Author's Note: The final chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed or favourited... it means the world to me!

It was too much. It was everything. All at once. And it was possibly the most full his head had ever felt.

Unable to control it, Rose's life was pouring through his mind as she pressed herself against him.

He was standing in Torchwood three. The hub was deserted except for Rose. She was sitting at Jack's desk, idly leafing through some of the captain's papers. She glanced up as the monitor in front of her flickered to life. Her eyes widened slightly, then her mouth set into a line. She stood, turning on her heel and heading towards the armoury.

Quickly, needing to move before the memory faded, the Doctor made his way around the desk until he could see the monitor. He was unsurprised at what he saw. Two words filled the screen, repeated over and over. The same words he'd seen all over the marketplace after Donna had whispered the message to him.

Bad Wolf.

'You are the Bad Wolf, but this is a gift that must be paid for.'

The Doctor blinked. He was in Rose's mind again, watching her converse with the Time Lady.

'What's the price?' Rose asked, her jaw set in a determined line.

The Time Lady regarded Rose seriously. 'The same as the gift.' She held Rose's gaze for a moment before continuing. 'You.'

Rose looked puzzled. 'I what?'

'You are both the gift, and the price, Rose Tyler.'

He felt realisation blossom in Rose's mind. 'I get it,' she said softly. 'The gift is for the Doctor, and the price is what it'll cost him.'

'And both are you.' The woman regarded Rose for a moment. 'Do you want to change your mind? No one would think less of you.'

'No.'

'Then let us begin.' The woman stepped forwards, reaching for Rose's hands.

The Doctor was burning. Burning, burning, burning. But the sensation didn't belong to him. This was Rose, burning herself into time to stay with him He had no idea how much time had passed but he was suddenly able to see again. Rose was stumbling away from the Time Lady in her mind, her hand instructively going to her forehead.

'What now?' she asked, glancing up at the other woman.

The Time Lady smiled as though Rose had passed some sort of a test. The Doctor felt Rose's annoyance at the continued appearance of that smile and had to bite down on his amusement.

'The Doctor must complete the change,' the woman said quickly, sounding worried. 'He must initiate a bonding with you.' Rose nodded, still feeling slightly out of it. 'You must convince him. At present he is far from certain of what to do for the best. And once it is done, you must tell him. He will worry over every decision if you do not do so.'

'Tell him what?'

'That you would die to save him.'

Rose snorted her amusement at that. 'He knows.'

'And that you would sacrifice even him, should you have to.'

Rose met the other woman's eyes and held her gaze for a long moment. Then she gave a short nod.

The woman smiled. 'Time and her Lord.'

'I'm not-'

'But you are. For now.'

'You're 'sposed to be showin' me things I don't know about.'

Rose's words, spoken in the darkness of the TARDIS, caused the Doctor to open his eyes. He still couldn't see, but at least his mind was clear on where they were. Rather than answer her, he pulled her closer, kissing her again, willing his mind to stay in the present.

When they broke apart, Rose asked, 'Why couldn't I see you?'

'You weren't looking,' he whispered back. 'The stronger the memory, the harder it is to step out of, to be the you now, rather than the you then.'

'Oh,' she said, and he felt her nodding in the darkness as he pulled her against himself, needing to feel her body there, if he couldn't see her.

'Would you do it?' he asked, his lips brushing against her hair as he spoke.

'Would I what?' she asked.

'What she said.'

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt it. Her utter terror at the thought that she'd have to sacrifice him to save her world. Her universe. At the knowledge that she would do it. That she could.

He'd said it to her once himself, although he'd felt it many more times, both before and since. I could save the world but lose you.

Rose was appalled at the thought of it, but Commander Tyler knew it was necessary. Just as the little boy from Gallifrey had been terrified of what he was doing even as the Doctor brought about the end of the Time War.

As brief as it was, and as much as he tried to tamp it down, the stray thought about the Time War drew Rose in, dragged her to a place in his memory he would never have had her go.

Rose stared around herself. She was in the console room, but not as she knew it. It was… grander, somehow. Gothic. Suddenly the whole TARDIS shuddered and she had to reach for the console to keep to her feet.

The doors opened and a man fell through them, coughing violently and stumbling towards the console. He fell, and lay sprawled on the decking, his body heaving with the effort of drawing breath. Instinctively, Rose made to walk towards him, but stopped short as the time rotor began to oscillate.

The man looked up at the console, horror written across his features. She didn't recognise him, not physically, but she could feel herself being drawn to him. Even had they not been in his mind, she would have known him anywhere. Her Doctor. Now he was closer, Rose could see he was bleeding, blood flowing from a deep gash on his forehead.

'No! No, no, no,' he was saying, his voice desperate. 'I didn't… We're staying here! We have to stay here!'

He dragged himself upright and staggered over to the console, reaching for the controls. 'I'm dying. We're dying. And we're staying here! Let this be an end to it.'

As if in answer, the console sparked viciously, forcing him backwards. The doors swung shut and Rose felt the slight disorientation that came with dematerialisation.

'I've killed them,' the Doctor was whispering furiously from where he'd fallen to the deck. 'I've killed them all. And I want to stay!'

'But you can't.' The words were torn from her before she could stop them. But this was a memory, wasn't it? She couldn't change it, but she could stop him feeling it so intensely. She had to.

His head snapped up, looking for the source of the voice that shouldn't - couldn't - be there. 'Who's there?' He demanded, the effort of making himself heard over the really quite worrying sounds the TARDIS was making inducing another coughing fit. When he pulled the handkerchief away from his mouth it was spotted with blood.

Memory or not, this was the Doctor and he needed her. Rose stepped forwards, coming to crouch at his side as the TARDIS shuddered again. 'It's ok.'

'You can't - who are you?' He asked, seeming to focus on her with no small amount of effort. 'What are you?'

'I'm your… friend.'

'You're more than a friend,' he murmured fervently.

She blinked, unsure how to respond. He shouldn't be able to know her, not locked in to this memory as he was. 'Yeah.'

'Why are you here?' He began to cough again as behind him a large part of the console room crumbled to the deck, revealing the coral underneath.

'I'm not,' Rose said. 'Neither are you. We're in your head. This is just a memory.'

'Really? Hurts like its happening.'

'I know. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I just wanted to see…'

A bell tolled from deep within the TARDIS.

'Doctor?' she asked, afraid she knew what that sounds meant.

'Gallifrey's gone,' he said quietly. 'I killed them all.'

'You saved the universe,' Rose said firmly. He stared at her, his eyes barely focusing. 'And you saved them. I saw what they wanted – what they would have become - and you saved them from it. You-' she stopped, staring at him as his skin began to glow. 'You're dying.'

'For the last time.'

'What?'

'I won't regenerate. I can't.' He rolled onto his back, closing his eyes.

'You have to! I know you – future you. You have to regenerate!'

'If I regenerate now I'll be a monster.'

'No, you won't. You'll be the Doctor.'

'I'll be the last...' he hissed.

He was gone. And Rose was suddenly in the console room as she knew it, the Doctor pressing her into the console. She blinked furiously, unsure whether this was his memory or hers. His fingertips slid to her temples, pouring his mind into hers, and she was suddenly aware of everything he'd felt.

She felt sick to her stomach. He'd been so far from all right for months. And she'd known. Known there was something wrong. But this feeling of sickening terror combined with dull resignation was almost horrific. On top of it all, she could feel the temptation to just change things. To make things better.

She'd not been able to meet his eyes for days after Bowie Base One and Adelaide Blake. Afraid she'd see him there. The Time Lord Victorious standing in the Doctor's clothes and shoes. Wearing the Doctor's face.

Her avoidance of him had been somewhat responsible for keeping him in check, she saw now. He was just as afraid of what she'd see when she looked at him.

But he'd been able to hide the extent of his fear from her then. That wouldn't be possible now. Everything he thought, everything he felt, everything he was… all of it was exposed now.

No. The Doctor's voice sounded in her head as she was returned to the safety of the darkened room.

What?

You're wondering if that's why I was reluctant to do this. The answer's no.

Oh. Ok. Why, then?

Because of everything you saw. The Time War… you shouldn't have to see that. Feel that.

'Neither should you,' she said aloud, reaching up with one hand to pull his face down to hers.

As she tugged his shirt loose from his trousers and slid a hand under it he moaned, stepping backwards and pulling her with him. His legs hit something soft and folded, leaving him lying full length on what seemed to be a bed with Rose sprawled on top of him. He dragged Rose's shirt over her head, hearing buttons snap off and disappear into the darkness. He rolled them until he was holding himself above her, one hand tracking up her body to her face.

Are you sure?

She hooked her legs around his then, rolling them so he was pinned beneath her once more. Then there was just the burning golden light, drawing him in.

\/\/

He could feel her, just there in the dark. They were lying side by side now, only their hands touching. He was slowly becoming aware that he hadn't managed to get his shirt all the way off, and that partially worn shirts could be uncomfortable.

'Take it off,' Rose said into the darkness.

He smirked at that and pushed himself upwards, dragging the shirt off and dropping it over the side of the bed to join the rest of their clothes.

'Wilf met her,' Rose murmured, turning her body so she was curled into his side. 'Said she kept appearing to him, when he was looking for you before the Master showed up. A call to arms, he called it. Like she was preparing him for what was gonna happen.'

'When did he tell you that?' the Doctor asked, turning on to his side and looking down to where he knew her face was, even though he still couldn't see.

'When you and Jack were arguin' about the TARDIS.'

'We weren't arguing. You can't argue with someone who has no idea what they're talking about, Rose.'

After a few moments he felt her breathing even out, her mind become a gentle buzz in the background of his own.

She was asleep. No sense waking her. Whatever happened would happen. He closed his eyes, feeling exhaustion burning through him.

'Would it have made a difference?' the Time Lady stood on the hillside, as she had the last time he'd seen her outside her official capacity.

The Doctor looked down at himself. Strange to see himself so much younger, but looking so much older.

'Had you not been granted this extra time with her, would you miss her any less once she was gone?' the Time Lady pressed. Without waiting for his answer, she continued, 'Answer me this, Doctor. Having not had this with her, were you less affected when she was trapped in a parallel universe? She will burn herself into Time for you. And she will return to it, when she can't go on any longer.'

His eyes snapped open. It too him a moment to realise the room was now bathed in a sot light. Not their room. A new room. A new room designed for what they'd needed tonight. The TARDIS was too clever by half.

She shifted slightly, her leg sliding over his, and he felt renewed desire skitter up his spine. Felt it mirrored in her. He should get up. Leave her to rest.

The weight of you could kill her.

The Master's words, cold and hard and full of fear, hit him like a lead weight dropped from a great height. 'Rose…' he murmured.

She didn't respond, was too deeply asleep to do so. He shifted slightly; needing to see her now there was light. He allowed his eyes to track over her features, seeking out difference and finding none. The golden goddess he felt in his mind bore Rose's face. Would do so for a long time.

And she wouldn't burn, he resolved. Not so long as he drew breath. His "mother" could say what she liked. So could the Master. What did they know? He was the Doctor and she was Rose and he loved her, so she would not burn. Simple.

Feeling satisfied with that, he closed his eyes, drifting into a dreamless sleep.