A/N: Okay, this is like the last chapter of the story. So, as you can probably assume, a lot of shit goes down here.

Warnings: Fluff. Angst. Language. Discussion of Child Death and Imprisonment.

Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 27

Doomsday: The Life Before Her Eyes

Jackie was still hurrying down the stairs. Finally, she was forced to come to an abrupt hall when she saw the Cybermen approaching from the bottom of the stairs. She started running back up again and then finally exited the stairwell on the next floor. She started down a corridor and screamed when she came face-to-face with two Cybermen.

"You will be upgraded," The Cyberman intoned, threateningly.

"No, but you can't!" Jackie whimpered. "Please-"

The Cybermen didn't approach further since they were shot from behind, exploding in a well of sparks. They fell to the ground, dead, only to reveal Pete aiming a large, heavy-built gun behind them, accompanied by the Doctor, the Priestess, Rose and Mickey. Jackie squinted through the smoke clouding the space where the Cybermen had just stood, uncomprehending, and then finally, her eyes widened as she realised just who was standing in front of her.

Her heart jumped into her throat and she suddenly felt like bursting into tears.

"Pete!"

Behind Pete and his gun, Rose's hands went up to her mouth as she awaited the reunion between her alternate-universe father and her mother.

Pete hesitated before saying something. "Hello, Jacks."

Jackie's shoulders slumped. "I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair," She whined. "Why him?" She demanded of the Doctor.

Pete shook his head, still unable to quite comprehend his wife (not his wife) standing in front of him, as dishevelled as his Jackie had never been.

"I'm not a ghost," He denied.

Jackie paused and frowned. "But you're dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete," She insisted.

The Doctor took a step forward. "It's Pete from a different Universe," He began, hesitantly. "There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where-"

He squeaked when the Priestess pinched a spot on his hip.

"Hey!" He protested.

Jackie nodded, as if agreeing with the Priestess' action. "Oh, you can shut up."

The Doctor pouted at the Priestess, who rolled her eyes and grasped him by the lapel of his suit jacket, pulling him back into the background. Rose was too focused on the tension between her parents to even get jealous at the Doctor and Priestess' easy camaraderie.

"Oh... you look old," Jackie whispered.

"You don't," Pete said, immediately, smiling at her fondly.

"How can you be standing there?" Jackie insisted.

Pete shrugged. "Just got lucky... lived my life. You were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or...?" He trailed off, almost certain he didn't want to know the answer.

"There was never anyone else," Jackie said, quietly.

The Priestess understood. She understood better than most. There were decades where she had feared the Doctor had perished or disappeared or had simply decided to leave and never return to her but undertaking what their relationship had been with someone else had never seemed a valid option to her; not in nine-hundred years would she have even considered traversing that unruly ground with anyone but him.

She saw the Doctor smirk out of the corner of her eye and she subtly pressed down on the front of his feet with her heel, to which he almost shouted.

"Twenty years, though," Jackie laughed, self-deprecatingly. "Look at me, I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself."

"Brought her up," Pete thumbed over his shoulder. "Rose Tyler."

The Doctor and Mickey couldn't help but smile, proudly.

"That's not bad," Pete commented.

"Yeah," Jackie whispered, lamely.

"In my world, it worked," Pete added. "All those daft little plans of mine. They worked. Made me rich."

Jackie shook her head, fervently. "I don't care about that." She paused. "How rich?"

She couldn't help herself.

Pete grinned. Same old Jackie. "Very."

Jackie shook her head again, as if trying to convince herself of the fact. "I don't care about that. How very?"

Pete laughed, making Rose roll her eyes (although her bouncing on her feet was more telling of her actual mood), while the Doctor smiled at the newly-reunited couple, fondly.

I know what you engineered, the Priestess told the Doctor, coyly.

The Doctor huffed. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Beloved, you may be able to fool the humans, but you will never be able to fool me, the Priestess pointed out. You brought Pete Tyler back to this universe for a purpose.

The Doctor paused. In my defence, I thought they'd make a good couple.

The Priestess' laugh was low and soothing and warm like melted chocolate in his head.

Was that before or after Pete refused to allow you to return to this universe to save me, my very own knight?

The Doctor grimaced. How did you know?

The Priestess' mind was mellow with affection: all balmy yellows and oranges. You would never allow anyone to separate you from myself, beloved. You may not carry a weapon, but you have many other talents that allow you to manifest your intentions.

You're making me blush, darling, the Doctor teased. He sobered eventually. I wouldn't have let them keep us apart, Nikki. If it meant… subtly pushing Pete towards Jackie, well, then…

It is fair if it keeps us together, the Priestess finished, knowingly.

She would have done the same – manipulation may gall at her, but if it meant remaining with the Doctor, was there any line she wouldn't cross?

I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think they'd be good for each other, the Doctor said, lamely. But, yeah, I wanted to get back here, and Pete wasn't about to let me and all I could think about was you in a room with four Daleks who would take a great pleasure in killing you. And I wouldn't have even known, because the bond doesn't translate across universes. I had to convince him to let me return and teasing him with the possibility of his wife alive in another universe – a wife that he could be happy with – seemed to do the trick. And it was just extra manpower in the end.

I understand, the Priestess soothed. I am not admonishing you, my love. She paused. Although, your subsequent journeys between the universes may have further irreparably damaged the structural foundations of both universes.

Hey, the Doctor protested. I thought you weren't going to scold me.

This is not scolding, the Priestess defended herself, sheepishly. This is merely drawing attention to the disadvantage of your scheme, that is all.

The Doctor sniffed. You can't go one day without trying to one-up me, can you?

In my defence, you do make it very unexacting.

Rude, the Doctor shot back.

The Priestess laughed. Oh, yes, I am rude.

"Thing is though, Jacks," Pete paused. "You're… you're not my wife. I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean, we both..."

Jackie nodded and immediately deflated, looking at the ground instead and wishing very much that the ground would swallow her up.

"You know, it's just sort of..." Pete's stoicism gave out and he started towards her. "Oh, come here."

Jackie didn't need any more words and she rushed into Pete's arms, who caught her and swept her off the ground, clutching at her as if he feared he'd never see her again if he let her go.

The erstwhile group found themselves on the factory floor of Torchwood. The Doctor opened the doors only to find a voracious gunfight between the Cybermen and the Daleks.

"Don't follow me," The Doctor ordered the Priestess.

"You must be mad," The Priestess retorted.

"Hey, you have a better idea?" The Doctor nudged her.

The Priestess waved him off, but took her place with Rose by the doorway, as the Doctor peered inside and abruptly dove right into the middle of the battle. The Priestess hid every single flinch when a beam almost struck the Doctor and stole yet another regeneration away from him, under her vicious stoicism. The Doctor managed to grab onto the two of the magnaclamps, using them to deflect the rays from himself when they approached his direction. He finally made it back towards the door, dodging the beam, just when he tripped over a fallen Cyberman's body.

The Priestess reared up in fury and disbelief. Are you mad? Of all the times to mislay your grace.

Oh, calm down, I'm there.

Beside the Priestess, Rose's hands were clenched tight. "Come on, please."

The Doctor flailed around but got to his feet and slipped through the door to safety, just as the Priestess and Rose shut it behind him. The Doctor was about to rush out of there, when something struck him.

"Wait, no!"

The Doctor motioned towards the doors and the Priestess carefully opened them, so that the Doctor and her could peer around, the Doctor wearing the 3D glasses.

"Override roof mechanism," Dalek Sec ordered.

The roof of the factory floor began to open slowly.

"Elevate."

The Priestess narrowed their eyes. "They need to open the Genesis Ark outside."

Rose looked at her, bewildered. "But why?"

It was not a favour with which Mickey had presented us, she told the Doctor. This will be our downfall.

"There are millions of Daleks inside that prison ship. The force of the vacuum would kill everything in sight if the Genesis Ark was opened indoors," The Priestess explained, grimly.

The Doctor stared at her for a moment. "You and I are going to have a conversation about everything you built for the High Council later."

The Priestess raised an eyebrow – if he had wanted to shame her or guilt her, he would be thoroughly disappointed.

The Doctor wanted to start arguing with her, then and there, but he also knew it wasn't the best time to begin that conversation – it would lead them to territory that wasn't exactly safe for public consumption.

Instead, he chose to run back down the corridor, shouting to the others as he went.

"We've gotta see what going on, we've gotta go back up!" The Doctor insisted. "Come on! All of you! Top floor!"

Jackie scowled. "That's forty-five floors up!" She protested. "Believe me, I've done 'em all."

Jake popped his head out of the lift. "We could always take the lift..." He offered.

The Doctor, the Priestess and the others stepped out of the lift on the top floor, the rift chamber, and rushed to the window, the Doctor dumping the magnaclamps down on Yvonne's desk as he did so. The Priestess was already at the window, watching as the Genesis Ark spun in mid-air, outside, rolls and rolls of Daleks zooming out of it.

"How many Daleks?" Rose asked, her voice small with fear.

"Millions," The Doctor replied, grimly.

After a moment of watching as the Daleks outside fired at the terrified people running below them (people who couldn't have escaped even if they knew what was going on), Pete stormed away from the window.

"I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's gonna crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home. Jacks, take this," Pete tossed her a dimension transporter.

Jackie looked from the bright yellow button to Pete's stoic face "But they're destroying the city!" She protested.

Pete softened. "I'd forgotten you could argue," He said, affectionately. But he looped the transporter around her neck himself. "It's not just London, it's the whole world." He took her face in his hands, hoping that she would understand if she just looked at him. "But there's another world, just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe. As long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?" He looked at the man in question.

The Doctor turned from where he had been staring at the Priestess, with his 3D glasses on and a giant, confident grin.

"Oh, we're ready," The Doctor said, gleefully. "I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood!" He dashed over to the computer. "Slam it down and close off both universes."

"Reboot systems."

"But we can't just leave," Rose protested. "What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen-?" She trailed off, pointedly.

The Doctor jumped to his feet. "They're part of the problem. And that makes them part of the solution. Oh, yes!"

Rose couldn't help but laugh, although somewhat nervously, contagiously.

The Doctor looked at all of them, expectantly, but for the Priestess, who was simply rolling her eyes at him.

"Well?! Isn't anyone gonna ask? What is it with the glasses?" He pushed.

Rose grinned and bounced on her feet, barely resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at the Priestess.

"What is it with the glasses?"

"I can see!" The Doctor jumped three feet in the air. "That's what! 'Cause we've got two separate worlds, but in-between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here! And you lot, one world to another, via the Void!" He paused. "Oh, I like that. Via the Void! Look!" He pressed the glasses onto Rose's face, so that she could see the stray threads of energy floating all around them. "I've been through it. Do you see?"

He dodged around in front of her, so that Rose could see how the particles almost clung to him as he moved. She reached out to try and touch them.

"Reboot in three minutes."

"Void stuff," The Doctor explained.

"Like um... background radiation!" Rose suggested, cheerfully.

The Doctor beamed, proudly. "That's it. Look at the others."

Rose turned around to look at Jake, Mickey, Jackie and Pete, only to find that Jackie was the only member of the small group that wasn't surrounded by the Void stuff.

"The only one who hasn't been through the Void: your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life," The Doctor muttered.

Rose giggled.

"Oi!" Jackie retorted.

The Doctor dashed into the clear white area where the Cybermen had emerged, with Rose following.

"The Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them. I just open the Void, end of verse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."

"Pulling them all in!" Rose cried out, enthusiastically.

"Pulling them all in!" The Doctor repeated with equal fervour.

"Sorry…" Mickey took a step forward (he couldn't help but look at the Priestess, who was watching the Doctor and Rose interact with some amount of sorrow). "Just so I get this, you're sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell?"

"Essentially," The Priestess added.

Mickey grinned at them and turned to Jake. "Man, I told you they were good."

Rose continued to peer around the room, with the Doctor's glasses. "But it's... like you said, we've all got Void stuff. Me too, 'cause we went to that parallel world," She flexed her fingers in front of her, examining how the floating green and red particles moved along with the ripples in her skin. She pulled the glasses off and the Doctor stood before her, solemnly. "We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."

The Doctor took a deep breath and looked at the Priestess, who nodded. He gifted Rose with a gentle look.

"That's why you've gotta go," He said, gently.

"Reboot in two minutes."

Rose stared at him, uncomprehending or perhaps unwilling to comprehend what he was saying.

"Back to Pete's world," The Doctor said, slowly. Then, he abruptly pointed to Pete. "Hey, we should call it that, 'Pete's World'." He mused, and then turned back to Rose. "I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."

Rose continued to stare at him. The Doctor looked away as soon as he could, lest he see the betrayal he was certain was shrouding her gaze.

Pete cleared his throat. "And then you close it. For good?"

The Priestess took a step forward. "The breach itself is infused with the radiation. It will ultimately close itself," She explained.

"But you stay on this side...?" Rose trailed off, her voice going quiet.

"But you'll get pulled in," Mickey pointed out, looking at the Priestess worriedly.

The Doctor and the Priestess exchanged a look, before the Doctor sighed and ran over to the magnaclamps. He deliberately avoided Rose's gaze, who looked as if she'd been slapped across the face.

"That's why... we have these," The Doctor explained. "We'll just have to hold on tight. We've been doing it all our lives."

"I'm supposed to go," Rose said, dully.

"Yeah," The Doctor replied.

"To another world, and then it gets sealed off," Rose clarified.

"Yeah."

The Doctor continued to avoid any deeper conversation with Rose and instead went over to another one of the computers.

"Forever," Rose laughed at how absurd the idea was. "That's not gonna happen."

It was as if something vicious had lit up in Rose and she rounded on the Priestess. The Priestess didn't need to be telepathic to know that the girl was blaming her for the recent turn of events, and it was easier for Rose to believe that the Priestess had manipulated the Doctor's decision in order to get rid of her, instead of believing that the Doctor was willingly and voluntarily allowing himself to be parted from her.

Rose, on the other hand, was completely seething. This is all your fault, she wanted to shout. If you hadn't come into my life, everything would be fine. The Doctor wouldn't have even thought about me going to another universe while he stays here. You ruined EVEYRTHING.

"What about her?" Rose asked, suddenly, gesturing to the Priestess.

The Doctor frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She's staying here. With you," Rose said, pointedly.

"Yeah, and?" The Doctor pushed, unsure of what she was getting at.

Rose wanted to laugh or cry, either would have done. He didn't even think about it. She's twisted him up so tight, the cow.

"So, you and her are staying here. While I go to another universe, which gets sealed off," Rose glowered at the Priestess.

There was a crash from outside, which shook the building,

"We haven't got time to argue," Pete said, briskly. "The plans works; we go in. You too. All of us." He told Rose, sternly.

Rose immediately scowled. "No, I'm not leaving him!" She snapped.

"I'm not going without her," Jackie added.

Pete wanted to scream. "Oh, my God. We're going."

Jackie reared up in offence. "I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her," She said, sharply.

Rose's shoulders slumped, and she bodily turned her mother around to face her. "You've got to."

"Well, that's tough!" Jackie exclaimed, shrilly.

"Mum…"

"Reboot in one minute."

Rose swallowed hard but forced herself to say what she wanted to say. "I've had a life with you for nineteen years. But then I met the Doctor and... all the things I've seen him do for me. For you. For all of us. For the whole... stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum."

The Priestess wanted to rage at that, rage at the girl's arrogance – he does not do it alone; he has me; he will always have me, long after your bones are dust in the ground.

Instead, she looked at the Doctor, pointedly, who nodded, with such terrible sadness in his eyes that it made her wonder, just for a brief moment (although, in hindsight, that was probably enough) that maybe Rose's feelings for her Bondmate weren't as unrequited as she had first thought they were.

No. He would not betray me in that manner. He would not stray.

But it was a thought that would endure.

The Doctor silently took the dimension transporter out of his pocket.

"But not anymore," Rose continued, backing away in the Doctor's direction. "'Cause now he's got me." The Doctor looped the chain around Rose's neck and she looked down, bewildered. "What're you-?"

Before she could say or do anything, Pete had pressed the button and all of them disappeared, leaving the Doctor and the Priestess alone in the rift chamber. The Priestess watched the Doctor stare at the place Rose had just been occupying with such a desolate expression that all of those daunting misgivings about the Doctor and Rose began to thrive like weeds in her head, until she was forced to look away before the Doctor could see her distress.

Moments later, Rose appeared in exactly the same place with a loud pop.

"I think this is the on switch..." She sighed, happily.

The Doctor and the Priestess jumped in shock.

The Doctor, realising what Rose had done, seized the girl by the shoulders, wanting to shake her until her skull rattled – perhaps, then, some sense will come to her, he thought, unforgivably.

"Once the breach collapses, that's it," The Doctor snapped, hoping at least his anger would make the girl understand what she was giving up. "You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!"

He thought of Annika then, how she had flinched away when he had mentioned Arcadia. He wondered how it had been for her, to be on that ship, surrounded by monsters who wanted her dead and feel the death of each of their three children, their granddaughter, in her head and know that there was nothing she could do about it – the great Dream Child, Lady Oracle, helpless to save the children for whom she had bled and stomached intolerance and loved with everything inside her.

Decades later, and Annika hadn't healed from the loss (neither had he, but at least he had been there – all Annika could do was listen and scream as her babies were gunned down). How would Rose cope, when the fiercest being he had ever known couldn't bring herself to even think the names of her dead children without wanting to claw at her own eyes (had she considered ending it all, during the War? Or had she thought her survival to be her punishment?)?

No wonder Annika became exasperated by Rose sometimes.

Rose stared him down, calm in the face of his disappointment and anger – so certain in the validity of her decision.

"I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never gonna leave you."

The Doctor's hold on the girl slackened in surprise.

The Priestess made a sound of fury and stormed over to the blonde girl.

"You are a blind little fool," She hissed, and for a moment, Rose truly believed that she hated her (if the Priestess were even capable of that much emotion – Rose definitely hadn't seen much more from her that indifference and arrogance). She rounded on the Doctor, who flinched away from her look of anger. "And shame on you for encouraging her."

Rose glared at the Priestess, wanting to shout at her and gloat in the face of her triumph, but wisely kept her mouth shut, seeing the Doctor's cold gaze (clearly, he hadn't been able to see past whatever tale the Priestess had spun for him to convince him to send her to that parallel universe).

"Tess, I didn't-" The Doctor began, wounded that the Priestess would ever think that he was siding with Rose over her.

The bond was closed on her side, so he couldn't even explain himself to her.

The Priestess ignored him, choosing to continue to glower at Rose. "Losing a child is not a trauma from which one rapidly recovers, no matter your species. It is a loss that remains with you until you die. Even if, one day, you are able to think of your child with affection and joy, it will ache and pull at you every single moment of every single day. That is the fate you are dooming your mother to, you selfish little girl."

Rose tipped her head up in defiance, challenging the Time Lady. "And I suppose you know so much about it?" She said, derisively.

"My three children are dead," The Priestess said, bluntly, making Rose startle in her shock. "So, as you say, I do know much about it. And I thought you had cured yourself of your self-obsession, but it appears I was mistaken."

"Tess," The Doctor began, soothingly, looking at Rose, worriedly (while he didn't necessarily approve of Rose's decision, he didn't want Annika to irreparably wound the girl – and Annika had quite the sharp tongue when she was making a point). "Don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

The way she looked at him then – like he wasn't her Bondmate and husband and father of her children and lover and oldest and dearest friend in the universe – it made him want to crawl into a ball and escape the world.

The Priestess shook her head in disgust at the Doctor's easy acceptance of Rose's decision – she didn't want to think it, but he prefers her to remain with him went on a loop in her mind.

They are companions. He does not want to lose her.

For what purpose, though? Is he distressed by the thought of never seeing her again because she is his friend, or because she represents something more indelicate?

Rose stood her ground, however. "I made my choice!" She insisted.

The Priestess gritted her teeth and rounded on the Doctor. "If this is the choice she makes, and you accept it, then you will bring me to Sarah Jane's home."

The Doctor was flabbergasted. "What?"

Nikki? What the hell are you talking about?

But the bond was still cold to him.

"You will leave me at Sarah Jane's home," The Priestess said, firmly. "Perhaps she will find some work for me, but I will not stay here, not in the TARDIS, not while you accede to the childish, short-sighted decisions of a girl too young to comprehend what she is depriving herself of."

The Priestess left the Doctor and Rose standing there and made her way over to one of the computers, deliberately ignoring them.

While she was still reeling from the thought of never seeing her mother again (never having her mother tuck her in bed while she was sick, never having her mother make her a cup of hot tea to soothe her when she was ill or agitated, never having her mother's shoulder to cry on when she was upset), in an almost triumphant way, Rose wondered if she would actually get her way, that the Doctor would actually drop the Priestess off with Sarah Jane and they could get back to their adventures, as they had been before the Doctor had found the Priestess and ruined the whole dynamic between them – perhaps she had managed to kill two birds with one stone with her single decision.

She looked at the Doctor, determinedly. "So, what can I do to help?"

"Systems rebooted. Open access."

The Doctor took a deep breath, but Rose stubbornly held the Doctor's gaze, not willing to give in.

"Those coordinates over there, set them all at six," The Doctor ordered, his voice displeased.

Rose walked over to the computer, meek in her obedience.

"And hurry up," The Doctor snapped.

Perhaps it was cruel of him, unfair even, but he blamed Rose – Annika would never have contemplated the idea of leaving him alone if Rose had just stayed in the parallel universe like she was supposed (and he had been trying to protect her, ensure that she stayed with her family – he still remembered Jackie asking him if she'd be safe with him; what else could he have done?).

And now, she wanted to leave him there, all because she thought he agreed with Rose's decision, as if he didn't comprehend the wounds they both carried after losing everything in the war.

Of course, he didn't agree with her.

And it was easier to blame Rose than it was to blame himself.

The Priestess looked down at the computer screen.

"The Cybermen are approaching," She told the Doctor, her voice clipped.

The Doctor rushed over to a nearby computer. "How many floors down?"

"One," The Priestess replied.

The Doctor tapped in a command on the laptop.

"Levers operational."

The Doctor grinned, triumphantly.

His smile gave Rose the go-ahead to grin as well. "That's more like it, bit of a smile! The old team!" She pushed.

The Doctor couldn't help but beam at her – her enthusiasm could be infectious. He picked up a Magnaclamp and went over to her, handing it over to her. By the time he had turned around, the Priestess had already attached the other clamp to the wall, beside the levers, on the opposite side of the room.

"Press the red button," The Doctor instructed Rose, who pressed the button. "When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void Stuff. Are you ready?"

The Doctor needed to know that Rose was prepared – this wouldn't end well if Rose lost her grip on the clamp for just one second.

Rose stared out of the window, seeing the Daleks approaching them, threateningly.

"So are they," She said, soberly.

The Daleks were now at the window.

"Let's do it!" The Doctor shouted.

The three pushed the levers upwards and then hurriedly took hold of the magnaclamps, with Rose on one side of the room and the Doctor and the Priestess on the other side.

"Online."

The wall in front of them, from which the Cybermen had emerged when the rift had opened, was filled with white light and a gust of fierce wind blew through the entire room. The Daleks were sucked through the window, smashing through the glass, against their own will, and were pulled into the white light and back into the Void, while the Doctor, the Priestess and Rose held onto the clamps tightly, struggling to hold on as the suction from the Void pulled at them as well.

"The breach is open! Into the Void! Ha!" The Doctor shouted, triumphantly.

The space between her and the Time Lords was quickly filled by zooming Cybermen and Daleks, all shrieking in futility as they hurtled into the Void, despite their best efforts to stay grounded. Soon, the drag from the Void began to slow and Rose smiled over at the Doctor, thinking that they had managed to pull the daring plan off. However, just when she thought everything was alright, there was a small explosion of sparks and the lever on Rose's side moved back of its own accord into the 'off' position.

The smile faded from the Doctor and Rose's faces, while the Priestess looked on, disconcerted.

"Offline."

"Turn it on!" The Priestess urged.

The pull began to ease, and Rose reached for the lever, while still maintaining her grip on the clamp. Unfortunately for her, it was just slightly too far away for her to hold onto both. She strained to reach it but was ultimately forced to let go of the clamp, so that she could grab onto the lever. The Doctor and the Priestess watched her struggle, full of dread of what would happen should she let go of the lever.

She has absorbed enough of the background radiation that she will be pulled into the Void easily once the rift is opened, the Priestess resolved, worriedly.

Rose whimpered as she struggled with the lever, trying to push it away from her into the 'on' position.

"I've gotta get it upright!" She shouted through the vacuum.

Rose groaned as she pushed the level upwards, and finally she managed to make it upright.

The Doctor and the Priestess watched, barely breathing, as time, for just a moment, slowed around them.

"Online and locked."

The suction became agonising to resist once more, and Rose was left with nothing but the lever to hold onto.

"Rose, hold on!" The Priestess shouted.

But the Void pulled at her and Rose cried out as her hands began to blister with the force she was exerting just to keep her grip.

"HOLD ON!" The Doctor screamed.

Rose whined as her arms began to ache and her muscles slackened despite her best efforts. The Doctor and the Priestess stared, in absolute terror, both reaching out to her with one hand that would never get to her, completely powerless. With one last cry of disbelief and fear, Rose's grip failed her, and she was pulled inextricably into the Void, screaming as she did so.

Both the Doctor and the Priestess felt something inside them break and they screamed her name, knowing that there was no way they could help her. Just before she hit the wall and was sucked into the Void, Pete appeared in her way and Rose was caught in his arms. Rose only had the time to glance over her shoulder at the Doctor, who was staring at her, heartbrokenly, before she and Pete disappeared into the other universe. The Doctor and the Priestess simply stared at the place where Rose had just been, moments before, unable to quite comprehend what had just happened to Rose.

Moments later, as if the universe was laughing at their arrogance, the breach closed itself and the wind faded, leaving the rift chamber completely silent as gravity allowed the Doctor and the Priestess to land on the ground.

The Doctor didn't spare the Priestess a second glance as he walked up to the wall in the rift chamber. He rested his palm flat against the wall and leaned his forehead against it as well. For a brief moment, he imagined he could even sense Rose standing there, herself, with her forehead pressed against the wall in her own universe, as far as two people could possibly be.

The Doctor's hand slid down the wall.

The Priestess could see how much the loss had weighed on him and crossed her arms over her chest, unsure of how to approach him now, how to comfort him.

She stood there, waiting for him to say something or do anything.

And he didn't disappoint.

"Did you know?"

The Priestess looked up from where she had been staring at the floor, warily. "I do not understand."

The Doctor's laugh was rough. "Oh, I think you do. Did you know?"

"I would prefer it if you elaborated," The Priestess replied.

"Did you know that she would get trapped in the other universe? Did you see it?"

"Theta-"

"I know, I know you tell me that you don't always remember what you see in your visions, and I've believed you. I have always believed you. But I need to know, now, this time, did you know what would happen to Rose?" The Doctor demanded.

The fact that he was even asking her this question spoke volumes as to what he had already decided about her.

"Think of what you are asking me," The Priestess warned. "Think of what you are suspecting me of-"

"That's my point, though," The Doctor growled. "In the nine-hundred years that I've known you, I've never even thought about asking you this. I know you don't like to talk about the visions you have, and I have always respected that. I have always trusted that you'd tell me if I needed to know something. But you don't, do you? You keep everything to yourself and you just expect me to follow along." He laughed, dryly. "Well, not today. So, tell me, Tess, did you know?"

"No," The Priestess replied, knowing that he wouldn't accept any other answer than one to his question.

The Doctor's eyes were red – the Priestess wondered if he'd cried when he thought her dead, or were his tears just for his human companions?

"You knew on Satellite 5, didn't you?" The Doctor accused.

"I thought we had already discussed that," The Priestess retorted.

"No, no, we didn't," The Doctor snapped. "You just shut me down because it's easier than having to explain yourself. But you knew something bad would happen to Rose on Satellite 5 and you kept it from me. Is it really a long shot that you would do the same thing again?"

"What would you have me say?" The Priestess exclaimed. "You want me to confirm some suspicion in your head that I cannot, because it is not true."

"Are you sure about that?" The Doctor flung at her. "Maybe you didn't know that Rose would be trapped in the other universe, but you definitely knew that something bad would happen to her now. And you kept it from me."

"How do you know that I knew?" The Priestess demanded.

"Because you always know!" The Doctor shouted. "You always know everything. You're telling me that you missed this, the Daleks and the Cybermen attacking Earth, together. I don't believe you." He continued without waiting for her to reply. "Did you think I'd prevent it, prevent her from getting stuck over there? I'd ruin your plan, wouldn't I?"

"What plan would have been ruined?" The Priestess asked, incredulously.

"You seemed really eager that Rose go to that universe," The Doctor accused. "Why was that?"

The Priestess reared back in shock and offence. "What are you insinuating?"

"I think you didn't like Rose," The Doctor told her, coldly. "And I think this was an easy way to get rid of her, and you made me think you had her best interests, when you were just serving yourself."

The Priestess looked at her Bondmate as if she'd never seen him before – and she supposed, this Theta Sigma, she hadn't.

The Theta Sigma she had fallen in love with would never have accused her of being jealous to such an extent that she would actively conspire to trap the object of her envy in a parallel universe just to be rid of her – it was insulting to the greatest degree, as a person and his Bondmate, and the galling thing was that he knew how much those words would hurt her above all else – to reduce her to something plain and emotional and maudlin.

She would've preferred it if he'd struck her instead.

When the Priestess spoke next, her voice was rough. "You have never spoken to me in this manner before, beloved."

What else could she say? She could lose all of her composure and scream at him and strike him and accuse him of wanting (loving) that human girl more than he wanted her, but all it would do would be to serve the Doctor's newfound impression of her.

The Doctor shrugged, as if her pain didn't faze him – so great was his anger and grief.

"Before, I didn't have any reason not to trust you."

"And you do now, is that it?" The Priestess gritted out.

"You tell me."

The Priestess stared at him for a moment, and then drew everything around her like a shield – all of her hurt and anger and resentment and regret, it made her strong and unyielding. She didn't even let him see how much he had hurt her (he didn't get to make her cry, not again, not ever again) – she was, after all, the consummate monument to hiding all that slick bitterness that would've made him feel bad at some point over the course of their lifetimes together (the Other forbid the Doctor feel guilty about anything).

And then she left him there, standing, alone.

The Priestess was about to enter the console room, when she spotted the Doctor standing just in front of the console, with a transparent image of Rose standing in front of him.

"Where are you?" Rose's image asked him, her voice thick with emotion.

"Inside the TARDIS," The Doctor replied, gently. "There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection, I'm in orbit around a super nova." He laughed, softly. "I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye."

Burning up a sun. That is quite beautiful, the Priestess thought, miserably.

All of those thoughts that insisted the Doctor felt something more than just friendly affection for Rose Tyler hastened back into her mind just as quickly as they had left.

Rose shook her head. "You look like a ghost," She commented, forlornly.

The Doctor paused. "Hold on..." He took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and managed to strengthen his own projection in Rose's universe by pointing it at the console.

Rose raised a hand to touch his face and it took everything in the Priestess (everything kind and understanding and mournful for the trepid little human who had wanted something more from life than to be just a shop girl) not to sweep between the two and prevent Rose from putting her hand on the Doctor, even as a projection – the Other knew the Doctor would only hold that as further evidence of her perceived jealousy of the girl.

"Can I t-?"

If the Doctor was uncomfortable that someone other than his Bondmate wanted to touch him, he certainly didn't show it – a sight that the Priestess well observed.

"I'm still just an image. No touch," The Doctor said, regretfully.

Rose's voice trembled, and it was clear that she was barely holding the tears back. "Can't you come through properly?"

The Doctor shook his head. "The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse."

"So?" Rose half-joked.

The Priestess knew that if Rose could've, she would've said to hell with the two universes and lunged across the Void to reunite with the Doctor – despite her myriad of emotions at the current situation, she sympathised very much with the sentiment (not that she could ever be so selfish – two universes, all those people, were not worth her desires).

The Doctor smiled, and they continued to stare at each other for a few moments, before the Doctor looked around at Rose's surroundings.

"Where are we? Where did the gap come out?" He asked, curiously.

"We're in Norway," Rose explained.

The Doctor made a bewildered face. "Norway. Right."

"About fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called 'Dårlig Ulv Stranden'."

The Doctor's brow knitted together, thinking he had misheard. "Dalek?"

"Dårl-IG. It's Norwegian for 'bad'."

The Doctor continued to stare at her, his brow furrowed, wondering if there was something he was supposed to grasp but just couldn't.

"This translates as 'Bad Wolf Bay'."

The Doctor and Rose both couldn't help but laugh, but they sobered immediately, remembering the reality of the situation.

"How long have we got?" Rose's voice cracked.

"About two minutes…" The Doctor said, solemnly.

Rose laughed at the absurdity of everything. "I can't think of what to say!"

This made the Doctor laugh too, and glanced over at where Jackie, Pete and Mickey were waiting by the Jeep. He couldn't help but regard them, fondly.

"You've still got Mr. Mickey, then?" The Doctor suggested.

Rose nodded. "There's five of us now. Mum, Dad, Mickey... and the baby."

The Doctor's eyes widened, and he couldn't help his eyes from trailing down towards Rose's stomach.

"You're not…?"

"No," Rose laughed at the look on the Doctor's face. "It's mum."

The Doctor grinned and looked over at Jackie.

"She's three months gone. More Tylers on the way."

"And what about you? Are you...?" The Doctor trailed off, unsure of how to finish his question.

"Yeah, I'm-I'm back working in the shop."

The Doctor nodded, hiding his disappointment. "Oh, good for you."

Rose giggled. "Shut up. No, I'm not. There's still a Torchwood on this planet, it's open for business." Her eyes filled with the tears she thought she had gotten rid of. "I think I know a thing or two about aliens."

"Rose Tyler," The Doctor said, with no small amount of pride. "Defender of the Earth." He cleared his throat once Rose's soft look started to make him uncomfortable. "You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead."

Rose couldn't help it when the tears began to fall.

"Here you are," The Doctor smiled, as if everything were alright in his world. "Living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have."

Rose's sobs were loud now. "Am I ever gonna see you again?"

"You can't," The Doctor said, mournfully, his voice so quiet.

"What're you gonna do?" Rose asked, worriedly.

"Oh, I've got the TARDIS. And Tess. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords, us," The Doctor smiled, grimly.

Rose swallowed hard, the tears falling thick, fast and uncontrollably. "I lo-" She choked before she could finish her sentence and took a deep breath to regain her composure. "I love you."

The Doctor paused. No, she can't mean-we weren't like that. We're just friends. Good friends. She doesn't mean that she loves me like that. She can't.

Rose waited for him to say something, smiling at him through her brave tears.

"Rose, I..."

But before he could finish his sentence, before the Priestess could know what he would have said to Rose, Rose's image faded away into nothingness and the Doctor was left standing alone in the console room, tears on his cheeks as he realised what he had just lost.

The Priestess watched him compose himself, swallow down all of his grief and close his eyes as he processed through the loss of Rose, and just waited there, in the archway.

The Doctor clenched the edges of the console and then rubbed the tracks of tears on his face away, roughly, with his hands. He wanted nothing more than a cool hand to settle on his shoulder and squeeze and a slender, feminine arm wrap around his waist, curl against his side just how her mind would – he wanted Annika, his Annika, not the body snatcher that had taken her place, silently watching from the entrance of the console room.

"She told me she was in love with me," The Doctor said, gruffly.

"I am aware. I heard," The Priestess said, lightly but sympathetically.

The Doctor wondered if it were a mask. She never used to wear a mask with him.

There was a pause.

"What were you going to say to her?"

He knew exactly what she was implying.

He abruptly turned so that he was facing her. Both fury and bile rose in his throat and he stormed over to her, seizing her by the shoulders in a grip that should have frightened her, but she simply stared back at him, unflinchingly. An unflinching, accepting face, as if she'd take everything he threw at her and stomach it because she loved him (he was taken back to Torchwood and all the hateful things he had spat at her like she wasn't his Bondmate and the mother of his children and his most faithful partner in everything since they were eight years of age – he wanted to apologise, but he didn't quite know how). He tried to find a small piece of the woman who had trusted him above every person in the universe, known him better than anyone else, but he found nothing.

What had happened between the two of them since he had found her strapped down to that table in Van Statten's museum?

What he had done to her, to make her doubt what he would have said to Rose on that beach?

If his last regeneration were here, he would have been knocked out cold for putting this kind of hesitancy and distrust in her.

"What did you think I would say to her?" The Doctor asked her, his eyes cold and his mouth set in a firm line.

"I am not quite certain," She murmured, looking away from his dark eyes.

"Why not?" He asked, his voice a low growl. "Since when do you not know?" He let out a harsh, brittle laugh. "You know everything, remember? That's why they took you away from me."

His small triumph fell short when he saw the brittle hurt in her eyes (had she looked like that in Torchwood and he had just ignored it?), and he wanted nothing more to wipe it away completely. He realised with horror, what he had just said, what he had just thrown in her face – that horrible time in her life, when he had been absent (he continued to wonder if she hated him for it), and their children had been dead and Davros had wanted her to hurt and scream just so he could unspool her brains and see what she saw that was so damning for the universe.

The Priestess wrung her hands together in front of her, a sign of nervousness she would never have displayed in normal circumstances.

"Would you prefer it if I left?"

The Doctor looked at her, stunned by what she had just asked.

"What?" He whispered.

"Would you prefer it if I left?" The Priestess repeated.

"Why-why would I want you to leave?" The Doctor cocked his head in confusion.

The Priestess' answering smile was doleful. "You seem reluctant to have me in your presence, Theta."

"That's-that's not true," The Doctor stammered.

"I do not believe so," The Priestess shook her head. "If that is your desire, I will, of course, comply. I would not want to say where I am not wanted."

"You are wanted," The Doctor insisted, quietly.

The Priestess looked at him with such derision that they both knew she thought he was lying.

"Earlier, you looked me in the eye and told me that you do not trust me," She levelled. "You do not trust me. You believed that I was capable of something so monstrous so as to let your companion be imprisoned in another universe, because you believed I was envious of her. That is what you said to me. You have never insulted me greater than that day, Doctor. Never."

The Doctor took a step forward. "I'm sorry. I was angry, and I shouldn't have said what I said. But that doesn't mean you have to leave. Get angry at me, if you want. Omega, hit me, if that makes you feel better. I'll take it, I know I deserve it. But don't leave."

I won't survive this time.

The Priestess looked at him, solemnly. "You claim those words were said in anger, but I do not believe you would not have said them had you not felt some truth in what you were saying."

"No!"

"There is something broken in us," The Priestess said, sharply. "You will not deny that, not to me. There was a time you would never have even considered the concept of distrusting me, but today, it came to you so easily. I do not know what I have done to provoke such doubt in you, but it has awoken, and I cannot change that." She looked somewhere beyond his shoulder, and he could see the resentment, plain as day (it made him sick). "I was a fool to think that our bonding would fall into place once we had reunited. I am always a fool." She muttered.

"This bonding works because we love each other," The Doctor whispered, his eyes cast down.

"This bonding works because I come running, foolishly, every time you call me. Because I have always chosen you, even when you did not choose me," The Priestess said, sharply. "I have always taken your side, no matter what choices you have made, I have always stood by you."

"No, that's…" The Doctor shook his head, frantically. "That's not true!"

He knew what she was trying to say, and it wasn't something he couldn't accept, not with her.

She smiled, wryly. "This bonding works…" She paused, hating to have to admit what had been running through her head every now and then for the past nine-hundred years. "Because I love you more than you love me. Because I have never asked you to be anything other than what you are." The breath she let out was more like a broken sob than she had realised. "And that cannot be enough anymore. We have lived through too much and lost too much for me to settle for this constant struggle once more."

"Nikki..." The Doctor took a step forward towards her, but she took a step back, closing her eyes and inhaling. "What you're saying is pointless, Annika. You are my Bondmate." The Doctor growled, frustrated. He glared at her. "I'm not going to let you do this. I am not going to let you end nine-hundred years of the most important relationship I have ever had."

The Priestess gathered her composure and shook her head. "I would have you happy. And if you are happier without me, then, I will, of course, accept that."

She gave him the strongest smile she could muster, knowing that both of her hearts were shattering at this precise moment and she could no longer breathe.

"But I can't be happy." The Doctor said, quietly. "Not without you. How could I be happy?"

When he made to reach for her again, she was already walking out of the console room.

The Doctor was left standing in the console room, on his own, feeling very much like something irrevocable had just been torn from him. When the Priestess had disappeared from around the corner, it was as if all the light had switched off inside him, and he was lost, in empty space and darkness, left to fend for himself without Annika anywhere near him, be it in his mind or by his side.

He turned his attention to the TARDIS console, pushing the buttons and levers absentmindedly and walking around it without his usual fanfare, hoping that the monotonous movements would distract him enough to forget the fact that his universe had been ripped out right from underneath him all because he hadn't been able to keep his mouth shut at the loss of a friend – but he also knew that was a thoughtless way of considering what Annika had revealed to him just then – clearly, there had been more cracks in their relationship that he hadn't even been aware of, but she had born close to her hearts without even saying a word.

He looked up, suddenly, and was startled by the presence of a red-haired woman, standing in the middle of the console room, wearing a voluptuous white wedding dress.

"What?" The Doctor exclaimed, aghast.

The bride turned around to see him standing there, on his lonesome, and she yelped with surprise.

"What?!" The Doctor was even more bewildered.

"Who are you?" The bride demanded, disdainfully.

The Doctor looked around, but her presence still didn't compute. "But-"

"Where am I?"

"What?!" The Doctor squawked.

"What the hell is this place?" The bride screamed.

"WHAT?!"

A/N: And the end of another era. As was promised, this story ended on a pretty angsty note, but anyone who actually read the initial excerpt for this series that I posted in The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday would know that this was bound to happen.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to continue this series anymore, but I will be putting up a synopsis so you all can see where I was planning on going with this. But if you have any questions, please direct them to my Tumblr: deathsweetqueen.