Reckless Chapter 12: Father's Day - Dreaming, a doctor who fanfic

Reckless
Chapter 12: Father's Day – Dreaming

+++++AND+NOW+++++

They were down to four: the Doctor, the Corsair, Arianna, and Rose. Jabe was gone. And while it had been voluntary, and Rose hadn't been with the group long enough to get attached to the Arboreal, the blonde Londoner could feel the depression and forced cheer of the others. It was practically palpable. She couldn't help but think about her father. He was the only one she knew that was gone. While she'd never known him herself, she'd known of him through her mother. Every time Jackie spoke of him, her face would be a mirror of the expressions currently around her.

Which meant that they believed that they'd never see Jabe again. It had been a forever-goodbye. Jabe might as well have died. It was as if they could never see the tree again. Why not? They traveled in a time machine!

Rose frowned in thought and looked up at the two Time Lords, one of whom was under the console, his hands up in the innards, while the other was standing upright, working with the screen. They seemed to be doing two different things, but every now and then the Doctor (the one on his back with his hands over his head) would ask if it was working yet and the Corsair (playing with the screen) would call out a negative. Rose wasn't sure. She'd only been with them for two days. Less than two days. She really didn't know any of them.

What did she know of this group or of time travel? She could always ask… "Doctor?" Rose said in a burst of air.

The Doctor pulled his head out just far enough that he could see her serious expression. He gave a grunt of acknowledgement that he was listening; his sonic screwdriver was in his mouth, preventing speech. The blonde cleared her throat, "Can we go see my dad?"

Arianna, who had been lounging in one of the cushioned seats, staring into space as she thought about her friend, jerked upright so quickly that she almost fell over. Her head whipped around to stare at Rose, shock and horror suffusing her features. "No!" she shouted.

The Corsair immediately looked over at his ward, his eyebrows raised. Through their bond, he could feel her terror and sent calm reassurance down the link in response. She didn't calm completely, but it was enough that her shoulders relaxed partially, and she settled backward, though not entirely. The Doctor had jumped to his feet, looking between the two blondes as he analyzed all the possible reasons for Ari's exclamation and expression.

Rose missed this and instead glared at her not-twin. "Why not? Just because you can't see your family doesn't mean I can't," she hissed. "My dad was the most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th September 1954. Died 7th of November 1987 as he crossed the road to get a stupid vase for a wedding. Mum told me he was always having adventures. I never got to know him. He died when I was only a baby. I just want to see him. What's wrong with that? How can you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?" While the small speech has started in anger, by the time she finished speaking, Rose had gotten quiet until she was almost crying.

Ari blinked at the other, wondering how much was genuine and how much was emotional manipulation to get what she wanted. Or perhaps Ari was being paranoid. She sighed and shook her head, "I don't hate you. I just…" she sighed, looking at the Corsair, then the Doctor, then finally back at Rose. "Never mind." She got to her feet. "Do what you will, I don't care." But I don't have to watch. "Just…" she shook her head, "What does it matter? You won't listen to me anyway." She sighed. "I'm going to take a nap."

As she walked away, she heard the Doctor ask, "Where's this come from all of a sudden?"

Rose answered, "Well, if it goes against the laws of time or something to see dead people, then never mind—"

"No, we can do anything. Just more worried about you," he interrupted.

"We can not do anything, Doctor," the Corsair corrected with a stern look at his fellow Time Lord. Since they were training a time sensitive, they should be very careful with how they expressed certain principles of temporal mechanics, even to each other. Otherwise, they might slip up when it came to explaining things to Arianna. They had to be consistent. "However, going to see your father should be fine." He paused for a moment as a thought occurred to him. He remembered his ward's look of horror, and her immediate deep-seated terror at the mention of seeing Rose's father. He gazed at the nineteen-year-old female human and pondered her species and age. "As long as we establish some rules…"

+++++RECKLESS+++++

"Are you sure you don't want me along?" the Corsair asked, his voice quiet enough so that the human couldn't hear.

"No. I can take care of Rose. She's only human," the Doctor countered. "You need to be here, for Ari. Just in case."

The Corsair sighed, but nodded. "Fine. Just be careful, Doctor. Humans can be rather emotional around their loved ones." It also disturbed him Ari's comment that they wouldn't listen to her either way. The longer he thought about it, the more it bothered him. Where had she gotten such an idea? Had they inadvertently given it to her? Rose herself perhaps? Had someone else told her such? Childhood bullies? Authority figures; a teacher or parent? Someone she trusted would be a lot more ingrained to be believed; a lot more difficult to break the habit.

"You think I don't know that? I'll be fine. We're just going to pop 'round her father's timeline a bit so she can get to know him in person instead of from stories. It'll be fine."

"Fine. I'll finish fixing the temporal aerostabilizer," and start working on some contingency plans, went unsaid. They had discussed what might be needed. They needed to create them, if-slash-when it became unavoidable.

+++++RECKLESS+++++

The digital alarm clock read 9:03 as Ari tossed and turned, her face flashing through emotions as she dreamed…

+++++DREAM+++++

Ari wasn't anywhere. Still, she was there. Watching. Listening.

"Where's this come from all of a sudden?" the Doctor was saying. There they were, Rose and the Doctor, in the console room.

"I don't want him to die alone," Rose said in a faint voice, turning her gaze down on the grating. "I want him to know…" Rose suppressed the sob, "I want him to know that he was a hero to me." She looked up with a sad smile.

"You don't even know him," the Doctor said, his voice steady voice while looking at Rose. The pair were all alone in the control room. No signs of anyone else at all.

"I don't need to. He was my dad. That's all that matters... Can't we?" she looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I can do anything. But I'm more worried about you," he looked at her with concern. Ari knew he couldn't resist those eyes, Rose's eyes.

"I wanna see him," Rose formed a faint smile. "Can we go see their wedding?" she bit her lip nervously.

"Your wish is my command," he grinned at her. After pressing a few switches and a familiar bump, they landed.

The scene faded into a white haze, then began to coalesce into another.

The Doctor looked at his companion, "November the 7th?"

"1987," Rose nodded solemnly. He nodded and flipped a lever. Rose watched as the TARDIS steadily pulsated in front of her eyes, until it finally came to a stop. Announcing their arrival.

Once outside, Rose looked around in shocked awe. A perfectly ordinary day. Rose wondered how often such things happened; the world carrying on around a stationary family in mourning. "I always thought it would be all sort of grim and stormy," Rose said softly, "but it's just an ordinary day." She smiled sadly in the distance.

"The past is another country," the Doctor announced gently. "Are you sure about this?" he asked her firmly.

"Yeah," she turned to face him with a faint smile. Ari knew, understood that Rose had to do this. For him; for her dad. She couldn't let him die all alone. No one should have to die alone, let alone someone like her father. The pair walked towards Jordan Road, and stood patiently waiting for one Peter Alan Tyler to greet his fate. "He was late," Rose began narrating. "He'd been to get a wedding present, the vase... Mum always said, 'That stupid vase.'" Rose chuckled, but it was full of tears. "He got out of his car." They saw Peter arrive and park. He picked up the vase and started to get out of his vehicle. "And crossed the road." Rose felt her heart tighten. She must have made a sound, because she felt the Doctor take her hand into his and squeeze it gently, giving silent support.

Another car made its way around the corner of the nearest intersection at speed. It hadn't even slowed for the turn and was now moving towards Peter Tyler, who was facing away from the upcoming danger, totally oblivious to his surroundings. It happened in a moment. Peter turned, vase in hand as he prepared to lock his car and run to the wedding, his mind probably filled with the voice of his currently-absent wife already berating him for being late, his eyes widened in shocked surprise as he registered the car, but it was too late.

The car hit him at speed. The driver hadn't seen Peter at all and didn't have time to react. By the time the driver understood he was about to commit involuntary manslaughter, it was already over. The driver heard a double bump-thud as he ran over something large. He slammed on his breaks. But it was done.

Rose had turned her face from the scene, burying her head in one of the Doctor's shoulders, unable to watch her father be injured. She just couldn't. She heard the sound of metal hitting flesh, glass breaking, a loud thud-thud. She turned back only once the screech of brakes was over. She covered her mouth with her free hand as her mind took in the scene. The road was splashed with blood, a long line where it had dragged Peter's body and a puddle around where he now rested, and bits of flesh scattered at both the impact site and where he'd gone along the road.

"Oh God," she whimpered as she saw her father's body some yards behind the now-crooked car. She saw his hand make a small movement, as if trying to grasp the vase that was lying smashed near him.

"Go to him. Quick," the Doctor whispered softly.

Rose barely heard him, already at a dead run toward her father's body. She reached him in less than three seconds and fell on her knees, praying she had been fast enough, that they had been close enough.

Peter's pulse was already starting to fade, so bad was the damage to his lower body. His life's blood was pumping out of him so quickly; his right femoral artery severed, his left leg having comminuted fractures. He couldn't feel much, which he was thankful for, and his mind was slow to process that a stranger was holding his head in her arms, rocking him slightly as she cried. He did hear as she spoke to him, reassuring him in great gasping sobs, "You are a wonderful man. Your wife was lucky to know you. And your daughter is very proud of you. You are loved. I love you. I love you, Daddy!"

Then the life faded from his eyes. His hand went limp.

Just like that. In a split second, he was gone. In a split second, at least four people's lives were changed forever: her mother, her father, herself, and the driver's. So many people forever changed because one man was too distracted to notice a stop sign.

Rose placed his head gently on the cold cement and kissed his forehead tenderly. Saying one last goodbye. She was barely breathing properly through her tears as she stood. She stumbled away from his cooling corpse, straight into the Doctor's arms.

His blue eyes were full of understanding as he held her close to his chest. He didn't comment about domestics or stupid apes. He only wrapped his arm around her and gently led her away, back towards the TARDIS.

He didn't let go for several hours. Holding her close, anchoring her, supporting her, silently reassuring her that she wasn't alone, that someone who cared for her was there. He'd be there for her for as long as she let him.

+++++RECKLESS+++++

Ari bolted upright, panting. She blinked in confusion as the world took on a different setting. She was in the Tardis. In bed. She'd been sleeping. Dreaming. "Well…" her breathing slowing, "…that was different." It had been so real, she could have sworn she had lived through it. As if she had been watching an episode of her favorite show. She'd had realistic dreams before, dreams so real that it took her several seconds to remember where she was. But nothing as vivid as what she'd just seen.

And it was so different from the show…while at the same time being the same. "Yup, that was weird." It was also different than what she'd heard. There hadn't been anyone else with the pair either: no Corsair, no Jabe, no her. Yet, it was also different from the show. "Huh."

Her heart had slowed and she registered that it had been less than twenty minutes – based on the digital alarm clock by her bed that now read 9:19. There was no way that real-Rose's trip would end like dream-Rose's. It would take longer too.

Ari rolled over, pulled the covers back up, and went back to sleep…

+++++DREAM+++++

"He can't die on his own. Please," she looked at the Time Lord, "Please, can't we try again?"

The Doctor looked at his companion with all the wealth of experience his 900 years gave him. While technically he could, it was so dangerous. Having a second set of themselves would create a vulnerable point, open the possibility of it going so very wrong. But… He looked into her eyes and couldn't deny her. He would go against his instincts, for her; so that she might have the opportunity to do what he never could: say goodbye. He'd just have to keep his eyes sharp. Just in case…

Rose visibly shook. "Oh God, I can't do this," she whispered.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," the Doctor quietly said, then cautioned, "but this is the last time we can be here." He nodded to their past selves. It was now a vulnerable point. Very dangerous. He didn't like this, but for those eyes of hers, he'd done it; going against his own instincts for her. So that she could do what he had never been able: say goodbye. Still… He kept a sharp eye open, just in case…

Rose shook her head violently as the car came around the corner. She'd frozen before, but now she knew even better what was coming. She'd seen…and she couldn't let him die! She couldn't stand aside and just watch!

The blonde darted forward, intent on shoving her father out of the way. Wanting with every fiber of her being to save him. However, before she could take a single step, the Doctor's hand gripped her upper arm. Keeping her in place. "No! No!" she screamed. She yanked, her entire body wanting to run forward, and while the Doctor only held her, she was pulling desperately with enough force that she was almost ripping her own arm out of its socket.

As soon as it was done, the Doctor released her. Allowing her to rush to her father's side. To hold him in her arms and she rocked, great sobbing cries filling the air. She couldn't say anything coherent. She was hysterical and her father died in her arms. At least he hadn't been alone. At least he'd known someone cared. She was barely breathing properly through her tears as she stood. She stumbled away from his cooling corpse, straight into the Doctor. His blue eyes were full of weary understanding as he wrapped an arm around her. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why?!"

He sighed, gently leading her away, back towards his ship. "It's my fault. I should've known you wouldn't be able to stop yourself." He maneuvered her to the pilot's seat before moving quickly to get as far away from November 7th, 1987 as possible. He sighed again as he listened to her heaving sobs. "You're only human," he whispered in resignation.

The TARDIS dematerialized as he began to wonder if it might be a better idea to drop Rose off to be with her family, her mother and boyfriend. Rose was so young. He really should have known better. The ones who truly understood what he offered were rare; few and far between, especially at her age. For most, it wasn't about what he could show them – the wonders of the universe in all its glory, past, present, and future – it was what he could do for them.

"Why'd you stop me?" she asked when she began to run out of tears.

"You think it never occurred to me to go back and save anyone? My family? My people?" he answered quietly, seriously, somberly. "It's impossible."

She jumped to her feet to face him, brimming with anger, "You'd rather him dead?!"

He sighed, knowing she wouldn't understand, but he tried anyway. "Rose, there would've been a man alive in the world who hadn't been alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world would've been different because he was alive. You would have been different. Your mother. Your memories would change. You, as a person, would have been fundamentally altered if I hadn't stopped you—"

She cut him off, "If you hadn't stopped me, my dad wouldn't be dead. I could've had a father growing up instead of just stories! My mother could've had the love of her life! It's your fault he's dead!" she screamed, then ran off to her bedroom.

The Doctor shook his head and set the controls for London, 2006. It was time for Rose to go home…for good. She couldn't handle being his companion. She didn't have the right temperament, didn't think the right way. She was just… "Too human," he sighed and pulled the lever.

+++++RECKLESS+++++

Ari shot awake, a hand coming up. Trying to keep her heart where it should be: inside her chest. "What. The. Hell." she whisper-demanded to the air as she collapsed backward into her pillow with a plop. Again, the dream had been so vivid. So real it took her a second to recognize the Tardis ceiling as her bedroom. The differences were staggering. Especially since that version had Rose getting sent back to London afterward. Which meant she wouldn't be around for Jack or Bad Wolf. The whole sequence of season one would have changed, effecting the rest, and then at the end of season four, all of it would have ended. "Damn…" Ari muttered.

Her eyes went to the glowing red numbers of the clock. 9:37 "Son of a bitch," she said. Maybe she should get up and go read or something. A change of scenery so that she'd dream about something else. Her eyes drifted closed. Maybe go to the library…

+++++RECKLESS+++++

The Corsair frowned as he looked up from his work, toward the only side corridor. That was the second time that his ward had a burst of intense emotion which had just as quickly dissipated. Dreams usually produced quick fleetings of emotion, so that was not unusual. What was unusual was the intensity. It was almost as if she were experiencing something real. Yet her mind was just as quiet and off-center as he would expect of someone dreaming.

He observed as her mind briefly awakened, the emotion going to relieved confusion, then she drifted off again. He shook his head and went back to his tinkering, but a piece of his mind was just a little bit more tuned to her than before. Just in case he was needed…

+++++DREAM+++++

"Oh God," she whimpered as she saw her father's body some yards behind the now-crooked car. She saw his hand make a small movement, as if trying to grasp the vase that was lying smashed near him.

"Quickly," the Doctor whispered softly, "Go to him."

Rose barely heard him, her mind frozen on the scene. She couldn't process. Couldn't acknowledge the horror in front of her. So much blood! Her father's blood and bits strewn across the road! She shook and the Doctor pulled her to his side and led her away, around the corner.

She didn't make much noise as she cried, tears streaming down her face, her hands covering her mouth as if to keep the sound in. When the sirens reached their ears, she flinched. "It's too late now," her eyes didn't leave her knees. "By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead." The scene flashed in her mind in technicolor. It was amazing he lived very long at all after… "He can't die on his own. Please," she looked at the Time Lord, "Please, can we try again?"

The Doctor looked at his companion with all the wealth of experience his 900 years gave him. He already knew what would happen if he agreed. While technically he could, it would be too much for a human to bear. No one as caring and gentle as Rose would be able to watch a second time. So, he lied. "No. I'm so sorry." He wrapped her in his arms as she began to cry anew, this time with full sound, and didn't mention domestics.

The scene was eclipsed in white fog, then reformed.

He nodded at their past selves. "Right, that's the first you and me," he narrated quietly enough that his past self wouldn't hear. "This is a very bad idea: two sets of us being here at the same time. It creates a vulnerable point." He sighed, seeing her face. She was only barely aware of him at all. "Just be careful they don't see us. Wait until she runs off and he follows, then go to your dad."

Rose visibly shook. "Oh God, I can't do this," she whispered.

The blonde darted forward, around the corner, past herself, intent on shoving her father out of the way. Wanting with every fiber of her being to save him. However, before she could take more than a half-dozen steps, the Doctor's hand gripped her upper arm. Keeping her in place. "No! No!" she screamed. She yanked, her entire body wanting to run forward, and while the Doctor only held her, she was pulling desperately with enough force that she was almost ripping her own arm out of its socket.

All it took was three seconds.

The car…the sounds…the blood…his hand, still grasping for that stupid vase…

Rose was practically hysterical, but the Doctor had no mercy. Not this time. He shook her once. Twice. Three times. Until she stopped and looked up at him. Then her eyes registered what had occurred. It wasn't just the Doctor that had grabbed her: it was the Past-Doctor! The Present-Doctor was still by the corner, his clear blue eyes were full of rage. "You stupid ape!" both hissed, their expressions identical. The one holding her snarled, "You don't know what you've done."

"Don't yell at her," Past-Rose said.

Present-Doctor saw her reach out, wanting to get in between the two versions, and he tried to move forward quickly enough, "No, don'—!" to no avail. He was too late.

Past-Rose's fingers brushed Present-Rose's shoulder.

It was all over in less time than it took to blink.

A Reaper appeared in the sky above. It rushed forward and gobbled the four whole.

+++++RECKLESS+++++

Ari woke screaming, the Corsair shaking her shoulder lightly as he tried to wake her. "It's alright. It's alright, Arianna. It's only a dream. It's a dream," he soothed.

Her eyes darted around, looking for the Reaper, her whole being trembling in terror. It took her almost ten seconds to register that she was still on the Tardis. Another 30 to understand fully that the Corsair was right: it was just a nightmare. "But it felt so real," she whispered. She didn't care…she rested her head on his shoulder. Taking comfort where she could.

He didn't seem to mind. Instead, he used it as an excuse to pull her closer into his embrace. He smiled into her hair. It had been so long since he'd held anyone like this. Since anyone trusted him enough to let him comfort them. This was something that happened between parents and children, or spouses. He had forgotten how much the giver received comfort as well. He relished her physical and psychic closeness. When she did draw away, he let her go reluctantly. "How about some hot cocoa?" he offered, smiling when she gave a weak laugh and nodded.

When they both had a steaming mug in front of them, he asked gently, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She snorted, but it seemed more habit than true annoyance. He waited patiently. Finally, she answered. "I just had a string of dreams from that stupid 'Father's Day' episode…but they were all different from the show. At the same time, they were the same in a lot of ways. Rose's dad died by a hit-and-run driver…though that was only in a couple dreams, come to think of it…there was no me, no you. Just the Doctor and Rose and the accident. But it ended all different ways."

The Corsair frowned in thought, "Describe them."

"In the first, Rose went to her dad's side, just like they had planned. She held him as he died so that he wouldn't die alone. Then the Doc took her to the Tardis… Wait," she blinked as a new detail came to her. "No. He took her to the TARDIS." Her voice stressed the word a bit more than before.

He raised an eyebrow, "What's the difference?"

"TARDIS is all capital letters. Our Tardis doesn't have them," she answered instantly, automatically, then froze. She didn't know where that answer had come from. Didn't know what it meant. If it meant anything…but her mind already knew that it did mean something. Something significantly important. Special. Something only a few ship's had. What that something was, she had no idea. So, for now, she decided to ignore it. "The second dream was more like the show, but different. The accident happened, and Rose froze instead of going to his side. She asked the Doctor for a second try. When it happened again, she couldn't stand it and went to try to save her father's life," the Corsair sucked in a sharp breath, Ari continued regardless, "I know, right? Bad idea. Well, the Doctor prevented her from saving him. She was with him when he died, but then the Doc decided not to travel with her anymore.

"Then I dreamed it again - the going-back-and-try-again thing - only with two different versions again. The first when the Doc said 'no' to trying again. The second…" she shivered, drinking more hot chocolate, "Rose touched her past self and…the Reapers ate them, just like they did in the episode."

The Corsair sat back as he absorbed her words, mulling them over, "What happened in the show?"

"Same thing, but instead the Reapers ate everyone all over the world because Rose saved her dad. The Doctor kept trying to keep people alive and keep Pete alive, but it just kept getting worse. Eventually, Pete Tyler sacrificed himself so that Rose, and everyone else, would have a chance. Everything reset. Like it had never happened." Her eyebrows scrunched as she realized another detail: that in her first dream he hadn't been Pete Tyler, but Peter Tyler.

"Hmm…" he acknowledged. After a second, he said, "I know the creature that you call a Reaper. What you just described, the 'episode'," he emphasized the word slightly for the air quotes that he didn't use his fingers to indicate, "wouldn't have happened in any case. It wouldn't have erased everyone from the timeline, just those that had disrupted it. Just Rose, her father, and perhaps the Doctor."

So more like her last dream, but less dramatic than the show. Isn't that what Jabe said? That television isn't as dramatic as reality, so the producers/directors have to create more, to keep it entertaining. She frowned at him, "What does this mean? Those dreams were so real. It was like I was an observer. Like a virtual reality I was watching of an episode. Other than the fact no one noticed me, or spoke to me or anything, it was exactly like being there. Well, sort of," she frowned harder as she thought back, "Not quite like watching an episode and more like a dream in one key aspect: it was like I inherently just understood more than I could possibly have if I'd been only watching things like in an episode. I've never had a dream like that before."

"What do you mean, 'you understood more'?"

"Well, you know how in dreams you understand things instinctively that you have no way of knowing otherwise once you wake up? It was like that. I knew things about the Doctor and Rose, how they were viewing the situation, than could ever be explained by their reactions, script, and body language." She'd known that the last two versions were not, in fact, connected, even though they were practically a continuation if one ignored the last bit of the 3rd. It even would make sense, that the Doc had just changed his mind, but she knew, without being able to say how she knew, that wasn't what happened. That it was in fact four different versions of the same events, not three.

The Corsair winced slightly when she called it a script, but didn't disagree either. This was an unusual circumstance. He'd remind her about pretending it was real in the morning, even in her word choice, when she was more awake and coherent.

"Still, even with that aspect, that knowing, I've never had dreams like that. I mean…" she shrugged helplessly.

He gave a slightly sad smile, "It's your time sensitivity. You are one of the highest calibers of time sensitives I've ever met. One aspect is that you see different versions of Time, especially for key events that matter to you in one way or another. Dreaming them is quite common." Nestling them in a dream-state instead of seeing them all the time was one of the few ways that her mind could accept the information without going insane. More than one time sensitive had walked off cliffs or bridges, thinking that they were on flat ground because what they saw wasn't the present. "You'll start to have them more often." Travelling in a Tardis would expose her to more artron radiation, which would open her mind to even more possibilities. More 'versions' as she called them.

Ari's eyes widened at that tidbit of information. "More? Good God, these were bad enough! Do you have any idea how often the Doctor and his companions almost die? I don't want to see all the different ways it can happen!"

The Corsair gave a sympathetic nod of understanding. "I know and I'll always be here, if you want to talk. I know you confided in Jabe, but boys can be good listeners too." His words startled a snort out of her and into her mug, laughing at the image he presented. Which had been his goal. His smile became more genuine. "Seriously, Arianna. I want to help as much as I can." It was also his responsibility as her caretaker, but if he said as much, she'd think it was his duty, not that he wanted to, which would make her more reluctant to come to him. Instead, he said, "I like helping." He looked at her finishing the last of her drink. "With that in mind, is there anything else I can do?"

Ari bit her lip as she thought through his offer. "Can we go peek in on the Doc and Rose? Just to make sure?"

He smiled and nodded, "Of course we can!" He bounced to his feet, she right along with him, and the pair went off towards the control room. However, before they got very far, they heard shouting.

Ari sped up, the Corsair beside her, the sound of the Tardis dematerializing reached their ears as well, even as the ground tilted slightly with flight.

"Why'd you stop me?" Rose yelled, her voice full of tearful rage.

"You think it never occurred to me to go back and save anyone? My family? My people?" he demanded, sharp and serious. "It's impossible."

Rose had been sitting in one of the pilot chairs as Ari and the Corsair entered, but jumped to her feet to face him with the Doctor's response, "You'd rather him dead?!"

The Doctor sighed, knowing she wouldn't understand, but he tried anyway. "Rose, there would've been a man alive in the world who hadn't been before. An ordinary man. That's one of the most important things in creation. The whole world would've been different because he was alive. You would have been different. Your childhood would have changed. Your memories would change. You, as a person, would have been fundamentally altered—"

"I don't care!" she cut him off with a sharp stab of her hand. "If you hadn't stopped me, my dad wouldn't be dead. I could've had a father growing up instead of just stories! My mother could've had the love of her life! It's your fault he's dead!" she screamed, then ran off to her bedroom. Though she passed the other two, who had watched from the mouth of the hall, she ignored them, too lost in her grief.

The Doctor shook his head, sighed, and set the controls for London 2006. It was time for Rose to go home…for good. She couldn't handle being a companion. She didn't have the right temperament, didn't think the right way. She was just… "Too human," he gave a sad sigh and pulled the lever.

Arianna's eyes were wide as saucers as she watched one of her dreams come true.

If reality and dreams got any more entangled, what was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to tell which was which? Unbidden, a quote of the Twelfth Doctor echoed through her mind. "No one knows they're not dreaming. Not one of us. Not ever. Not for one single moment of our lives."

After a long second, she breathed, "I'm so screwed…"

Finished: 3.1.2020

AN: My awesome beta aninotane came back for a little bit to help me with this one; along with denise3 herself (who inspired this chapter). Yay! All grammatical mistakes are mine. My betas help me with ideas, coherency, consistency, and flow, not the nitty-gritty spelling/grammar.

AN2: I was going to portion these three chapters out (chapters 10-12) since I finished them all within a week or so of each other. (Especially since I finished them out of order!) I doubt this will happen again, sorry. My brain got obsessed. We'll see how long it lasts, though. I'll write until I get annoyed. (Though, EmptyChild/DoctorDances has already been rewritten twice... +cue groan+ Fair warning.)

AN3: Have officially passed 100k! +cheering+ I had to post once I figured that bit out. Couldn't help myself. It's a huge milestone for me! Most of my stories never get so long. I think there's only one other that is as long. ^_^ I'm very happy!

Please review! Constructive criticism if you would; I know it's not perfect.