Glimpse of Truth (18/?) Interlude
Title: Glimpse of Truth (18/?) Interlude
Author: sinecure - My master fic list
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: All ages
Genre: AU, drama, angst
Summary: Rose has questions, but she won't voice them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Thanks: to momdaegmorgan for the beta.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (all ages version). Chapter 4 (adult version), Chapter 5,
Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13,
Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17
Two days after Rose goes into labor, the Doctor lets her leave the med bay for her bedroom, trading one bed for another. Four days later, he lets her leave her room with a promise of a trip to the kitchen if she lets him help her get there.
The issue of Donna is relegated to the back of her mind, burning in her thoughts, an unanswered question that he refuses to even entertain answering. It's always there though.
And he knows.
His smile is absent more often than not when he comes to visit or help her to the bathroom. He practically lives in her room the first day. Gradually, he leaves more than he stays, has an excuse more than the truth. Donna is between them now, and she isn't sure how to fix that.
He comes to her room on the fifth day, strained smile hovering on his lips. "Your chariot awaits!" He holds up a finger and runs back to the door, dragging in an old-fashioned wheelchair. Ancient. "She's a bit rickety, but sturdy." He grins broadly, but she sees the strain in his expression, sees the effort it takes to pretend her thoughts aren't battering him with a question he doesn't want to answer.
Sitting up, she tries to muster up excitement--she's leaving her room for the first time in days, after all--but it comes out just as reserved as his. The smile on her lips just as strained.
The Doctor's smile slides away with a suddenness that startles her, and he drops to the chair with a sigh. Resting his elbows on the arms of the chair, he rubs his palms over his face with a frustrated groan.
Rose tosses back the covers, swinging her legs over the edge.
"Meta crisis."
She pauses, frowning, sliding her feet into her slippers.
"It's called meta crisis, what happened to Donna." His eyes find hers, the weariness in the brown depths startling her. "I didn't think it'd happen at all after using the Chameleon Arch. Thought she'd be fine; part human, part Time Lady."
Rose settles her feet on the floor, feeling her heart break for him. She wishes it wouldn't, it'd be so much easier if she didn't have all of these feelings swimming in her for him. But she does.
And he knows.
"But it happened anyway." He stares straight ahead for a few seconds, lost in thoughts she could only imagine, and wish he'd never experienced, before he snaps himself out of it. "It happened. Just more slowly. I had to erase it all. Everything she'd seen, everything she'd done... everything she'd become since meeting me."
Sadness and horror sweeps through her.
She can't imagine losing all of her memories of the Doctor. All of the wonderful things they've seen together, done together. All the things she's experienced and lived through.
It'd kill her to lose that. To lose him.
Getting to her feet, she ties her robe under her stomach as well as she can.
He sighs heavily and she thinks he looks at place in the wheelchair, like he belongs there. He's seen too much in his lives. "I took it all from her, the fantastic Donna Noble she'd become. I took it all away." Sniffing sharply, as if his thoughts have got away from him, he pushes to his feet and draws in a deep breath before letting it out in a rush.
Fighting tears, Rose crosses to him and wraps her arms around his waist, hugging him tight.
He's tried to throw her into a separate universe with a copy of himself as a consolation prize. Forces her to travel with him, and refuses to let her go. Kept the fact that he had the other Doctor's memories to himself. Ignores her and yells at her. Treats her horribly at times.
But she loves him.
He buries his face in her neck, and she thinks she hears a sniffle. Smoothing her hand down his hair, she closes her eyes and breathes him in, loves him peaceably and without reservation for just a moment.
And he knows.
Chapter 19 - Take It in A Heartbeat
Author: sinecure - My master fic list
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: All ages
Genre: AU, drama, angst
Summary: Rose has questions, but she won't voice them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Thanks: to momdaegmorgan for the beta.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (all ages version). Chapter 4 (adult version), Chapter 5,
Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13,
Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17
Two days after Rose goes into labor, the Doctor lets her leave the med bay for her bedroom, trading one bed for another. Four days later, he lets her leave her room with a promise of a trip to the kitchen if she lets him help her get there.
The issue of Donna is relegated to the back of her mind, burning in her thoughts, an unanswered question that he refuses to even entertain answering. It's always there though.
And he knows.
His smile is absent more often than not when he comes to visit or help her to the bathroom. He practically lives in her room the first day. Gradually, he leaves more than he stays, has an excuse more than the truth. Donna is between them now, and she isn't sure how to fix that.
He comes to her room on the fifth day, strained smile hovering on his lips. "Your chariot awaits!" He holds up a finger and runs back to the door, dragging in an old-fashioned wheelchair. Ancient. "She's a bit rickety, but sturdy." He grins broadly, but she sees the strain in his expression, sees the effort it takes to pretend her thoughts aren't battering him with a question he doesn't want to answer.
Sitting up, she tries to muster up excitement--she's leaving her room for the first time in days, after all--but it comes out just as reserved as his. The smile on her lips just as strained.
The Doctor's smile slides away with a suddenness that startles her, and he drops to the chair with a sigh. Resting his elbows on the arms of the chair, he rubs his palms over his face with a frustrated groan.
Rose tosses back the covers, swinging her legs over the edge.
"Meta crisis."
She pauses, frowning, sliding her feet into her slippers.
"It's called meta crisis, what happened to Donna." His eyes find hers, the weariness in the brown depths startling her. "I didn't think it'd happen at all after using the Chameleon Arch. Thought she'd be fine; part human, part Time Lady."
Rose settles her feet on the floor, feeling her heart break for him. She wishes it wouldn't, it'd be so much easier if she didn't have all of these feelings swimming in her for him. But she does.
And he knows.
"But it happened anyway." He stares straight ahead for a few seconds, lost in thoughts she could only imagine, and wish he'd never experienced, before he snaps himself out of it. "It happened. Just more slowly. I had to erase it all. Everything she'd seen, everything she'd done... everything she'd become since meeting me."
Sadness and horror sweeps through her.
She can't imagine losing all of her memories of the Doctor. All of the wonderful things they've seen together, done together. All the things she's experienced and lived through.
It'd kill her to lose that. To lose him.
Getting to her feet, she ties her robe under her stomach as well as she can.
He sighs heavily and she thinks he looks at place in the wheelchair, like he belongs there. He's seen too much in his lives. "I took it all from her, the fantastic Donna Noble she'd become. I took it all away." Sniffing sharply, as if his thoughts have got away from him, he pushes to his feet and draws in a deep breath before letting it out in a rush.
Fighting tears, Rose crosses to him and wraps her arms around his waist, hugging him tight.
He's tried to throw her into a separate universe with a copy of himself as a consolation prize. Forces her to travel with him, and refuses to let her go. Kept the fact that he had the other Doctor's memories to himself. Ignores her and yells at her. Treats her horribly at times.
But she loves him.
He buries his face in her neck, and she thinks she hears a sniffle. Smoothing her hand down his hair, she closes her eyes and breathes him in, loves him peaceably and without reservation for just a moment.
And he knows.
Chapter 19 - Take It in A Heartbeat