1996

A young nine year old Rose crawled out her bedroom window. It was very easy once she had managed to pull the lock out of place. Even though Rose's bedroom was several stories high, she wasn't worried about the height. Once she had pulled herself through the window, she had landed with a soft plop onto the floor of the corridor outside her flat.

Her mother was still sound asleep in the room across from Rose's bedroom when Rose slowly slid the door shut, leaving a small crack so that Rose could open it again. She started to walk down the corridor when she stopped. She looked over her shoulder, peering at her bed. She had stuffed her covers with stuffed animals, so that if her mother decided to glance into her room while she was gone, she would believe Rose was sound asleep. Rose knew that her mum knew better than to approach her sleeping daughter.

Rose smiled, satisfied that her mother wouldn't guess that Rose was missing from her bed. She spun around and started skipping towards a small door at the end of the corridor. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the soft murmur of her name.

"Rose?"

Rose spun around in time to see a very worn out Mickey Smith enter the corridor.

Mickey has lived in the same building as Rose for as long as she could remember (however, he and his grandmother were going to move into another house soon). He was 13 years old with dark skin and really short hair. He watched Rose with confusion.

"Rose, what are you doing out here?" he asked. He glanced at his watch and said, "It's after midnight. You should be in bed."

Rose looked at the ground, rubbing the heel of one of her slippers into the concrete floor. Mickey approached her.

Mickey has known her since she was young, and has even babysat her once or twice. He was real fond of her.

"Rose, why are you out of bed?" he asked, ruffling her hair.

Rose didn't smile like she usually would when he did that. She just continued to stare at the floor.

"Rose, where are you going?" Mickey asked, more firmly this time.

"Iwasgonalookfothbawof," Rose murmured very fast.

Mickey narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"I was gonna look for the bad wolf," Rose said, slower, but even quieter.

For a moment, Mickey was confused. If it hadn't been so late, he would have gotten it instantly, but it took a few moments for the puzzle pieces to click in his head.

Ever since Rose was a toddler, she'd talk about the 'Bad Wolf', an imaginary friend she had made up. She'd talk to Mickey about the 'Bad Wolf', never saying whether it was a he or a she, never telling what it looked like. Rose would always just say that she had a dream about the 'Bad Wolf'. When Mickey would ask what it looked like, Rose's eyes would get all misty and she'd say yellow.

A yellow light.

And every now and then, she'd sneak out during the day to look for the 'Bad Wolf' around Cardiff, but this was the first time Mickey had seen her out at night. Mickey guessed it must have been because of her mother.

Mickey was the only person Rose ever told about the 'Bad Wolf'. If Jackie had learned about it, Mickey guessed she'd think Rose had gone mental. Sneaking out at night must have been the only opportunity Rose could find to continue her search.

Rose was getting antsy during the brief silence which Mickey had spent piecing the whole mess together. She bounced slightly from foot to foot, her heart pounding, waiting for what Mickey would do.

Would he let her go do her search for the 'Bad Wolf'?

Would he get her mum, and get her in trouble?

After a few moments, Mickey slowly nodded. He got to his knees to match Rose's height. She was still such a little thing, and Mickey had already gotten his growth spurt, so when he was at full height, he towered over Rose. Rose looked him in the eyes, the nervousness showing on her face.

"Why are you looking for the 'Bad Wolf', Rose?" Mickey asked.

"The 'Bad Wolf' called to me in my dream," she said simply. A small smile grew on her face. "Will you help me search for the 'Bad Wolf'?" she asked hopefully. Mickey's eyes flickered down to his wristwatch, where the numbers 12:42 glowed brightly. Looking back at Rose's hopeful eyes, he let out a sigh. Whether or not he helps Rose, she would still go off to search. He couldn't let her wander around alone.

"Fifteen minutes," he murmured. Rose grinned really big, grabbed his hand, which was still bigger than hers, and pulled him along. Mickey rolled his eyes as the little girl led him to the little door, which she then opened. She released his hand and hurried up the stairs, her little slippers making almost no noise as they tapped on the steps. Mickey didn't have to try hard to keep up with her as she made her way to the higher levels of the Powel Estate.

Rose looked back at him happily, with a grin on her face. Mickey threw her back a small smile as Rose looked forward once more and pushed a door open at the top of the stairs.

Mickey followed her through the door, shivering slightly as cool air hit his face once more. It took a moment to locate Rose, who was leaning against the railing on the edge of the roof. While Mickey was sure the railing would hold, the whole idea of her leaning on it like that made him nervous. Without a word, he scooped her up and carefully swung her away from the railing. She laughed.

Around anyone else, Rose wouldn't act so childish, but Mickey was almost like a big brother so Rose was willing to have more fun. Mickey plopped her onto the ground and sat beside her, and they looked up at the moon, shining brightly in the sky. There wasn't a single cloud in sight, leaving the rest of the night pitch black.

Rose lay onto her back and watched the sky. Mickey's neck started to strain from looking straight up, so he lay down too.

After a few moments, Mickey heard himself say, "You know Rose, there's this story…"

Rose glanced over at him, immediately interested. "What story?"

Mickey pointed upward towards the black of the night. "Do you see the darkness?"

Rose gave a small nod.

"Well, there are some stories that say there should be something else in the sky."

Rose got to her knees and looked down at Mickey, who laid flat on the ground. "What should be in the sky?" Rose asked excitedly. The thirteen year old boy looked at her and grinned at her perkiness.

"People say there should be these things," he said slowly, "Called stars."

"Stars?" Rose repeated. "What are stars?"

"They're these little silver dots that are supposed to light up the sky," he said with a smile. Rose was really enjoying this story. "Some say, that if you look at the stars a certain way, they make shapes in the sky. People call those, constellations."

"I want to see some constellations," Rose said. "Where are the stars?"

Mickey chuckled. "There are no such things as stars," he said. "It's just a story. A bedtime story."

"Oh," Rose replied, her face falling. She leaned back to the ground and looked back at the sky, her short hair sprawled across the concrete. "If there were stars in the sky, night would be much more beautiful."

"Yeah," Mickey agreed. "Although, some people take it too seriously. Every night they'll search for the stars." Not fully listening to Mickey, Rose stared up at the sky, as if trying to spot one speck of silver among the black as her small smile faded into nothing.

"I wish stars were real."

Mickey nodded slightly, and the two kids lay on the concrete, staring up at the dark night sky.

After some time, Mickey looked at his watch, which read 1:05 and got to his feet. Rose's eyes followed him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Mickey reached down and grasped her hand, pulling her to her tiny feet. His foot reached for her slippers, which she had kicked off earlier, and pushed them in her direction.

"It's time for you to go back to your room," he said.

Rose groaned. "But I didn't get to look for the 'Bad Wolf'," she moaned.

"Ok, Rose," Mickey said. "I'll help you look for it later. But now, you've gotta got to bed. Your mother will think that it's weird if she sees you sleeping till noon on a Saturday."

Rose gave an unwilling nod, and followed as Mickey led her back to her flat.

He reached for the handle, but Rose shook her head 'no'.

"Why?"

"She'll hear you. She always hears when the door is opened."

Mickey raised an eyebrow. "Then how you get out?"

After a moment of chewing on the inside of her cheek, Rose pointed to her bedroom window a few feet away. It took Mickey a few minutes to notice the crack in the window

"You climbed through the window?" Mickey asked. Rose gave a small nod, and a huge grin covered Mickey's face. "Well played, kid. Sounds like something I would do."

"What are you doing up late?" Rose asked out of the blue. Mickey was surprised for a moment and there was a delay before his reply.

"I couldn't sleep so I went on a walk."

Rose raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Rose gave him her famous 'I don't buy it' look.

Mickey groaned. "Fine, I snuck out for a party."

"Was it worth it?" Rose asked curiously. Mickey grinned.

"Completely."

Not asking for details, the little girl slid her window open and climbed through.

"Bye, Mickey," Rose said.

"G'night, Rose," he replied as Rose slid the window shut. With that, Mickey started hurrying back to his flat, where his grandmother was probably either sleeping or worrying like crazy.

Inside her flat, Rose peered through her bedroom door into her mother's room. She sighed in relief as she saw her mum breathing evenly without a hitch. For the first time, Rose realized how thirsty she was, and tip-toed off to the kitchen to get a drink.

Rose didn't know how to make tea yet, so she poured herself a glass of milk and walked into the living room with the glass cupped in her hands. She took a sip as she looked out the window at the blackness that was the sky. She found herself imagining stars, dreaming for them to be real.

Rose suddenly wondered why her mum had never told her of the stars. Rose didn't have many friends, just one girl, called Shareen, but other than that, there was no one who could really tell her any stories, other than Mickey.

His words floated through her mind.

Some people take it too seriously. Every night they'll search for the stars.

Maybe her mum was worried that if Rose knew the story she'd become like those people who never give up on looking for the stars. Maybe that was why Rose had never heard that bed time story.

Rose's thoughts floated back to her dream of the 'Bad Wolf' that had made her want to sneak out in the first place that night.

It had been dark. Rose was in her flat, although her mother wasn't there. She was out. Rose didn't know where to, but she hadn't really thought about it in her dream. Rose lay in her bed, watching the ceiling when a flash of yellow light appeared at the foot of her bed. Rose's mouth fell open slightly as she felt her heart begin to pound. She head a slight whisper, like the rustling of tree leaves, and felt the room get hot.

"Hello?" she squeaked. There was no understandable reply, just a strange sound, like a leaf blower wheezing. The light shined brighter, and Rose recognized it as the 'Bad Wolf'.

At that moment… Rose had woken up, and she felt as if she needed to go searching for it immediately.

Without turning on the light, Rose sat on her couch in front of the darkened TV, sipping her milk, lost in thought. When she had snuck out, she hadn't expected to run into Mickey, nor be back so quickly. At that moment, Rose realized that this was the first time that she had ever snuck out at night, and she had managed to without waking her mother.

She smiled really big at that.

Chugging down the rest of her milk, Rose walked into the kitchen and put the glass in the sink. She knew her mum would probably notice the extra dish in the sink, but Rose figured her mum would think it was just something she forgot to wash after dinner.

Rose trudged back to her room and pulled the stuffed animals out from under her covers. She carelessly pushed them onto the floor as she settled under her blankets. As soon as she rested her head on the pillow, she was fast asleep.

She slept till noon the next morning without having another dream.

The next evening, Saturday night, after she did fall asleep, she did dream. Only this time, she didn't dream of the 'Bad Wolf'.

She dreamt of the stars.

She watched the constellations form from the silver specks, noting how they somehow lit up the night sky without giving much light. She was truly happy.

Until one by one, they started going out.

Soon, the sky in her dream matched the sky above the Powel Estate.

She heard it again, the sound of the wheezing leaf blowers as she looked up at the sky. In her dream, it was suddenly day time, and she saw the sun, burning.

Although it wasn't the sun.

She heard the wheezing once more.

Suddenly, as if her entire world had collapsed, Rose was no more.

Like everyone in the Powel Estate, everyone in Cardiff, and everyone in the world with the exception of four people in an empty museum, she was gone.

Rose Tyler had never been born.

Alright, a couple of things.

This story takes place during 'The Big Bang.' I wrote this based on the idea that when the universe is shrinking, none of the Doctor's adventures or travels happened, changing the lives of all his companions. However, all the companions know they have something missing in life, and that is where the story works. For Rose, it was the Bad Wolf.

Also, since Amelia went to the museum with her aunt, I'm guessing it was a weekend, so the Big Bang takes place on Saturday. That is when everybody disappears.

I hope it isn't too confusing, so please don't hate me if it is.

PLEASE REVIEW!