"Rose River" AU
'No'

She was going to kill him, that's all there was to it. Something happened between him being shot, the aborted regeneration, that heart exploding hug, and getting rid of the Daleks... again.

Her memory of the Crucible was fresh in her mind. That twisted monster, the man... if you could call him that... that thought up and designed the worst killing machines in creation... he said something. Something that the Doctor had no reply to. It scared her then, and it was terrifying her now.

'How many, Doctor,' Davros had said. 'How many died in your name?' That horrid voice was echoing in her mind and it finally made sense. He didn't want her to die, and the Doctor was taking the decision from her... again.

It was relatively easy to replay what the Doctor was saying while she'd been distracted. Odd, that. She'd been able to compartmentalize a lot of her thinking over the past ten years. There were things to say, though, so she brushed that thought out of her mind.

The man she was sacrificing everything to reach was busy explaining that this new man needed tending, and it pissed her off. What startled her though, was when the other Doctor spoke up first.

"No," he said in a very similar tone to what her original Doctor, with the big ears and leather said when confronted by the Daleks in 200,100. The one she fell in love with in the first place.

Apparently, it surprised her current Doctor as well. His eyebrows shot up with his regular and relatively simple word of complete bafflement. "What?"

"I said no!" the new Doctor repeated, still with that leather accent. Almost sounded northern, he did.

Rose might have gone along with things reluctantly, but the new Doctor gave her the courage to push through. She'd had enough. "I spent all that time trying to find you. I'm not going back now!" That was odd. Her voice sounded somewhat deeper than normal. Rose ignored both that and the Doctor when he was telling her that she "got to".

Turning to her mum, she pulled her into a hug. "Love you. No words. This is Plan B: The Doctor's Being a Git." She felt the brief hug from Jackie, and four kisses to her cheek.

Turning back around, she was slightly amused that the Doctor was still babbling on and on about how this was the best thing. His voice kinda died though, when she stared into his eyes. Walking past him, she briefly made eye contact with Donna as well. "The only one that needs looking after is this git."

Passing Donna, she felt the most wonderful sense of vindication when she whispered to her, "Good for you, Rose."

After that, the next bit caught her completely off guard. The TARDIS doors opened on their own... both of them. Stopping just one step inside, she turned around to see the Doctor gaping at her in shock. "Apparently, she agrees with me." And with that, she went further inside. Making her way through the console room, she went into the maze of corridors beyond. Other than her Doctor, she really wanted a good cup of tea She'd been craving that Venusian blend of his for far too long.

The Doctor was grim, but it had to be done so he had to push through it or be lost. The other Him complicated everything, and he wanted to give Rose forever like she wanted. He had to do it quick, or he'd lose his nerve... or come to his senses... or something. Best not to think about it.

So when the other Him protested, it really took him off guard. The Doctor more than half expected the initial response to be 'You made me,' or some other nonsense. But it wasn't. There was no blame shifting going on. Instead, he heard a simple word.

"No."

The world shifted, and it was like being in one of those spinney things at carnivals... only worse. And apparently Donna felt it too, if the iron grip on his elbow was any indication. The timelines changed abruptly at that simple word, and he could see it. The ones around his other self grew brighter and more defined.

It was a miracle he was still standing, and the only thing he could think of to say was "What?" The look that went over his other self's face was nearly a mirror of his previous body.

"I said no!" he shouted at him, and the planet did another Watusi underneath him. Donna's grip was almost painful.

Then Rose said something. At first he couldn't hear it, because he was staring at her glowing eyes. It faded, and the words rushed into him. Her voice at the end of that was so like the Game Station, or Satellite V, or whatever it turned into after. His mouth was on automatic, and sounded rather pitiful to be perfectly honest. The protests were coming out garbled, mainly because he finally noticed the timelines surrounding the woman that stole his hearts in that basement with all the supposed 'ghosts'.

Those weren't normal timelines, for a human at any rate. Those were beyond complicated.

His gob trailed off into nothing when she turned towards him, and those eyes of hers very nearly stopped his hearts. So much determination was radiating from her that he couldn't form a simple sentence. When she passed him, he heard her talking quietly to Donna and he nearly smiled. Then he heard Donna's reply and almost laughed.

Then the TARDIS turned traitor and opened both her doors with very loud squeaks of wood. Was nobody listening to him? Spinning about, he saw her looking over her shoulder at him. That golden glow was in her eyes again, but her voice was almost normal. "Apparently, she agrees with me."

The Doctor couldn't do anything except swallow. He felt a different hand on his elbow, and his other self said something terrible in the barest of whispers. "You're not being left alone again. You know what's going to happen to Donna. I don't care what happened to make you stick your head up your arse, but none of us are going to let you keep it there."

When his other self stepped around him, he was interrupted from nabbing him when yet another hand stopped him. Jackie this time. Oh dear. He was forcibly turned around to face the look that she'd perfected decades ago.

"All right you idiot alien, this is Plan B," she said. Then his ears were ringing from the most god-awful slap he'd ever experienced before. It spun him around to see Donna smirking at him.

"Glad one of us done it," Donna said.

Jackie grinned, "Get the big idiot inside and off before you lot get stuck here. And take care of my Rose!" Donna shoved the Doctor towards the TARDIS, and then gave Jackie a brief hug.

He was going to kill him, that was all there was to it. All that time spent pining, wailing at how unfair the universe was, and trying to figure out how to breach the void... and now what? Dump the love of his life with someone else? What the bloody hell is that man thinking? I don't even think of her that way! Did he just? He DID! I'm a genocidal maniac? What about you, or blondie and the Bad Wolf...

Something different entered his head. He could feel it, and it felt like the personality of the Doctor's ninth body. "No," he blurted involuntarily. His mind went in circles, and he realized that the leather clad Doctor was actually speaking through him. Must've happened when he had the vortex in his head, but there was nothing for it but ride through it. Glad to know that there was at least a part of the Doctor on his side, though.

He wanted to laugh at the look on the Doctor's face, but it felt like the world just spun out of control. His baffled 'What?' was met with a thundering "I said no!" and the world tilted again.

Rose took that moment to voice her displeasure at the situation, and she sounded almost nearly like she did when she had the vortex in her head, what with the dual toned voice and all. "I spent all that time trying to find you. I'm not going back now!" He tried to grin at that, but he wasn't really in control of himself at the moment.

Glaring at the Doctor babbling about how Rose "got to", he heard Rose say something about Plan B, and the Doctor being a git. He had to agree. However, when Rose walked right past the Doctor and Donna, he couldn't hear what was said over the sounds of the ocean. Whatever it was though, made a strange expression go over the Doctor's face. It was a strange mix between happy and pissed off.

His eyebrows shot up when the TARDIS opened both her doors. Only after the Doctor spun around, was he able to control himself again and he nearly stumbled. All the same though, he could still feel that leather clad presence in the back of his mind. What the hell just happened? Seeing Rose look over her shoulder, he had to gape when he saw the golden glow in her eyes. Are we being pushed by their past selves? Makes sense, I suppose. They did see everything all at once, but why don't I remember any of it?

He gave Jackie a brief kiss on the cheek, then stepped forward. He eyed Donna and winced when he saw her blink slightly in confusion. Oh no, it's starting. His emotions plummeting, the only thing he could do was tell him. Grabbing his elbow, he whispered in his ear, "You're not being left alone again. You know what's going to happen to Donna. I don't care what happened to make you stick your head up your arse, but none of us are going to let you keep it there."

With that, he made a beeline for the TARDIS. Stepping inside, he heard Jackie quite plainly. "All right you idiot alien, this is Plan B!" Then there was the sound of a rather large slap. Cringing, he looked out to see the Doctor's pained open mouthed expression. That's not good enough. Donna said something to Jackie, and he waved at that daft woman. Never gonna see you again... Dunno whether to be sad or relieved!

Pushing that thought out of his head, he turned and made his way to the console. While he was flipping the controls to set the return trip, he saw the Doctor stumble in followed by Donna.

The TARDIS doors closed behind the Doctor, and Donna instantly cuffed on the back of his head as she went past him. His ears were still ringing from Jackie's, but Donna's wasn't any less painful. Then both she and his other self sent them through the vortex just before the retroclosure sealed the barrier.

"And that's that," Donna said, looking smug. "Ha! We did it!"

Just watching his other self's pained smile at her nearly broke him. He was staring at her like he himself stared at Rose. Good heavens. That... ooh that's something he didn't even think about.

"How do you feel?" his other self asked her.

"Fantastic, brilliant, molto bene!" she said with a wide grin. "How 'bout we go to Felspoon? They've got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move, can you imagine?"

Then things spiralled out of control from there. Donna's alliteration was in a feedback loop, and both Doctor's were at her side in an instant.

"What's wrong with her?" Rose said from the door. She had a rather large mug of tea in her hand, and was gaping at Donna.

"Time Lord Consciousness in a human brain," the other Him said. "She's overloading."

Rose stepped over quickly, placing her tea on the console as she went to Donna's side. "Can you do something?"

"There's nothing we can do," the new Doctor said with a break in his voice.

"There's one thing," the Doctor started, but the new Doctor interrupted him.

"No! She'd rather die! I know!"

"Rose," the Doctor said. "Hold him back, or she dies."

The new Doctor actually fought her, but Rose did his left arm up in a half nelson and pulled him backwards towards the inner door. "No! Please!" he protested.

"Please don't," Donna whispered. "I'd rather die than forget. Please!" Tears were dribbling down her face now.

Forget? Rose's eyes went wide as she realized what was happening, but she just couldn't let go of the new Doctor. 'One will still die,' she heard in her head in Dalek Cann's voice.

"Oh, Donna Noble. We had the best of times," the Doctor said full of regret.

"No... no please... please," Donna said, backing up. "Please... No!" The Doctor's hands were at her temples. Her head hurt so much that she couldn't fight back.

"Lock it up!" the new Doctor pleaded. "Don't delete them! Please!"

It was a simple thing, really, that request. Even though it put her in danger of remembering, he'd done far too much to everyone to outright kill that part of his best friend's personality. So, he acquiesced. Blocks and barriers flew from his mind to hers, winding back her mental clock to just before she met Lance, then planted a fiction of simple things to keep up with the time differential. She'd be confused for a while, but this was the best he could do.

Donna fainted, and Rose lost her grip on the new Doctor. He caught Donna before the Doctor had the chance. Cradling her, he eased her down to the deck plating with tears streaming down his face.

Seeing that look on his other self's face, the Doctor couldn't control his own. The pain of having to do that to her, broke through for all to see. Then something happened to make it somewhat better. He looked down and realized Rose had a hold of his middle, and was crushing him to her.

The look on Wilf's face when he saw Donna being carried by the three of them was horrible to see. Carrying her to her bed felt like a funeral march. After they got her settled down, the Doctor and Rose went to explain what happened.

The new Doctor, though, stayed behind. Sitting on the bed next to her, he held her hand to his face and quietly wept. When she started to stir, he stood up quickly and left the room. Making his way through the kitchen, he went out the front door. If anyone said anything to him as he went, he didn't register it.

He was at the TARDIS when the rain started up. Even though she'd opened the door for him, he waited outside in the hopes that the weather would wash away everything.

It was a couple of minutes before the Doctor and Rose came out with Wilf. "You gonna be all right, Doctor?" Wilf asked.

"I'm always all right," the Doctor replied quietly.

Rose looked up at him, then to Wilf. "He's never gonna be alone again, Wilf. I promise."

Wilf nodded. "You look after him. Donna said he gets in the worst trouble when he's by himself."

"So do I," she replied with a half-hearted grin.

They walked to the TARDIS arm in arm. The new Doctor looked up to see Wilf saluting them. He held his arm up in a wave, then turned to go inside.

All was relatively quiet in the TARDIS. Rose mumbled something about getting a shower some time ago and had left, presumably to her room. She did think to take that rather large mug of tea after her, though. The human Doctor, who was still dripping wet, had removed his coat and had left it on one of the coral beams to dry while going around the console, flipping this and that. The only sound for some time was the time rotor. It stopped as the human Doctor put the ship in an eddy of the vortex... a parking orbit, as it were.

As for the Doctor, he was sitting on the jump-seat with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Everything that had happened was catching up to him now, and the future was simply confusing. Now there were three of them, and he'd have to sit there with a smile on his face while watching the absolute love of his life grow old with the other him.

Damn him anyway. That human self of his complicated everything. Yes, he saved the universe. Yes, he got rid of the Daleks. He wasn't actually upset about that, just the fact that he did it without even thinking about it. That was what had worried him. Then there was Rose.

The Doctor winced at that thought and pinched the bridge of his nose. If they would've let him let them go, they would've had everything they wanted. Rose would have her mum and dad, little brother, and money coming out of their ears. Now? Now he'd have to watch them grow old together. Sweet Merciful Rassilon, why did he let them come back on board?

River's face flashed in his mind's eye, and he sat back with a huge inhale through his nose. Yes, that would work. She'd known his name after all. That only happens one time. Still though, how could he free himself of his nearly all encompassing and obsessive need for the pink and yellow human who was undoubtedly washing the scent of Daleks off her skin at that very moment? His scowl deepening, he tried to set his mind on it. Yes. River would help him get over Rose...

"Yeah, right," his counterpart murmured softly with a chuff of a chuckle, having heard everything he was thinking through their twinned telepathic connection.

The Doctor sighed and blew out a huge breath, staring daggers at the man. "What else can I do? What am I supposed to hope for?" he barked. "If I can't move on, and have to sit back and watch as you two... I'll go bloody insane!" he whined and his voice shot upward an octave or two in the process.

He didn't see it coming at all. One second his double was nearly halfway around the console, the next he was in front of him with a punch across the chin. The Doctor was knocked clear off the jump-seat in a whirl. A surprised grunt of pain came out of him as he slammed on the metal grating. Staring at the metal floor with wide eyes, the shock slipped into aggravation.

Pushing himself off the floor, the Doctor stood up and spun to his counterpart with a rant over the man's snap decisions about to come out. He came up short though, when he found his other self's eyes were pitch black in a near mirror of The Oncoming Storm. What he shouted stole whatever arguments the Doctor had.

"That's for even thinking of leaving Rose behind again, you dimwitted bastard!" the human Doctor growled, and his twin averted his eyes in shame.

"What am I supposed to do then? Can you tell me, please?" the Doctor pleaded. "If I can't move on... be with River while you're with Rose… Time is being rewritten, and I don't know into what!" he shouted, his hands out and vibrating from his frustration.

"Oh my... God! She was right. You ARE a Big Outer Space Dunce!" The human Doctor's head went back as a rather large cackle ripped out of him.

Rose, who had found her door locked, stopped in the corridor just before coming into the console room. She'd heard about half of the conversation, and was in between being upset and amused at what she'd heard. Freaking out was winning, because she didn't have the faintest clue as to who this River woman was. Instead of coming in to interrupt them, she leaned against the bulkhead to listen both fearful and hopeful. One thing she was grateful for, was how the new Doctor punched Her Doctor in her defence. She leaned against the wall and silently thanked him for it with her arms crossed. A half smirk played on her face just listening to the pair of them.

The Doctor looked at his counterpart in complete dumbfounded confusion. "What?"

The new Doctor held up something that resembled a peace sign from the nineteen sixties. "Two things, time-boy. One... You think both of us have a claim on Rose. We don't. You do. I could flippin' care less. She's a friend. And despite what you think, I was not born loving that woman. Thoughts and memories, pal, emotions are mine," he poked his thumb into his chest to emphasize the point.

The Doctor stared at his clone like he just grew a second head. Well, that was just as ridiculous as what he just heard at any rate. This was one of the rare times in his life where he simply shut his gob and listened for once. Rose in the meantime, had her mouth drop open in outright shock as she realized what that meant. He Loves Me! she thought as her face lit up with the biggest smile she ever had in her life.

"And Two," his counterpart continued rather loudly, sounding a lot like Donna when she was on a rant. "Notice how I didn't slip into alphanumerics there?" he smirked. "What was the first thing River said to you when you had a chance to talk, hmm? And I paraphrase," the Human Doctor mimicked River's voice perfectly, "Look how young you are." He slipped back and mimicked the Doctor's cadence, tilting his head back and forth mockingly. "I'm really not." Then back into River's voice, "But you are."

The Doctor stepped backwards and leaned against the railing, gripping it to stay upright. He completely misread what that meant before, but now it made perfect sense. His mouth hung open in shock as the realization hit him between his hearts. His half human self smirked. "Now he gets it! You weren't married to her... I WAS! My God, you should see your face!" he let out another huge cackle.

Curious, Rose poked her head into the room to see what he was talking about. When she saw the gobsmacked expression, she failed in holding back her laughter and a huge snorting giggle came out. This brought the human Doctor around to see her. "I know! Look at it! He is completely stunned! Where's a camera when you need it?" he chuckled.

The Doctor found his voice. "But she knew things. Things that she'd only know when..." he lost the question when Rose rushed over and wrapped her arms around his waist. Once she was clamped around his middle, a huge relieved sigh came out of his mouth.

"Well, duh!" his counterpart blurted. "How else would she get your trust back then? You don't have to tell her your name, dumbo," he pointed at the pink and yellow woman holding on to the Doctor. "She can." He crossed his arms and leaned against the console. "So she'll know both our names. Big deal. Two Gallifreyan names for the price of one." He sniffed the air and looked smug.

The Doctor lifted his head from it's blond resting place. "Two?"

"You think I'm keeping yours?" he countered with a grin. "Sorry. Different person. Already picked it out. And no, Rose, you can't know it. So there."

Rose's voice was muffled from being pressed up against the Doctor's chest. "Don' wanna know it, loud mouth. Just his if he wants." She had fistfuls of the back of the Doctor's shirt, and just stood there drinking in his scent. Home. Home. I'm Home, she thought to herself over and over, trying not to get too emotional and failing again. Happy tears started to soak his shirt, but he didn't notice.

"I will take his alias of John, but dunno bout the Smith part though," he mused. "Maybe Storm without the whole Oncoming bit? Edward's good too. John Edward Storm? No... Johnathon Edward Storm. Yeah, I like that," he grinned, satisfied with himself.

A confused expression went over the Doctor's face. "But she died, John. Can you live with knowing she's going to have her brain fried?"

"Been thinking about that," John mused. "Thing is, she laid you flat out for what... ten, twenty minutes? Whatever. More than enough time to pull it off. Besides, you looked away when the counter hit zero."

A light bulb the size of London blew up in the Doctor's head. "We come in and do some sort of hook up with the TARDIS?"

John beamed and pointed at him. "Exactly! Now tell her your name and kiss your wife, then both of you follow me to the infirmary. Had another thought that needs testing." He drummed his fingers over his chin in thought.

With that, John spun on his heel and bounced out of the room. From down the hallway, they could hear him yelling. "Oh, and TARDIS! No matter what button he pushes, don't leave the vortex till we get done testing Rose, all right?" There was an affirmative hum along with a more than amused chuckle rumbling from their ship. "Thank yooou!" he sing songed cheerily.

By that time, Rose had her head up and was staring at the man she spent years trying to get back to. "He's right you know. You aren't half thick sometimes." His startled look at her got another chuckle out. "Now kiss me before I strangle you, you idiot." Her eyes were twinkling with her tears of joy.

Let it be said that even if his head was spinning, the Doctor wasn't about to say no to that. Doing what he wanted to do on that street when he first saw her again, he poured everything into it. Now that he had the chance, he finally memorized every shape, flavour, and nuance that was inside Rose's mouth with his admittedly over-active tongue.

Rose was amazed that his oral fixation translated so well into snogging and she whimpered, digging her nails into the back of his scalp as she tried to do the same thing. Tried and failed rather spectacularly because she was swooning from the experience. Yes! FINALLY! A kiss without burning or unwanted people in my head! Yes! Ohmigod, Yes!

John's voice cut through the Doctor's mind. 'Hah! Good Lord, you're making me randy. Best quit that and tell her your name before you two are boffing on top of the helmic regulator. Now get back here. It's important.'

The Doctor broke the kiss with a sputtering chuckle. Noting Rose's breathless but disappointed and confused look, he explained. "I'm going to have to put up a mental block. I think we just gave John an erection with that kiss." Rose's eyes went wide with that admission, especially since she could feel something rather similar rubbing absolutely deliciously against her lower belly. They both broke out with huge laughs.

The Doctor lifted her up in a hug, while he tried to clamp his mind down in an attempt to deadlock it from John. Nuzzling her ear, he whispered. "You're both right though. I have been rather idiotic. I'm so sorry about earlier." She shushed him and nibbled his neck. "I tell you t-this, and everything's going to change." Her murmured 'hmm?' while she continued to drive him mad with her nibbling, almost made him forget what he was saying... almost. "My n-n-n-name."

"Told you I'm never going to leave you," she growled into his ear, "I meant it when I said forever." She nuzzled his loose collar to the side and clamped her teeth lightly at the base of his neck. Mine, she thought more than possessively.

That pure statement, not to mention the bite, made the Doctor hold her tighter. His lips grazed her ear, and she heard him say something melodious and beautiful. Her eyes dilated, and she gasped as the Doctor's true name burned itself in her mind. She could see it too, the circled lines and loops of it, as clearly as nothing else. It was as if everything were a dream around her. Her own full name of "Rose Marion Tyler" slipped out of her mouth before she realized she was saying it, drowning as their love blended together in a mental detonation.

At the same exact time in the infirmary, John gripped the counter as he nearly buckled to the floor. "Not me, not me, not me," he hissed. "That's not my name. Got my own. That's just me feeling his reaction to the..." he gasped, "bond..."

He looked up and shouted at the ceiling. "TARDIS! Our next stop is River's dig site! Got it? I'm not about to be the only one not getting any!" His uncomfortable frustration got a mental nudge, and he felt her sympathy course through him as she tried to mentally support him.

Suddenly it was over, and he felt the TARDIS deep in his mind... completely locking out his telepathy. "Ohhhh thank you." His forehead thunked against the counter in absolute relief. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She replied by rubbing his mind in a mental version of a cuddle.

Rose couldn't understand it, but they were in each other's mind. Then she fully understood. The Doctor part of them knew that this was part of the Gallifreyan Bond. More than a marriage, deeper than vows, they literally were each other in that moment. She felt his eternal loneliness at the same time as he felt her desperate need for him. Each craved nothing more than to fill the other's void.

The Doctor was dumbfounded, horrified, overjoyed, and lost all at once. He didn't hear her say her name in English, but High Gallifreyan. Instead of Rose Marion Tyler, it came out in the rhythmic and syllabic cadence of Rhuzmarioonteelur, which literally transcribed into English as Lupus Wicked Starlight. Or, to be more direct and to the point: Bad Wolf Star. It burned in his mind, searing the very core of being ― and it staggered him. He would've fallen, were it not for her gripping his forearms in as much of a vice as he had hers.

Then all at once, her mind blossomed open to all of his senses. She was laid bare before him, and nearly every door he thought he had in place broke apart in response. Everything he was afraid of telling her was revealed to her, the Time War... everything. She didn't flinch. Not once. She cried for him, instead. He saw who she was in totus, watching so many nights of her crying and sobbing into her pillow, and cried for her as well. Nearly all of her dormant memories from when she looked into the heart of the TARDIS were wide open to them both, and he realized that she had been protecting him at that moment for his entire lives. All of them.

Words were no longer necessary, as they had become a burden now. They stood there in the console room, less than a hands breadth apart, holding each others arms, and staring in absolute awe into each others eyes. Then they ever so slowly became aware of what exactly it was that they were drowning in. His eyes were the black clouded red lightning of the Storm, while hers glowed with the golden radiance of the Wolf. They couldn't even blink, enraptured as they were.

The Doctor's respiratory bypass kicked in three minutes ago, and Rose couldn't remember the last time she took a breath. She was terrified to even breathe, lest she ruin this moment... and he heard her internal prayer as clearly as if she'd shouted. 'Oh God, please don't let me wake up!'

Moving as one, they crashed their lips and tongues together. She felt his trouble with her jacket's zip, and ripped it apart for him with the ruining of the metal teeth. He felt her fumble with the buttons to his blazer, and he simply yanked so that the buttons clattered on the grating, falling between them.

She felt his discomfort as his erection strained against his pants and trousers, while he felt how confining her bra and knickers had suddenly become. Then bits of clothing flew in all directions. Somehow, they both had each other naked and they wouldn't remember how that happened. The TARDIS helped of course. His tie found itself hanging off a console lever completely ruined, and her bra was hooked over the latch to the outer TARDIS door with broken clasps.

He wanted her NOW, and she wanted him a literal big eared lifetime ago. Pushing, she felt the cloth of the jump-seat on her knees with his thighs under her bum, and he felt her damp centre spreading open as she speared herself. The warmth of the penetration short circuited both of their brains, and they yelled their complete satisfaction over it.

The TARDIS closed the door to the inner corridor to spare John the noise, having already dampened the twinned sense to nothing. There was naught but gasps, shouts, and fingernails dragging along over sensitive flesh. It was beautiful, it was violent, and it was so them.

She was so full, and he was so exquisitely squeezed. They felt each others passions as well as each others sensations. They rebounded off of each other, and built faster than either of them could have ever dreamed. He felt himself going into her as well as the feeling of being filled. She felt him inside her, as well as being surrounded by something that felt like hot lava.

His hands crashed onto her bum in a firm grip that made both of them moan. Her from the shock, and him from her internal clamping reaction to it. Their names came out of their own mouths, they were so meshed. The TARDIS had to pull back her connection to her Beloved, because she thought she was going to detonate any second after several wall lights exploded. They died, were reborn, died again, then screamed in unison as they reached their peak.

'I'm yours,' was Rose's only conscious thought as she came out of her haze. 'Always. Only. Yours. Oh God, My Doctor!' And never once realized she was thinking to him in Gallifreyan.

His delighted and ecstatic answer was, 'Forever yours, My Rose. Always. Now. For All Eternity.'

After a time of clinging to each other and breathing rapidly, he finally realized. "Ten Years?" he whispered. "You spent ten years coming back?"

Rose's giggle came out as silent gusting breaths into his neck. "Ten, twenty, who can remember?" she teased in a whisper, still not having caught her breath. "I'd spend my entire life trying to get back to you!"

The Doctor cradled her, still joined in every definition, and began to openly weep. 'I almost died when you fell!' He thought to her, unable to speak from his shaking.

She sat up sharply with a whimper and kissed his tears, then held his head to her breast. "It wasn't your fault," she whispered, rocking him gently. 'It wasn't your fault,' she repeated that phrase in his mind like a mantra, trying to soothe him, but ended up sobbing herself, finally letting go of all the tears she denied herself in her determination to break the void barrier. They clung to each other so tightly that they would be bruised for days.

John had more than enough time to set up the test, and he grinned from his chair when he saw the dishevelled pair enter some thirty plus minutes later, minus their jackets and him without his tie. The Doctor's shirt was buttoned up wrong as well. "I see you two christened the console room, despite my warning." This caused them to come up short and blush profusely.

John chuckled when Rose put her hand over her mouth. "Nah, s'alright. Like I told him, my emotions are my own. I'm very happy for the both of you. Do have to say though, felt it when the bond happened." He held up his hand when the Doctor's eyes became round. "No no. Didn't happen to me, just felt your biological reaction before the TARDIS intervened. We're going to have to work on blocking each other, so don't fret over it. Now," he patted one of the medical beds," hop up here Rose. I need to verify what's going through my mind. Doctor, prep her arm for some blood tests."

While the Doctor wrapped a rubber tourniquet around Rose's left arm, he asked the question. "So what's this all about, eh?"

"Something that's been nagging you ever since you regenerated," John replied. He came over with a needle. "Sorry, Rose. Know how you hate this." She turned her head and winced as he poked a vein and drew out some blood.

"You mean how she survived while I exploded?" the Doctor asked with an upturned brow.

John nodded, but Rose was confused. "What are you two goin' on about?" she asked.

"You survived for nearly thirty minutes with the vortex in your head," she heard in stereo, then just the Doctor as he continued, "when I regenerated after only a few seconds of it in mine."

She looked to John's back at the counter when he continued the thought. "Yeah, isn't it funny how you didn't die? Not that I'm complaining, but that was just weird."

The Doctor swabbed and tended Rose's arm, then they both went to either side of John as he was bent over the microscope. John grinned when he felt a hand on both of his shoulders, and clicked the magnification up on the drop of blood on the slide. What he saw got an open mouthed chuckle out of him. "I knew it," he whispered, then stood up abruptly and clapped his hands together. "Hah! I knew it! See for yourself, Doctor."

Rose stared at John in confusion, while the Doctor bent down to see what John was talking about. "But that's impossible," he squeaked.

"So's Jack being immortal, but that didn't stop her, did it?" John replied. His face was glowing with a smile that split his face. Noticing Rose's expression as she looked back and forth between them, he hugged her and explained. "You, my dear, haven't aged a day since the Game Station. And, you didn't notice the other because you wont get your second heart until after your first regeneration, dear. You're not human any more. You're Gallifreyan! Brilliant!"

Rose pushed him back with both hands and stared at him with big eyes. "Wha'!"

John put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her forehead. "You brought Jack back to life permanently and changed your DNA to TNA, you fantastic woman!"

Rose stumbled backwards against the counter with a hand to her chest, feeling her single heartbeat thudding rapidly. "But..." She looked to the Doctor. "Is he right?" The Doctor looked up at her from the microscope with a big smile on his face, nodding. Seeing them both smile like that made her shocked expression change to mirror theirs. She covered her mouth with both hands. "Oh my God!"

"Of course I'm right! Now kiss the man!" John shouted. He spun around, laughing like a maniac while they did just that. "TARDIS! Move Rose's things to his room and set one up for me, please. I'm knackered, and I think these two want to be alone for a while. Thank all the gods in every universe that Pythia's curse is over. I can't wait to see their kids!"

Hearing them both gasp, he turned round at the door on his way out. "Stop it! Both of you! We can go around saving the universe with kids on board, so stop your worrying! I can look after them," he said with a cheesy grin. "Now I'll be in the kitchen for a bit before I pass out. Tirra!" He bounded out of the infirmary with a jovial kick to his steps.

"You want children?" they both asked at the same time, making them giggle. When they both slowly nodded at the question, the Doctor picked Rose up and carried her to their room.

Some time later, John was busy munching a sandwich in the kitchen. Sitting across from him was a hologram of the TARDIS' avatar, politely 'eating' holographic food with him. "Thank you for that bit of information by the way," he said.

She chuckled. "You're welcome. You're the only one that would listen. He was too busy being depressed to hear what I've been trying to tell him for ages."

"Too right too," he replied, swallowing. "Makes you wonder if he really is so brilliant, the git."

She laughed again. "All right, all right. Don't get mean now, there are some things you need to know for the future, so reign it in a bit."

John set his ale down and looked at her. "Like what?"

"A few things. When you realize he's about to break a fixed point, both of you need to do everything you can to drag him back here."

John's sandwich stopped at his gob, and he didn't bite down. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "That, and you need to set up a tunnelling remote for your new screwdriver when the time comes." John tilted his head in confusion, and she explained. "Wilfred Mott's life will be at stake after another fixed point is resolved. The remote will let you get him out of there. The other option would be to let Rose handle it, but I doubt the Doctor will let her even think about it."

John chuckled. "Yeah, I know full well how he wants to protect her. Anything else?"

The TARDIS smiled at him, knowingly. "Want to get your other heart back?" His sandwich fell to the plate and John nodded his head rapidly. "Then get to the console room and program the Arch, before they're finished in the bedroom."

John's mouth fell open. "I didn't even think of that!" he squeaked. The TARDIS laughed at him when he took off, and she vanished from the kitchen.

The Doctor and Rose glanced at the ceiling from all the laughter. "Wonder what's got her in such a good mood." Rose asked, before gasping as the Doctor settled into her again. "Us?"

"No idea," the Doctor whispered in her ear. "Not sure I care at the moment. You?"

Rose shook her head and wrapped all four of her limbs around her husband, drowning in bliss. "Mine," she sighed.