a/n: This will be a bit dark and angsty to begin with. Thanks for all the great response to Finding The Way. I hope you like the sequel! A big round of applause for who_in_whoville who is patient and listens to me ramble on about this plot as well as serves as beta extraordinaire. Oh, any errors are mine as I tinkered with it after she looked it over. Also, a big shout out to all my Dalekian Sisters who over the past six months have really helped me become a better writer. This fic would not exist without their support. Big squishy hugs to ya my Sistahs!

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

Rose sat on the smooth, flat rock overlooking the large, dark lake. The twin moons of the alien sky reflected in the rippling water. She wrapped her arms around herself as she felt a chilly breeze. The sounds of the renaissance festival in the nearby town echoed about, the merry tune in stark contrast to the dark calm of this place. She gazed into the water as memories of another time she was trapped in a dark place washed over her. Fear nipped at the corners of her mind as she was almost overwhelmed by the memory of her imprisonment in the Void.

She tried to shake it off and remember everything was different now. She was back in the Tardis with the Doctor and her new friend Donna. She felt a presence behind her and smiled. "Hi, Jack," she said, without turning around.

Jack sat down next to her with two tankards of some alcoholic beverage in his hands. He handed one to her which she accepted, sniffing it to try and figure out what it was.

"Just wassail. Thought you could use it sitting out here all by yourself. Speaking of which, why are you out here? It's a great party. You should see Mickey and Martha. Those two sure do know how to party medieval style," Jack said, taking a sip of his wassail. Rose sat quietly looking at the tankard before finally taking a sip. After Rose failed to say anything, Jack decided it was time for someone to push her. "So, wanna tell me how you knew it was me before I sat down here?" he asked, looking at her pointedly.

She turned to him. "I can sort of feel you. It's like you're the pebble someone threw in the water and everything ripples around you. No one else feels that way."

"When I first found the Doctor again, he told me I felt wrong to him," he said and sipped some more wassail staring out at the moonlit water of the lake.

"You don't feel wrong to me, Jack. Just different. The Doctor's a bit different too you know. Time flows through humans in a linear straight line kind of way. Time Lords though, it flows into him and around him, sort of loops about, a bit more three dimensional and does his bidding. He could slow it if he wanted."

"You mean he could just will time to stop?" Jack asked, his curiosity piqued.

Rose smiled at him. "Hence the name Time Lord," she said cheekily.

"Can you?" Jack asked.

Rose shrugged. "Don't think so. The Doctor says I'm a bit telepathic, sensitive to time and I'll live longer than humans. I know I can see time lines. Been doin' that for a while now."

Jack picked up a small rock and threw it into the water. "How much longer than a human?" he asked.

Again, Rose shrugged. "Don't know. The Doctor has to run more tests."

"It's a lot to deal with, being immortal, especially if you don't have anyone to talk to," Jack said, still staring out across the lake. He turned to her. "If you ever need to talk, well, you know I'm here."

Rose looked over at him and smiled although it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thanks, Jack but, I'm okay."

"Sorry Rose, but you don't look okay. I mean, you and the Doctor haven't spent very much time together since you got out of med bay. You sure everything's all right?"

Rose was silent and stared down at her tankard of wassail before answering. "I don't know. I…I just don't know. So much has happened." She looked up at Jack. "Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy to be back. The Doctor, sometimes he looks at me like he doesn't know me and I'm not sure I know myself anymore. I see things, hear things and know things that I don't think I should and it's a bit overwhelmin' sometimes. It scares me a bit."

Jack reached over and gripped her hand. "Yeah, I think I do," he said softly. A shadow passed in front of the twin moons and Rose jerked and stared up at them.

"Did you see that?" she asked.

"What?" Jack asked, tensing, looking around and ready for fight or flight.

Rose squinted up at the sky and shook her head. "Nothing I guess. Must have been my imagination."

Jack looked back at her. "Honey, I don't think we can ever just say it's our imagination any more. You and I have seen too much to just shrug something weird off. If you say you saw something, I believe you."

Rose looked over at him with tears in her eyes. "Thanks, Jack" she said, her voice cracking. He leaned over and hugged her.

While Rose and Jack sat by the lake, Donna was at the Renaissance festival enjoying a play featuring jesters and jugglers. She glanced off to the side and saw the Doctor moping in the shadows staring at a man giving some children a marionette show.

She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Oi, should I be worried?"

The Doctor turned to her. "About what?" he asked, his voice devoid of its usual bubbling energy.

"The way you're starin' at that puppet. It some kind of alien puppet about to come to life and terrorize the festival or are you just bein' a misery."

"I am not being a misery," he declared, standing up straight. "And, since we're on the planet Tisik, chances are it is alien to you. Just looks like a simple primitive marionette to me. Well, I say that, but it could be a Trolox in disguise. They do like to mimic children's toys," he rambled and whipped out his sonic just to check. Donna rolled her eyes.

"Doctor," Donna said, chastising him.

He turned back to Donna. "I'm fine really."

"Yeah, well that sounds like Time Lord talk for not fine."

The Doctor sighed and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. "Donna, please don't."

"Right. Mickey and Martha are off havin' fun and you buggered off leaving Rose by herself so you could stand here and mope. The love of your life risks everything to get back to you and all you do is run away from her. Why can't you get your big old Time Lord brain wrapped around the fact that she loves you? She needs you, 'specially now."

"Rose is fine. We talked and she's fine. It's been years since we traveled and we've both changed. I'm giving her time to adjust."

"Right, you expect me to believe that?" Donna asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

The Doctor looked at her and shifted on his feet. "Well, yes."

"Pullease! I don't pretend to understand why she'd go through all this just to get back to a skinny strip of nothing like you. I mean from what I've seen, you don't even treat her right. Since she left the infirmary, all you do is try not to spend time with her. No wonder she wandered off by herself. It's not like you give a flip."

"What do you mean wandered off!" he demanded. "Where did she go?" he asked worried.

"So now you're worried. It's about time! Well, I'm not tellin' you anything else till you spill why you've been acted like such a git."

"But Donna, she could be in trouble."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry bout that, Jack went after her," Donna said with a slight smile, knowing how he would react.

"Jack?" he asked, agitated and pulling at his hair as he peered around the festival.

"Go on. I'm waitin'," Donna said and started tapping her foot.

"But, she's out there somewhere with Jack," he said, almost whinging.

She raised her eyebrows and continued staring at him.

He sighed. "Fine! It's just…Well, Rose has been through so much. She's confused and I don't want to push her into something."

"You are not tellin' me this is all Rose's fault. Come on Doctor. You can do better than that," Donna said, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to a bench near some performing acrobats.

The Doctor collapsed onto the bench and sighed staring out at the festival but seeing almost nothing. He turned and looked at Donna. "I'm scared. She's changed in so many ways. Maybe she's too good for me. She's still so young and I'm not. I'm old, tired and I've done things that… She shouldn't be around someone like me, someone whose life is tainted by darkness."

"Don't be daft. Age doesn't matter," Donna said and waved her hand in the air. "As for darkness, well we all have a bit of darkness in us don't we? And as for you," she said and poked him in the shoulder causing him to wince a bit, "I see just as much good as darkness in you. It's not like she doesn't know darkness. You saved her from the bloomin' Void. She loves you. Why, I don't know but she does. She needs you as much as you need her. So it's been a while, more reason to spend time with each other."

"Yes, but…"

"Stop it. Didn't you hear me? She needs you. She's scared too in case you missed it. I've seen her. Sometimes she just stares out into space looking so lost and frightened. She has nightmares too, not that she admits it. Sometimes I think she's as repressed as you."

The Doctor stood up and looked around the at the festival goers. He felt something cold pass by and shivered. He looked back at Donna. "I've got to find her."

"Well, it's about time," Donna said and stood up next to him. "Now go find her and make things right. If you don't someone else will."

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "Jack," he said, in a tight voice. "Donna, stay here. I'll be back… with Rose."

"Ahem," Donna said and held out her hand.

"What?" he asked, looking confused.

"While you're off making nice with Rose, I could be doin' some shoppin'."

The Doctor sighed, reached into his pocket and handed her a bag of coins before he stormed off reminding her to stay put. Donna smiled and shouted after him. "Oi! Don't think you can order me about now! I'm not gonna sit her like a lump on a log while you get your pants in a knot over the good lookin' Captain. This is my vacation too you know!" He looked back over his shoulder at her before dashing off.

Donna smiled and walked over to some of the vendors and looked at some jewelry. She pulled out the coins that the Doctor had given her and went shopping. After all, she earned it after setting a certain angsty Time Lord straight. As she was purchasing a bracelet, silence fell over the crowd and everyone started staring up at the sky. Donna dropped her purchase and watched as something streaked across the double moons and she felt something dark and frightening envelop the festival.

"Doctor," she whispered and began running after him.

After leaving Donna, the Doctor quickly made his way through the festive atmosphere of the Renaissance fair. He focused his mind on Rose and soon found she and Jack sitting on a rock near the lake embracing. A dark, possessive anger overwhelmed all reason and he stomped over to them.

Before he could say anything, Rose jerked away from Jack and turned to him. "Doctor, is everything okay?" she asked, worried at the emotions she felt rolling off of him. The Doctor glared at Jack.

"Of course. I thought we might walk around the fair together, just the two of us," he was sure to emphasize "two of us" while staring down Jack.

Jack looked up at him and smiled as he sipped his wassail and then turned to Rose. "Well sweetheart, looks like Dark and Stormy is here to sweep you away. Pity, just as things were getting interesting. He dumps you again, you know where to find me," Jack told her winking.

Before Rose could respond the Doctor spoke up. "That won't be necessary. I'm taking care of Rose."

Jack stood up and walked up to the Doctor. "Yeah, well maybe you should do a better job of it. Seems like a little while ago you were so caught up in a funk you didn't even care that she had disappeared," Jack said, goading him.

"I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm looking after Rose," the Doctor said, in full Oncoming Storm mode.

Finally, Rose had had enough. "Right, both of you see here. Been taking care of myself for a while now and I'm not helpless. Not that I don't appreciate you both gettin' all manly and protective. I mean, sometimes a girl likes that but…." Rose never finished. Her face turned pale and she began shivering. She turned and looked at the moons as some dark, amorphous tendril passed in front of them briefly dimming their light.

Donna ran up just as Rose backed up to the Doctor and Jack, stumbling a bit and letting out a shaky "no" before darkness claimed her.