a/n: The first half of this chapter was a bear to write. I hope it makes sense. Next chapter is the big bad. (if the Doctor and Rose can stop snogging to realize it! I swear those two look for any excuse! LOL) BIG THANKS YOU TO: Larxenethefirefly, Bittie752 and awhoinwhoville for helping me through the first half of this chapter. I really was stuck and these lovely ladies were very kind and patient and helped me tremendously.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and do not profit from this fic or any of the characters contained therein.

Days went by at the school after the unusual tea party. The Doctor and Rose had received a half hearted lecture from Harriet who had much more serious matters on her mind. In fact, she seemed almost relieved that she was lecturing them on the school fraternization policy. It was obvious to both the Doctor and Rose that the dark cloud of the Master was hanging over her and it made them more determined to help stop whatever was coming for them.

The atmosphere in the school became even more tense as time passed. Teachers walked the school halls like probation officers, always watching and seeming on edge. The students' movements were monitored and recorded and any variation had teachers questioning them. Harriet would often be seen pacing in her officer or the main living area. There were many closed door meetings between Harriet, the teachers and other staff.

Even the clinic was effected. Dr. Redfern had implemented new strict policies prohibiting patient visits and was keeping tight control over any students in the clinic. This included Martha who no longer had the same access to patients. It made communications with Clara even more difficult and Clara's assistance in finding Craig critical. A plan was devised that Matthew would obtain permission to visit Clara from Dr. Taylor in order to discuss homework she was missing while recovering from burns she suffered in Dr. Taylor's lab. Martha walked Matthew through the clinic although both were stopped by Dr. Redfern who scrutinized his permission slip. After staring hard at him, she grudgingly allowed Martha to escort him to Clara and to oversee the visit. Apparently, not even a teacher authorized visit was allowed without observation.

Clara had been delighted to see him and Martha. She had been lying in the clinic in her smiley face jim jams bored out of her mind. She mentioned that Dr. Redfern was acting oddly around her and she felt uncomfortable. Her arms and hands were bandaged up like a mummy which Matthew noted in his own quirky style. He babbled on a bit about mummification and various techniques of same until Clara threatened to call Dr. Redfern. After he stumbled around his words a bit, he finally passed along Rose's message. Clara was only too excited to help. In fact, Matthew was worried she was a little too excited and warned her to take care, that what he saw and felt in the clinic was worrisome. Clara waved him off promising she would be fine. Martha promised she would find a way to slip back in and visit Clara to find out what Clara discovered. They planned out a few code phrases in case Dr. Redfern was listening. Clara giggled and said she loved James Bond and knew what to do.

Clara waited until night fell and Dr. Redfern left before slipping out of bed. Unfortunately, finding Craig was a lot more challenging than anticipated. The school clinic, although not hospital grade, was more than just a couple of rooms. When Martha stopped by to check on her the next morning, Clara asked her if she'd ever seen the movie For Your Eyes only. Martha had smirked at that and nodded. Their conversation then meandered from Bond's investigation skills to Q and gadgets like laser cameras and how come all those Bond girls didn't get the cool gadgets. Clara babbled almost as much as Matthew. Martha got the gist of it which was Clara hadn't been successful. Rose and friends had expected this and passed along a little gift for Clara. When Martha handed Clara a pair of glasses, Clara looked at her confused.

Martha explained that Matthew sent over some special glasses that replaced her tablet and responded to her retina movements. Basically, they were a hands free way for her to keep up with her school work. Martha had a twinkle in her eye as she emphasized school work. Clara grinned brightly. Dr. Redfern stepped in, frowning reminding Martha that Clara needed rest. Luckily, Martha was able to distract Dr. Redfern and ushered her out, leaving Clara with something a lot more interesting than just glasses that helped her with homework.

That night, Clara fumbled with bandaged hands to get her hi tech glasses on and again snuck off to investigate, only this time, she was not alone. She had Rose linked into her glasses, and who could see what Clara was looking at. Rose held her breath as Clara darted down dark corridors, ducking into closets when the night nurse walked by and avoided security cameras monitoring activity in the clinic. With help from Rose, and Donna who was by Rose's side, Clara found the isolation ward. She ran into another problem when she located it -how to open the door with her hands bound up. It took some uncomfortable maneuvering, a bit of cursing and encouragement from Rose and Donna along with a clever use of knees and feet to help hold it open so she could squeeze through, but she did it.

She found Craig playing Halo in his blue striped jim jams and not looking the least bit sick. He didn't even look up when she slipped into his room.

"You're a bit late, don't ya think?" he asked, still focused on his game.

"Um, I dunno, maybe. How do you know? I mean I didn't even know. Well, not until a few minutes ago. Is that Halo. You're playing Halo while in insolation? How'd you do that? I mean shouldn't you be…"

Craig paused his game, sighed, and cut her off. "Really? You really wanna talk about gamin?"

Clara stopped and stared through her glasses so Rose could see. A holographic image of Rose shot out of the glasses and Clara stumbled back, jerking the image around. "Whoa. Now that's a bit cool," she commented.

Craig didn't move. "Rose? Are you…are you all right?" he asked.

Rose let our breath slowly. Donna poked her reminding her they didn't have much time and to get on with it.

"Hi Craig. Yeah, sorry about all this but I had to talk to you and they won't let anyone near you so Clara sort of agreed to be well, she's…"

"James Bond!" Clara inserted. Craig's brow furrowed as he looked from the hologram Rose to Clara.

"Sorry," Clara added but still looked a bit chuffed at being a part of this, even with bandaged arms and hands.

"Craig, the dream. You know, the library and the Master and all that. You remember?" Rose asked.

His face paled. "You were there." He slid off the bed and walked toward the hologram, poking at it before continuing. "No one is ever in the dreams except you."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, you said somethin' like that, said that you'd never seen anything like it or me and that everything bends around me like I'm some sort of focal point. What did you mean?"

He started to fidget and shift back and forth and walked back to his bed where he sat there staring at a wall.

"Craig, please. Help me to understand, to stop this, whatever that was in the dream, from happenin."

He looked at her, his eyes haunted. "You can't. Things are already in motion and it's all around you. Can't you feel it?"

Rose shook her head not understanding. Donna, leaned over to her. "Ask him!" she whispered harshly.

Rose shook herself out of the fear that had briefly consumed her. "Craig, I've had lots of dreams, some I remember, some I don't but it's all around the Master, fire and destruction. You said it's in motion but can't I do something, change it?"

He stared at her a moment. "You…" He paused as if trying to find the words. "It's like I can see glimpses in time, the past, the future or the possibilities but that's it. You though, I think you can touch what I can only see. You make things happen or effect them. You sort of um, well." He paused again unsure. "I don't know but it's like time, it wraps around you, all of it. It shifts when you make a choice. I think…I think you can influence it. Yeah, that's it. Where I watch, you're a part of it," he said, a light in his eyes now as he looked at her.

"The Doctor said something like that. Like I can manipulate time. So, we both can see what could happen but only I can change it? Can you tell me what choices I need to make and what the consequences are?"

Craig stared for a moment and shook his head. "It's all a jumble." He rubbed his head then. "Gives me a headache.

Rose bit her lip and then continued. "'M sorry, Craig. I know this is hard. Is this why you're in the clinic? 'Cos you saw this stuff and it hurts you're head?"

He looked up at her and shrugged. "Harriet thought I'd be better down here away from the other students."

Clara spoke up then. "Is it? Better away from everyone?"

Craig shrugged. "A bit but I still feel it coming."

"What's coming, Craig?" Rose asked.

"You know, you've seen it. I know you have," he answered and looked scared.

"The Master," Rose said softly. "He's here isn't he? Or at least his people are. Are they going to attack? Do you know when or what I could do to change it up even if I can't stop it?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, only that it's soon. It's hard to see things with you here. Things are warped around you. All I know is it will end in fire and nothing can change that." He paused and then straightened. "You can't give in Rose. Promise me, no matter what you won't give in." He started trembling slightly. "He'll come for me too. I don't want to go. Please, please don't make me go." He started rocking back and forth, obviously terrified.

"Rose," Donna said softly and put a hand on her arm back in their room, to encourage her to go on.

Rose took a moment to breathe. She hated this, making Craig see terrible things but Donna was right. She had to push on. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Craig. I promise. We're not gonna let the Master win."

He looked up at her. "I believe you. It all comes down to you." He looked off to the side again and then back at her.

"Don't be afraid to look into the heart of the storm and don't run away from who you are. Power won't save us. It won't be some special talent either. He and his will sweep through, destroy, kill, take and burn but they don't understand the point of it. They can't but you do and the others too. It's what makes you stronger than them even if it looks hopeless and they leave everything burning, they can't destroy your true strength unless you let them. Please don't let them."

Rose stared it him. "I won't," she said softly, still not understanding. She opened herself up to her talent and looked at Craig who stared back at her, his light grey eyes reflecting a terrible knowledge of the future that would or could come to pass. She caught a glimpse of what he was seeing and then flinched back as if someone had hit her. Donna caught her in her arms.

A voice echoed nearby, like someone talking on a mobile. Clara moved back, disconnecting the holographic interface. "Someone's coming. I've got to go," she whispered. She backed up until she was behind a door that opened. The night nurse walked in and admonished Craig for staying up all night playing games. Craig kept her busy while Clara slipped out, quickly making her way back to her room.

Donna pulled Rose into her arms as she trembled from the terrible things that she witnessed through Craig's visions.

"It'll be all right," Donna promised even though she was frightened as well. "We'll do this together. You me, the Doctor, Jack, Martha and the others."

Rose didn't sleep much that night and went through her day at school not really focused on anything or anyone. It was the Doctor that finally pulled her aside and into a hug. They walked down to his lab, hand in hand. Jack was already there waiting with tea. The two of them sat with her as she told them everything that Craig said. A knowing look passed between the Doctor and Jack.

Jack leaned over and gently kissed Rose. "I'll let the others know. Try not to worry."

The Doctor scooted over and grasped her hand. She turned to him and smiled although it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I don't want to put anyone in danger," she said softly.

"Craig told you, you can't give in. You have to trust us, trust me."

Rose looked into his eyes and felt that connection to him flare to life. Her feelings were very mixed. Part of her wanted to walk out of the school and just face this thing alone in the hopes of stopping anything bad from happening to her friends and school mates. Another part of her knew she was stronger with her friends and that only together could they stop the Master. She shut her eyes tight and tapped into her abilities, went to her quiet place and watched a cyclone of time lines lash out at her in this metaphysical landscape. She jumped when the Doctor walked up next o her.

"Hello," he said softly, smiling.

"How did you…" she asked.

He shrugged. "We're a bit connected now. You needed me so I sort of slipped in."

"Well maybe you should ask next time," she snipped at him and crossed her arms.

"You…want me to go?" he asked nervously, tugging at his hair.

"No," she said and reached for his hand. "Please stay."

He wrapped his arms around her and watched the time lines fluctuate and wind around them. "Try focusing on one," he whispered into her ear.

It was intimate the way he held her, his mouth by her ear like that, his breath tickling the hairs on the nape of her neck. She shivered in a good way. There was too much at stake for her to indulge in her feelings for him which were intensifying each day. One day, she promised herself, they would just be them, a boy and a girl in love and that was one thing she couldn't doubt. She had fallen in love with him and it gave her strength to do what she had to in order to keep everyone safe.

His arms tightened around her in a reassuring manner and she focused on one particular time line. It was Harriet and she was angry with someone. There was a flash and Harriet fell. Rose pulled away abruptly.

"I've got you," the Doctor promised.

She didn't want to look but she had to and focused on it again. Joan Redfern was there. Anger filled her and almost consumed her when she saw that's who it was. the Doctor tightened his grip. She remembered Donna and how she taught Rose to let go of anger and calmed herself. She looked again and saw other threads split off from this one. One had Harriet taking the gun from Joan. Another had someone tackle Joan and the gun fired harmlessly into a wall. Yet, another had Joan and Harriet struggle and the gun fired but Rose couldn't see what happen.

The Doctor pulled her away. "Shhhhh it's all right," he crooned. "There's nothing more you can do."

"But…" Rose started to say.

"You may never know. They're potential futures. Could be's. You don't know they'll happen."

Rose nodded, grateful for his support and leaned into him. "You choose one."

"Are you sure? We could stop if it's too much. Maybe we should," he suggested.

"No, I wanna keep going."

He nodded, his face next to hers and guided her toward another thread, this one, a blend of orange and brown colors intertwined. Rose smiled as she saw Rory and Amy. They were laughing and teasing one another, snuggled together on a sofa in the library. She blushed as she watched Rory tentatively lean close to Amy and how Amy tackled him into a passionate snog. Rose pulled away and looked at another thread for them. This one was not so happy. It was Rory fighting off someone attacking Amy, tossing people aside, a dark look on his face. Wind whipped through Amy's ginger hair as she fought beside him and then…there was fire…everywhere. Rose turned away. The Doctor made her look again and she found her two friends embracing amidst charred ruins.

"This is all my fault," she said tearfully.

"No," he responded in strong voice. "It's not. You don't do this. This is all from him, the Master's lust for power. You could never do this, Rose. The Master would," he said with a cold bite to his voice.

"I need to see it," she said, her voice broken.

"No, we should stop," the Doctor responded, not wanting her to hurt more, his voice reflecting anger at all this was doing to her.

"Not yet. Once more," she said a bit stronger and she reached out for the brightest threat, one that almost hurt her eyes to look it. It was them. She couldn't really see very well, it was too bright and blurred. Their voices were staticky. The only thing that was clear was that she was standing amidst burning ruins and the Master was not far away, laughing. The Doctor and Jack were there. There were bodies broken and bleeding around them. Reinette was next to the master, her clothes torn and her face bloodied. She looked empty. Joan Redfern was also there holding a gun. She tried to focus in but a bright flash of light threw her not only out of that time line but out of her safe place, back into the Doctor's lab.

She was gasping for breath. The Doctor pulled her tightly against his chest and rocked her whispering her name.

"What was that?" she asked and rubbed her head which was throbbing.

"Maybe some things you're not meant to know," he said and pulled away to look into her eyes. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Rose gazed at him and pulled him down into a kiss. They fell down on the couch, moaning into each other as they tasted and nipped at each other. Hands skimmed clothing and their legs tangled as they enjoyed this intimate contact.

Donna burst in. "What the hell are you two doing?" she demanded. "Oh my God! Didn't you get in enough trouble for all that tongue tangoing you did last time?" she demanded. "Seriously, do I have to hose you down?"

The Doctor rolled off her and off the sofa hitting the floor with a thump. "Donna, did you want something?"

"No, I just came down here to watch your bony arse snog Blondie for kicks and giggles," she responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "All hell broke loose up stairs."

"Martha said Dr. Redfern called all the staff to the clinic. Sounds like Craig went mad, screaming about the end of the World and the like. Martha could hear it all the way in Clara's room and then it just stopped. Harriet put the school in lock down. No one's allowed out until further notice."

Rose bit her thumb nail nervously wondering if she had done this, if she had pushed things too far.

The Doctor sighed. "Well couldn't be too locked down. You're here," he said and glared at her.

"Oi! I was in the hall walking to see Lee in the Library when it happened. I figured one of you had something to do with it so came straight here. You did, didn't you?" she asked, arms crossed.

Rose sat up and looked worriedly at Donna whose face softened the moment she saw Rose.

"It was an accident. I was just trying to find out what I could do to stop it. I didn't think it would mess with Craig."

"You said that he can see but not effect events. Maybe by you looking into the possibilities it tripped up his temporal spidey senses," the Doctor suggested.

"Temporal spidey senses?" Donna repeated with sarcasm. "Are you kiddin' me?" She turned back to Rose. "Look I don't know what you two were up to and I don't want to know. Just stop it before you drive poor Craig over the edge and have Harriet lockin' us all up."

Rose nodded looking truly upset by these latest events.

"Now, I'm stuck down here until Harriet gives the all clear…." Donna looked around and winced at the messy condition of the lab. "Please tell me space man's got something decent to eat stashed away." She walked over and looked at the tea and some empty biscuit tins and then at the Doctor still on the floor. "Well?"

The Doctor sighed dramatically. "All right, fine!" He got up and started muttering about pushy gingers and invasion of his manly domain.

dwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwdwd

It didn't seem possible but the atmosphere at the school was filled with an even more tension and darkness lingered around every corner. Rose felt like she was being watched constantly and mainly be teachers. It was like they were blaming her. Her only solace was spending time with the Doctor in his lab. She and the Doctor never repeated their experiment with looking at specific time lines. The Doctor did continue to help her to learn how to focus her talent. Rose would concentrate on an apple and age it with a thought until it turned into nothing but dust. She also practiced on reversing the process, taking a dried out dead plant and making it young and vibrant again. She was still not comfortable with manipulating time and feared what using the talent would make her into, but with the Doctor was there with her and helped her build the confidence in herself and her ability to distinguish when something shouldn't be changed or when using her power was wrong.

Her friends passed information back and forth as they subtlety investigated students and teachers. They didn't dare meet together in one place. They were being watched too carefully. After a few days had passed, Rose was pulled aside by Sarah Jane who asked her to walk with her in the Garden.

"How are you doing, Rose?" she asked.

"Fine," Rose answered noncommittally.

"Good. Martha says she thinks you're recovered, physically at least. But, there's more to recovery than a healthy body. I know how difficult this has been and I'm sorry Harriet and I haven't been there for you. These are…unusual times and we've had other matters taking up our days."

Rose nodded and waited for Sarah Jane to continue. Sarah Jane stopped and placed a hand on her arm and turned Rose toward her. "I spoke to Craig."

Rose swallowed hard, worried at what this may mean to her.

"He has some concerning dreams which he says he shares with you. I don't suppose you want to add anything to the fire and death he sees coming for us?"

Rose shook her head and said nothing. She was afraid to voice anything to Sarah Jane. After all, Sarah Jane's talent was knowing if someone was lying and being able to draw out the truth."

"I'm the least of your worries, you know. The Master is a very real threat but he's not invincible. I think it's why he's focused on you. He's afraid of you." Sarah Jane placed both her hands on Rose's shoulders and looked Rose in the eyes. "You are capable of being so much more. Trust your instincts and don't give up no matter what happens. Harriet and I support you and if we can…we will be there next to you."

"Thank you, Sarah Jane. I'll try not to let you down," Rose promised, still worried at this conversation. If Sarah Jane was talking to her like this, things were much worse than Rose imagined and considering all Rose had seen of potential futures, that was impressively bad.

"Of course you won't." Sarah Jane turned them around to head back to the school and paused before they walked through the door. "Just try and minimize the snogging. It can be distraction you don't need." She winked at Rose and held open the door to walk in.

Rose blushed and followed her. It was the last peaceful moment Rose would know that day. Hours later, chaos would reign and not everyone would survive the horror that followed.