Chapter One: "He's Dead"

"Activate!"

Rose wasn't sure how the next few seconds would pan out for her. If it all went well, which it usually did... usually... then she'd materialise on a new planet, in a new universe. A new Earth - almost like the one she visited with the Doctor, except less alien, and without cat people and bitchy trampolines trying to enact their revenge. Of course, if all of this didn't go to plan, she could be ripped apart and the barriers between the universes could very well disintegrate completely.

Thankfully, however, things went smoothly, and Rose knew instantly where she was. London, England. A unique fragrance greeted her nostrils - made up of pollution, pigeons, and alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

Rose, having arrived in a particularly unappealing alleyway, wandered out onto the main street. It was busier than she expected - parties of drunk colleagues staggering past her, all wearing some kind of tinsel decoration on their head. Brightly coloured lights were strung between buildings - snowmen and reindeer and stars. Rose smiled. It was Christmas.

Christmas always was a special time for Rose. She'd always thought back to that fateful Christmas day when she was attacked by evil Santa robots, her living room was destroyed by a Christmas tree, and the newly regenerated Doctor lost his hand in a sword fight with blood controlling aliens on their ship above London. Not your average Christmas, granted, but it was special to her. That was the day she met him. Well, the new him - her Doctor.

Rose snapped out of her reminiscing when she felt the buzz of the street change... Cheering and singing turned into gasps and screams, and people - very quickly - began to run. Rose looked up into the frosty night sky, and there it was. A huge star, flying through the sky, like a balloon that had escaped from some parade. But this was no balloon. It was firing lightning bolts from the points of the star... one of which was coming directly towards her.

She ran. As fast as she could, for as long as she could, Rose Tyler ran. She understood what was happening, she'd seen this scenario before in other parallel Earths - so she knew exactly where to run. Underneath the Thames right now, the Doctor would be battling the Empress of the Racnoss, and this time she was sure she'd be able to see him. She'd tried and failed before, but she had a feeling that this Earth was special.

Then all hell broke loose. Missiles were flying through the sky, and the webs holding the star together began crashing to the ground. Like a game of deadly hopscotch, Rose managed to dodge all the falling debris - but she noticed that some weren't so lucky. A group of blokes were helping their friend, clearly injured by some shrapnel, ensuring him that an ambulance would be on the way soon. Rose wasn't so certain, given the fact that the greater London area would most likely be dialling 999 at this very moment, all panicking, all terrified.

At the end of the road, there was a crowd of people, behind some kind of barricade? Flashing lights, sirens, the whole lot. There was bound to be someone there who knew where the Doctor might be.

Just as she reached the crowd of people, she saw a van driving away, and a woman strolling towards her. Fairly plain looking, ginger hair, all dressed up, clearly she's come from a night out. Rose skidded to a halt and, barely able to breathe, spluttered "What happened?!" at the woman. "What happened, sorry - did they find someone?"

The lady shrugged. "I dunno."

Rose looked back at the crowd, drifting away from whatever this lady was saying. Great, out of all the people she could choose to talk to, she'd picked someone who hadn't a clue- Wait a minute, did she say 'the Doctor'? Rose spun back around to look at her. "Well, where is he?" This was it. He was here, somewhere, Rose knew it. She'd finally get to see him again.

"They took him away. He's dead."

Rose just stared, taking her time to process what she'd heard. Dead. He was dead.

"I'm sorry, did you know him? I mean, they didn't say his name. Could be any doctor."

Rose began to wander off. She'd done the one thing she promised herself she'd never do. Rose got her hopes up. For the first time in years, Rose had been hopeful, and then she'd been so cruelly smacked back into reality. "I came so far."

"It could be anyone."

This woman was starting to properly get on Rose's nerves. What did she know, she knew nothing. The Doctor wasn't just anyone. Rose spun around to look at her, and just as she was about to start mouthing off, Rose realised who she was talking to. She'd seen her before, she just knew it. "What's your name?"

"Donna."

Rose recognised the name. Donna. Suddenly, things just got really messy. In her travels across various universes, Rose had picked up some information about the Doctor's future after she left. This was the Donna that should've been there to save the Doctor.

"And you?"

Rose couldn't allow herself to get involved any further. She had to go, she had to leave this world as soon as she could. But... there was something wrong. Something on Donna's back, something Rose couldn't quite put her finger on. "Oh, I was just passing by. I shouldn't even be here. This is wrong. It's wrong, this is so wrong." Donna was starting to notice Rose's staring. Time to change the subject. "Sorry, what was it? Donna what?"

"Why do you keep looking at my back?"

"I'm not" Rose could kick herself. Of all the lies she could have come up with, she said... that. She'd totally blown it.

"Yes you are. You keep looking behind me." Donna was starting to get agitated. "You're doing it now. What is it? What's there?"

Just as Donna went to check her back, Rose found herself fading away. Back 'home'. The Dimension Cannon had delivered yet another failure. This one was even worse - not only had she missed the Doctor, he'd been killed. Rose was about to cry, when she remembered Donna. What was that on her back? Intrigued, Rose decided to make a note. The next time she used the Dimension Cannon, she'd travel back to Donna's world and figure things out. If the Doctor liked Donna enough to take her on as a companion, then Rose felt it was her duty to protect her - even in a parallel universe.

Help Donna, wrote Rose. Did she have the time, though, she wondered. The only reason she could travel to Donna's world was because the barriers between universes was breaking down, did she really want to waste her opportunity of finding the Doctor? No, thought Rose, maybe this alternate Donna could be her ticket to finding the real Doctor once and for all. Somehow. Maybe. It was a long shot, admittedly, but Rose was getting desperate.

It was late. Surely Mum and Mickey would be worried about her. Just as Rose was about to power down the machines for the night, she noticed something. A blip, there, something's happened. The universe she was just in - Donna's world - the machinery was picking up all sorts of paradoxes. Worried, Rose powered the Dimension Cannon back up, inputting the coordinates, and waited to be teleported.

Bang. She wasn't in London any more, at least not by the looks of things. It was darker. Foggier. Quieter. Weirder.

"What the 'ell do you think you're doing?!" whispered a voice. "Get off the streets, you silly girl!"

It was an older man, dressed in drab, grey clothes, unshaven and scruffy. Rose ducked down a side street and he pulled her to the side. "What are you playing at? On the streets well past the curfew?"

"Curfew? Sorry, I don't understand. This is Earth, right?"

"Earth?" The man scoffed. "Hasn't been called that in a long time, love. Welcome to Hell."

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's note:The idea for this story came to me when rewatching Turn Left. The only problem I have with that story is... there's no way Earth wouldn't get invaded in the Doctor's absence. This story, hopefully, should fix that. Maybe. We'll see. Of course, credit to Russell T Davies for the Rose/Donna conversation dialogue, and if anyone else has come up with this idea before me then... sorry, I guess. Thanks for reading!