Hi all, so I'm back with another new story. The plot bunnies decided to come to me right at the end of my exam period, but I held them off like the good student I am (ha, I'm terrible at revising anyway) and waited until they were over before I wrote this. So here it is. I hope it's alright, still getting used to Doctor Who fanfic writing again, but I think I'm slowly getting there (I've now finished rewatching series 1-9 and have started back at 1 again, and it feels like I never went away). Let me know what you think, I really appreciate it. Constructive criticism is welcome, as always.

Enjoy and see you soon (hopefully)

Emma :)

"ROSE, HOLD ON!"

The Doctor watched as Rose began to pull away from the mangaclamp, reaching out for her lever which was quickly falling back to the 'offline' position. Daleks and Cybermen, once hurtling into the Void in a blur, were now slowing down. There was no telling what would happen if their plan failed and one of either species was able to escape.

"I'VE GOTTA GET IT UP RIGHT!"

He knew she was right, but he didn't like what he was seeing. His hearts were beating faster than he could ever remember. If she slipped then she would follow the Daleks and the Cybermen into the Void: into hell.

The Doctor watched, unable to do anything without slipping himself, as Rose pushed as hard as she could against the pull of the Void, eventually managing to get the lever into its rightful position. The strength of the pull began to increase again and the Doctor could do nothing but scream at Rose to hold on as she started to be pulled towards the opening.

In a heartbeat, she was horizontal, holding on to the lever with everything she had. But it wasn't enough; she was being pulled towards the opening, her fingers slipping until she was holding on by just the tips of her fingers.

It was only a matter of time until she couldn't hold on any longer and with one last look across at the Doctor, looking at her with panic in his eyes, her fingers slipped and she found herself hurtling towards the Void, the Daleks and Cybermen now long gone.

The Doctor screamed her name. There was nothing he could do. Rose; his Rose, was falling into the Void; towards her death and there wasn't a thing in the universe he could do to save her.

The Doctor wasn't one for believing in miracles, but just this once, he let himself believe he had been witness to one. Out of nowhere, Pete Tyler arrived, grabbing Rose before she fell.

She turned around one last time and the Doctor could do nothing other than look back at her before Pete disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, only this time, taking Rose with him.

She was gone and the Doctor knew that he only had seconds before the Void closed forever; seconds before he knew he could never see her again.

His hand had already made it to the pocket of his suit jacket, it had moved there just before Pete had taken Rose back with him; his reflexes being slightly ahead of his brain.

With only seconds before the Void would be closing, the Doctor's fingers touched the round disc of the dimension jump. After Rose had taken it off when she returned from safety, the Doctor had picked it up again, thinking he might need it had the opportunity to save Rose had come round again.

Everything from then on seemed to be automatic. The Doctor's fingers suddenly applied presser to the yellow button in the middle of the disc and, before his brain could even register what had happened, the Doctor found himself falling to the ground in a heap on the floor.

"Doctor?"

Pulling himself up with a groan, the Doctor looked up to find Rose kneeling in front of him. He could see the remnants of tears left behind in her red and puffy eyes.

"Rose," was all the Doctor could say, his voice no more than a whisper, before he was pulled into a bone crushing hug.

Hugging her back just as tightly, the Doctor could feel Rose's tears soak through the jacket of his suit. It was then that the weight of realisation dawned on him and he realised what he had done.

"Why did come here?" Rose asked quietly, her voice cracking.

The Doctor didn't say a word and just continued to hold her. What had he done? He was trapped here, the walls now closed. The TARDIS still sat on the other side of the Void, abandoned. He had nothing left. Nothing but what was in front of him but how long would that last?

…

The Doctor didn't say a word on the way back to the Tyler Mansion. He sat at the back of one of the cars Pete had called for, Rose next to him, staring out of the window. Every now and then, from the reflection in the glass, he would see Rose look up at him in concern. She hadn't asked him outright what it was he was upset about and he assumed that was because she knew. She always knew. How could she not? He knew she was feeling it too; the loss of their previously life. Only she didn't feel it as much as he did.

It wasn't too long before they arrived at the mansion. Pete, Jackie and Mickey were already climbing out of their car by the time the Doctor and Rose arrived in theirs. Jake had already gone home, leaving the five of them with each other: a family of two universes.

The Doctor, Rose and Mickey were each shown to a room once they entered the house and told that dinner would be a seven. Having left the three of them to get themselves settled, Pete led Jackie away to talk to her. As he did, Rose couldn't help but smile a little despite herself. Her mum seemed to be finally happy. She finally had the man she had lost twenty-years previously back in her life and, despite him being a parallel version of the dad she had barely gotten to know, he was definitely the same man. It made her happy that something good had come from the events of the terrible day they had had.

Thinking of the day's events, Rose felt a pang of sorrow when she remember what the Doctor had lost. Why had he done it? Why had he chosen to press that button? He must have known he would be trapped here; must have known what he was giving up. Her thoughts turned to the TARDIS, still at their version of Torchwood. What would happen to it now? She just hoped that, whoever found it, treated it with respect. There were many memories held within that impossible wooden box and Rose herself only formed a tiny amount of them. Maybe they would eventually find a way back. The Doctor had said that travel between parallel worlds was impossible but, if there was one thing Rose knew the Doctor was good at, it was defying the impossible. She just hoped that a miracle happened sooner rather than later.

Deciding that she should go and if the Doctor was in anyway alright, she left her room and went to the room across the hall. She knocked twice but received no answer. She knew he was in here and she knew that the likelihood of him being asleep was very slim indeed. Rose gathered that the Doctor probably wanted to be alone right now, but she knew he needed someone and she was the only one here who had even the slightest understanding of how he was feeling right now. Therefore, she didn't both to knock again and twisted the doorknob, slowly pushing the door open into the room.

Slowly taking a couple of steps in, Rose looked around the room. It was similar to hers; a simple plain wallpaper and carpet with a four-poster bed leaning against the wall adjacent to her.

On the bed lay the figure of the Doctor. He either hadn't noticed her come in or he was choosing to ignore her as he continued to stare up at the blank, white ceiling above him, his hands clasped together on his stomach.

"This ceiling's too blank," the Doctor suddenly said, still not turning to look at Rose. "I like the ones with the little patterns it in."

"Doctor?" Rose asked, but he ignored her and continued to talk about the ceiling.

"The pattern ones are the best, you're always finding something in them that you didn't see before. Little images that your mind comes up with when your least expecting it. Hours of entertainment, if you ask me." He continued, still never once acknowledging Rose's presence.

Closing the door, Rose tried again.

"Doctor, are you alright?" She asked gently, knowing that it was probably the worst question to ask him right now. Of course he wasn't alright, but if there was even the slightest chance that she could help him in anyway then, well, she wasn't going to sit back and not take it.

Expecting him to start another ramble about some other part of the bedroom's décor, Rose was surprised when the Doctor didn't say anything at all. He just lay there, like he had been doing, staring up at the blankness.

"I thought I was going to lose you." The Doctor eventually said after what seemed like an eternity.

"What?" Rose asked, startled by the Doctor's sudden confession. If she was honest with herself she didn't expect him to willingly say anything about what had happened today.

"I thought you were gone forever and that I would never see you again." The Doctor stated.

Rose went and sat down next to the Doctor on the bed, her back resting straight against the headboard with her knees to chest. "Doctor," she said, trying to get her friend to look at her. He didn't. "Doctor, look at me."

Eventually, the Doctor turned his head slightly, looking up at her. However, his eyes never quite met hers. He couldn't bring himself to do that. Not yet anyway.

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Rose told him with a small smile. The Doctor, however, just looked back up at the ceiling.

Rose sighed and a pang of guilt shot through her. "Is that why you did it?" She asked, but she received no answer. She had figured this was how any conversation she was going to have with the Doctor today was going to work along this format. "Doctor, is that why you did it?" Rose still received no answer and, in all honest, she didn't expect one. So she changed the topic slightly.

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know." Was the Doctor's almost inaudible response.

Rose hated this; hated seeing the Doctor this way. There was no life in him; no 'get-up-and-go' that she was so used to seeing from him. This Doctor was a broken man, she had never seen him this way before. She had seen him broken before and knew that some of that was still there within him, but she had never seen him like this. Now he had truly lost everything and not even she could help him through this, it seemed.

"I'm sorry," Rose whispered to him as she climbed off the bed, giving the Doctor one last look of sorrow – to which he didn't see – and left the room, fighting the urge to look back at the Doctor, knowing that it would be too hard to leave for dinner otherwise.

As she shut the door, she didn't hear the Doctor whisper two words after her.

"Don't go,"