A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry, work's been crazy lately so I'm really late with this chapter. However, I am still trucking along with it so don't worry. :D Thank you for all the wonderful comments and reviews! You guys are just amazing! This story is still un-betaed so any and all mistakes are my own. Feedback is wonderful, too!

Enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.


The ground beneath her was cold and unyielding, the air frigid and unmoving. It was pitch black, a void. Fear seized her breath as she tried to reign in her emotions. It felt like…emptiness. A cold, bleak emptiness. It was nothing.

Rose was nowhere at all.

She stood up, legs shaking as though she had just finished climbing several dozen staircases. Dizziness assaulted her and Rose had to swallow a few times to keep from vomiting. That was impossible, of course, because this was a dream. It had to be.

Wrapping her arms around her, Rose began to trek slowly across the empty dead space to see if there was anything else to it. The chill was seeping into her bones and she couldn't prevent the violent shivers from wracking her form. Nothing seemed to change as she moved about. Cold, dark, endless black.

Something howled.

The sound scared Rose so badly that a scream tore from her throat. What was that? Which direction had it come from? Was it nearby?

Something glowing was coming towards her.

She only blinked for a second when suddenly a golden wolf stood before her. She froze, terrified that it would attack her.

It observed her, tilting its head to the side. Deciding that it had seen enough, the golden creature turned around and begun to walk away. Rose watched it for a few seconds, terror gripping her lungs. Even if it was a dream, a wolf was a wolf. She couldn't predict what it would do if it decided that it was hungry.

The creature stopped and looked back at her. It jerked its head in a manner that Rose could only assume was to get her to follow.

Did this creature want to help her?

Swallowing her fear, she decided to follow after it at a fair distance; just enough that if it changed its mind she might have a head start. Although she would never be able to outrun the wolf at least she could try.

They kept walking for an undetermined amount of time before another glow caught her eye up ahead. Rose couldn't see it very well so she squinted her eyes a bit, but that only seemed to make it worse. She blinked and, just like with the wolf, the source of the soft glow was only meters away.

It was a rock. No, coral.

How strange.

Rose felt warmer the closer she got to it. Whatever the coral was made of was giving off a pleasant heat. It felt so good.

The wolf walked around the coral and lay down, wrapping itself around the glowing coral. Rose chanced a step closer to the coral, feeling as though she should be as close to it as possible. A sadness seemed to emanate from the coral itself, but it wasn't just that. There was loneliness, happiness, melancholy, anger, confusion, and a myriad of other complex emotions spilling forth and Rose couldn't stop herself from walking up to the coral and touching it.

And it was as though she had ignited a fire.

Rose gasped as the coral doubled in size, branches of new coral forming from the existing ones.

Pure joy shot through her body as the coral grew, its limbs twisting and shaping. Two large branches twisted into a semicircle around Rose's waist; loose enough that she didn't feel smothered and could escape easily, but comforting like a mother's embrace.

The wolf was no longer lying down, instead rubbing its head against Rose's thigh. Reaching a hand down, she scratched it behind the ears. It seemed to really like that. Rose giggled. She no longer feared this creature.

Soon, Rose's eyes began to droop and she couldn't fight off the exhaustion. For a moment, she thought she heard the most beautiful song she had ever heard before she knew no more and slipped away from the dark void.

Someone was humming In the Summertime somewhere beside Rose as she blinked awake, sun blinding her a bit. It seemed to be at least early afternoon, maybe a little after two.

"About time you woke up. We're leaving in about an hour to meet with Wilf again so we can take a look at Dr. Smith's workshop." Someone's voice cut through Rose's sleep addled mind as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. Sitting next to her on the bed was none other than Jack, his lap full of the documents they received from Wilf the first time they met.

"What time is it?" Rose asked.

He gave her a smile. "A little after 2:30, but we have plenty of time. All we're looking at today is the area where Dr. Smith's project was, although Wilf mentioned that it is a bit bigger than we anticipate. Said it was 'bigger on the inside' or something like that. Reckon we should be careful while we're down there anyway."

She nodded and rolled off the bed, heading to the loo to wash up.

While in the shower, Rose thought over the strange dream she had. What had she just witnessed? Was it real, just like what happened with John?

Shaking her head clear, Rose brought her thoughts back to what she needed to be focusing on—the job at hand. She grabbed a towel before realizing that she left her change of clothes in the main room. Cracking the door open, Rose spotted Jack looking at a document with an odd expression on his face. "What is it?"

He started a bit and Rose couldn't help the small grin at his slightly shocked expression. "Oh, nothing. Just something I thought…but no. It couldn't be. Don't worry about it. So, hungry? I brought some croissants that Ianto bought at the local bakery earlier. Figured you'd like a nibble." He lifted an eyebrow suggestively.

"Oh, stop it." She laughed good-naturedly and shook her head at his antics. "Any chance of a decent meal before we leave? Could go for some chips."

"There was a chip shop not too far from the bakery. We'll stop by before we meet with Wilf." Jack turned his attention towards a different document than earlier and muttered something about her obsessive love of chips.

She stuck her tongue out at him before walking over to her suitcase. Grabbing a pair of jeans, a purple shirt, knickers and matching bra, Rose wandered back into the en suite to change. She opted for very little make-up and a low ponytail to top off her look.

When she walked back into the main room Jack was gone, leaving only the bag of croissants and a cup of tea that Ianto had probably brought up a few minutes earlier. Smiling to herself, Rose grabbed a croissant and the tea before plopping herself on the bed. She checked her phone to see that her mum called and left a message.

It was just recent gossip; Bev's niece was getting married soon, Harold the Grocer asked her out on a date that Friday, and Shareen wanted to go clubbing as soon as Rose was back in town. Smiling to herself, Rose called her mother back but didn't receive an answer. Oh, right, she had a few hair appointments till five. Shrugging, she left a message for her mother to call her back when she was done with her last client.

Rose flipped through a few emails looking for anything important, but it was mostly just ads and spam mail. Finishing her croissant, she stood up and stretched her limbs before walking over to the window. The imposing structure of the Smith Estate loomed over the rest of the town, a trickle of apprehension from the night before returned full force as she gazed at the home. It was a strange fit for such a town as Gallifrey. Shrugging it off, Rose wandered over to the en suite again to check for any lingering crumbs and quick brush of her teeth.

Grabbing her essentials for the rest of the night, Rose made sure to not leave anything behind that might be valuable and that was not limited to the expensive electronics. Something told Rose that if she left behind any of the important documents concerning the case, they would all be gone by the time they returned. She knew enough to not ignore this feeling and made a note to inform Jack. They couldn't risk it.

Checking the room one last time, Rose strode out into the hallway almost running head first into one of the maids. Apologizing quickly, she walked around the maid and down the stairs leading to the foyer. The rest of the team was huddled together by the doorway, murmuring about the layout for the night. Mickey greeted her as she came over to them.

"You feeling any better?" Mickey asked her quietly.

She smiled. "Much. Actually, I feel better than I have in days."

He returned her smile and gave her a quick hug as Jack finished his conversation with Mrs. Moore. "All right, is everyone ready to go?"

Everyone nodded except for Rose, who pulled Jack to the side to discuss what she felt earlier. He informed her that all the documents were already with Ianto so she needn't worry. After allaying her worries, Jack led everyone outside to the vehicles.

Rose resumed her usual spot in Mickey's vehicle and gave Jack a subtle confirmation that she was okay. As they drove into town, Mickey relayed to her the plan for the day.

First thing was to get some food downtown and discuss who goes where for the investigation that night. Jack, Ianto, and Mrs. Moore would be in the workshop whilst Jake, Mickey, and Rose would take the massive library. Wilf mentioned that sometimes the books moved around or were found open on one of the several tables in the massive atrium the library resided within.

Wilf also mentioned during the tour the day before that sometimes he saw shadows moving through the library when he was outside. It gave him the shivers and usually he left right after he saw one. He could only assume it was Dr. Smith or Lee, his assistant. They both loved their research and, before they disappeared that night ten years ago, he could usually find one of them in the library at all times.

That's where she would be that night, although Rose would have loved to have been with Jack and the others while they investigated the workshop. However, Jack was calling the shots so she didn't get much say in the matter and she really did want to investigate the library. Maybe if they stayed another night, depending how the investigation went later that day, Rose could ask to be in the workshop.

Jack seemed hesitant to even bring Rose in the first place because of what she experienced the night before, but she wouldn't allow him to hole her up in the B & B for the rest of the case. She needed to know more about Dr. John Smith and his family's connection to the Bad Wolf Phenomena.

The team found a few restaurants downtown and grabbed an early dinner before setting off to meet Wilf again. The atmosphere was tense as they pulled up the drive in front of the house. The grounds appeared even more dilapidated than before and most of plants on the property were in an advanced state of decay.

"I have to say, this is a first. Never seen anything like this before," Mickey commented as they stopped right next to Jack's vehicle.

They climbed out and greeted Wilf, who was looking a bit nervous. Rose gave Jack a look and he just shrugged. They filed inside and were once again taken aback by the enormity of the house. Rose was certain that it hadn't looked quite so dark yesterday, but now it was even more ominous than ever.

Wilf led them to the back of the house to a room they hadn't noticed before. Rose commented that she didn't even remember there being a door.

"Perception filter," Wilf said. "Have no idea how it works, but it keeps unwanted individuals from finding the door to his workshop. There is another one that leads outside, but only John knew how to find it."

Well, that was interesting for sure. He must have been some genius if he could create a door that you didn't even know was there unless you knew that it existed. The door itself should stand out, too. It was the only blue door in the house.

Wilf pulled out an odd shaped key and pressed it into the lock. He turned it and then something unusual happened. There was a series of clicks and banging sounds before the door opened inward, revealing stairs that led down and down.

"Ah," Jack said quietly. "Who wants to go first?"

They all shared a nervous laugh before Wilf led them down into the workshop.

It was four flights of stairs later that they found themselves in the largest room in the house. How that was even possible Rose didn't know, but it was absolutely massive. The ceiling appeared to be a dome and there were several tables strewn about throughout the room, but the most impressive part about the room was not the size.

There was a large hole in the floor several feet in diameter. It wasn't very deep, but it was significant and not something you wanted to fall into.

"Woah," Mickey murmured beside Rose. "What the hell did that?"

"The experiment I presume," Rose answered, not taking her eyes off the hole.

Wilf explained that the machine stood right where the hole was until the explosion happened and then it was gone, along with Dr. Smith and Mr. McAvoy.

"Explosion?" Mrs. Moore asked Wilf, eyes surveying a few nearby metal poles that were buried into the floor. "Are you sure?"

Wilf was confused. "Well, yes. Obviously something happened that shook the entire area. Something powerful. Why?"

Mrs. Moore didn't answer right away, but Rose knew she had made a discovery that may have been overlooked in the first investigation. "What do you think it is?" she asked the older woman.

"Hmm, I'm pretty certain it wasn't an explosion. In fact, I would argue that it was an implosion. Something with great gravitational force bent these poles inward, not outward. These poles are made of Dalekanium, I'm almost certain of it. This metal is much stronger than any other metal found on Earth. In fact, it has only been found in meteorites or areas where there were asteroid strikes. It's one of the rarest metals on Earth," Mrs. Moore lectured. "And very dangerous in the wrong hands."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked her.

Mrs. Moore pulled out one of her instruments and began scanning the Dalekanium until the little device gave a shrill wail. "Ah, as I suspected. You see, Rose, this metal can absorb radiation. These rods only have basic levels of radiation that you would find on any object. They must have been used for something else. It's odd. Very odd. Dr. Smith knew what he was doing, that's for sure. You would have to tear up the entire house to get these rods out."

Jack wandered over to Mrs. Moore and they began speaking in low tones. Rose felt wary of standing too close to the rods just in case so she walked over to one of the benches and began sifting through the remaining pieces of metal objects.

"Careful," Wilf said softly as he walked over to her. "Some of these things are a bit sharp."

"I will be. Most of the papers are gone, aren't they?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Whatever the police didn't take is whatever John left at our place. Don't reckon you'll find anything here."

"How did they get in?"

Wilf was confused. "What do you mean? The police?"

"Yeah. Judging by his need for privacy, I reckon Dr. Smith didn't like people poking around his workshop," she said.

"Oh, it was his cousin, Harry. Right piece of work, he is. Practically skipped to crime scene when he heard," Wilf muttered darkly.

Ah, no love lost there, Rose mused. The desk itself appeared to have some damage to it. Large dents were scattered along the surface. "What happened here?" Rose asked Wilf as her fingers traced the large holes.

Wilf just shook his head. "Don't know, but they weren't here the last time I was down here."

"Really? Maybe someone returned after the investigation was over. Someone who didn't find what they were looking for." It should have been a surprise, but Rose had a feeling she knew who it was although the reason why remained a mystery.

"Whoever did this wasn't happy. This place was wiped clean during the investigation," Wilf explained.

"Not everything," Rose murmured as she pulled out the piece of paper with the schematics of the machine. "I have a feeling this may have been one of things he was looking for."

The piece of paper drew the attention of everyone in the room. Jack came over to inspect the wrinkled bit of paper. "Rose, where did you get this?"

"It was in one of the folders Wilf gave us. I think it was stuck between some other pages and that's probably why we missed it the first time. It's his machine." Rose handed Jack the paper.

Jack held it very carefully so as not to damage the already worn page. "Yeah," he breathed softly. His eyes scanned the paper and his eyes widened with shock. "I'd say this is rather important. It's the basic outline for a time machine."

"Wow," Mrs. Moore said from just beside Rose. "That is something alright. He really was working on a time machine."

"Ten to one, Harry Saxon was after this the whole time," Mickey chimed in.

Jack shot him a stern look before looking even closer at the machine's schematic. "Yeah, but it's not just this he was after. Look here." Jack pointed to something in the middle of the console that seemed indistinct and unrecognizable due to a large amount of smudging. "I bet you this what he really wanted."

"What's it supposed to be?" Rose asked him.

A rough sigh escaped Jack as he shook his head. "No idea. I think that's why it's blurred out. Dr. Smith must not have wanted anyone to see what powered the machine other than himself and his assistant. It was most likely done to prevent anyone with malicious intentions from getting a hold of it."

"That makes sense," Rose murmured, staring at the picture with a slight amount of awe. "Do you think he ever got it to work?"

Rolling up the document, Jack just shook his head. "Unlikely. Judging by the schematics of the machine, I'd say Dr. Smith was still in the planning stages. He might have built a rudimentary design of the machine, but it was far from done."

"So someone must have tampered with it if it wasn't even ready to be tested, huh?" Rose asked Jack.

"We don't know that for sure, but I have let a friend of mine know about the possibility of something like that happening. Honestly, the more and more we find out about Mr. Saxon, the more convinced I am about his meddling. Unfortunately, there was no evidence found linking him to the crime," Jack said.

Taking the document and placing it back into the confines of her bag, Rose whispered softly to Jack, "Yet."

His face tightened almost imperceptibly as he turned to look at Rose. "Rose, I don't think it's safe—"

"He could still be alive, Jack. How can we turn our backs on him?"

Sighing, Jack let out a frustrated growl and walked over to the bent poles. He inspected the direction they were pulled in. Rose could tell the very moment he caved in and she smiled inwardly. It may not be safe, but Rose Tyler never let that stop her from helping someone. She was going to help John, er, Dr. Smith, in any way she could.

Jack was still muttering about obstinate blondes, but Rose was too gleeful to retort.

"That's that, then. I'll go with Mickey and Jake to the library while Jack, Mrs. Moore, and Ianto work down here. That alright?" Rose asked the group.

Everyone, including Jack, was surprised at Rose giving orders, but no one made a comment. Jack just restated exactly what Rose had said and told them to get to work.

Practically bouncing up the stairs, Rose stopped quickly and Mickey almost ran headlong into her. "Oi, Rose, careful!"

"Sorry. I just need to talk to Jack for a minute," Rose said as she wormed her way around Mickey and back down the steps.

Jack turned towards her and asked, "What's up?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for letting me do this. I mean, I know you don't want me to get hurt, but I can't let them stay there. Well, wherever there is."

Jack pulled Rose into a hug. "Rosie, promise me you'll be careful. There is a reason that project had been discontinued and I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt somehow. I know you want to help Dr. Smith, but just remember that it's not completely safe what you're planning to do. If anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong get out of there. Have Mickey or Jake with you at all times, okay? Just in case."

"Yes sir," Rose said cheekily, but there was an underlining apprehension in her words. "I'll be careful. And you, too. Okay? This is where it all happened."

"Of course. I am always careful," Jack muttered indignantly. Rose gave him a questionable look and he shrugged. "Okay, most of the time. Now, go do what you need to do." And with that Jack nudged Rose towards the steps leading out of the room and Rose gave him one last smile before following Jake and Mickey up the stairs and off to the library.