And... FINALLY! Here is the last chapter of Gaps. Sorry it took me way longer than I thought it would. I kid of got obsessed with Gravity Falls and started a fic for that. Also, I've had a friend sleeping on my couch for the last few weeks (because of issues with one of her flatmates) and she's been getting me to watch Adventure Time. I kind of feel obligated to hang out with her, and unfortunately it's not easy to focus on writing while that's happening. Also on the unfortunate side, I'm one of those people who feels like they use up a lot of energy when around people for too long. Usually I lock myself in my room as soon as I get home. So now I feel like a toy that is very low on batteries. I am currently making that sad dying noise that toys that sing make when they are about to die.

But anyway, Gaps! It's finally done. The title is actually a bit cheeky. I actually called it that because I had quite a lot of confused reviews. So, I hope this clears things up, and I hope you enjoy it.

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Too Many Questions?

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He lay on the grass, curled into the foetal position. The bolts had hit him in the side, the chest, and somewhere in his lower back. His breath was coming hard as he struggled to drag oxygen into his punctured lung. All he could feel was pain and panic.

Rose... he had to get Rose back to the other universe. If they took her now... If they took her this close... She barely had days left. He had to do something.

Amongst the pain he felt something press up against his scull. So this was how it was going to end? Tarander was going to kill him execution style. He squeezed his eyes shut tight. He couldn't let it end like this. Rose. He had to help Rose. He tried moving, but even twitching his muscles was unbelievably painful. He had to... He had to... Rose...

Bang!

He heard the sound an flinched. It took him a few more seconds after that to realise that he wasn't dead yet. His vision was clouded by black spots, and he could hear the rapid beat of his heart in his ears. But his pulse was starting to slow down now, not enough blood to keep keep it going at full pace and the adrenalin wearing off. Blood. He was drowning in it. He coughed as his lungs tried to dislodge the fluid. He was so dizzy. He barely even noticed the chaos that was unfolding around him. He was focused on one thing. His vision was blurry, but still he could see her.

"Doctor!" she shrieked when she noticed him there. She pushed herself up and made her way over to him. She rolled him over, causing his entire body to to be bombarded with pain. A fresh wave of black spots appeared and she squeezed his eyes shut tight. "No, no, no, no, no," she sobbed. "This – this isn't right. We have to fix you, we have..."

"Rose..." he said.
He could barely summon the breath to do it, and it was so painful to even attempt. It made him cough again, more flecks of blood splattering his lips. His vision was fading out, but he forced it to stay. Consciousness was excruciating, but I was worth it for Rose Tyler. He knew that it would be the last thing that he would ever do, gazing at her face. She looked more worn than she ever had before, and tears streaked down her face. But she looked no less beautiful. He wanted to reach up and touch her hair, but he could hardly even move.

"But – but... No. You can't go. You can't leave me. Please, Doctor! I need you! I – I can't do this without you. I can't – I can't – I can't – I can't-"

She was beginning to hyperventilate. He tired to tell her that it was alright. That as long as she got home everything would be okay. But his voice refused to work.

Suddenly she let out a heart wrenching scream. The sound pierced his ears and he groaned, causing more blood to burbble from his mouth. He would have said that it hurt, but by now pain was almost all he knew.

His eyes drifted closed and he forced them back open. It was a struggle to remain conscious, and any normal human would have been out, or even dead by now. It took all of the energy he had to keep his eyes open. Even then his vision was blurry and obstructed by darkness.

But he didn't need to see perfectly to know what he was seeing. The familiar form of Rose hovered above him. Tears still stained her cheeks, but her expression was much more serene, her eyes glowing gold.

"My dear Doctor." She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. I told you, I'm not leaving without you."

She place her left hand over his chest, her fingers resting on the blood soaked fabric. Her engagement ring began to glow. He felt as if he were slipping under deep waters...

And then the Doctor knew no more.

?...DW...?

The first thing Rose was aware of was the throbbing of her head. Oh, her head burned. She groaned, rolling over and fumbling for the glass of water and painkillers that the Doctor always put on her bedside table lately. But she couldn't feel anything, couldn't even find the table. Growling in frustration, she rolled onto her back again and dug the heal of her palms into her eyes. She wanted this pain to stop. What on earth was that humming noise? I seemed so familiar, but her head hurt so much she couldn't put her finger on it... it also didn't help with the pain either. And where was the Doctor?

"Doctor?" she whimpered.

"Rose!" a voice said. It wasn't the Doctor's. It was a woman's... Donna's. "Thank god, you're finally awake. At least one of you is." She cringed as the loud sound made her head hurt even more.

"My head," she moaned, the only thing she could think to get her to know the issue.

"Head? Oh, right. The Doctor's got some of that super quick painkiller stuff somewhere. I'll find it."

Here? He didn't have that stuff here. Not anymore. And what was Donna doing here? She cracked her eyes open slightly. The light stung so much she clenched them shut, then tried again. She could just make out a very familiar ceiling, a coral support strut just in her view. The TARDIS med-bay?

Suddenly it all came back to her. The fight, breaking through the universes, the Master, she even remembered tapping into her Time Vortex powers and saving Wilf... but she couldn't recall anything beyond that. She didn't even want to try. Because only one thought was going through her head again.

He was dead.

The pain of knowing that hurt more than the pain in her head. There was a horrible pressure in her chest, like something was going to burst from it. She was struggling to breathe. Suddenly a sob pushed its way though her lips. She hadn't even realised she was crying.

"Rose?!" Donna said in concern, suddenly by her side again. "Hold on, love. Hold on." She felt a slight pressure against her neck and heard a hiss. Slowly the pain in her head dissipated, but the pain in her chest didn't. There wasn't an instant cure for that. After a moment she realised that Donna was holding her, whispering comforting words and trying to calm her.

"He's gone," she sobbed. "He's dead."

"I know, love. I know," Donna said, sympathy thick in her voice.

"They shot him and killed him. They wanted me and they killed him."

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Rose. But it's all over now, yeah? You're safe. You saved the Doctor. And my Granddad. The Master's gone. You did it... How much do you remember?"

"All of it," she mumbled. She still had her head buried in her friend's shoulder, and she didn't plan moving for a while. Her voice was still garbled by the sobs, but she took a deep breath and attempted to speak normally for her friend. "I remember everything from when I woke up with you there. Even using the Vortex Energy. God, that hurt, but I remember it. It's the first time I remember any of that... What happened to the Master?

"Granddad said he's gone. Just like the rest of the Time Lords." Her hand stroked idly down the girl's back. "Said that he tried to bring them back. But they wanted to end the universe, so he helped the Doctor send them back. And he ended up being stuck with them, or something like that."

"The Doctor, where is he?"

"Still unconscious."

"Huh?"

"Oh, um, right after we got you back here he just... collapsed. Gramps and I brought the two of you in here. I used some of the machines I could remember about because of him. But I just can't figure out what was wrong." Rose turned her head to see the Doctor lying on the bed beside hers. He seemed peaceful enough, just lying there... "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. Both hearts are beating normally, he's breathing fine. His electrical impulses are a little low, but otherwise it's like he's just... sleeping."

"A healing coma," she murmured. "Why's he in a healing coma?"

"That's the thing. I'm not sure if it is a healing coma. There should be more going on up there, but there's not. His mind isn't healing, and it's not dreaming, he doesn't even have enough brain activity to show that he's aware of his surroundings in any way. I mean, even if you were asleep, your hearing should work. It's not reading any activity, even on the subconscious level. It's like his body is on auto pilot with breathing and stuff, but his mind is just... gone... Jumped ship."

"How is that even possible?"

Donna shrugged. "Beats me. I've only got bits of his knowledge up in here." She tapped her finger to her head.

They both looked up at the sound of the door opening, and smiled as Wilf stepped in. He was carrying a tray with four cups of tea on it.

"Oh, she's awake!" he said happily as he placed the tray down. "Had us worried for a bit there."

"I'm alright," she said, giving him a warm smile. It was a blatant lie, seeing as her eyes were still red and puffy. "...I think." He handed her a cup of tea, as well as giving one to Donna. "Thank you."

"It's the least I could do. You saved my life, even though you were pretty much dead on your feet. And you saved him." He nodded towards the unconscious man on the bed. "Poor bloke had accepted the fact he was going to die, then you showed up. You, young lady, are absolutely marvellous. He needs someone like you around. Though, I must say, that... glow-y thing was something new."

Rose didn't know what to say. She was sure that if she weren't so pale right now she would be blushing. She dipped her head bashfully and took a sip of her tea.

"Oh, stop it, Granddad," Donna scolded light-heartedly. "There isn't enough blood in her face for her to blush."

He chuckled. "Sorry love. I see he's still out to it. I got that gadget-ma-bob you asked for... at least, I think it's the right one." He picked up the slim device from the tray. Rose recognised it as the appliance from the 22nd century that instantly reheated drinks. They must have expected the two of them to be out a bit longer.

Suddenly there was a loud gasp from the bed beside them, and their heads shot around to see the Doctor sitting bold upright. For a moment he looked horribly panicked, and his hands shot up, patting himself down over his chest and stomach. When he seemed to realise he was fine, he visibly relaxed. Not a moment later, the look of panic was back.

"Rose," he whispered. His head snapped around violently, looking for her. The look of relief was back the instant he saw her. "Rose!" He was out of the bed and over to her side before she could blink. Donna had to take the cup of tea from her hand before the boisterous Time Lord spilt it all over her. Gently his hand cupped her face, concern written over his features. "Are you alright? How are you feeling? What happened? Are we back yet? Are you okay?" He placed a kiss on her forehead, startling her slightly. Since when had this Doctor been so mindlessly affectionate with her? "You really had me worried there for a moment. Mind, I'm sure I had you more worried. Sorry about that. How'd you fix me up? Blimey, my heart's pumping. No, hold on..." He placed his hands over his chest. "Hearts! I have two hearts again! Wait, no, no, no, no, no. I've always had two heats. Aargh!" Suddenly he doubled over on her lap, clutching his head.

"Doctor!" the two women cried in alarm. Wilf took a step forward as if to help, but no one really knew what to do.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Donna asked, as Rose's fingers instinctively threaded through his thick hair. There came a small, muffled mumble that none of them could make out. "What?"

He lifted his head slightly. "Biological timeline memory convergence," he said through gritted teeth.

"Er, and what's that now?" Wilf asked.

The Doctor took a deep breath and attempted to stand up straighter. "Memories," he said. "I'm gaining back some suppressed, or well, delayed memories. Though, from my perspective it was linear, biologically the memories happened at the same time. My body is recognising that, and is trying to layer them over top of one another. It's not - Ugh! - not the most pleasant of feelings." He rested his head back down of Rose's lap, and she continued to stroke his hair.

"Anything we can do?" Rose asked. "And what does that even mean? What memories?"

"Hold on, just give me a minute," he grunted. "I need to sort them into the right place before they settle."

They all did as he said, giving him a moment and staying quiet so he could concentrate. Sorting memories didn't sound like an easy thing. He lay with his head still on Roses lap, and she still continued to run her fingers though his hair. It was something that had comforted the other him, why would it be any different with this him?

As he lay there he muttered things quietly to himself. Wilf and Donna just heard the muttering, but Rose was close enough that she could make out half of the words. He was mentioning a memory, figuring out what it was. Sometimes she would hear him say things like 'before' and 'after', and sometimes he would struggle to toss up between the two. She heard things about Cybermen and children, about Ood, about going to the fair, going to Mars, Torchwood, dinner at Alonso's, sand planets, playing with Toni, asking her to marry him... Hang on, wait, what?

She felt like something had just dropped in her stomach. Her breath stopped and her hand stilled in his hair. The fair... the fair was their first date. They worked at Torchwood. Alonso's was the restaurant that they loved to go to because the food was good, and the Doctor thought that the name was hilarious. Playing with her little brother, Toni. Asking her to marry him. These were all things that she did with the other Doctor. The human one. Her one... He remembered it all. But how?!

She almost wanted to cry again. The idea of the Time Lord Doctor remembering their time together was both confusing, saddening, and delighting all at once. She didn't really know how to feel. Would it be the same if he had those memories? Would he act like the man who had spent a year with her, loving her, or would he go back to skirting around her? If he did go back to loving her like the human him had, would it be wrong to move forward with him? Would it be an insult to the version of him that had died in her arms, or was he still the same man because of it? Could she even bring herself to do it, knowing that though he had the same face and the same memories, that technically it was a different man she had gone though it with? Like she had said, he couldn't just keep handing her off and changing between them like they were they exact same person. Because they weren't. And how the hell did he get those memories anyway? She was not in the right head space to be asking those questions, let alone answering them.

Eventually, the Doctor stood up again, a bright smile on his face. "Ah, there we are. All back in place. Sorry that took so long, I had to sort each memory individually. There was two years worth to sort through. But I have most of them in the right place now."

"I... I don't understand," Rose said. "How?" He looked up at her and when he saw how sad and confused she was, he knew she'd realised what the other memories were.

"I'm not sure," he said. He grabbed a chair from near by and dragged it over. When he sat down he took her hand in his, his thumb stroking over her knuckles in a familiar gesture. "One moment I was in this body, we'd just carried you into the TARDIS after what would have been about... Oh, four hours ago now. Then the next thing I know, bam, I'm naked on the TARDIS floor, the ship is burning, and this one's complaining about my state of dress." He nodded at Donna.

"Hold on, that was... that was the other one. The human you!" Donna cried.

"Yup."

"You were the human you too?"

"Yeah, seems like it. Somehow I managed to jump both time and bodies. Though, I guess that makes sense now. I had always wondered how the Metacrisis even happened like it did. By all accounts, it just shouldn't have worked. The body would have formed, yes, but without a … a... well, let's just say a soul, there would have been been nothing to get it working. But by putting mine in the body, it did... And then somehow I came back too. When the human body was dying. You went all Bad Wolf again, and... Oh."

"What?" Rose asked.

"I think I know what happened? Your engagement ring- Hold on, why is your ring on a necklace?"

"It is?" She said in confusion. She looked down at her hand and let out a small cry of surprise when she saw that her ring wasn't there. For a moment she panicked, but quickly remembered that he'd just said it was on a necklace. She felt around her neck and ended up finding it. It was just a simple thin silver chain, her precious ring was threaded onto it. "When did it get here? I thought I was wearing it."

"Well, you were when I died. I think you did something. Before I lost conciousness you placed your hand on my chest and the ring glowed. But when I was booted out of this body, the ring was around your neck. That's what I was looking at. I touched it, then I was waking up in my human body. You must have done something to the ring. And since in the timeline of the ring, what I remember happening first was actually last, that would mean that it somehow had the power to affect me once I touched it. Store my soul in the ring, and when I touched it, it booted me out of my body and the TARDIS took me back, meanwhile the soul stored in the ring was put back into my body... Somehow. Sound about right to you lot?"

"No. Not a bit," Donna said. "I'm bloody confused and I think I have more questions than answers now, you big space dunce!"

The Doctor just grinned. "I missed you, you know that."

"So... you're still you. Like... It was you all along? And you're... you're still you. The you that..."

"Yeah, I'm still me," he gave Rose a soft smile. "The insane guy you saved a few hours ago was a whole year ago for me. I'm the same guy who ate breakfast with you yesterday morning. Nothings changed from that." He paced a kiss on her cheek and Rose gave a delighted smile.

"Insane?" Donna questioned, her eyebrow raised.

The Doctor sucked in a breath through his teeth, his free hand raising to scratch the back of his head. "Yeah, just a little. See when Rose came back last time I did something stupid without realising it. She'd just come back after two years, and that was bad enough for me. When I staved of the regeneration, my mind reached out for hers and well... kind of initiated a bond. Not a full one. But it was enough that without her around, well, it didn't exactly put me in a good mental space. When I switched bodies my mind was still in that state, but because the new body also had the bond and I was around Rose... well, I wasn't kidding when I said you made me better."

"Huh," was all she said. She was still fiddling around with her ring. "I just don't understand one thing. Okay, that's a lie, there's still lots I don't understand about this situation, but there's one thing I really want to know. If you went through all this first, if you remember leaving me behind and everything... why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't actually remember," he told her. "I had the vague sense that I'd forgotten something. And sometimes small impressions of memories would slip through. But I couldn't remember anything of my Time Lord life from after the aborted regeneration. At least, not until my memories converged when I woke up."

"Oh."

"This is all very science-y," Wilf said. He hadn't really understood most of the conversation. Though he had picked up that Rose and the Doctor had been engaged in some other life or something like that. "But blimey, I'm tired. Is there anywhere on this ship I could have a bit of a kip?"

"I can do you one better," he said. "I can take you home, if you want. Bet you're dying to have a nice hot cuppa at home." He noticed the cup in the old man's hands. "We'll another one."

"Yeah, that would be quite nice actually," he said. "Fun as all this is, I think I may just be a bit too old for this. Not all of us can be be running fit at 900, eh Doctor?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "Tell you what. You lot go on ahead, I'll be there in a moment."

"Alright then," Donna said, standing up. She though it would be safer if she went with him so he didn't get lost anyway. "Oh, Doctor, one more thing. Would it be alright if I travel with you and Rose again?"

"Of course!" he said in delight.

"Can I bring Shaun?"

"Who? Oh, right. Your fiancé."

"Yeah. I've kind of just been feeling like I've been missing something for ages now. And he knows it. And I want to show him everything I've missed. I don't want my husband to not know about one of the most important parts of my life. And I'd really like to actually share it with him."

"Hm, yeah, I don't see why not. Just hope he doesn't do an Adam."

Rose scoffed. "Come on, Doctor. This is Donna. I'm sure her choice in guys is better than that!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrow sceptically. "Didn't I ever tell you about Lance?" Rose just rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Doctor," Donna sighed in annoyance. "We're going to give you two a moment now. Have fun. Don't take too long. And be nice, she's still a little weak, remember." And with that she and Wilf left the room.

"So, how are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Oh, you know," she said lightly. "Tired, in pain, confused. Donna gave me some painkillers, but I'm not sure how long they'll last."

"Fair enough," he said. "You do of course realise I'm going to have to run some tests of my own." His tone was only slightly sympathetic.

"Of course," she sighed. She wasn't expecting anything less.

"I know how much you hate tests and hospital beds, but I'd prefer it if you stayed in here for now. Just till I fly us to Donna's. Then we can go out and relax at their place for a little bit. Sound good?"

"Yeah, sure. I get it. I know how you worry. And like I said, I am tired."

"Good," he said, placing yet another kiss on her forehead. "Well, not good that you're tired. I like my Rose Tyler happy and bouncy."

"Your Rose Tyler?" she said, with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Yes, well, I hope. I mean, if- if your still want. I mean, nothings really changed for me and-" He fell silent as Rose's hand slipped out of his. She reached behind her and unclasped the necklace. She handed it over to him and his hearts dropped. Was she giving it back to him? Wasn't that supposed to mean... that she didn't... Rose held out her hand to him and he realised what she wanted. Smiling he took the ring off the chain and slipped it back onto her finger.

"Me either." She gave him a brilliant smile. "So, are you going to tell me what the inscription says now."

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "Like I said. I'll tell you after we're married."

She folded her arms and glared at him. "You know, I could just go Bad Wolf and read it."

"Nope. That would be cheating." She just gave him a cheeky grin. The Doctor felt the urge to wipe that grin off her face. Of course, he always wanted to do that when he saw that grin. But there was nothing to stop him doing it, and in the blink of an eye, he was kissing her.

When he pulled back, she blinked a few times, seeming dazed, and smiled. "No, that's cheating," she shot back. He just chuckled at her.

"I'll be back soon," he told her. "Try and get some rest."

"Fine," she said, making a show of being annoyed. He headed towards the door. "Doctor?"

"Mmm?" he said, stopping in the door way.

"I love you," she said.

A brilliant smile spread over his face. "Quite right. Rose Tyler, I love you too."

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So, there we are. 10 chapters and almost 3 years later (bloody hell!) I have FINALLY finished this fic. As you can imagine, I am currently doing my happy dance. The feeling of moving a story to my 'completed' file is incredible!

Thank you all so much for sticking with me through all this time. I wish I was faster at updating and that I wasn't so easily sidetracked. (Seriously, I work on about 20 different projects and once, and that isn't an exaggeration). You are all so amazing!