Now we find out what is going on with our dear Doctor...and find he has a very good reason for lying to Rose.

The Doctor sat dejectedly in the pilot's chair, clicking his sonic on and off absent mindedly.

He could feel the TARDIS urged him in beeps and whirls toward Rose, advising him to talk to her and make things right. The Doctor just scowled at her.

"You know I can't do that" he said softly.

She became more insistent in her mental nudging; talk to her, talk to her….

"No" the Doctor snapped at the TARDIS. She knew as well as he did that he couldn't tell Rose what happened. It was a heavy weight on him and he wasn't going to burden her with it. He simply needed to work harder to get rid of her. It would be better for her to know nothing of the situation.

The TARDIS sent a forceful nudge into his mind, pushing him.

"Would you just shut up and let me think?!" the Doctor snapped. The TARDIS whirled and beeped at him discontented but he didn't care; he needed to figure out what to do. Rose couldn't know that he had to leave her here….for a short time, he hoped. She couldn't know that he feared for his own life, not to mention the danger she was in. She couldn't be anywhere near him when he left. It would almost certainly mean her death.

The Doctor sat back in the chair and played back the recording from earlier; the one that had stopped his hearts:

The Doctor had been tinkering on the TARDIS' console when he had gotten a distress signal incoming.

"Oi, what's this?" the Doctor asked the TARDIS in surprise. "I thought we agreed? No calls right now?"

But the call kept coming in; she was urging him that it was something he needed to take. He didn't have a choice.

The Doctor had stood up and flipped the screen on, letting the call come in. "Hello", he called out as pleasantly as he could even though he already suspected that something very wrong was happening. "I'm the Doctor. How can I help you?"

"I know who you are, Doctor…."

The Doctor's throat closed in on him, his hearts stopping. His lungs seemed to deflate like a balloon as panic filled him. That voice….it couldn't be. It simply couldn't be….

The screen was filled with the sight of a Dalek, moving close to the camera. "I need one thing Doctor….that is you" the Dalek screeched out.

The Doctor realized he wasn't breathing, and made a conscious effort to breathe. He didn't want the Dalek to see the panic that was raging just under the skin. How could this Dalek exist? Rose had destroyed them all….they were all gone. How had this one survived? Were there others? And what did it want with him?

"I must admit, I'm a bit surprised to see you" the Doctor said, playing it coolly. "Last I heard, you all got blown up. You look pretty good for blown up"

"You know Doctor…..it was your Rose Tyler…she destroyed us" the Dalek said.

The Doctor didn't let any emotion show on his face at the mention of Rose's name. "And yet….you're still here?" the Doctor said. "Want to tell me how that happened?"

"Rose Tyler did not destroy me…I alone escaped" the Dalek said.

Okay…so there weren't anymore, hopefully. That still didn't explain why this one lonely Dalek survived. "How?" the Doctor asked.

"I do not know how to explain this" The Dalek said.

The Doctor laughed. "Ha….you don't know? So, you're just lucky, are you?"

The Dalek cut him off " I am not here to talk, Doctor...your Rose Tyler destroyed my race. She is the one that can bring it back"

A cold, icy hand seemed to close around the Doctor's hearts and squeeze. He was not going to let this Dalek anywhere near Rose. "She destroyed you…..why on Earth would she want to help you?" the Doctor asked, managing to keep calm.

"Because if Rose Tyler does not help bring us back, I will kill her….and your time baby" the Dalek threatened.

Everything inside the Doctor fell to the floor in utter fear. How did this Dalek know about the baby? How could he possibly know? "You won't find her….You think you can make such an accusation? You do know who you are dealing with, right?"

The Dalek pauses before giving the Doctor coordinates; the exact coordinates of where the TARDIS was at this moment. "When Rose destroyed my entire race, she made a connection with me…one that cannot be broken….I will always know where she is….I will be able to find her."

The Doctor racked his brain; was any of it possible? He obviously knew exactly where Rose was. But could Rose actually bring the Daleks back? He wasn't sure…..and he hated not being sure. Especially when it came to Rose's safety. He couldn't take the chance; he had to take care of this before anything happened to Rose.

"Well, I will admit this is a surprise" The Doctor said, regaining his cool. "But anyway…..Rose is not going to bring you back"

"It is either the Daleks' lives or Rose's and the little time lord's" the Dalek said. Normally the Doctor would not stand for being blackmailed. But at the threat, the Doctor saw the deaths of his children flashing before his eyes, imagined the same thing happening to Rose and their son. He couldn't take the chance.

"How about we discuss this thing in person?" the Doctor asked calmly. "You can talk to Rose yourself."

"You will come to me….you will bring Rose with you" the Dalek said demandingly.

The Doctor shrugged. "Of course" he said.

"Soon…..I will not wait for long"

The Doctor's stomach had been in knots ever since he had heard the words. He hated the position that he was in, being controlled by this Dalek. He didn't want anyone controlling him. He had no intention of complying, of course; he would go to the Dalek himself and…..diffuse the situation. Rose wouldn't be anywhere near him when he did so. He had to make it quick so that the Dalek didn't catch on to the fact that Rose wasn't with him since apparently he had such a strong connection with her because of the time energy.

The Doctor paced the console, thinking. He knew he had to patch things up with Rose, get her out of the TARDIS tomorrow, as soon as possible. He obviously couldn't ask her to leave, he had to think of something else.

It was late when he finally made his way to his room, not intending to sleep but needing to at least lie down and think this through. Besides, he needed to talk to Rose. He couldn't tell her the truth, which he hated, but he had to at least console her.

When he walked into his room he was dismayed to see that Rose wasn't in his bed like she had been every night since he had returned.

The TARDIS tugged at him mentally, almost as if to say "I told you so".

The Doctor ignored her as he let out a big sigh. This was going to be harder than he thought.

…..

Rose pulled the covers over her tighter, curling into a ball and shivering. She knew that it really had nothing to do with the warmth of the room. She was used to sleeping on the Doctor's warm chest; it just wasn't right, being alone. She was tired but she couldn't sleep; her mind was racing and her stomach churned nervously.

She felt tears pulling at her eyes but she refused to keep crying. She should have known that this was going to happen; she should have known that this wasn't going to work. You couldn't tie the Doctor down. He didn't know how to stop, how to slow down. And why should he, really? He had saved people all over time and space for hundreds of years; why should he stop for her? What did she matter? She was just a small, insignificant human in a universe of billions. She was foolish to have even thought he cared about her the way that she cared about him Maybe she should just leave, let him go wherever he was dying to go. He was going to ditch her sooner or later anyway.

She was curled into ball of self-loathing when she heard a knock at the door. She ignored it; it had been hours since she had stormed off and he just now wanted to talk? Well, she was beyond the point of talking. The Doctor knocked again and said, "Rose….please open the door so we can talk"

Rose kept silent, not acknowledging that the Doctor was even there; she wasn't surprise when, a minute later, he had used his sonic to unlock her door. "Go away" Rose said, her back to the door but hearing his footsteps close in on her. She felt the bed shift as he sat down but she still didn't look at him.

"I'm not leaving, Rose" the Doctor said. "We need to talk about this"

"No" Rose said stubbornly. "You didn't tell me anything earlier, so why should I talk about it now? You're obviously hiding something from me. Either that or you just dying to get away from me" She felt a hand on her shoulder as the Doctor turned her so that she was lying on her back, looking up at him.

"I'm not dying to get away from you" the Doctor said. Rose didn't find it comforting; he said nothing about not hiding anything from her.

"Then what is this about?" Rose asked. She didn't raise her voice, didn't get mad. She just felt like giving up. She didn't know if she wanted to know the answer if he really was going to leave her.

"I'm sorry I tried to trick you, Rose. I'm sorry I lied to you" the Doctor said. "I just…..needed to go do something"

"What?" Rose asked. She was trying to read in his eyes, his expression, anything; what he was feeling but she really couldn't tell.

"I needed to go save the world…you know, the usual" the Doctor said, giving her a cautious smile. "You can understand that, right?"

So that was it; he was just bored. Being on Earth and being around her for three months was too much for him and he needed to do something. It wasn't the worst response he could have given but it wasn't what she was hoping for either.

She looked up into his eyes "This isn't going to work, is it?" she asked simply. Might as well get it out there since it was, apparently, the truth. She saw a flash of confusion across his face.

"What isn't going to work?" he asked, oblivious.

"Us….whatever this is we are doing…..you aren't planning on taking me on any adventures anymore. You're just planning on leaving me behind every time…well, then

why not get rid of me now, Doctor?" Rose said. She was proud that her voice remained steady and didn't give away how betrayed she felt.

The Doctor looked conflicted for a long time before he finally spoke. "Rose….that's not what I want" he said. "I'm just trying to protect you right now….you are pregnant. I don't want anything to happen"

"So….once I have the baby I am allowed to come on adventures with you?" Rose asked sarcastically.

The Doctor looked down for a moment; Rose wasn't sure but she almost though that he seemed angry. When he looked up, though, it was gone. "Rose, I promise….we'll figure out something. We'll make this work; you being able to come with me and us still be a family. But not right now….right now you need to rest and be safe. I am trying to do what I think is best"

Rose wanted to believe what he was saying; he sounded so sincere and yet she still felt something wasn't right. "Then why not just tell me that?" she asked gently. She wanted to rush into his strong, comforting arms but she didn't. "Why did you have to lie? Imagine what I would have thought if I came back and you were just…..gone"

The Doctor looked sad. "I'm sorry Rose….I know that was a horrible way to approach things. I just thought….you'd be upset if I told you I wanted to go somewhere without you"

"I would have been" Rose admitted. "But it would have been better than this…lying to me. I thought you were trying to hide something from me"

The Doctor touched her cheek gently and she felt herself melt a little. "I'm not trying to hide anything, Rose….I promise. I am very sorry I made you think you couldn't trust me"

Rose felt herself cautiously trusting him; maybe he was really was just so desperate to get out into the stars that he had lied to her. Maybe there wasn't some big catastrophe that he was trying to hide. "It's alright…..just…please…..next time be honest with me" Rose said quietly.

The Doctor held out his arms as a smile spread across his face. "I will….let's just put this behind us then? You look tired" he said.

Rose rushed into his open arms, sliding her arms under his jacket and caving into his warmth. "I'm very tired" she admitted. When she pulled back from the hug, the Doctor took his jacket off and kicked his shoes off, laying back on the bed. Rose immediately found her usual spot lying on his chest, between his hearts; it didn't take long at all before all of her chills had dissipated. There was still a nagging sensation in the back of her brain, worrying about what was to come, but she pushed it back. Listening to the strong beat of his hearts under her ear, she quickly went to sleep.