Back to Our Reality

NINE

This is the shortest chapter of the story so far and has by far caused me the most grief. It's a bit of a bridge between the two parts of the story.

Just to let you know, I have a pretty damn good idea where I want to go with this. My plan for this part of the story is four pages long on Word - it is that detailed. So hopefully, writer's block shouldn't be as much of a problem, but we'll see.

Anyway, I hope this chapter works alright and I apologise for it being so short, but it seemed like a good place to stop.

...

"This is what you've been keeping from me for the last three years?" The Doctor looked directly at Rose from where she stood on the other side of the dimension cannon in the centre of the room. There was a look in his eyes which Rose couldn't quite make out. She was torn between disappointment and anger – neither what she was going for.

He didn't raise his voice, however, and that's when Rose finally settled on disappointment.

"I'm sorry," Rose said; she wasn't sure what else to say, really. Had she done the wrong thing in not telling him? And what about this 'danger' that they had spotted – was it all related? Had she indirectly contributed to the current destruction around them?

"Rose thought it was best that you didn't know." Nathan put in, not that it did much good. The Doctor and Rose merely looked at him and he kept quiet from then on, deciding that this was probably better dealt with between the two of them. "Tell you what, you guys discuss whatever it is you need to discuss, and we'll be just outside." He gestured to the few others that were in the room, who took the hint and left with him, leaving just the Doctor and Rose on either side of the dimension cannon.

It was only after everyone had left that the Doctor spoke again.

"Why, Rose? Why think it best to keep this from me?" He asked. There was a hurt in his voice which pulled at Rose's heartstrings.

"I guess I wanted to prove that I could do something on my own." Rose told him. She looked down as she spoke, afraid of what she might find in the Doctor's eyes if she dared look up.

"Rose..." he started, but she cut him off.

"When we were travelling, I was never of much use. I always either seemed to get in the way of mess something up when I did try to help. And I did; I tried. I know I always joked about you being useless without me, but I never really believed it. And I wanted it to be a surprise. The last three years haven't been easy for either of us, but for you especially. You're better now, but there are still days when I look at you and I know that all you can see is the TARDIS and how much you still miss her. It pained me to think that you would never see her again; so I talked to the team here and we came up with the Dimension Cannon. I thought, if it ever worked, we'd have a way to get home."

"Rose, look at me." Reluctantly she did, only to find that the Doctor had moved from where he had been stood opposite her and was now standing beside her.

She looked into his eyes, expecting there to be some form of anger or disappointment behind them, but she found neither. His eyes were soft and sincere and Rose wanted to look away but found she couldn't.

"No, the last three years haven't been easy for me, there's no denying that. I still miss having the TARDIS here and being able to feel her in my head and, yes, I miss the life I used to have. I miss the travelling and the adventure of it all, but that was all then. Now I've got a new adventure ahead of me. The one I thought I could never have again. I've been running for a long time, Rose; so long in fact, that I had forgotten how to live a simple life. But not anymore. Now it's time to stop, and the last three years have taught me that. I've learnt so much from this and, if there's one thing I've learnt more than anything, it's how joyous a life like this can be. I love you, Rose, and knowing that you're here means more to me than being able to go back. So don't ever think you're useless because heaven forbid, I have made many more mistakes than you ever will."

Rose chocked back a sob at his words. It was rare for him to be this honest and open with her and, in all the time they had been together, he had only said those three small, but powerful, words to her once or twice.

"I still wish you had told me about this." The Doctor told her, looking down from her eyes for a brief moment before looking up again.

"I know, and I really am sorry." There wasn't much else she could say, really.

"Come here." The Doctor took Rose into his arms, pulling her into a brief, but firm kiss before pulling her into a tight hug once his lips parted from hers. "You're forgiven."

They stayed like that for a few moments before Rose asked him the question she had been fearing the answer to ever since Nathan had burst in on them exclaiming that the cannon was now working.

"Doctor, is this my fault? Is everything being destroyed because of the Dimension Cannon?"

The Doctor let her go and held her at arms-length; his face the perfect picture of shock at the revelation that she thought she had somehow caused this mess.

"Rose, God know, this isn't your fault." He stepped back and moved over to the cannon to emphasise his next point. "The only reason as to why this has started working – from what I can see – is because whatever is going on up there has meant that this dimension has started to collapse and, at a guess, I would say that it has also affected the void. With no barriers separating the different dimensions, there's nothing stopping this from working. And I have to say, it is one impressive piece of equipment – I'm impressed!"

"Thanks," Rose smiled at him, but didn't dwell on it as she remembered something else he had said. "Hold on, you said this dimension has started to collapse?"

The Doctor nodded and walked over to her, his expression grave. "Earlier, when the readings came back and I said that something was destroying everything. I did mean everything. And what I meant by that is that something is destroying this entire dimension – and possibly the void too, if this has started to work." He looked Rose straight in the eye, his expression never wavering. "And it might not be just here either. If it's affected the void then that means every single universe is in danger right now. Including our own."

"What's going to happen?"

"Honestly?" Rose nodded. "I don't know."

"So what do we do?"

"First off, we use your Dimension Cannon to check the readings from the void – see if my theory is right, and I've got a horrible feeling it might be. If I am right and the void has been affected then we have to find some way of stopping everything from dying."

"And how do we do that?"

The Doctor looked at her. "We use the Dimension Cannon to take us back. This universe is ahead of the one we came from – I noticed it the very first time we were here – meaning that, chances are, whatever is happening here, hasn't yet happened back home. If so, then we can find whatever's causing it, stop it, and save the whole of reality from doom."

"You make it sound so easy." Rose said dryly.

"Believe me, this is going to be anything but easy."