Important A/N! Please read!

A/N: what can I say, Doomsday destroyed me. I haven't cried that much in a very long time. But did anyone notice… cause I am sooooooo beyond freaked out…. Chapter 3 of this story- Rose speaking to a hologram of the Doctor, unable to physically touch him, them being separated by being in parallel Earths? Sound familiar? I don't know whether to be proud of having written virtually the same thing as the last scene of Doomsday or highly irritated that it steals my storyline and makes it look like I've copied. But readers who have been following this story before watching Doomsday know that I submitted this chapter before it was shown. Just to clarify XD And I'm not in on any secrets or anything, like I should be so lucky.

I felt it important that if you're reading this story that you read this A/N cause of the similarities in my storyline to Doomsday. Just so that everyone knows, I had decided on exactly what was going to happen in my story from start to finish before I had seen either Army of Ghosts or Doomsday. In fact it was quite some time ago I came up with this idea. I only wrote this story really cause I wanted to write that scene with the hologram in it XD

Anyway enough nattering from me. Once again, thanks so much for all the reviews and please keep reading!

Chapter 5

Strange Disappearances

Rose sat back on the cold park bench, a hot bag of chips nestled in her lap. She watched the world go past- young children hurrying home from school, old women out walking their dogs, the pigeons scurrying about her feet hoping for a scrap of food. They all seemed so carefree, unaware of how precious their time was as they went about their daily routines. Unaware of how at any one moment the thing they most loved could be snatched away from them. Rose almost wished she were one of them again, back to the days when she was always safe and was never fighting for her life.

But then she thought better of it. She'd been fighting for what she believed in, living her life the way the Doctor had shown her- seeing everything there is to see, never giving in no matter what life threw at you, always moving on. Making a difference.

A tear came to her eye as she thought about him carrying on that life without her. She knew deep down he would never give up on her, but what if it really was impossible for him to reach her? She'd rather he carried on travelling the universe than wasted the rest of his life trying to rescue her, knowing it was impossible. Besides there were races and planets that needed his help more than she did. The solitary tear escaped her eye, leaving a silvery trail down her cheek.

She'd do anything, anything to have him here with her now. She wiped the tear away roughly, angry at herself for giving up on him so easily. He always found a way. He always returned to her.

She looked at her watch. She had arranged to meet Diane here ten minutes ago, just to take her mind off the Doctor and to get to know her a bit. Odd as it sounded she felt better being around her because she wasn't of this world. It made her feel strangely at home. She was still so grateful to her for helping her as well- if it weren't for her she'd still be wondering whether the Doctor was even real.

"Rose!" she looked up to see Diane hurrying towards her, looking rather flustered. "Sorry I'm late!" Diane smiled and took a seat beside her. "This woman wouldn't stop talking about her father who'd died years ago, ended up having a nervous breakdown on me!" She shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly, you humans do get very emotional."

"Nothing wrong with that!" Rose smiled proudly, offering her a chip.

"So how've you been today? Feeling any better?" she asked between mouthfuls of food. Rose just looked down at her feet solemnly. That was a no then. Diane sighed. "You know he'll find you don't you? He promised you."

"I know, it's just…I just thought maybe we could have a chat, to get my mind off it." Rose looked at her pleadingly.

"Sure," Diane smiled. "What do you want to talk about?" Rose shrugged.

"Well… how come you never told me you weren't human?" Diane could tell she'd been itching to ask her about all this.

"I dunno, I didn't want to freak you out I guess."

"After travelling with the Doctor?" Rose laughed.

"Well it's not exactly an easy conversation to bring up is it? 'Oh! By the way, I'm not human. Just thought you might like to know!" They both fell about laughing, dropping chips everywhere.

"So, Diane Woods. Is that your real name?" Rose asked wiping a tear from her eye.

"No, my Jayrian name is Inda."

"It's a good job you look so human then, no one would ever tell the difference." Diane smiled at her suspiciously. "What?" Rose asked confused.

"It's an illusion, how you see me. I don't really look that human at all." Rose gaped at her in awe. "I can manipulate peoples minds so that they just see me as an average human."

"That's… so weird…" Rose was secretly comparing her to the slitheen, and thinking of how human they looked until they took their 'disguises' off. She shook the thought from her mind, Diane wasn't like those monsters at all. "So tell me more about your people then, the Jayrians."

"There's not that much to tell. We're telepaths, that's why I made such a good psychiatrist!"

"They weren't exaggerating when they said you could read minds then! How come you ended up on Earth?" Diane's face dropped.

"There was a war." she said simply, looking at the ground.

"The Time War," Rose added, thinking of the rare occasions the Doctor mentioned it.

"Yes. Few of us survived, so I came here looking for peace. There wouldn't be any of us left if it weren't for the Time Lords."

"I'm so sorry," Rose apologised, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"It's not so bad," Diane smiled bravely, "I like being around humans, you're all so intriguing! People come to me with the strangest problems and I help them to repair their lives. I finally feel like I have a purpose, like I'm actually helping someone." Rose nodded. She knew that feeling well. "But anyway, tell me about you, and your life with the Time Lord. It must be incredible, the privilege!" Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

"Privilege?" Rose had never thought of herself as privileged to be perfectly honest. They'd just saved the Earth together for the first time, she'd proven she could do something right and he'd casually invited her to come along.

"Rose, Time Lords used to protect the entire universe! It's not the same place without them. To think there's still one out there, just the one… it's like there's still some tiny spark of hope left in the universe." She smiled in awe, her eyes distant.

"He is incredible… I've never really thought about it that way though. I do sometimes wonder where he gets the strength to just smile and carry on, he must have seen so many people he loves die…" She drifted off, imagining him out there right now, completely alone, perhaps frightened that he'd now lost Rose as well. She couldn't bear the thought of him not having anyone to fall back on, not having anyone to hold his hand and tell him that everything would be alright for a change. Tears began to fill her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks once more.

"Oh Rose…" Diane put an arm around her. "I'm so sorry. He promised he would find you, have faith in that!"

"I do I just…" Her voice trembled, "I don't want him to be alone anymore." And then the tears came flowing freely down her face, her emotions too strong to be contained.

A short while later, once Rose had calmed down, they got up and headed out of the park. They'd barely passed the exit when a woman came rushing over to them, looking flustered and frightened.

"Have you seen my little boy?" She asked frantically, not giving them time to answer, "He's only 6, short ginger hair, he never wanders off! He's such a good boy!" She was on the verge of tears. Rose was just about to offer her some support when the woman ran off again, headed for the park.

"That was a bit odd," Diane said in shock.

"Dunno, kids do wander off a lot…" Rose shrugged.

They made their way home in silence, both thinking over what had just happened. Rose would have liked to have helped, to return to what she and the Doctor did best- solving mysteries and helping people. He would be proud of her. But she didn't feel she had the determination in her at the moment. She felt so empty and worthless, terrified of how long she would be without the Doctor, if not forever. Maybe it was selfish to wallow in her own self pity, but she couldn't care less right now.

xoxoxoxoxo

Back at her flat, Rose sat slumped in the sofa, staring at the hologram device that had not so long ago shown him to her. She longed to contact him, to see his face and hear his voice again, but she didn't want to disturb him just to say 'hi'. So she waited for him to call her. And she waited. And she waited…

"Rose? Rose wake up love!"

"What?" Rose sat up groggily.

"You fell asleep staring at that thing again." Jackie shook her head disapprovingly. "You could at least put the telly on or something," she said picking up the remote and turning on the television. It showed the news, the main headlines were just being announced.

"There have been even more reports of people going missing, the numbers now rising to above 25 people."

"Oh yeh, you heard about that Rose? People just disappearing out of thin air all over the place. Strange don't you think?" Jackie gossiped, but Rose ignored her, intent on listening to the news reporter.

"There hasn't been any leads whatsoever as to any of their whereabouts, we have no explanations at all. People are advised to take great care, and remain indoors if possible."

"That woman in the park…" Rose mumbled, "she said she'd lost her son…" Something was wrong about this. Something that sent a chill down her spine. What it was that was wrong she had no idea. 'The Doctor would know, he'd be able to help these people.' She thought glumly.

xoxoxoxoxo

As time passed more and more people continued to disappear, and there still wasn't the slightest clue as to what had happened to them. One particularly chilly morning Rose was headed home from having gone to visit Diane, to check she was still okay. The streets were deserted- the only living creatures in sight were pigeons scavenging for crumbs. Everyone was scared stiff of being 'taken'. Even her mum had tried in vain to stop Rose leaving the flat. 'God knows why everyone thinks they're any safer in their houses anyway,' Rose thought to herself.

She was just considering how she was starting to sound like the Doctor, mocking the way people found a false sense of comfort in their homes when she saw something she couldn't quite explain. Just up the road, there was what would appear to be a hole in the air. Puzzled, she approached it, a sense of curiosity to the unknown burning within her- yet another influence from the Doctor.

As she neared it she could see that it really was a crack in the air- she could see a sliver of deep black space beyond it, dusted with sparkling stars and distant galaxies. She became transfixed by it- how she yearned to travel among the stars again… She reached out a hand for it subconsciously, before stopping herself. How was this possible? A section of space just floating before her very eyes. And more importantly what was it doing here? Her mind instantly linked it to the disappearances.

She jumped back as the crack began to shift and narrow, healing itself. Within seconds it was gone without a trace, leaving her standing there in shock. That moment a man came out of the house opposite, eyes darting everywhere.

"Janet? Janet where are you?" He yelled, his voice shaking with fear. "They've taken her, they've taken my Janet!" He ran back into the house, disappearing from view. Rose took a deep breath.

"That cannot have been a coincidence," Rose said calmly to herself. That 'crack in space' had appeared and disappeared before her very eyes, apparently taking someone with it. She was surprised no one had reported it sooner, but then who would believe it? She began to hurry home, fear trickling its way through her body.

She flinched as something caught the corner of her eye, and spun around to investigate. Her stomach dropped as she saw another crack opening, but this time it was slicing straight through the walls of the house opposite her. The brickwork crumbled at its contact, and people came running frantically out of the doors, screaming at the sight.

Then Rose had had enough. She turned and ran, fast as she could straight back to the flat without looking back. She didn't stop until she'd slammed the door shut behind her, and collapsed onto the sofa gasping hungrily for air.

"Rose! What on Earth has happened now!" Jackie yelled at her.

"I've seen what's taking them," She mumbled, not bothering to explain, "I've got to contact the Doctor." She'd had enough of handling the situation by herself- she needed his help. She needed to see his face again.

xoxoxoxoxo

The Doctor sat back in the TARDIS chair, thoroughly exhausted. He hated to admit it, but he'd run out of ideas. He'd tried everything, everything! But he couldn't give up, he just couldn't. He couldn't bear the thought of never seeing her again, leaving her somewhere that wasn't even her true home because he was incapable of rescuing her. It was his fault. They'd wanted him and she was his only weakness, the only advantage they had over him. He felt a burning rage rise up inside of him. He just couldn't get his head around the idea that anyone could be that heartless and ignorant.

So here he was again. Alone. Someone else he had failed.

As if on cue, Rose's image flickered into sight by the console. She always was there for him when he most needed her, even when she couldn't physically be there. He walked over to stand by her image, a new energy flowing through him.

"Rose!" He smiled broadly, his affection for her overwhelming.

"Doctor," She smiled in reply, and for a short while they just stood in front of each other, taking in the sight of one another. Then her smile suddenly faded as she remembered why she had contacted him in the first place. The Doctor noticed her sudden expression of fear, a look of concern spreading across his own face.

"What is it, what's happened?" He demanded.

"I'm not sure what it is, something strange is happening." Rose explained, feeling useless about how little she actually knew. "People are going missing, loads of them. They haven't got a clue what's taking them, there's no links at all." The Doctor stared at her, panic in his eyes. "But I saw something…" Rose shook her head as she couldn't find the words.

"What?" The Doctor prompted. He couldn't help feeling proud of her, noticing something out of place where everyone else would just dismiss it.

"I don't know… it was just like a hole in the air… like a crack and I could see space through it." She attempted to describe it, "Right after I'd seen it someone went missing, and then it disappeared again." The Doctor now bore an expression of deep thought- he was obviously thinking through the possibilities. "And it's not just people, I saw one damaging a house. It's on the news as well, there are all sorts of buildings that have collapsed or been damaged without any clue of how it happened."

The Doctor leaned back against the console, arms folded as he sifted through his various experiences. Rose stood and watched him silently, wishing there was more she could do to explain it. After a few minutes the Doctors eyes suddenly widened in a sense of realisation.

"No… they couldn't have…" He muttered.

"What? What is it Doctor?" Rose asked, frightened of what he might say. He stood up and looked at her seriously.

"I couldn't work it out; how the Croulahrrs had managed to travel between parallel worlds…" He mumbled, "I think this is connected. I think they opened a rift in time and space to do it." He shook his head in disbelief. "And by the sounds of it they didn't close it- the IDIOTS!" He suddenly yelled, storming around the TARDIS. "They have no idea what they've done, no idea!" He ranted. "They're causing that world to fall apart, and it won't stop there! It'll carry on collapsing, all of time and space will just distort and break down unless it's repaired," He stopped to think. Rose just stared at him in fear. He suddenly looked up at her, causing her to flinch. "I have to go back to them. It's what they wanted anyway. Who would I be to let them down?"

"But… you can't, what if they-" Rose began to protest, but the Doctor cut her off.

"I have to. It might be my only chance of getting you back," He looked at her mournfully. "And besides, it has to be stopped. It could destroy all of time and space just because some blundering idiots can't control their own power and greed." He smiled at her reassuringly.

This was her Doctor at his best- about to set off on a dangerous adventure to save the world and he was smiling about it. She thought back to Diane's words of how privileged she was to know him, that she'd been on some of those adventures with him. She smiled at him sorrowfully- how she longed to be there by his side.

"I'm coming to get you." He said simply.

A/N: Sorry that chapter took me a while to upload, I've been kinda busy recently, and I'm getting ready to go on holiday to Hungary for a week, but I'll try and get the next chapter up before I leave :D Please keep reading and review!