Part XX – Vibrations

Everyone was still for a moment, not even daring to breathe as they heard the familiar noise of a cell phone buzzing loudly. Rose bit her lip and stared at Donna, waiting for her to answer and wondering just how much she should tell her Doctor about what’s been going on around Pompeii. She didn’t want to risk the reapers coming back again. Not like they did when she rescued her father.

Then, even Donna looked confused when the mobile kept buzzing without anyone answering it. She looked at Jack and then at her Doctor. They were both staring at Donna, but she put her hands on her hips and glared at them.

“Oi, someone gonna answer that?” She asked, just as the mobile stopped buzzing. The Doctor and Jack exchanged glances before staring beyond Donna at Rose, questioningly.

“Jackie?” The Doctor asked suddenly. She shook her head and shrugged.

“Wasn’t me,” she answered in a matter-of-fact tone. The group exchanged glances just as the buzzing started up again, coming from the direction of their new friend from The Sisterhood. She groaned, finally grabbing the phone from her waist and answering it in a very modern, Scottish accent.

“This better be important,” she hissed angrily into the phone, turning slightly away from the group to continue her conversation with some semblance of privacy.

“So,” The Doctor said, turning back to Rose, “who’re your friends?” She bit her lip and with a sigh hoped this wouldn’t bring more reapers.

“Doctor, this is Donna, your future companion.” The Doctor blinked and arched his eyebrow with a frown.

“What do you mean “future companion”, Rose?” He asked.

“Maybe I can explain,” The Doctor in the pinstriped suit began, emerging from the shadows. The Doctor in leather gazed at him in surprise.

“But–” He began, shocked to see himself here.

“This is supposed to be impossible,” The pinstriped Doctor finished, “Yeah, I know. But I’ve long since stopped referring to things as “impossible” there is so much we have left to learn.”

“How did I not know?” The Doctor in leather asked, brow furrowed.

“I’m not sure,” The Doctor in pin stripes answered him, “we don’t know the answer to everything.” He put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and rocked on his heels, uncomfortably.

Part XXI – Doomsday

The ground shook beneath them once more and The Doctor in pin stripes stared off at Mount Vesuvius just as Amy hung up her mobile phone, huffing angrily and bringing attention back to herself.

“This one of yours then?” The Doctor in leather asked, nodding towards her. The Doctor in pinstripes turned and arched an eyebrow.

“No, she’s part of The Sisterhood.” Amy hid her mobile in her robes quickly, trying her hardest to look innocent, but they had already seen her pull it out and talk on it.

“Guess I owe you an explanation…” Amy began, as the familiar sound of the TARDIS materializing filled her ears. She broke out into a grin, turning around just as another blue police box finally managed to materialize in Pompeii.

“Orrrr not,” Amy said, smiling wider as the door creaked open and The Doctor and Rory tumbled out.

“Amy,” Her Doctor began, taking her in, “you look…odd,” he continued, wincing a little as if her appearance offended him. The Doctor in pin stripes and The Doctor in leather exchanged horrified glanced that were not lost on Amy.

“Well,” she said, hurrying towards the TARDIS, “would love to tell you all about what I went through, but we’ve gotta get into the TARDIS right now or–“

“Rose?” Her Doctor asked suddenly. Amy’s shoulders slumped.

“That,” Amy finished, defeated as she turned around to see the blonde peeking out from behind Donna. Rory looked over at her questioningly and she shrugged, standing in the doorway of the TARDIS wondering just how insanely strange this must be for the blonde.

“Doctor?” Rose asked, pushing her way from behind Donna and towards the new Doctor. The Doctor in leather made a noise to stop her, but she continued on, stopping just short of touching him.

“How is this possible?” Rose asked, suddenly, turning to stare at all the other Doctors gathered around her, “and where am I? Where am I if you’re travelling with Donna and then these two? I’m never gonna leave you.” The three Doctors exchanged nervous glances.

“You know I can’t say, Rose,” The Doctor in pinstripes responded after a few heavy moments.

“But you’re safe,” Amy’s Doctor responded, “and happy.” The other two Doctors looked at him questioningly, but he did not meet their gaze. This was a delicate topic even now in his time stream, when he hadn’t seen her in over 150 years. Rose smiled sadly at him, reaching out and placing her hands over his hearts.

Part XXII – Run For Your Life

The ground trembled again, so violently it knocked a few of them off balance.

“Doc, as much as this situation warms my heart, we’re running out of time to get out of here before volcano day. We only have a few more hours.” The Doctor in leather turned and gazed at him, the look in his eyes was almost unreadable.

“Donna,” The Doctor in pinstripes said suddenly, turning to his companion before looking out at the rest of the people who surrounded him in turn.

“You two have to do this on your own,” The Doctor with a bowtie responded sadly, staring down at Rose, who still had her hands pressed to his hearts. Her expression was sad, but it also held acceptance and love.

The Doctor in pinstripes swallowed the lump in his throat and took Donna’s hand for support. She stared at him with a sad look in her eyes, but allowed him to begin to lead her away.

However, when Rose heard them begin to walk off, she turned from The Doctor with the bow tie and rushed towards the pinstriped Doctor.

“Wait,” she said, running to him and throwing herself into his arms. He caught her easily, his body molding to hers perfectly. Even after all this time, she still fit so completely into his arms and in his hearts. He breathed in her scent and held her tightly for a long time, until she struggled in his arms.

“I love you,” she whispered in his ear, so quietly he could hardly hear it and then kissed his cheek before backing away. He just stared at her, not sure how to respond to what she just said, but not because he didn’t love her too. No, he just didn’t think it was right for him to say it, not while her current Doctor was standing right over there.

“And I love you,” Rose continued, turning towards The Doctor with the bow tie who stared at her, almost in disbelief.

“Rose Tyler,” The Doctor with the bowtie responded suddenly with a soft, almost saddened, grin.

“And I love you,” she whispered towards the darkness, watching as another man with grey hair and a haggard expression emerged. He smiled softly.

“And I love you, Rose Tyler,” he responded, not willing to wait to say it anymore. She needed to know right then how he felt about her. He watched as Amy and Rory exchanged worried glances. The Doctor in leather looked angry for a moment, but also scared and they all knew why.

“Good-bye Rose,” The Doctor in pinstripes said suddenly, grabbing Donna’s hand once more and retreating into the darkness. The Doctor with the bow tie, echoed his statement sadly, eyes teary as he turned his back and followed Amy and Rory into his TARDIS.

Rose isn’t sure how to feel for a few moments as she watches her Doctor’s all begin to leave one by one. She knows, in the end, she’ll still be with him, but it still hurts to watch the others move on, continuing without her. Regardless of how safe or happy she is, it hurts her to know that in the future, he isn’t happy without her.

The grey-haired Doctor lingers for a long moment, reaching out and ghosting his fingertips on the underside of Rose’s arm, making her shiver. She turns away from where The Doctor with the bowtie’s TARDIS is dematerializing and stares up at him.

They stay like that for a long time, just staring at each other in silence until her Doctor in leather clears his throat awkwardly. Rose snaps her head towards him and smiles brilliantly.

“Good-bye, Rose Tyler,” the grey haired Doctor whispers in her ear, kissing her temple softly before retreating in the direction the pinstriped Doctor and Donna had gone in. Jack, who had remained largely silent during this heartbreaking exchange, took that moment to make the longest, loudest, most annoying “Awwww” noise Rose had ever heard.

“Jack,” The Doctor warned and Rose just grinned.

“And I love you, Doctor,” Rose said softly, making her way over to where The Doctor and Jack stood. Her Doctor stared at her, a small smile on his lips as he took her into his arms.

“I love you,” he said, so quietly into her hair Rose almost confused it as a breath. She smiled into his chest.

Part XXIII – The next Adventure

He had rescued Caecilius and his family as Donna had requested and they all stood on a cliff overlooking the city of Pompeii as it burned. Donna kept staring at him oddly, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow as if she was waiting for him to say something.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Donna asked suddenly as they made their way back to the TARDIS.

“About what?” He asked, unlocking the door. Donna looked at him a bit funny and then shrugged, pushing past him and into the TARDIS onto the next adventure.

Part XXIV – The Game Station

He couldn’t remember how he got here or anything at all from the past few days, it was as if his mind had been completely wiped of all recent events. And now, here he was in a house with Lynda with a y, on some sort of strange reality television show, separated from Rose and Jack who probably couldn’t remember anything either.

Part XXV – The end

“Doctor?” Amy asked, staring at him for a long moment, watching him dance around the console like a madman.

“Yes?” He asked, a manic grin on his face, almost as if he had forgotten the events of the last few days in Pompeii. Like time had been rewritten.

“Nothing,” she whispered, mind suddenly hazy as to what she had wanted him to remember.

In the far corner of the TARDIS, just out of their line of sight, a small crack in the wall glowed.