Author's Note: TT_TT

"We'll find you!" the Doctor shouted after his other self, clawing at the wall to no affect as his eyes locked onto the new Rose's face. "Whatever the hell is going on, we won't let the Master win! We'll find yo—" His words were cut off as he felt a pain in his stomach like he'd been punched, hard. His hands froze from clawing at the wall that was sucking them in as a white flash of light hit his eyes. He pinched them tight against the onslaught, letting the force that he was helpless against tug him along.

Finally the pulling stopped and he could breathe again. He cracked his eye open. And nearly fell to the ground at where he, Rose, and Nine were standing.

"No! No, no, nonononononono!"

"Doctor?" Rose asked softly, stepping closer to him.

"No! We cannot be here! I know what happens here, and it is never good! We have to find a way out." He tugged frantically on his hair as he ran back and forth, looking for the way they'd come in.

"Pull yourself together, Doctor," Nine ordered, looking around at the deserted landscape, his rubber boots sinking into the soft sand. "Where are we?"

"Dålig Ulv Stranden."

"Dalek?" both Rose and Nine said, startled, at the same time.

The Doctor shook his head. "Dålig. It's Norwegian for bad. We're standing on Bad Wolf Bay."

Nine's eyebrow quirked. Rose just looked between the two of them. "Is that somethin' important?"

"Those words were following us, before we ended up here. They just sort've... stopped once we came to this universe." Nine's tone was low and dark.

"How can words follow us?" Rose's tone said she didn't buy it for a second.

"Rose." The Doctor touched her arm lightly. "Remember what I told you about my regeneration? How my Rose came back to save me from the Daleks and then I had to save her from the power of the time vortex?"

"Yeah..."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, the vortex changed her. She became Bad Wolf. She scattered those words throughout time and space to give her clues to what she needed to do."

Nine nodded, immediately understanding what was going on. Rose looked a little confused. "Well then, if Bad Wolf is a clue to save you... Why are you scared of this beach?"

He felt like sinking into the sand. He felt like running until he could never see the bay again. He felt all the emotions of leaving behind his Rose with that... other him coursing through him all over again. "This is where I lost her. Twice. I never got to tell her how I felt on this beach. I... I couldn't. This beach... is the location of the biggest heartbreaks I've had to face in this body. I swore the last time I would never come back here again. The Master... Somehow he must have found out and sent us here. I don't know why, but it can't be good. We need to leave."

He looked over from Rose to Nine, but he wasn't listening. He was turned to look behind him, the twitching in his ears giving away that he was listening hard to something. "Doctor?" Nine still didn't respond.

He reached a hand out to touch him on the shoulder. Just before he reached him, Nine murmured, "No. Can't be." He turned more fully backwards, taking steps towards the ridge on the other side of the bay. His steps turned into strides, which turned into running.

"Doctor! Doctor, come back!" Rose went running after him, running faster than he thought she would on the shifting sands of the beach.

"Rose! Come back here! We shouldn't get split up!" He tried to run after her, but his feet had gotten stuck in the sand. He struggled to pull his leg out. By the time he'd gotten one foot moved, Nine had disappeared over the ridge and Rose was halfway there. "Rose!" Either she couldn't hear him or she was too focused on Nine because she didn't even look back as she kept running.

Fear and desperation bubbled in him as he struggled against the sand. No matter how many times he called her name, Rose didn't come back. He pulled on his feet, trying to move as quickly as Nine and Rose had. He'd barely taken three steps before Rose, too disappeared over the ridge. "Rose, no!"

He was interrupted at the sound behind him. A transparent projection of himself was standing on the far end of the beach. He could see Rose through it, just barely. Even without seeing her closely, he knew she was struggling not to cry.

He could have sworn his hearts stopped dead from their galloping pace of before. "Rose..."

He pulled on his feet, turning to her even as the projection solidified. He could just see her face over his shoulder. The wind whipped around him as he struggled towards her. He didn't need to hear her to know what was being said.

Can't you come through properly?

The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse.

So?

"No, no, no!" A lump was rising in his throat. He could feel the tears start to brim in his eyes, the same tears he'd fought back in his TARDIS.

There's five of us now. Mom, Dad, Mickey... and the baby.

He had been so terrified by that sentence. He should have been happy that she had gotten on with her life. But the thought of her with another man...

No. It's Mum. Three months gone. More Tylers on the way.

And what about you?

Yeah, I'm back working in the shop.

Yeah? Good for you.

Shut up, no I'm not. The Torchwood on this planet's open for business. I think I know a thing or two about aliens.

Rose Tyler. Defender of the Earth.

He was just a couple dozen meters away. If he called out her name, she might hear him. But he couldn't get any sound past the lump in his throat. Each step was harder to take. The sand dragged at him more and more. But he wouldn't give in to his weariness. He had to reach her. He had to.

Am I ever going to see you again?

You can't.

Those words had broken his hearts more than anything that had happened already. Each tear that coursed down her cheek seared him through to the soul.

What are you going to do?

Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords.

On your own?

Just a few more meters and he could wrap her in his arms and never let her go.

"I..." she was cut off by a sob. "I love you."

"Quite right to." He could hear them now. He wanted to throttle himself for wasting precious time with those stupid words. "And, I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it... Rose Tyler—"

His image cut off, leaving her standing alone on the beach, choked by sobs. She wrapped her arms around herself, barely able to keep standing.

"Rose!" he called out, but she wouldn't look up. "Rose!" He fought harder against the sand. It was starting to feel like cement around his feet. If he could just reach her, then everything would be...

Finally she straightened up, pushing at the tears on her cheeks. Her eyes swept over the beach, not seeing him. She turned and walked back to her parents, staying on top of the sand that was dragging him down.

"Rose! Rose, no! Please, Rose, ple—" He was cut off by another lump in his throat. He clawed at the ground, trying to pull himself out of the sand and towards her before she could drive away. As she got into the car, he felt the lump in his throat dissolve into sobs that shredded his chest, twisted his hearts, and dragged him deeper into the sand.