Rewritten, Chapter 18

Amelia was able to put the plane down safely at the Port of Sudan a few hours later. The exhausted occupants stumbled out as the dawn broke over the horizon, illuminating dark circles under tired eyes.

Jack helped Rose carry Jumaane, and they stopped to asked a few of the locals where the closest hospital was. Apparently there were several people asking the same question, as many survivors from the Port of Massawa were being carted in from the south. They found a makeshift tent for less severe injuries not far from where they landed, and left the servant in good hands while they sought out a place to rest for themselves.

They ended up finding an inexpensive hotel with only two rooms available, and before Rose could even raise an objection, Jack and Amelia slipped away into one of them together. The Doctor gave her an apologetic look as she stared after them. It looked like she was stuck with him.

“Let’s get some sleep, okay?” the Doctor offered meekly. “It’s been a really long couple of days.”

Rose consented as the Doctor opened the door to their room, but widened her eyes at the sight of only one bed.

“Uh…” she managed to get out, but the Doctor simply shrugged a shoulder.

“Better than a prison cell,” he said with a yawn.

He threw himself down on the covers, leaving Rose with few options. Eventually she relented and followed suit, resting on the opposite side of the mattress. It didn’t take long for both of them to succumb to exhaustion.

Rose woke up to the feeling of a warm, strong arm around her waist. Tucked up behind her, she could feel the Doctor's rising and falling chest. He twitched as she started to move, so she stilled herself. Even though she was angry and hurt by his omissions, Rose still craved the feeling of his body pressed up against hers. She snuggled back against his torso and he moaned appreciatively, sending a shiver down her back.

“I never get tired of holding you,” the Doctor whispered into the nape of her neck.

Rose froze, holding her breath in confusion. Was he talking in his sleep?

“I’m not asleep.  It's the truth,” the Doctor continued, barely above a whisper. “When you’re in my arms, I know everything will be okay.”

He tightened his grip around her stomach and pulled her closer to him, impossibly close.

“I know you think that I don’t trust you, and maybe in some ways that was a true thing to say, but not how you meant it. The thing is, I’m scared Rose. I watched my home planet burn, along with everyone I’d ever cared about. I lost everything.”

“Gallifrey,” Rose sounded out the word. “I saw it in your mind. It was so beautiful.”

The Doctor pulled on Rose’s arm and turned her so that she was facing him. “Yes,” he said, not bothering to hide the tears in his eyes. “I’m the last of the Time Lords, and I think about it everyday. My planet, my language and my people are lost forever, alive only in my memory. And I’m scared Rose. I’m scared because I’ve found something else to love, and I can’t lose you too.”

Rose closed her burning eyes and rested her forehead against his. “You won’t lose me,” she whispered back. “After everything we've been through. I was rewritten in time…my essential essence recoded and split apart only to be stitched back together again…yet I knew from the moment I saw you that I loved you! It was like coming home.”

The Doctor pressed his lips to hers tenderly, breathing in the air she exhaled greedily.

“You are home to me,” he professed.

Rose felt his lips slip past her mouth and the scratch of his stubble as he nuzzled into her cheek. She sighed and reveled in the perfection of the moment, of his hands skimming over and kneading her tired muscles, of his weight propped up against her side like a cradle. From somewhere deep inside, Rose finally understood why the Doctor had been so reticent to trust her as she was in this new form. He had been trying to protect her.  The Doctor realized too that his form of protection had been unnecessary.  Even if Rose lost all of her memories and lived someone else's life, she would still do the right thing every single time.  What made her who she was, was eternal, and that made him love her all the more. 

They stayed like that for a long time, savoring the minutes of peace they had together. Finally, Rose knew she had to speak.

“You need to tell me what your plan is,” she said softly. “How are we going to get back to our own time and defeat the Largarians?”

The Doctor sucked on his lower lip and slid the Largas Scroll out from his jacket pocket. “I was hoping to have come up with a better solution by now,” he admitted, “but my plan is to read the inscription backwards.”

Rose snorted and hit the side of his arm affectionately. “No, seriously,” she said.

The Doctor stared down at her with a flummoxed expression on his face. “I am being serious!” he protested. “It seems only logical that reading it backwards might reverse what’s been done. I’d ask the Largarians to be sure, but I’m afraid they’d shoot me on sight.”

“If that’s all it takes, then why haven’t you done it?” Rose asked exasperatedly.

The Doctor blinked twice before answering. “Because I don’t know what will happen when I do,” he told her. “I literally have no idea."

Rose sat up from the bed and enfolded her arms around her knees. “So it might not work,” she said slowly.

“Or worse,” the Doctor countered, “it could fling us to some other time even further back. There’s no way of knowing.”

Rose shifted so that she could look him directly in the eyes. “There is one way,” she said boldly.

The Doctor swallowed heavily and nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I could always just try it and see. I don’t know what else to do, to be honest.”

“You trust me,” Rose told him emphatically.

“With everything I have,” the Doctor responded. He sat up to look her in the eyes, allowing her to see his conviction.

“And I trust you,” Rose followed up. “Besides, the Largarians are going to find us eventually.”

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed. “It’s inevitable.”

“Then do what you need to do,” Rose encouraged him. “Trust in me as I trust in you, and we will always find each other, no matter the distance or the obstacles.”

The Doctor unrolled the scroll and stared at the words made up of so many little triangles and squares. Tiny symbols that could break him and Rose apart forever, or send them back to where they belonged, happily ever after.  It was a coin toss.

“I don’t like taking chances,” the Doctor admitted, “but as long as it’s with you, it’s not really a chance at all. I love you, Rose Tyler.”

Rose smiled deeply and closed her eyes as she embraced him. “Read the words,” she said.

And he did.

--

A storm of laser beams flew overhead as the Doctor shook his head and sat up. Rose was sprawled next to him on the ground, still unconscious. As the room came into focus and the Doctor realized where he was, he nearly jumped with joy. Fortunately, he did not, and saved himself the discomfort of being shot by Largarian lasers. Instead, he rolled over to Rose and carefully pushed her hair out of her face.

“Rose!” he said loudly into her ear.

“Uhnf!” she responded as she stirred from her position. “Did I get hit? Everything in my body is aching!”

“That’s just the effects of the Largas Scroll,” the Doctor explained. “Excuse me for just a second.”

He popped up from where they were barricaded in behind a steel slab and refracted a few of the laser beams off of his Sonic, effectively disabling at least two of the Largarian’s guns.

“Sorry about that,” he said briskly when he dropped back down. “Can you remember anything Rose?”

She shifted and touched her forehead briefly. “Like a dream,” she reported. “Bits and pieces. It doesn’t make sense.”

The Doctor tried to hide his disappointment as he tucked the Largas Scroll into his coat pocket.

“Don’t worry Rose,” he told her. “We’re going to get back to the TARDIS and I’ll do a full scan of your vitals. You may not remember anything, but I can definitely get rid of the pain you’re feeling.”

He swallowed a hard lump in his throat as he considered all the memories she might have lost. Would she ever remember all that he said? Did he want her to?

The Doctor was distracted from his internal dialogue when several more laser bursts vollied overhead, and the sound of falling soldiers reached his ears. Curious, he popped the top of his head back over the barricade, and froze.

“Roger!” he shouted angrily.

The villain was standing over several Largarian bodies, wearing a ripped leather jacket and scowling.

“Roger?” he responded icily. “No. That name is familiar, though.” He shook his head as if to get water out of his ears. “I am Claxis of the Tsarian Opposition, and I believe you…have something that I want."

(Next Chapter)