Hello lovelies! That's right, another chapter. Weird, isn't it? Anyway, I won't babble on too long. I just want to say a quick thank you to my faithful reviewers who made themselves known. Thank you for staying! I love you guys! Enjoy the new chapter! There'll only be one or two more chapters after this one, so get ready for it!

xxx

The Doctor left Earth not long after Rose had run away from him. Burying himself in TARDIS repairs, he lost track of the days he spend just drifting through the vortex. He didn't sleep and he rarely ate anything. He felt himself undeserving of any such luxuries.

He had broken her heart again just like they'd all warned him not to. The worst part was that she didn't even know why.

He tinkered with the console monitor, deleting yet another distress signal from his scanners. He couldn't help anyone, not while he was starving and barely functioning.

It wasn't until a week had gone by, as he later discovered, that a message came through on his screen that made him stop dead. It was from Mickey and it contained a single image file of a missing person's poster.

The Doctor knew before he opened it who it would be, and his hearts clenched when he saw the familiar face of his Rose smiling up at him from above the words 'Call Nicole' followed by a number.

He leapt into action, piloting the TARDIS faster than he ever had before. His mind whirled with guilt and fear. He had done this. If he had just stayed with her, she would be okay.

He landed the TARDIS straight into Mickey and Martha's sitting room and hurried through the doors, just as the couple sat down to breakfast.

'Have you found anything?' he asked immediately.

'No, but we're still looking,' Mickey responded seriously, completely unfazed by his sudden arrival. 'We've got access to all the CCTV footage from the streets the night we had dinner and we're sifting through to find out where she went'.

'Good, good,' the Doctor nodded, tugging his hands through his hair.

'What happened after you left the restaurant?' Martha asked gently.

The Doctor stiffened visibly. 'She caught up to me and we...talked'.

'And?'

'And then she got upset and she had an attack. After that, she ran away from me and I couldn't find her afterwards'.

'You couldn't find her or you didn't look?' Mickey narrowed his eyes threateningly at the Doctor.

'I...She was'—

'Mickey, that's not important right now,' Martha cut the Doctor off. 'Now, you're saying she had another one of her attacks?'

'Yes,' the Doctor nodded. 'It hurt her a lot this time'.

'So it would've been quite a spike of energy,' Martha nodded, opening up her laptop.

'Oh yes, and it was time energy. It's basically a great big beacon saying "I am here".

'So you're saying that any non-human visitors would have seen it?'

'Seen it, heard it, smelt it, oh...'

'You're not doing so well, are you?' Martha asked quietly.

The Doctor frowned at her. 'What?'

'You look really thin, Doctor, and you don't smell very good'.

'Got it!' Mickey announced loudly and the other two gathered around behind him to view the footage. 'Here's Rose after she left you'.

They watched the dark figure run for several minutes, finding the next camera with vision on each new area.

'She was all alone,' the Doctor whispered as they watched Rose stop and sit by an old apartment building.

'And...there,' Mickey paused the footage and pointed to a strange shape across the street, completely concealed from Rose. He pressed play again.

'Stop,' the Doctor whispered and closed Mickey's laptop. 'I don't want to see them take her'.

'But we might see where'—

'We already know where they took her'.

'We do?'

'Yes,' the Doctor replied with a nod, quickly snagging a piece of toast off Mickey's plate before the man had time to react.

'Hey!'

'Guys, I just found a strange signal coming from the underground,' Martha interrupted the other two.

'That's only a few blocks from the restaurant,' Mickey observed, getting up and pulling on his coat.

'Okay, you two go check that out. Do not go anywhere by yourselves though. Take a team with you'.

'What're you going to do?'

'I'm going to come from the other end and hopefully take them by surprise'.

'How will we find you though? Those tunnels go on for miles,' said Martha.

'Take Mickey'.

'He's already coming?'

The Doctor waved a hand at her. 'Not that Mickey'.

He raced back over to the TARDIS and disappeared inside, emerging moments later with a small, metal dog.

'He's programmed to find me'.

'Oh ha, ha, very funny,' Mickey rolled his eyes.

Martha shot him a confused look.

'I'm always the tin dog!' Mickey growled and brushed past both of them. 'Are you coming then?'

'See you down there,' the Doctor turned to leave.

'Be careful, Doctor'.

'You too, Martha Jones'.

The last thing he heard before shutting the TADRIS door was Mickey's yell of "SMITH!"

Xxx

Knowing that Mickey and Martha would find very little and still be safe, the Doctor piloted the TARDIS down into the underground.

Down in the tunnels below, the air felt heavy and cold. The Doctor followed a small access way down to train tracks below. From the rubbish littered around and the rats that occupied the space, the Doctor could easily deduce that the area was no longer used for public transport.

He knew a lot about London's history, having been present in some form or other for a large amount of its development. Due to this, he knew about the ghost station nearby, that had long been abandoned.

The last time it had been occupied was during the Second World War, when the Ministry of defence had used it for headquarters when planning the defence of London.

He had the sneaking suspicion it was no longer so unoccupied however, and he hoped most of all that it would be where his Rose was, safe and sound.

As if on cue, a cry rang out from up ahead and the Doctor quickened his pace. He knew that voice anywhere and he wasn't about to let anything else happen to her.

He peered around the corner and saw Rose strapped down on a metal bench with a hulking, lizard-like figure looming over her.

'What do you want with me?!'

'Sleeeeeeeeep,' a voice whispered. 'You need more rest'.

'I've been knocked out for bloody ages!' Rose yelled back. 'What do you want?'

'Sleeeeeeeeep'.

'Listen, you really don't wanna do this. I've got a friend who's going to flip his lid when he hears about this'.

'Friend? Where?'

Rose's voice faltered for a moment. 'Well he's not here, but he'll come. No! Don't you touch me!'

The creature made a strange sound that must have been a laugh and went back to doing whatever it'd been doing.

'Stop! You know that this is a level five planet. What you're trying to do here is illegal!'

'You know many strange things,' the creature purred. 'You will sustain us'.

'What do you mean?' Rose asked breathlessly and the Doctor thought it a good time to step in.

He cleared his throat. 'Excuse me'.

The creature blocking Rose from his view whirled around and hissed loudly.

'No need for that,' the Doctor raised his hands innocently. 'I'm unarmed'.

'Nicholas?' Rose squinted at him. 'Is that you?'

'Rest now, Rose,' the Doctor replied. 'You'll be okay'.

'But what are you doing here? You need to run!'

'Not today,' the Doctor shook his head and swaggered forward.

'Nicholas!'

The creature growled and grabbed a tube with a mask attached. It then roughly shoved it over Rose's face, causing her to lose consciousness again.

'Who are you?' it demanded of the Doctor.

'I'm the local authorities,' the Doctor announced proudly.

'And what are you going to do?' the creature scoffed.

The Doctor gestured to Rose. 'I'm going to take my friend there back and you're going to leave this planet'.

The creature laughed. 'Little man, we know of your technology and it is weak'.

'Yes, about your scans,' the Doctor interjected. 'Why were you taking and scanning children only?'

'Easy,' the creature grunted.

'Easier to take?' The Doctor asked incredulously. 'No, that's not it at all. Children are smaller, but not easier. No, you took children because you were afraid. You didn't know earth's capabilities and you knew that if one got away no one would believe them. Then of course you developed the mind fields in all the exits so that it wouldn't matter, that they'd forget anyway. Then you could take whoever you wanted and you took Rose. So who is next?'

'No more,' the creature grunted. 'Just the girl'.

'You want Rose...' the Doctor trailed off as it dawned on him. 'You want to take her and use her for your power source'.

The creature nodded. 'Our planet lost war, need power to live. Girl is full.

'You don't understand,' the Doctor stepped forward and the creature growled again. 'This is time energy in here. It's more powerful than anything you've ever seen. It will power a universe, but it won't last forever. If you harness it this power, it will consume her and she will die. When she dies, the power will leave her body and it'll be gone'.

'One life for many. She is young. She will live many years'.

'But she won't! Humans don't live very long at the best of times, but that power inside her is what is keeping her alive. If she didn't have it then she'd already be...dead,' his voice cracked on the last word.

'How do you know this?'

'I'm clever and I figured it out. A little late perhaps, but even I need sleep sometimes'.

'You lie'.

'I swear, I am not lying. Rose is not a sustainable source of power. I know that you think that someone containing that much power must be so strong, but her body is not. Humans are not built to last'.

'She is not human'.

The Doctor's head snapped up. 'I'm sorry? I've met her parents, I've held her as a baby, I know how human she is'.

'Not human,' the creature insisted.

'Even if she wasn't it wouldn't matter. You can't just take her'.

'We need her'.

'No, you need a power source, which I can get for you. Just return to your ship, leave this planet alone and I'll get you all the power you need'.

'Liar!' the creature launched itself at him and he had to duck to avoid it's huge body.

'I'm not lying, I want to help you'.

'Then give us the girl'.

'Alright, that's enough,' the Doctor stepped towards the creature with menace in his gaze. 'You won't lay another finger on her. If you went through with this plan, you'd not only be killing an innocent human, but you'd be killing my Rose and I won't let that happen'.

'You cannot stop us, little man'.

The Doctor sighed. 'I'm really not that short'.

The creature laughed heartily.

The Doctor's eyes flickered to something behind the creature's back and nodded his head.

In an instant, something came rushing through the air towards the dart hit it right in the back of the neck and it keeled over, the ghost of its laughter still visible on its face.

'Doctor, are you alright?' Martha asked, coming to step around the creature.

The Doctor nodded. 'Good shot. Is it non-lethal?'

'Of course,' Martha replied with a smirk. 'Ever the preserver of life'.

'That thing is huge!' Mickey exclaimed from a little ways down the tunnel.

'I thought we agreed you'd have a team with you,' the Doctor frowned at him.

'We thought you were coming from the other end,' Martha countered as she stabilised the creature and gave it another shot of the same sedative for good measure. 'Lucky your dog told us where you were'.

The Doctor grinned when he saw Mickey roll his eyes.

'How's Rose?' Mickey asked quickly.

'She's sedated,' the Doctor replied as he carefully removed the mask from her face and stroked her hair back from her face.

'So when are you going to tell her?' Mickey asked. 'I assume she's going to wonder how you came to find her'.

The Doctor nodded. 'I will tell her, but she needs to rest'.

He took out his sonic screwdriver and waved it up and down the length of her body. From the scan he could see that she was uninjured aside from a few small cuts and bruises, but what alarmed him was her brain. Her chemical levels were all over the place and as far as he could tell, the vortex inside her should definitely have killed her already.

'I'm so sorry, Rose,' he whispered as he continued to scan her head.

She stirred a little at the sound and her eyes cracked open the tiniest bit. 'Nicholas, what's that noise?' her eyes fell on the screwdriver in his hand and they widened in recognition.

'Nicholas what'—

She attempted to sit up, but he gently pushed her back down. 'Don't get up yet. You've been drugged. You need to rest'.

He was glad when she didn't resist and her eyes closed once more.

'So, what now, Doctor?' asked Mickey.

'I'm going to get this fellow back to his ship,' the Doctor gestured to the alien. 'Then I'll help them find a new home'.

'And then you'll talk to Rose?'

The Doctor turned back to the sleeping woman and nodded. 'Then I'll talk to Rose'.

xxx

So that's the next chapter. Little fun fact: there actually are several 'ghost stations' under London and one of them was used for tactical scheming during WW2.

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! The next one is in progress, so please stick around for it. I'll try to make it worth your while!