A/n: A bit of a short chapter, work has been a tad insane. Hoping to get a longer chapter cleaned up and edited for next week.

I wish I owned Doctor Who, but apparently wishes don't accomplish a whole heck of a lot. Sadness.

Thank you Dreamcatcher49, solemnly-up-to-no-good, scifigeekgirl,JollyRoger1, and FogsBlue for the awesome reviews and for the people alerting and following, hope that aside from the shortness, this doesn't disappoint.

Chapter 2

Rose came back to the console room to find it in chaos, the Doctor dancing around the controls pushing buttons and flipping switches and levers manically with one hand and clutching a small glowing box in the other as he rambled on fast enough that she couldn't make any sense of what he was saying. Something about the outside of the universe and mail. Interesting combination.

She slipped quietly into the room and came to stand by Jack where he was leaning on the railing and watching the Doctor with a mix of amusement and confusion on his face. She had opened her mouth to ask what was going on when the Doctor noticed her standing there and dropped the box on the controls, bounding over to her and grasping her shoulders to kiss her soundly.

He pulled back, his face split into a grin as he said, "The most amazing thing Rose, I am not alone!" He released her shoulders, causing her to stumble slightly as she was left bereft of his support. She watched him practically skip back over to pick up the box and wave it about in front of her face.

"This is an emergency message. From a TIME LORD Rose." He then turned the box back around to gaze down at it gleefully, "In an emergency, we wrap our thoughts up in this psychic container and send it out… Any way, there is a Time Lord out there Rose. And it's one of the good ones. See this?"

He held out the box about an inch from her nose and she reached out to grab his wrist and move it back a bit. "You mean this snake thing 'ere?"

"Yes! Mark of the Corsair. He had that tattoo in each of his regenerations. Said he didn't feel like him without it… Well, herself a couple of times…" He trailed off with that, shooting Rose a slightly sheepish look that had Jack smothering a laugh as Rose opened her mouth to speak.

The Doctor quickly recovered and quite adeptly steamrolled over her attempt to speak, causing Jack to rethink his stance on the Doctor's social acuity.

He had moved back to the console and flipped a final switch causing the room to shudder and shake ominously and the lights to and Jack hang on tight to the railing as Jack yelled, "Doctor where are we going?"

"Outside the universe!"

"But Doctor, we can't! You know what happens if we break through the walls!" Rose was speaking now, yelling to be heard over the racket. "And that's even assuming we have enough power. It takes an absolutely enormous amount of power. How are you going to do that?"

"With enormous difficulty, Rose Tyler! Burning up some TARDIS rooms to give us enough power. No more swimming pool, so long scullery. Hope you aren't partial to squash Rose," He twirled a dial and then put his hands back on the main control, "Because there goes squash court seven."

He looked up at Jack and Rose with a manic grin on his face and flipped the final switch, hanging on for dear life as the TARDIS jerked to a stop.

The Doctor was looking back down at the controls, checking the readouts and Jack was stepping towards him, "So where are we Doc?"

Not bothering to correct Jack on his name the Doctor looked up, still smiling excitedly, "Outside the universe where we have never, ever been."

The lights suddenly dimmed, going off and throwing the room into darkness. The Doctor and Jack heard a thud and Jack was holding out a hand as he tried to approach the console. "And was that supposed to happen?"

Dim lights came back on and Jack let his eyes adjust as he saw the Doctor frowning at the controls, "No. This can't be happening. It's impossible…"

"What, what's impossible?" Jack came closer and looked down over the Doctor's shoulder, even knowing he wouldn't understand anything he saw.

The Doctor tried flipping a couple of switches and his frown intensified. "The power, it's completely drained. It's like the matrix, the soul of the TARDIS is gone… But where would it go?" He looked up suddenly and his head swiveled as he searched the room, his gaze coming to rest on the crumpled form of Rose in the corner.

He crossed the room quickly, kneeling beside her and putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder.

Jack had followed and was watching with concern as the Doctor carefully rolled her onto her back. "Is she ok?"

The Doctor was holding a hand to the side of her face, and shook his head, "I don't know. I don't know what's wrong." He let out an audible sigh of relief as Rose's eyelids fluttered briefly for a moment before she opened her eyes.

She swallowed thickly and sat up slowly, smiling at the Doctor as he helped her. "What happened? Why do I feel so… It's gone." She looked panicked and raised her eyes to the Doctor's, "Doctor, it's like I'm empty, my head… The music is gone."

He was looking at her seriously, and he seemed to consider his words carefully before speaking, "Rose, the TARDIS seems to have gone… dark. I need to go investigate, I really think it would be best if you waited here." He held up a hand as her expression turned mutinous and she opened her mouth to speak. "No, please don't argue with me Rose. We don't really know the exact details of your connection with the TARDIS, and I don't want to take any chances with you. The Corsair might be able to help me figure out what's wrong, but until then I would like for you to just wait here awhile. Please Rose."

Rose looked at his concerned face and sighed, she took his hand in hers and looked down at their linked fingers for a moment before nodding her agreement. "All right Doctor. Just promise me you'll be careful though, this really feels wrong. And take Jack at least."

"Like he could get away without me Rosie. He's right though, you should stay here." Jack stepped back as the Doctor stood, helping a still unsteady Rose to the jumpseat and settling her there.

The two men turned then and headed for the TARDIS doors, the Doctor looking back at Rose once before leaving, his face still creased with concern.

Rose patted the railing by her seat, trying to comfort the empty machine. "They'll be back. Don't worry." She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, her face leaning on her knees as she settled in to wait.