Disclaimer, I own nothing. First off, thank you to MyNameIsAwesome for being my beta, as well as listening to me whine after I thought I had to rewrite this all again. (thankfully, I didn't have to) I really hope I get more reviews on the chapter *hint* *hint* I hope you like it. Please enjoy

The morning after Christmas, Maria was sitting sideways in a chair in the attic of Sarah Jane's house, testing out Luke's new remote control helicopter. Luke and Clyde were on the floor swapping trading cards that they had gotten yesterday. (Luke hadn't quite grasped the concept of trading cards yet. He still didn't see the point of them other than to read the statistic of football players he didn't particularly care about, but Clyde was trying his hardest to get him into them.) Sarah Jane was supervising with vague interest as she sorted through a stack of papers on her desk, her glasses on the point of her nose.

"Will you knock that off!" Clyde snapped after Maria hit him in the head with another foam dart from the helicopter. Maria just laughed. "I'm gonna take that thing away from you," he warned.

"I'd like to see you try," challenged Maria. Clyde jumped up and started at her, tickling her as Luke wrestled the remote out of her hands.

"Got it!" he said proudly.

"Hey!" protested Maria.

Sarah Jane looked up. "You three, behave yourselves."

"He started it," Maria said at the same time Clyde said, "She started it."

Sarah Jane just rolled her eyes and smiled to herself before looking back down at her paperwork.

"Here, let me have a go," Clyde said, taking the remote from Luke.

"Back off, it's mine. I haven't even had a chance to try it yet," Luke said.

The boys teased each other playfully and Maria jumped on Luke's back to unbalance him. The three kids landed in a messy, laughing pile on the floor. Sarah Jane smiled again. It was easy to forget the universe in such an innocent moment as this. It was nice seeing the kids acting like kids for a change, playing and teasing like normal teenagers do. For one moment the world was completely perfect. But the precious moment ended almost as suddenly as it started. Right as Clyde escaped the group and jumped up, grabbing the remote, the moment was shattered by Mr. Smith opening and surprising everyone.

"Sarah Jane," Mr. Smith said, "Warning- UNIT vehicles closing in around the house."

"What?" Sarah Jane shouted, slamming her book on her desk. She stood up furiously.

"Awesome!" Clyde exclaimed.

Sarah Jane marched down the stairs. Luke, Clyde, and Maria followed close behind. Sarah Jane barely paused before the door. She threw it open so violently it could have broken off the hinge.

"You stop right there!" she yelled at the five or six SUVs driving into the yard. "I will not have soldiers on my property!"

She could see Alan and Chrissie looking over into her yard with interest. But she didn't care; it had been a long time since she trusted UNIT and she didn't what those trigger happy jar heads anywhere near her son. She was ready to demand an explanation when she was caught off guard by the woman who stepped out of the first SUV.

"Rose?" Sarah Jane said. She recognized the pretty blonde with sad eyes. They had only met once before, but the incident had been so momentous, Sarah Jane knew she would remember the face anywhere. Rose traveled with the Doctor, just as Sarah Jane had. Sarah Jane wondered what the girl was doing with UNIT.

"Hello, Sarah Jane," Rose said.

Everything about the situation shouted bad news, "Clyde, Maria, I think you two best be getting home."

"Aww, but I wanna..." Clyde started.

"Now." Sarah Jane said firmly. "Luke, go put a kettle on for tea."

Maria pulled Clyde across the street as Luke disappeared into the house. "I think we should talk in private," said Rose.

"Miss, I must insist..." A UNIT officer started, but Rose cut her off.

"I let you bring me here," Rose snapped, "now I'm here. Can I please talk to Sarah Jane alone?"

The UNIT officer looked like she was going to argue but didn't.

Sarah Jane motioned towards the house. "Come on in." The UNIT officers looked quite angry, but didn't object to Sarah Jane and Rose going into the house. "I read you died," Sarah Jane said, leading Rose to the table. "At Canary Wharf. I was worried about you. I'm glad the report was wrong."

"It wasn't completely wrong," Rose murmured, "I'm officially dead in this universe; my mum and I went off to live in a parallel world…though not by choice."

"I'm sorry," Sarah Jane said sincerely.

Rose didn't stay on the subject. Instead she looked at her hands as Luke brought out the tea kettle, though Sarah Jane knew it couldn't possibly be warm yet. He poured them cold tea just to do something. "The Brigadier was going to come, but he couldn't get away," Rose said. She paused again. "Sarah Jane..." Rose took a breath and hesitated, as if she didn't know how to start.

"Just tell me what happened to him?" Sarah Jane asked, knowing Rose was going to beat around the bush. Though part of her already knew, she refused to believe the truth until she heard it out loud. "The Doctor- I imagine that's why your here. How bad is he hurt?"

Rose's pretty brown eyes filled with tears, but her voice kept steady. "The Racnoss," she said. "They had base under the River Thames. The Doctor stopped them by flooding the base but he was trapped inside..." a tear slid down her cheek. "There wasn't time for him to regenerate. Sarah Jane, he's dead."

Sarah Jane felt like her heart was tearing apart. Her mouth went dry. "Are you sure it's him?" Sarah Jane asked, stupidly, though she knew Rose was right; she felt it. Deep in her heart there was a void that she knew would never be filled again.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah Jane," Rose said.

"Mum..." Luke murmured. He put his hand on his mother's shoulder.

Rose reached over and took Sarah Jane's hand. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Sarah Jane struggled to get her voice back. The room suddenly seemed very small. When she found her voice it was small and blocked by a lump in her throat. "C-can I see him?"

Rose nodded. "I can bring you and your son to UNIT base now if you would like."

"Do you want me to come with you, Mum?" Luke asked.

Sarah Jane wasn't sure. Part of her wanted the comfort of her son, but part of her wanted to face this alone. She didn't want to put him in danger either. As far as UNIT was concerned Luke was as alien as the ones who created him, but she also didn't think she could face something so big without him. Finally, she took Luke's hand and kissed it, showing him that she wanted him to come with her.

Rose reached out and embraced Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane tried her hardest to get her thoughts straightened out enough to say something, but she felt like the ground had disintegrated under her feet. She had waited so long for the Doctor, always clinging to hope that she would see him again, but now she knew she never would. He had gone. He'd left her one last time, but this time he wasn't coming back.

"When did you start working for UNIT?" Sarah Jane asked. She didn't know why, but it was the first words she managed to form.

"I don't..." replied Rose, "It's...complicated; just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I suppose."

"Can we go, now?" Sarah Jane asked; she didn't want to stay still. She wanted to leave. She didn't care where. She just didn't want to do nothing. Maybe if she could see him, she would see that it wasn't him at all, just a mistake. Some other poor soul that got mistaken for him. Maybe it wasn't too late to regenerate; maybe if she could be close to him again, he would sense her and regenerate for her. Maybe, just maybe, any thread of irrational hope could bring him back.

"Anything you want," said Rose.

"Luke, get your stuff," Sarah Jane commanded. Luke nodded and left.

"What has Calamity Jane done this time?" Chrissie asked, looking out the window.

"Shut up, Mum!" Maria snapped. "It's not funny!"

Chrissie looked affronted, but Maria was too mad to care. Something bad was happening. Sarah Jane had worked so hard to keep UNIT away from her; away from Luke. If they were there now, it could only mean something really bad was happening. Or that Sarah Jane was in really big trouble.

"Maria..." Chrissie said. But Maria ran upstairs and looked out her window. She watched the house, but no one came out. Anticipation built up in her, making her stomach hurt. What was going on? Who was that blonde? It felt like a millennium that she sat watching the house. It took everything she had in her to stop her from running over the street and finding out what was happening herself. Finally the phone rang and Maria snatched it up. It was Luke.

"Luke. What's going on?"

"Something bad," Luke replied. "Really bad. It's the Doctor- he's dead."

"No!" Maria breathed. "Is Sarah Jane okay?"

"I don't know. I think she will be. But we're leaving to go to UNIT base. Will you watch the house?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, Maria."

"Tell Sarah Jane I'm so sorry."

"I will. See you."

"Alright, good luck."

The line went dead.

"What was that all about?" Maria jumped as her father stood in the door.

"Sarah Jane's friend, the Doctor, died," Maria said.

"That's why those soldiers were there?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, Luke and Sarah Jane are going to be gone for a while," Maria said. "Luke asked me to watch the house while they're gone."

"Are you okay?" Alan asked. Maria looked up, surprised.

"I didn't know him," she said.

"But you know what he means to Sarah Jane," Alan said. "I know you what she means to you."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" asked Maria, fear in her voice. "After Luke got taken away from her, she didn't want to talk to Clyde or me anymore. What if she does the same thing now?"

"Oh, sweetheart," Alan said, hugging Maria. "I think she's going to need you to be there for her now more than ever."