I do not, have not, and will never, own Doctor Who.

Apologies… it's been a week. I had my holiday; it was pretty good. But I'm back at college on Wednesday so updates still won't be as often as I'd like, but they'll come when they come.

The Doctor's vision was a little blurred by the water; his head bounced from one way to the other as he swam further out. Hearts racing in rhythm, his arms thrashed in and out of the water smoothly. His head lifted to seek his target in the giant sea, eyes searching for Rose. But her blonde head seemed to have disappeared. His brow furred in confusion, and he scanned his eyes over the horizon to no avail. She was gone.

His swimming slowed as he looked out at the thrashing waves. The sun had disappeared behind a cloud that had apparently come from nowhere. The sea had turned fiercer, and waves lifted him higher in levitating jumps. He looked over them though; searching for the yellow head that he had been sure was among them.

"Rose! " he screamed into the ocean air. "Rose!! " Louder now; terrified and desperate.

No reply came back to him.

His eyes were hot and wet, but that had nothing to do with the ocean water. His legs kicked in the water, trying to stay afloat. He called her name, over and over, panic creeping through his entire body. Had the tide taken her out further? Had he imagined her being out here? He had been so sure she was there… drowning. He took a deep breath and ducked his head under the water, his eyes stayed open, stinging but hunting the ocean depths. All he saw was clear water, and pink sand.

His head broke the water, as he popped back up, breathing in the salty air as he looked toward the beach wildly. He stared; there was a figure on the beach, standing alone and looking at him. He knew that she was watching him, even though the beach was so far away now. Without thinking he swam quickly towards them, knowing it was Rose. His swimming was quick, though not as quick as when he had been swimming the other way, toward the open sea.

In little time though he reached the beach. But when he reached it, Rose was no longer standing, waiting for him; her form was laid on the floor, eyes closed, mouth parted. She hadn't appeared to be breathing. He sprinted to her, "Rose!"

Then, in the blink of an eye, she had disappeared. He stopped, staring at the place she had been laying a second ago. His eyes moved up to the sky; the sun had disappeared completely, and heavy grey clouds were hanging over the now dreary beach. A distant thunder was striking his ears, and the roaring of the waves could be heard thrashing against the nearby cliffs.

The Doctor turned around… and Rose was centimetres from him. Standing right in front of him, her face was contorted in horror, her eyes wide, and her mouth open… with no breath coming out. She fell to her knees, as he cried out her name, falling beside her. Her hands went to her chest, but still no air went in or out of her mouth; it was closed off, an invisible barrier in her windpipe. She opened her mouth wider and looked up at him, big brown eyes calling out to him in terror, clinging onto his hand she gasped out desperately, "You have to… save me! "

With that, she collapsed backwards, her head falling back against the sand. Her eyes open with nothing there, as if a light had been switched off. She was dead.

--

The Doctor's eyes shot open. He was lying on his back on the beach, the coat separating him from the sand. Rose's face was inches from his, but unlike moments before it was laced with concern, and slight fear, rather than utter terror. Her hair was wet and dripping onto the sand as she pulled back from him when his eyes were on her.

His hand went to his forehead, and the Timelord found clammy wetness streaking his face. His breathing was faster than he was used to, and the sun seemed to be shining down on them harder than ever.

"Doctor?" Rose placed her hand on his chest. "You okay?" She bit her lip, and hesitated for a moment, before continuing, "You were dreamin'."

He stared at her for a moment, eyes wide, then quite suddenly flung his arms around her neck, breathing her scent in heavily. Putting his chin onto her shoulder and closing his eyes for a moment as he hugged her tight.

"Doctor?" Rose sounded quite alarmed by this sudden motion.

"Sorry," he murmured, pulling back from her. He gave a gentle breath, staring at her. It was okay, he told himself over and over; she was right there in front of him, she was safe. It had been a dream; a stupid nightmare. He swallowed, as she gave him a long questioningly look. "It just seemed very… real, is all," he amended.

Rose watched him carefully, concerned and curious. He looked steadily back at her for a moment. Her dripping hair was hanging limp by her shoulders; her mascara had run – to the thanks of the seawater – and was making tracks down her face; her t-shirt clung tightly to her chest; and her jeans were back on, damp and with the knees covered in sand.

"What happened in it?" she asked quietly, a hand on his shoulder.

The Doctor continued to stare at her for a moment, his face impassive, before his gaze moved to the sky and he shrugged, standing suddenly. "Doesn't matter, just a dream. Shall we go now?" he asked briskly.

He picked up his coat and headed off down the beach, Rose just behind. "We're goin'?" She was clearly disappointed.

"Yep, must've been asleep for a while, wasn't I?"

Rose shrugged, "Not that long." Her head was slouched toward the floor as she followed him off the beach and back towards the city, lagging behind slightly.

A cloud had moved and covered the sun, casting a chill along the street and Rose shivered slightly. The Doctor looked back at her, seeing the droplets of water cling to her arms. Her lips shivered and her teeth chattered with the heat of the sun gone. He took his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, before putting an arm around her waist.

Rose looked up at him, surprised. "Thought I wasn't allowed your coat," she joked with a half smile. "It'll get all wet."

"I'm sure it'll survive the dampness," he replied softly, as they walked on, coming down a narrow cobbled street. He kept his arm around her securely as he asked lightly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Rose. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," the Doctor murmured in admittance, though it seemed to be more to himself than for her ears.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked sceptically.

"Me? I'm fine; always am." He smiled at her.

Rose said nothing, but she could easily sense there was something he wasn't telling her.

After several long minutes of silence as they walked along the side street and towards the large tourist city, Rose looked questioningly in the direction they were headed, toward the market. She let a grin play her face. "Are we goin' shoppin'?" she asked hopefully.

"Nope," the Timelord said shortly.

"Oh," Rose's face fell slightly in disappointment. "To get that delicious ice cream sundae you were tellin' me they had then?"

"Nope."

"Where then? What tourist trap are you leadin' us into?" Her tone was light and joking.

His wasn't. "None."

Rose frowned; she wasn't used to his short, rather serious replies. Nor did she much like the answers he was giving her. "Where are we goin' then?" she asked, annoyed at the answer that she knew to be coming.

Sure enough… "The Tardis," he said in the same short tone.

"Why?"

He didn't reply.

"Doctor?" she pushed.

There was a long pause. "I don't like this place," he whispered finally.

"You said it was a harmless tourist destination," she reminded him.

"I was wrong," he murmured.

"Doctor," Rose began gently, frowning slightly as she tried to make sense of his actions. "This place… it seems fine. We've met no monsters who wanna kill us, not had to run for our lives. It seems harmless." She gestured around her, at the quiet street to emphasise her point. He said nothing, and she hesitated before adding, "This isn't anythin' to do with the asthma, is it?"

His features changed immediately, as his eyes whipped over to her, he stopped them both in the middle of the street. Whereas his face was impassive before, it was now clouded with concern and reproach. "No… not entirely," he said, his eyes boring into her attentively. Then his steady frown deepened, and he placed his hands on each of her arms, staring into her eyes. "You'd tell me though…" he began in a whisper. He paused for a moment, and her eyes were focused on his, her forehead creased into a frown above them. "If your asthma bothers you… even a little… you'd tell me?"

She nodded; struck dumb by the sudden closeness of his face to hers; deeply concerned by how scared he seemed. Because that's what she recognised him as now… afraid.

"Promise me Rose," the Doctor pleaded. "Promise me you'd tell me if it got… hard. I mean if your chest starts hurting, even a little. You tell me. Promise you will."

She nodded again, and when he didn't appear satisfied with that, she let out a hoarse whisper, "I promise."

He leaned back, and took his hands off of her arms with a satisfied nod. His mood changed instantly, and a false smile fell across his face. "Off to the Tardis then!" he declared, taking her hand and setting off down the cobbled street again. "Nothing to hurt us there."

Rose sighed; she still wasn't sure what it was that could hurt them here. But then, by the sounds of it, the Doctor wasn't very sure either, and that was probably one of the things that was scaring him the most.

Reviews are defiantly much more than welcome – they're loved.