| Ocean Stars | Sequel to Deeper | COMPLETE |

Chapter 10

Rose held onto the gun tightly as she sneaked past the corridor of the medical bay and down to the cells, where she and the other two had been held. As she turned the corner, she saw an Istuli guard Brad's door. Weird. They must have upped the security breach, now that they knew their prisoners have escaped.

She had to shush herself when one of her shoes squeaked. As she neared the Istuli, she was thankful its back was turned to her, giving enough time to hit the alien against the occiput. She'd rather not fire the gun and create loud chaos. After grabbing the keys from the Istuli's pockets, Rose would hurry to the door and open it.

Brad was sitting on the floor, head in his hands and crying. He hadn't even realised her standing there at first, as if he were in a trance, unable to hear.

„Brad!" she ran up to him, grabbing his hand.

„Rose?" the man's eyes were red and there was something particularly weird about the tone of his skin. „How? I just saw you leave. And then they caught me. And I-"

„Shh.." she pulled the man into a hug. „You're okay. Let's get out, yes? Let's go home."

The man rubbed his eyes, swinging back and forth. „I don't... I can't... I'm not... I..."

„Brad, hey. Look at me." she cupped his face and turned it to her. „We can get out of here now. You're okay. Breathe." she smiled. „It's nearly over. Do you trust me? Come."

The Time Lord switched the coordinates of the time machine before looking at the console and crossing his arms. He thought for a second, biting the inner of his cheek. Interesting. He had known Rose and the TARDIS to have a special relationship, especially after she had taken the Vortex into her mind, but this was surprising. Rose had indeed become partially telepathic, but to be able to connect to the TARDIS in such a way that she would let her fly. Not only that but also give her the knowledge on how to, it was very interesting.

The Time Lord tried asking the time machine how it was possible, but she did not reply, as if she were keeping it secret.

The Doctor typed on the keyboard, connecting to the mainframe of the Istuli facility to find the core, then latched onto the data. He was just about to dematerialise, when the Time Lord stopped him.

„I should be taking you back up." he said, at which the Doctor furrowed his brows. „I should be keeping you safe. Both of you. Why are you doing this?"

The Doctor tilted his head, confused. „What do you mean?"

„This is not your battle. You should be up there with Rose, living day after day. Why are you fighting my battles?"

„You're seriously asking me why we're helping you?"

„I'm trying to give you a choice. Isn't this what it's all been about? Choice." the Time Lord walked around the console. „I could get you back home, and Rose. Safe. You just have to say it."

„But then you would take hers away." the Doctor said.

„What?"

„Choice."

„Okay then." The Time Lord smiled. „Allons-y!" he popped the break, sending them into a very shaky journey. The TARDIS dematerialised, swinging brutally from left to right and when she stopped, the Doctors found themselves rolling on the ground.

Oh, the Doctor had missed this. Granted, it had only been two weeks he had last seen the time machine, but having known the possibility of never being able to experience this again, let's just say things get dark inside one's mind. And he was ready to leave it all behind, and start a new life with Rose, but could you blame him for tasting the splendor a last time?