ROSE TYLER SAXON

Chapter Forty Two

"I say we kill em," Clive growled.

The Doctor held up his hands when most of his companions echoed that sentiment.

"No, no killing. There's been enough killing to last a lifetime. Killing him won't solve anything," he said to them.

"We can't let him go, Professor," Ace protested.

"I didn't say we would, Ace. But there are other solutions besides killing him."

"I have a thought," Jack said.

"And that thought would be?" the Doctor said.

"We can put him in a deep coma and freeze him until you can help him. You said he was insane, perhaps we could find a cure for his insanity."

The Doctor thought that over.

"And where would we store him?" he asked Jack.

"Torchwood. We have freezers. I'll take full responsibility for him," Jack said.

"You sure you want the responsibility? He's a handful."

"I can handle him. If you ever find a cure for his insanity then we can wake him up."

"Yes, I like that idea. Do it," the Doctor said. "Now. We need to go down and get my TARDIS."

"There are Toclafane guarding it," Tish said. "We have to get past them."

"And if we open the door, we'll attract their attention, even with the filters on. Hmmm…"

He scratched his chin thoughtful while he considered options. Then a grin crept over his face and he snapped his fingers. Everyone watched while he ran over to the Master's desk and moved papers and folders aside until he found the intercom.

"Time Lords are great mimics. Watch this!" he said.

He pushed the talk button and leaned over to the speaker.

"Attention all Toclafane," he said, using the Master's voice. "Emergency. There is a space fleet massing in the Medusa Cascade, go and attack them! I order you!"

He took his finger off the talk button and grinned.

"There. Hopefully, that worked. I hope no one is visiting the Medusa Cascade at the moment. Otherwise, they're gonna get a big surprise. So…first things first before we go and see if the plan worked. Step aside everyone and let me through to the Master."

Everyone made room for him and he knelt down beside his foe. He put his fingers against his temples and sent him into a deep coma so he wouldn't suddenly wake up and attack them.

Sleep well, old friend, he thought as he sent the Master into the coma, be at peace until I can find a way to restore you to sanity.

He finished and stood up.

"There. He won't wake up now. We're safe to go and get the TARDIS."

"Follow me then, I'll take you to it," Tish said.

They followed her out the door and back towards the conference room. On the way, they saw a couple of guards. The guards took no notice of them because of the filters but they seemed confused, looking around the Valiant as if seeing it for the first time.

"The Master's mental hold on them broke once I put him in the coma," the Doctor said when they were out of earshot. "Even so, with the filter around his neck, they would have seen through his deception. The guards shouldn't be any trouble now."

They got into the lift, went down to the lower level and walked towards the storage cupboard. On the way, they saw more confused guards and even more promising, no Toclafane.

"Here it is," Tish said when they reached the door.

The Doctor tried the door and was relieved when he heard the lock click. Jack offered to go first and everyone stepped back while he put his hand on the door handle. He steeled himself for any attack before he opened the door. Jack breathed a sigh of relief when he saw nothing in the room except the TARDIS.

"It worked," Jack said.

"Thought it might. I'm glad I can mimic voices," the Doctor said as they walked inside.

"Oh, I thought I'd never see it again," Jo said as she walked up to the TARDIS and put her hand on the side of it.

"Me too. I miss the old ship," Ace said, putting her hand on the door.

The Doctor smiled at that while he unlocked the door. He pushed open the doors and sighed when he heard the cloister bell dinging overhead. He walked over to the console and walked around the steel cage encircling it.

"Can it be fixed?" Grace said as everyone gathered around it.

"Well…"

The Doctor trailed off while he used the screwdriver to unlock a door in the cage. He opened it and put his hands on the rim, looking everything over.

"I'm here, girl," the Doctor said, stroking the rim, trying to soothe his anguished ship.

He closed his eyes for a moment communicating with her, asking what the best solution was. Everyone waited patiently until he was finished.

"The TARDIS wants us to take out the console," the Doctor said.

"But won't that wreck the TARDIS?" Martha said.

"She can repair herself. This console is the main component of the machine. The quickest way to disable it is to take it out. Anyone have any ideas how to do that?"

"I do. Wait a moment, I'll be right back," Tish said before she ran out the door.

She came back ten minutes later carrying a large sledgehammer.

"I found this in the supply cupboard one day and nicked it. I was hoping to use it but I never got the chance. Think it'll do the job?"

"I think it'll do just fine," the Doctor said.

"Here, allow me," Jack said. "Everyone, get back!"

The Doctor and the companions walked out of the ship and stood just outside the door. Jack took a deep breath, got a good grip on the handle and swung it as hard as he could at the central column. The column cracked but held. Jack took another swing and the crack lengthened. On the third swing though, the glass cracked and Jack grinned as he destroyed the central column and some of the console.

Then he heard the Doctor ordering everyone to get down and he turned and looked out the door as the room began to shake. The TARDIS began to shake a second later and Jack dropped the sledgehammer and dropped to the grate. The TARDIS vibrated and shook and he gnashed his teeth to keep them from chattering. He looked out the door and noticed the others were hanging on to each other as the room shook.

"What's going on, Doctor?" Jack yelled.

"Time is reversing!" the Doctor yelled back. "Just hold on, it'll be done soon!"

"I hope so, my teeth are about to be rattled out of my skull," Jack muttered to himself as he gripped the grating.

Two minutes later the TARDIS finally stopped shaking and calm fell over the console room. Jack raised his eyebrow and looked out the door at the Doctor and his friends. They were raising their heads and looking around before they slowly got up from the floor.

"Did it work?" Donna said as Jack got up and walked out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor beckoned to them and they followed him out of the room. They saw a few of the guards struggling to get to their feet in the corridors. They went past them and headed towards the lift. They got inside and when the lift doors opened on the upper level, they saw all the delegates who had been killed were back now. They stood around, talking amongst themselves in panicked voices and pointing to the spot where Winters had stood. The Doctor ignored them and ran over to the flight deck. He climbed the stairs. He turned on the TV and grinned when he saw BBC News was back on the air.

"There has been a grave turn of events," the newscaster was saying, "We are getting reports that President Winters has just been assassinated on board the Valiant. The reports haven't been confirmed as of yet…"

"We've gone back to the day all Hell broke loose," the Doctor said to his companions as they climbed up. "We've gone back to the point just after the president was assassinated but just before the Toclafane arrived. Everything is back to normal. Everyone that was killed is back with no memory of what happened."

"What'd ya mean? I remember what happened," Donna said.

"We were at the epicenter, the eye of the storm, everyone on the Valiant will remember what happened but no one else will. Hello, everyone!" he said cheerfully when the delegates finally noticed him. "I'm afraid the conference room is off limits at the moment. Could you please exit the room while we investigate what happened?"

The delegates slowly filed out of the room while they watched.

"Will they remember what happened then?" Mickey said.

"No, they weren't here when it happened. They've been resurrected from the dead. As far as they're concerned, nothing happened."

"But…I'm still here."

Everyone turned and looked at Rose as she came towards the Doctor.

"I didn't go back to where I was," Rose said. "Is it because I was at the epicenter as well?"

"I think so," the Doctor said. "Everyone on the ship was unaffected by the events outside. If you'd been outside the ship, you would have disappeared and gone back to the past. But because you were here, you remained."

"So is that going to screw up her timeline then?" Jack said. "Doctor?" he said when the Doctor didn't answer.

The Doctor remained silent for a moment before looking around. He then walked over to the plate glass window and looked out. Rose frowned when he walked over to her and lightly slapped the top of her head.

"Seems solid enough," the Doctor said. "There's no reapers flying around the Valiant and the world doesn't seem to be imploding. Apparently, Rose being here is not causing a paradox. Then again, we could step outside and the Earth could go ka-boom but for the moment, everything seems hunky dory."

"So she stays?" Jack said.

"Seems so," the Doctor said as a smile spread over Rose's face.

"What about me?" Mickey said.

"What about you?" the Doctor said to him.

"How do I get back?"

"Um…back where?"

"The other universe."

"Um…you didn't come here with that disc thing?" the Doctor said. "I mean, I did wonder why you were back but then I realized you came back before so I figured you used the disc thing."

"We were testing a dimension cannon, Rose and me, and I landed up here," Mickey said. "I was doing reconnaissance since Rose and me have been to a lot of different universes and these ball things came down and surrounded me. Is this my original universe though? When I got here, London was in ruins and I thought it was an alternate universe."

"Uh, no, you're back in your original universe. It just got hijacked by the Master. And what dimension cannon? What are you and Rose doing now?" the Doctor said.

"Whatever I…she…the other me is doing, I'm not responsible for it," Rose said. "I have no idea what Mickey's talking about so don't blame me."

"Hold that thought, Smith. I want some information from you if you and Rose are void jumping now," the Doctor said. "As for us, we need to get the Master back in the TARDIS before someone finds him and decides to strangle him."

They left the conference room and headed back to the Master's office.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The Doctor and his companions hid in the TARDIS while she repaired her console room. The Doctor led everyone back to the secondary console room and used that to pilot the TARDIS back down to London. The companions stayed inside the TARDIS for awhile, enjoying the Doctor's company while he had a proper reunion with his friends. Francine was moved to the med bay and the TARDIS helped cure her while Martha and Grace helped. Sarah Jane was the first to leave the TARDIS since Luke had to go back to school. She and Luke stood in the console room with the Doctor while he piloted the TARDIS and took her to her house on Bannerman Road.

"Luke rang his friends, Clyde and Maria and Rani. All of them died during the Toclafane attack but they're back now and Luke is happy," Sarah Jane said to the Doctor while she leaned against the rim of the console. "K9 is fine as well. Everything seems to be back to normal."

"Good, I'm glad," the Doctor said.

"Is Rose staying with you?" Sarah Jane said.

"Yes. She is. She really has nowhere to go right now. Jackie's in the other universe with Pete now so she has no ties here. I still have to talk to Mickey about this dimension cannon. If he and his Rose are using it to get back here, they might be putting the universes in danger. The last thing I need is Mickey Smith destroying all of reality."

Sarah Jane smiled and embraced him. The Doctor beamed and hugged her back tightly.

"I'm glad I saw you and Rose again," she said. "I missed you. I know I left voluntarily but still…you lot need to visit every once in awhile."

The Doctor nodded as she finished the hug and stepped back.

"I know. I mean to but sometimes…"

"You forget when you travel around saving the universe. I understand. If you can manage it sometime though…"

"I will. And congrats on finding a son. I'm glad you did."

"Luke is wonderful. That's another reason why I want you to visit. I'd love to have you in his life, you'd be a great role model for him."

"I don't know about that," the Doctor teased.

He looked around when the TARDIS landed and powered down. Sarah Jane told him to wait a moment while she found Luke. The Doctor nodded and rested against the console while she ran out of the room. While he did that, Jo came into the room. The Doctor smiled tenderly when she came over and hugged him.

"I'm going to go ahead and leave," Jo said to him. "Sarah Jane said she's leaving the TARDIS and she invited me to come to her house for a few days before I go back to Beijing. Santiago was there with me when the Toclafane attacked and he was killed but I just spoke to him on the phone and he's alive again, thanks to you. He was confused about why I was in England but I told him you needed me for an emergency. I've talked about you enough times that he knows who you are. Ooooh," she said, hugging him. "I'm so glad I saw you again."

"Same here," the Doctor said, hugging her tightly.

Sarah Jane came back into the room with Luke and the Doctor said goodbye to Luke and goodbye to Sarah Jane and Jo before they walked to the front door and opened it. The Doctor walked down the ramp and waved goodbye to them while they walked across the road to Sarah Jane's house. Once they were inside the house, the Doctor went back inside and shut the door behind him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Thanks, Professor," Ace said when the Doctor landed beside her house in London.

"Thank you…and please quit calling me Professor," he said good naturedly.

"Good to see ya again," Ace said.

"And you. Although….have you been blowing things up in my absence?"

"Me? Never."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow at that and grinned when Ace chuckled. She gave him a hug and the Doctor watched fondly while she opened the door.

"Till we meet again, Professor," she said.

"I hope so," the Doctor said.

He stood at the door and watched while Ace ran to her house. Then he closed the door and took the TARDIS back into the vortex.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Wow, it's as good as new," Grace said when she opened the door and looked at her ranch style home in Brentwood.

"Nice, very nice. Being a surgeon pays well, that's for sure," the Doctor said, admiring the home.

"Yes, it does. But…you lied to me."

"In what way?"

"You said I'd do great things. I haven't done anything I'd consider monumental."

"You haven't died yet," the Doctor said. "I didn't say when you'd do it. Besides, you save lives day in and day out, isn't that a great thing?"

Grace nodded and hugged him tightly.

"Don't be a stranger. Please come and visit now that you know where I'm at," Grace said as she hugged him.

"I will. Might not be tomorrow though," he said.

"Well, don't make it seventeen years alright?" Grace said as she pulled apart from him. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"That makes two of us."

Grace hesitated a moment before leaning in and kissing him on the lips. The Doctor returned it and they kissed for thirty seconds before Grace stepped back.

"Not bad, you're still a great kisser," Grace said.

"So I've been told," the Doctor said. "Do you have any shoes for me, by the way?"

"Not this time. No ex-boyfriends stole my furniture lately, sorry. You'll just have to make do with your Converses."

The Doctor chuckled. He kissed Grace's forehead and Grace nuzzled his nose before she bid him goodbye. The Doctor watched while she ran up the steps to her front door. Once she was inside the house, he went back inside and closed the door.

XOXOXOXOXO

Clarice squinted when she stepped out into the bright sunshine. The Doctor had parked in front of her house. She took a look around and brightened when she saw the cows were alive and back inside the fence, lowing while they walked around eating the grass.

"Everything's back to normal," the Doctor said as he stepped out behind her.

"All the people I gave over to the Master?" Clarice said, turning to him.

"It never happened. They're all leading the lives they should have led before the Master interfered. All that blood has been wiped from your hands."

"But I'll never see you again," Clarice said sadly.

"Um…you never know. I met Donna again. Anything's possible, Clarice, but I hope you make your life into something special."

Clarice nodded and smiled. She took hold of the Doctor's hand and he squeezed it, thanking her for helping them. He let go and watched while Clarice walked up to her front door.

"Goodbye, my friend," he said softly while Clarice opened her door and went inside her house.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Damn, this is goodbye," Jack said when the Doctor opened the door in Cardiff.

Jack was holding the Master in his arms and Mickey was at his side. After finding out what Mickey had done, the Doctor refused to risk the universes to take him back. Jack stepped in and offered to find a safe way using the rift.

"If I can't though, come and work for us," Jack offered.

Mickey accepted the offer and the Doctor stood at the door while Jack and Mickey stepped outside.

"Jack, take good care of him," the Doctor said, pointing to the Master. "I know you don't care about him. But he used to be my best mate and I want him restored to sanity if there is a way."

"I understand. He'll be in good hands, I promise," Jack said.

"And Smith, don't go back unless there is a safe way to get there. Don't risk imploding the universes or I'll be planting my foot in your bum, got it?"

"Got it, Boss."

The Doctor bid them goodbye and watched while they walked off. When they were on the sidewalk lift going back down into the Hub, the Doctor closed the door and walked over to the console.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Doctor, you will keep your promise. You won't leave? Because I wanna go with you," Donna said as she stepped outside the TARDIS.

"I told you before you could travel with me. I'll stay here while you check on your family and let them know you're coming with me. Just go and see them. I'l be right here."

"Okay, I won't be long, I promise."

The Doctor watched her run across the road to her house before he stepped back inside.

He walked over to his jump seat and sat down on it. He kicked up his feet and rested them on the rim of the console.

"Doctor?"

He looked over as Martha entered the room.

"Martha, how's your mum?"

"She's fine. Doing better. But I wanted to talk to you for a moment."

"Yes?" he said while Martha walked over to him.

"When you drop off mum and dad and Tish, I want to go with them."

"That's fine. I can wait."

"No, I want to leave."

The Doctor lowered his feet down to the grate and sat up.

"Are you sure?" he said.

"I have to stay. My family was tortured and Mum nearly died. She's recovering but she's still weak, I want to stay and look after her. I need to do this."

The Doctor nodded sadly.

"You're welcome here at any time," he said.

"I know and I love travelin' with ya. But I have medical training and I need to use it to take care of mum now. She went through a lot and she's the one that needs the most attention. I don't want to trust anyone else to take care of her. I love being here but she comes first."

"As it should be," the Doctor said. "So once Donna is finished, you want to go home?"

"Yeah," Martha said.

The Doctor nodded. Martha reached into her pocket and pulled out her mobile.

"Take this so we can keep in touch," she said, giving it to him. "If I ever want to come back, I'll ring ya."

"Got it," the Doctor said, putting the mobile in his trouser pocket.

Martha kissed his cheek and the Doctor watched while she left the room and headed back to the med bay.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

After dropping Martha and her family back at her house, the Doctor took the TARDIS into the vortex while Rose and Donna leaned on the console and watched him.

"So…where do you want to go?" he asked them.

"To Hell and back," Rose teased.

She and Donna snickered when the Doctor gave her a withering look.

"I think we just did that," he said dryly while they giggled harder. "Seriously though, give me some ideas."

"Kilimanjaro," Rose said.

"For what reason?" the Doctor said.

"Um…I wanna throw a rock off it?" Rose said while Donna sniggered.

"How about Krakatoa then?" the Doctor said. "You can throw a rock off it while it blows its top."

"You ever heard of the Chippendales?" Donna said to Rose.

"The furniture?" the Doctor said.

"No, Dumbo, the strippers," Donna said. "We could go see a Chippendales show, Rose."

"Ooo, that's it! Take us to the Chippendales!" Rose said.

They laughed when the Doctor eyed them.

"You said you wanted ideas, yeah?" Rose said innocently.

"I meant actual ideas, not fantasies you and Donna have in your sordid little minds."

"Well, just pick something then. I'm still a novice at this, ya know. Didn't travel with ya the first time around."

"I didn't either. That's something else we have in common!" Donna said.

"That's right! We have so much in common!" Rose teased while the Doctor cocked his eyebrow.

"Best friends forever!" Donna said.

"Best friends forever!" Rose said.

The Doctor watched while they linked little fingers and spun around in a circle before bursting into a new fit of giggles.

"Right, I have a feeling I'm going to have my hands full with you two," he said while Rose and Donna bent over laughing.

THE END.

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