The next few chapters are skipping around episodes. I really hate word for word rewrites, writing as much as reading them (unless it's changed enough like my most very favorite fic EVER "A Golden Rose" by bubblygal92. In fact I'm thinking about reading it again, it's so worth it), so I hope you don't mind. Every scene mentioned is anything that's been changed from canon, assume everything else happened exactly the same. Hopefully you guys have all seen these episodes. If not, well, I'd watch those first before reading this, spoilers and all that.

As the Doctor walked inside the TARDIS, Rose looked back towards the direction of the pier, not knowing her eyes were swirling black.

Chapter 2: Doomsday With a Twist

"I, I've been waiting for someone like you
But now you are slipping away
What have you done now?"

The next morning when Rose woke up, she thought nothing of what had happened the day before; not that she forgot, just that she didn't think it was worth a second thought. As she got ready for the day, she noticed her laundry bag was getting full.

"Oh yeah," she thought. "I guess it has been a week." That made today laundry day. Her heart leaped in excitement. She hadn't seen her mother since just after Mickey left. It would be wonderful to see the woman who raised her again. A smile grew on her face as she hefted her laundry bag up and left her room, heading towards the console room. The Doctor immediately groaned when he saw her load, looking up at the ceiling in his pout.

"Why can't you just use the washer on board?"

"We go through this every laundry day." She retorted, dropping the bag to the floor. It 'thunked' against the grate loudly. "My mother needs to feel needed. Plus I want to see her, it's been too long." The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. Usually she just laughed and said it was something they'd both have to endure. Continuing to scowl, his mood incredibly darkened by the new prospects of this day, he entered the TARDIS into the vortex. He watched Rose carefully as she hopped impatiently on the back of her heels. Finally when they landed, Rose picked her bag back up and was out the door like a shot.

"Don't wait up." The Doctor muttered, still grumpy as he followed her out.

When he climbed up the steps and arrived at the Tyler flat, he found Rose and her mother hugging, something they always did when Rose came home. But what shocked him was after Jackie had released Rose, she turned and pulled him in for a snog! He heard Rose giggling nearby and knew he'd have to take revenge on her for that. Sweet revenge involving bananas and a trampoline planet he figured, his mind already racing. Rose's next words wiped that from his head.

"Would you two like some alone time?" By this the Doctor had finally pulled Mrs. Tyler off of her.

"Rose!" He cried in horror. "How could you say such a ghastly thing?" Mostly he was surprised Rose hadn't pulled Jackie off him herself, as she usually seemed to be like that every time he even so much as glanced at another girl, much less face-battle her mother!

"Well, come on in," Jackie interrupted. "I've got a surprise for you..."

The Doctor was waiting outside the TARDIS for the next ghost shift while he had Rose calibrating the spaceship from inside. Rose didn't know it but the Doctor could hear every word she and her mother were saying due to his earpiece, and he didn't like a single word he heard.

"In forty years time, fifty there'll be this strange woman, " Jackie began. "walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. She's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human."

"Mum, you say it like I'm going to be here forever."

"Well, aren't you? You keep saying you're never gonna leave 'im."

"It's true, he's hurting and lonely and needs a friend right now. But you're my mum. You're the most important person in the world to me and I could never leave you on your own forever." The Doctor cast a glance inside to see them embrace. What Rose said worried the Doctor, no, more like distressed him. Just a few weeks ago, when he had asked her point blank how long she was going to stay with him, her reply had been "Forever." And now she was telling Jackie that wasn't true? She was lying to somebody, but was it him or her mother?

He thought their relationship had grown to something more than friendship, not in the romantic sense, but in the way that few understood, how they would never leave each other and would sacrifice anything to keep the other safe, even their own lives, as they had both proven before. And now she said she would someday toss him away like some piece of space rubbish? None of this made any sense.

Well, first he'd solve this issue of the 'ghosts', then he'd ask her for the truth...

"They can shoot me dead but the moral high ground is mine!"

"THE FEMALE'S HEARTBEAT HAS INCREASED!"

"Well yeah, of course it's gonna if you threaten to exterminate my friend and my mother!"

"I took the time vortex, poured it into his head and turned him into dust. God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him. Ha!" The Dalek rolled back in fear at the look in her dark eyes. This was something unearthly. Something that changed the time lines around this puny human in a way it shouldn't. And it must be destroyed at all costs.

"YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"Oh now hold on, wait a minute!"

As the day progressed the Doctor grew more and more anxious and distracted. Not just about the Cybermen and Daleks (which, that in itself was distressing enough), but about Rose. She was becoming increasingly more and more distant, and in turn he began getting more and more possessive of her. It was more of a reflex than anything, or maybe was it jealousy? Everybody seemed to be getting more attention from her than him, even Mr. Mickety-Mick! It sounded petty and childish, but this regeneration was rather petty and childish.

He felt his blood boiling when he had burst through the door with that carefully-timed dramatic entrance only to see her arm on Mickey's. She had let her ex-boyfriend go in the first place hadn't she?

And now he was faced with a choice. To send her away forever, or ask her to abandon her family to stay by his side. His eyes grew wide in horror as she grabbed one of the dimension hoppers from her not-father. Jackie gave out a laugh of relief.

"For a second I thought you would be staying here." Rose grabbed her mother's shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.

"I love you mum. I could never leave you." That did it. The Doctor strode up and pulled Rose off, turning her to face him. "Oi!" She cried.

"Rose, you would never see me again, never be able to travel in the TARDIS! Is that what you want?"

"You selfish bastard!" She nearly screamed at him, throwing his arms off roughly. "How can you even have the gall to ask me to abandon everybody I love?"

"But I..." Even now he couldn't say it. He sighed, feeling his hearts breaking. Looking around and seeing everybody else wearing their dimension buttons, he nodded.

"Fine. Go." Her eyes widened and she stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face. To his shock Rose came up and hugged him.

"Thank you Doctor, for all you've done for me. You've saved my life so many times, I could never repay you."

"The debt is paid, in full." He replied quietly, his voice choked with emotion. She had had a huge impact on his life...more than he could even describe. How was it all ending like this? He felt his eyes filling with tears as she turned away from him and to Jackie and Pete.

He couldn't help but watch in broken resignation as she hit the button on her chest and disappeared from his life, forever.

The void was finally closed. There had been a harrowing moment where one of the levers got knocked out of place by a Dalek, but it had corrected itself. Had he been imagining it or had he seen a brunette woman there for a moment, righting the lever? No, he had only imagined it. His mind was cracking in undefinable ways, his mind's eye only seeing Rose disappearing in a flash of light. She was gone. She was gone. Forever.

Now he lay on the ground, one hand still grasping his lever and panting for breath. His hearts had been broken for good since Rose chose to leave him. Now all he felt was an all-consuming emptiness, a loneliness that could never be filled. He thought he knew her, thought she would stay by his side for as long as she could. He thought she wouldn't go without a fight, but she had left him willingly, and that had left a bigger hole than if he had lost her against her will.

He lifted his head and stared at the white wall on the other side of the room. Was she on the other side, regretting her choice? There was still so many places he wanted to take her, so many things he wanted to say to her...

He knew he had to see her one last time. He needed to tell her.

She needed to know.

"Rose..."

Meanwhile, in the other universe, Rose had shocked more than just the Doctor with her behavior. Mickey was aghast, seeing her standing there without even one tear in her eyes. He pulled her aside where Jackie couldn't hear them.

"Rose, what have you done?" He saw a confused look spread across her face.

"What do you mean? I chose to stay with my mother, what's the problem in that?"

"You left the man you love!" Her eyes flashed in anger.

"I do NOT love him, and don't ever make that assumption again! It was hard enough knowing I was leaving him on his own."

"So you do love him."

"What? No!"

"Rose, he is the reason why we broke up. You never once denied that you cared for him."

"Mickey, shut up." Her voice lowered dangerously. He didn't listen.

"And then you just leave him like he wasn't the center of your entire universe. What is wrong with you?"

"There is nothing wrong with me." She tried to walk away but he blocked her path. She shoved him out her way forcefully and he had no choice but to step aside.

"Rose, I'm just trying to help!" He yelled after her. She stopped and turned back to him, barely concealed rage on her face.

"Just because I don't love the Doctor doesn't mean I still love you." With that she left, leaving Mickey with absolutely no doubt that something really was wrong with her.

"Rose..."

Three weeks later and Mickey and Rose were hardly speaking. Mickey knew he'd never get anything out of Rose, and he nearly decided to give it up. To Pete and Jackie it seemed like it didn't matter that Rose no longer cared for the Doctor, but a love like that didn't just go away. It stayed through thick and thin, through good times and bad. It was something Mickey and Rose never once had. Even though neither the Doctor or Rose knew it or acknowledged it, their love showed Mickey just what true love really was, and that he could never have had a truly happy life with her. It would have been comfortable, but not special.

It was clear from the way the Doctor had acted and what he had said to her right before they left showed that his feelings hadn't changed, so it had just been Rose. There was something wrong, and Mickey knew he couldn't give up. So he decided to go a different direction.

Mickey drove up to the Tyler mansion when he knew Rose would be working at her new job. He knocked on the door warily, on the lookout for Rose nevertheless. Thankfully, it was Jackie who answered the door. They used to have servants but Jackie had dismissed the all when she moved in, saying she'd been raised as a woman who took care of her own home, as her mother and her mother's mother before her.

"Mickey!" She cried happily upon seeing him. "Please come in, it's been too long." She opened the door wider and he stepped inside. The mansion never ceased to amaze him, with its marble floors, shining stairwells, ornate furniture and expensive paintings. She led him to a room on the right, a cosy living area with tan furniture and warm, red carpeting.

"Would you like anything? Did you eat breakfast? Have you been eating well since you've gotten your own apartment?" Jackie hadn't changed at all, that was for sure. It was nearly the same spiel she used to give him back at the Powell Estates. His heart clenched in nostalgia and sadness. Nevertheless, he answered the same as he always did.

"No thanks, yes, and I guess so." With that out of the way, the two of them sat down on the couch and faced each other.

"What is it you're really here for then, you were never one just for chitchat." That was true. Mickey waited a few seconds before he began.

"Have...have you noticed any...anything strange about Rose?"

"Why, no, what do you mean?"

"Well, she doesn't seem too broken up about losing the Doctor."

"What are you insinuating?" Her voice lowered much too dangerously for his liking. Mickey knew he shouldn't continue, but he did anyway.

"I just think ordinarily she wouldn't have made the choice she did."

"You're saying she...she would have stayed with him? Instead of her own family? How dare you!"

"It's true!" Mickey retorted. "You just can't accept it because she's acting exactly how you want her to, and not how she really is!" Jackie leapt up at that, pointing towards the door.

"Get. Out." Mickey stood up. Scowling at her, he left the mansion, refusing to look back. If they didn't want to listen, fine. He wanted to do more, but he couldn't. Pete and Jake wouldn't be any help, and Rose and now Jackie refused to listen to reason. There was nothing more he could do. Everyone he knew was being selfish and looking out only for themselves, except for him.

So he let it go. For now.

"Rose..."

Ever since Mickey had dropped the subject of the Doctor, Rose had been a tiny bit more social towards him. Their friendship wasn't like it was before and Mickey feared it never would be again. They had both done too much damage. But they never talked about what had happened, and it was nearly forgotten.

One morning, a little over after three months since the Battle of Canary Wharf, Mickey passed by Rose's office only to see her rubbing her forehead with her fingers. She usually worked down at the shop but every once in a while she would come in to Torchwood, her expertise a great help at times.

"You okay?" He asked, stepping inside.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing."

"Alright." He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. He knew if he were to push he would get nowhere. He knew her better than she thought he did.

"You really wanna know?"

"Only if you wanna tell." It had been over three months since their argument, hopefully she thought she could still trust him.

"It's the Doctor. He's been calling to me every night and I haven't been able to sleep at all." This surprised Mickey. Regardless, he still held himself back. Rushing forward could ruin his only chance to fix this.

"Calling? How?"

"I don't know. In my head somehow. I can't explain it."

"What are you gonna do?" She sighed.

"I don't know that either. He's calling me to go somewhere far away, I can't make the trip on my own."

"You can't or you don't want to?" She glanced at him and he feared he had gone too far.

"I've finally rebuilt my life, I don't want him taking me away from it."

"But he said it was impossible. He probably just wants to say goodbye."

"You're probably right but, knowing him, he would have found some way to keep me glued to his side. Can't he just ever let things go?"

"Don't you want to hear what he has to say? After all, you did travel with him for two years." She stayed silent for a while. Finally she spoke.

"Yeah. I guess I better. I'll talk to mum and Pete, we'll go soon."

"You're letting me come?" Surprise again.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Rose didn't tell him but this was a way to show all of them that she was leaving her life with the Doctor behind. For good this time. Plus, her mother prattling on about baby stuff the whole way should be punishment enough for the way he had treated her.

By the time they got to Norway Rose was upset by how long this had taken. And with each complaint Mickey grew more and more sure that this wasn't the Rose he had grown up with. But what could he do? Nothing, that's what. He didn't have the brains or the power like the Doctor did, and anyone he asked for help wouldn't believe him. He prayed the Doctor would notice and be concerned enough to do something. If he really and truly loved her, he would.

Rose had been standing on the beaches of Dalig Ulv Stranden for about an hour, standing about a hundred metres away from Mickey and her family. She looked back at Mickey, exasperated, when suddenly the Doctor appeared behind her. Rose noticed his presence and approached.

"Hello Rose," his voice was laced with sadness.

"Where are you?"

"Inside the TARDIS. There's one tiny little 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 supernova. I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye." His voice nearly broke.

"You look like a ghost." She stated, the Doctor noticed without a trace of feeling.

"Hold on." He recalibrated the sensors on the TARDIS and his body solidified. She stood in the same spot as before, not even bothering to move closer. The Doctor stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, not really knowing where to start. "So..." He began. "Where are we, where did the gap come out?"

"We're in Norway, about 50 miles out of Bergen. It's called Dalig Ulv Stranden."

"Dalek?" He asked, horrified.

"Da-lig. It's Norwegian for bad. This place translates to Bad Wolf Bay." The Doctor laughed at that but Rose seemed more annoyed.

"So...what have you been up to?" Rose was about to snap at him, asking him why he was really here, but at the last second she decided to humour him, seeing as this was the last time he would ever see her again. It was the least she could do, after all.

"Oh, I'm back working in the shop. Also, they're hiring at the Torchwood here apparently, figure I've got enough experience."

"Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth!" He sounded so proud of her. Suddenly his face fell. "You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you'd gone missing. You're on the list of the dead..." His voice broke again. He swallowed and regained control. "But here you are, living a life day after day...the one adventure I can never have." Rose looked down and sighed, kicking at the sand with her foot.

"Doctor, what are you here for? Is there something you need to say?" This clearly distressed the Doctor. He thought he didn't want to see her cry, but this...it was like she didn't even care.

"Rose I-I...I love you." There. It was his last chance and he finally said it. "Ever since Downing Street. You gave up everything for me, and you made me a better man." He turned his head away, feeling his eyes full with tears. "Blimey, I don't know if I can live without you." Rose let out a noise of disgust.

"That's a shame."

"If you love me, then let go of me.
I won't be held down by who I used to be.
She's nothing to me..."

"Excuse me?" His face snapped back to her.

"You shouldn't have fallen in love with me." She came up closer to him. "You need to let me go, find a new companion, someone you can easily manipulate without endangering your own hearts this time. You went too far with me. I wouldn't advise you to do it again. For your own good of course." His eyes darkened.

"Rose, I don't know what has happened to you, but I'm going to find out." She scowled at him. "I don't care how long it takes. I will find a way back here, and I will find what is wrong. Make no mistake, I'll-"

He was cut off as the transmission ended abruptly. He opened his mouth in horror at the last thing he had seen.

It might have been a trick of the light but, just as he was dragged back to the TARDIS, he was sure he saw her eyes swirl in blackness.

He had just let her go and now she was lost to him forever. Her harsh words cut through him like a knife.

"That's a shame."

It was too overwhelming. He collapsed to his knees, one hand gripping the side of the console as sobs wracked his body. He had failed her. She had done so much for him, he was sure she used to love him. And that love had changed him in ways he couldn't even begin to describe. Now, somehow he had ruined her, and there was no way he could save her. Contrary to his words, he had already tried every way in the book to cross between the universes but it was impossible. It was hopeless.

"Why, why does fate make us suffer?
There's a curse between us, 'tween me and you
What have you done?!"

In the other universe, Jackie walked up to Rose, who was still standing in the same place she'd been when the Doctor vanished.

"You okay sweetheart?" She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Oh yes!" Rose replied without turning around. She clapped her hands in excitement. "Everything's just perfect!" She finally spun around and Jackie gasped. Her eyes were black, and the expression on her face was not a good one. "Now that that's done, there's some unfinished business I need to attend to."

Jackie screamed.