Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and never will. But I do own Charlene and any other character I make up.

Author's Note: Warning: You will needs tissues and listen to Love Song Requiem while reading it, makes me it more emotional, but don't if this makes you really, really sad.

Enjoy...

Two years…

Two years since I've seen the Doctor.

But it felt so much longer than that, and it didn't help that I had been dreaming about him, hearing him say my name. Like I was at this moment. I shot out of bed, breathing heavily. As I caught my breath, I ran my hand through my sticky, sweat hair, grimacing at the feel of it. These dreams wouldn't stop. It was like they had taken over my mind. It was the same thing over and over again.

Me falling, falling so fast that I couldn't even comprehend what was happening until I found me, standing in front of the white wall that separated the Doctor and me. I could remember the emotions taking over me like a tidal wave. I remember screaming at the wall, saying the words, 'take me back…take me back!' over and over again with tears streaming down my face as I slammed my fists into the wall, no doubt bruising my hands, but I didn't care. Jackie, Rose, Mickey, and Pete didn't stop me. I couldn't even look at them, too busy mourning my loss, a loss that I thought I'd never had to face. I thought I was going to be with the Doctor forever … but here I was stuck in a parallel universe where I would never see him again. Never see his face. Would never get to touch him, kiss him… would never get to hear him say the words that he had a hard time saying. I was thinking this as I sobbed which only made sob even harder than before.

As my sobs slowly disappeared and was replaced with small whimpers, I rested my head on the wall, feeling as if the Doctor was right there doing the exact same thing, feeling just as heartbroken as I was.

I stayed at the same spot until I had to go and when I did, I walked away from the wall. My tears had dried up but as soon as I was up in my room in the Tyler mansion, the sobbing and tears came again and I buried my face into my pillow, screaming into it as my heart broke into pieces. The fob watch was warm against my chest and in a fit of anger, I tore the watch off and threw it at the wall as hard as I could, hard enough where it would break but it didn't … only fell on the ground, softly.

I pulled my legs to my chest, and buried my face into them, sobbing again. I barely noticed that Rose had came into the room and pulled me into a hug. As soon as I felt my sister's arm, I moved so where I could hug her back and could bury my face into her chest, still sobbing. Eventually, I fell asleep on her shoulder and that was where the dreams began.

I hated those dreams with every fiber of my being. I didn't want to be reminded that I would never see the Doctor again. The dreams continued for two years until I finally decided to tell my sister, parents, and Mickey about it. The dreams had to mean something especially since the Doctor was saying my name in my dreams.

After I told them (and they believed me because they knew the Doctor), we packed our bags into Pete's old truck and started driving with my name being repeated in my head. Eventually, we made it all the way to Norway and that was when my name stopped being said in my head so I knew we were in the right spot. It was at the beach called Ulv Stranden, which translated into Bad Wolf Bay according to the internet. The irony of it was enough to bring tears again to my eyes, but I wiped them away before they could. I got out of the car from where we parked right on the beach and I walked until I heard my name again. I watched as the Doctor, my Doctor, appeared on the beach, but he was blurry as if he was a ghost. But I didn't care … just the sight of him brought tears to my eyes and I fought back a sob.

"Where are you?" I asked, my voice shaking without my control.

"Inside the TARDIS." His voice was distant as he stared at me with those sad, brown eyes. "There's one tiny gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection; I'm in orbit around a super nova." He laughed softly and I closed my eyes at the sound, now letting the tears drip down my face. "I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye."

"You look ghost, Doctor," I said, wiping my eyes to get rid of the tears. The heartbroken expression on his face was missed as he said,

"Hold on." He took out his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it. Minutes later, he looked solid as if he was really there. I stepped closer, reaching out.

"Can I?" I whispered, my hand almost touching his face.

"I'm still just an image," he whispered back regretfully and my hand dropped, feeling my heart break and tears fill my eyes again. "No touch."

"But…" I took a deep, shaky breath, "I'm sure there's a way you can come through, right?" Even as I asked this, I knew the answer. It couldn't happen.

"No, the whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse."

"Yeah…" I glanced away from him, not wanting him to see the tears in my eyes. Then I looked back at him to see that he was looking around our surroundings. He met my eyes.

"How long as it been?"

"Two years…" I managed to say. "Two years." I could feel my face start to crumble as I fought back sobs.

"Two years?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, two years." I nodded shakily as I curled my hands together, my fingernails digging into my skin, almost deep enough where I would break skin.

"Oh Carly." Now it was his turn to try and reach out towards me, but he didn't touch me because as he said, it wouldn't be good if he did. But it felt as if he was touching me. I didn't know why, but it did. I almost sobbed because of this feeling. He let his hand drop and he stared at me, heartbroken, before clearing his throat, changing the subject. "Where are we? Where did the gap come in?"

"We're in Norway."

He nodded as if he knew this already, almost making me chuckle as it was so like the Doctor. "Norway. Right."

"About fifty miles out of Bergen," I told him. "It's called Darliq Ulv Stranden."

He looked surprised, "Dalek."

"No, but it does sound like that though, doesn't it?" I mused, forcing a laugh. "But no, it's Darl-IG." I stressed out the word. "It's Norwegian for 'bad.'" At the furrowed eyebrows of the Doctor, I explained further, "This translates as 'Bad Wolf Bay.'" Like with me, the irony wasn't lost on the Doctor and we laughed softly because of it, but we sobered immediately. My voice cracked again as I asked, "How long have you got?"

"About two minutes…"

"Why?" I croaked out. "Why does this have to happen? It wasn't supposed to be like this, Doctor…"

"I don't know why this happened, love," he told me softly. "But it did."

"I know." I sniffed, "I just wish that it didn't have to. I told myself that I wouldn't leave, but here I am, stuck here…" I spat out the 'here' as if it was a curse without really thinking about it.

"Charlene, you have your family here," he said seriously, nodding towards Rose, Jackie, Pete, and Mickey, who were waiting by the Jeep.

He was right. I did have them. But it wasn't the same…life wouldn't be the same without the Doctor.

"Yeah, I do," I said softly. "Actually, there's five of us now."

The Doctor looked taken aback, "You're not…?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not," I told him with a slight laugh. I wasn't even thinking about dating. The Doctor was the only one for me, always would be. "It's Mum." The Doctor laughed with some relief as he looked over at Jackie while I continued, "So, yeah, more Tylers on the way."

"And what about you? Are you…?"

"Oh, I'm back working at the shop…well … not anymore," I said. "There's still a Torchwood on this planet and it's up for business." I cracked a smile, "I think I know enough about aliens."

"My Carly," he said, sounding so proud that it brought tears to my eyes. "Charlene Tyler. Defender of the Earth." He sighed then, looking me right in my tear filled eyes. "You're dead, officially, back home, and so is Rose. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on the list of the dead."

My bottom lip trembled as I began to softly cry, asking myself once again why this had to happen.

"Here you are." He smiled, "Living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have."

"I'm not going to see you, am I?" I was sobbing now in earnest.

"You can't," he answered softly.

"What are you going to do?" I didn't want him to travel alone. It might not be with me, but he needed someone there with him, to be there for him when he needed someone.

"Oh I've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords." It was then he glanced down at the fob watch which I still kept. It was the last thing I had to remind me of the Doctor. "Has it…?"

"No, still won't open," I answered bitterly, gripping the fob watch. I changed the subject, "Are you going to travel on your own?"

The Doctor only nodded and I shook my head.

"No, you're not going to do that," I told him. "You're going to find someone." He opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off, "Promise me? Promise me, you'll find someone to travel with you?"

After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. "I promise."

"Good." I gave him a watery smile before telling him, knowing it would be the last time I would be able to, "I love you."

The Doctor gazed at me, "And I suppose…" My heart skipped a beat, "if it's one last chance to say it…" He paused for a moment and his eyes locked with mine causing my heart to skip another beat. "Charlene Tyler…" But that was all he could say as he faded away into nothingness.

And my face crumbled and my face screwed up in pain as I buried my face into my hands. He … he … was about to…

I sobbed uncontrollably, unable to contain myself anymore.

As I sobbed, the Doctor stood inside the TARDIS and his eyes were filled with tears that streamed down his face as his mouth was already open to form the words that he would never get to say…

I turned back to my family, still sobbing uncontrollably. I crumbled to the ground on my knees with my arms wrapped tightly around my stomach, not able to stand up anymore. Rose and Jackie ran to me and fell onto the ground beside me, pulling me into a hug.

I sobbed as I buried my face into Jackie's chest.

After getting back home, I stood in my room, holding the pocket watch.

I decided to open right then and it actually opened, my head getting filled with memories that I had forgotten as I closed my eyes.

And after a few moments, I opened them and now I was looking at the world with new eyes as the Protector, the Last of the Time Ladies.