Chapter 1

When Alex Smith, also known as the Doctor, and Rose had announced that they were going to the continent on vacation, Jackie was excited that they were finally going to spend real quality time together, not just a quiet evening at home. Ever since he had confessed to being an addict to antipsychotics and had, with help, freed himself from the addiction, the half-Gallifreyan's general attitude with life had improved drastically. He'd embraced his new identity at last, accepting that he could be both the Doctor and Dr. Alex Smith with both the Doctor's and Donna's memories. He'd gone out with his friends more often and it looked as if his and Rose's relationship was finally working. The arguing was practically gone and, when they did argue, they never went to bed angry with each other. As such, Jackie was absolutely sure that the trip was going to result in something wonderful between them, possibly even an engagement.

However, when Rose didn't check in with her as she said she would, Jackie started to get concerned. She of course voiced her concerns to her husband Pete, who naturally assured her that their daughter had probably just gotten wrapped up in enjoying her vacation. When there was still no word from them after a couple more day's time, however, concern quickly turned to worry for both of the Tylers. Pete called the hotel where they were staying to find that they had never checked out and that their luggage was still in their room. Yet, in spite of this, there was no sign of the couple. Some calls to their respective banks showed that the last time they had made any purchases on their credit cards was the evening before Rose was supposed to have made her promised call.

With the knowledge that both Alex and Rose tended towards finding trouble, Pete knew that something had to be done to find them and ensure their safety. He therefore sent a small team to their last known location, Vienna, to investigate their disappearance.

The moment they arrived in the city, the team immediately went to work with questioning the staff at the hotel, determining where and when Alex and Rose were last seen and by whom. A search of their luggage proved that neither had intended to remain away from their hotel room as all their clothes and sundries were still there. Jake noted however the absence of the engagement ring he knew Alex had brought with him. The missing ring brought on a hotel-wide search for the object in the hopes that finding it would bring some answers. However, after looking through several days worth of trash and searching any and every room Alex and Rose could have been, nothing had been found.

The team finally got a result when they found the taxi driver who had picked up the couple at the hotel the day of their disappearance. He relayed to them how he'd taken them to the pier, both of them in obvious good spirits. Jake had the driver take him and his small three man team to the exact spot where he had left the missing couple. Once there, the process of searching and questioning started again. Questioning employees of museums and vendors near the pier led them to a specific stretch.

As the team walked along the pier, they kept their eyes open for anything remotely indicating Alex and Rose had been there.

"This is a dead end, sir," Anders, who had fought with Jake at the Battle of Canary Wharf, finally told him after they'd searched the pier twice. "If they came this way, they left no clues as to where they are now."

"Then we look again. There's something we're missing. I feel it in my gut," Jake stated firmly. Looking around once again, he mentally kicked himself for how long it took him to notice a charcoal colored large circle, almost six feet in diameter, in the middle of the walkway. "Does that look like an energy burn pattern to you?" he questioned. Crouching down to take a better look at it, he noted, "It's definitely an energy burn pattern. Scorched the cement."

"Extraterrestrial particle weapon?" Anders suggested, following his boss's actions.

The Northern man considered his lieutenant's words, his eyes taking in his surroundings. They stopped on a CCTV camera attached to a nearby light pole. "Maybe that can tell us what made this," he finally responded.

"I'll get right on it." Anders stood and immediately got on his cell phone, requesting access to the requested CCTV footage. Jake also stood and gave the rest of the team instructions to lock down the area and to bring in additional support if necessary. He then went with Anders to retrieve the footage which, according to the seasoned agent, was being sent to Jake's laptop via a secure server.

The video showed Alex and Rose walking along the pier after the sun had set, obviously enjoying each other's company. They stood together at the far end of the camera's view for a short while before Alex reached into his pocket. He'd been pulling out a small object when he stopped, clearly staring at something that was over Rose's head. She turned in the same direction. A moment later, Alex grabbed her hand and ran towards the camera, a large bright diamond-shaped object coming rapidly behind them. The luminescent object was at least eight feet tall and was incredibly fast for its size. The closer it got to the camera, the more difficult it was to see what was happening as its brightness started to overwhelm the camera's lens. Even so, Jake and Tom could still see Alex and Rose looking to judge how far behind them the object was. When it was clear that they couldn't outrun it, Alex abruptly stopped and pulled Rose into a hug. The bright object enveloped them, blinding the camera. When at last the lens adjusted, the object had disappeared as did Alex and Rose, leaving nothing but a scorched mark in their place.

"Oh, my gawd," Anders stated, stunned. "They're dead."

Jake turned to him, angered by the reaction. "You don't know that," he said emphatically. "We don't know what that thing was. The only thing we know is that it caused them to disappear. And until we get more evidence, that's what we're sticking with. I'm not going to the Director and Mrs. Tyler with news that their daughter and her boyfriend are dead unless I'm absolutely sure about it. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," came the somber reply.

Jake waited to see if Anders was going to argue with him before rewinding the video. "Let's watch it again. Maybe they gave us a clue as to what happened. I wish we had an audio of this."

They watched the footage a couple more times, slowing it down where they thought necessary only to find they had been mistaken. The third time they played it, Jake paused it at a certain point. "He dropped something," he told his officer. "Right there." He pointed to the image of the half-Gallifreyan's free hand. Slowing down the playback, the two determined where the object went.

Returning to the pier, Jake was pleased to find that his men had successfully isolated the area and had called for a team of analysts to work on the charred pathway. Telling them to remain at their posts, he followed the path the object from Alex's hand had taken. Finding the end to be a bench, he went onto his hands and knees and carefully eyed the underside. It took him a bit of time to find the small box camouflaged by the wrought iron of the bench. Pulling it out, his hope for a clue deflated as he opened it.

Anders, seeing his boss's expression, grew concerned. "What is it?"

"The ring he was going to give Rose," the Northerner replied. "He lost it." Closing the box, he tucked it into his trouser pocket. "Looks like the only thing we've got is that mark and the CCTV." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm going to report to the Director on our progress so far. You're in charge here. The minute that analysis team gets here, you let me know."

"Yes, sir."

The search for Alex and Rose continued for weeks but, no matter how hard they tried to find them, the trail ended on the Viennese pier with no further clues as to what exactly happened to them. Analysts examined the scorch mark on the cement, taking a plethora of samples back to London with them for thorough scrutiny. Unfortunately, they found traces of both human and alien DNA which, after further investigation, proved to belong to Rose and Alex. While it wasn't conclusive, it was enough for most of Torchwood to believe that the two were dead.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Somewhere, somewhen

When Alex opened his eyes, they were met with the sight of an odd reddish color. His back, head, and legs were pressed against something hard and ridged, making him extremely uncomfortable. It was only when the fog in his mind had cleared that he realized he was lying on dirt, rocks and coarse grass and that the red was a dark and cloudy sky, as if it were nearing dusk while warning of a coming storm.

Sitting up carefully, he grimaced at the dizziness that overcame him as he looked at his surroundings. The only things around him were dull greenish brown grass and an assortment of as yet unidentified plants. The picture it made brought a confusing conclusion as it reminded him of winter in a particular part of the United Kingdom, or rather the Republic of Great Britain as it was called in this universe.

"Wales? What am I doing in Wales? And in the middle of nowhere?" A second later, he remembered the time scoop coming after them and their frenzied attempt to escape it. That along with how heavy he felt forced him to revise his conclusion. "This isn't Wales," he murmured to himself. Even as he did so, another thought flitted through his mind. He'd been holding a couple of very precious things in his hands when he was running. "Rose," he realized, looking around frantically for the woman. Seeing her lying a few feet from him, he scrambled over to her and made sure that she was well. He was reassured by the sight of her chest moving up and down, indicating that she was breathing, as well as by her steady pulse. A second later, he remembered the other precious item he'd had in hand and searched his person. Finding the engagement ring missing, he deflated. "Damn," he murmured to himself. The idyllic proposal he had been planning would have to wait for another day, it seemed.

Hearing Rose moan slightly, he turned his attention to her once again, helping her to sit up. "Easy," he cautioned her, remembering the wave of dizziness he'd felt.

"Where are we?" she questioned, rubbing her head to ward off an ache there. Looking around, she frowned. "Wales?"

"No, not Wales, though you might think so based on what it looks like," he told her, supporting her as she clambered to her feet. "I don't think we're even on Earth, to tell you the truth."

"What makes you say that?"

"Gravity's all wrong."

"So that's why I feel like I've gained twenty pounds. Alien world?"

"Yeah."

"Time scoop brought us here?"

"Very likely."

"I'd better call Mum and tell her what's going on. She'll be sick with worry, you know." The Doctor had "jiggery-pokeried" both of their phones to allow universal roaming before they even left on the trip to prevent them from encountering dead zones. Rose pulled out her mobile, certain that she would have no trouble contacting her mother. Seeing that it was off, she attempted to turn it on. "It's dead. But that doesn't make sense. We charged them before we left for the museums, didn't we?"

Alex reached into his pockets as well and took out his own phone. "Mine too. Either the time scoop neutralized all electrical power…" He immediately tested that theory by pulling out his sonic screwdriver, which wasn't nearly as elegant as the one he had when he was fully Time Lord, and turning it on. He received a bright blue light and a hum from the device. "Okay, didn't neutralize electricity," he commented as he put the tool away. "Which means that we've been unconscious for at least three days."

"Three days?"

"The average time for our phones to lose power if you haven't been using them and they haven't been shut off or recharged. That and the fact that I can feel the remnants of a powerful sedative in my blood tell me we've been unconscious for at least three days."

"That isn't good," she stated, her tone indicating that she knew it was an obvious remark. "Knew we should have gone with better phones." Gaining a smile from Alex due to her remarks, she continued, "Any way you can sonic some power into them?"

"If I had my old one, absolutely. But this one doesn't work that way," he stated, indicating the sonic screwdriver he'd made which now resided in his pocket. "I could transfer power from the sonic screwdriver to the phone but if I do that we won't have a sonic. Until I know what we're up against, I'd rather not do that."

"Good idea. Any thought to what alien world we're on?"

Alex shook his head. "I haven't enough facts to make a theory as to our location. The only thing I do know is the gravity is a little stronger and the air is a little thinner than Earth's, which means that you'll probably have some difficulty if you overexert yourself, given you're fully Human. I also know, based on the clouds above us, that we've got one hell of a nasty storm coming our way so we should try to find some sort of shelter."

"Right," she said firmly and then examined their terrain more closely. "I'm not seeing anything in the immediate area. But it looks like there are some hills over there." She indicated the direction with her head. "We might be able to find water that way as well."

"Another good idea," he agreed. "We're probably going to be here for a while. Might as well adapt as best we can until we can find a way home."

The two headed out towards the hills, pacing themselves as they walked since it was clear that their journey would take several hours and they wanted to be sure neither of them tired themselves out, especially Rose.

The sky rumbled a threat of rain, prompting the two travelers to look more urgently for shelter. As they were walking, Rose noticed an outcropping in the ground, reminding the Doctor very much of similar underground caves on Earth. The two hurried towards the natural structure as the rain started to pour down. By the time they reached the cave, the dark cloudy red sky became more maroon, indicating night was coming upon them. To give them some light as they entered the shelter, Alex pulled out his sonic and turned it on. A moment later, they both yelped at what they saw before quickly regaining their composures.

"Poor devils," Alex finally murmured as they gazed on two bony figures to the side of the entrance. One of the figure's head lay in the lap of the other, whose skeletal hands cupped the chin of the former. Ragged clothing hung on both of them.

"Did you just scream?" Rose questioned, a frown on her features as she realized how they both reacted.

He looked uncomfortable and more than a little embarrassed. "Maybe," he admitted. Gaining a look of surprise, he shrugged slightly. "I don't react well to… scary things. It's a… Donna trait."

She gave a small grin at his words. "You scream like a girl."

"Well, look who I got it from," he countered as he slowly moved to the skeletons.

Rose followed. "How come you don't scream at scary movies then?"

"They're Hollywood. They aren't real. As for this situation, I can't help it if I gained some of Donna's personality traits during the metacrisis."

"That's your excuse for everything," she countered in a manner that indicated they'd had similar discussions before. Turning her attention to the skeletons, her expression turned sad. "I wonder how long they've been here."

"A couple of decades, I would guess." He crouched down so that he could see them better, using the sonic to illuminate their features. "A male and a female. I'm not sure of the species. Not Human at any rate. Can't tell what they died from with this lighting." He glanced around at their new abode. "Let's look around. See if we can find a torch of some kind. Maybe find something to help us figure out what planet we're on." Standing, he turned his sonic on the rest of the cave.

The small device didn't give off a lot of light but it was enough to see that the cave was larger than they originally thought. There were indications that it had been used as a home for the two deceased people. In the middle of the cave's floor a pit had been dug and was filled with pieces of rotting wood and ash.

"Fire pit," Alex concluded. He turned the sonic towards the roof of the cave to see smoke stains there, verifying his supposition. "Feels like there's plenty of airflow through here so they could easily have kept a fire going inside without the risk of smoke inhalation. Probably needed one burning fairly constantly at night, based on the temperature. It's getting a bit nippy. We should build a fire and stay here for the night, especially since it's still raining and we likely won't find a better place tonight."

"Stay in here? With those… dead people?" she questioned with a frown.

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't think they're going to reanimate," he teased. Looking around again, his eyes brightened at another sight. "Now that… that is brilliant!" Going over to the object that caught his eye, he picked it up and examined it further. "They adapted their camping lantern to burn fuels rather than run on battery. Absolutely brilliant." He put his finger into the solid fuel at the base of the lantern and then rubbed it between his finger and thumb, smelling it briefly. "I'm smelling plant oils, sap, and animal fat. Probably used some sort of combustible minerals as well, I'm guessing from the texture. Very clever." He lit the lantern with his sonic, filling the abode with light before putting the screwdriver into his jacket pocket. "There. That's better. Now we can work without using the sonic's power."

The two looked at their surroundings with interest, now that the cave was completely visible. Everything around them seemed completely anachronistic, as if a future Earth had collided with the Middle Ages. There were roughly made shelves on the wall, supported by tent spikes. On the shelves were two cups, two plates, some eating and cooking utensils, a couple of pots, and a few small containers, some which had probably held prepackaged food at one time. Under the shelves was a large stockpile of tree branches.

Alex picked up one of the containers and sniffed it. "Some sort of metal. Very light-weight and very strong. From the feel of it, I'd guess that it's designed to retain heat or cold depending on what you put in it. Brilliant, actually. The only species I know who has technology like this are the Lertians." He glanced at the skeletons, a ponderous expression on his face. "Their skeletal structure isn't Lertian though. Plus these containers are much older than those skeletons. I'd say a good fifty years older, based on the wear on them. I wonder where they got these." He would have continued except he was interrupted by Rose giving a stunted scream. He turned quickly, concern in his eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah… I just… found something," she told him as she backed away from a heavily worn yet familiar object. "I think either they liked to abuse their pets or they went hunting before they died."

Alex frowned before looking at what had caused her reaction. "A backpack," he commented, noting how decayed the pack had become over time thanks to the decomposing bodies inside it. Looking around, he noticed a second pack lying near an area that had obviously been used for food preparation. The pack was in better condition than the ones with the dead animals in them. Picking it up, he glanced inside to find dried vegetation. "This will do," he commented, shaking the contents out.

"What are you doing?" Rose questioned, surprised by his actions.

"We need the backpack to carry these supplies," Alex told her, gaining a shocked expression. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he made some adjustments to it before using the instrument to sanitize the bag. He then went to the shelves and starting to fill the backpack with the implements there, sanitizing each piece as he went.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, staring at him with obvious disbelief. "We can't just… disturb everything here and steal their things! They were people, for God's sake!"

"They're dead, Rose," he reminded gently. "They can't use them anymore. These items look like they're still in good condition despite their age. A good cleaning and they'll be very usable. And before you object, think about our situation. We're on a planet far from home with no noticeable means of returning and no supplies of any kind other than what came with us, which is only what we have in our pockets. We might need these things if we are to eventually get off this rock, or at least get to some sort of civilization, alive. Without them, we wouldn't be able to store whatever food we manage to find and those hills are several days away. Besides, our friends over there obviously thought the same as they somehow procured these after they arrived."

Rose stared at him for a long moment, understanding his reasoning but frightened by it. It was as if the minute he realized their situation, his whole personality had changed into one of a stranger and she wasn't sure that she liked the person in front of her. "Is this how you were during the War?" she finally questioned. "Cold and unfeeling?"

He stopped at her words, his expression turning sad and a little distant as his mind went to that time in his previous life. "Not cold, Rose. Practical. I do feel for them. But they've been dead for over twenty years, from what I can see, and we're still alive. We have to take every advantage that we can if we are to survive. If there is one single thing the Time War taught me, it's that in order to survive you have to be practical." He sniffed and resumed his packing, pushing away the memories before they could overwhelm him.

Seeing the pained expression that had crossed his face, she went over to him and placed her hand on his as he put yet another item in the sack. "I'm sorry," she murmured wholeheartedly. "You're right. We need to do what we have to do." Giving him a gentle smile, she turned to the fire pit.

Alex gave her an appreciative half-smile as he watched her locate what he supposed was the couple's dustbin. While she cleaned out the fire pit and made a fire for them, using a branch she lit off of the camping lantern, he finished his task of cleaning and packing all the supplies that could fit in the newly acquired pack.

Having finished making the fire, Rose put out the lantern to conserve fuel. Since Alex was still busy with his task, she turned to look on the skeletons with sorrow in her eyes. "I wonder what happened to them."

"He died from an animal attack. She committed suicide in her grief," Alex told her, placing the backpack under the shelves.

She turned to him, questioning on her face. "How do you know?"

"The evidence is there." Noting that the querulous expression hadn't left Rose's features, he gently brought her close to the skeletons, pointing out each observation as he relayed it to her. "These indentations in his shoulder blades were made by some creature with a very large jaw; you can tell from how large the indentations are and the spacing between them. That kind of bite would cause severe damage to any species and would require medical treatment. However there's no first aid in here and there's no sign that anyone has been in this cave since they died. If someone had been in here, it's likely they would have taken everything. Therefore it's reasonable to assume that they never had a first aid kit in the first place. There's a bowl beside them which suggests that she tried to treat his wounds by cleaning them with water but, since she didn't have the proper equipment, he died in her arms. There are marks on her ribs only a knife could cause and a knife on the ground beside her. The scraping on the bone shows that the knife had been turned deliberately which emphasizes the knife as being the cause of her death." He glanced over at his companion, watching her take in all he was showing her. "As for her death being a suicide… well, her position tells the rest of the story. She's sitting up against the wall and holding his head. A lover's last embrace."

"You're a regular Sherlock Holmes," she murmured, her eyes showing sadness for the deceased couple.

"I'm sorry. I've upset you. I shouldn't have told you."

"No, it's okay," she assured. "I wanted to know. It does make me think, though." She looked into his eyes. "What if we never get home? What if… we become like them?"

"That's not going to happen. We're going to find a way home," he told her confidently.

"But what if we don't? What if we have to settle on this planet for the rest of our lives?"

"Then at least we'll have each other, just as they did."

"They died," she argued.

He gently took her shoulders. "Rose, people die. You know that. And just because they died under such tragic circumstances doesn't mean that we will. Besides, we have an advantage."

"The sonic?"

"Well, that too. But I was referring to us. Dr. Alexander Wilfred Smith and his beautiful girlfriend Rose Marion Tyler, Defenders of the Earth. Together… we're unstoppable."

She grinned at his words. "Yeah, we are." Glancing again at the skeletons, she took a determined breath. "We should bury them."

"I'll collapse the entrance of the cave after we leave in the morning. Their story lies in how they are now and I think to disturb that would be a disservice to them."

Rose knew that Alex being part Donna made him a bit more romantic than the Doctor. He'd shown his romantic side several times to her in the last year. He didn't show that side of him often but, when he did, it touched her strongly. Going over to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing him gently. "Let's try to get some sleep. We have another long day of searching for a way home tomorrow."

"Agreed. But one more thing first. It's still raining outside and we'll need water." He went to the pack and took out the bottles there – four in total - before setting them outside to catch whatever rain they could, assuring Rose that the rain water would be safe to drink. Then taking off his long coat, he laid it out close enough to the fire to gain from the warmth. Lying on the coat, he encouraged Rose to do the same. He wrapped his arms around her to help her keep warm before allowing himself to drift to sleep, his mind still aware of their surroundings in case they needed to awaken for any reason.