"You know what? They keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will," Rose declared.

Normally the Doctor would have squeezed her hand and agreed, but something stopped him. "Never say 'never ever,'" he cautioned, though he wasn't quite sure from where those words came. His time sense was tingling, much like the feeling of static electricity before making contact with skin.

Rose, ever the optimist, her disposition for which he was grateful most of the time, shook off his statement. "Nah, we'll always be okay, you and me."

He desperately wished in this moment he could feel the same.

He peered into the sky, brows furrowed, as if that would help him see further into the darkness.

Rose gently tugged on his hand. "Don't you reckon, Doctor?" She was trying to distract him, he knew.

But he couldn't tear his gaze from the sky. "Something in the air. Something coming," he said softly.

"What?" she asked, all hope drained from her voice.

"A storm's approaching."

Rose gripped his arm a little tighter and pressed herself into his side.

He tore his gaze from the explosions in the sky and locked eyes with her.

There was a time at the beginning of this regeneration that this nagging feeling, this reminder of her mortality, would have caused him to run away from her.

But in this moment, rather than wanting to run away from her, he had the desperate need to run away with her and wrap her in cotton wool, to protect her from whatever was coming. He was not ready to lose her. He would never be ready to lose her.

"Doctor, I don't feel like going to the games anymore." Her eyes fell from his.

Blimey, he hadn't meant for the evening to take a turn like this. Why couldn't they ever just have fun without any aliens or Satan or the universe sticking their noses in to muck things up?

They'd had fun that whole day, even formed a bit of an unspoken friendly competition as to who could crack the case first. The Doctor had reveled in it. She was so much his equal, and it showed in the way she was able to read people and pick up clues he hadn't. Well, he'd have been able to notice things better if he hadn't allowed himself to be so distracted by her. She was so clever, so brilliant, and it drove him mad some days. This had been one of those days.

But this storm he sensed made his blood run cold. Something was coming for Rose.

"I don't either," he replied. "Come on." He tugged on her hand.

"Where are we going?"

"TARDIS." And we're never stepping foot outside her again. "Library? Could do with a good book about now."

"Sounds good to me."

He squeezed Rose's hand tighter all the way back to the TARDIS and said nothing else.

Once inside the doors, Rose asked, "Mind if I freshen up first?"

"Meet you in half an hour?"

"Sure." She smiled, which seemed to ease the tension.

He gave a half-smile in return.

"Aw, there's a smile, even if it's a little one." She kissed him on the cheek and made her way to her room.

Once Rose was clearly away from the console room, he put on his specs and circled around to the TARDIS monitor. He started a scan for any irregularities, beings, or strange energy sources that may have set off his senses.

"Let me see," he requested with a measured tone.

Nothing came up on the monitor.

"I need to know what happens to Rose."

He waited.

He said very slowly and emphatically, jaw clenched, "Let me see."

The TARDIS remained silent.

"I need to know! " he shouted and slammed his fists down on the console.

The TARDIS needn't say anything. He knew seeing his own personal timeline wasn't allowed, much less Rose's.

He brought his fists together and rested his forehead on them for a long time. Eventually he sat on the jump seat and did nothing.

Nearing the half hour, he headed for the library to wait for Rose. He wouldn't be okay until he was able to feel her there with him.

To his surprise, she was already waiting for him in the middle of the sofa, her knees drawn up to her chest, chin resting on her knees. She looked so small and fragile in the glow of the fire in the fireplace.

He sat at the end of the sofa next to her and watched her for a moment. She didn't move.

He sighed and leaned back into the arm of the sofa, crossing an arm in front of him. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

They didn't always need to talk when they were together. Sometimes they enjoyed silence. But this was not a good silence, and the Doctor was so out of sorts that he didn't even know where to begin any kind of conversation.

He felt a gentle pressure next to his thigh, and opened his eyes to see Rose had moved to sit close to him.

She linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Doctor, I really thought for a moment I might have lost you today."

"You got me back, though. Wouldn't have gotten out of that picture if it hadn't been for you. I heard you tell the Isolus that I was the only one who could help it."

She scoffed at herself. "Yelled at it, more like."

"You were panicking. It's understandable. I yell all the time, especially where you're concerned. Don't be so hard on yourself. But think about it, Rose. You found the pod. You didn't need me to do that."

"You should've seen me, swinging a pickaxe. Broke right into that council tar."

"I'm sorry I missed that. Stuck it to the man, did you?" he quipped.

She giggled. "Is there a Planet of the Pickaxes we could visit?"

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her hair. "You should never doubt yourself. You were brilliant."

She looked up at him. "I learned from you, Doctor."

He smiled. "No, Rose, you are so brilliant. Always have been. I haven't done a thing."

She sat up, leaning back against the couch cushions. "Doctor, I'm not trying to pry, but what did you see out there?" She searched his eyes.

He was silent, desperately fighting against the fear she must have seen in him.

"You said something's coming. I could feel something, too, something with the TARDIS. She was feeling off. Something bad is coming. What are you not telling me?"

"Rose—"

She continued, her voice shaking. "The Beast. What the Beast said, about me dying in battle. I know you said it lied, but I think you said that to make me feel better. Is that it?"

He answered by pressing his lips to hers. He pulled back and gazed at her intently, and he said softly and emphatically, "I will never let anything happen to you."

She took in his gaze for a moment, and then nodded.

"Come here. You need some rest." He opened his arms to her.

She moved to curl into his side against the back of the couch as he lay down, the Doctor removing the cushions behind her so she'd have more room. She placed her hand on his chest.

He put an arm around her shoulders and rested his cheek on her hair.

"I shouldn't have accused you like that. I'm sorry." She reached across him to run her fingers through the hair behind his ear. "I trust you, Doctor."

"No, Rose. No need to apologize." You shouldn't trust me. Whatever storm was coming, he figured it would be of his own making. That was just his luck in the universe.

Rose watched the fire as she drifted off to sleep, her hand resting on his shoulder.

His mind was spinning. Rose could swear up and down that she was never going to leave him, but he knew the eventual outcome. He didn't know how or when it would happen, but Rose would leave him, and it wouldn't be by his or her choice. He knew the course of all mortals and he knew that time was inescapable. But if he could stave it off for as long as he could, then he would. He would keep Rose out of harm's way.