PARALLEL WORLD-EARTH- 2010

The Stormcage Containment Facility had been erected by Torchwood three years ago, and already the concrete was scarred and littered with algae and dirt accumulating from the torrential rain and countless battles the building had faced within such a short time.

One day, the entire facility would expand to become a prison planet, but for now it loomed gloomily in the heart of the city of London, housing thousands of confidential prisoners capable of crimes the government didn't even recognise as a reality. The skyscraper was dotted with inch-thick windows barred with rusted iron, and obscured by the scratches of a million desperate souls searching for escape and respite from the dangers within.

Rose Tyler wasn't looking for escape. She didn't even try to see if the bars outside the windows had rusted off, or if someone had dug a hole beneath the bed. All hope was gone. The Doctor had been captured. And he was human.

The room was cold, sterile, and devoid of sunlight. It was cast in an ambiguous darkness, an abyss so complete that if Rose closed her eyes more of the room would have been visible. She wondered if the Doctor was still alive, if Torchwood had begun the operation…

A light turned on outside the door- a frosty blue ambience not even reaching a metre from the source, and Rose got up. She could hear voices, but the low hum of conversation carried through the door and dissipated into inaudible murmuring.

Okay, you've been in this situation one thousand and one times with the Doctor. What's so different now?

She paused; the door clicked and began to open.

He's not here.

The light flooded the room, each corner illuminated in the ultraviolet glow.

He left you.

Rose stepped forward, pulled her hair back past her ear and glared at the silhouette guilty of casting the shadow on the floor. Her heart skipped a beat as he pulled off his glasses and clicked two oily fingers. A bright white light buzzed on somewhere high above (too high for the room,) and she took a step back each time he moved forward.

'Miss Tyler, I'm Captain Thompson- the head of the investigation into The Doctor's…' He paused, contemplating his choice of word. '…humanity. We were informed by yourself-and your father Mr Pete Tyler- that he was an alien. A Timelord. All evidence concurs that this isn't the case.'

'He is. Well, one of him is anyway. The Doctor you've got captured is the wrong one, and if you want my cooperation you're going to have to-'

Her sentence stopped mid-speech. Something was wrong. There was a nagging feeling at the back of her head. The feeling of omnipresence; like she was in the prison room and scattered across the whole universe at the same time. Her entire body was tingling and for a split second she felt weightless. She tried to raise a hand and failed; she turned her head and fell to the floor.

She looked down at her body as the sense of weightlessness increased, slowly her legs were dividing and dividing into one billion golden particles and dividing again into atoms, and again into electrons-all swimming through the air and gliding through the window and into the city outside. The room had been warm, a contrast to the drizzle of outside, and yet she could feel both temperatures and both settings simultaneously. Unadulterated fear and alarm washed over her in for no more than one terrifying second, and then she was gone. She was nothing more than the flotsam and jetsam of the universe.

THE ASIAN SPACESTATION- THE DISTANT FUTURE

'The Asian Spacestation! Candyfloss curry and metal monkeys!' The Doctor grinned in his excitement and glee. 'I have always wanted to come here.'

He pulled his hands from his pockets and skipped to the doors, grabbed his coat and turned to welcome his companion to another new world.

The TARDIS was empty, and the Doctor's grinned faded. 'Ah. Yeah, well…I'll just have fun for the two of us!' He thrust open the doors and breathed in the air, red light cast itself all over the console room, the aurora dancing on the walls and roundels...playing with the shadows.

He turned and locked the doors, lingering a moment with the key in the lock- lost in thought and fettered by his loneliness. The TARDIS' groan sounded one last time and stopped. People used to run after that sound.

He sniffed to enjoy the scent of artificial air and to appreciate his surroundings.

Those days are gone. He was better like this.

He pulled the key out and thrust it into his jacket pocket, moving to take a look at the station. The sky was auburn in colour, and white washed buildings grew out of the ground at precise and regular spaces. Their windows were over-run by weeds and vines slithered up the walls. The whole area was derelict and empty- this was the no man's land…the edge of a sanctuary long that had since forgotten, disregarded because of its lack of purpose.

'Great! Why is it that I always get the slums?' He took a few steps forward, and rotated on the spot. 'Still….should be alright if I keep away from the motorways.'

He stopped himself from talking anymore, and sonicked the air. 'Oooh! You wonderful thing you! No life for about 2 miles!' The sonic clicked and whirred. 'Oh. No, wait, no life for-'

He frowned. '-about 10 feet.'

'…I'd say 3 metres. But, to be honest, I was never that great at Maths.'

He knew who had said it even before he even turned around.

The Doctor's grin spread wide across his face and met both ears, wrinkling all the skin on his face. He looked at her in silence, transfixed by the impossibility of her being there, and then grinned again, ruffled the back of his hair with one hand and took to rubbing his earlobe with surprising vigour. Rose Tyler stood before him.

'Wha-?' He stopped himself from saying anything and moved forward.

Rose moved back. 'You may not want to run and hug me; last time you nearly regenerated.'

Then she beamed at him, her lips curling and her face flushing with the excitement and joy of the scene. Her hair was blowing in the breeze, whipping her face gently and her eyes followed the wind as it toyed with the Doctor's coat, as if it were some limp flag. The Doctor thought about standing still for a second- to ask her how it had been possible, but thought better of it. Just this once he wouldn't let science spoil the miracle.

He ran at her, grasping her in an embrace that turned into a spin and resulted in them both collapsing on the floor in laughter. They rolled over and faced one another, still smiling in their isolation for 2 miles around. Rose opened her mouth to speak, but didn't get the chance. Someone screamed from a street corner two blocks away.

She rolled her eyes. 'So much for a vacation! Ready?' Their faces reverted to a childish glee and a brave sincerity all at once. 'Yeah,' he replied. 'Run!'

And they were off, clasping each other's sweaty hands and sprinting along the empty roads- hair flailing wildly and the Doctor's feet flicking his coat and pattering on the dirt with renewed gusto. Rose felt alive again, like she could keep running with the Doctor forever and never stop. This was where she was meant to be, this was what she was meant to do- Torchwood had been temporary, she'd always known that- but this felt permanent and forever. She would never leave him again.

They came to a halt by an aging woman, her faced creased with sorrow, in a narrow alley eclipsed by the bodies of two looming apartment buildings stinking of age and rot. The area was perfectly still and almost silent, save for her whimper as she caressed a pile of battered clothes and wept inconsolably. '…Jamie…it took Jamie.'

Rose crouched beside her, offering an arm for support and consolation. 'It's okay, love. The Doctor can help you. What happened?'

'…Jamie…it took him…'

Rose looked over at the Doctor smothered in the shadow of one of the buildings, his face illuminated sporadically by the blue buzz of the sonic screwdriver. 'Whoa! Vortex resonance levels are through the roof! A rift, a dimensional tear was, is, live-' he glanced at his watch '-opened round about the time of the scream...' He lowered himself to the height of the woman sitting on the floor. '…so I'd really like you tell us what happened to Jamie.'

The woman had taken the Doctor and Rose back to a precarious-looking shack standing just outside of the city. The walls were plastered with pictures of a young child and two beds had been set up on the floor. Something foul-smelling was boiling on the stove and a drip seeped through the ceiling at regular intervals and splashed the Doctor's head. He dared not move for fear of bringing the settlement down.

'So, Mrs Forrester? What happened to Jamie?'

Her lip quivered, her hands shook. Whatever happened to Jamie had shook her to the bone and left her more fragile than the shack. 'It took him…like it took Lucy…oh God, Jamie…'She grabbed the kitchen worktop and slid slowly to the floor.

'Mrs Forrester, I can help- but only if you tell me how'

He glanced at Rose, and gave a smile. He wished that the evil of the universe would take a break too, that they could just travel and see the stars in peace. She started to speak, and all thought of vacation escaped his mind.

'I'm the last. All inhabitants of The Asian Spacestation have been taken, one by one they gathered to look at the crack- and one by one they disappeared. The rip killed them. And now it's coming for us.'

The Doctor frowned; his brow creasing and jutting at a severe angle, defiant of the woman's words. 'Nah, sorry. Not buying it. Dimensional tears don't have vendettas. You pop in, you pop out somewhere else. Mrs Forrester, Jamie isn't dead…' He leant in to her, laying his hands on hers for reassurance. They were cold and wrinkled, worn with work and the wiping of tears '…and I can find him. I will find him, and then I'll find Lucy and everyone else. I promise.'

'Nope- absolutely nothing. Nada. Naught. Zippo. Zilch. Nil.' He paused, deep in contemplation. 'I kinda capped it with the 'nada'…' He buzzed the sonic a few more times and mumbled away to himself before speaking up-'there's nothing here. The sonic's not picking up on anything.'

He buzzed it once more, sheepishly, almost half-hearted in his last attempt for some result. 'Oh! Of course! You beautiful thing! Ha!' He grinned again. 'Rose Tyler, since you've been back I can't stop grinning! Still…you can tell me how brilliant I am later, we're leaving.'

'Well, what was it? What did you find?' Rose frowned at him and didn't move.

'Ah, right. Yeah, sorry. Forgot to say, didn't I? Aliens. Not the friendly kind…and probably two-headed. Two-headed and green. Two-headed, green and slimy.'

He turned and started walking off, coat billowing behind him and his brainy specs still on. The wind was toying with his hair, and yet it retained its immaculate messiness- Rose dismissively brushed hers from her face and looked once more at where the tear was before setting off after him. 'Where are we going?'

'Away. I should have probably said something earlier, shouldn't I? The aliens are about to fall through that tear into this world, that's gonna cause some major ripples and they're not gonna shake hands with us.' Rose jogged up to him, looped her arm round his and smiled broadly. 'So we're back then? The Doctor and Rose forever. I told you I'd stay with you that long…and you're not getting rid of me again.'

There was a loud bang behind them, a terrible metallic clang echoing off the walls and making them jump. 'What was-?' The Doctor pushed Rose behind a bin and followed suit. Resting his hands on the lid and popping his head up every so often to see what was going on. 'What is it?' The Doctor put his head down and turned to her. 'So Torchwood taught you to ask a lot of questions?' Rose stared at him for a second.

'What else was I going to do, really? I travel the universe; see the stars and suddenly I'm cut off from it all. I was cut off from you.'

'Yeah, well. You've just said 'what' about 5 times in the last minute- and that's 3 more than 2 years ago.'

Rose sighed and blinked. 'Torchwood weren't keen on me asking the questions. Yet they kept asking away…you're locked up in the parallel world. God, I completely forgot!'

'Me?'

'Well, you know. Other you. My you.'

'So I'm not your Doctor anymore?'

'I didn't say that…I did, but I mean, you're both mine.'

The Doctor nodded a non-understanding, offended, nod. 'Oh, right. It's like that.'

'Look-'

She never finished her sentence. A blue light illuminated the alley, casting an eerie glow on the Doctor's face and accompanying a loud crackle. 'What-?'

'See?' He tutted and his face softened. 'Shhhh.' The Doctor frowned and his face contorted between anger and fascination. 'The dimensional tear goes both ways. Things go in, things go out- just this isn't your usual garbage in, garbage out- those were people. Good, honest, Asian Spacestation people…. And that is one ugly alien.'

Rose looked at him sharply. 'They're here?'

'Sorry, didn't I say?' Rose climbed to her knees and peered over the top of the bin, far too aware of the smell originating from the bin bag within and too apprehensive to touch it for fear of the green chemical it was leaking.

But then she saw the aliens, and grabbed hold of the corrugated metal for support so tightly that her hands began to bleed and mix with the substance. They weren't green and cartoonish like the Doctor had portended, instead their faces were pale and grey, wracked with rage and littered with craters and wounds seeping with blood and dripping an oily black substance. They each had a hand, stitched haphazardly to the forearm, but on their right it was a stump- the flesh was cleanly cut but the bone protruded from the end like a zombie in some ghastly horror movie. One of them turned around and Rose started. The back of the head was home to a third eye, burrowed deep into the skull and searching the area faster than humanly possible- for a long while it remained as such, and then it stopped in mid-motion and stared. It had seen something, but Rose couldn't see what.

'Rose. When I say run, run.' He looked over at her and frowned. 'Sorry, didn't you get that?'

'What?'

'I said run.'

He grabbed her hand and smiled. 'We really should stop doing this.'

And they set off again, running down the alley and around the corner, ducking from the onset of bullets as the aliens caught sight of them. They ran a few blocks, sprinting past building after building until eventually stopping by an empty travel agent. 'They saw me, Doctor. They chased us because they saw me.'

'Nah. That was the sonic. See, it's always emitting a low level sonic wavelength at an unique frequency- it's how I can use it quickly without the software lagging - but it's traceable. I could hear them talking because the Grashlugg speak in clicks, and I just happen to be able to speak their language. But the 3-eyed guy got wind of us and well- they really wouldn't take tea.'

'Yeah, so, they detect some sonic feedback? Why the chase? The sonic is harmless, you've said so yourself- it's not dangerous.'

'They've just turned up on a space station they've neither seen nor heard of before. And there's me buzzing my sonic and doing my happy grin like some evil mastermind and ('cause they're idiots) they assume the worst and blame me. Well, us. But me when you think about it.'

'Evil mastermind?' She laughed and paused. 'You said Grashlugg like you knew them? Who are they?

'What, not who. They're the scourge of the universe, hunting down other species and taking their parts to optimise themselves. They're like the Krillitane, just without the plastic surgery or the wings- and they've no idea where they are.' He ran his hand through his hair, shoved a hand in his pocket and slipped to the floor. 'We've got to get Mrs Forrester, she's not safe. And then I'm taking us to the safest place in the whole of this Spacestation.'

Rose smiled, comforted by the Doctor's assertiveness. She was in the most danger she'd been in for a while, and yet she feel the safest she had for a long time. 'Where's that?'

'The ASNN- Asian Spacestation News Network- home to the universe's largest satellite until the year 21 Mark II /Pear 62. I'm gonna send out one hell of a programme.'

Anyanka crouched down by the bins where the Human and Timelord had been watching them. There was blood and something green there. 'Vermin.'

Dashek walked forward from behind and began to talk, his lack of eyelids prevented him from blinking and so he stared with orange eyes to the back of Anyanka's head. 'What is it, Dashek?'

'We are trapped. Our location is unknown and the dimensional tear has overcharged and closed temporarily.'

'You don't trust me Dashek. The Human's blood is here, and I will track her.' She dipped her finger in Rose's blood and rubbed them together, savouring the thickness of it in comparison to hers. She licked the blood and stood up, turning away from the alley before setting off into the midst of the buildings. 'Search the area Dashek- find them and kill them.'

Mrs Forrester had been easy to find. Her isolation had made her careless and noisy and the Doctor and Rose had followed the sound to a supermarket about ten minutes from the shack they'd spoken to her in before.

'Where are we going?'

'ASNN, the Doctor has a plan.'

'Yeah, gotta love plans. But this one didn't include this street.' He'd not spoken for a while, and when he did he startled the woman. 'I could do with some help navigating.'

Mrs Forrester walked forward and pointed to the left, down a darkened alley and past some broken glass to a small motel-looking building bolted and boarded up with wood. 'ASNN doesn't stand for some motel chain in the 52nd century does it?' Rose laughed at the Doctor and moved forward. '"Safest place in this spacestation" Right.'

They walked through the alley and Rose smashed a forgotten window at the side of the building, through which they climbed and entered. The inside was massive.

'Ah. Right. Not a motel then. Whoever linked motel and news network?'

'Whoever linked police box and spaceship?'

'Oi! I like it. It's retro, and kinda…cool.'

The foyer was massive; a fortress constructed of marble and stone standing as high as a skyscraper and built around a pillar of some sort of blue force field holding several hover pads suspended in the air. 'After you.' The Doctor watched Rose and Mrs Forrester climb on and stepped on his own, wobbling slightly before regaining his balance. With a buzz of his sonic they were flying through the air towards the top floor, and bobbing precariously.

They reached the top floor and walked out into a room lit by fluorescent lights and home to hundreds of consoles and computers.

'You still got a TARDIS key?'

'I didn't exactly plan my exit did I?'

She fumbled in her pocket and took it out, handed it to him and sat down on a small platform showcasing a wide range of technology presumably responsible for broadcasting from the channel; the Doctor took the key and ran to the wires, unplugging them randomly and sticking them with whatever he could find. When he ran out of chewing gum and blu-tac he took a step back and presented the key to them, hardly containing his excitement. Mrs Forrester sat in a corner silently.

'Yeah? It's the TARDIS key and some wires?'

'This isn't just a key and some wires. Remember when I was the old me? Big ears, northern accent? Well I hooked up the key to bring the TARDIS to the church; I've only gone and done it again- and this time there aren't any reapers to kill me.' He laughed.

The TARDIS key started emitting a faint golden glow, slowly strengthening and getting brighter until it shone through the cracks in the Doctor's hands. Rose could hear the groan of the TARDIS, the hum of its engines, and for the umpteenth time that day, she grinned. 'I've really missed that sound.'

'Yeah? It missed you too…and so did I.' He smiled at her, her eyes softening. And then the TARDIS appeared, solid and looming over them in awesome blue grandeur.

'What is that?' Mrs Forrester had gotten up whilst they talked and was standing sheepishly on the other side of his ship. 'The TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Bigger-'

'-on the inside. Don't you ever change your pick-up line?' Rose opened the door for Mrs Forrester and the TARDIS light shone on them. 'Why did you need it so badly?'

'Transmat beam. Remember them? Funny little things if you're on the receiving end but handy for getting rid of things, like an army of-'

The ground shook. 'They're here. Well, one of them is anyway' It shook again and some debris fell from the ceiling.

'How did they find us?' Mrs Forrester retreated back to her corner, terrified of the shaking and slumped to the floor, she was muttering something inaudible. 'I don't know, take Mrs Forrester and go into the TARDIS, you'll be safer there.'

'What about you?'

'Grashluggs hate cold. Think I forgot to mention that too…and the building has air con, I'll be fine- now go!'

Rose opened the TARDIS door again and rushed Mrs Forrester inside, never stepping in herself; she closed the door again and stood beside the Doctor. 'You're not getting rid of me that easily. 'I made my choice and long time ago and I'm never gonna leave you' – remember that?' The Doctor frowned at her and stared, with Rose returning his gaze. 'What do you want me to do?'

'Turn on all the air-con there is. If there are switches, flick them. It's there's buttons- press them. I haven't the foggiest what half of this stuff does. It's a grey zone so if they get you, I probably won't be able to save you.'

'I know.'

'Well then, what're you waiting for? I've hooked the temporary transmat up to the TARDIS and I'm ready to go…I just need the genetic template of one of the aliens.'

'Right, and how do we get-DOCTOR!'

He turned at the last second and missed a laser beam by mere millimetres. 'Good call.'

'…and you wanted me in the TARDIS?'

The Doctor grabbed Rose and they slipped behind a console and out of sight. There was only one Grashlugg and he walked slowly, breathed hard and clicked every so often- talking to himself. 'What's he saying?' Rose whispered, all too aware of the lack of space between them and the creature and apprehensive about the acoustics of the room.

'He's singing… It's Britney. No, sorry. That's not Britney. Madonna! Ha! Gotta love that song.'

'Madonna? Big bad aliens listen to- what album is it from?'

'No idea. Definitely some of her earlier works. Yeah, earlier stuff.' He paused, noticing something above the Grashlugg. 'He's right below the air con, what're the chances?' He laughed out loud and stood up, in full view. 'Hello- I'm the Doctor, and you are?'

'Dashek. Of the Grashlugg Legion Tenth Status. You and the human will be executed.'

'Nice to meet you Dashek. Although, I am more a Kylie fan, myself- and I don't mean anything by this, it's really just the day job-' he looked at the vent and flicked the setting of the sonic, sending plumes of white frost, smoking from its cold temperature, billowing from the vent. The creature screamed for a second and then fell to the floor, apparently unconscious from the sudden drop in temperature.

'Wow, it's more than a bit nippy. And I thought the Powell Estate had bad central heating…'

The Doctor leant down by Dashek and checked his body. 'I'm sorry.' He turned to Rose 'He's fine, just knocked out. Cold.' He sniggered.

'That's really not funny. You're making Mickey sound hilarious, that's a new low. '

The Doctor's smile faltered. 'Sorry. Help me move the body onto the platform; I need the TARDIS to scan his genetic makeup.' Rose took his legs and the Doctor grabbed his arms, together they dragged it onto the platform and the Doctor pushed a blue button- sending a scanner over the body and emitting a low beep at regular intervals. 'Right, done. Good. See, the good thing about having the biggest satellites mean we can emit a signal around the whole ship from here, sending all aliens back to where they come from! HA!'

'HA!' Rose frowned, realising something. 'That includes us?'

'Yeah. That includes me, you and the TARDIS. But if we go in there, we'll be fine. We're not gonna be separated Rose- not again.'

She smiled. A sweet, trusting smile. 'Good. So now what? How do we start the transmat and get in the TARDIS in time?'

The Doctor smiled, knowledgeably. He tapped his nose. 'Wait and see.'

He swung open the door and ushered her inside. 'Mrs Forrester, you can go now. It's safe, Jamie's coming back.'

She walked outside of the TARDIS and stood next to the Doctor. 'You're leaving before he's back. What if it doesn't work?'

'Oh, believe me. It's going to work- I've set the transmat to the Grashlugg genetic code, but it's more complex than that. It taps into vortex energy; it uses the energy from the dimensional tear to undo it- to cancel it out. It's like…it's like UNO STACKO, the transmat is a brick at the bottom of the tower and you pull that out- you set it off- and it all crashes down. The people come back from the tear, and the tear closes forever- all those people add up to one big and complicated time event. Everything hit by the signal goes back to where they come from - and that's here for all those missing. You better put on a Welcome Home party for James and Lucy…they're coming back'

Mrs Forrester smiled, a grin of pure delight, the first time the Doctor had seen. 'Thank you, Doctor. You really are the one aren't you? You'll save us.'

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, confusion wracking his face. 'I thought that's why you're thanking me?'

Mrs Forrester's smile faltered. 'I- you don't know do you? This is happening everywhere, Doctor. You're just at the edge of the storm. Before the people disappeared, the news was reporting the same thing. Everywhere. They called it the end of the universe, the end of everything.'

Her eyes were glazed with tears; her hands were shaking with fear. 'Save us'

The Doctor stared at here for a second. 'Yeah, right, sure.' She began to walk off, walking with a renewed vigour of what lay ahead. '…Mrs Forrester. They never said anything about four knocks, did they?'

She turned to him. 'There's a story, a tale we tell our children here Doctor. About the man who will knock four times.' The Doctor froze, and Mrs Forrester walked away. 'But it's just a story.'

'Doctor- are you coming?' Rose had stepped out of the TARDIS, impatient by the length of her wait. 'Yeah. Right, sorry. Just need to boot this up- wait inside.'

She stepped back indoors sheepishly, and the Doctor turned to the machine. 'Right then. Here goes nothing. He stepped on the platform and pressed the button a second time. The scanner ran over his body, the same as it had with Dashek, and stopped at his feet. He took a breath in and pondered for a second, maybe he would never hear those four knocks…maybe now was the way it happened. The white light of the transmat began to glow from the podium, and suddenly it rushed from the source and washed over the entire planet- as the Doctor felt himself disappearing, he saw the room disappear.

Rose had been waiting in the TARDIS too long…the Doctor still hadn't come. She rushed to the doors and pulled them open again. The platform- the spot where the Doctor was standing-was empty. 'Doctor?'

She ran around the room looking for him, searching under tables- anything. And yet he wasn't there.

'Doctor?'

She rushed into the corridor, hoping to find him, and saw nothing.

'Doctor.'

She walked back to into the TARDIS and tilted the display screen upwards, Torchwood had taught her basic interaction with alien technology, but she had to exhaust all her skills to make the TARDIS computer work. She paused and then typed in a few words, watching as the symbols morphed into new ones. She typed some more:

"LOCATION: THE DOCTOR"

And the results began to appear on the screen, letter by letter-as if typed by the machine- she gasped. 'No, no….it can't be.' She typed her search again, to be sure but the same word appeared on the screen again. The same three words.

LOCATION OF THE DOCTOR:

GALLIFREY