Rose didn't know where to start. There was so much to say, and despite the Doctor's insistence on telling him everything, there were certain things she didn't want to tell him.

She looked up at the Doctor but it was a mistake, his eyes reminded her so much of her first Doctor. The way they seemed to be staring straight into her soul. So she decided to focus on the space behind his right shoulder instead.

'Everything was all right at first. Well, as all right to be expected. Dad gave him a job at Torchwood and we got him fake papers and ID - John Smith, of course. He settled in and it wasn't long before he became the head of our science department. He still did field work when he got bored but he spent most of his time in the lab.'

'And then the Cybermen returned… but they were different. There weren't as many and they didn't seem to want to turn anyone else into Cybermen. They just killed people. Not everyone though, just a few in certain government positions. "Just the important people" according to John. That's when I knew for sure that he wasn't you. You always said that everyone was important.'

'Anyway, Torchwood found out that the Cybermen were being controlled by someone, and that's when they came after Dad. He…' Rose sniffed and wiped away a tear with her sleeve. 'He didn't make it.'

'I'm sorry,' said the Doctor.

'It was chaos. Jake was trying to pull Torchwood together, Mum was a mess, and nearly all the governments of the world had fallen. Most countries were being governed by the military and we were on the brink of World War IV - World War III was in the sixties in that universe. Then John stepped up, told us all that he could keep the peace. Everyone was so desperate for a hero that they believed him. Well, almost everyone.'

'When he was away on his so-called peacekeeping missions, Jake and I looked more into the Cybermen. They hadn't been any more appearances since John had made his announcement. It took a while but we eventually found out who was controlling them. It was John.'

'I didn't want to believe it but I knew it was true. So we assembled a team and we confronted him when he got back from his trip. He didn't even try and deny it. He just laughed at us silly little humans for taking so long to find out the truth. That was the first time I heard him call himself "The Valeyard".'

'Then his own personal guard walked out. We weren't expecting that. They started shooting at us but my team were good at what they did. They fought back but the Valeyard slipped away. Me and Jake chased after him and caught up to him. I had a clear shot but I couldn't do it. I hesitated and that mistake cost Jake his life.'

'The Valeyard walked over to me and touched my shoulder, just like he did on that beach, and he whispered into my ear. He told me that he was the real Doctor and that Jake was the one who sent the Cybermen after my Dad and I believed him. It felt so strange. Like I knew in the back of my mind that he was lying but the rest of my mind didn't care.'

'He hypnotised you,' said the Doctor. It came out as a bit of a growl but it was hard to tell with the new accent. 'Time Lords are telepathic but some use that against less intelligent species.'

'Oh, thanks.'

'I didn't mean… Anyway, continue.'

'So after that, it was a bit like old times, at least that's what he had me thinking. The Doctor and Rose Tyler against the world but it wasn't enough. He wanted to get back to this universe. He tried rebuilding the Dimension Cannon but he couldn't get it to work.'

'How did you get back?'

'There was a sort of crack. In that damn white wall of all places. I thought it was just a normal crack in the wall but he said that if the wall was knocked down-'

'The crack would still be there,' the Doctor finished for her.

'Yeah. I figured you would have had something to do with it,' she teased. She may have even smiled a bit.

'He ran some tests and found out that it lead here so he opened it and we came through.'

'So how did he become the Minister of War?' asked the Doctor. 'Martha already told me about the Archangel Network and blowing up Parliament but how did he get that far?'

'By pretending to be you. He went to UNIT and told them that we had lost the TARDIS and seeing as he was still their scientific advisor, he asked for his job back. He didn't fool everyone for long but he didn't need to. Once he got the Archangel Network going again he slid into his role of Minister quite easily.'

'Torchwood was already gone and UNIT had their hands full with the Zygons so there was no one to stop him. Once he had taken over London, he released some sort of gas into the atmosphere and all the Zygons died. It wasn't pretty.'

'Z-67,' explained the Doctor. 'It unravels their DNA and turns them inside out. I thought I had destroyed all of it.'

'Well either he made some more or you missed a bit,' she said. 'Anyway, once he was in power, he had an army at his disposal. An army which he used to hunt down members of UNIT or anyone else who might try and stop him… and I didn't lift a finger to stop him.'

'It wasn't your fault.'

'It feels like it is,' she said, staring at the table again. She had to try and keep herself together; she had told herself that she wasn't going to break down. 'I should have been stronger. I should have tried harder. I failed… I couldn't make him better.'

The confession hung in the air. She looked up at the sound of chair legs scraping along the floor. The Doctor had gotten out of his chair and was walking around the table. He sat in the chair beside her.

'Rose, look at me,' he said. She reluctantly did so. 'This is not your fault. It was not your job to fix him. I never meant for you to feel like it was. So, it's not your fault, it's mine.'

At that moment he reminded her so much of her first Doctor, the one in leather who she missed so much. The floodgates broke and she all but threw herself at him, winding her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder. It was a moment or two before he returned the embrace.

'It's not your fault,' she said between sobs. 'I didn't mean what I said before. I know you didn't know what he would become. I'm sorry.'

'It's okay,' he said into her shoulder.

After a couple of minutes her sobbing subsided and the Doctor spoke again.

'Uh, Rose… I'm not sure how to say this... but I'm not really a hugging person anymore.'

She pulled back so she could see his face. He wasn't joking. She let out a sort of half-laugh/half-sob and sat back into her own chair.

'We'll have to fix that,' she said, wiping away her tears.

'So, what made you break free from him?' asked the Doctor, bringing them back to the matter at hand.

'It was Mickey,' she said. 'One day the Police Chief brought in a load of prisoners and Mickey was one of them. The Valeyard ordered them to be executed and that's when his illusion shattered and I saw him for what he really was. So, that night, I freed all the prisoners and I got out. Me and Mickey went and got Martha and then we found this place. Gladys, the owner, was more than happy to let us set up a resistance here. The Valeyard killed her son. Slowly we started building up our numbers and set up other places around London for people to take refuge.'

The Doctor was smiling at her. 'What?' she asked.

'You,' he said. 'Even after everything, you're still so… you. Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth.'

'Just too good, remember?' This time she definitely did smile a bit.

The moment was broken by Rose stifling a yawn.

'Sorry,' she said. 'Been up for about 32 hours now. I should really get some sleep. Have a read through all of this.' She waved her hand to indicate all the papers on the table. 'Maybe you'll see something we couldn't.'

The Doctor nodded.

'Oh, and before you think about doing anything stupid like taking on the Valeyard by yourself, I should let you know that we always have people keeping an eye out at night. They will stop you.'

'I'm not going anywhere, Rose.'

'You better not,' she said, getting up out of her chair. 'Goodnight Doctor.'

She walked towards the door but stopped and turned to face him again. 'I do have one question, though.'

'What is it?'

'Do lots of planets have a Scotland too?'

She gave him the best tongue-touched smile she could muster and left the room.

A/N: I would like to take this opportunity to once again apologise for my grammar. And I know the "Do lots of planets have a Scotland?" joke has been done in nearly every Twelve/Rose fic out there but I couldn't resist.