The Doctor had warned Rose that losing their bond would be painful, but she was still wholly unprepared for the tearing sensation in her mind when the walls between the worlds solidified. She moaned low in her throat and clutched her head as she sank to the floor.

Doctor! her mind screamed, trying to reach for him across the Void. She knew, logically, that it would never work, but she couldn't stop her side of the bond from seeking him out. It wasn't supposed to end this way. They were supposed to have forever.

A comforting hand rested on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Mickey crouching down in front of her. "Come on, babe," he said quietly. "Let's get out of here."

Rose shook her head quickly, then squeezed her eyes shut at the bolt of pain that sent through her temples. "I can't, Micks. Five and a half hours, remember?"

"What do you mean, five and a half hours?" her mum demanded. "I'm not staying here for five and a half hours."

Mickey looked up at Pete. "Why don't you take Jackie to the mansion?" he suggested. "I'll wait with Rose and bring her over when we're done here."

"Oh no," Jackie's voice grew shrill. "No one's staying here. Come on, Rose. Get off your arse and come to Pete's with us."

Rose curled in on herself and wrapped her arms over her head. For several minutes, she was lost in her own world, focused on the place in her mind where the Doctor should be. She prodded at the empty spot, trying to get some sort of reaction from him, but nothing worked.

"Rose? Hey Rose, you can look up now," Mickey told her. "Pete convinced her to leave us behind."

Rose peeked up at her oldest mate. "Thanks, Mickey."

Mickey snorted. "Don't thank me yet. You're still going to have to explain things to her, and somehow I think the explanation won't make her very happy." He sat down on the floor beside her. "You're married, you and the Doctor. Aren't you?" He laughed when she looked up at him with wide eyes. "I've seen some interesting things since I started working for Torchwood," he told her. "It didn't take much to recognise a telepathic bond breaking."

Rose pressed her head against the wall and choked back a sob. "He's supposed to be there, in my head," she whispered. "And he's not, and it hurts."

Mickey wrapped his arm around her shoulders and encouraged her to lean on him. "We'll wait your five and a half hours, and then—if he hasn't come back—tomorrow we'll start looking for a way to send you home," he promised.

Five and a half hours passed without the Doctor or the TARDIS appearing in Pete's World. Rose swallowed the lump in her throat when the alarm Mickey had set went off. She'd known, really, that it was a minute hope, but it had been a hope all the same.

"Come on," Mickey said, jumping to his feet and holding a hand out for Rose. "Let's get you to the mansion so you can rest. Your first step to getting back home might be the hardest—because I don't think you've told Jackie you got married, have you?"

Rose shook her head as she dusted herself off. "It never seemed like the right time," she mumbled.

Mickey snorted. "More like, you didn't want to deal with her nagging. But you'll need to tell her now."

"I know." Rose sighed. "Maybe tomorrow."

But her mum was waiting for her in the living room when she arrived at the mansion, and it only took one look at the set of her jaw and the way her arms were crossed over her chest to know Jackie Tyler would not be put off any longer.

"Come on, out with it. What was that about, at Torchwood?"

Rose sighed and sank down onto the couch. Her headache hadn't abated at all, and the thought of having this out right here and now made her sick to her stomach.

"There's… The Doctor and me, we weren't just mates who travelled together," she said carefully.

Her mum snorted. "I saw through that ages ago, Rose. You looked at him like he hung the moon. Of course you were sleeping together."

Rose flinched. "That's not… I mean, we were—though probably not as long as you think—but that's not what I mean. We were… He's my…"

"Rose?" her mum asked when she didn't finish her sentence. "You were what? I don't think I like the way this sounds."

"Yeah, probably not," Rose agreed wearily. "We're married, Mum."

"You got married without me there?"

The disapproval in her mum's voice hit Rose hard, and she clenched her hands into fists. "It was… it was kinda spontaneous."

"You eloped? How long ago was this?"

Rose winced. "Six months."

"You've been married for six months? Why didn't you ever tell me? And don't give me that line about how, 'Oh, it was only a few weeks for you, Mum.' The point is, you had six months to tell me, and you didn't."

"We tried, a few times," Rose protested. "We were planning a visit when you called us about Elton, and then we got so busy... And we were gonna tell you today. We came to see you just for that."

"Six months would've been plenty of time to plan a proper, human wedding," Jackie continued, as if Rose hadn't spoken at all. She rolled her eyes. "Knowing that alien, I'm assuming you had some weird ceremony. Who knows if it's even valid anywhere else?"

"This is why I didn't tell you!" Anger and frustration erupted out of Rose. "Our wedding was one of the most perfect days of my life, and I couldn't bear for you to act like it wasn't good enough, just because it wasn't a regular human wedding!"

"Just a small ceremony, so I could see you get married. That's all I would have asked. Is that really too much?"

"Yes! When you'd have said things about how we need to get married properly and all that, as if my wedding wasn't proper! God, Mum, you just don't…"

The pain in her head intensified, and halos appeared around the lights in the room. Rose pressed her fists to her forehead until she thought she could move her head without throwing up.

"All that mattered was that it was the Doctor and me, giving each other vows."

Rose held her breath. She truly had no idea how her mother would react to that declaration, but she couldn't stand to hear another word belittling her wedding or her husband.

"You're right," Jackie said finally.

Rose blinked. "What?"

"It was plain to see that man adored you, and that's what really matters. Not where you got married."

Tears welled up in Rose's eyes when her mum sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she murmured. "I know how much it hurts. Go ahead and cry. You'll feel better if you let it out."

"It's not just losing him," Rose sobbed, finally letting her tears flow. "Time Lords shared a telepathic bond with their mates. We were connected in our heads, and now he's gone, and it hurts so much."

Rose felt her hair shift when her mum sighed. "Well then," Jackie said, "we'll have to find a way to get you home."

oOoOoOoOo

The next four months were the worst of Rose's life, especially when she inevitably compared them to the six blissful months that had come before them.

She worked twelve hour days at Torchwood, trying to find a way to get back home. Once Pete had understood what was at stake for her, he'd given her access to the dimension hopper plans and any other resources Torchwood had.

Her mum had apologised for sending Pete to take Rose away from the Doctor, and that was when Rose had figured out the other reason why she and the Doctor had never managed to tell her about their wedding.

"Because you wouldn't have tried to split us up if you'd known, yeah?" she'd asked, and Jackie shook her head. "But if you hadn't sent Pete back, I woulda fallen into the Void, Mum. So it had to happen this way, see?"

None of the research or support from her family did anything for her headaches. Pain medicine made them manageable, but she always felt like there was a part of her missing.

Until one night, she woke up and heard her name on the breeze. The Doctor was close, closer than he'd been since Canary Wharf. Rose roused her family and insisted on tracking the voice down. Her Doctor had come for her.

When they arrived on the beach in Norway, disappointment swept over Rose when the TARDIS wasn't already there, waiting for her. She turned a slow circle, listening for the wheezing sound of the engines above the cry of the seagulls, but instead, she felt the air shimmer around her and a sudden relief from her migraine. She spun on the spot and broke into a wide grin when she saw the Doctor looking at her.

Her smile faltered when she realised he was merely a hologram, but she refused to give up hope. He must still be in the TARDIS, on his way through.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Inside the Tardis."

His weak smile set alarm bells clanging in Rose's head. If he were here to pick her up, he should spinning around in manic happiness, his smile stretched across his whole face.

"There's one tiny little gap in the Universe left, just about to close, and it takes a lot of power to send this projection." He swallowed hard, making his adam's apple bob. "I'm in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye."

Rose could already feel the tears threatening, but she forced them back ruthlessly. If this was her last chance to talk to her Doctor, she wouldn't blubber the whole time.

"You look like a ghost," she managed.

The Doctor frowned and held out the sonic screwdriver. "Hold on."

Rose heard the familiar buzz of the device, and a moment later, his outline solidified. She took a step towards him, her arm outstretched. "Can I…"

The Doctor shook his head, and Rose could feel the swell of grief from him. "I'm still just an image. No touch."

No touch.

"Can't you…" Rose blinked several times. "Isn't there something… My head's killing me, Doctor," she finally cried out, hating her weakness at the same time as she was relieved to get the words out.

He raised his arm halfway, then dropped it uselessly back to his side. "I know, love," he rasped. "I'm so sorry."

The wind sweeping up off the water blew Rose's hair into her face, and she brushed it back impatiently. "Can't you come through properly?" she begged.

She regretted the question a moment later when guilt spread across the Doctor's features. "I would if I could, Rose, I swear. I tried, so hard. But the whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse."

In those words, Rose heard all his frustration as he'd tried time and again to find a way to her. She could see him pacing around the console room, trying to make the calculations give him the answer he wanted, and yelling at the TARDIS when the result still came back negative.

"Doctor… have you smiled?"

He furrowed his brow. "How can you ask me that, Rose?"

You promised, she wanted to say, but it seemed like a cruel promise to hold him to.

After a brief pause, the Doctor looked around at the beach. "Where are we? Where did the gap come out?"

"We're in Norway." It had taken them all day to drive there, but the time had flown by for Rose, because she'd thought home was waiting for her.

"Norway. Right."

Rose smirked; maybe she could tease a smile out of him. "It's called Dårlig Ulv Stranden."

The Doctor's pupils dilated. "Dalek?" he interrupted.

"Dårlig. It's Norwegian for bad" Rose looked out at the water, then back at him. "This translates as Bad Wolf Bay."

They shared a pained smile. Those words had brought them together once, and now they were tearing them apart. Something about that thought felt wrong to Rose, and she let it sit while she asked the most important question.

"How long have we got?"

"About two minutes," he murmured.

Tears started then, and Rose drew in a breath before speaking again. "I know you're probably gonna convince yourself that you were selfish to be with me, so I want you to remember that I love you."

The Doctor's shoulders drooped. "Rose."

Rose's chest was tight, but she made herself keep going. "I mean it, Doctor. I love you, and I will never, ever regret one moment of our life together. Do you hear me?"

He sniffed and his eyes were bright with unshed tears, but he nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"There's still a Torchwood on this planet. It's open for business." Rose stuck her chin out proudly. "I think I know a thing or two about aliens."

"Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth."

His pride was evident in every syllable, and Rose smiled a real smile for the first time since he'd told her this was goodbye.

"That's me."

She cocked her head and looked at her husband critically, taking in his weight loss and the circles under his eyes. He needed hope.

"Plus, Torchwood is the best place on the planet to develop trans-dimensional travel."

The muscle in the Doctor's jaw twitched. "I told you; it's impossible."

Rose allowed a slight smirk to play with the corners of her mouth. "I like to do six impossible things before breakfast, me."

"Rose, please."

"No, Doctor." She pointed at the beach. "This place is named after Bad Wolf. Do you remember what those words are?"

His fear flared over the bond, and Rose soothed him as best as she could from a universe away.

"They're a message to lead me back to you—to my Doctor. I must have named this place Bad Wolf Bay because I knew that when we were standing here, we would need some reassurance that I will get back to you." She smiled suddenly. "I promised you forever. My Doctor. This isn't the end for us."

After a long pause, the Doctor finally nodded. "Promise me you'll be careful, love," he pleaded, his voice low. "Right now, we're separated, but at least I know you're all right. If something happened to you…"

Rose smiled softly. "I promise, Doctor. I've got a whole team of scientists working with me. None of them will let me do anything until we know it's as safe as possible."

He nodded, and then Rose, knowing their time was ticking down, changed the topic. "What're you going to do?"

He swallowed hard and glanced away for a moment before answering. "Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life, last of the Time Lords."

"On your own," Rose said in a flat voice, knowing the answer before he nodded. "Doctor, it isn't good for you to travel alone," she said gently. "You need someone."

He sniffed, and his eyes filled with tears. "I need you."

Rose went hot, then cold, and she had to swallow twice before she could say anything. "I know. Me too, yeah? But find someone for right now, so that you're still there when I get back to you." Rose raised an eyebrow. "I'll be pretty cross if I come home and find out you've gotten yourself killed."

Amazingly, that got a watery laugh from the Doctor. "Oh, Rose Tyler, I love you."

The words eased a knot in Rose's stomach; she hadn't realised how much she needed to hear them. "I love you, too, Doctor. I'll see you later."

"Not if I see you first."

The words echoed, and the Doctor faded from the beach. Pain knifed through Rose's skull when their bond tore again, and she pressed her fist to her mouth to keep from crying out.

Alone, without a Doctor who needed her to be strong, and with an aching mind, the tears Rose had been fighting against seeped out. She stared at the empty spot where the Doctor's projection had been only moments before, then she turned towards her family.

One look had her mum running across the packed sand to wrap her up in a hug. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she whispered. "I know you thought you were going home."

Rose nodded against her shoulder. "I did, yeah. And you know what? I am going home. Just not today."