Rose and the Doctor were forced to sit and watch as the entirety of Missy's plan was made known to them. The army of silver men surrounding them suddenly bowed down and submitted themselves to the Doctor's will. Rose could feel her bondmate's thoughts racing as he fought to puzzle out what Missy's end game in all of this was. The Master never just ceded control - it wasn't in their nature. There had to be something she wanted ...

"Why are you doing this?" the Doctor pleaded desperately.

"I need you to know we're not so different!" Missy shot back defensively. "I need my friend back! Every battle, every war, every invasion - from now on, you decide the outcome." She tilted her head at him in a challenging manner as she murmured, "What's the matter, Mr. President? Don't trust yourself?"

And the truth was that he didn't. Rose would have been able to sense the Doctor's indecision even if she hadn't been mentally linked with his thoughts. He had been forced to face more hard decisions than he cared to count. He was no longer certain if he could trust himself to make the right choice anymore.

But a manic smile broke out over his face when realization dawned on him and he suddenly understood that he didn't have to. The Doctor's mind flooded with relief and excitement as his own plan began to fall together. He realized that he had a way to stop Missy after all.

"I don't need an army," he stated definitively as he glared back at the female Time Lord with absolute victory glowing in his blue eyes, "I never have - because I've got them." He made a wide, sweeping gesture with his arm to include Rose, the surrounding cybermen, and the entire empty graveyard around them. "Always them - the people of this world. Because love - it's not an emotion. Love is a promise."

Without another word, he tossed the control bracelet that Missy had slipped onto his wrist to the cyberman standing nearest to Rose - the one who still wore Danny Pink's face. The device slipped easily around his arm as though it had been made just for him.

"You didn't notice, did you?" the Doctor continued eagerly. "While you were doing all your silly orders, while you were showing off - the one soldier not obeying."

"The rain will not fall," the Cyber-Danny stated robotically. He further secured the thing around his wrist and turned to glare at Missy with as much anger and hate as an emotionally-inhibited cyberman could muster. "The clouds will burn. I will burn them."

"How?" Missy asked challengingly.

"I will burn," the Cyber-Danny declared.

Rose could sense the Doctor's pride for the young man swell through their bond, though it was nearly overshadowed by the great sense of impending loss that he felt as the Cyber-Danny turned to face his fellow soldiers and started barking out orders to them. Rose was forced to sit back and watch helplessly as Danny turned and offered her one last parting goodbye before he and the rest of the silver men ascended into the clouds above them. Suddenly, the skies over London were burning, just as he had promised. She understood that it was for good, this time - Danny Pink was gone.

Burned, totally burned, burned to nothing ... The Doctor's thoughts cheered victoriously as the dark clouds overhead cleared and the sun shone down on them once more.

When he caught Rose's sharp sensation of unamusement, he turned to face her with a sheepish expression. Sorry ... he amended quietly.

"Ten-zero-eleven, zero-zero by zero-two," Missy interrupted them. She took on that cold, robotic tone that she had used when she had still been pretending to be a welcome-droid back at the 3W Institute.

"What did you say?" Recognition pricked sharp against the Doctor's thoughts.

"The current coordinates of Gallifrey," Missy explained simply. "It's returned to its original location, didn't you ever think to look?"

"You are lying!" he insisted vehemently. However, Rose could feel the hope that bloomed deep within him and threatened to choke out all other reasonable thought. He had been distracting himself for a while, now - but it seemed that he had never truly been able to put his home planet behind him, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise. He was still just as desperate as ever to find out whether his impossible plan to save Gallifrey had actually worked or not.

"We can ... we can go together!" Missy's voice was desperate now. It was as though she knew that she was pleading for her life as she faced off against the Doctor's deep sense of distrust, hurt, and rage that was boiling in his thoughts and seething just behind his ice blue eyes. "Just you and me, just like the old days!" she added hopefully.

"You'd be clapped in irons," he reminded her sternly.

"If you like."

Doctor. Rose pulled against her bondmate's thoughts and gently reminded him of the brief moment of victory that he had experienced just a few moments ago. Just leave her. Let's go.

I can't, the Doctor insisted quietly. She has to be stopped. I can't just walk away. She's too dangerous ...

Please, love, Rose begged him silently. Please, no more death. We have what we need, and she's got nothing. Let's just go ...

The rest of Rose's pleas were cut off on a quiet, surprised gasp as she suddenly felt the third conscious mind on the edge of the Doctor's thoughts pulling violently against him. It was like a jealous child who wanted all of the attention focused on herself.

"He's right, you know." Missy lifted her chin high into the air as she smirked at the pair of them. "As long as I'm around, this planet isn't safe. And, even more important, you won't be safe." A wide grin stretched over her features and suddenly Rose could feel the other Time Lord at the edge of her own thoughts, pushing insistently against her mind and making her wince with pain.

You know as well as I do that he won't let that stand, Missy whispered directly into Rose's head.

"Stop it," the Doctor growled dangerously. He stepped forward and grabbed Rose's hand, shielding her with both his body and his mind as he quickly constructed a mental barrier between her and Missy.

"Oh, you never were very good about sharing your toys," Missy sighed warily. "But never mind about that, give a dying girl one last request."

The Doctor made no response other than to fix her with an icy glare as his hand tightened defensively around Rose's. She could sense that his resolve hadn't changed in the slightest. In fact, Missy's ruthless invasion of Rose's mind had only served to further his conviction that his best friend needed to die if he was ever going to have a chance at keeping his bondmate safe.

"Say something nice," Missy drawled teasingly. She was still smiling that same feral grin, but Rose could see the fear in her eyes as she, too, realized that the Doctor's decision would not be swayed.

The Doctor's scowl fell into a look of helpless defeat. He shrugged his shoulders at his friend and murmured quietly, "You win."

"I know." There was no victory in Missy's tone as she closed her eyes and quietly prepared herself for the Doctor's judgement.

However, before either of them had the chance to make another movement, a bright blue blast from somewhere behind them shot just past Rose's shoulder and connected with the very center of Missy's chest. It turned the Time Lady into atoms, which floated away in the breeze and disappeared before their eyes.

The Doctor and Rose turned around with matching expressions of open-mouthed shock to see a lone cyberman still standing amongst the gravestones. His arm was slowly lowering back to his side as his weapon powered down once more.

"What?" the Doctor breathed in quiet disbelief.

"It's another one of the cybermen," Rose murmured quietly. "Looks like he stayed behind for some reason."

"Perhaps he had one last duty to fulfill."

Rose could feel the Doctor's thoughts settling with a sense of resigned realization. When she turned to flash him a curious look, she saw that he had his hand raised to his head in a salute. He nodded in respectful recognition of the last, lone cyberman. She didn't get the chance to ask any questions about what was going on before whoever it was who had been encased within the silver armor ascended up into the sky to join his brethren. The Doctor lowered his hand back to his side once more in a sign of dismissal.

It's over, the Doctor murmured quietly. His utter exhaustion nearly spoiled the small amount of relief that Rose could feel settling over him. It's really, finally over.

Rose knew that his words were a lie, but she didn't bother to contradict him. She realized that, for once, the false hope was for the Doctor's sake and not her own. He really, really wanted for this to be over. He wanted to go back to normal and pretend like none of this had ever happened. He wanted to erase the coordinates for Gallifrey out of his mind and bury the sense of loss that he felt over the death of his oldest friend deep within himself where he wouldn't have to be bothered by it ever again. He wanted to take Rose's hand in his and lead her back into the TARDIS. He wanted to forget about everything that wasn't running and distraction and basic survival.

However, Rose knew from experience that it wasn't healthy for the Doctor to try and escape his problems, and he knew from experience not to attempt to lie to her and claim that everything was fine.

That's why, when they finally returned to the TARDIS and the Doctor forced himself to enter those old, familiar coordinates into the navigation system, he didn't try to hide from her the sense of rising fear within him. When the TARDIS obediently announced their arrival at the destination Missy had guided them towards, he didn't conceal his nervous apprehension as he stared hard at his ship's doors and steeled himself for what might lie beyond them. When he did eventually open those doors and they found nothing but emptiness and void waiting for him outside, he didn't try to soften the crushing blow that he felt as it filled Rose's mind and made her knees weak with heartbreak.

She felt rage boiling inside of him, threatening to swallow him completely. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms tight around his middle and refused to let him lose himself in it as she filled his mind with as much gentle calm as she could muster.

I'm sorry, love. Silent tears tracked down her cheeks and she buried her face in his jacket in despair. Rose cried in the way that the Doctor couldn't as her heart overflowed with aching sympathy for the man who she loved. I'm so, so sorry.

The Doctor didn't respond to her with words, but she could hear the desperate cry of his hearts as the loneliness inside of him mirrored the void that they had witnessed waiting for them outside of the TARDIS doors. His memory was replaying for him on an endless loop the last, shining moment when his mind had been filled with an entire telepathic race, and the horrible, unbearable silence that had consumed him when they had all suddenly been ripped away from him and his world had gone silent.

Rose shushed him as gently as she could. She attempted to fill all of the empty spaces in his mind with her own consciousness, but they both knew that it was a useless endeavor. No matter how close Rose and the Doctor were, one bond would never be enough to make up for the lack of an entire species.

They sat like that for nearly an hour. Neither of them said anything out loud or telepathically as they simply attempted to pick up the Doctor's shattered pieces and put him back together again. Finally, at long last, Rose could feel his arms rising stiffly and folding around her shoulders. He was slowly returning to himself and quietly allowing himself to be comforted. His movements were still awkward and uncomfortable, however, and Rose could sense how he longed to fidget away from her embrace.

"Why don't you like hugging, Doctor?" Rose whispered. Her arms tightened around him in an attempt to hold him still and force him to respond to her.

"Never trust a hug," the Doctor murmured quietly, "it's just a way to hide your face." His voice came out sounding thick and rough, as though he really had spent the last hour shouting his rage and desperation out loud instead of simply sitting there in silence and letting it consume him.

"You never used to mind," Rose reminded him. She shifted her grip and gently ran her fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair in the way that she knew this body liked.

"Used to be pretty good at hiding," the Doctor agreed. "Got tired of it after a while." Rose was pleased to note that his tone had gone a bit breathless as his thoughts quietly groaned in the back of her mind. He instantly melted under her touch.

"What changed your mind?" Rose let her fingernails run over his scalp in repetitive, comforting patterns.

Do you really need to ask? He buried his nose against her neck and breathed deep, allowing himself to set aside his own wallowing misery and lose his thoughts in her own for the time being.

Rose stepped back just far enough to be able to meet the Doctor's eye. She was unable to hide the soft smile turning up the edges of her mouth as she gazed up at her bondmate in adoration. "You have to admit, though, Doctor," she murmured quietly, "the hugging is pretty nice sometimes."

There was a gentle amusement in the Doctor's thoughts, but his expression remained stonily serious. He looked straight into her eyes and slowly shook his head back and forth in dissent. Rose felt as though she were drowning in his deep blue eyes as his gaze raked greedily over her features. Not as nice as this, he reminded her silently.

The intense, reverent way that he was looking at her made Rose's knees feel weak despite the fact that he still hadn't even barely touched her.

You've got a point, there, she agreed. Her thoughts somehow managed to come out sounding breathless despite the fact that there was no real breath behind them. She nervously licked her lips and swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat as her own eyes took in the familiar features of the man she loved.

I'm afraid your view might not be as grand as mine, the Doctor murmured wryly. One of his severe eyebrows twitched up in a sardonic look as he continued to silently take in each detail of her features.

Rose's lips turned up in a grin again as she continued to watch him with from beneath her heavily-lidded eyes. Oh, Doctor, she sighed sarcastically, you have no idea.

She resumed letting her fingers trail against his scalp. She filled his thoughts with all of the utter adoration that she felt as she gazed up at him fondly. She refused to allow a single trace of doubt to remain in his thoughts as she leaned up onto her toes and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. She made sure that he knew that she loved each detail of this new face of his and wouldn't trade them for anything.

You're impossible, he whispered, though his tone was more reverent than accusatory.

No more than you, she insisted firmly. Now, where shall we go next? I vote for someplace sunny and warm - maybe a beach. What do you say?

I say you're brilliant. The Doctor's head tilted so that he could deepen their kiss. His arms tightened around her and he flooded her mind with various images of her wearing different sundresses and bikinis.

Alright, that wasn't exactly what I was imagining, Rose teased, but I could be persuaded. Her lips turned up into another grin and she breathed a small chuckle of laughter into the Doctor's mouth.

I'll get right on that, then, he agreed as he tantalizingly traced her tongue with his own.

Oh, Doctor. Rose pulled away and felt her grin continue to stretch across her features. "No persuading necessary," she reminded him quietly. "You had me at 'run'."

And even though Rose knew that their conversation about Missy and their hunt for Gallifrey were both far from over, she knew that this, at least, they could do. She and the Doctor had been running for far longer than either of them could accurately measure at this point, and, if the universe was content to let them have it their way, they would continue on far into the future, as well. Because no matter how many times the daleks and the cybermen and the Time Lords all came and went, as long as the Doctor and Rose Tyler were in the TARDIS together, then they could face anything that the universe decided to throw at them.

Together, the Doctor hummed silently against her thoughts.

Forever, Rose agreed readily.

Always.

A/N: I have plans to continue this fic through "Last Christmas" and the entirety of Series 9, but as of right now, it is being labeled as "complete" both here and on AO3. I hope to return to this fic soon, but there are other projects that I am working on in the meantime that are demanding my attention, so this one is having to be put on hold until further notice.

Thank you so, so much to everyone who has read, favorited, followed, and reviewed this fic! Your support and enjoyment mean the world to me, and I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to share my works with you!

As always, you can follow me and support my works on AO3, Wattpad, and Tumblr, all at chasingthecosmos.