A/N – this story is getting quite a positive reception already and I'm super excited! I've got the next couple of chapters written up, but the actual re-writes will probably take me longer to whip up, since they'll be considerably longer! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it so far, though!

Thank you guys so much for your reviews so far! Your comments really inspire me to keep writing, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Without further ado though, let's get into it!

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Rose Marion Tyler was having a very bad day.

After managing to sleep through her alarm, she'd burnt her tongue on her morning brew as she'd rushed out of her apartment to try to get to work with only five minutes to spare. When she'd made it to Torchwood, (ten minutes late, mind you) she'd been bombarded with paperwork from various sectors of the company, words from her co-workers going in one ear and out of the other for the most part.

When she'd finally sat at her desk, dumping the pile of papers she'd accumulated in her short walk from the front door of the building to her office, she could feel a burning headache beginning to form. Pressing her fingers to her temples, she sucked in a deep breath, rubbing her fingertips in slow circles to try to ease the pain.

Pulling open one of her desk drawers, Rose was quick to pull out a small box of paracetamol, popping three of them out the strip and tossed them into her mouth, swallowing them down with her now much cooler tea. Now she'd be able to fully concentrate on work, letting herself be lost in the mountain of paperwork at her disposal. It was the same old song and dance, but she couldn't say she minded too much. It was a very welcome distraction.

Pulling a small pile of papers towards her, Rose let her eyes roam the words, picking up her pen as she scanned the proposal, trying to focus on what she was reading as best she could. Unfortunately, she found herself unable to fully concentrate, and she let out a slow breath through her nose, knowing this was because of how she'd fallen apart the night before. Whenever she thought too much of John, she definitely didn't work too well.

Dragging her hand down her face, Rose leaned back in her chair, linking her fingers together lightly. Her gaze focused on the window opposite her desk and at a zeppelin in the distance, a small, faint smile brimming at the corner of her lips. She'd ridden one of them once with John by her side. It was a Tyler hosted event, and John had been pretty excited about the whole thing. It wasn't his first time in a zeppelin, of course, he'd informed her cheerfully, but it was his first time in this body.

New new experiences always seemed to get him quite exuberant, and Rose could never fault him for that. She loved his almost childish eagerness, and it had made every single day with him an adventure. The world just seemed so grey in comparison lately, and Rose guessed that was where much of her problem rested.

It was difficult for her to find joy in much of anything, and it hurt, knowing there was an emptiness within her that could never be filled. She could move on one day, maybe get married again and have children, but nothing would fill the void inside of her heart and mind, and that was hard to come to terms with, even after a full year without him.

"Zoning out again, Cap?"

The sound of her second-in-command's voice drew Rose out of her musing, and she turned to look at him from where he stood in the doorway, blinking owlishly at him. Geez, she hadn't even heard him walk in…

"You know me, Dean," Rose offered after a moment of consideration, shooting the man a fond, if not somewhat tired smile. His grin softened, recognising the look on her face, and Rose bit back a curse. Her team had walked on eggshells around her for months after John's death, and when she'd looked in the mirror, all she had ever seen was a woman broken. She couldn't let her team think she was sinking back into that old, familiar rut. "What d'you need?"

"There's somethin' you need to check out," Dean admitted, dragging his fingers lightly through his hair as he watched her, smiling wryly. "Seems like we've got some new friends beaming down to Earth and causing a fuss."

The news, though it meant nothing good in the short term, prompted a more genuine smile to appear on Rose's lips, and she stood, paperwork all but forgotten for the time being. This was what she'd need to get John out of her mind – a healthy dose of running and some adrenaline thrumming through her veins.

"Right then, you can tell me all about it while we go and suit up."

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Rubbing the back of her hand across her mouth to wipe away some of the blood that had trickled from the corner of her lips, Rose wondered how everything had gone so wrong so quickly. After they'd been called out onto the field, it seemed like it could be a simple enough mission. Rose had recognised the type of alien they'd been dealing with, one she'd encountered in another life with The Doctor, and a race John had spoken of once before.

They weren't supposed to be violent, not from what Rose knew of them, but just as many things in this world were different, she'd come to find out that many aliens here were just as strange to her as they'd been when she'd seen their parallel counterparts for the first time. It wasn't always that way, but this was one of those times, and Rose cursed her stupidity.

If she'd been more focused, she would have seen the signs that pointed to something not being quite right. These Terrapod's were armed, which was incredibly unusual, but despite that, Rose had approached to seek counsel with the leader of the aliens. She'd been granted her wish, but had yet to turn on her translator when she heard his voice as plain as day.

"Brave or Stupid this Wolf must be to challenge us so confidently." The leader announced, wizened old eyes observing Rose with a condescending sneer on his lips that regularly would have infuriated her, but today, she'd simply stared, stunned into surprise both at his words and the fact that she could understand him without using her translator. Unfortunately, she hadn't had much time to muse on the cause, as the Terrapod leader had declared war on humanity, seeking to revert the Earth back to its original form, a lush green paradise for the Terrapod race to conquer and expand.

"It doesn't make sense," Rose muttered, peering around the corner as the aliens advanced, squinting at their advanced technology in disbelief. Terrapod's lived on the land, choosing to use it to their advantage. They didn't like or approve of weaponry, and if their aim was to turn the world back to its original state then they still clearly valued natural life.

"They're aliens, Rose, they don't always need to." Jake pointed out from his position beside her, and she shot him a sideways glance, pursing her lips. Though Mickey had long since left this universe, Jake still stuck around Torchwood, and they'd become good friends over time. There were few people in Torchwood she trusted whole-heartedly, and Jake was one of them.

"No, but can't you feel it? Where did they get those weapons from? There's gotta be something here that we're missin', I'm telling you." Rose insisted, before she gestured for their team to move out. He lifted his brows slightly in response, but nodded, accepting that she might have a point.

"Can't think too much on it now, we just gotta knock out this lot while everyone else gets evacuated," He pointed out, and Rose simply grimaced in response before she ran out of her hiding spot, lifting her gun with trained ease as she fired, taking down two of the Terrapod's with incredible precision. Two years later, and holding a gun in her hands was still an incredibly foreign feeling, but one she'd needed to adjust to.

She was a strong believer in solving problems without using violence, something drummed into her from her travels with The Doctor, but being left behind meant she didn't often have a choice. She needed to defend herself and her family, and though she never used weapons which could enforce lethal injuries (often choosing to stun unless there was truly no other options) they always felt so wrong in her hands.

John had hated that she'd carried a gun on missions, but Rose had always made appoint to not use it when she was with him. John could always find another way around a situation, but with him gone, everything just seemed so much harder. She wasn't him, she wasn't The Doctor. She tried her best to do as he would do, but even she needed to accept when she had no other choice.

Muttering quietly under her breath, Rose wondered why her thoughts had roamed to John and The Doctor once more – she couldn't afford to think of them, not right now.

"Rose!"

The sound of a familiar excited voice soon caught her attention, and Rose turned with wide eyes towards the sound, lowering her gun on instinct. Tony was sprinting towards her, sonic screwdriver in hand and a determined glint in his eyes. Jackie wasn't far behind, rushing after her son with clear panic on her face. Spinning, Rose lifted her gun to fire it at an incoming Terrapod, watching with grim satisfaction as the stunned alien hit the ground, incapacitated. She turned once more the closer that Tony got, finally finding her voice.

"Tony! Go back to mum RIGHT NOW!" She stalked over towards him, anger evident in every inch of her expression. She could understand his desire to help, knew he only wanted to make a difference, but he was seven. She wouldn't risk her little brother's life because he wanted to play 'Doctor'. This wasn't a game, and Tony could sense her anger, slowing his run as he neared her, confused.

"What? Rose, I just wanna help…" He mumbled, suddenly disheartened, before he gestured to the sonic in his hand. "I've got this, and I thought John would want me to-"

"A toy sonic screwdriver won't turn you into The Doctor, Tony!" Rose interrupted, her hand clenching into a tight fist, fixing her little brother with her best glare, regretting the words the instant they left her mouth. Tony's face fell, his shoulders slumping, and he pressed his lips together, taking a slow step back.

Guilt hit Rose in an instant, and she'd never hated herself more, seeing the look on his young face, optimistic enthusiasm crushed with one cruel sentence. Exhaling, Rose dragged her fingers through her hair, trying not to dwell on the hurt she'd obviously caused him. He needed to be safe, not rushing around and risking his life with dangerous aliens on the loose. If she had to hurt his feelings to keep him safe, so be it.

"Go back to mum," She repeated, able to hear Jackie frantically shouting Tony's name the closer she got. "Get out of here and go home. We'll talk later, alright?"

Tony nodded quietly in response, turning away from Rose in order to rush back towards Jackie, and she sighed, keeping her gaze fixed on him and her mother, seeing the clear relief on Jackie's face as Tony made his way back towards her. Slippery little eel, he was. Turning to head back into the fray, Rose paused when movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

From a nearby alleyway, one of the Terrapod's emerged, sneer clear on its twisted features. It raised its gun and Rose realised with a jolt of horror that it wasn't pointed at her, but at-

"TONY!"

The sight of her brother, so close to a hostile alien threat, had thrown all sense of logic and rationality out of Rose's mind. She found herself running forward towards him as fast as her feet would carry her, able to hear her mother's screams echoing in her ears as the threat became evident to her, too. Reaching out, Rose gripped Tony's shoulders, shoving him with all of her strength. He flew to the side, tripping and stumbling with a cry of pain as he hit the concrete, but looked up with wide, terrified eyes as he came to a stop.

With the alien's weapon pointed at her now, instead of Tony, Rose didn't even have time to defend herself. It fired, and as the beam of light struck her in the chest, she found herself letting out a choked sound, tasting the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. Her legs trembled and gave way, and she hit the ground on her knees, pain blooming outwards from her chest.

Looking down slowly, Rose could only stare as a pool of red began to spread through her shirt and jacket, and slowly, she pressed her hand to her chest, feeling the dip where the ray had shot straight through her, and her hand came away sticky with blood.

The world around her began to spin, and Rose fell to the side, her head slamming hard onto the road below. Faintly, she could hear Tony and her mother screaming her name, and the sound of running footsteps, but it faded away, and everything turned black.

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"Rose? Rose, Sweetheart, hold on! Don't you dare leave me!"

"I'm so sorry Rose! I love you, please wake up… I didn't want you to get hurt…"

"GET HER BACK TO TORCHWOOD, NOW!"

"You hang on, Rose, you're stronger than this, you're not going anywhere!"

"She's losing too much blood!"

"NO! NO ROSE! GET OFF OF ME, THAT'S MY DAUGHTER! ROSE!"

"We're losing her!"

"ROSE!"

The sound of her little brother's voice desperately screaming her name forced Rose's eyes to open, and she inhaled sharply, her fingers curling into fists. Her chest heaved for a moment as she sucked in deep, desperate breaths. Slowly, Rose lifted a hand, pressing it to her chest, feeling for the wound she'd been granted by the alien, but she couldn't feel anything.

There was no pain either, and Rose frowned in confusion before slowly moving to sit up, noting she could do it with ease. Looking down at her chest, she blinked, realising she was wearing a plain white tank top and white shorts, though her feet were bare. On top of that, she had been lying in a bed of flowers rather than the white sterilised Torchwood infirmary bed she'd been expecting. Orchids, Marigolds, Tulips and various other flowers surrounded her body, and Rose took the time to observe her surroundings.

It seemed like she had woken in a vast field of flowers, stretching outwards as far as the eye could see. It was beautiful, but she didn't understand HOW she'd gotten here. Reaching out a hand, Rose plucked a pink carnation from the ground, twirling the stem between her fingers, before she jumped, staring at her hand with wide eyes. Her ring was gone. The carnation fell from her fingers, floating down to the grass as Rose's hand shot to her neck, feeling for the necklace holding both her TARDIS key and John's ring, but it wasn't there. Panic began to well up inside of her, and she turned her body to desperately search for her lost treasures in the sea of flowers.

Do not fret my wolf.

A song entered her mind, a soft hum of love and reassurance that was so familiar somehow, it immediately put her at ease. Golden tendrils began to rise from the flowerbed around her, curling around her limbs and brushing her cheek in an almost loving touch, much like the way a mother would stroke her child's cheek.

I am here.

Closing her eyes, Rose could feel serenity wash over her entire body as the song eased the emptiness within her mind, bringing tears to her eyes. Reaching out her hand to one of the lingering tendrils, she allowed her fingertips to graze the golden energy, and a sense of overwhelming kinship left her breathless as she realised just what this was.

"You're the TARDIS," Rose murmured, and the energy swirled around her body in response, her warmth "I don't understand, how can you be here? Where am I?"

You are safe within your mind, my wolf. A great choice lies before you, as your body begins to wither, there is still a part of me within you, keeping you safe, keeping your very essence from fading to dust.

"I'm dying?" Rose asked quietly, her throat tightening at the clear implications in the TARDIS' words. In saving her brother, she'd essentially died, and she hated that he'd been witness to her death, to the shot that that drained the life from her body. Rose had wanted to protect him, not scar him for life. "So that Terrapod got me pretty good, huh? Is my brother safe? What about my mum?"

The thought that her impulsive act of sacrifice had potentially left her family without someone to defend them in the face of invading alien threats filled her with terror, but the TARDIS sent soft, soothing energy flowing through her body, and Rose sighed, closing her eyes once more.

They are safe and stay loyally by your side, and will stay til the end.

They were safe. That was enough to inspire relief in Rose, but then her thoughts turned to Tony, to the way she'd shouted at him, that some of her final words to her little brother had been to tear down his dream of being like his hero, of being like The Doctor. Her breath caught in her throat, and tears began to slip silently down her cheeks.

"They're better off without me," She whispered, pulling her knees in towards her chest. "Especially Tony, I shouldn't have yelled at him." The look on his face was haunting her now, and that he might remember her as angry and bitter sent waves of hurt flooding through her entire body.

Antony Tyler will remember his sister as brave and heroic, my precious wolf. He will remember her sacrifice and strength for the remainder of his life, and will do many wonderful things in your name. I see it, stretching past your timeline even as it ends, your death is not the end of your name. Do not fret, he loves you, and he will love you til his final day.

The TARDIS was gentle as she spoke, her tendrils continuing to try to soothe Rose from her grief, gliding lovingly over her skin, sending soft jolts of affection through the bond they shared, which prompted Rose to smile weakly, her aching heart easing at this news. She let out a shaky sigh, grateful, and once the TARDIS was sure she felt better, she spoke once more.

Two choices lie before you.

Rose furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Two choices? How could she still have choices? She was dead, trapped within her own mind. "What are they?"

I can release your mind, allowing it to fade with your body, freeing you from all sorrow and pain. I can set you free.

One of the tendrils brushed by her cheek once more, and Rose was flooded with a sense of love and affection. The warmth of the emotions filled her with joy, and she leaned into the touch of the energy, seeking more familiarity. The TARDIS was offering her a chance to be free from the emptiness John had left behind, to be free from the loss and the pain she'd felt for so long. It was her chance to be reunited with John, and it was tempting, oh so tempting. "That makes sense. What's my other option?"

Your body in this world is fated to die, but the bond between us allows me to pull your essence, your soul and mind through the void and through time. I will restore you to your body, before the day you were separated from my thief.

Rose inhaled sharply as the words struck home, and she stared at the light around her in shock, unable to believe what she was hearing. "You mean, rewrite my own timeline? Isn't… Isn't that a paradox?" The memory of the reapers was vividly fresh in her mind, and Rose shivered at the thought of seeing them again. She'd learned her lesson long ago.

No, it is only paradoxical if I were to bring your body through the void, and you prevented your past self from being trapped within the other dimension. With your mind and essence in the body of your past life, you could change time with ease, creating simply an alternate timeline to the one you are currently living. Time is ever fluid, constantly changing and twisting, and there are many branching paths. The timeline you have now will simply become one that could have been, whereas the timeline you create will become the current timeline.

"So everythin' would've still happened in this universe, but stemmin' from another alternate timeline?" Rose guessed, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, and she heard a soft hum of confirmation in her mind. It was risky, she knew that, but if the TARDIS was allowing it, she doubted she could do any real damage, and this was her chance to live another life with The Doctor. It was a chance to live a life where they'd never been separated.

Her heart jumped at the possibility, and excitement began to bloom, only to still as another thought struck her, and her heart slowly began to sink.

"Tony," She said aloud, her voice soft. "Tony will grow up not knowing me if I stay with The Doctor, won't he?" The TARDIS offered an apologetic hum in her mind, and Rose closed her eyes tightly, pressing her palms to her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. Would Tony even be the same person without her stories? Without John's stories? Would he still yearn to be an astronaut and to touch the stars? She hoped so.

On top of her internal dilemma regarding Tony, she realised, with a start, that if she could re-do everything, then John might not exist. There was already so much she could change, but the more she thought on it, the better the options seemed, though it hurt to admit. Tony had only run out and nearly been hurt by the aliens because he'd seen her. He'd never have to suffer seeing the death of his big sister, he'd never be in direct danger, and John? Well, John would only live a year and a half regardless.

Would she remember her life here? Would she even REMEMBER John? Or Tony? The friends she'd made? Nervously, Rose bit at her thumbnail, though the TARDIS was quick to try to reassure her.

You will retain your memories with the transfer, I assure you of this, my wolf. Though they exist within a fading timeline, they will live on within your mind, burning a brightly as you, yourself.

The TARDIS' words were gentle and calm in their honesty, and Rose let out a soft sigh, her eyes slowly closing. There was truly no doubt in her mind of the option she would choose, but she only hoped she'd be able to make a difference, rather than repeating the same mistakes and ending up right where she'd started.

"I choose to be with The Doctor, My Doctor." Rose decided, opening her eyes, a large, genuine smile appearing on her lips. Long ago, a madman in a blue box had taken her hand, and with a single word, he'd sucked her into his crazy life, leaving her breathless in its intensity. She'd promised him forever and had been trapped in another universe, though she'd done everything in her power to fight her way back to him once more. Rose Tyler had made her choice long ago, and she would always choose The Doctor.

The light around her body seemed to brighten in intensity, and Rose could feel an outward joy blossoming inside of her mind that she knew didn't belong to her. The TARDIS was certainly pleased with her choice, and Rose's smile turned into a grin.

Sleep now, my wolf, and ready yourself. There will be much danger ahead, but my thief will need you by his side.

Lying down on the bed of flowers, Rose felt the TARDIS' presence brushing along her mind once more, trying to initiate sleep, and her eyes began to drift closed of their own accord as, unbeknownst to her, her body began to glow gold.

In a sterile white room within Torchwood Headquarters, Rose Tyler took her final breath, and as her mind was swept beyond time and space, one single thought lingered.

'I'm comin' Doctor, I'll be with you soon.'