Author's Note: Once I actually sat down and wrote this chapter, it came out fast! Hope you all enjoy. Not many chapters left after this. I'm trying to get it finished before I move to Washington.

"We need to leave."

Nine wasn't listening. His back was turned, looking towards the far ridge. "Doctor?"

"No. Can't be." He turned more fully backwards, taking steps towards the ridge. His steps turned into strides, which turned into running.

Without thinking about it, she was bolting after him. "Doctor! Doctor, come back!"

She stumbled a bit on the loose sand as she ran after him, hoping Ten was right behind her. If he was right and only bad things happened on this beach, they needed to stay together.

She always had trouble keeping up with his longer strides, and now was no different without his hand closed around hers. He disappeared over the ridge before she was halfway there, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him. She pushed on, unwilling to lose him, coughing through the sand.

The closer she got to the ridge, the more dust she had to fight her way through. The air around her grew dark, blocking out the sun more and more until she was coughing in complete darkness.

She slowed, feeling solid ground beneath her feet. The air was a different kind of damp and cold than it had been a moment before. There was no breeze ruffling her hair. "Doctor?" she called out, taking a tentative step forward. It echoed oddly around her.

Her eyes started adjusting to the darkness. The place looked oddly familiar.

Her hand skitted along the wall she knew was next to her, flipping the light switch. A couple fluorescent lights flickered on, adding a sickly glow to the room filled with boxes, packing crates, and shop window dummies.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me."

The door behind her slammed closed. Her heart pounding in her ears, she looked back at it and then at the dummies around her. "Doctor?" she called out again, stepping deeper into the room.

She was about halfway across the room when the dummies started towards her, just like the last time she had stepped into Heinrick's.

"You're not foolin' me!" she called out, hoping her voice sounded braver than she felt. "I know you. You're autons, bein' controlled by the Nestene Consciousness. The Shadow Proclamation forbids you to be here."

She wasn't even sure they could hear her. They just kept advancing forward. For every step they took forward, she took one back, until she bumped against the wall. The auton in front of her raised his hand, pointing it at her as the fingers dropped down, revealing a gun-like barrel. She pinched her eyes closed, bracing for impact.

A hand closed around hers. Despite the situation, a grin broke her face. "Doctor, she breathed, opening her eyes and turning towards him.

But it wasn't the Doctor standing next to her.

It was Mickey.

"Hey, sweetheart. What you doin' down here?"

She looked around them, but all of the shop window dummies had vanished. They were the only ones standing alone in the basement room of Heinrick's.

"Mickey? What are you doin'?"

His usual, easy grin was on his face. He shrugged noncommittally. "Lookin' for you. Everythin' alright?"

"Well, no, I..." She looked around her, searching for any clue on what the hell was going on. "Where's the Doctor?"

His smile faltered. "It's always the Doctor with you, isn't it? Have you ever considered that there were more important things in life except for your precious Doctor?"

Her mind flitted over the last year of being here in this alternate dimension. She hadn't once gone looking for Mickey. After Ten had showed up and made her feel like she always hope the Doctor would, she hadn't even thought of him. A bit of guilt flared up inside her.

"Look, Mickey, I don't have time to explain, but somethin' really, really wrong is goin' on right now. I need the Doctor to sort this out. Have you seen him?"

His smile dropped away completely, replaced by a deep scowl. "Yeah, I've seen him. Both of 'em. But he's a bit busy. Don't really have time for you."

She stilled looking him over. "Mickey, what are you talkin' about?"

He crossed his arms over his chest like he did when he was trying to be tough. "Why don't you just forget about him. He's forgotten about you."

She shook her head, chewing on her lower lip. "No. You don't know him. He wouldn't... He can't forget about me." She turned away from him, scanning the area around her. He had to be somewhere around here. "Doctor!" she called out again.

"Rose, he can't here you." The sneer on Mickey's face sent a chill down her spine.

She stepped up closer to him, not holding back as she grabbed fistfuls of the front of his shirt and pulling him closer to her. "Where is the Doctor?"

"Which one?" he breathed back at her.

"Both of them!" she shrieked in frustration.

He jerked her hands from the front of her shirt and took a step back. "It doesn't work that way, Rose. You can't always have everything you want. It wasn't any choice between me and him, was it? Wasn't ever even a choice for you."

She gritted her teeth together. "I'm not playin' this game with you."

"No games, Rose. You need to decide. Both of them need you." He backed up to a pair of doors in the far wall. His eyes fixed on hers, he pulled the one to his right open first. Nine was on the other side, his leather jacket gone, replaced with big robes. Fire burned behind him. Screams filled the air. He shouted orders and men ran around him.

"Doctor!" She took a step forward automatically, eyes riveted on the carefully hidden fear in his eyes.

She didn't get any farther before he pushed that door closed. He reached over, pulling open the door to the left of him. Ten was still back where she had left him, on the beach. Somehow he'd gotten half buried in the sand and was sinking deeper. He was clawing at the ground around him, tears coursing down his cheeks as he called something out. His words were lost under the roar of the ocean as it inched towards him.

She saw just enough to break her heart before Mickey pushed that door closed as well. "So who's it gonna be, huh, Rose? Which one of your precious Doctors are you gonna sacrifice the other for? Who is worth abandoning everything for?"

Tears brimming in her eyes, she squared her shoulders against Mickey's harsh glare. What was she supposed to do? She was just a stupid shop girl from London.