Rose chewed the inside of her cheek as the TARDIS made its way through the time vortex back to their time. She could not imagine something happening to her little brother. She loved that kid. The Doctor did too, she could see it in the set of his jaw.

Ignoring River and the other Doctor now, Rose ran out the doors as soon as the TARDIS landed. She was so grateful the Doctor had soniced her phone into a super phone like she had owned when they travelled together originally so her mum could get in touch when needed.

He had landed them in the backyard of her parent's mansion and she stopped short on her way to the doors. Playing in the yard was Tony, with their mother sitting on the porch drinking her tea. Rose looked at the Doctor but he seemed as dazed as she was.

"Well, what are you two doing here?" her mum said when she noticed them. "You're always welcome but if you phoned first, it would help."

"Mum what day is it?"

"Your anniversary. I'm not congratulating you again, sweetheart."

"Rose!" Tony torpedoed into her legs, a bundle of endless seven-year-old energy. Rose dropped down and looked him over. He seemed perfectly fine. She kissed his blonde head and tried to act normal.

"Hey, it's good to see you."

"Rose, you wanna play? I have new swing!" He pointed proudly to the new piece hanging from a nearby tree. "Doctor!" Tony next ran to her husband. "You want to play, too?"

"Oh, I see you got your box working," her Mum nodded to the TARDIS sitting on the lawn. Tony's eyes got huge, but their mother cut him off before he even got a chance. "No."

"But Mum!"

The Doctor dropped down on a knee and whispered conspiratorially, "I promise you can go on a trip, but your sister and I are making sure it's safe first. But, another day, promise." Tony gave him an impromptu hug.

"Who's that?" Jackie asked, noticing River and Eleven stepping out of the TARDIS.

Rose and Ten looked at each other. "Uh… he's um…"

"A couple of friends," Rose said smoothly. "This is Professor River Song and her husband."

"But, we were all just leaving. We'll see you later, Jackie," Ten said before anyone had a chance to say any more.

"Come round for dinner!"the woman called. They waved noncommittally and headed back for their ship.

Hustling the others back into the TARDIS, Rose turned to her Ten. "How can he be okay? Do you think we've come back to the wrong time?"

"I suppose it's possible. May I see your mobile?" She handed it over. "Uh, Rose. The last call you made on this was talking to your mum this morning at breakfast."

"What?" He showed her. "But, that's not possible!"

The Doctor scanned it with his sonic screwdriver. "It hasn't been tampered with. But, we heard it ring earlier, heard you talking to your mother! What is going on?"

"Anything we can do to help?" River asked.

Ten shrugged. "Any ideas?"

Eleven scratched his head with his sonic. "I think someone was trying to draw us back to this time. I doubt your little brother was ever in any danger at all."

"How could someone do that?" River asked.

Timeless started to hum behind them. Rose jumped. She had forgotten the girl was even in the TARDIS with them. It was a creepy, haunting song. She was mumbling the words under her breath. Between the stress of the day and the serious worry that her little brother was injured in some time without her there, Rose had to stop herself from seriously snapping at the creepy Timeless.

Ten must have caught her expression. He laid a hand on each other shoulders. "We'll figure this out, I promise." He kissed her forehead.

The lights around them dimmed. "Low on power," Eleven noted.

"We'll have to take her Cardiff, get her refueled over the rift. She isn't used to being out yet, should've probably taken her there first, but got a message from a certain Time Lord and Rose thought we should check on you," Ten said.

"Well, I'm glad Rose is nice then," Eleven winked at her.

Ten set the TARDIS into motion. "There we go," he said once they felt the final bump of landing. "Cardiff, roughly fifty years in the future."

"Why move time zones?" River asked.

"Someone wanted us in that time, trying to draw us in. To what I don't know, best simply throw them off," Eleven explained.

"We could be here for a bit." As Ten said that, Rose gave him a meaningful look. "Uh, Timeless, River, would you like to get something to eat?"

River raised an eyebrow at them but looking between Rose and Eleven she caught on quickly. They both gently hauled the still mumbling Timeless down the hall.

Eleven looked wary to be alone with her. He almost seemed to Rose to be avoiding her. She sat on the rubber and tile floor next to him. Rose wanted to playfully bump his shoulder but after her experience with River, she didn't think it worth the risk of collapsing the multiverse.

After a moment of awkward silence, he finally cleared his throat. "So, uh, how are you doing, then?"

"Uh, good. Really good… yeah," Rose said lamely. "Still getting into all sorts of trouble?"

"Trouble? Me?" Rose just looked at him. "Well, I suppose."

They fell into silence again. How long had she waited to be able to talk to the Doctor again? Rose had gone over and over in her head what she would say to him in this moment, alone with the Time Lord. It was a moment she had convinced herself would never happen. And, now that she had the chance, she could not think of what to say.

Rose only had a few minutes before the others would come back so she finally burst out the one question she needed an answer to more than any other. "Why?"

Her voice broke so she started again. "Why did you leave? You- you left! You walked away. And, then chose to be with someone else."

"Rose…" He seemed lost for words, but this was an opportunity she was likely to never have again.

"Doctor. Did you ever care for me?"

His eyes grew wide. "You know I did. I just wanted you to have the best chance at happiness possible. I never exactly intended there to be two of me. You would have had to choose one of us in the end. And, he truly is me… I left- I left because I cared for you more than anything else. I couldn't give you that human life, that last great adventure. But, he could. That's everything I wanted for you."

"But, River-"

"My life and relationship with River has been something different than what we were. The decisions I have made since that day do not diminish how I felt." He turned so he was facing her fully. "You are still so brilliant and so beautiful." He fell silent looking into her tear filled eyes.

They both had changed so much. It had only been a few years for her, and several hundred for him. But, each of them had changed in large ways and small. She was so glad that she had her Doctor, her beloved part-human husband. She remembered this man's words from earlier in the day, shouted at the man he had left behind, "I left you with what was most important!"

This man was different than the one who had walked away, but she could not deny that she loved him still. It was complicated, so very complicated. She loved both. And, at the time she might have wanted to change it, to chase this man down. But, she saw now that he had lived his life and she had lived hers. He was unable to give her himself so he had tried to do the next best thing.

It still hurt, but it was something.

Tears flowed down her face now. "My Doctor." She laughed brokenly. "My brilliant Doctor. My hero."

"No, Rose, you were my hero. The one who saved me when I was so very lost," he whispered. The Doctor reached a hand up to wipe away her tears only to realize he couldn't. His eyes softened.

"Rose Tyler… I love you. I always have."

For a moment, Rose's heart simply forgot to beat. How long had she waited to hear him say that? He smiled at her now, gentle and sad. No matter what had happened in the past, no matter where the future would lead next, Rose would remember this. They would forever be on separate paths, but she would always know that he loved her. That was enough.

"I love you, too," Rose told him softly.

Eleven and Rose jumped as the lights brightened around them, the TARDIS back to full power. They turned and stood as River and Ten came back in, Timeless trailing in their wake.

Ten glanced at Rose and she gave the slightest nod. She was okay. He clapped his hands together, "Right, next order of business, finding the other part of the TARDIS conscious."

"How are we going to go about that?" River asked. Timeless was back to her whispering in the corner near her. "And, what about this one?"

"Well, I have a handy little device here. It should go ding when it finds the consciousness!" It dinged. "Oh, that was faster than I expected…" Ten mused.

"Where is it?" Eleven asked.

"Right above us…" They all looked up as though they could see something through the TARDIS roof.

"The signal is coming from above us?" Rose asked.

"Ship in orbit," Eleven guessed.

"Tick Tock," Timeless said from her corner.

Ten moved over to her. "Tick Tock?"

She turned her strange blue-green eyes to him. "Tick Tock, goes the clock. Time is running out."

The ship around them began to move. "We're not in flight!" River shouted, pointing out the still time rotor in the center of the console.

"No, we're caught in a chronon loop," Eleven said checking the readings. "Ship in orbit?"

"I guess we're about to find out who stole her and why." River checked the readings, her face looking grim.

"What is it?" Rose asked. Last time this had happened, they had been pulled to a dalek ship. Could it possibly be something worse than that?

River and Eleven exchanged a look. "It's the Silence. They've pulled us onto their ship."