A/N: Thanks for being so patient waiting for this chapter! I had an amazing time on holiday in Budapest XD Hopefully I'm not too out of practice having left this story for a week, so sorry if its not up to scratch again :D Once again thanks for all the great reviews, and please keep reading!

Chapter 7

Race Against Time

Rose sat tensely on the edge of the sofa, staring intently at the space in her living room where not so long ago the Doctor- or at least a hologram of the Doctor- had stood and assured her that he was coming to get her. Her mind was racing, trying to imagine what would happen next- was she going to hear from him again before he arrived? Or would he just turn up on her doorstep, smiling like nothing had ever happened? Would he even make it? Rose shook the thought from her head. Of Course he was going to make it, he was the Doctor, and he had promised her.

Rose flinched as a cup of tea was placed in front of her, bringing her swiftly back down to reality. She looked up into the concerned eyes of her mother.

"Thanks," she mumbled, placing her hands around the mug, letting the comforting heat soak into her palms. Jackie slowly sat down beside her.

"So… he said he was coming for you?" She asked quietly, and Rose nodded. "Will I ever see you again?" Rose looked up at her in surprise, and saw the fear of losing her only daughter in Jackie's eyes.

"But… I know it sounds impossible, but I'm not your daughter." Rose replied, struggling to explain it without breaking Jackie's heart.

"Whatever," Jackie shook her head dismissively, "So where is my daughter? What have you done with her?" She demanded accusingly.

"Nothing!" Rose retorted, insulted. "Wait a minute… that is a good question though. This world must have had a Rose too, cause you thought I was your daughter…" Rose sat back and thought. There had been no sign of another Rose, but there must have been one. 'The Croulahrrs must have needed her out of the way', Rose deducted. She could just imagine her mothers reaction if two Rose's had walked casually through the front door.

"Rose please don't go," Jackie said suddenly, her eyes sorrowful and brimming with tears, "don't leave me on my own!" Rose felt her heart break as her mother looked at her pleadingly. She thought back to the time when she'd first met the Doctor and he'd accidentally brought her back a whole year later instead of 12 hours, and Jackie had been distraught at her unexplainable disappearance. How could she explain that she wasn't really her daughter? But then how could she just leave her like this? But most importantly how could she stay? No. She couldn't stay. She knew that. So what was she going to do?

As if on cue, the Doctor's image fizzled into view. Rose stood up instantly, smiling broadly at him until she looked closer. He seemed flustered and pale, and bore an expression of fear and weariness.

"Doctor? What's happened?" she asked nervously. She was taken aback as he suddenly beamed at her, and couldn't help smiling herself once more.

"Like I said before, I'm coming to get you!" He grinned.

"But how? What did you do? Did you go back to the Croulahrrs? Are you alright?" she said without waiting for answers, her mind racing with questions.

"Woa woa woaaa! I'll explain everything later, I haven't got much time. Long story short the rift is healing itself, and I'm on my way to you right now," he smiled at her proudly.

"Wait a second, what about my mum?"

"Can't wait to see you either." He said sarcastically, mocking her ungratefulness. He looked over at Jackie who was cowering by the sofa. "What do you mean? What about her?"

"If I leave she'll be all alone," Rose tried to explain. The Doctor looked at her incredulously, as if to say 'you can't possibly be considering staying'.

"This world must have had a Rose Tyler before you were put here. Once the rift has healed everything should theoretically be restored to how it was before the rift was opened, including the people. Everyone should be returned to where they were before this mess started. My guesses are that this worlds Rose was the first to be 'taken', so that there wasn't two Roses wandering about." Rose opened her mouth, about to protest about the fact that it was only theoretical when the room suddenly lurched. Rose stumbled and grabbed onto her mum to prevent her from falling.

"What the hell was that?" Jackie yelled. They clung onto each other as the floor moved again, and the sound of brickwork shattering rumbled around the room.

"Oh my god…" Rose muttered in disbelief, "there must be one of those cracks…"

"Rose, what's going on?" The Doctor asked urgently. That moment Diane burst into the room, gasping for breath.

"Rose! You have to get out of here now!" She yelled between gulps of air.

"What is it? What's going on?" The Doctor panicked, now looking at Diane for answers. She looked at him in surprise, not having noticed him in her hurry.

"There's a crack, opening right into the side of the building. I think the whole thing could collapse!" Her point was proven as the room tilted again, throwing them all to the floor.

"Rose, you have to get out now!" The Doctor ordered her, terrified for her safety. Rose clambered unsteadily to her feet as the floor moved against her, and Diane rushed to help her up. Once she was safely balanced Rose turned around, ready to help her mum, but the room was empty.

"Mum?" She spun around frantically searching the room, but Jackie was no where in sight. "Oh my god, she's gone…" Rose felt her stomach drop as she realised the rift had taken her.

"Rose, she's not your mother, and she'll be returned back here with her real daughter once the rift is healed." The Doctor looked at her reassuringly. "But you have to get out of this building now! I'll meet you outside the park okay? It should be out of the way of any dangerous buildings out there." Rose nodded, holding back the tears in her eyes. He smiled one last time at her before fading away once more.

The building creaked perilously, and Rose and Diane shot each other anxious looks before dashing out of the flat. They flew along the balcony and down the stairs, stumbling as the whole structure shook beneath their feet. Rose jumped back as a large piece of brickwork fell in front of her, just missing crushing her. She froze on the spot, shaking at the thought of how close that had been- how easily her life could have been ended and in such a unexciting way. After all the planets she'd been to, all the aliens she'd faced, 'death by falling bricks' didn't quite seem a fitting death. Diane hastily brought her to her senses, and they continued dodging falling rubble and navigating the twisted staircase.

When they were finally clear of the building they both fell to the floor exhausted. They looked back at the block of flats that had once been Rose's home- at least in this world- as it tilted precariously at an angle. Rubble still fell from the damaged area- a huge chunk of the brickwork in the side had just collapsed where the crack had obviously appeared and sealed again. Taking with it Jackie. Rose felt her heart ache as she thought of her mother, claimed by the rift a long with so many other innocent people. Seeing she was upset, Diane put a supportive arm around her shoulders.

"I know it's hard to see your own mum disappear in front of you, and to have your home collapse nearly taking you with it- of course it would be for anyone. But it's like the Doctor said, this isn't really your home, she wasn't your mother, and everything will be restored to normal once the rift has healed." Rose nodded, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I know, I know. Even in my own world that's not really my home anymore." She said putting on a brave face and turning her back on the crumbling building before her. Diane smiled at her.

"He'll be here soon, then you'll truly be home."

xoxoxoxoxo

The Doctor watched as Rose's terrified face faded away, leaving him alone with the TARDIS once again. He prayed she would get out of the building in time, that she wouldn't get hurt. He dashed around the TARDIS console, altering controls and preparing to fly through the rift as he neared the massive tear in space. One thing was for sure- it was going to be a bumpy ride.

He could feel the TARDIS resisting as they grew closer, as if she was reluctant to fly through it, knowing how dangerous it was. But the Doctor pushed her on, throwing switches and pressing buttons frantically.

"Here we go," He muttered to himself, grasping the console tightly. The ship lurched as they entered the rift, throwing the Doctor forcefully to the floor despite his efforts to cling on. He desperately tried to regain his grip as the TARDIS was thrown about, the lights flickering and wires and pieces of machinery falling down, narrowly missing him. He reached out for the controls, determined to guide the TARDIS safely through the healing rift.

He had to succeed, to reach Rose- he just had to. He pushed the thought that he would have to fly back through the rift once he'd got her out of his mind- it would only be more difficult once it was smaller and close to sealing up completely. He cringed as he thought of Rose having been taken through the rift by the Croulahrrs, alone and terrified of what was going on. But this was no time to let his emotions gain control. The chances were she probably hadn't been conscious, seeing as she didn't appear to remember anything of actually being taken there. She had after all assumed that she was at her real home. Even she had been conscious he knew she would have been brave- she was Rose after all.

He pushed all these thoughts from his mind and focused on flying the TARDIS. He would see Rose again soon.

xoxoxoxoxo

Rose walked about nervously, unable to sit still. Her ears were ready to pick up the slightest sound of the TARDIS materialising, her eyes just waiting to see the Doctor turn that corner and come running over to embrace her.

"Rose calm down!" Diane said finally, after becoming dizzy watching her pace back and forth.

"How can I?" Rose yelled at her. Diane looked taken aback, and Rose sat down next to her, realising what she'd done. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you. It's just…" She looked around, searching for the right words, "the world around me is collapsing, my mum just disappeared into a huge hole in space and I might never see him again. I just have a bad feeling about all this." She looked at Diane sorrowfully.

"Hardly surprising," Diane replied, "I think you're being incredibly brave about it all. Most people would just scream their heads off before fainting." Rose smiled at this, "You're a strong person Rose, certainly the bravest human I've ever met."

"Thanks," Rose grinned at her. "It's only cause of the Doctor though. I wouldn't be anything without him." Diane shook her head.

"You must have had it in you all along- being with the Doctor just gave you the chance to let yourself become who you truly are." she said wisely.

"Even so, I'm nothing compared to him. If we'd never met I'd still be wasting my life away working in a shop doing nothing and helping no one, and he'd be out there completely alone saving planets." She sighed, looking around the park- there was still no sign of him or the TARDIS. "I can't let him be alone anymore," she said, tears brimming in her eyes, "He has to make it, he just has to. I don't want to be alone either."

"Nobody wants to be alone Rose." Diane said understandingly. She looked out across the deserted streets- the remains of peoples houses littered the pavement, their homes reduced to rubble. It truly was a heartbreaking sight. It reminded her too much of her last view of Saith- buildings that had once stood tall and glorious in flames, houses nothing but ash, her people injured and terrified, fleeing through the streets as Daleks soared overhead. She shuddered at the thought. She could understand what Rose was going through, although she knew she was more concerned about never seeing the Doctor again than this world that wasn't really her home.

"Thank you." Rose said suddenly, bringing Diane out of her thoughts. "For being there for me, and helping me through all this. I couldn't have done any of it without you." Diane smiled at her. "You know, you could come with us." Rose suggested, "It's up to the Doctor I suppose, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Diane looked at her, shocked at the opportunity that she was being presented with.

"I'm honoured… I truly am," she shook her head, speechless, "But I can't." she looked at Rose apologetically. "I belong here now. I finally found my purpose, and that is to help the humans in this world. I don't think I would be strong enough to live the life that you do anyway." Rose nodded at her acceptingly.

"Well then I'm going to miss you," She said, reaching out to hug her in farewell. They both abruptly stopped short as the ground shook, and looked at each other alarmed.

"Look out!" Rose yelled, pointing frantically behind Diane. She flew around in time to see a crack open right behind her, slicing into the ground. Diane leapt out of the way, grabbing onto the wall surrounding the park for support. She held on for dear life as the ground shook beneath her feet, not daring to look behind her until she felt steady on her feet again.

She slowly turned around, releasing her painfully tight grip on the wall, her hands red and sore. She felt her stomach drop as she looked around. The pavement where the crack had appeared had crumbled into small pieces and the park looked as if a tornado had torn recklessly through it. But the devastation it had caused to the scenery wasn't what made Diane's heart cry out.

Rose was no where in sight.

Diane scoured the park fearfully, trying not to suspect the worst. She must be hiding somewhere, or run off to get out of the way of the crack. Any minute now she'd turn up and ask what on Earth Diane looked so frightened about.

But no. She was gone. Tears welled up in Diane's eyes as the full impact of what had happened struck her.

The rift had claimed Rose.

xoxoxoxoxo

The Doctor heaved himself up from the floor once again, angrily throwing a lever on the console. It was taking him too long to get through this rift- he didn't have time for this. His body ached in protest at having been thrown around so much, and the TARDIS whirred away wearily.

"Not much further now," He said out loud, in an attempt to reassure both the TARDIS and himself. He fidgeted with the controls one last time before the TARDIS at long last stopped, landing with a hefty thud. He couldn't stop a broad grin spreading across his face as he bounced energetically to his feet- pains forgotten. Outside that door Rose was waiting for him- he had made it! Just like he had promised her!

He imagined her face when she saw him, beaming at him with one of those smiles that managed to banish all the loneliness he'd ever felt. All he wanted was to wrap her up in a huge hug, apologise for what he'd put her through and take her away to somewhere truly fantastic. He began to plan where he would take her next as he strode towards the door, and out into the street.

He was shocked by the scene that greeted him- the place was deserted, everything in ruins. He felt his heart plummet as he scanned his surroundings. There was Diane, up ahead- just where he'd said he'd meet them- but she looked terrible. He could just make out her tearstained face as she turned towards him, having become aware of him standing behind her. He could see so much emotion in her eyes- fear, grief and an apology.

His heart began to race as questions and fears ran through his mind, threatening to overwhelm him. His eyes frantically darted all around him, but found nothing.

Rose was no where in sight.

A/N: Just one more chapter! I apologise for the lack of an interesting explanation behind where the other worlds Rose was, I just couldn't think of anything clever that wouldn't interfere with the storyline I already had planned. So sorry if anyone's dissappointed in that. But please keep reading and review:D