As far as lives go, Alex Williams was pretty happy with his. UNIT had picked him up pretty quickly out of university, and he had to admit that it was a far better job than he'd expected to find. Commander Tyler seemed to like him, and she was good enough to work for, she'd even bought him lunch a couple of times. He had a good apartment, nothing too fancy, but definitely nice enough to bring someone home to, and he lived just close enough to his uncle's house to be invited around for lunch every Sunday.

Alex' parents were both gone now, but he'd made his peace with that, and his uncle Brian's Sunday lunches left him feeling like his family was as big as it ever needed to be – even if it was only him, his cousin Rory, and his sister Lucy.

This Sunday Rory had brought his "sort of girlfriend" with him.

"Hello again, Ginger," Alex said as Rory walked in with her, opening a bottle of wine.

"Amy," she corrected with a smile, sitting down at the set table.

"Sorry, Amy," he said, pouring her and his cousin drinks.

His uncle walked in from the garden, holding some freshly cut flowers.

"Just something for the table," Brian said cheerfully, "oh hello you two!" He walked over and kissed Amy on the cheek, then pat his son on the back.

"Pass them here, I'll find a vase," said Lucy, who was leaning against the kitchen counter.

"So," Alex said, sitting down next to his cousin, "how's the hospital?"

"Uh, good, I think," Rory said, sounding a little uncertain.

"You think?"

"Well, I haven't actually killed anyone yet, so that can only be a good sign."

"I like that you said yet," Lucy laughed in the background, pulling out a vase.

"You should have seen him when I picked him up the other day – you'd have thought he'd been in a war zone," Amy remarked.

"Hey I was in the E.R! That's pretty close!" Rory defended.

"I'm sure you're doing wonderfully," Brian said to his son, who had the expression of someone being bullied.

"What about you, then?" Lucy said to Adam, "How's your job?"

"Good," he said.

"Are we gonna get any more information than that? What's good?" Lucy questioned him, "how's the new boss?"

"She's funny," Alex said, "I like her. A bit out of place sometimes, but good."

He took a sip of wine.

"Where is it you work?" Amy asked him.

"Alex works for the government," Lucy said in a slightly mocking voice.

"We're all very proud of him," Brian interjected affectionately.

"And what do you do for the government?" Amy impersonated Lucy's tone.

"It's to do with homeland security."

"Impressive," Amy said.

"Well I have been in cars with tinted windows," Alex replied, and Rory rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean by out of place?" Lucy asked, joining everyone at the table.

"What, Luce?"

"You said your boss was out of place."

"Oh, right," Alex said. "She just doesn't seem very military. You can tell she doesn't like that part of it," he said, taking another sip of wine

"And what do you do, Ginger?" he asked.

"I'm a… a kiss-o-gram."

"I'm sorry?"

"Anyway!" said Rory, clapping his hands. "Time to eat!"

Alex was about to ask more about this 'kiss-o-gram' business when his phone rang loudly.

"Sorry," he said, standing up and looking down at it, "that's work."

He waited until he was in the garden to answer it.

"Alex!"

"Commander Tyler?"

"Yeah it's me – are you busy?"

"Uh-" Alex turned around and looked inside at his family, "Sort of. Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong, exactly… I was just wondering if you could help me with some of these files… I don't really get the system but I think I might have found something important."

"Ma'am, if it's important I'll come in," he said.

"You sure? I can try an' work it out myself."

"I'll be there in ten minutes, Commander."

"See you soon." She hung up.

Alex walked back inside and picked up his jacket.

"Oh you're not going are you?" Lucy said.

"Sorry," he said apologetically, "I might be back – she said it was something to do with filing... Nothing serious. Anyway, I want to hear more about Ginger's kiss-o-gram work."

Amy blushed a little as he walked away, giving Brian another quick apology.


Alex walked into Commander Tyler's office expecting to see a few files out, and maybe a couple of cabinets open.

That wasn't quite what he found.

Rose sat cross-legged on her desk looking around her at the sea of papers, which also covered a lot of the floor. In her hand she had what looked like a list, which she was busy writing on.

Alex cleared his throat and she looked up, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"I think we've got a problem," she said.


Rose woke up early on Sunday. It had been two days since the incident at the factory, and one since she'd been into UNIT. She felt restless. She'd woken up at least four times in the night, jumping awake at the sight of the Doctor in her dreams, and only managed to get a few hours sleep all together. She needed to do something.

Rose swung her legs out of the bed and stood up quickly. Something in the back of her mind was bothering her, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It wasn't just missing him, she'd gotten used to that sensation now, it was just part of her brain – this was something different. She ran through the last few days in her mind… 'Oh!'

It was what the alien had said; she hadn't had time to process it. She'd gotten too lost in exhaustion and memories again…. 'The lost sun of Poosh,' she thought, 'just like the Carnelian system – how the hell did I forget that?'

She decided she'd have to get down to UNIT and see if Alex had left her any updates on the vanished worlds. So far there had been silence, but now she had a second case, and something in her gut told her they were connected. And if she was wrong, there wasn't any harm in a little investigation anyway.

Rose remembered Sarah Jane saying a similar thing with a small smile. 'Maybe this is what happened after the Doctor – you just keep trying the mysteries on your own.'

She turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the driveway, deciding it was very important that she focus on the road. Or at least, not on Sarah Jane Smith, and how alike they had turned out to be.

Commander Tyler drove quickly; arriving at UNIT with a sense of urgency she couldn't be sure was warranted. Much to her disappointment, there were no new memos from Alex waiting on her desk.

Rose frowned, chewing on her lip.

"Well then," she said to herself, "I guess I'll just have to try and find it myself."

Alex had given her a brief tour on her first day, and she remembered where he'd said unused files were stored.

Rose punched in her key-code (1-2-67, her Mum's birthday) and walked into the long storage room.

"Huh," muttered Rose. This was going to take a while.

The room was more like a warehouse, spanning back for the equivalent of a small block on the Estate, with what could have been hundreds of tall metal shelves, almost reaching the ceiling. Each shelf held dozens of plastic storage boxes, and sealed and labeled.

Rose didn't hear the short UNIT worker approach her until he spoke.

"Can I help you, Ma'am?"

She turned around quickly, a little startled.

"Oh, um, I'm jus' looking for some files. I think."

"What is it that you're looking for?"

"Um… I'm not quite sure exactly."

The man clicked his tongue. "You're on your own then," he said, beginning to walk back to his small desk.

"No hang on," Rose said, "How would I find files on missing stars?"

The man picked up a pen and quickly jotted something down on a scrap piece of paper, then handed it to her.

"Here's the general section for astronomy and astrophysics, you could try there."

"Cheers," Rose replied, walking towards the shelves. She looked down at the note.

A-1d-348

She walked down to the first line of shelves, which had a large black 'A' stamped at their entrance.

Rose wandered down. "1, 1a, 1b, 1c… 1d."

She walked into the row, scanning the numbers. It was at least three minutes before she found the right group of shelves, marked '348.'

"Now what do I look for," she muttered to herself, biting the inside of her cheek. She tapped the note against her hand.

"What would the Doctor look for?"

Her memory flashed back to her last good Christmas. "When I'm stuck at home I'm useless!" she had cried to her Mum. Rose ignored her past self. Something was happening here, in this universe, and she wasn't going to be distracted away from it.

"Something other people would have missed," she answered her own question.

Rose tapped her cheek, hoping for some inspiration. Nothing came to her. She didn't even understand this filing system.

"Stars," she said, out loud this time, "let's just get everything on stars."


Rose heard her door swing open and the sound of a throat clearing, and looked up to where Alex was standing. He was looking a little taken-a-back at the mess.

"I think we've got a problem," she said.

"So do I," he said, looking around the room. "Please tell me it isn't my job to clean this up."

Rose ignored the comment and motioned for him to come over. Alex walked slowly, trying not to step on any paper.

"I didn't understand the filing system," she said, "so I've been going through every page... Now you're here you can help – I still haven't been through those," she gestured to a pile of boxes in the corner.

"What exactly is it I'm looking for?"

"More of these," Rose replied, handing him the list she had been writing.

Alex looked down. "Coordinates?"

"Stars," Rose replied.

"Stars?"

"Stars that have disappeared."

"Like the Carnelian system," Alex said, catching on. "But these are just single stars, right?"

"Exactly," Rose said, "that's why no-one's paid any attention. They're all too insignificant."

Alex nodded. "So how do you know they're connected?"

"I don't," she replied, "but after Poosh-"

"Poosh?"

"The sun vanished," Rose said, quieter now, thinking. "After that I figured there would be more..."

"Well," Alex said, "I guess we better start on those boxes then."

Over an hour later the pair had managed to go through two boxes, working at a much quicker pace now Rose understood the filing system.

Alex glanced down at his watch, and Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have to be somewhere?" she asked.

"Just a family thing," he said.

There was a knock at the door and Alex stood up to open it.

Martha stood in the doorway. She glanced around the room.

"Blimey," she said, "looks like a tornado went through here."

"A blonde one," Alex said, opening the door more to reveal Rose.

"Oh- Commander," Martha said, hurrying to salute.

"Don't worry about that," Rose said, "What are you doing here on a Sunday?"

"I just wanted to finish up my report on the factory," Martha said, still looking at the papers on the floor.

Rose sighed as she looked around. "Yeah it's gotten a little messy," she admitted. She looked at Martha. "Now you're here though, you can help us."

Her medical officer smiled. "Happy to help, Ma'am. What is it exactly I'm meant to be doing?" She stepped forward and sat next to Rose on the floor.

"Finding any mention to lost stars."

"What do you mean lost?"

"Anything that was charted before and isn't there any more," Rose said simply.

Martha nodded, picking up the next piece of paper. "Sounds fun," she said.

Alex snorted a little, and then sent an apologetic look to Rose.

"It's alright," she said, "it is getting kind of boring."

"Well, we can talk while we look, right?" Martha said. "What were you talking about when I came in?"

"I was about to ask Alex about his family," Rose said, before looking expectantly at Alex.

"One sister, one uncle, one cousin – one cousin's girlfriend, " he answered, "who I think might actually be a stripper."

"Interesting," Martha laughed.

"So no parents?" Rose asked.

"Not anymore. Dad passed away a few years ago. My Mum died when I was little, I don't really remember her."

"Same with my dad," Rose said, earning a puzzled look from Martha.

"Hang on, " she said, looking at Rose, "I thought you were Pete Tyler's daughter?"

"Long story," Rose replied, raising her eyebrows for emphasis as she read over a new page. "What about you Martha? Any family?"

"Oh yeah," she said. "Mum, Dad – Dad's girlfriend," she shuddered a little here, and Alex chuckled, "brother, sister – the whole package."

"You get along?" Rose asked.

"Lets just say it gets a little noisy," Martha said, picking up a new page.

"Riiight," Rose laughed in an understanding voice.

"Hang on," Martha said, looking down at the page, "I think I've got one."

"Let me see," Rose said, moving closer to her.

"Coordinates are 21-45-30," Martha read off the page, "it was there a few weeks ago, but it didn't show up on the last satellite reading."

"No sign of any debris," Rose said, scanning the file with Martha, "that's another one then."

She wrote the coordinates down on the list, which now had fourteen stars.

Martha glanced over at it, "that's too many to be a coincidence, isn't it?" she said.

"Yep," Rose nodded, biting her lip, "and that's not including the Carnelian..."

"The what?"

"It's an N-class system, light years away from us," Rose said, "It vanished like the rest of these… That's what got me started."

Martha frowned. "But how can stars just vanish?" she said, looking at Rose.

"I wish I knew," she replied, running her tongue over her teeth. She looked back at the paper. "The Doctor would know," she muttered sadly.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"He was a friend of mine," Rose said, staring at the paper, "he's not here anymore though."

Martha looked at Alex for a second.

"Well can we find him?" she asked.

Rose didn't answer the question, instead she stood up quickly, walking over to the telephone and dialling.

She held it up to her ear.

"Commander Tyler," the Major answered. "How can I help you?"

"The Carnelian system," Rose said, "it's not the only thing that's lost."


"I had a small team working on the same thing," the Major said, looking at the list, "but we found different stars..."

"So how many does that bring it to?" said Martha, who stood a little behind Rose.

"Thirty in total, as well as the Carnelian system, and apparently, the second sun of Poosh," she nodded to Rose.

Martha exhaled, raising her eyebrows. "Wow," she said quietly.

"There doesn't seem to be any pattern," said Alex, "all the stars disappeared at different times from different coordinates."

"We found the same," said the Major.

Rose tried to think like the Doctor again.

"We should work out if this is a threat," she said.

"Obviously, Commander," Nyanja replied coolly, "that is our priority. However while I appreciate your efforts, I have to stress that this is not your case."

Rose frowned, and Martha voiced her thoughts. "With all due respect Major, we've come this far, and Commander Tyler found stars that you didn't."

"As I said, Lieutenant Jones, I appreciate your efforts. I'll let you know if there are any major developments. You're dismissed."

Martha looked as if she wanted to say something, but Rose nudged her out, sensing this was a woman with which to pick your battles.

"That's not fair," Martha muttered as they walked away, "we were getting somewhere!"

"I don't exactly have a degree in astrophysics, I dunno what else I could have done," Rose shrugged, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Is that all you want today, Ma'am?" Alex asked as they came to a stop outside the office.

"Yeah that's fine… I'll see you both soon."


Rose couldn't help feeling drained when she pulled back into the Tyler driveway, having to push herself to get up and out of the car.

She groaned a little as she walked inside, collapsing on the couch quickly. They'd worked for hours, and it hadn't exactly been thrilling, and now all she had was more questions and less of an opportunity to ask them. As much as she'd argued with the Doctor over his self-designation as 'the final authority,' Rose had to admit she would have liked to not be taking orders. Especially when those orders meant she couldn't investigate the mystery she'd been thrown.

Rose sighed as she closed her eyes in frustration. Why couldn't she have worked hard in school? Why did she have to go and run off with some guy who ended up abandoning her?

'There's a pattern,' she thought a little bitterly. If she hadn't dropped everything when Jimmy had turned up maybe she'd have some actual qualifications; wouldn't be being pushed aside by Nyanja now… But then she might not have had to work in a shop, and then she might not have met the Doctor.

She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down. Rose relaxed a little, releasing a fraction of her tension, and letting her body sink a little deeper into the lounge.

She felt herself getting sleepy.

'Just a quick nap,' she thought.


"Hear me."

Rose opened her eyes. She was – well she wasn't quite sure where. It felt… golden. She didn't know that golden could be a feeling, but this was definitely it. She couldn't see anything around her, but she could feel the buzz of energy in the air, the hum of a familiar song…

"Tardis," she breathed.

"Hear me," the voice said again, soft and gentle.

"I wanna see you," Rose said, turning in a circle, looking for the voice that she knew belonged to the Doctor's ship.

"My Wolf."

Rose turned around.

A woman stood in front of her. She was wearing the same clothes as Rose, and her hair fell around her face in a way that mimicked her own. Her eyes were the same as well, but they looked far older than Rose's own.

"You look like my sister," Rose said, stepping a forward.

"I am, in some ways."

"You're hundreds of years old," Rose laughed, "How could you be my sister?"

The Tardis stepped forward and took Rose's hand. "You have kissed men who will breathe long after your death," she said softly, "you know how time can dance. And you know better than most how one mind may change another."

The air around them hummed delicately.

"I miss you," Rose said quietly, as the Tardis touched her cheek in the same way the Doctor once had. "I thought I just missed him, but it's you as well."

"We are linked," she replied, "I am part of you, and you are part of me."

"Is that why it hurts?" Rose felt her eyes burn a little.

The Tardis nodded quietly, taking Rose's other hand.

"Does he know?" Rose said. "Does the Doctor know that we're… we're linked?"

"He thought he had broken our bond. My Thief drew out my soul to keep you safe, but traces remain. Not enough to harm you, but enough to feel your mind. To be your sister, even now."

"This isn't real," said Rose sadly. "You can't come through to this universe – petrol in a diesel engine."

She dropped her hands and walked away a little, looking around wherever it was they were.

"There are more things in this world than he can understand," the Tardis said, smiling softly.

Rose turned sharply to face her again. "You mean you could come through? He could come back?"

"No, the walls are still closed."

Rose tried not to let the disappointment crush her. "Oh. Then what do you mean?"

"I am not a dream," the Tardis said, coming back towards her.

"I can sing through the walls of the universe, but only very softly. Only because of you, my Wolf. Your mind is reaching out strongly enough to sustain the link. Nothing physical can pass through the edges of reality, through the lines between our worlds, but a whisper can. This is our whisper."

The Tardis' hair whipped gently around her face, as if they were standing in a breeze. She looked beautiful, Rose thought.

"How do I know that this isn't a dream, though?"

"I can only speak when your conscious mind is blank," she said, "I do not have enough energy to sing when you are awake. You have to trust that I am here."

"Couldn't the Doctor help?" asked Rose, sounding a little desperate.

The Tardis stepped forward and pulled Rose into an embrace. At first she was startled, but then Rose leaned in, hugging her back, feeling the comforting hum that she had missed for too long.

"It would break his hearts," the Tardis whispered into her ear, "knowing that I can sing to you, but could never let him in."

Rose felt tears well up in her eyes again. She moved away slightly, holding her hand again.

"Why not? Why couldn't I see him?"

"The link is too weak..." The Tardis paused for a moment. "Oh my Wolf," she said, with a sad smile that reminded Rose of the Doctor, "I have loved you."

She kissed Rose softly on the lips – chastely, as a dear friend would, and then let go of her hand.

Rose woke up.

"Come back," she whispered.


I'm sorry that this chapter is so much shorter than the last two - I'm planning on putting up another one tonight to compensate. Once again thank you to everyone who has been reading, it's lovely to have support :)