A/N: Whew, this really did need a lot of work. It was just bugging me so much I had to go back and re-work it. Almost done though and then I can refocus on my other story. Song lyrics in this one Hotel California by The Eagles. Once again, reviews are welcome. Enjoy.

Chapter Two

"On a dark desert highway,

cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas,

rising up through the air"

She always sang whenever she was scared or nervous. A trait she attributed to her mother, who would always sing to her when she was little to help calm her after a nightmare.

"Up ahead in the distance,

I saw a shimmering light

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim,

I had to stop for the night."

Out of most genres of music she had a passion for classic rock. The Eagles, being one of her favorites, was just one of the many bands she got to see live. It was July 29, 1975. The 'One of these Nights' concert tour had made a stop at the Mississippi River Festival in Edwardsville, Illinois. It was the first time they ever played Hotel California live and she was there to see it. Just another one of the many perks of time travel.

"There she stood in the doorway;

I heard the mission bell"

The song paired with the memory seemed to ease her tension a little although she couldn't help throwing a glance back over her shoulder every few steps or so to make sure that the nightmarish droid hadn't reactivated and started following her.

"And I was thinking to myself,

'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'"

Okay, so she didn't have all the answers yet but so far this place was definitely leaning towards the latter. She stopped at a junction that lead in two separate directions. Rather than taking the one that was bordering on pitch black except for a few patches of starlight filtering through the windows, she turned left and followed the one illuminated by pulsing red emergency lights.

"Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way..."

The voices down the corridor had her trailing off into silence for a moment. "Welcome to the Hotel California." She murmured aloud. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for whatever she was about to face she continued on, allowing the voices to lead the way.

~oOo~

As she stepped into what looked like the main control room she noticed the TARDIS nestled against the back wall. 'Well at least I know I'm in the right place.' She mused in relief. Walking up to her, she stroked the outer frame of the door lovingly. "Hello old girl." She smiled up at the big blue box fondly and was greeted with a welcoming hum in her mind.

"Who the hell are you?" came a voice from behind her.

Spinning around she saw a young dark skinned man with short cropped hair; arms folded across his chest and glaring at her. A slightly younger blonde woman stood just behind him; her eyes wide.

"Un...I mean, Mickey? Wow, you're…young." The redhead said in awe as she stared back at him.

"What are you on about?" Mickey replied in a frustrated tone.

"I'm sorry, it's just…you look so young." The girl chuckled softly. "I mean," she glanced at the blonde. "Rose looks the same. Weeell, almost the same. I forgot about the short hair phase." She paused, tilting her head slightly as she studied her and then quickly looked back at Mickey. "But you, you're just so..."

"Who are you?" Rose spoke up quietly, taking a few steps closer.

"Yeah, and how do ya know who we are?" Mickey added angrily.

The redhead looked between the two of them and smiled. "I'm a friend. Just passing through actually and…" she paused and looked around; her smile faltering. "Where's The Doctor?"

Rose bit her bottom lip and turned away.

Mickey snorted. "That idiot? He left! He left us to go chase after some French tart in the 18th century with no way of getting back, and now we're stuck here!" He spat. "My very first trip and he leaves us stranded on a bloody ship full of creepy clockwork men who dissect people and use their organs as replacement parts!"

Her gaze flickered to the bandage on his right arm and she immediately remembered the blood stain on the droid's blade as the severity of the situation began to set in. This was so much worse than she expected and to say that she was shocked would be an understatement. Of course there had to be some sort of mistake because The Doctor wouldn't do that. The Doctor is many things, a madman, a genius, an oncoming storm and most certainly a magnet for trouble. He constantly babbles on a mile a minute about anything and everything that pops into his brain and anyone who has ever spent time with him knows they had better wear comfortable shoes because you have to be able to run at a moment's notice. The man she knows is not someone to ever be trifled with but he always offers you a choice to write your wrongs and most of all, with his affinity for constant self-sacrifice he is always putting others above himself, which was why she was having a hard time in wrapping her mind around Mickey's words. That he had actually just left them stranded with no way home; especially Rose, the woman who had become his salvation. The woman who had healed the deep seeded pain and guilt that the war torn soldier harbored over the loss of his planet and people. The girl shook her head in disbelief. She needed to hear more but before she could open her mouth to ask for further details she noticed the subtle shaking movements coming from Rose, who was still facing away from her.

Mickey's eyes followed the girl's and he reached out for his best friend, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him. "Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm jus' angry and exhausted. I mean we were almost cut up for spare parts back there while he was off dancin' with the French and makin' banana daiquiris and neither one of us knows how to fly the TARDIS…" he stopped short at the look of anguish on her face and realized he was only making it worse. "But I'm sure he's working on a way back right now." he added quickly. "'Cause, he's the Doctor and he always has a plan, right? So everything's gonna be ok." he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Mickey, why don't you give Rose and I a few minutes to talk, yeah?" The redhead spoke softly as she approached them. Mickey eyed her warily and she held her hands up to reassure him. "I promise, I'm a friend and I'm just here to help."

"S' ok Mick," Rose sniffed, patting one of his hands. "I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust her. Wait for me in the TARDIS, yeah?"

Mickey frowned but nodded, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before turning to head back to the timeship. When he reached the door he tossed one last hesitant glance over his shoulder and then slipped inside.

The girl turned back to Rose who was attempting to gain some composure as she wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Tell me what happened." she said gently.

Rose took a shuddering breath and began to tell her the whole story about the time windows that led to 18th century France, meeting Reinette and how they found out that the clockwork droids were trying to harvest the Madame's brain to power their ship. As she spoke, she was surprised at how easily the words poured out of her to this strange girl, whose name she didn't even know. Yet something about the redhead seemed so familiar and she felt like she could open up to her without any repercussions.

"So ya' see he had to go. He had to save her to protect all of history and the timelines and stuff. But when he rode Arthur through the mirror, it severed the connection and now there's no way for him to get back." Rose sniffed.

"Blimey, that's…that's just...I mean, what was he thinking?" The redhead said angrily.

Rose shrugged. "He's The Doctor. He saves people. S'what he does. Besides," her voice grew quieter. "He's in love with her. I think maybe the main reason he wasn't worried about gettin' back was 'cause he finally found someone to walk the slow path for."

"What? Rose…no. There's no way." The girl was shaking her head.

"S' true though." Rose's voice began to waver. "They had a connection. She saw into his mind and he…he kissed her." she said as the tears began falling again.

"He did what?!" The ginger's temper flared.

Rose put her hands over her face and sank to the ground sobbing. "I jus'…I don't know what to do now that he's gone. I don't remember how to access the emergency protocols and this was Mickey's first trip so he's relyin' on me to figure things out but even if I could convince the TARDIS to take us home how could I jus'…" She sniffed and shook her head. "I could never leave him and even though we no longer matter, I know he'll come back for the TARDIS. He needs her. She's all that's left of his home."

"Rose, he needs you too." the girl said softly, trying to keep her own emotions in check.

The blonde shook her head vehemently. "No, he really doesn't, not anymore. And I should'a seen it comin'. M' not the first to travel with him and I won't be the last. I always thought he was jus' afraid of us gettin' together 'cause he's already lost so much, yeah? So I settled for bein' his best mate, never tryin' to push him for more than he was willin' to give and then after he changed it almost seemed as though we were growin' closer. Like maybe he realized he wanted more too but then during our last trip to Earth he did a complete one eighty. We ran into someone he used to travel with, a woman named Sarah Jane and I admit I was jealous. I shouldn't have been surprised though really, he's lived a long time, S' only natural he would have had others travelin' with him before me but it hurt that he never told me about any of them. Especially after everythin' I've shared with him about the people in my past. An' then I found out he had jus' left her behind one day. He left her behind and never went back. So I confronted him. I needed to know if he was gonna do the same to me and he looked me in the eyes and told me he wouldn't. For a brief moment, I even thought he was actually gonna confess how he really felt about me but then he jus' shut down again. He told me that I could spend my life with him but he couldn't spend his life with me because M' human. That one day I'd be gone and he has to live on alone."

Ah yes, she remembered hearing the stories about the famous "last of the Time Lords" speech. It was a deflection, his go to avoidance excuse he used to use following the war, whenever people got to close. The redhead rolled her eyes again and shook her head, returning her focus to the woman in front of her.

"And now, less than a day later I realize the truth is S' not that he doesn't do those types of things, he jus' didn't want to do them with me. I get that now. An' I can see why he chose her. She's this amazin' woman who's smart and beautiful and cultured and so much more than I could ever be." Rose closed her eyes and released a shuddering breath before continuing. "I…I love him, so much…" Choking back a sob, she shook her head to try to maintain some semblance over her emotions. "But I know now that he doesn't…that he'll never feel the same about me and I've got to accept that 'cause I still want to be with him. Even if it hurts and even if I can never have more than his friendship S' worth it, 'cause I love him and I want to spend my life with him. Sarah Jane said, 'Some things were worth gettin' your heart broken for'. I jus' never thought he'd leave me without sayin' goodbye." She whimpered softly; bowing her head. "I thought I meant enough to at least of earned that."

The redhead gritted her teeth and ran her hand over the back of her neck as she paced a few steps. "Oh, that man is so bloody frustrating sometimes I just wanna…" Not only was she angry, but the heartbreak she was witnessing in front of her was almost too much to bear. This was not Rose. This was not the strong, vibrant and clever woman she knows. This Rose was defeated, almost broken. She was giving up and that just couldn't happen. Walking back over to her, the girl knelt down and took the blonde's hands in her own. "Listen to me, I promise you everything's gonna be okay. We're gonna get him back and we're gonna fix this." ''Cause he and I are gonna have words.' She thought to herself.

Rose looked up at her and nodded as she studied her face. Something in her gut made her truly want to believe this girl. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but from the moment they met she felt a connection. She knew without a doubt that not only could she trust her but her presence also made her feel more at ease, like everything would really be okay. Although she had this distinct feeling that their roles had been reversed, that she should be the one providing comfort. She searched the girl's eyes for a moment more, trying to discern her feelings. "Can I ask why this is so important to you?" she asked quietly.

"Let's just say the future depends on it. I can't say any more than that." She added as Rose arched a skeptical brow. "Spoilers." She winked and stood up, pulling Rose up with her. "Anyway, I think it would be best if you went back to the TARDIS for a while. Make yourself a nice cuppa and.."

"No." Rose interjected, shaking her head. "M' stayin' here. 'S only been about five hours and M' not leavin' this spot til' we come up with a way to get him back."

"Wow, you really have always been just as stubborn as he is." the redhead muttered.

"What was that?" Rose arched a brow once more.

"Nothing, just please, I need you to trust me right now. I just need some time to take a look around and then I will come straight back to get you and form a plan. It's just not safe out here right now. I came across one of those…" she shuddered. "Droids before I found you guys."

"Yeah, after The Doctor went through the mirror we decided to search the ship to see if there were any more time windows that might still be active when it attacked. If it hadn't been for Mickey I…" Rose shuddered. "It came after me, but he knocked me out of the way. Got a few cuts on his arm in the process, but he was able to freeze it with the fire extinguisher."

"Well you may have stopped that one for now and the ones on the other side of the time window may have been cutoff, but if there are any others still active on this ship they'll be desperate and dangerous." Rose was poised to argue again so she put her hands on the blonde's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Please Rose, it's important to me that you're safe." Her gaze drifted slightly to the right as she noticed her hand flicker again and quickly dropped her arms back to her sides.

Rose sighed in frustration but as she looked into the girl's eyes she once again had that feeling of complete trust wash over her. "Fine, I'll go check on Mickey for a few minutes and give him an update but then 'M comin' right back." She crossed her arms and gave the girl a pointed look. "Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am," the ginger saluted, earning an eye roll from the blonde before she turned and headed back towards the TARDIS.

As soon as Rose had stepped inside and closed the door, the girl activated her com link. "Jack?"

"Hey Red, all clear?"

"Yeah, I sent Rose back to the TARDIS for a bit. She didn't want to go."

"Well, you know how stubborn she is and when she's got her mind set it's hard to convince her otherwise. How are you doing?"

"I'm Marty McFly'n at the school dance right now."

"How bad?"

"Just my hand so far." She lifted up her right arm just as her hand became solid again. "It's kinda flickerin' on and off like a hologram and my memories are starting to get a little fuzzy." She shook her head and sighed. "Enough about that though, whadd'ya got for me?"

"Well it's been confirmed that this is where the shift in the timeline began. As far as we can tell, they were never supposed to be on that ship. "Those droids, whatever they are, whatever they want, they caused this. They're messing with very fabrics of time itself. Opening those windows was what drew the TARDIS there in the first place. She could feel the disruption."

"I think I can probably fill in the gaps from the information I got from Rose. Those things are repair droids. Apparently they didn't have the parts to fix the ship after it was damaged in the Ion storm so they used the crew." She paused as Jack groaned loudly. "Yeah," she agreed with a shudder. "So the only part they still needed was a brain to repair the command circuit of the ship. Guess they figured since the ship was named after Madame de Pompadour, it was her brain they required. So based on that logic they opened a bunch of time portals to the 18th century to follow her life until they deemed her brain would be compatible."

"Which they figured would be?"

"Age thirty-seven."

"Why thirty-seven?"

"'Cause that's how old the ship is?"

"Seriously?"

"Yep." she said, popping the 'P'. "They're apparently also very literal."

"You know, this is starting to become a running joke for those two. I mean, what is it with them and psychotic robots? The Anne Droid, the Roboforms, oh and those creepy Hosts from a couple of Christmas ago during their anniversary party on the Titanic."

"Hey, in the Hosts' defense, I'd be homicidal too if I had to watch people reenact the movie while playing that Celine Dion song over and over again."

Jack chuckled softly. "Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor yet."

"Well, ya know, just trying to stay calm and all that." She wandered around the room picking up various objects and examining them before setting them down again.

"So, have you tried talking to the Doc yet? The one with you now, I mean? Maybe he can give some further insight to help us figure out whatever happened on that ship to change things."

"Um, that's not really an option right now."

"Why? Wait, did he give you that BS line about 'time constantly being in flux and the timelines will work themselves out as they're supposed to?"

"No. Actually he's the one who broke the connections to the time windows by jumping through a mirror on a horse to save the mistress of King Louie the 15th after snogging her and allowing her to wonder around his mind and now he's stuck there." She said irritably.

"He did what?!" Jack yelled before the connection went silent.

"Jack what's going on? Jack?" She placed a hand over the com link in her ear trying to make out the faint noises. There were muffled shouts underneath the steady rumbling of the quake and after a few moments his voice was back in her ear.

Slightly breathless, he replied. "I'm here Red, everything's fine…"

"No, everything is not fine! What the hell was that for?" The Doctor cried out angrily in the background.

"Why don't you dig through your second set of memories and then tell me you didn't deserve that!" Jack shot back.

"We are in the middle of a full-blown crisis and you want to start a fist fight?" shouted the Doctor.

The redhead sat down in the Captain's chair and rubbed her hands over her eyes. 'They would have to do this now. Hundreds of years old, the pair of em' and they still act like children'. She crossed her arms over her chest and propped her feet up on the console; chewing her bottom lip. "Jack, think you can stow the macho crap for a few minutes and talk to me about the time windows so we can figure out how to get him back?"

"Yeah, sorry. Well, while the readings show there were originally multiple time windows, they all seemed to have been closed when we ran the diagnostics and now we know why." He added in a bitter tone. "However, that faint energy signature that we picked up when you first came on board proves that there was one time window that wasn't severed when the connection was broke."

"Okay, so which one is it, and more importantly, how do I get through it." She said jumping to her feet.

"The schematics pinpoint the energy signature is coming from the fireplace. It was the original doorway, the first one that was ever activated."

"Great! How do I get through?" she punctuated each word.

There was a pause. "Ah, therein lies the problem. You don't."

"What do you mean I don't?"

"I mean, the only reason the link is still active is because the connection was offline when all the other windows were severed, allowing it to remain linked to the ship. So now because of the way the connection was originally severed and moved, it can only be activated from the other side."

"Okay, well then can I just use the TARDIS to go pick him up?"

"Won't work. Since we don't know the exact date and time he went through, you could land either too early or to late which would just disrupt the timelines even further."

"That's bloody fantastic! I'm running out of time and we're what, playing the waiting game?" She sighed and plopped back down on the Captain's chair, lightly thumping her head against headrest.

"Look, I know you're frustrated, but I need you to stay positive, okay?"

"Yeah, fine." she mumbled. "Do we at least have any idea how long he was gone, or how he got back?"

"Well, we could always go to the source for that. Hang on a sec." After a few moments he spoke again. "The Doc remembers Rose saying something about five and a half hours when he came back through the fireplace. Although he also says he can't be definitively sure since the memories are pretty foggy right now as they're still building and then of course he proceeded into his techno babble so I had to walk away." He paused again and then she heard him shout out. "Yeah, starting to remember why you deserved that now aren't ya?"

Great, she was getting a headache again. "Ok," she began, trying to recapture his attention. "When I spoke with Rose she said they had already been waiting for about five hours so let's hope he's right about the timeframe before mine runs out." She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Where were they going anyway? In the original timeline I mean, where were they heading when they ended up here?"

"Well let's see, this seems to have happened just after Mickey called about the problems at the school. That was when they ran into Sarah Jane the first time and that whole mess with the Krillitanes. Afterwards, Mickey asked to join them for a bit; which Rose wasn't exactly happy about, so The Doc took them to Kataa Floko for a bit of R&R as sort of a peace offering. There were a few more random trips after that which led to some jail time and then they ended up in the parallel world."

"That was when Mickey left, right?"

"Yeah. After the whole Cybermen ordeal Mickey decided to stay behind to help continue taking down the Cyber factories. That whole trip really took a toll on Rose. She saw the parallel version of her mom get cybernized, her parallel dad couldn't handle finding out who she was and basically rejected her to her face and on top of that she lost Mickey. That trip was actually what brought her and The Doc closer. He finally got his head out of his ass and stopped pushing her away and then right after the incident with the Beast on Krop-Tor he took her to Barcelona where…" he chuckled again. "Well, we all know what happened there."

She could see his eyebrows wagging again in her mind's eye and shook her head at the thought. "I'm still trying to process all this." she said after a moment. "I'm just so mad at him and I can't believe he could be so stupid. I mean what was he thinking? I get that the timelines had to be preserved and there probably wasn't much time for a big explanation, but he couldn't make time to see that they were safe first? I mean, if he knew there was a possibility he might not be able to come back he could have sent them home instead of leaving them here to fend for themselves until who the hell knows when. It's bad enough knowing that he went traipsing off after the King's mistress to some party while they almost got dissected for parts and then I find out he just up and left them! No plan, no goodbye, nothing." She paused for a moment, pressing a hand to her temple and taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "I just don't understand any of this Jack. Especially this crap about him supposedly falling for another woman."

"I know sugar. I don't get it either." Jack empathized. "Especially after everything he and Rose went through over those first couple of years together. I mean, yeah granted this version of him could be a terrible flirt on occasion but chasing after a woman he barely knows; a historical figure for that matter and he knows better, this doesn't even sound like the Doc. It's just so completely out of character for him; like his life story is suddenly being written by two different people who didn't bother to compare notes. Back when he was all beautiful blue eyes and leather, nothing could come between those two. There was like this unspoken rule when I started traveling with them. It was basically 'Hands off the Blonde and you and I are cool'. And from what I know those feelings only got stronger after he regenerated."

"Yeah, but we both know it took him a while to admit that." she pointed out. "Hell, the whole reason he invited Mickey along originally was to put distance between them so he didn't have to face his feelings because he was afraid of losing her at some point."

"True, but I can't believe that he would deliberately chase after another woman hurting Rose in the process just to put some distance between them."

"And yet we both know that's exactly what he's doing." she replied cooly.

She heard Jack blow out a breath before trying to lighten the mood. "So no chance he's infected with some sort of Alien Lust Virus then?"

The girl snorted softly. "If only. I don't know where we go from here Jack. I had a whole long list of possibilities in my head in preparation for what I might have to face when I got here in order to restore the timeline but this…" she choked back a sob. "I don't know how we fix this."

"Hey, hey, hey, everything's gonna be alright. We don't know anything for sure yet until you actually get a chance to talk to him."

"I just feel so useless sitting here waiting. Rose said time moved faster on that side of the window so who knows how long he's been over there with that woman by now or what they've been…"

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Jack interjected. "Yeah okay, he may have kissed her but wanting distance or not, there is no way he would ever…"

"Doesn't matter whether he did or not." she cut in. "'Cause Rose believes he did. She believes he chose Reinette over her. She's convinced herself that he doesn't care about her, and maybe never did. And with the way he was always keeping everything inside during this particular point in time, he's not gonna give her a reason to think otherwise. Seeing Sarah Jane again scared him so he brought Mickey along as a buffer, which didn't work 'cause their relationship had already ended after that last encounter you guys had with Margaret. But this, this situation right here he's looking at it as though it was a gift. The final brick he needed to complete that wall he's been trying to put between them. A wall that may very well end up separating them forever."

"So stop him." Jack said simply.

"I…I don't even know where to begin. I can't even really tell him the truth without possibly creating another paradox. Give me Daleks, give me Cybermen. Bring on the Slitheen and the Vashta Nerada. Hell, I'll even take on a damn Alien Lust Virus. That I can deal with. There's a monster, we find a way to kill it, save the world and go have chips. But this, trying to get the most stubborn man in all of creation to let go of his fears, make him admit to and act on his feelings when all he wants to think about is how miserable he might be in the future instead of focusing on what's right in front of him. How? How do I do that Jack?"

"You be you."

She leaned her head back and took a deep breath. "You really believe in me that much, huh?"

"Well if anyone..." he stopped abruptly. "Hold on, I'm getting a reading. The time window's been activated."

"It's about bloody time!" The grating sound of the fireplace moving punctured the surrounding silence. "Yeah, I can hear him and...oh you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?"

"He's inviting that woman to come with him."

"That's it," Jack growled. "I'm punching him again!"

"I'm signing off Jack."

"Wait Red, what I was going to say before…I know you can do this. If anyone can get through to that thick skull of his besides Rose, it's you. I'll see you soon."

"Aye, aye, Captain." She took a another deep breath as she waited for the Time Lord to make his appearance. 'I hope you're right Jack. I really hope you're right.'