"Kevin. Love. I know you have barely any control over the aim of this thing," Rose said soothingly, patting the back of the man in the coat running her precious dimension cannon. "I know we've been mostly lucky this far. But I need, need these next few trips to go in order, yeah?"

Kevin sighed for what was probably the fiftieth time in the last hour alone and rubbed his face. "I told you, Rose, I'll do my best but—"

"I," Rose shouted, cutting him off, and squeezing her eyes shut. "I know," she continued, voice softer. "It's not that easy." She sighed and moved into position. "Alright. No more side trips to visit Martha—though she is lovely—pocket universe ho!"

There was the familiar blinding light followed by the absolutely lovely feeling of an empty void trying to pull the skin from her bones, and then Rose was down an alley in the pocket universe and into the main street. After Rose had reported on the Doctor's death—and managed not to have a tearful and/or violent break down in the middle of the debriefing session, thank you very much—the team had agreed that homing the cannon in on the TARDIS was no longer the best option. Without the Doctor around to pilot the TARDIS to rifts or imploding stars or basically anywhere where she could refuel, the old girl would die, too, and materializing in a dead TARDIS might very well be the thing that would send Rose over the edge. Adding to that that Rose was pretty sure that UNIT or Torchwood would take ownership of the TARDIS once they discovered it, and it was unanimously agreed that Rose would just have to risk appearing out in the open. Luckily, Kevin's geographic aim—though perhaps not his temporal aim—was improving, and Rose had managed to land in an alley this time. She only hoped his aim would stay this good.

"Blimey, are you alright?" A familiar voice called out as Rose slowed to a stop on the main road. Walking towards her, a look of surprise on her face, was the new target they were focusing their jumps on. Rose had managed to find Donna Nobel's timeline, and through an uncomfortable amount of electrodes, yelling, and programming, had managed to lock the cannon onto Donna's timeline and general location. Rose would always land near Donna in this next series of jumps. If all worked out the way it should, and Gods she hoped it did, Rose would be back to landing on the TARDIS in no time. It all depended on Donna.

"What was that, fireworks or-?" Donna continued, referring to the light that had shown out of the alley Rose had run from.

"I don't know, I was just walking along," Rose lied. That thing was still on Donna's back. Good, meant her theory was right. "That's weird."

"You're the one, Christmas eve. I met you in town," Donna realized, her eyes narrowing a bit.

"Donna, isn't it?"

"What was your name?"

"How're you doing," Rose asked quickly, side stepping the question. "You're looking good." Well, actually, she was looking annoyed. And like she had a time meddling beetle on her back. "How're things, what've you been up to?"

"You're doing it again," The other woman growled.

"What?"

"Looking behind me. People keep on doing that, looking at my back."

Rose wasn't too surprised at that. The creature that was causing this disturbance, that had made this whole pocket universe possible, would be getting a lot of energy off a change this big; growing fat, like a mosquito sucking too much blood. It would be hard to hide all the time. "What sort of people?"

"People in the street. Strangers. I just catch them sometimes, staring at me, like they're looking at something." Donna huffed. "Then I get home and look, and there's nothing there!" She exclaimed, glancing over her shoulder as she spoke as if to double check, then throwing her hands in the air as she turned back to Rose. "See? Look, now I'm doing it!"

Rose glanced at her timer. Only a few minutes, time to get this conversation on track. "What are you doing for Christmas?"

Donna blinked. "What am I what?"

"Next Christmas," Rose clarified. "Any plans?"

Donna shook her head, still working to catch up to the sudden shift in topic. "I don't know, that's ages away. Nothing much, I suppose. Why?"

"Just, I think you should get out, you and your family," Rose shrugged innocently, tossing in her most charming smile for extra measure. "Don't stay in London, just leave the city."

"What for?" Ah, there was the ever suspicious Donna. Clever woman, Rose could see why the Doctor liked her so much.

"Nice hotel for Christmas break?" Rose tempted.

"Can't afford it."

"Well, no, you got that raffle ticket." No time to beat around the bush, she was almost out of time!

"How do you know about that?" Donna demanded, bristling.

"First prize, luxury weekend break. Use it, Donna Noble."

"Why won't you tell me your name?" She demanded shrilly, and shouldered past Rose. "I think you should leave me alone."

Rose watched as Donna walked away, satisfied that she had at least implanted the idea in her mind. She managed a brief glance at the timelines (frayed and fragile though they were, in this universe) before she was yanked back to the other universe. Phase one was a success.


"Alright, Kevin?" Rose asked tersely. She only had a few chances with Donna, and they had to happen just so… "Gonna land us in the right time, yeah?"

Kevin didn't even bother to look up before he fired the cannon at Rose and sent her shooting off to Donna's universe. Rose had only just managed to stop and take in her surroundings when Donna rounded the corner, not looking surprised at all to see Rose. "Hello," the ginger woman said solemnly.

Rose took in the other woman's appearance. She looked tired, a bit thinner, and just sort of generally rumpled. The road they were standing on was dark, empty, with bits of paper blowing in the wind. The cars were all spewing a toxic gas that was clouding the atmosphere even as they spoke. "Hi," Rose returned.

Kevin had pulled through for her again.


Rose led Donna to a little park not too far away, using a bit of psychic paper on any soldiers that tried to enforce the curfew on them. They settled themselves on a bench, and turned their gazes towards the grey-brown sky, watching as the smog thickened.

"It's the ATMOS devices," Rose explained, keeping her gaze pinned to the sky, watching. "We're lucky, it's not so bad here. Britain hasn't got that much petrol. But all over Europe, China, South Africa…" she shook her head. "They're getting choked by gas."

"Can't anyone stop it?" Donna's voice was uncharacteristically silent, and Rose turned her head a bit to give her a slight smile.

"Yeah, they're trying right now," she confirmed, turning her gaze back to the sky. "This little band of fighters, on board the Sontaran ship. Any second, now."

Even as Rose finished speaking, there was an explosion in the sky, the fire from which spread out in all directions, burning off the ATMOS gas in a spectacular blaze before clearing away and leaving nothing but the stars and the after image burned into their retinas. Rose sent up a quick prayer for Jack.

"And that was?" Donna asked, sounding a bit more like her usual snappy self.

"That was the Torchwood team," Rose answered. She couldn't quite bring herself to look away from the sky yet. "Gwen cooper, Ianto Jones, they gave their lives." And oh, she hoped she could give them back. "And Captain Jack Harkness was transported to the Sontaran home world. There's no one left."

"You're always wearing the same clothes," Donna's voice was soft again, and Rose looked away from the sky for good this time, focusing on the other woman. "Why won't you tell me your name?"

Rose considered Donna for a moment. The woman had changed so much from the last time Rose had seen her. It had been a little over a year for Donna, and that year had obviously taken its toll on her. But beneath the exhaustion and the fear, Rose could see the same brash, honest woman that she had met the night the Doctor died. And Rose knew Donna could, and would, fix everything.

"None of this was meant to happen." Donna startled, but let Rose continue. "There was this man. This wonderful man, and he stopped it. The Titanic, the adipose, the ATMOS; he stopped them all from happening."

"The Doctor?" Donna asked, and Rose nodded.

"You knew him."

"Did I?" Donna frowned. "When?"

"I think you dream about him sometimes. It's a man in a suit. Tall, thin man. Great hair," Rose all but moaned. "Some really great hair."

"Who are you?" Donna was visibly shaken, and Rose knew she was getting to her. She had only a few more minutes to drive her point home, but she wasn't worried. Donna Noble would save everyone, because that was the person Donna Noble was. She was loud, and rude, but she cared. She cared a lot more than she wanted people to know. And her future broke Rose's heart.

"I was like you. I used to be you. You've travelled with him, Donna. You've travelled with the Doctor in a different world."

"I never met him, and he's dead," she snapped defensively.

"He died under the Thames on Christmas Eve, but you were meant to be there," Rose said, staring Donna down and willing her to hear the truth. "He needed someone to stop him, and that was you. You made him leave" because I couldn't be there. She added mentally. "You saved his life."

As Rose watched, Donna stilled for a moment, her eyes unfocusing. Remembering, at least a bit, Rose was sure. Donna shook her head and stood from the bench, glaring at Rose. "Stop it. I don't know what you're talking about. Leave me alone!" She looked close to tears.

Rose kept her seat and watched Donna sadly. "Something's coming, Donna," she warned, ignoring the other woman's outburst entirely. "Something worse."

"The whole world is stinking. How could anything be worse than this?" Donna spread her arms as if to indicate the planet as a whole.

"Trust me. We need the Doctor more than ever. I've," Rose hesitated, trying to find the right words, "I've been pulled across from a different universe because every single universe is in danger. It's coming, Donna. It's coming from across the stars and nothing can stop it."

"What is?"

"The darkness." Rose shivered.

"Well, what do you keep telling me for?" Donna demanded, lashing out in her fear. "What am I supposed to do? I'm nothing special. I mean, I'm, I'm not. I'm nothing special. I'm a temp. I'm not even that. I'm nothing."

Rose smiled and stood. "Donna Noble, you're the most important woman in the whole of creation."

"Oh don't," Donna sighed, sagging a bit. "Just don't. I'm tired. I'm so tired."

"I need you to come with me."

"Yeah," Donna snorted without humor. "Well, blonde hair might work on the men, but you ain't shifting me, lady."

Rose grinned brightly. "That's more like it!"

"I've got plenty more," Donna said with a wry grin.

"Then you'll come with me, only when you want to," Rose nodded, checking her timer. Right on schedule.

"You'll have a long wait, then."

"Not really," Rose shrugged, checking the time lines quickly just to be sure. "Just three weeks. Tell me, does your grandfather still own that telescope?"

"He never lets go of it," Donna confirmed fondly.

"Three weeks' time," Rose repeated, satisfied. "But you've got to be certain. Because when you come with me, Donna, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she searched Donna's face for a moment, "but you're going to die."

And with that lovely revelation, Rose was swept away by the light of the dimension cannon, and the last thing she saw was Donna's face crumpling with shock and dismay.


"Alright, Kevin, you're a pro at this," Rose encouraged as Kevin studiously ignored her. "You're going to get me to that last, crucial spot, right?"

"Rose Tyler, if I weren't certain you could kill me seven ways to Sunday, I'd tell you to shut up!" Kevin snapped, then threw the lever that would send her away and shut her up.

"Rude," Rose whispered as she regained the use of her vocal chords. She glanced around and saw two figures at the top of a slight hill, a small distance away. Grimly, Rose started towards them. Kevin, rude though he, was, had landed her in the right spot.

She didn't like this next part.

"Oh my God, Donna, Look!" Wilf, Donna's grandfather, was shouting as Rose neared the two. "The stars are going out!"

"I'm ready," Donna said, just loud enough to be heard. She turned to leave, and paused when she saw Rose, but, once again, didn't look surprised. "Let's go."


Rose called for a UNIT car to take them to the site. After her initial jump to this universe, and in between a couple of the trips to talk to Donna, Rose had told UNIT of her plan. She'd have rather worked with Torchwood—UNIT had always been the Doctor's people—but UNIT had confiscated the TARDIS first, so they were who she had to work with. On the bright side, she'd kept them from eviscerating the TARDIS in an attempt to understand how it would work. She'd also lied to them, quite a bit.

A female officer saluted Rose as she and Donna exited the vehicle. "Ma'am."

"I've told you, don't salute," Rose muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

"Well, if you're not going to tell us your name…" the woman trailed off, hinting.

"What, you don't know, either?" Donna asked, glancing between Rose and the officer.

"I've crossed too many realities," Rose explained with a shrug. "Trust me, the wrong word in the wrong place could change an entire casual nexus."

"She talks like that. A lot," The officer confided in Donna while Rose huffed. "And you must be Ms. Noble."

"Donna."

"Captain Erisa Magambo. Thank you for this."

"I don't even know what I'm doing," Donna returned, glancing at Rose for answers.

"Did you do as I asked?" Rose asked the Captain.

Captain Magambo nodded, straightening a bit. "We transported it to Cardiff last week. It came back this morning."

"She," Rose corrected.

"What?" the Captain asked confusion wrinkling her brow.

"Nothing," Rose sighed. "Lead the way."

"What's a Police Box?" Donna asked when the small group stopped in front of the TARDIS.

Rose reached for Red with her mind, and smiled when Red's answering call was much stronger than it had been the last time they'd seen each other. A few days in Cardiff soaking up the radiation had done her good. "They salvaged it from underneath the Thames. Go inside," Rose encouraged, smiling.

"What for?" Donna asked, warily.

"Just go in."

Rose watched with amusement as Donna walked inside the TARDIS, then immediately walked back out, her face pale. She had to bite back a laugh as Donna circled the TARDIS before reentering. Rose followed after, and shut the door before Captain Magambo could follow them in. "We had a deal!" the Captain shouted angrily from outside as Rose locked the door.

"And luckily for me, if all goes to plan, you won't remember that deal," Rose muttered before turning to face Donna, who was gaping at the time rotor and the rest of the console room.

"She's called the TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. TARDIS," Rose smiled, patting the coral affectionately as she moved towards the console.

"This belonged to the Doctor?" Donna asked as Rose began pushing buttons silently.

"He was a Time Lord," Rose answered. "Last of his kind."

"But if he was so special," Donna asked, running her hand along the console and taking in all the buttons and levers and bicycle peddles, "what was he doing with me?"

"He thought you were brilliant," Rose said, pausing for just a moment to smile at Donna.

"Don't be stupid," Donna scoffed, turning to lean against the console and look about the room.

"But you are," Rose argued. "It just took the Doctor to show you that, just by being with him. He did the same with me. To everyone he touches."

Donna was quiet for a moment before she glanced at Rose. "Were you and him…" She trailed off, but raised one eyebrow.

Rose turned back to the console, and finished her set up before turning back to Donna. She glanced at the other woman's shoulder before running a hand over it, over the place where she would catch sight of the creature that had caused all this mess. "Do you want to see it?" Rose asked.

Donna realized what she meant, and shook her head. "No. Go ahead, then."

Rose smiled, and pulled the monitor out so that it faced Donna. On the screen was a view of Donna from behind, revealing the giant beetle like creature that Rose and others had been catching glimpses of for the past year and a half.

Donna whimpered and whirled around violently, trying to crane her neck far enough to see the creature that was invisible without the TARDIS' help.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," Rose said quickly, grabbing Donna's shoulder to still her and keep her gaze away from the monitor for the time being. "Calm down Donna. Donna? Donna!" Rose shook the woman a bit to keep her from hyperventilating and to draw her gaze to Rose's face. "Okay."

"What is it?" Donna demanded, still panicked.

"It's one of the Trickster's Brigade," Rose answered soothingly.

"And what the hell does that mean?" Donna snapped.

"It changes life in tiny ways, just one decision, then feeds off the temporal feedback. For most people, the decisions don't change much, but for you, Donna, the whole of reality warped to fit around you."

"But I never did anything important!" Donna argued.

"Yeah, you did," Rose argued back. "One day that thing made you turn right instead of left."

"When was that?"

"Oh, you wouldn't remember it, it was the most ordinary of days." Rose smiled sadly. "But by turning right, you never met the Doctor, and the whole world changed around you."

"Can you get rid of it?"

"No," Rose answered, wincing a bit. "It seems to be in a state of flux."

"What does that mean?!" Donna was nearing hysterics.

"It means that it's shifting between being in this universe, and being in the original universe. That's why you can only occasionally see it, out of the corner of your eye."

"You liar!" Donna yelled, jerking from Rose's hold. "You told me I was special, but it's not me, it's just this thing! I'm just a host!"

"No, it's more than that!" Rose insisted. "Reality is bending around you."

"Because of this thing!"

"No, the readings from you are different. Reality is bending around you, it always has been." Rose argued, glancing at her timer. "I thought we just needed the Doctor to stop the stars going out, but we need both of you."

"Why?" Donna sniffled; she kept her back firmly to the monitor, refusing to look at the creature on her back any longer. "What can I do? Turn it off, please," she begged.

Rose nodded, and moved to the console to turn the scanner off. The monitor powered down, and she pushed it back into its normal spot on the console.

"It's still there, though," Donna stated, and Rose nodded. "What can I do to get rid of it?"

Rose smiled. "We're going to travel in time." There was a sudden ponding on the door, followed by a mechanical whirring noise. "And that would be UNIT, realizing I never intended to tell them how the TARDIS works, trying to break in," Rose observed before throwing the dematerialization lever. The noises disappeared as the familiar groaning of the time rotor took them to the Vortex.

"Right, so," Rose started, ignoring Donna's baffled look. "The TARDIS has narrowed down the moment of intervention. Monday the twenty fifth, one minute past ten in the morning." Rose started moving around the console as she spoke, inputting various coordinates and double checking that they were correct. "Your car was on Little Sutton Street leading to the Ealing Road, but you turned right heading towards Griffin's Parade. You need to turn left." She paused to stare Donna down. "That's the most important thing. You've got to go back, turn left. Have you got that, Donna? One minute past ten, make yourself turn left, heading for the Chiswick Highroad." Donna nodded in understanding, though she looked a bit pale. Rose grinned. "Excellent. Hear, this will orient itself to the time where we land," she said, handing Donna a wristwatch, and watching as she fastened it to herself. "Perfect. Now, once I push this lever, we'll land, and I'll have to leave you."

"How do you know this is going to work?" Donna asked, running a hand through her hair nervously as Rose stood with her hand on the lever.

Rose winked. "I have my ways. Just remember, when you get to the junction, change the car's direction by one minute past ten."

"How do I do that?"

"That's up to you," Rose answered, and pushed the lever.

"Well, I just have to run up to myself and have a good argument," Donna quipped to cover her nerves.

Rose grinned. "I'd like to see that!"

The grinding noise of the TARDIS materializing quieted down, and Rose motioned towards the doors. "Good luck."

Donna sucked in a deep breath and ran outside.

Rose sighed, and sagged against the console. She shut her eyes and took to monitoring the timelines. She should have just enough time to get out there and talk to Donna one last time before she was pulled back to her universe. This was the longest trip they'd managed yet, and Rose hoped to all the Gods that that meant the next one would be permanent. It would have to be; with Donna back in the correct universe and everything back on track, everything would come to a head. The Doctor would need to know about the stars going out, and he would have to try and stop it. And if it was going to work, Rose had to be there to help him. And then she had to stay, because Bo told her she wouldn't be done after that.

Rose groaned and rubbed her head. Stupid, cryptic, floating heads…

Rose watched as Donna's timeline doubled back on itself, indicating that she was at the junction where her younger self was driving the car; that was Rose's cue. With a quick mental goodbye to Red, Rose hurried out the doors, and ran towards Little Sutton Street. She got there as cars screeched to a halt and people started to yell in panic. She shouldered her way through the growing crowd until she got to Donna's body lying prone in the street. She knelt over Donna, and was relieved when the woman's glassy eyes focused on her. "Tell him this," Rose instructed softly. "Two words." She leaned down to Donna's ear, and whispered "Bad Wolf."


This is the quickest I've updated in a very long time, which is very, very, sad. Still, this is an update with actual meat to it, at least! This is the end of Rose Tyler's Many Jumps Through the Void and now we move on to the next chunk of this story. Excited? I am! I've had this little reunion planned out for a while, now.

Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed.

Until next time!