Clara stumbled through the heavy wooden door, glancing around with clear anxiety before her eyes met Elevens, and Rose watched as the brunette girl relaxed. Rose had never been more thankful for the other woman's impeccable timing than she was at that moment. It wasn't that she didn't want to answer the youngest Doctors question, it was that she had just never considered it.
The Doctor and Rose had talked about the Time War, not often and not in any great detail, but there had been quiet moments. Trapped in other prisons, facing execution or torture. Floating through the vortex, working on a long list of repairs the Doctor had put off for a century or two. Dark nights in her bed or his. Soft words exchanged in the galley.
Rose knew it had become critical near the end. So much death and destruction already rained down, and the Time Lords were losing. The daleks could just simply make more daleks to replace the ones who were destroyed, but even though Time Lords were loomed, not born in the human-traditional sense, it still took time for them to grow, and time was something they had run out of. They were desperate, and in their desperation they had made a final decision that would have affected the entirety of the universe, perhaps multiple universes.
The Doctor had an impossible choice. Destroy everything in the Time Lock, or let the Time Lords destroy the entire universe because they were too afraid of dying.
Die young as a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. Except the Doctor had chosen the root that would make him both. To the rest of the cosmos he was a hero, even though they'd never know the sacrifice he had made to save them. Never know the depth of his despair over his decision. But he was a villain to all he had destroyed, all who know what he had done. A villain to himself.
Rose did not see him as a hero, and she was no longer naive enough to see him as a hero. He was just the Doctor, just her Doctor.
What was it he had said, so many years ago, trapped with her at 10 Downing Street? His life wasn't fun or smart, it was just him standing up and making a decision because no one else would. That was her Doctor, every single one she knew and didn't.
But how could she ever explain that to him? Especially this younger, war torn version who didn't know her yet. Best to allow Clara to distract them all.
"How did you do that?" Eleven asked, also deciding the distraction was just what they needed.
"It wasn't locked." Clara answered simply, and Rose felt herself grin. Someone should have checked, probably her.
"Right." Eleven nodded before Clara stepped forward, glancing between all the Doctors.
"So they're both you, then, yeah?" Clara questioned softly, fingers twisting around themselves.
"Yes. You've met them before. Don't you remember?" Eleven asked as Ten adjusted his suit jacket.
"A bit. Nice suit." Clara looked over at Rose, shooting a look of approval that nearly had Rose lose complete composure. So yes, Rose had gone on a bit about her previous Doctors when prodded for information. The Doctor was always so stodgy about the whole regeneration thing, but Rose didn't care for secrecy or unanswered questions.
"Thanks." Ten managed to sound both confused and flattered.
"Hang on. Three of you in one cell, and none of you thought to try the door? Actually, no, that makes perfect sense, but Rose, really?" Clara sounded disappointed.
"Hey, bit preoccupied, little bit busy here." Rose defended herself, though she wasn't all that offended. She should have checked the door.
"I bet." Clara purposely let her eyes land on each of the Doctors before redirecting her look back to Rose, raising her eye brows. Rose let out a bubble of laughter before she could stop herself.
"It should have been locked." Eight spoke up for the first time, looking, despite himself, amused at the whole situation.
"Yes, exactly. Why wasn't it locked?" Eleven questioned, knocking his shoulder against Rose's when she continued to giggle.
"Because I was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping." Rose winced at that voice. Oh did the Queen have just the worst voice, luckily she was the Queen or she'd be in a fair amount of trouble. Though Rose noticed she was being a bit unfair, but one glance at Ten and she knew why. As if he sensed her focus on him, his brown eyes turned to her and warmed instantly. His lips twitching upwards, as if he was one second away from releasing one of his full, manic smiles that always forced a smile to her own face, no matter the situation.
It was absurd, Rose decided. She was over 100 years old now, not in her 20's, and it had been so long since she'd even seen that Doctor with his tall frame covered in a perfectly fitted suit. She felt like she should have some control over her heart, or at least her reactions, but suddenly she was 20 years old ago, and she wanted nothing more than to hold out her hand and know that he would take it.
It felt like cheating.
Rose knew it wasn't, knew the Doctor wouldn't view it that way. She was trying to fit her human standards and view upon a completely alien situation, and it was completely twisting her up inside.
For gods sake she wasn't mostly human now anyways!
"Oh no, did I miss what she was saying?" Rose asked as Eleven nudged her into following along in line behind the Queen.
"Rose, she's the Queen of England." Eleven whispered, though there was an amusement sparkling in his green eyes that didn't quite match the admonishment in his voice.
"And apparently your wife." Rose raised her eyebrows.
"His wife." Eleven motioned towards his younger self, who shot him a glare. "And do I really need to mention you're marriage to James Dean?"
"Oh, James, wonder how he's doing." Rose grinned up at the Doctor, not able to help herself as Ten made an undignified sound in front of them.
"You married James Dean?" Ten questioned, eyebrows raised in an affront.
"It was a rather lovely ceremony, until the Doctor ruined it." Rose nodded in agreement with Clara's opinion. "He was even more handsome in person." Both women sighed in remembrance.
"Oi!" Two appalled voices rang out.
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" The Queen asked, not sounding sorry at all, but rather put off. Probably not a good idea to annoy someone who could have them all executed, so they all put their focus on the Queen.
That was when they learned the truth of the Zygons plan for Earth, and the people of it, who were quite inconsequential to them. Rose grudgingly admitted a small amount of respect for the Queen, who had accepted all this and had made a move to protect her people and country.
"It's a lovely ceremony, very touching, very moving." Clara whispered to Rose, who was fighting a grin.
"Shut up Clara," Rose whispered back, but there was no venom in her words as they watched the Queen yank Ten down for a long kiss.
"Not as lovely as your and James wedding, granted, but still quite nice." Both women leaned against each other, stifling their laughter then giving whoops of congratulations when the kiss was done.
"I will be right back." Ten rushed away, his long legs taking him to his TARDIS in a few quick strides.
"He's a quick one," Clara commented.
"Yeah, well only when someone's chasing him. Murderous hordes, soldiers, screaming witches, women he's just married." Rose shrugged and grinned as Eleven gave her an offended look.
"Right then, back to the future." Eleven gently pushed and prodded Clara and Rose to the TARDIS, letting Eight go first.
"You've let this place go a bit." Eight commented, his posh accent twirling around the disapproval.
"Ah, it's his grunge phase. He grows out of it." Eleven excused his younger self.
Rose stopped near the door, letting Clara rush past her.
"Don't you listen to them." Ten spoke lovingly to the TARDIS console as she let out a sharp beep before sparking. The lights flickered, the console turning red. "The desktop is glitching!" Ten said in an accusing voice to his other selves.
"She's trying to compensate, with three of us from different time zones." Eight spoke up, walking around the suddenly brighter TARDIS before stopping near Rose, giving her a concerned look. A questioning look.
"Hey look, the round things." Eleven said, motioning to the walls which were, to his credit, round things.
"I love the round things." Ten answered back, glancing around.
"What are the round things?" Eleven questioned and Rose nearly laughed as Ten shook his head.
"No idea."
"Oh, dear, the friction contrafibulator!" Eleven yelled, rushing to the console as it emmitted another high pitched beep. He pulled a lever, the console sparked again before the whole setting changed once more. "Ha! There, stabilised."
"Oh, you've redecorated. I don't like it." So quickly Ten dashed Elevens hope, but Clara was smiling in amusement off to the side.
"Oh yeah? Oh, you never do. Listen. We're going to the National Gallery. The Zygons are underneath it." Eleven ran around the console, his usual frantic energy back.
"No, UNIT HQ. They followed us there, in the Black Archive!" Clara corrected. All the Doctor's turned their full attention to the brunette girl. "Okay, so you've heard of that, then." Of course they had, as they explained, they had thought they destroyed it once. Bunch of highly dangerous technology in the hands of the military? No, didn't sound very good to any of them.
"Are you alright?" Eight questioned softly as Ten and Eleven discussed their options. His fingers gently touched her elbow, as if once tactical touch had been something that came easy to him, but now he was unsure, questioning his every move. But even the light touch, the soft press of his fingertips were a comfort. The unfamiliar posh accent, soft near her ear was another sort of comfort. Everything was so different about him, but the concern shining in his eyes wasn't.
"Just a little off with the being pulled from one place to another, I'll be fine in a bit." Rose answered honestly, though the dimensional canon device was still fused to her wrist, and it seemed fully active, as if just waiting for the next command. She was worried because she knew the Moment hadn't set this all up just so they could have a nice reunion, but it was all something she could deal with. "Honestly, Doctor." Rose touched his extended hand, just a light caress of her fingers against his because he looked like he needed it, but he also looked like anything more than that would send him away from her.
Eight ran his thumb lightly over her knuckles, pulling her hand towards his chest gently and it took her a second to realize he was looking at the dimensional cannon fused to her wrist. It had not been a pretty thing a hundred years past, and it looked no better now. Chunky and half dirty, with fraying and tears in the leather it resided on. It wasn't something she'd ever willingly choose to have fused to her skin.
"What is that?" Ten questioned, hands buried deep in his pockets as he stepped closer to his younger self and Rose.
"It's nothing." Rose pulled her hand out of Eights light grasp, then shoved her sleeve over her wrist. "I mean, it's something, clearly it's something, but nothing that can't wait until all of this-" She motioned to everyone in the room and everything involving them at this moment. "is resolved." Ten gave her a sceptical look, as if moments away from pulling out his sonic and demanding her arm, and she would gladly hand it over if it meant she could stand near him once again. Feel his skin against hers just once more, even if it was his hand in hers. "Really Doctor, it'll hold."
"Science leads Kate, is that what your father meant?" Eleven spoke into a microphone, leaning down with his arms braced against the console. Clara stood behind him, grinning proudly.
"Doctor?" Rose could only assume it was Kate who answered.
"Space-time telegraph, Kate. A gift from me to your father. Hotline straight to the TARDIS. I know about the Black Archive, and I know about the security protocol. Kate, please, please tell me you are not about to do something unbelievably stupid." Eleven pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. Switch it off." Kate answered back.
"Not as sorry as you will be." Eleven said softly, not a threat, but a promise of a bleak future.
"This is not a decision you will ever be able to live with!" Ten had moved to stand next to the console, on the opposite side that his future self stood. The TARDIS shook violently.
"Kate!" Eleven pressed hard against a lever. "We're trying to bring the TARDIS in! Why can't we land?"
"I said switch it off." Kate commanded harshly from the other end of the line.
"No, Kate, please, just listen to me!" But there was static feedback, the telegraph cutting out, and then silence as everyone stared at the console, as if the old girl could give them the answers they needed.
"I'm guessing the security protocol involves sometime of bomb?" Rose questioned.
"A nuclear one underneath the Black Archive, I've- we've disbanded it four times now." Ten answered, shifting so he was standing next to her, both of them standing back from the console.
"Seven times, and an eighth after this." Eleven slammed a lever up before spinning away, hands pressed together in front of him in a way that betrayed his anger with the entirety of this situation. Rose wanted to go to him, but there were too many people watching. Too many of his past selves anyways.
"Tower of London. Totally TARDIS-proof." Ten spoke factually, his anger simmering much lower than Elevens. Rose didn't understand why, if anything her former Doctor was much quicker to anger about things like this. Far more of a pacifist than her current one. Never liked a bomb he couldn't disarm. Rose studied him from the corner of her eye, but she must have been a bit too obvious about it because he caught her stare and gave her a wink.
Her heart gave a lurch in her chest, Bad Wolf stirred inside her mind for the first time in a decade. Luce- The Moment- stood behind Ten, just off to the side.
"How can they do that?" Clara asked, pulling Rose away from her sudden dread. Bad Wolf only woke herself up when things were about to become life-threatening.
"Alien technology, plus human stupidity. Trust me, it's unbeatable." Despite her dread, Rose managed to give Eleven a hard look. Always blaming the human race when things got difficult. "Don't go giving me that look, Rose Tyler, that bomb will kill everyone in London, and everything for several hundred kilometers will die a slow death with it. The vast majority of Great Britain will become unlivable, the ocean surrounding it will become polluted. Entire echo-systems destroyed, families gone. All for what?"
Rose didn't bother answering that, because she agreed with Kate, even though she had never met the woman. Of course Rose would have preferred the non-lethal way, the way of least violence, or no violence at all, but sometimes that just wasn't an option.
She remembered standing on the deck of a dalek ship, approving that Martha Jones would destroy the earth to protect the rest of the universe. Proud when Jack Harkness would blow up the ship to save billions, trillions- impossible to count number of lives.
The Zygons were threatening the entirety of human existence on Earth. Humans would fight back, of course they would, never did they go down without a fight, but they were outmatched. They would go down, and so many more would end up dying in the crossfire. The rest would be enslaved, or killed outright.
Did Rose want to lose millions of lives? No, but it was better than the other outcome.
"You would pull that trigger?" Eight asked softly, as if he didn't really believe it himself. As if he had already come to the conclusion of what type of person she was, and this didn't fit into that box. Rose couldn't blame him for that, she couldn't even look at Ten, and she would be even more ashamed if her first Doctor was here.
"2014." Rose glanced over at Clara, seeing the pale young woman looking at her in disbelief made her turn her full attention to Eight. "My mate Mickey's in London, been married for a couple years now. He had his first baby girl a year ago, and a second one on the way. There's brilliant Martha Jones, working for UNIT, a medical field Doctor. Donna Noble is just now meeting a man with a stutter called Lee-" A quick glance at Eleven. They had done that, with Lee's permission. The man had known fully what he was going to do, but he wanted to be with the woman he had married in a dream. "Less than a year they'll be married and travelling around the globe. I could name countless more people, everyone who I love who would die, and I can say with absolute certainty that they would approve."
"Because you've asked them?" There was anger now in Eight's handsome features. The same anger that boiled just beneath the surface in every Doctor she met. An anger that just got darker after the Time War.
"Because they've been willing to do it before," Eleven answered. "Their lives or the lives of others, and each time they choose others." He was leaning against the TARDIS console now, head bowed, anger draining out of him so quickly that it left him looking so very tired.
"We can't use the TARDIS, but Clara's got a Time Vortex Manipulator, she used it to get out so it should be possible to use it to get back in, yeah?" Rose asked, rubbing her forehead and feeling suddenly very tired. Had it only been a couple hours since she had been sitting in this same console room, in her jimjams and flirting with the Doctor? It felt like ages ago.
Bad Wolf curled out further from the depths of her mind, stretching in a way that was now familiar. In a way that Rose now could identify that she was trying to comfort Rose, and telling Rose to buck up because it was about to get a lot worse.
Rose looked up and met the eyes of the Moment. The Moment was an all powerful weapon, but then again, so was the Bad Wolf. So was Rose Tyler, and she was done being manipulated.
"Brilliant Rose Tyler to the rescue!" Eleven touched the tip of her nose with his finger, his eyes serious even if his voice was over exuberant. He hadn't missed that something was going on, something else that was bothering her, but they didn't have time to settle it at this moment, but his face said he'd put everything aside if she needed him now. London, the Zygons, his past selves, all if it forgotten if she needed his assistance.
Rose smiled at him, and Eleven nodded, just a small movement of his head but it was an agreement. She would be fine for now.
Ten was already taking the Time Vortex Manipulator from Clara, both of them grinning as he tossed it over to Eleven, who started to patch it into the console.
"I'm sorry, what's going on?" Clara asked, coming to stand next to Rose, because the other woman was more likely to give her an answer that she could actually understand, instead of the techno-babble that any of the Doctors were likely to give her, mostly to sound smart, but also partially because they were too busy to make anything simple.
"They are going to match the frequencies used by the Manipulator to the TARDIS," Eight explained instead, standing on the other side of Clara. He was standing a bit straighter, his eyes keen and brighter than they had when she found in him that shack. How long had the Time War been going on for him? How long since he had a conversation that didn't include battle strategies and weapons? Now he was off into another battle. "Essentially we should be able to fool the shields keeping us out of the Black Archive, make them believe we are smaller than we are. It is like a net, you see, small nets allow you to catch small objects because the holes that make it up are too small for anything to slip through, but something larger will just break the net. UNIT instead made a large net, to stop things like the TARDIS from coming through, but it means the holes let smaller things slip through."
"Smaller things like the watch-thing?" Clara questioned, looking fascinated as she motioned to the Time Vortex Manipulator, and the two energetic Doctor's running around the console.
"Exactly!" Eight smiled proudly down at her and Clara beamed back. Clara then strolled over to the other Doctor's, trying to get a closer look. "She's extremely clever, how long has she been travelling with the eldest version of me?" Eight asked quietly, and Rose nearly grinned because she knew this game all too well. It had been a long time since she played it, not since her Northern Doctor. Surprisingly he had been the least blunt of all the regenerations she knew, asking seemingly harmless questions until the person he was questioning made their own noose.
"Not very long, and it's on and off travelling." Rose answered honestly, leaning closer to Eight as he leant in too. "She has a job, and a family. So we drop her off and pick her up, take her on an adventure or two, usually end up nearly dying, then drop her off again."
"And how long have you been travelling?" Eight asked casually, like it was just an offhand question, nothing important.
"Since I was 19." Rose said truthfully, no longer able to contain her smile. The corner of his mouth twitch, as if he was fighting back the instinctual urge to smile also. She realized his blue eyes were not the same shade as her northern Doctor's, but she still quite liked looking into them. There was a deep seeded sadness in them, a heavyweight he couldn't seem to shake, but beneath that there was humor and mischievousness, so ingrained into his being that not even the tragedy that was the Time War could wipe it out of him completely. Though the war was trying its damned best to.
Without much thought behind it, Rose reached out and entwined her fingers with the youngest Doctor's. He seemed a bit shocked at first, but then his fingers clenched hers nearly painfully before loosening.
"And done!" Eleven flipped a lever and the TARDIS buckled beneath them, sending them all sprawling out on the ground.
"Oh well done you!" Ten sarcastically called from his position on the floor, gingerly helping Clara up for she had the luck to land on top of him.
Eight helped Rose up, his hand lingering on her elbow before releasing her.
"Well, let's go out and meet the neighbors!" Eleven called, tugging Clara along. Ten gave his older self a look that someone might give their puppy who wouldn't stop peeing on the carpet, but he followed him out. Rose and Eight were the last out of the TARDIS.
"Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, what in the name of sanity are you doing?" Eleven questioned darkly, getting quite close to the blonde woman.
"The countdown can only be halted at my personal command." Kate's doppleganger, or the real Kate, spoke up. "There's nothing you can do."
"Except make you both agree to halt it." Ten stated calmly, stepping forward and crossing his arms over his chest. Rose tilted her head and turned bright red when she heard Clara's snicker from behind her. Caught staring at the Doctor's bum in a dire situation, how embarrassing. She really had not grown much in a century.
"Not even for the three of you." Kate reaffirmed.
"You are about to murder millions of people," Eight spoke up softly.
"To save billions. How many times have you made that calculation?" Kate questioned back quickly. Rose was inclined to like Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, though that wasn't much of a surprise, she had really liked her father.
"Once. It turned me into the man I am now." Eleven answered, sounding ashamed and guilty. "Not even sure who that is anymore." Dark green eyes looked over at Rose, the only person he could meet the eyes of in the room.
"You tell yourself it's justified," Ten swallowed. "But it's a lie, because what I did that day was wrong." He came around the side of the table and leaned against it, his hands braced apart as he stared down the people in the rom.
"And because I got it wrong that day, I'm going to make you get it right." Eleven explained, and they both grabbed chairs, bringing them around to the head of the table. Rose nearly rolled her eyes when they, in tandem, put their feet up on the table, leaning make like they had all the time in the world.
"How?" Kate asked, which was a rather good question seeing as they had less than a minute to do so. They both crossed their arms over their chests, making quite the pair.
"Any second now, you're going to stop that countdown. Both of you, together." Ten said, as if it explained everything.
"And then you're going to negotiate the most perfect treaty of all time." Eleven continued.
"Safeguards all around." Ten added, looking towards his older self. "Keep it fair on both sides."
"And the key to the perfect negotiation-"
"-is not knowing what side you're on." They both kicked back from the table, stood up together and pulled out their sonics.
"So, for the next few hours, until we decide to let you out-" They flipped their sonics, and Rose barely managed to surprise her laughter. They just thought they were so impressive, both of them together.
"No one in this room will be able to remember if they're human-"
"-Or a Zygon." They leapt up onto the table, making the move quite graceful and aimed their sonics at the security camera looking device on the ceiling. There was a brilliant flash and Bad Wolf woke full, shaking off the effects of whatever that machine did. The Bad Wolf really did not like it when others attempted to mess with their memories.
"Cancel the detonation!" Both Kate's yelled at the same time, the countdown stopping at 5 seconds.
"Peace in our time." Everyone set off like it was a pre-determined script. The two Kates and their respected scientists paired up at the table, Ten and Eleven nearby and voicing their input whether anyone wanted to hear it or not. Eight stood and watched for a couple seconds before walking off, managing to find some tea of all things and setting himself up nearby. It wasn't long before Clara had wandered over to speak in quiet tones to him.
"It's quite lovely, isn't it?" The Moment was back to looking like a post-apocalyptic version of Rose. Rose didn't mind much, preferred to talking to herself than being reminded of her parents, or anyone else in her life. "Negotiations, coming to a peaceful agreement. No one needs to get hurt." Rose frowned, feeling the Bad Wolf stretch in her mind. Most of the time it was hard trying to communicate with the All Powerful Being inside her skull. The Bad Wolf, while being made from parts of a 19 year old human girl, did not think or feel in human terms. It didn't mean that the Bad Wolf didn't think or feel, much the opposite, but communication was difficult because they were so different, no matter they shared the same mind and body.
The same could be said for the TARDIS. She communicated much more often with the Doctor, but even the Doctor couldn't always interpret what she was trying to tell him, even after centuries spent together.
The Moment was like that, though she was trying far harder than the Bad Wolf or the TARDIS did to be more human, or more of a sentient life than a consciousness of a weapon. The small withdrawal of the Bad Wolf told Rose that she was on the right path.
"Sometimes peace can't be achieved, not like this at least." Rose would prefer all altercations to be settled through talking, she was quite good at talking, and the Doctor was even better at it. Though sometimes he found listening quite difficult, Rose was better at listening than talking. So Rose did what she did best, she listened.
"So you believe that some altercations can only be solved through violence? Through the total annihilation of billions of lives?" The Moment questioned her. She had Rose's face, but her speech and her emotions were completely different than Rose's.
Rose took a deep breath and tried to see what the Moment wanted her to see. What if one day she woke up and realized she was only a weapon? A weapon designed to wipe out the existence of anything in several galaxies?
The TARDIS was old, even before the Doctor had stolen her, she was fairly old, in the process of being decommissioned. The Bad Wolf was made from a 19 year old human girl, but mostly it was made up of an ageless entity. The Moment was young, not in the human sense or even in the Time Lord sense. The TARDIS was meant to travel, the Bad Wolf to protect, but the Moment was meant to destroy. And it did not want to do that.
Rose remembered her first Doctor, and his inability to take out an enemy if it meant hurting someone else in the crossfire. Even if that enemy was the daleks. He couldn't close the door if it meant losing Rose again, even if that choice meant a dalek would be free to roam the Earth. He couldn't shoot her when she stepped in front of that dalek. He couldn't press that lever and destroy half of Earth, even if it meant saving the other half and the rest of the universe from the new dalek threat on Satellite Five. When Rose was 19 she would have fully agreed with the Doctor. She never would have pressed that lever, she never would have sacrificed a small group of people to save many more.
But Rose wasn't 19 anymore, and she could see the Moment's recognition that it had chosen the wrong companion to try and talk the Doctor out of using it to stop the Time War. But the long stretch of the Bad Wolf meant it wasn't over yet, the Moment had something else planned.
The awakened Bad Wolf in her mind meant the jump from one place to another wasn't as jarring. Just a bit of dizziness, a weakening of her knees, and she was fine again. Standing in the shack, with the young Doctor, and the Moment still using Rose's image.
"Well, you wanted a big red button." The Moment was saying to the Doctor, who was standing in front of the physical form of the Moment. There was a rather large red button now protruding from the box. "One big bang. No more Time Lords, no more Daleks, no more Rose Tyler. Are you sure?" Eight was staring at Rose, the mostly-human version, with horror in his eyes.
"I was sure when I came in here. There is no other way." He spoke as if in apology to Rose, though she couldn't blame him. He wasn't the the one who dragged her here.
"You've seen the men you will become." The Moment said, as if they were something to be ashamed of. Rose stood up straighter, pulled the Bad Wolf closer to the forefront of her mind, let her own anger intermingle with the Bad Wolfs.
"They were quite extraordinary, if I do say so myself." Eight spoke softly, his humor still not completely gone.
"You always have a choice." The Moment looked over at Rose, drawing Eight's attention back to her. Once again her life was in his hands, but as it was with each other time, Rose decided to make that decision easier for him. She moved next to him, not allowing for any space as she faced the red button. "You do not have to do this." The Moment sounded panicked now.
Rose entwined her fingers with the Doctor's, looked up at him and smiled the best she could. She was afraid, of course she was. She had no idea what it would be like, but she had a guess. Each planet caught in the wave of the Moment had burned. So yes, she had a pretty good idea of how it would go, but she would not allow him to see how afraid she was.
The Doctor bent down, pressing a soft kiss to Rose's forehead. Rose closed her eyes, tried not to stiffen when she felt him shift just slightly, felt his free hand move towards the Moment. Rose took a deep breath, moving closer and burying her face against the leather jacket.
"It's alright Doctor."
I'm so glad we met.
I wouldn't change it for the world.
I love you.