A/N
I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to update, I blame writer's block and school. The updates will be far between for a while longer, but hopefully not as far as this one. I promised October and it's almost February. Sorry about that.
I hope part two will suffice you for a while. I can promise both happy and angry tears. Maybe a bit angsty as well. Directed at me for the most part I would guess.
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Chapter 22 Kiss From A Rose
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There is so much a man can tell you, so much he can say.
You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain, baby.
To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny.
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?
...
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah.
Now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom
On the gray.
~Seal
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The Doctor let Rose open the doors to the TARDIS as he leaned against her for support. He would never have shown his weakness like this to Amy or Rory, but he knew there was no fooling Rose. She could read him too well.
"Extractor fans on!" He grunted out as the doors closed behind him, and soon the smoke cleared away.
"Come on." Rose said and guided him to one of the jump seats. She crouched down in front of him, taking his hands in hers. "How are you feeling?" She asked softly.
"Not good." He admitted, his voice strained from the pain. "I'm shutting down. Going to need an interface."
"Activate voice interface." Rose spoke aloud and a hologram appeared before them in the form of his tenth self.
"Voice interface enabled." It said.
"Oh," He said dejectedly. "Couldn't it have gotten someone I like?"
"Don't be a child, Doctor." Rose shook her head and then turned to the interface. "How's his condition?"
"The Doctor's system has been contaminated by the poison of the Judas tree. He will be dead in 33 minutes." It said with a monotone voice. No likeness to his past body evident except for the accent.
"So he'll regenerate, right?" Rose asked the interface.
"Regeneration disabled." The interface answered. "He will be dead in 33 minutes."
"No," Rose shook her head. "You can regenerate." Rose turned to him. "You'll regenerate and heal yourself."
"I can't." He looked down at his lap. "This is my last incarnation. I don't have any regenerations left."
"No." She said fiercely and turned back to the interface. "Then we will find a cure." She told it, and even though her head was once again turned away from him, he could hear the unmistakable sound of her throat contracting from unshed tears as she spoke.
"There is no cure." The interface answered. "He will be dead in 32 minutes."
"Then what am I suppose to do?" Rose cried out and the Doctor reached and pulled her up on his lap. She burrowed her nose in the crook of his neck as her tears dampened his collar.
"We'll find a way." He spoke into her hair as he placed a kiss there. "I still have 32 to minutes to go, and we need to help River."
"It's her fault you're dying." She said petulantly.
"She only did what she was conditioned to do." The Doctor pulled her back so he could look her in the eyes.
"I know." She sighed dejectedly. "And I know we need to help her before it's too late."
He wiped away a tear from her cheek and then rested his hand there, letting her nestle into it.
"I should have done this earlier." He said and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear before leaning forward until their noses touched. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
"For what?" Rose's shaky breath mixed with his.
"For this." Without over thinking it, he closed the gap between them, letting his lips finally lock with hers.
Rose gasped softly in shock and he could feel her tensing in his arms, but as he started moving his lips against hers, she relaxed and chased his lips with equal vigor.
It wasn't a sloppy kiss, nor was it hot and passionate. It just was. It was chaste but at the same time it conveyed exactly what their feelings were for each other.
Rose was the one who pulled away first, but instead of pulling away completely; she just rested her forehead against his.
"I shouldn't have done that." The Doctor confessed after their breathing had slowed. "But I do not regret it. Rose..." He pushed her back so he could look at her. "I love you, Rose. I always have, but..."
"But we can't ." Rose finished for him. "I know, Doctor." There were fresh tears gathering in her eyes now. "I know, and I understand, but..." She swallowed once and wiped at her cheeks. "I... I love you." The tears broke free.
The Doctor tugged her back towards him, hugging her close to his chest as he placed a kiss at the top of her head; there was no need to say anything else. They both knew how they felt about each other, and they both knew why they couldn't act on it. Even if he miraculously survived this, there was no future for them. She would die long before he did.
"We need to go." He hated it. He hated his long life and he hated not being able to be with the woman he loved.
Rose pulled away from him and then helped him to a standing position, and together they navigated the TARDIS to where the sonic was.
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They landed in a restaurant and stepped out of the TARDIS quietly only to come across Mels and Amy talking, but something was off about Amy.
"You killed the Doctor on the orders of the movement known as the Silence and Academy of the Question." The person clearly not Amy said, and the Doctor and Rose exchanged worried glances. "You accept this and know this to be true?"
"Quite honestly," Mels said. "I don't really remember. It was all a bit of a jumble."
The answer seemed to satisfy the Amy copy, as it opened its mouth and a beam shot out, enveloping Mels and making her cry out in pain.
"No!" She cried. "No! Get off me!"
"Sorry," The Doctor took a step forward, having had enough of this whole ordeal. "Did you say she killed the Doctor?" The Amy copy closed its mouth, releasing Mels, and Rose hurried over to her, making sure she was alright. "The Doctor? Doctor who?"
"Thank you." Mels took Rose's hand so she could be pulled up to a standing position.
"Don't mention it." Rose let go of her hand so she could place it on her lower back, steadying her as well as making sure she wouldn't try to leave. She still felt a tad bit of jealousy against the woman, and anger for hurting the Doctor, but she was still River, her sister. Or at least, she would be one day.
"Amelia Pond, judgment machine." Rose looked up as the Doctor aimed a sonic device at the Amy look-alike. It wasn't his own sonic, instead it reminded Rose of his former one, but instead of a blue tip it was purple. "Why am I not surprised?" He scanned her. "I was planning on giving this to Rose," He inclined his head to the sonic. "But things got in the way, you know how it is. Murderous psychopaths and talking... Oh, you're a robot." He exclaimed as he read the readings on the sonic. "With 424 life signs inside. A robot... worked by tiny people. Love it. But how do you all get in there, though?"
"Doctor," Rose cut in. "Shouldn't we be more worried about where the real Amy is? Or Rory and Jack for that matter?"
"Oh," He waved her of. "They're in there of course."
"In there?" Rose eyed the robot suspiciously.
"Jack!" The Doctor called out. "If you and the Ponds are okay, signal me." Moments later the Doctor received a signal to his sonic. "Thank you." He looked into the robot's eyes when he suddenly cried out in pain.
"Doctor!" Rose rushed forward to catch him as his legs gave way.
"I'm okay." He tried to wave her off.
"No, you're not." Rose was having none of it. "Come on." She guided him to the dais steps so he could sit down.
As both of them were busy, Mels decided to make another run for the door but the robot shot out the beam again, catching her in it and making her cry out in pain again.
"Don't you touch her!" The Doctor hollered as he and Rose noticed what was going on. "Do not harm her in any way!"
The robot closed its mouth, stopping the torture, but the contamination field was still active.
"Why would you care?" The robot asked in Amy's voice. "She is the woman who kills you."
Rose and the Doctor exchanged a look before the Doctor addressed the robot.
"I'm not dead." He said simply.
"You're dying." The robot stated.
"Well, at least I'm not a time-travelling shape-shifting robot operated by miniaturized people, which, I have to admit, I didn't see coming." The Doctor quipped before gesturing towards the still trapped Mels. "What do you want with her?"
"She's Melody Pond." The robot answered. "According to records, the woman who kills the Doctor."
"And I'm the Doctor, what's it to you?" The Doctor asked.
"Throughout history," The robot started. "Many criminals have gone unpunished in their lifetimes. Time travel has... responsibilities."
Both the Doctor and Rose started laughing at that.
"You've got to be kiddin'." Rose gasped out.
"What?" The Doctor guffawed. "You got yourself time travel, so you decided to punish dead people?"
"We don't kill them." The robot said, its face devoid of emotions, but the voice behind clearly annoyed. "We extract them near the end of their established timelines."
"And then what?" The Doctor and Rose asked at the same time. Both of them were getting tired of this self-proclaimed justice machine.
"Give them hell." The Doctor placed a hand on Rose's arm to stop her from getting up, as he could see she was clearly, and righteously so, infuriated by the answer.
"I'd ask you who you think you are," The Doctor started, a deadly calm in his voice. "But I think the answer is pretty obvious. So, who do you think I am?" He pointed at Mels. "The woman who killed the Doctor. It sounds like you've got my biography in there. I'd love a peek."
"Our records office is sealed to the public. Foreknowledge is dangerous."
"And intervening in established events isn't?" Rose snapped.
"Like she said" The Doctor moved his hand down her arm until their fingers were entwined. "I'll be dead in three minutes. There isn't much foreknowledge left."
He and Rose held onto each other as they waited for an answer; and it felt like hours to him as he did his best not to show Rose how much pain he was really in; but finally they got a reply.
"Records available."
"Help me stand up." The Doctor told Rose softly into her hair as he made to rise up. Then, supporting himself on her, he faced the robot. "Question. I'm dying... who wants me dead?"
"The Silence." He gripped a little tighter at Rose's arm when he heard the answer.
"What is the Silence?" He asked, doing his best not to show any discomfort. "Why is it called that? What does it mean?"
"The Silence is not a species." The robot answered. "It is a religious order, or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked"
"What question?" He could feel Rose shift slightly beside him.
"The first question." The robot said simply. "The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."
"Yes," The pain was increasing by the second. "But what is the question?"
"Unknown."
"Well, fat lot of use that is, you big ginge!" He growled. "Call yourself a Records..." His kidneys were giving out. "Argh!" He grunted and he would have fallen to the floor had not Rose held him up. Instead she slowly lowered him to a sitting position. "Kidneys are always the first to quit." He panted as he made himself comfortable on the dais once again. "I've had better, you know." He said to Rose.
"Doctor, please." She pleaded. "You can't..." Whatever she was about to say was forgotten when Mels cries were once again heard in the almost empty restaurant.
"Jack!" The Doctor called as Rose pushed him down, refusing to let him sit up. "Amy! Rory! Can you hear me?"
"I'm here, Doc." The robot answered, and even though it was still with Amy's voice, the person speaking was unmistakable. "Tell me what to do."
"Just stop them." The Doctor groaned as another wave of pain hit him. "Stop them."
The silence killed him. He could hear Rose's uneven breaths as she cried silently. Hot tears falling down on his shirt-clad arm that she held onto in a vise grip.
"Rose?" It was barely more than a whisper, but she heard it.
"Yes, Doctor." She leaned half over him, blocking his view to the ceiling.
"I'm scared, Rose." He admitted. He never wanted to lie to her ever again, and if he was to die in a few minutes, he would be damned if he kept anything from her.
"Me too, Doctor. Me too." She laid down beside him, resting her head against his chest where his two hearts beat erratically. "But we will get through this." She took his hand in hers and slowly and methodically started to play with his fingers. "And even if..." She swallowed hard. "You won't be alone for long."
"Rose..." He was horrified by the implication she had just said, but a small part of him, a part he tried his best to squash down, felt happy. Happy that whatever waited for him after, she would experience it with him.
"They let her go." Rose cut him off as she sat up. "Melody!" She called out. "Don't run. Please. We need your help." She pushed herself off of the dais steps. "Your parents are trapped inside." She pointed at the robot. "You need to get them out."
Mels looked first at Rose, then the Doctor, and finally the robot.
"A little help, Doc!" Jack's voice called out in the disguise of Amy's.
"How?" Mels looked back at Rose, her eyes wide with fear.
"The TARDIS." Rose gestured to the police-box in question. "Pilot it inside the robot and save your parents."
"But how?" Mels turned her head to look at the TARDIS. "I don't know how."
"She will tell you." Rose snapped her fingers so that the doors opened. "Please. I can't leave him."
"Tell me who you are first." Mels took a step towards her. "You care about him."
"I love him." Rose corrected her.
"Who am I to you?" She asked next. "I can see it in your eyes that you expect someone else when you look at me. That you're disappointed when you can't find that person as you meet my eyes. And he," She glanced at the Doctor who was lying still on the steps with his eyes closed; his chest rising up and down slowly. "He keeps calling me River. Who is this River Song?"
"River Song is my best friend." Rose confessed. "She's my sister and she would do anything to help the Doctor. And..." She paused. "You may not be her now, but one day, you will become River Song."
"No." Mels shook her head. "I'm a psychopath. I do not have friends."
"You have me." Rose pushed on.
"Prove it." Mels stated. "Prove it and if it's true, then I will help you."
"We don't have time. Paradox, please." Rose begged.
Mels looked at her intently for a few seconds, her expression unreadable, until she finally nodded once and stepped inside the TARDIS. Rose didn't release her breath until the TARDIS had disappeared from view.
"Doctor?" Rose rushed back to him, falling to her knees as she took his clammy hand in hers.
"It's not long now." The Doctor wheezed as he opened his eyes. "You're so beautiful." He smiled weakly and reached his free hand to brush at her cheek. "I don't regret one moment of this. Not one bit."
"Me neither, Doctor." She placed a kiss on his palm. "Me neither."
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"Doctor!" Amy ran out the moment the TARDIS landed, quickly locating Rose and the Doctor on the dais. She kneeled down on the other side of the Doctor, placing a shaky hand on his chest, desperately feeling for a heartbeat. "You can't die now. I know you don't die now." She pleaded, as she only felt two very slow beats. Looking at Rose, she was on the verge of spilling everything, but she stopped herself when she saw the blonde's distress, looking down at the Doctor with tears running down her cheeks while she sobbed quietly.
"Oh, Pond." The Doctor turned his head to look at her. "You've got a schedule for everything."
"But it doesn't make sense." Amy shook her head.
"Doctor," Rory came into his view. "What do we do? Come on. How do we help you?"
"There's nothing to be done." Rose answered for him as she looked up at Rory. "There is no cure."
"No." Amy shook her head. "There must be something. He can't just die."
"It doesn't matter what you want." Rose returned her gaze at the Doctor, who was looking back at her with such emotions Amy had to force herself to keep her eyes on them. There were just so much tension between them.
"Amy, come on." Rory tugged at her arm, forcing her to stand up.
"No, but..." Amy protested.
"Let them have these moments alone." Rose looked up at him, a grateful expression on her face, before she turned away again.
Amy walked over to where Melody and Jack were having a conversation, but she stopped after a few steps and looked back to see Rose lean down and place a kiss on the Doctor's mouth. He whispered something into her ear before his grip on her arm slackened. Her heart broke when Rose leaned back and the Doctor was unconscious.
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Rose let her tears run freely now as she stared sightlessly down at the Doctor's unconscious body. She didn't know what to do so she just sat there. She didn't sob; she just sat there in silence.
His last words would be forever imprinted on her mind.
"I'm sorry, Rose." Rose shook out of her reverie just enough to acknowledge that River was now sitting on the other side of the Doctor.
"Wha...?" She began.
"It's the easiest way to do this." River cut her off. "It doesn't mean anything. Just..." She paused. "Promise me that if I make it out of this alive, you will tell me what the name Paradox means." With that, she leaned down towards the Doctor and placed her glowing hands against the side of his face.
He inhaled sharply as he opened his eyes.
"River? No! What are you doing?" He whispered.
"Hello, sweetie." River smiled at him before placing her mouth against his.
Before Rose had a chance to say anything, both River and the Doctor started to glow in the golden light of artron energy.
When it was over, River fell to the side, unconsciously, while the Doctor sat up and looked around with a dazed expression. He took one look at the unconscious River before his eyes found Rose's. In one fluid motion, he surged forward and captured her lips in a hot kiss.
Surprised as she was, Rose quickly melted against his lips as they eagerly mapped out the contour of her mouth. She gasped when he forced his tongue inside her mouth, but she quickly adjusted and soon she was giving as much as she was taking, all the while her hands were alternating between caressing his face and combing through his hair.
They broke apart when the need for oxygen became too much, both panting heavily as they leaned their foreheads against each others.
Whatever comment Jack was making as Rory checked over River, was lost on both of them as they came to a silent agreement while looking into each other's eyes.
It was just something they had done in the heat of the moment. Nothing had changed.
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That night a lone figure walked down the hallway towards the console room. It stopped at the top of the staircase, leaning against the railing as it looked down at the Doctor standing by the scanner.
"Did you find what we were looking for?" Rose asked, and the Doctor looked up at her, a quick smile gracing his lips before his expression became serious again.
"I got enough." He answered and moved the scanner towards her as she came down the stairs and walked up to him.
She read the screen in silence, and then looked up into the Doctor's eyes.
"At least we know why they were acting so strange at the diner."
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A/N
I hope you liked it and I will see you again soon. An original story then before we start another episode.
I hope you had a great holiday and New years. Happy 2018 everyone.
Oh, who of you loved The Last Jedi? I absolutely adored it. Turned me into a hardcore Reylo shipper as well.