A/N: Oh dear god… the Stolen Earth was left on such a ridiculous cliff-hanger I don't even know how I'm still alive! How heartbreaking was that "reunion" scene :( Fingers crossed for Journeys End…

Sorry this took a little longer than I was hoping, but it's another quite long chapter. Hope it's not too slow, there's just a lot of emotion in it and that XD Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far! Much appreciated :)

Part Two: Lost

Chapter 7

A Sliver of Hope

"Doctor…" Rose whispered too stunned to say or do anything else. She had felt her heart leap when she saw him, but now it quickly sank as the Doctor did not return her smile but merely stared at her blankly. A frown began to crease his forehead as his expression turned to one of confusion, and he turned to the red haired woman.

"Donna… any idea why I'm on the floor?" but Donna simply gaped at him, her mouth hanging slightly open. "And… why is everyone staring at me?" He was beginning to feel a little uneasy. When no one showed any signs of responding to him the Doctor slowly got to his feet, starting to feel like he was missing something.

For some reason he found his gaze was drawn to the blonde girl who was stood just beyond Donna and the Torchwood team. What was it about her? Sure he thought she was pretty but he didn't recall having ever seen her before.

He was slightly taken aback by the way this girl was looking at him. Tears shimmered in her eyes and he could see a strange mixture of emotions within them – confusion, happiness and dread all in one. A bit contradictory he thought. Then another thought occurred to him.

"Wait a minute, you called me Doctor. How do you know my name? Have we met?" He asked the girl, puzzled.

She felt her heart break at his words. What the hell was going on? This was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of her life! She should have been wrapped up in his arms by now.

At the same time Donna felt her stomach lurch and she knew instantly that what she had feared most had indeed happened. After all the work he had put into it, all the build up to this moment and now this. And now it was down to her.

"Doctor… it's Rose!" Jack said in bewilderment, horror stricken by the Doctors actions.

"Rose who?" The Doctor said raising his eyebrows, but regretted his words almost instantly as he saw the effect they had on the poor girl. Rose felt paralysed, completely at a loss for words. She suddenly felt terrified, and completely alone- if she didn't have the Doctor then what did she have? She had just left everyone she loved behind for this man. Tears began to escape her eyes, and the Doctor's gaze softened.

Jack felt the anger bubbling up inside him, and on spotting this Donna quickly came to her senses and stepped forward, realising that if she didn't intervene now things could go from bad to worse.

"I… I think I can explain," she gulped, unable to meet anyone's eyes but feeling them all turn on her – all except for Rose, who was still transfixed by the Doctor. Donna suddenly felt very uncomfortable under their accusing stares, and felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Thinking quickly she came to a decision.

"Rose, can I speak to you in private?" This caused Rose to finally tear her eyes away from the Doctor, focusing intensely on Donna.

"Who are you?" Rose suddenly snapped, her fear and pain and loss morphing into anger. Her own voice shocked her as words flooded from her mouth before she had even realised what she was saying, powered by the panic that raged through her body. "What have you done to him? Where's the Doctor? MYdoctor, WHERE IS HE?" she screamed. A silence hung in the air and Rose suddenly came to her senses as she saw Donna's eyes glisten. "I'm sorry… I…" Rose began to look dizzy again and Donna took this opportunity to gently guide her from the room, away from the unforgiving stares.

Once they were away from the room that contained the Doctor – Rose kept looking back over her shoulder longingly – Donna stopped and turned around to face her. For a moment Donna just looked Rose over, taking her in. So at long last this was the legendary Rose, the woman the Doctor was torn apart from that he had missed so dearly.

But it had all gone wrong. What the Doctor had foreseen had happened, and now it was down to her to start putting the pieces back together. She did not blame Rose at all for her outburst, she knew that she was only upset and had every right to be. She took a deep breath.

"Rose…" Donna started, uncertain where to begin but succeeding in drawing Rose's attention from the direction of the Doctor.

"How do you know my name?" Rose interjected quickly, suddenly completely focused on Donna once more.

"But… what do you mean of course I know you're name," Donna said, puzzled by her question.

"But how do you know who I am?"

"From the Doctor, how else?" Rose seemed surprise by her answer, and looked at her in awe.

"He… told you about me?" Rose gaped, a small smile spreading across her lips.

"Yeah of course he did. He never stopped talking about you!" Rose's smile broadened, although it baffled Donna as to why.

He had never mentioned his other companions before! She thought back to when she had met Sarah Jane- she had obviously been hurt on learning that the Doctor had never spoken of her time with him to Rose. Not only that, but that day she had also realised that there must have been many who had previously travelled with him, and even after his reunion with Sarah Jane he still never spoke of them. She felt a spark of pride at being the first to break this trend.

"But that's just it!" Donna began animatedly, pleased that she had broken through to Rose and that she now had something to work on, "Look, my name's Donna. I've travelled with him for a while now, but we're just good mates, I wasn't trying to replace you or anything." Once upon a time the thought of the Doctor with a new companion would have caused such jealously and anguish to stir within Rose, but instead she was glad. She had hoped he would find someone because she couldn't bear the thought of him being alone in the universe.

"That's why he was trying to get you back! He was desperate to see you again, he missed you so much, I could see it in his eyes whenever he said your name. So he was willing to take a risk, and he told me about it in case it happened… and well… it has." Her words felt feeble, and her face fell. "He said there was a chance that he could lose his memories of you doing it, and he was terrified but he just wanted to see you so badly." Donna spoke softly, trying her best to comfort Rose as fresh tears brimmed her eyes.

So it was her Doctor, he had just forgotten her. It hurt her so deeply to think that the man that she held such strong feelings for didn't have a clue who she was – it was as if they had never even met.

"He wanted me to make sure that no matter how he acts now, that you know how much he really cares about you." Donna struggled to find suitable words to do justice for the Doctors situation. Rose sighed and nodded, forcing a smile as she wiped her eyes.

"But what am I supposed to do?" She looked at Donna pleadingly for an answer, feeling utterly helpless.

"He gave me this," Donna retrieved a disc carefully from her pocket and offered it to Rose. She took it gingerly, looking into its reflective surface and seeing her own tearstained face. "He said to give it to you, and that you should use it in the TARDIS. He thought you would know what to do."

Rose nodded, dredging up every last ounce of courage she had left in her weary body. She had an inkling as to what it was, so maybe there was still a sliver of hope. She was glad he had left her something, but she was both desperate and reluctant to find out what. She took one last longing look back towards the room that contained the Doctor before turning back to Donna.

"Can you take me to the TARDIS?"

x x x x x

Rose beamed as she walked slowly into the TARDIS console room, taking in every small detail. It had been so long. Just by being back here she felt the hope flowing through her, and as she felt the TARDIS's presence re-enter her mind she suddenly didn't feel as alone, she felt like she was finally home. Although it wasn't really home without him.

She walked around the console remembering all the buttons and switches and strange devices the Doctor had taught her. She stoked its cool surface fondly, and the column hummed and shifted in response. She laughed despite herself- she had always used to skit the Doctor for stroking the TARIDS.

Rose became aware that Donna had not followed her inside – she had been so absorbed in the TARDIS she hadn't noticed at first – and assumed that she had left her to it and returned to the Torchwood hub. Although she found that she quite liked Donna she was grateful for the privacy.

She took out the disc that had been given to her, and carefully inserted it into the slot reminiscent of a DVD player that was worked into the TARDIS console. For a moment she wondered if it had worked as she stared at the blank monitor, when suddenly an oh so familiar voice spoke from behind her.

"Rose," She spun around quickly, only to find herself face to face with the Doctor. Startled she jumped back, but then she saw his face crackle with interference and realised it was just a hologram activated by the disc. He was perfectly placed so that he was looking directly at her, and even though he wasn't real she could see a great sadness in his eyes.

"Rose, if you're watching this then it means that what I feared has happened, that I have successfully brought you across the void but lost my memories of you in doing so. I'm so so sorry." She could hear the emotion in his voice, and imagined what it must have been like for him having to record this message.

"Doctor…" She whispered, gulping back the tears. "It's not your fault." Even though she knew he couldn't hear or see her, she reached out to him, desperate just to lose herself in his arms. But once again she couldn't- the image simply flickered as her fingers passed straight through it.

"And I know, it's not fair is it? Another hologram." Rose flinched, retracting her hand as it seemed he had almost responded. He knew her too well. The hologram Doctor smiled fondly at her but it did not reach his eyes.

"There is still a chance," He continued and she listened intently, the hope rekindling. "There must be a way of triggering my memories to come back. It's not like they've been erased, the technology I used isn't capable of that. Besides I could never truly forget you could I." He looked at her affectionately and she felt her heart ache for him. "You were too important in my life for those memories to be completely lost. I just need to be faced with something distinctive; a place or an event, maybe even an object I dunno. Just a strong memory that I shared just with you. The only problem is all of my memories with you are so good!" He grinned at her contagiously, but it soon faded.

"That's why I need them back. I don't want to forget you Rose Tyler, not ever. I don't know how hard it will be to get them back, just don't let me leave you behind, no matter what happens. I'm so sorry for putting you through this, especially after…" he trailed off deciding it was better not to continue, but Rose knew he meant after having just said goodbye to her family.

"I… I really have missed you Rose." He looked at her longingly and it broke her heart. And with that he began to fade and she panicked.

"No… Doctor don't go don't leave me!" She yelled but it was futile. Her voice echoed around the vast, empty room, and it had never seemed so big.

x x x x x

Back in the hub the Doctor was starting to feel a bit backed into a corner.

"Doctor what do you think you're doing?" Jack yelled at him accusingly.

"I'm not doing anything!" The Doctor said defensively, his voice getting higher in pitch as he become more flustered.

"Then why the hell are you acting like you don't know Rose?"

"Because I don't!" He shouted, his eyes wide as they flitted between the Torchwood team, defying anyone else to challenge him. They all turned to look as Donna hesitantly entered the room.

"Donna," The Doctor approached her, relieved to see his companion and hoping to finally talk to someone who made sense. "What the hell is going on?" he asked her under his breath. Donna signalled for him to back off a little, needing some space and he complied reluctantly.

"Listen everyone," Donna began, tired at having to explain this all over again, "Just before the Doctor did this he told me there was a risk."

"So why didn't he tell us about it?" Jack interrupted, the discovery that his suspicions had been correct not helping his already uncontained anger.

"Just listen to me alright?" Donna matched his fierceness and he shrank back. She turned to the Doctor, "Doctor for the last two days you've been here, working on that box thing." She gestured at the abandoned item lying on the floor. The Doctor walked over to it with new interest having previously dismissed it. "Do you remember any of that?" Donna asked, watching as he put on his glasses and picked up the box to examine it.

"Vaguely… now that you mention it. But what was I doing to it? In fact what does it even do?"

"You used it to bring Rose into this world from a parallel universe." Donna said gently and he looked up at her sharply.

"But that's impossible." He said firmly.

"Not for you," Donna smirked but he wasn't impressed.

"Who is she?" The Doctor demanded, getting straight to the point. Donna could tell that it was troubling him.

"You knew her Doctor, honestly you did. You never stopped talking about her!" Donna paused to see how he would react but he simply listened to her quietly. "She travelled with you before I did, and before Martha. She got trapped in that parallel universe but you worked it out. You found that thing and used your memories of her to bring her back, but it went wrong or something and you lost them, sort of as a side effect." She wondered whether he would believe her, expecting him to suddenly yell and deny everything. But instead he seemed distressed, like there was a battle waging behind his eyes.

He couldn't explain why but what Donna said made sense to him. Even though his head was telling him it was absurd- parallel universes? It was impossible now that the Timelords were gone. But even so he accepted this explanation, because his hearts were telling him to believe her. Her words had stirred such emotions deep inside him and for a moment he felt a wave of unexplainable sorrow wash over him.

"Doctor…she meant the world to you. Do you really not remember?" Jack asked softly, calmer now that Donna had enlightened them.

"No…" The Doctor shook his head. It was true, he didn't remember her. Not even the faintest trace. He wanted to remember her, he didn't quite understand why but he did.

He suddenly became aware of a small face peering around the door and turned to see the person in question nervously shuffling in. On seeing Rose's face he felt his hearts flutter, but again he couldn't understand why. She looked up at him and their eyes met. He noticed that hers were quite pink – she had clearly been crying, and suddenly he felt guilty for the way he had treated her previously. Neither the Doctor nor Rose barely noticed – their eyes locked – as Donna ushered Jack and the others from the room, leaving them alone to talk.

Rose fought to hold back her raging emotions, using all of her willpower not to just throw herself into his arms. He seemed sad she thought, and wondered what the others had been telling him about her.

"Doctor…" She began, a small part of her still praying for some recognition and that somehow it would just all be okay. She subconsciously held her breath as he opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to falter and nothing came out. And with that her hope diminished. She plucked up all her courage and approached him, hoping she didn't look how she felt, because on the inside she was falling apart with every step she took closer to him.

"Do you know who I am?" Her voice wavered slightly.

"Only what they told me," He replied in a small voice, barely audible.

"Which was what?"

"That you used to travel with me." He decided to leave out what Jack had said about how much this girl had meant to him. Rose sighed, having hoped they might have said more.

"But they told you about what happened?" He nodded solemnly. "And… do you believe them?" Rose asked nervously after a moments thought. After all she knew how stubborn he could be.

"I think I do. It just sort of… makes sense but I can't explain why." Well, that was something. At least she didn't have to convince him she wasn't a fraud.

Rose sat down on the nearby sofa, and after a moments hesitation the Doctor joined her. She felt her heart rate increase as he brushed against her as he sat down, and she could feel the warmth coming from his body beside her. That was when it really hit her.

He was real. After all this time, after so many holograms and dreams this really was her Doctor, sat here right next to her, whether he remembered her or not. She looked at him, her eyes shining with tears and she saw him swallow timidly as he turned and met her stare. He was so close and yet still so far.

Momentarily she considered hugging him anyway, but she had to refrain. She didn't want to scare him off when he seemed to have accepted her – she needed to take it slow, she could tell it was hard for him too. She could see the fear and loneliness in his eyes, greater than she had ever known before.

"I'm sorry," she turned away, unable to bear the sorrow in his eyes any longer. "I didn't mean to stare it's just… it's been such a long time since I've seen you." She said willing him to understand. When he didn't say anything she continued shakily, "You left me a message; you said that you thought there would be some way of getting your memories of me to come back. Maybe if you saw something that was strong enough to trigger it."

She wondered how he would react, his words echoing around her head, "…don't let me leave you behind…" Would he even want to try and get her back? She feared him not caring – if he tried to just leave now how could she stop him? "What d'you think?" She prompted him when he seemed deep in thought.

"I don't know…" He felt scared if he was honest with himself. This heartbroken girl clearly had very strong feelings for him, but had he really reciprocated them? He had thought he wouldn't ever let himself get that close to people like that again. It wasn't in his nature to go back for his companions, once it was time he would just move on and leave them behind. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to move on from this Rose, he would even save himself the pain of missing her.

But as soon as he saw the terror on her face at his words he knew he couldn't do that to her. There was just something about her that he couldn't ignore, like she just felt right…

As soon as she had seen the doubt on his face her stomach had plummeted with dread, and for a split second she had thought that it was all over.

"Yes, I'll try." He said simply and smiled as he watched the unmasked relief wash over her face.

"Thank you Doctor." She let go of the breath she hadn't known she had been holding in.

"No problem." He grinned, starting to seem like his old self. "I obviously went through a lot of trouble to try and get you back after all."

Little did they know that just outside the door six people where straining to catch snippets of conversation.

"What is going on in there?" Jack whispered impatiently.

"Honestly, you lot. Can't you just give them some privacy?" Donna lectured them.

"Well from where I'm standing you don't seem all that innocent either." Jack smirked at her, but before she could retort their attention was drawn to the door handle as it turned. They all abruptly jumped to attention, pretending to be busy with some other task. However their blatant attempts went unnoticed as the Doctor and Rose stepped out.

"I'm going to try and help the Doctor get his memories back!" Rose announced, beaming at them all.

A/N: Hope that wasn't too crumby, thanks for reading :) Next time I update will probably be after the finale… so see you on the other side…