Outside the sun was gone and the coolness of night had settled in. The moon sliver was high among the shining stars set upon a dark blanket of blue. A dog barked somewhere off in the distance, its voice muffled by the buildings around it.

The Tyler household was dark, just like the ones around it, for it was the middle of the night. Only the yellow glow of an intruding streetlight poked through the shadows into the still living room, casting soft, skewed shadows across some of the room. Rose and Jackie had their own rooms and their own beds, of course, and had retired to them. Rose had offered her bed to the sick Doctor, but he politely declined, saying that he didn't need special treatment. So, he laid on the couch instead after he had changed into a pair of pajamas that Jackie still kept around. It seemed that the infamous Howard continued to come around regularly.

Although he had shifted quite a bit during the night, the Doctor had finally found a position that his body seemed to accept, lying on his back with one arm hanging off the edge of the couch and the other on his chest, blanket loosely held in its grasp. One of his lanky legs were bent up and setting against the back of the couch while the other laid stretched out, resting on the armrest and leaving his boney foot sticking out into the air. A rather thin blanket lay haphazardly over his body and just barely covered his torso while his hair was messily strewn over the pillow beneath his head. He laid still, sleeping peaceful, though if you listened close, it was easy to hear he was faintly snoring.

His ears twitched a little as he heard the gentle padding of feet on the hard floor of the kitchen. He involuntarily tensed, a natural reaction to all his experience of people trying to kill him. His eyes eased open and instantly flicked over to the kitchen, and his body eased when he saw who was there.

"Rose?" he blinked a few times as he watched her move about in the next room.

Rose's head turned quickly towards him, her expression one of surprise.

"What are you doing up?" Rose asked.

"I woke because I heard you moving around. So, I should be asking you the same question," he shrugged and then titled his head. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Rose sighed. She picked up her mug and came into the living room, sitting in a free chair. Her cup was held between her hands as she stared down into its liquid. "I keep thinking about…well…you know…"

"My disease?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor sat up. "Rose, there's nothing you can do, so don't worry about it. It's not worth it."

"I know, it's just…"

There was a silence between them.

"I have a question," Rose piped up, looking to the Doctor.

"Yeah?" the Doctor looked back at her.

"I thought that Time Lords would recognize each other, you know? You mentioned once that you all had, almost like a psychic connection or something. So, if that's true, then why didn't you recognize that man as a Time Lord, or him you?"

The Doctor smiled. "That's a good question, actually. Real good. It's true, we can tell one of our own apart from humans, but it's the disease, it throws everything off."

"What you mean?"

"Normally, it's easy for us to tell if someone's a Time Lord. We can usually sense them if they're nearby, or at the very least, know them when we see them. But this disease messes with…I guess the perception would be a good word. Yes, perception, of both the Time Lord infected as well as any Time Lord who looks at them. The infected can't identify another Time Lord, but neither can anyone identify him. The only way to know for sure is to listen for two hearts."

"Naturally. The hearts don't just go away if you're sick."

"Well, yeah. And if that fails, a TARDIS nearby is always a good sign. Besides, only Time Lords can catch this, so if they have it, it's a pretty good indicator."

"Does it actually do anything to the eyes?"

The Doctor looked up, his face scrunching in thought a little. "Nothing permanent. Any damage done is usually reversed as soon as they recover."

"Oh, well that's good."

Another stretch of silence ensued, both with the Doctor and Rose looking down.

"Rose, at the beach today, did you know?" the Doctor looked at her.

"Know? Know what?" Rose met his gaze.

"Well, that something was up. I mean, you kind of pushed the whole swimming thing awful hard. And you only really do that when you suspect something."

"I thought something was up when I found you sleeping for the first time."

"Yeah, I kind of thought as much. Sorry, never meant to fall asleep there, in the TARDIS console."

Rose chuckled a little. "Didn't think so."

"But that wasn't it, was it?"

"No. Then, when my mum hugged you, and you winced, not like you didn't want to be hugged but rather like it hurt, I thought that was weird. I suppose it really did, huh?"

"Yeah, it did. Had to bite my tongue a bit."

"It was after we found you asleep for the second time that I really became worried. You know, when you were sleeping on the beach. It's one thing to find you sleeping once, but twice in a matter of two days is just weird, for you I mean."

The Doctor nodded. "It is, I know. I don't usually sleep that long."

"Another thing that I found odd was the coffee."

"The coffee?"

"Yeah, you had a coffee at lunch."

"Oh, right. And that's significant how?"

"Well, it was a hot day. You even said yourself you were hot and sweaty in your clothes. And yet, you ordered a hot drink. That's a little unusual, yeah?"

"Ah. Yes, you see, my throat was-is-bothering me. Hot drinks soothe the throat you know?"

"My point exactly."

"So, the swimming was…?"

"Really, the swimming was the only thing I could think of that wasn't out of the ordinary. I thought that if it was something on your skin, the water might irritate it."

"And it did. Clever girl," the Doctor gave her a little wink.

"And I also thought that if it tired you out more, maybe something else would show up, you know? Just so I could see what it is. And it was the best way to find out but also keep mum from noticing. I didn't want to call her attention to you."

"Greatly appreciated. And I must say, that was actually a pretty good plan. And at least part of it worked, right?"

"Yeah, though I'm sorry about that."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You did what you had to, and I respect that."

There was a pause before Rose tentatively asked, "So, what now?"

Her eyes almost hesitantly met his. He sighed. "I honestly don't know. I suppose we stay here."

"What? And just wait for you to die?"

"Well, yeah. Can't risk traveling, not like this. There's nothing else to do."

"But…there must be something, anything! We can think of something I'm sure! If we put our heads together, we'll think of something, yeah?"

"Rose, really, there's nothing. This is it. The end."

"That's not fair though."

"Whether it's fair or not, that's just the way it is. My planet is gone, my people are gone, and my hope for a cure is gone. I didn't choose the name 'Doctor' because I wanted to be a doctor of medicine, as most people expect. This is how it ends."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"But, you don't mean it, do you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Please," Rose slipped off her chair and got down on her knees beside the Doctor, placing her hand over his on the couch, "tell me there's something you can do. Anything. Even if it's a long shot, please tell me."

"I would be lying to you if I did."

"Then do it."

"Why?"

"Because it can't end like this. It just can't. Not for you. You're the Doctor, my Doctor. I want you safe. I saved you from the Daleks for a reason because I didn't want to see you die. So, I know it can't end like this now. You're only nine hundred years old! You said so yourself."

The Doctor laughed. "You say that as though it's no big deal."

"But I'm serious! You're so full of life and vigor! I can't believe that you're going to die now. How could it possibly end like this?"

"Even for a Time Lord, nine hundred years is a good life time."

"Is it good enough for you though? Would you be happy? I know there's so much more you want to do, see."

"Yes, that's true, but it's a moot point now. It doesn't matter what I want. I won't get to see it, experience. This is it. The only thing I can hope fore, that I know I can have, is that I won't die alone. That's the one sure thing now."

Rose's eyes involuntarily watered a little and she hurriedly looked down at their hands on the couch, her slender hand over his.

"How's that saying go?" she asked softly.

"Pardon? Which saying? There's a bunch of them."
"Where there's a will…"

The Doctor smiled and sighed a little. He was always astounded by her spirit. "There's a way."

"I know there's a will here."

The Doctor chuckled. "So there must be a way huh?"
"Yeah, that's my thought anyway. Even if you don't have hope any more, I do. I think…my hope's enough, don't you?"

The Doctor nodded. "I would think so."

"So, any thoughts, any ideas? Maybe? Even a small one?"

The Doctor shook his head, putting his free hand to the side of his head. "I don't even know where to begin looking. Not even the faintest clue."

"What do we need?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. Not only would we need the materials to make it, but we'd also need to locate a copy of the formula. And, to my knowledge, no place has both. Well, I don't know of any place with the formula." He rubbed his chin a little as he thought.

"Maybe would could bring someone who knows here? Is that possible?"

"Well, yeah, it is possible. Send out a signal from the TARDIS broadcasting what we need and why, that's easy. However, that would also mean that I'm broadcasting my weakness to all my enemies, and I do have so many enemies. And eventually, the TARDIS would…" he trailed off in thought, and then his eyes widened. "I don't know where to look…but there is one thing that might. Maybe."

"What?" Rose perked.

The Doctor looked at her, his broad grin stretching ear to ear. "The TARDIS! It's a long shot, a very long shot, but its databanks might just have something. It's constantly picking up signals and things, surely if there's something out there, it would know. And, since it has a consciousness, it could, theoretically, choose a destination for us."

"Great! That's wonderful!" Rose jumped to her feet.

The Doctor's face turned serious. "Rose, you understand that this is a huge risk. I mean massive. It's quite possible we'll land nowhere need any help. And if that happens, I won't be of much use either. If you come, you might never make it back. Ever."

"And if you go alone, you definitely won't survive. Besides, even if we land somewhere without any help, that's how you would rather die anyway? In the middle of a big mess instead of lying here on the couch, yeah?"

He smiled. "Made up your mind already have you?"

"There was no question. It was made long before you came up with your idea, your long shot," she smiled back.