A/N: Hello again! This is indeed another chapter, your eyes aren't deceiving you! It is definitely a lot shorter than others, but only because I thought of it recently and it's mainly a filler explaining what happens between the apartment and the church. School starts in a couple days again for me but I don't plan on another long hiatus any time soon! Thanks for your views and comments!

Father's Day

Part Four

"Doctor? Doctor will you just slow down for a moment?" Crap, why couldn't my head just clear up for one second? Like a permanent feeling of low blood sugar about to crash big time that got worse every second. Nope, not going to let that get in my way. The Doctor needed me.

Pausing for a moment, I forcefully shook my head to try and clear it before picking up the pace again.

Only to find the Doctor having come dead to a stop at the end of the corner. Hands had come out of his pockets, clenched into such tight fists, the knuckles had turned white. He shook with the effort of staying put, like he wanted to punch the wall, yet something held him back.

Well I'd take any chance I could get.

Except when I got to him, I couldn't think of anything to say for a long time. He wouldn't look at me. Instinct guided my hand to grasp his, hoping to ease those fists before he hurt something.

"So?" The Doctor huffed after a while when I didn't say anything.

"Uh…so what?" Not the most intelligent answer I could have come up with under the circumstances.

"You always say something so go ahead and say it." The crack between us had closed a little bit, but not enough to make me worry about him sealing himself away. Not quite yet. "Well?" His head snapped up and pinned me in place with those dark eyes that reached me deep inside.

Finally, I swallowed and let my smallest of smiles through, trying to be as gentle as I dared. "There's nothing I can say that you're not already screaming at yourself for. You're not even mad at Rose, not completely." At his confounded scowl, I shrugged and gripped his hand tighter. "You're just upset that she tried to do what you want to do; save her family, even if it's just one person, not a whole planet."

Another psychic punch to the gut made me glad I held onto him. I averted my gaze so he wouldn't notice. Though I still couldn't get my patchy blush under control. "I can't be mad at either of you."

Ever so slightly, the Doctor's hand loosened and he showed no signs of wanting to shake it off. "I don't know why I even listened to her in the first place," he muttered. "After Satellite Five I knew she'd end up doing something this…human again and yet I went along with her anyway."

"Because she's your friend." I didn't dare move from my spot or that dizziness would send me sprawling. "Friends screw up, sometimes royally like I did and what Rose has done and they drive each other crazy. I've seen you two when you're having fun. Yeah, she'll piss you off or you'll drive her up the wall, but you're too good of friends to let that change anything."

"Then why aren't you…."

"Not bashing your skulls together and telling you two to get over it?" I brought my attention back to him and found a reluctant smirk tug at his lips. The space between us opened again, warmer and less intense emotions drifting through. "Because I'm stuck in the middle since I agree with both of you. I'd want to save my family if I could but I also know that changing personal history is a very bad idea. And…" I tucked a crazy strand of hair back behind my ear though I could feel my face burning to a crisp (it probably was just as red).

The third gut-kick hit my senses with so much force, I couldn't possibly hide it. My hands pressed against my head though they couldn't possibly help. I wavered, breath hissing out of me in something like a gasp and a whimper.

The Doctor caught me in a lightning quick movement, the pressure of his hands on my shoulders keeping me from being lost inside my own head. After a few moments, I managed to stand on my own but he still didn't let go. "Are you all right? What's wrong? Tell me exactly what happened?" That rapid-fire tone didn't frighten me at all. It only showed his concern more than his expression ever would.

"I…" I shook my head, finding it so hard to focus on anything. "Something…something's wrong. I…I can't…."

A strong non-voice resounded inside my head. One I'd become more than familiar with over the last weeks. She didn't give me any words, but the urgency of her message had me gripping the Doctor's jacket with iron fists. My heart leaped to my throat with the panic that she sent to me.

"Doctor, I don't care how and I don't know why, but you need to make my barriers a Time Lord Fort Knox."

Confusion flared across his face, though he didn't immediately dismiss what I'd said. "What are you…."

"Now, Doctor!" I met his eyes and let him feel the full strength of the growing panic that threatened to drown me.

He didn't even hesitate once I showed him my fear. Gripped my head in his hands and forced his mind around my own as kindly as he could. I held my mind's instinctual reaction to the intrusion in check, trusting him to all but blind myself to everyone's emotions.

Intense concern pulled on his face when he drew away. "Now, tell me why the hell I just…. Where are you going?"

I took off as soon as my head was free. A realization occurring as he sealed my mind away. Instinct and a mix of dread that I was right but hoping I just overreacted gave my feet wings.

The TARDIS stood proudly at the end of a street, yet looking diminished from what she was.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Somehow I grabbed the key and fumbled it into the lock, already knowing, but terrified of what I'd find. "Dammit!" I swore, the door giving way too easily only to reveal the inside of an ordinary police box. It felt wrong so I backed away, pressing my hands into my skull as if that would make everything just slow down.

"Jessica, what the…." The Doctor choked on his words, catching himself on the plain doorway with a dumbstruck and horrified gaping expression. "That's…she can't…."

"I'm sorry. She tried to warn me. Practically screamed at me to have you seal me off like this." Breathe, I had to breathe. All I managed turned out to be a panicked gasp as my voice reached a pitch it didn't usually achieve. "I knew something was wrong! I'm sorry, I should've told you, I just didn't think it would happen this fast. Shoot, I don't even know what's going on in the first place! How…how can the TARDIS be gone?"

Any trace of his earlier hurt and anger had vanished completely. The Doctor slowly backed away, unable to speak for a bit. I could only imagine his shock. The TARDIS, a part of his home and psychic friend—for lack of a better word—had simply ceased to exist.

After a time, he swallowed, gripped my hand. "Rose. We need to warn Rose!" He spun around and nearly yanked my arm out of its socket before I kicked my feet into motion.

Whatever had gone wrong, Rose had something to do with it. I raced hand in hand with the Doctor, panic eating at my heels, knowing we'd gotten into very, very deep trouble this time.