"Holy fuck," Rose gasped as she dodged a Sontaran gun, seeing it miss her feet by mere inches. She didn't know where her team was, and she certainly couldn't communicate with them via her Bluetooth earpiece, knowing that the smallest sound would attract the attention of the Sontarans. Instead she was forced to use a clicker that was attached to the earpiece she wore. She pressed it, holding it for three seconds, then released and gave two quick bleeps – her specific code for I'm alright.

Three short bleeps. Jake was fine.

One short, one long, another short. Gwen was fine.

Two short bleeps. Eric was fine.

She held her breath as she waited for the last signal, her heart pounding in her chest. The silence was far to long, and she was about to take off, regardless of the risk, when she heard two long bleeps and one short one. She sighed John was fine.

She thought back to how this war had started. It had been meant to be diplomatic talks with the Sontarans, who had been orbiting earth for several days. Talks had gone south (as they often did with species like the war-hungry Sontarans), gunshots had sounded, and now here they were.

It was their fifth day in the field, the first day Rose had been separated from her team. She scrambled into a small alcove in the abandoned house she'd made shelter in, clamping her hand over her mouth and nose to mask the sound of her breathing. From her hiding spot, she saw a pair of small black boots – definitely Sontaran – enter the house.

She'd been found.

She kept her eyes wide and her hand over her mouth as she watched him blunder about the house, tossing tables and opening cupboards so quickly that the doors came off. She stayed in her hiding place for several minutes, even after the alien had left, before slowly poking her head out of the alcove.

Empty.

With a sigh, she emerged from the small space, grabbing her large gun and checking her utility belt for all her equipment. When she knew she had everything, she slung the gun over her shoulders and grabbed the phaser from her belt, preferring it significantly.

She slowly opened the door, peeking around it best she could, only to come face to face with the Sontaran.

He gave her a wicked, cruel smile, licking his few teeth, before he shot her point blank in the chest.

The last thing she remembered was the darkness over coming her and her head hitting the ground.

She woke up with a jolt, her eyes popping open to see a cloudless blue sky. She remembered seeing the Sontaran…and…being shot? Her hands flew to her stomach, feeling for charred fibers or some sort of wound.

Nothing.

She forced herself to sit up, groaning as she did so. She looked down at her clothes and was shocked to see herself covered in blood. Her hand went to her ear, only to find her headset missing. She looked around and spotted on the ground. Quickly, she grabbed it and put in back in place.

"…Rose? Rose, are you all right? Rose, answer me! Rose!" John's voice sounded panicked through the earpiece.

She pressed her finger to her ear. "'S'me. 'M'alright." She grunted out, standing awkwardly. She heard several sighs of relief through the earpiece. She looked around the empty space around her once more, her eyebrows pinching into a frown. "What happened to the Sontarans?"

"We finally managed to get the device together. John threatened them – told them to run. You should have seen his face." Jake told her over the Bluetooth. Rose grinned as she imagined John going full Oncoming Storm. "Anyway, they're gone. Where are you?"

She'd missed the end of the fight? That was embarrassing. "Um," she looked at the old house – which was severely more worn-down than it had been before she'd hid in it. "I'm at the old Hutchison house. I'll be back at the tower in 5 minutes."

When John came home, anxious to see his fiancé after losing contact with her during the battle, he found her staring herself in the mirror again. Her hands were on her stomach, and she regarded herself with a confused frown. He came up to her side and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. To his surprise, she didn't sink into him like she usually did after a long day. He met her confused and fearful gaze through the mirror.

"I died today," she whispered. John felt his mouth dry out and his heart start to pound.

"What?"

"I was leaving the house and a Sontaran shot me. Right here." She showed him on her stomach. "I died. And then I woke up."

John drew in a shaking breath. "You must be mistaken, Rose. You're fine. I'm right here, everything's fine."

"No, I –" Rose started. "My uniform…"

John turned his head to see her uniform on the floor. Reluctantly, he let go of Rose, who didn't move, and went to pick it up. When he saw her standard-issue Torchwood armour, his blood ran cold. A whole had torn through the center, and the shirt was soaked in blood. His eyes widened and he felt his blood freeze in his veins as he looked at her. Their eyes met, both wide and terrified. He rushed back to her, wrapping her tightly to him, his eyes still wide. She returned the desperate embrace with as much force and desperation as him.

They didn't talk about the incident again, both dancing around the elephant in the room while pretending they were fine. Rose chattered endlessly about the wedding, which was coming up quite soon – two months – and John smiled at her as she rambled.

They tasted cakes – settling on a light banana flavor with – in Rose's words – a gorgeous frosting.

She tried on wedding dresses with her mother and Gwen; he tried on tuxes with Pete, Tony, and Jake.

It was Jackie who would bring on the next challenge – unknowingly of course, not noticing how her daughter's widened and she stopped in her tracks with the utterance of a single phrase.

"You haven't aged a day."

Rose had sped home, heart pounding in her chest, hands shaking, eyes wide. She'd been in the parallel world for 6 years now, with a brief period in earth Prime during her third year. How could she not have noticed?

She gasped when she felt a familiar energy build up inside her, pulling her car over to the side of the road to make sure she wouldn't endanger anyone. Her vision began to blur, tingeing gold, and time began to dance in her mind.

All that is, all that was, all that ever could be.

When she regained her vision, she managed to calm her shaking slightly, though with still vibrating hands she reached for her cell phone, pulling it out of her pocket and hitting speed dial 1.

"Rose? Aren't you with your mother?"

"I'm not aging." She breathed out. "I haven't aged since the Game Station. Oh, God, John! I'm not aging." He said nothing. "You knew?" Rose whispered, terrified.

He sighed on the other end. "I noticed a while back."

Rose let out a shaking breath. "Are you at home?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there in five minutes."

"Alright."