Eyes of Time: The Final Line ✓

Chapter 13: Fury and Clarity

 [TARDIS Console Room]

"Is she hiding, Old Girl? Can you bring me to her?" the Doctor asks softly.

The ship is silent.

He furrows his brow. He already knows where she is and chastises himself for even asking. With a heavy sigh, he heads down the corridors.

When he finds the new blue door, he almost walks past it, distracted by his thoughts. That realization unsettles him even more.

Testing the handle, he finds it unlocked and pushes it open.

[The Mickey Smith Rule #100 Room]

The room is a stark contrast to the rest of the Companion Collection rooms—its white walls are uncharacteristically plain, glaring in the light. A pile of taped boxes sits in the center, dominating the space.

On one side of the room, a comic book box decorated with Marvel designs lies on the floor, labeled 'First editions.' Above it, framed and signed Marvel posters hang neatly. In the far corner, a brown couch barely comes into view, partially obscured by the clutter.

Her voice cuts through the silence, calm yet unnervingly sharp.

"...You know, we never even took him to another planet. A few glimpses of the future and the past, and then we were thrown into another dimension. We didn't even start this room together. I did it myself. And now, it's done."

The Doctor freezes, her words striking deeper than he anticipated.

Her voice grows colder, more deliberate, "Tell me, Theta Sigma. What rule did you forget first? Name it."

He swallows hard, guilt evident in his tone, "Rule Eleven. Protect yourself and your companions. Look them up."

"Did you check Jack?" she asks, her voice clipped.

A pause.

"No."

"Mmhm. I did. Did you check Mickey?"

"No, Amara."

She laughs then, a sharp, bitter sound that chills him more than her anger.

"And Rose Tyler?" she asks, her voice light and airy.

He has no answer.

"That's right. You didn't. I even checked to see if you had. You didn't, not once. Do you even know why her middle name is Marion? It's after her grandmother on Pete's side. Bitterness. Fits her, don't you think?

"She broke up with Mickey via text while cheating on him with his bandmate—and he still took her back. She never officially ended things before running off with you and then us, cheating on him multiple times. And Mickey? He genuinely cares about her. He wanted stability, something real.

"And yet, you never even looked."

Her voice sharpens, cutting through his silence like a blade, "What also bothers me is this: there's no Rule Number 100 Room for Rose Marion Tyler anywhere on this ship. I couldn't add anything even if I wanted to. I don't trust her."

She gestures toward the boxes, "But Mickey? This is his room. His boxes. His comics—all first editions I had Stan sign for him as a gift. His couch. And this?" she holds up a small, neatly repaired blue-striped baby blanket, "He told me he lost this on the playground. I fixed it. Apparently, I can crochet now."

The Doctor finally speaks, his voice quiet, "Amara..."

She barrels on, not allowing him to derail her, "And you—you broke your promise to me. The one you made the morning after I returned. You used his name. The name Rassilon forced out of me! How could you..."