet where no one would notice. Neu meanwhile was extracting a silver liquid into a syringe, testing the thickness and flow of the liquid. She turned as the two slowly walked up to them and looked between them. The Doctor nodded and stood apart from Rose, in front of her still holding her hands.
“This will be injected into your neural system.” The high priestess explained. “It will numb all feeling and attempt to trick the body back into the state during the regeneration processes. If all goes well than the most harm that will be done will be temporal disorientation and the sickness that follows regeneration.”
“And if it doesn’t ‘go well’?” Rose demanded but neither answered. Her eyes darted to Darren as he raised his finger to his neck and drew a long line across the skin. She snapped her eyes back to him, begging him not to do it, but he gave a small and sad, but brave, grin. Neu tested the syringe once again and placed the needle at the back of the Doctor’s neck, aligned perfectly with his spine. “Doctor…I…”
He grinned again. “I know.”
As the needle went into his spine his hands clutched onto Rose’s and his head snapped back involuntarily. Rose held his hands to her heart as his mouth opened in a voiceless cry and his eyes shut tightly. Finally the high priestess removed the needle from his neck and took a step back, leaving him temporarily immobile before he fell forward against her. Rose helped him stand and steady himself, looking into his eyes and knew immediately that something was different. He smiled a different smile at her. It wasn’t her new Doctor.
He grinned at her and knew she had sorted out what had happened in her mind. “It’s been a long time, Rose.” He spoke. It was still her new Doctor’s voice but it wasn’t Scottish now, but Northern. “Figured it out haven’t you? I’m glad to see that you haven’t gotten stupider.”
“What’s happened to him?” Rose asked so softly it was almost a whisper.
He stood straighter then, taking a quick glance over the new body and clicked his tongue against his new teeth. “He’s still here, Rose.” He took one of the hands she held and placed it over his two hearts. “He’s fine, worried, but fine. He knows we have to do this, so there isn’t any point in arguing. Now Rose, I don’t have much time here, so let us get this done now.”
“W-what do you mean by that?!” She started to panic but he placed both hands on either side of her face.
“Rose, stop moping about and listen to me one more time.” He said sternly which made her quiet down immediately. “We have tricked the body into making another attempt at the regeneration process. If it all goes well - which I am very confident it will - then he’ll be here with you again, just a bit sick.”
“And….you?” she asked and he gave her a hollow smile.
“I’ll just go away like the window, poof!” he answered somewhat cheerfully. “I’ll die, Rose, just like all the other mes. He’ll have my memories, but I won’t be there to whisper in his mind anymore. I’ll have a proper death this time and…” he looked at her with the same eyes he had in the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street. “You and I can have a proper good-bye.”
Rose nodded, biting back a sob as the two embraced tightly. She could feel his muscles tightening in pain and the blood rushing faster through his body. She pulled away enough to look him up in the eyes to see brown had turned to a blue. He smiled down at her, giving her another hug as he winced but removed some of her tears.
“Do me one thing Rose, just one thing.” He smiled and Rose already knew what it was. “Have a fantastic life. You’ll do that for me, right?”
“Of course.” Rose nodded and felt Darren’s grip pull her away from him as he stumbled backwards.
For the second time in her life, Rose watched as a golden stream of energy came around her Doctor. She had never wanted to see it again, it was horrifying the first time, but now it was heart wrenching and it tore at her soul. She wanted to reach out and stop it all, but knew that she would endanger both of her Doctors and kill them if she did. So she stood with Darren, watching and praying that it would all end soon and that neither would be harmed.
The energy suddenly stopped and for a second time in his life, the Tenth Doctor’s head snapped forward and he panted. Rose broke away from Darren and clung to her Doctor for support and comfort. He smiled down at her and crumbled down into her arms with no energy left to stand. Rose held him to her as she sat on the floor of the TARDIS console room, looking down at him with tears rolling down her face.
He grinned at her, a pure and happy grin but it still retained some of its ghost like movements. “He’s gone, Rose.” He said happily and held her hand as she grasped for it. “He’s finally able to rest…finally able to let go, thanks to you Rose Tyler.” He gave a small laugh and put his hand on her face. “All thanks to you.”
Rose nodded numbly and kissed the inside of his palm as his breath still labored. “A-and…the I-Illness?”
“We’ll see.” He said, his Scottish accent had returned suddenly. “I was worried Rose, that I’d die….and, you’d be left with a new me again.”
Rose managed a laugh. “Jealous of yourself?”
“Oh, you have no idea.” He grinned at the sight of her being able to laugh at such a serious time. Rose had grown so much from when his previous incarnation met her and brought her aboard the TARDIS. From a scared and confused shop girl to a brave and bold companion that saved his life numerous times, she had blossomed. He smiled again. “You’ve grown into a lovely flower, Rose. He was proud of you, for facing this head on even though you were scared. You made him proud, and that was the best thing you could give him.”
Rose let out another small sad laugh before burying herself in his chest as he sat up. She cried softly and he comforted her, nodding to Neu and Darren as they stood on stand by. The two quickly left the console room to give them some well deserved time alone. He sat with his back against one of the oddly shaped pillars, holding her with one knee bent and the other stretched out. He was tired from life itself and just wanted to slip into a long unconscious state but wouldn’t until he made sure Rose was fine.
She looked up at him after a few moments. “You’re probably dead tired, come on.” She stood and helped him stand, offering her arms for support. “We should get you out of those clothes.”
“Bit too tired for that.” He said dully as they moved down the corridors, the TARDIS shifting to aid him. He looked at her with tired eyes. “I get to start again, you know. The TARDIS and I can fully connect and this time things will go smoothly.”
The two walked in silence together holding hands. The TARDIS’s hum kept them company, shifting the halls to help them reach their destination swifter. They found themselves at his door in which he entered and Rose unexpectedly followed in. He sat down on the bed, tired and worn, and about to fall back against the feather mattress but Rose caught him up by the jumper. His eyes went up to hers, narrowed and the slight sign of irritation that she wasn’t allowing him to rest. Her hands went under the jacket on his shoulders and slipped it off, placing it over the bed post gently. He eyed the jacket suspiciously then looked up at her.
“Stop being so paranoid,” she grumbled.
“Can’t help it.” He replied and gave his grin that still seemed haunted. His arms snaked around her and pulled her into his lap as he angled his head up. She looked down at him as her arms went around his neck. “Every little thing…makes me second guess everything, makes me rethink twice…even three times over. The little murmur might be gone but,” he grinned again. “You’re still in my thoughts and dreams…still driving me insane by staying so close and yet so far…if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a game.”
Rose tilted her head. “And if it is?” she asked teasingly.
He grinned again but it was darker. “Then, I say,” he pressed his fingers up against her spine again to cause the reaction of her back arcing. “That you are an evil little thing, Rose…and you know how to string men along,” he let out another large grin with an accompanied laugh. “But do you know what?”
“What?” she asked as he leaned backwards on the bed, taking her with him. “Doctor….” She started warningly.
“I can play it too,” he idly played with one of the strands of her hair. “And I can play it better and crueler than you can.” With that he rolled out from under her and lay on the bed with his head in the pillow.
Rose sat there for a moment, attempting to figure out his sudden change of motions that contradicted what he had just said. She sat beside him, seeing that he had drifted off into a pleasant slumber. Part of her wondered how badly the Illness had affected his mind, even with the forced regeneration that had just happened. She lay down beside him now, arms around his waist and face against the familiar and yet foreign black jumper that was much too big for him. She could feel his muscles react to his still slightly labored breathing and as his hearts beat slowly in his sleep.
But his hand grabbed her arm that was around his waist and Rose noticed that he had not been in a deep sleep and most likely woke up when she had cuddled against him. His thumb followed the pattern of the triangle still inked into her arm and his shadowed eyes looked over his shoulder at her. She gave a small smile and nuzzled her cheek into his back as she closed her eyes. He gave a sigh and rolled over so that her head rested against his chest. He laid her head on top of hers, listening to her breathing as it slowed to the steady breath of sleep. The lights turned off completely and the hum of the TARDIS lowered to give him the atmosphere of a much needed sleep, one for the first time in such a long time that would not be troubled.
He had been given his independence, his former incarnation had been given his freedom, and both he and Rose had been given a second chance together with two new companions to fill the TARDIS halls. With four travelers, the TARDIS also felt full and completed - being able to serve and take people all over space and time, but also giving them a home. With the adventures to come she knew that they would need a safe heaven to return to, after all she harbored the Time Vortex inside her heart and knew all that could and would be. The only thing she could do was to show the companions these possibilities, until a young shop girl from London opened her up and shared herself with her. The TARDIS flew within space and time, leading the company to their next destination where she knew they would be needed as they slept.
And there's the end! Once again, thank you for your reviews. The next story should be up by tomorrow or Monday depending on time and how long it turns out to be. The next story focuses more on Rose's development where as this focused on Tormented!Ten's. And like this one, it will be dark and mysterious, but it will also be sad. For some reason these stories focus on a darker side of the regeneration process....ah well! Stay tuned and thanks for the reivews! :) Tormented!Ten loves you all (as much as his little crazy mind can)!
Raiting: PG-13/T (may go up)
Status: Completed
Pairing: 10/Rose, hinted 9/Rose
Doctor(s): Tenth Doctor, Nineth Doctor cameo
Spoilers: Parting of the Ways, set locations for season 2
Warnings: Very dark. Much hurt/comfort.
Summery: He wakes up and finds himself on a prison ship. She wakes up and finds herself as a slave. Both are playing a game of life and death where to live you have to kill. (10th Doctor/Rose)
Prelude |*| Chapter One |*| Chapter Two |*| Chapter Three
Chapter Four |*| Chapter Five |*| Chapter Six |*| Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight |*| Chapter Nine |*| Chapter Ten |*| Chapter Eleven
Chapter Tweleve
Author's Note: Our final chapter of the story. I'd love to thank all of you, from those that read from the first time I posted this story, to those that started up in various parts of the story. And yes it is not a rumor, "Indpendence" will have a sequel story! There will be more on this after the chapter.
~*~
A Ghost Laid to Rest
~*~
She sat in her bedroom, hugging her pillow close to her chest and head buried in it as the CD player switched songs in the background but kept low. The footsteps in the hallway were heavy and quick, the others aboard the ship rushing about to get things ready. Except her. She sat here in her room alone, lights turned off, and head in her pillow to hide from everything. He had come straight to her after spending time with Neu and told her about what had happened and what need to be done. She was deadly afraid of loosing not only him as a new incarnation, but the Doctor period. After all that had just happened she couldn’t fathom it.
The door to her room slowly opened and she knew instantly that it was him. She was glad that the TARDIS kept the lights off in the room even as he slipped behind her on the bed. She felt the smooth leather of the jacket against her skin as he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned forward against her back, head resting against the side of hers. Rose raised her head slightly, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against his. He held her closer.
“Something went wrong,” he explained softly. “Because of the Time Vortex…something in the processes of the regeneration went wrong. He’s still there, inside me, but he isn’t supposed to be. He’s supposed to be dead, but he is still alive. It was just one of the things that led to me contracting the Illness, but neither of us knew it at the time. If we don’t fix it now Rose, it will continue to get worse.” His hand came up and moved a piece of her hair from her face behind her ear. Her silence wasn’t comforting him or supporting him and something inside feared that she was angry with him. “Rose?”
She turned her head to look at him, eyes watering. He frowned and pressed a kiss to the side her head in comfort. Her eyes lowered as she put her forehead to the side of his face sadly. His hand stroked her hair as his arm around her waist brought her closer.
“You’ll be alright, won’t you?” she choked through a cry. “You won’t die, will you?”
He smiled sadly, the dull and haunted look still lingering in his brown eyes. “I can’t promise anything, Rose, because I don’t know….a bit funny coming from me, yeh? Not knowing.” He gave a ghostly laugh but it died out as he looked at the wall opposite from them. “….no, I can’t answer….I shouldn’t die….the worst case scenario would be another regeneration…”
Rose felt her heart stop. “W-what?”
He looked at her but did not repeat his sentence. She stared at him as water tricked down her face onto the pillow in the sight of the new revelation. He knew it was unfair to say but it was true, even if it sounded like a near-suicide mission. She turned completely into his chest crying softly and clinging onto the pillow. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, kissing her forehead again as the CD tracks changed again. He rubbed her back comfortingly as the song played, the volume very low but he could still hear it.
“I’m standing on the bridge, I’m waiting in the dark, I thought that you’d be here by now. There’s nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground, I’m listening but there is no sound…”
Rose hummed along with the song through her soft hiccupping cries, her face between the pillow and his chest. Her cheek rubbed up against the familiar yet foreign black jumper. It wasn’t him; he wasn’t supposed to wear it. It felt almost alien now, knowing that he was in it, and she knew that it made him uncomfortable. Somewhere during the middle of the song her voice had dissolved into her cries and he had picked up where she left off.
“Why is everything so confusing? Maybe I’m just out of my mind. Yea yea, yea yea. It’s a damn cold night, trying to figure out this life. Won’t you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new?”
There was a knock.
“Doc?” Darren’s voice came. “We are ready whenever you are.”
The Doctor waited until he could no longer hear the footsteps before looking down at Rose. She looked up at him slowly and sniffed, rubbing her eyes furiously. He lowered her hands and placed a small kiss on her lips before standing and taking her with him. The two walked down the halls as her cries stiffened.
“Do you have to?” Rose asked softly. He stopped and looked at her.
“Rose.” He said, lifting her chin up. “I am me, and he is him. I need my own independence from him, and he needs to be independent from me….it is for the best of all three of us, not just me.” He took her hand again and entered into the console room.
Neu and Darren were already there. Darren was configuring the TARDIS to fly smoothly and if she needed to land, to pick a nice quiet planet where no one would notice. Neu meanwhile was extracting a silver liquid into a syringe, testing the thickness and flow of the liquid. She turned as the two slowly walked up to them and looked between them. The Doctor nodded and stood apart from Rose, in front of her still holding her hands.
“This will be injected into your neural system.” The high priestess explained. “It will numb all feeling and attempt to trick the body back into the state during the regeneration processes. If all goes well than the most harm that will be done will be temporal disorientation and the sickness that follows regeneration.”
“And if it doesn’t ‘go well’?” Rose demanded but neither answered. Her eyes darted to Darren as he raised his finger to his neck and drew a long line across the skin. She snapped her eyes back to him, begging him not to do it, but he gave a small and sad, but brave, grin. Neu tested the syringe once again and placed the needle at the back of the Doctor’s neck, aligned perfectly with his spine. “Doctor…I…”
He grinned again. “I know.”
As the needle went into his spine his hands clutched onto Rose’s and his head snapped back involuntarily. Rose held his hands to her heart as his mouth opened in a voiceless cry and his eyes shut tightly. Finally the high priestess removed the needle from his neck and took a step back, leaving him temporarily immobile before he fell forward against her. Rose helped him stand and steady himself, looking into his eyes and knew immediately that something was different. He smiled a different smile at her. It wasn’t her new Doctor.
He grinned at her and knew she had sorted out what had happened in her mind. “It’s been a long time, Rose.” He spoke. It was still her new Doctor’s voice but it wasn’t Scottish now, but Northern. “Figured it out haven’t you? I’m glad to see that you haven’t gotten stupider.”
“What’s happened to him?” Rose asked so softly it was almost a whisper.
He stood straighter then, taking a quick glance over the new body and clicked his tongue against his new teeth. “He’s still here, Rose.” He took one of the hands she held and placed it over his two hearts. “He’s fine, worried, but fine. He knows we have to do this, so there isn’t any point in arguing. Now Rose, I don’t have much time here, so let us get this done now.”
“W-what do you mean by that?!” She started to panic but he placed both hands on either side of her face.
“Rose, stop moping about and listen to me one more time.” He said sternly which made her quiet down immediately. “We have tricked the body into making another attempt at the regeneration process. If it all goes well - which I am very confident it will - then he’ll be here with you again, just a bit sick.”
“And….you?” she asked and he gave her a hollow smile.
“I’ll just go away like the window, poof!” he answered somewhat cheerfully. “I’ll die, Rose, just like all the other mes. He’ll have my memories, but I won’t be there to whisper in his mind anymore. I’ll have a proper death this time and…” he looked at her with the same eyes he had in the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street. “You and I can have a proper good-bye.”
Rose nodded, biting back a sob as the two embraced tightly. She could feel his muscles tightening in pain and the blood rushing faster through his body. She pulled away enough to look him up in the eyes to see brown had turned to a blue. He smiled down at her, giving her another hug as he winced but removed some of her tears.
“Do me one thing Rose, just one thing.” He smiled and Rose already knew what it was. “Have a fantastic life. You’ll do that for me, right?”
“Of course.” Rose nodded and felt Darren’s grip pull her away from him as he stumbled backwards.
For the second time in her life, Rose watched as a golden stream of energy came around her Doctor. She had never wanted to see it again, it was horrifying the first time, but now it was heart wrenching and it tore at her soul. She wanted to reach out and stop it all, but knew that she would endanger both of her Doctors and kill them if she did. So she stood with Darren, watching and praying that it would all end soon and that neither would be harmed.
The energy suddenly stopped and for a second time in his life, the Tenth Doctor’s head snapped forward and he panted. Rose broke away from Darren and clung to her Doctor for support and comfort. He smiled down at her and crumbled down into her arms with no energy left to stand. Rose held him to her as she sat on the floor of the TARDIS console room, looking down at him with tears rolling down her face.
He grinned at her, a pure and happy grin but it still retained some of its ghost like movements. “He’s gone, Rose.” He said happily and held her hand as she grasped for it. “He’s finally able to rest…finally able to let go, thanks to you Rose Tyler.” He gave a small laugh and put his hand on her face. “All thanks to you.”
Rose nodded numbly and kissed the inside of his palm as his breath still labored. “A-and…the I-Illness?”
“We’ll see.” He said, his Scottish accent had returned suddenly. “I was worried Rose, that I’d die….and, you’d be left with a new me again.”
Rose managed a laugh. “Jealous of yourself?”
“Oh, you have no idea.” He grinned at the sight of her being able to laugh at such a serious time. Rose had grown so much from when his previous incarnation met her and brought her aboard the TARDIS. From a scared and confused shop girl to a brave and bold companion that saved his life numerous times, she had blossomed. He smiled again. “You’ve grown into a lovely flower, Rose. He was proud of you, for facing this head on even though you were scared. You made him proud, and that was the best thing you could give him.”
Rose let out another small sad laugh before burying herself in his chest as he sat up. She cried softly and he comforted her, nodding to Neu and Darren as they stood on stand by. The two quickly left the console room to give them some well deserved time alone. He sat with his back against one of the oddly shaped pillars, holding her with one knee bent and the other stretched out. He was tired from life itself and just wanted to slip into a long unconscious state but wouldn’t until he made sure Rose was fine.
She looked up at him after a few moments. “You’re probably dead tired, come on.” She stood and helped him stand, offering her arms for support. “We should get you out of those clothes.”
“Bit too tired for that.” He said dully as they moved down the corridors, the TARDIS shifting to aid him. He looked at her with tired eyes. “I get to start again, you know. The TARDIS and I can fully connect and this time things will go smoothly.”
The two walked in silence together holding hands. The TARDIS’s hum kept them company, shifting the halls to help them reach their destination swifter. They found themselves at his door in which he entered and Rose unexpectedly followed in. He sat down on the bed, tired and worn, and about to fall back against the feather mattress but Rose caught him up by the jumper. His eyes went up to hers, narrowed and the slight sign of irritation that she wasn’t allowing him to rest. Her hands went under the jacket on his shoulders and slipped it off, placing it over the bed post gently. He eyed the jacket suspiciously then looked up at her.
“Stop being so paranoid,” she grumbled.
“Can’t help it.” He replied and gave his grin that still seemed haunted. His arms snaked around her and pulled her into his lap as he angled his head up. She looked down at him as her arms went around his neck. “Every little thing…makes me second guess everything, makes me rethink twice…even three times over. The little murmur might be gone but,” he grinned again. “You’re still in my thoughts and dreams…still driving me insane by staying so close and yet so far…if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a game.”
Rose tilted her head. “And if it is?” she asked teasingly.
He grinned again but it was darker. “Then, I say,” he pressed his fingers up against her spine again to cause the reaction of her back arcing. “That you are an evil little thing, Rose…and you know how to string men along,” he let out another large grin with an accompanied laugh. “But do you know what?”
“What?” she asked as he leaned backwards on the bed, taking her with him. “Doctor….” She started warningly.
“I can play it too,” he idly played with one of the strands of her hair. “And I can play it better and crueler than you can.” With that he rolled out from under her and lay on the bed with his head in the pillow.
Rose sat there for a moment, attempting to figure out his sudden change of motions that contradicted what he had just said. She sat beside him, seeing that he had drifted off into a pleasant slumber. Part of her wondered how badly the Illness had affected his mind, even with the forced regeneration that had just happened. She lay down beside him now, arms around his waist and face against the familiar and yet foreign black jumper that was much too big for him. She could feel his muscles react to his still slightly labored breathing and as his hearts beat slowly in his sleep.
But his hand grabbed her arm that was around his waist and Rose noticed that he had not been in a deep sleep and most likely woke up when she had cuddled against him. His thumb followed the pattern of the triangle still inked into her arm and his shadowed eyes looked over his shoulder at her. She gave a small smile and nuzzled her cheek into his back as she closed her eyes. He gave a sigh and rolled over so that her head rested against his chest. He laid her head on top of hers, listening to her breathing as it slowed to the steady breath of sleep. The lights turned off completely and the hum of the TARDIS lowered to give him the atmosphere of a much needed sleep, one for the first time in such a long time that would not be troubled.
He had been given his independence, his former incarnation had been given his freedom, and both he and Rose had been given a second chance together with two new companions to fill the TARDIS halls. With four travelers, the TARDIS also felt full and completed - being able to serve and take people all over space and time, but also giving them a home. With the adventures to come she knew that they would need a safe heaven to return to, after all she harbored the Time Vortex inside her heart and knew all that could and would be. The only thing she could do was to show the companions these possibilities, until a young shop girl from London opened her up and shared herself with her. The TARDIS flew within space and time, leading the company to their next destination where she knew they would be needed as they slept.
And there's the end! Once again, thank you for your reviews. The next story should be up by tomorrow or Monday depending on time and how long it turns out to be. The next story focuses more on Rose's development where as this focused on Tormented!Ten's. And like this one, it will be dark and mysterious, but it will also be sad. For some reason these stories focus on a darker side of the regeneration process....ah well! Stay tuned and thanks for the reivews! :) Tormented!Ten loves you all (as much as his little crazy mind can)!