The Library, the largest library in the entire universe. It took up a whole planet, even. He took Rose here once. The TARDIS had landed in the middle of reception. The Doctor immediately noticed it. It felt wrong. Rose smiled at him with her tongue between teeth smile and he gave her a small smile in return. His grin widened, trying to hide his concern. But it was obvious when Rose stepped out the doors to his space and time machine. He could see from here, the console. There was nobody. His brow creased and he pulled the monitor screen closer, looking at it with increasing worry. Rose was wandering the hall, before coming back inside, leaning against the rail. "Doctor?" He looked up at her, brow still creased. He didn't say anything, and went back to the monitor. The Doctor muttered to himself, "No-no, that can't be. I saw it, there is NO-body here!" Rose walked up to the console and stand beside him, trying to peer over his shoulder to see the monitor. Any joy dropped from her face. "Doctor..? What is it?" Doctor pushed the monitor away with a grimace, turning to face Rose.
"Rose. Tell me. While you were out there, did you see anybody?" He placed his hands on her shoulder, and she shook her head. Doctor immediately let go, only to grab her hand. "Something.. isn't right." He swallowed passively. "Another mystery then, yeah?" She quipped. The Doctor was almost never like this about adventures, or mysteries. He loved 'em. He pulled her out the TARDIS doors and into the open, turning around. Nobody at the desks. There was some kind of mannequin- an information node maybe? He stalked to it, still pulling Rose along, dragging her for a bit before she taking it as a hint to keep up. His feeling, was telling him, to not let go of her. He began extracting information from the node, his worry increasing. Rose stood by him, interjecting here and there with inquiries.
"Count the shadows. For god's sake, count the shadows."
He was set on edge. He and Rose went exploring the library, trying to enjoy the books there. He told Rose not to worry, must be a Sunday. Even though he knew it wasn't a Sunday. He and TARDIS never landed on Sunday's. He was keeping a vigilant eye on every single shadow, keeping Rose away from most, just- just in case.
The lights started going out. The Doctor grabbed Rose Tyler's hand and told her to run. A bit like how they first met, and every adventure after that. But now wasn't the time to reminisce.
He was careless. He wasn't paying attention. They got her. "DOCTOR!" Rose screamed as the shadow slowly enveloped her form, eating up her skin and flesh until bone was the only thing left. She was running when they got was in pain, there was no time for her to bleed, it was coming too fast. He grabbed her arms and tried to pull her out of the shadow's grasp. Realizing too late it wasn't JUST a shadow. It was the Vashta Nerada. And they had taken the Library. She wouldn't budge, couldn't budge. His face was stricken with panic and despair as he shouted back. "ROSE! NO! ROOOOOOSE!" He had to let her go, before they got him too. She was crying, sobbing violently, just as the Nerada ate up the rest of her, her finger tips last. He backed up, the Vashta Nerada stopped as soon as Rose was gone, her bones and clothes laying in the floor. He dug out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at them after switching to a setting. It wouldn't do a goddamn thing, but maybe they wouldn't realize that and back off. "GET BACK!" He roared, the end of his sonic glowing green. "GET BACK, RIGHT NOW!" He wanted to ask them to let her go, give him back to her. But he knew. There was nothing to do. His best mate, his- his love, was gone. They ate her. He roared the warning again, pointing the screwdriver upward to one of the lights and made it explode. The Nerada seemed to backup a bit. "Oh, yes. I can much worse than that, and you KNOW IT. SO BACK UP." There was pain in his eyes, he knew. And he knew they could see. He had to steel himself. He swallowed and stepped forward, not wavering. "Back. Up." He growled out, one last time, before they disappeared, leaving what was left of Rose Marion Tyler behind. he pocketed his sonic and dropped to his knees before her, hands hovering over her bones. He inhaled shakily and his cheeks felt wet and his eyes stung. He knew he was crying.
"Rose.. Rose.." He whimpered, gently picking up her arms by the wrists and pulling her skeleton into his lap. He caressed her skull, kissing it solemnly. He shouldn't have come here. He shouldn't have brought her. Maybe told her to stay in the TARDIS, instead of dragging her along. Should have got up and left the moment he knew something was wrong. He could have prevented this, could have saved her. He failed. He failed her. He failed her mum, Jackie. Failed her friend, Mickey, failed not-Pete, failed Jack, failed everybody. He couldn't take it anymore and screamed at the ceiling, choking a few times.
He had to.. He had to forget. He brought her skeleton back to the TARDIS after a few encounters with the Vashta Nerada. He had to make himself forget, manipulate his own memories. He couldn't remember anymore. It would drive him mad. He placed her skeleton in a room the TARDIS provided him. He could feel her sorrow. She was crying, he knew.
The Doctor rubbed his face and stood in the console room, he couldn't stop crying. It hurt.. Still hurts. He sat down on the couch and pressed his fingers against his temples.
He stood there in the time vortex, tears streaming down his face. He had just got down saying goodbye to Rose, the connection had cut itself way too soon, before he got to say he loved her back. His hands were in his jacket pockets. He brought one out to rub at his tear stricken face, removing the wetness but his eyes were still a bit red. Then he heard a voice. "What is this place?" He turned to see a ginger in a white wedding dress inside his TARDIS. He blinked. "What?"