Hey, I am back and posting for fun! I have these stories already written and just never shared. But please engage in comments as that is the funnest part! Enjoy!

Gabrielle

The Trip Back to Earth

"What will life be like up there on Earth for us? I mean, will I even recognize it anymore?" Rose asked the Doctor as she watched Zach check to make sure everything was working out fine with the shuttle and prepare for liftoff.

"It isn't that drastically different from what I know of this time period, well except for the knowledge of aliens and space travel now," The Doctor responded, clearly not paying attention to her as he studied something on the database with his sonic. "Anyway, I'm sure you will adjust just fine Rose, don't worry about that yet, I won't let you mess up too badly now, that would just be embarrassing."

Danny, who had gone down to make sure the Ood, who they were unable to take with them, would stay there until they could come get a rescue ship for them came running into the room, yelling that something had happened, something terrible that had terrified him.

"What could that have been now?" Toby asked, his voice sounding odd as he kneeled on the ground to look at a bit of the untranslatable language, his face turned away from them as well.

Rose, knowing that something was wrong with Toby as he wouldn't normally act that way, went over to him, bending down and touching his shoulder as she did so. However, the same moment Rose touched him Toby slowly turned towards her, his skin covered itself in the strange markings and his eyes bright red, full of evil and anger that shook her to her core.

"Rose…back away please, right this instant," The Doctor murmured, trying to keep his voice calm as he watched the presumably possessed Toby lunge towards Rose, hissing as he did so.

However, Toby stayed a few inches away from her, letting out an evil cackle in the same voice she had heard on her phone. "The lost girl, so very far from home, never to return again. Your doom will come, don't forget that the storm is coming, as you will surely die."

Before Rose had time to do anything else, Danny started to scream, pointing to the doors that were being pounded on, proclaiming that the Ood were possessed as well, and already killing two of the soldiers and intent on killing everyone else.

"Just wait now, you shall all die very soon!" Toby laughed, smiling as a loud shaking came upon them, snapping the elevator cord as the shaft fell down into the darkness and it became obvious what had just occurred, they would have to leave now if they wanted to survive.

Toby ran over and stood at the edge of the now empty elevator shaft, putting his head up and staring right into Rose's eyes, giving her a terrifying wink before letting himself fall over the edge into the abyss.

"No!" Rose screeched out, unable to let someone die in such a way, even if they were possessed by some evil force and tried to kill her multiple times, they still deserved a chance to live.

Rose rushed forwards, noticing how Toby's hands, pale skin once more, were gripping onto the edge, no longer angry, but scared and confused instead. Looking down, Rose watched, shocked at what she saw in front of her. Toby was completely normal again, looking up at her in fear, whispering for her to help him because he was scared and couldn't pull himself up. He said there was something down there, something that wanted him.

"I've got you now, come on," Rose exclaimed as she reached out and grab onto his hand, trying to pull him up with all her might.

"Rose, get away from him right now!" she heard the Doctor call out, ignoring his words and moving closer to the edge, trying to get a better grip on Toby.

Just as Rose was sure she would save him, as she had pulled him up half the way, she began to wonder why no one was helping her anymore. Turning around, Rose noticed how everyone else was against the door, trying to keep it closed from the Ood's attack, but obviously not doing that great of a job at it as she knew they only had a few seconds left. While she was turned around, Rose failed to see that Toby's eyes were once again red, smirking evilly until it was too late.

"Come with me valiant child!" Toby cried out, practically hissing at Rose as he latched tightly onto her arms, attempting to pull her over the edge with him as well.

Rose tried her best to pull away, but her attempts were futile, as Toby possessed some strange superhuman strength, as she was already moments away from falling to her death. Closing her eyes, Rose wished she could say goodbye before she died and let herself fall, and almost screamed in surprise when she felt familiar arms grip onto her, yanking her back hard enough so that she fell away from the edge. At the same time, Toby let go, laughing as he fell, until all she could see was blackness, no sign of Toby at all.

"Don't ever do that to me again Rose," The Doctor muttered into her ear, relieved that he had pulled Rose back just in time.

"I'm not planning too, so don't count on it," Rose whispered back, still slightly shaking at what had almost occurred to her and was upset when the Doctor ran away from her once more to help them, feeling like she needed him to hold her now more than ever.

Before Rose had much time to think about that, she began to hear a loud banging noise and saw that the Ood had made their way through the door and were descending towards them.

"Come on, we've got to get onto this shuttle right now!" Jefferson yelled, pulling his gun out to shoot the attacking Ood, but the Ood was too quick for him, it pulled out its sphere and zapped Jefferson, and the man fell to the ground dead.

"No! We can't just leave him like that! No! I can't let someone else die too!" Rose cried out, about to run towards where Jefferson was, unable to believe she had just witnessed two tragic deaths that she believed were her fault, when she felt the Doctor wrap his arms around her middle, preventing her from moving as he held her back, his grip stronger than she expected.

Ida and Zach, already in the ship, called out that they had to leave this instant as Danny turned away from his Ood and ran towards them, immediately buckling himself in, still shaking in terror over what had just occurred.

However, Rose was not going to give up without a fight and struggled in the Doctor's arms, unable to let herself leave if there was anyone that she could potentially save. The Doctor, knowing Rose was going to keep fighting, just lifted her up, ignoring her protests as he carried her back to the shuttle, slamming the door shut behind them the moment he got her inside.

The sudden silence hit him first, as Rose had suddenly stopped screaming, but was instead hanging pretty much limp in his arms, her face empty of emotions as she gazed at the closed door with tears rolling down her face, hardly believing that they were actually going to leave with no way back ever.

"Come on Rose," The Doctor whispered, practically carrying Rose to the seat next to him and quickly strapping her in, motioning to Zach that they could lift off now.

In a matter of minutes, the rocket launched off of the impossible planet towards Earth at incredible speeds, the five inhabitants hardly believing that they were alive and hoping they could make it out of the reach of the black hole alive. Thankfully, the shuttle, after about fifteen minutes, was safe in space, quietly heading back home, safe and sound as a rocket can be.

"Doctor…" Rose muttered, barely loud enough for him to hear once they were out of harm's way, finally opening up her eyes and uncurling from the ball she had forced herself into.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked, leaning down so that he could say it quietly into her ear, even though his attempts were futile because it was obvious that everyone else could hear what she was saying and weren't even trying to pretend that they weren't.

"I don't want to work in a shop again," Rose murmured, leaning over and pressing her face against his shoulder, relieved when she felt his arms wrap around her as much as possible in the small seats and comfortingly rub circles onto her back. Breathing out a sigh when she heard the Doctor let out a small chuckle of air, Rose gripped onto him tighter, relieved that he was there with her. Because if she had to be trapped anywhere at all, she was glad she was with him.

The Doctor didn't know what to think about Rose's statement, so just leaned down and kissed her forehead, glancing up to see Ida staring at him with pity, knowing that he and Rose didn't really belong here. Rose was surprised when the Doctor comforted her by kissing her forehead, as even though this incarnation was more prone to hugging and holding hands than his leather jacket days, he still did have his barriers about how they acted around each other, and she knew he only did that when he was upset as well.

"Don't worry Rose, I'll take care of everything, you won't have to work at a shop ever again, I cross my hearts," The Doctor quietly explained, glad when he felt some of the tension leave Rose's body at his words.

"We'll figure it out later, yeah?" Rose whispered, yawning despite how many emotions she had running through her now. She hadn't really slept since they had arrived on Krop Tor, so she knew she was overly tired, but she didn't really want to sleep on the rocket at all.

"Yeah, you can sleep now Rose, I'll wake you if I need to," The Doctor said, surprised when Rose actually listened to him for once, moving over as far as her seatbelt would allow until she was practically on his lap, resting her head against his chest listening to his double heartbeat as she grabbed one of his hands and tightly gripped onto it, falling sound asleep in moments. Smiling at how peaceful she looked right now, the Doctor wrapped his available arm around her, pulling her closer to him so they were touching as much as possible whilst remaining strapped into their seats.

Once had watched Rose sleep in peace for quite a while, the Doctor lifted his head to look at his fellow inhabitants of the rocket, noticing the position each of them were in. Feeling heat in his cheeks, the Doctor realized what an intimate position he and Rose were in when he saw Danny glance over, jealousy evident in his gaze before he returned to read the small book he had in his hands. The Doctor attempted to shift a bit, but that only made it worse as Rose only pushed herself up against him more unconsciously, so he gave up moving and let himself relax against Rose.

"So…how long will it take to get back to Earth?" the Doctor asked, feeling pathetic that he was oblivious to much more than he was used to.

"Five hours or so, we are moving rather fast," Zach responded, turning back around once more to steer the ship, still mourning the loss of the members of his team and wanting to get off of this rocket as soon as possible.

Knowing Ida was the only person he was likely to talk to during the hours ahead, he glanced at her for a second before opening his mouth. "So Ida, what are you going to be up to when you get back home?"

"Oh you know, same old life…I never really expected to go back," Ida explained, gazing sadly out of the windows to look at the black sky, knowing she would probably never explore it again.

"Well don't you have a family to go back to?" the Doctor asked, trying to keep the conversation cheerful as that is what he really needed at the moment.

"No, my husband and I got divorced right before I came here…but at least I have my job to look forward to," Ida responded as she fully turned around in her seat, now immersed in her conversation with the strange man that had suddenly appeared on their sanctuary base.

Cocking his head to the side, the Doctor suddenly realized that he would have to get a job and knew he should make the most of every opportunity. "What kind of work do you do?"

"Space exploration of course, but I also study alien technology at the department at a University," Ida said, thinking back to her life long ago when she actually went to work every single day without fail, something she would have to start up again soon.

"I don't suppose…you know if I could find a job somewhere?" the Doctor asked, swallowing his pride as he asked a human for help, hardly even believing he was in this situation in the first place, but now he knew he had a lot to do. First off, he would have to get a job to make money, then he would have to do what Rose had joked about, get a mortgage and settle down like normal people, and he was far from normal.

"I'm sure we can find a position for you somewhere, you sure do know a lot and would be a good addition to the team," Ida said, her tone sweet now that she noticed how uncomfortable the Doctor was feeling. "And don't worry, you will make more than enough to support Rose as well."

The Doctor nodded, a forced smile filling his face as he suddenly became very conscious of Rose's weight against him, feeling the pressure of being literally the only person Rose had right now and the responsibility that held for him.

…

"Rose, you need to get up now," The Doctor whispered, lightly poking Rose as her eyes quickly fluttered open in confusion.

"What? I didn't feel the TARDIS land! Wait, why are you in my room?" Rose mumbled in her half-awake stupor, suddenly remembering everything that had happened and the fact that she would never be on the TARDIS again. At that realization, Rose sat straight up, groaning as she moved her stiff body and realizing something else as well. "Doctor, I don't think we can do this."

"Huh? What's wrong?" the Doctor asked, not hearing what she said last, as she clumsily unbuckled her seatbelt, watching as Danny wordlessly got out of the shuttle, clearly surprised that he was still alive after everything that had almost happened.

"Nothing," Rose responded, deciding that she shouldn't worry him with how she wasn't feeling good, as she got up out of the seat and followed Danny out the door. Surprisingly, she had not had any nightmares while she was asleep, but she knew they would start eventually, they always did.

Surprised by her surroundings, Rose took a deep breath in as she observed the strange sights in front of her. She felt like she was in a silly film about the future as she looked at all of the space crafts around them and the technical efficiency in which everyone was acting.

"Rose, Doctor, welcome to Earth," Zach called out as he climbed out of the captain's seat, turning to look at the newly emerged Rose.

"Wow…" Rose whispered, unable to comprehend how she would get used to living there as the Doctor got out and stood beside her, the weight of losing the TARDIS fully hitting him as he realized this is all there was left for him for the rest of his life.

So it begins. What will happen next?