Through all this Time (a tenrose fanfic)

Hellfire and Shadowmen

I took a deep breath as I stared at the old fashioned door handle in front of me. The image which the tardis had shown me flashed through my mind, and it was almost enough to keep me from pulling open the door.

But then another image appeared in my mind. It was from a few weeks ago, when my Doctor and I had been stranded in the Lost City of Atlantis before it had been lost. We'd been stuck for a couple of days because some bloody idiot in a golden cape had decided to attach a vortex manipulator to the side of the tardis and take her on a little trip.

Good for nothing Captain Jack.

I smiled at the thought of him and remembered the wild-eyed smile he'd shot me before disappearing with our only mode of transport. Let's just say the Doctor wasn't happy. I remembered with a grin the way he'd stormed about, trench coat billowing behind him, and raced on and on about chivalry or good behavior, or how to be a responsible idiot instead of a stupid one... Something like that.

But now, here I stood wishing I could disappear just like Cap Jack had, whisking away into the nothingness of the time vortex, and escaping all my problems. For once why couldn't I be the bloody fool and take the easy way out. Why couldn't I find the cheat to the game, the wormhole to the other side?

Because I was Rose Tyler, and things are never that simple when it comes to me.

I reached out a hand slowly and laid my fingers upon the smooth finish of the door. I let my fingers trail slowly toward the handle and felt my heart beat start to get slightly more frantic. I closed my eyes, seeing nothing but his face. His face behind those bars. His face which had already given up. His face that believed I wouldn't come for him.

I turned the handle.

Stopped.

What waited for me out there was nothing like anything I'd ever faced before. It wasn't some wandering band of slitheen or a runaway Zygon or two. This was something different, something dangerous. And something the Doctor most definitely would not approve of me walking straight into. He'd look at me with those eyes, those anciently young eyes, maybe make a few seemingly meaningless hand motions, ruffle my hair, and very sternly tell me no. He'd refuse to let me save him.

He'd refuse to let me help.

He'd refuse.

And I'd sit by feeling useless like usual while he saved the world.

I opened the door.

He wasn't stopping me from saving him.

Not this time.

I felt a warmth rush through me and a reassuring tingle fizzled throughout my veins. The tardis was right here with me. The weight of that realization suddenly made me feel a whole lot braver, and I stepped through the doorway, and straight into hell.

The once cheery and well-lit corridors of the Tardis were now dark, slicked with a streaky black substance, and pulsing with a strange red glow. It seemed to emanate from the very stones which made up the walls. The tile floors were cracked, and pieces of stone jutted up here and there like stalagmites. They created a rough, jagged cave-like appearance which made walking about rather difficult. I found myself staring at the ground to try and avoid breaking an ankle every time I stepped. This also made it impossible for me to watch where I was going, and more importantly who I was approaching.

A dry breeze lifted my hair from my face and swirled in slightly around my shoulders. The ceilings dripped a funny smelling blue liquid, and there were trails here and there of what looked suspiciously like human blood.