Here's chapter 2, dears! This is ten pages long. This is season 2, so from here on in the story will mostly be original content, with the exception of Rose's reappearance later on. This chapter includes many direct quotes from Doctor who, but I own nothing.

The man lying in the bed in front of her was not The Doctor, not to Rose. He was much too skinny, too young. He was dwarfed by her Doctor's leather jacket, which had suited him so well. And his hair…

She listened to the heart on left side of his chest first, and then, with only the slightest of hesitations, the one on his right. Both working. Satisfied, she left him alone in the room.

Harriet Jones, Prime Minister?

"Now that's where you're wrong. I completely disagree, if you don't mind." Harriet's response to a journalist questioning the usefulness of the Guinevere One space program was very…Harriet Jones. There was no other way to put it. Rose's lips stretched into a wide grin as she watched the one-time journalist speaking at a press conference. Harriet was brilliant, she knew.

"Doctor, wake up!" Rose pleaded desperately as her mum and Mickey tried to barricade the door to the bedroom. The tree was playing obnoxiously loud Christmas music as it spun outrageously quickly and advanced on them. Rose moved to where her Doctor's leather jacket was hanging and she reached into his pockets, during furiously for his screwdriver. Would he leave her now? The proper Doctor would never leave her in danger of anything while he slept, let alone a Christmas tree.

Once it was found, she put it in The Doctor's palm and wrapped his fingers around it. She was thrown back when the Christmas tree burst through the door, leaving branch marks in the wall.

"I'm gunna get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie squeaked, pressing herself against the back wall and looking away from the ridiculous, yet terrifying, scene unfolding in front of her.

Rose moved back to The much too skinny Doctor and leaned in close to his ear. "Help me," she murmured desperately.

"I, um…I address the Sycorax," She started, her voice wavering as she tried to sound sure of herself. She was on the Sycorax space ship, The Doctor asleep in the TARDIS, trying to save her planet. "According to article fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation." She stumbled over the unfamiliar words. The Sycorax were silent, and though she could not see their faces, she knew all eyes were on her. "I command you to leave this world, with all the authority of…" She thought desperately of any name that might help her, her face strained with fear, "…the Slitheen parliament of Raxacoricofalapatorious…and…um…the Gelth Confederacy…" the leader advanced, causing her to shake and the wavering of her voice to increase still. "…As...uh…sanctioned by the mighty Jagrafess…and...OH! The Daleks! Now leave this planet in peace!" She was shouting now.

"Now, you just wait. I'm busy." The Doctor said sternly, addressing the Sycorax leader. He turned and walked back over to Rose and Mickey. "Mickey! Hello!" He said cheerfully.

"First things first," he looked seriously at Rose. "Be honest. How do I look?" his large brown eyes bored into hers and his face was deathly serious.

"Um…" Rose examined his unfamiliar face. "Different."

"Good different, or bad different?" He asked, still much too serious. Was he vain? She couldn't remember him ever being vain. His expression hadn't changed, and he hadn't even blinked.

"Just…different." She replied quickly. Was he really doing this now? Was he really asking her how he looked while hundreds of Sycorax watched them?

"Am I," He started. If possible, his face grew even more serious when he paused, "ginger?"

Rude and not ginger.

She'd never had doubts about The Doctor. Well, maybe that was a lie, but since he'd changed his face he'd proved to her time and time again that he was still her Doctor. He held her hand and smiled that huge, almost manic grin and convinced her that he hadn't changed, except for his looks. And his really, really great hair.

And he'd caught to her with Sarah Jane at his side, and introduced her to Sarah Jane and Sarah Jane had called her The Doctor's assistant. Maybe Sarah Jane had been The Doctor's assistant but Rose was not. Then he'd sat with Sarah Jane at that stupid diner with that stupid tin dog.

Sarah Jane couldn't even work the sonic.

But they'd both experienced such amazing things…and it was Rose who broke the silence. "…with you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety miles an hour, and you'd go 'what?' and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

That was all it took. The two of them were giggling like a pair of children when The Doctor arrived.

She stood, staring at what had been a time window into 18th century France. He'd taken that damn horse and gone to save Madame the Pompadour. He'd left his traveling companion, behind when he knew there was no way of him getting back to her, and no way of her getting home without him. He'd just…gone.

She couldn't move or look away from the wall. She stood in horrified silence, barely noticing when Mickey asked her what had happened to the time window.

He'd left her.

It was five and a half hours before she saw him again.

Did graphite seriously just attack her? A pencil scribble had just attacked her.

The Isolus had taken The Doctor, and now she was taking not only the entire Olympic stadium, but the whole world. Eighty thousand wasn't enough – she needed four billion brothers and sisters. Rose broke the door with the stolen axe and tried to get Chloe to stop.

"It needs more than heat, Doctor," Rose murmured quietly, looking desperately at the drawing of her Doctor.

The flame.

The pod started to sing as she got closer to the Olympic flame. Rose, unable to get close to the runner, threw the pod high in the air and cheered wildly when the pod took off. Had she done it? The pod certainly seemed to be working. Had she saved the planet from the lonely alien?

With the Isolus gone, one by one the stolen children reappeared where they'd been taken. But not The Doctor. Where was he? She searched desperately.

He had the flame! The Doctor was carrying the flame to the stadium! How had he gotten there? Rose watched with Chloe, her mother, and the road worker.

"Cake?" Rose asked, making The Doctor whirl. He saw her and smiled widely, starting with a chuckle and ending with full throw-back-his-head laughter.

"Top banana!" he said cheerfully, taking the cake from Rose. She smiled back at him, her body flooded with relief as soon as she'd seen him. After his silly comment about edible ball bearings, Rose wrapped him in the tightest hug she possibly could. She thought she'd lost him. She couldn't keep her eyes off his face, nor the smile off her lips.

"This is a night for lost things being found," he told her at a smile. He grabbed her hand.

"Mum, it's us!" Rose called as she entered her mother's flat. The Doctor tried to slip by Jackie, but she tackled him with a hug and kissed his face. Rose gave Jackie her knapsack and showed her the bazulim. When Jackie jumped immediately in with news, her eyes alight with excitement. Rose's blood ran cold when Jackie exclaimed that her father – Rose's grandpa – was coming to visit.

"She's gone mad," She said, eyes wide, as she watched her mum retreat into the kitchen.

"Tell me something new," The Doctor said pleasantly, joining Rose's side.

"Granddad Prentice – that's her dad." Rose explained, glancing quickly at The Doctor before looking back to where her mum has gone. The Doctor's eyes examined Rose's face. "But he's been dead for like…ten years." Rose finished. The Doctor's eyes widened and he quickly looked up in the same direction as Rose. "Oh my God. She's gone mad." Rose muttered. Following her mum into the kitchen.

Ghosts. Ghosts in London. Ghosts all over the world.

When The Doctor took Jackie out of the TARDIS, pretending she was Rose, to follow the Torchwood lot, Rose stayed inside the TARDIS. She watched them leave and waited for her chance. She grabbed the psychic paper from The Doctor's trench coat pocket and exited the TARDIS, as slowly and quietly as she could. Her heart raced as she avoided being seen, and quickly grabbed a lab coat lying on a table and confidently strutted through doors, doing her best to act like she belonged. She jogged to keep up with the man in front of her, and ended up in a barricaded room with a huge gold sphere in it. The man spotted her and began to question her. She tried to use the psychic paper, but he saw through it.

The man asked 'Samuel' to check the door locks. He turned.

Mickey.

He gave her two thumbs up as he moved to the door.

The sphere was shaking, affecting the whole deadlocked room. Rose watched in horror as the leader called desperately for help and Mickey shed his lab coat. Slowly, the sphere started to open before Rose's eyes. She tried to keep her breathing steady. Mickey grabbed his ridiculously oversized gun and pointed it at the sphere.

"Oh my God," Rose gasped. She felt as though a current of ice had just passed through her bloodstream. Four Daleks floated out of the Sphere.

"LO-CA-TION EAR-TH." Declared one, "LIFE FORMS DE-TECT-ED. EXTER-MINATE," It continued. The other joined it its fear-wrenching cry.

When they didn't quiet, Rose took it on herself to make them stop. "DALEKS." She yelled loudly, "You're called Daleks." When she got no response, she deliberately advanced on the closest Dalek. "I know your name," she told it. She threw off her lab coat. She hoped she could stall the Daleks, maybe stop them from killing her, Mickey and the scientist, or at least give The Doctor time to find them. "Think about it, how can I know that? A human who knows about the Daleks. And the Time War." She paused and earned no response. "If you wanna know how, keep us alive. That's all I'm asking. Me and my friends."

What was a genesis arc? What did the Dalek mean, 'it was hibernating'?

"WHICH OF YOU IS LEAST IMPOR-TANT?" The black Dalek demanded, advancing on the three.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose blurted out. The Dalek repeated the question with more force. "No, we don't work like that," Rose said, disgust evident on her face. "None of us." She would not give the Daleks anything or anyone. They were going to live through this, she through stubbornly.

"DESIG-NATE THE LEAST IMPOR-TANT."

Rose was forced to watch the scientist have the information about earth history have his brain waved extracted. She hid her face in Mickey's chest as the man was killed.

The Daleks opened communication through a single Dalek travelling to the upper floors. Rose watched with wide, frightened eyes, following the Dalek's movements. Before now, Rose didn't think she could be any more afraid. Nothing was worse than Dalek.

Until it came face to face (figuratively) with the only thing that could scare her as much as the Daleks.

"I-DENT-IFY YOUR-SELF." The Dalek cried.

"You will identify first." The Cyberman responded. They continued to argue. A joke on Mickey's part pulled Rose's lips into a slight smile, but she continued to watch the screen in front of them soberly, trying not to let too much of her fear show.

"DA-LEKS DO NOT TAKE OR-DERS." The Dalek finally shouted (which she was pretty sure was the same as a Dalek talking quietly). The Daleks identified the Cyberman on their own, without the Cybermen stating their names.

Ringing in her pocket made Rose jump. She looked down quickly and saw "mum" on the caller ID. She answered, keeping the phone at her side. She could hear the slightest mumbling coming from the phone, but couldn't identify the words. Was it The Doctor? Was he alright? Was her mum alright? If The Doctor was alive, did he know what a genesis arc was?

"DA-LEKS HAVE NO CON-CEPT OF ELE-GANCE." The Dalek was still arguing with the Cyberman.

"This is obvious." Was that a burn? Did a Cyberman seriously just burn the Daleks? It continued to propose an alliance. Rose's heart seemed to stop in her chest. They couldn't.

"RE-QUEST DE-NIED." The Dalek responded. The Cybermen tried to shoot the Dalek and failed – the Dalek's armor was impenetrable, even to the Cybermen. The Dalek shot both in turn, and they fell.

The Cybermen opened a communication with the lower level, where three Daleks and two humans remained. "Daleks be warned. You have declared war on the Cybermen." The leader said. Rose and Mickey continued to watch quietly, unable to do anything or say anything.

"THIS IS NOT WAR. THIS IS PEST CON-TROL."

"We have five million Cybermen," the number given by the Cyberman was astonishing. What more fear was left? Rose thought helplessly. "How many are you?"

"FOUR."

Rose was shaking. "You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?" If a robot could be incredulous, this Cyberman certainly was.

"WE WOULD DES-TROY THE CYBER-MEN WITH ONE DA-LEK. YOU ARE SUP-ERIOR IN ONLY ONE ASPECT."

"What is that?"

"YOU ARE BET-TER AT DY-ING."

The Daleks whirled on Rose when the Doctor was spotted, demanding his identification. At her identifying him as The Doctor, the Daleks backed up. When they forced her to place her hand on the genesis arc, she advanced, hoping to protect Mickey from the Dalek threat. She paused. "If you…ehm… escaped the Time War, don't you wanna know what happened?" The Dalek tried to interrupt, but Rose continued, "What happened to the Emperor?"

"THE EMP-EROR SUR-VIVED?" Now even the Dalek sounded incredulous. Rose was glad to have found a distraction, even if she could only stall the Daleks for a few minutes.

"Till he met me." Rose told him boldly. "Cause if these are gunna be my last words, then you're gunna listen." Only silence from the Dalek. "I met the emperor. And I took the Time Vortex and pulled into his head and turned him into dust. D'you get that? The god of all Daleks," she smirked. If there was nothing she could do about dying now, she may as well be cocky. "And I destroyed him." She finished with a laugh.

"YOU WILL BE EXTER-MINATED." The Dalek seemed to should furiously. Rose could not have been gladder to see The Doctor stroll in, wearing…3D glasses? Even so, a large smile grew on Rose's face.

What the hell did he want giant weights for?

Rose, Pete and The Doctor watched, all equally as confused as the next, the Daleks elevate the genesis arc out of Torchwood Tower, accompanied by the black Dalek. When the arc opened, the worst thing that could possibly have happened happened.

"Time Lord science," The Doctor said. Rose turned her head to look at him, and was almost taken aback by the horror on his face. "It's bigger on the inside." When The Doctor explained that the prison ship held millions of Daleks, Rose's mouth popped open in horror. His face thinly masked his heart-wrenching grief and anger as the Daleks exited the genesis arc at an impossible pace.

Millions of Cybermen and millions of Daleks.

The clamps were pressed against the wall and ready. Rose and the Doctor pulled the levers, opening the void, and ran back to their clamps, hanging on for dear life. Rose struggled to catch her breath, watching as Dalek after Cyberman after Dalek was sucked into the void.

"THE BRIDGE IS OPEN! INTO THE VOID! HA!" The Doctor shouted above the noise of wind and shouting Daleks and Cybermen. Smiles grew on The Doctor and Rose's faces. They were doing it – stopping the Daleks and the Cybermen from destroying earth.

But that's where things started going wrong.

Rose's handle unlocked, turned offline and stopped the flow of Cybermen and Daleks. Determined, Rose ignored The Doctor's yell, telling her to hold on, and reached for the lever. She'd completely let go of her clamp and managed to lock the lever back into place. She desperately held on to the lever but felt her grip weakening by the second. She glanced over to The Doctor's terrified face. He tried to reach out to her.

Her fingers gave. All she could hear was The Doctor shouting her name, screaming as she was sucked toward the void. She screamed – this wasn't how it was supposed to end. She'd promised The Doctor forever. This couldn't be it.

She felt arms wrap around her had only a second to glance at her Doctor's horrified face before Pete activated the dimension cannon and she was gone.

The Doctor was terrified and horrified and sad beyond relief. Had they made it to Pete's world? Was she safe? She was no longer with him, now in an unreachable dimension, and he was so very alone. He felt it to his core, the aloneness that seemed to freeze and set flame to his senses all at once.

In the other dimension, Rose pounded furiously at the wall that seemed to separate her from her Doctor. "Take me back!" tears were flowing and she felt her face contort in pain and fear. "Take me back!" Sobs were flowing freely now. She barely noticed when Pete pointed out that the bridge was closed, sobbing against the wall. For a moment, she tought she could feel the Doctor on the other side. Was he alright? Was he safe? He was no longer with him, in an unreachable dimension. Too soon, she felt his presence disappear.

She turned to see Pete, Jackie and Mickey looking at her with sober expressions.

Rose

Rose

She was dreaming of his voice, calling her. Was she imagining things? Had she finally gone insane from the lack of his presence? She told her mother, Pete and Mickey, and they listened without judgment and believed her. They packed up that night and followed the voice in Pete's jeep, following the instructions she'd heard. They drove for what seemed like forever.

When she arrived on the Beach in Norway, she looked desperately for any sign of him, pacing the beach while Pete, Jackie and Mickey stayed by the jeep.

And suddenly there he was.

A hollow, transparent image of her Doctor.

"Where are you?" Had he crossed dimensions? He couldn't have. They were closed, and even if he had he wouldn't be a stupid hologram on a stupid beach in Norway.

"In the TARDIS," he replied, and Rose's heart swelled as she thought of the beloved ship. "There's one tiny little gap in the universe left," The Doctor continued, "just about to close. It takes a lot of power to send this projection. I'm in orbit around a supernova. Burning up a sun, just to say goodbye." The sad smile on his face was killing her. She started to feel tears burn behind her eyes.

"You look like a ghost," she told him sadly, fearful of getting any closer to him, fearful he would disappear any second. He did something and appeared as though he were really there, on the beach with her. She advanced and tentatively reached out. "Can I…" she didn't need to finish the sentence.

He shook his head, "I'm still just an image. No touch."

"Can't you come through properly?" She asked in a small, wavering voice. She already knew the answer. At his answer that two universes would collapse, she responded with "So?" bringing the sad smile back to his face and the tears back to her eyes.

"Where are we? Where did the gap come out?" He asked suddenly, his eyes darting around the beach.

"We're in Norway."

"Norway, right."

"About fifty miles out of Bergen," she continued, fighting the tears that she knew would fall any second. "It's called Darlig Ulv Stranden."

"Dalek?"

"Darlig," she repeated. "It's Norwegian for Bad." The Doctor stared, confused. "This translates as Bad Wolf Bay," she said, rolling her eyes as she felt the ghost of a smile on her lips. She looked at the smiled on her Doctor's face. The last time she'd see him. Her smile was gone much quicker than it had appeared, and her face became twisted in agony. "How long have you got?"

The smile disappeared off of his face. "About to minutes," he told her gently.

She fought tears and grinned sadly. "I can't think of what to say." What could she say? How was she supposed to say goodbye to her Doctor, the man who'd taken her to the end of the world and back? A small chuckle escaped him and he looked at her with a sad smile.

"You've still got Mr. Mickey, then." He said, trying desperately not to sound bitter.

"There's five of us now," her voice sounded hoarse, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "Mum, Dad, Mickey, and the baby."

Awe mixed with sadness on his face, "You're not…"

She paused for a second. Finally she let out a small laugh and smile. "No. It's mum. She'd three months gone. More Tylers on the way." The doctor's eyes lifted to Jackie briefly, but he wouldn't spend his last second with his Rose looking at her mother.

"What about you? Are you…?" what was she doing? Was she alright? He desperately needed for her to be alright, but he knew that either way, if she missed him too much to do anything, it would crush him, but if she was entirely ready to forget him, it would break his heart. There were no right answers anymore.

"Yeah, I'm back working in the shop." She told him, with a slight tinge of bitterness to her tone. She gauged his reaction.

"Good for you," he gave her a small smile.

"Shut up." She told him. "No I'm not. There's still a Torchwood on this planet. It's Open for business. I think I know a thing or two about aliens." She tried to sound sure of herself.

"Rose Tyler," he said her name in the way he did, smiling. "Defender of the Earth." He looked into her eyes, so near to tears, and fought the urge to tear up himself. He changed the subject. "You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on the list of the dead." His statement cause sobs to break free from her and she covered her mouth, trying to stop them. "And here you are, living life, day after day. One adventure I can never have."

Tears flowed freely now and she gasped for breath. She felt as though her chest were being crushed by the weight of the universe. "Am I ever gunna see you again?" She asked through tears an sobs. She had troubled finishing the question and covered her eyes for a brief moment.

"You can't," more weight on her chest. She wondered if this were easy for him. He'd lost companions before…was she just another one gone? But she knew him, her Doctor, and she could see the agony on his face even as he tried to hide it.

"What are you gunna do?" she asked him, shaking her head. Would he forget her, find someone else and begin again? Would he be alright with her gone?

His eyes were starting to redden and she could tell he was fighting off tears. "Oh, I've got the TARDIS." He told her. "Same old life, last of the Time Lords." His smile was bitter and his eyes were red.

"On your own?" Rose asked, in a broken voice that certainly didn't sound like her. The question was barely intelligible. He nodded, unable to speak. It was hard for her to speak as well, through the tears and the sobs and gasps for breath. "I – " she needed to say it, needed him to know. "I love you." She said with as much conviction as she could while her breath caught in her throat.

He looked at her with the tiniest of smiles on his face. "Quite right, too." He said quietly. She nodded. "And I suppose…if it's my last chance to say it…Rose Tyler…" and he was gone.

She allowed herself to break down entirely, sobbing on the beach, her Doctor gone. She couldn't have known that in a different universe, a man in a police box that was orbiting the sun was caught in stunned silence, tears flowing freely. His unfinished sentence hung from his still open lips before he tried to gather himself, closing his eyes and mouth in mourning of what he had lost on a beach, in Norway, in another world. He stood unmoving for too long.

Rose turned to face her family, still standing on the beach. Jackie met her daughter's tear stricken eyes, the agony in her face, and the weakness in her body and ran to her. She wrapped Rose in her arms, knowing that there was nothing she could say to her daughter to make it any easier.

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