"Rose?"

"Jack?" Rose breathed, hugging him tightly. "What the bloody hell is going on?" she looked around at the desolate city through a small window in the door.

"I was just about to say the same thing!" Jack exclaimed, pulling Rose to his chest in a bone-crushing hug. She returned it with equal enthusiasm, though with not as much force. "I never thought I would see you again! I spoke with the Doctor, a little while ago. He said you were in the parallel world, with the metacrisis." He pulled back from the hug but placed his hands on either of her shoulders, leaning in close to examine her face.

She sighed, "I was. He died."

She was immediately pulled into another hug.

"I'm sorry, Rose." Jack muttered. "What happened?"

"Um," Rose bit her lip, "he died of old age."

Jack said nothing, but Rose felt him stiffen up beneath her before he stepped away from her, hands on her shoulders again, his eyes wide.

"I'm…um…I…what's going on here anyway?" Rose stumbled over her words before deciding to change the subject.

Jack sighed and gave her a look that clearly said that was a terrible segue but he told her anyway. "A couple weeks ago and alien race flew over earth and demanded resources – oil, crops, even slaves. We turned them down. They've been attacking since. You're lucky you arrived in the day – they usually only attack at night, only a few of them are out when the sun's up. I think it hurts their eyes." Jack launched into detailed explanations of what had happened since the invasion. She winced when he talked about the massive amount of deaths, of their attempts to fight off the alien race that had yet to succeed. Every night, out came the aliens to take as many people as they could to sell them into slavery.

Rose felt her face harden as Jack talked, anger burning gold in her mind and pumping adrenaline through her system.

"Have you called the Doctor?" She asked Jack when he was finished talking. If anyone could stop the invasion, it was the Time Lord.

Jack nodded, rubbing his temples with his hands. "I called him a month back. He said he'd come, but no sign of him yet."

"Right." Rose sighed. She stood at attention and saluted Jack. "I was the Major-General of Division Bad Wolf, Torchwood One, Universe 48-D-Binary-52309." She told him matter of factly. "How can I help?"

Rose meshed in quickly with the survivors in Cardiff. During the days, she did everything from teach civilians basic defense to getting food for the refugees that were now living in what had been Torchwood tower. She was easily accepted into the group – anyone who was alive and could help was treated with respect from most people.

Which was why she was out in broad daylight, on a mission to get as much food as possible, wearing the old black Torchwood uniform that she'd been wearing on her arrival in this universe, with a large gun strapped over her shoulder. Her utility belt held a plasma gun, a sonic screwdriver of her own construction, a stun gun, a regular pistol, and ammunition.

She felt like she was carrying a bloody hip pack.

While going grocery shopping.

Through a bloody minefield.

Hearing a twig snap, she quickly swung the obscenely large gun into position. It was a modified version of the Dalek-killing guns she'd used the last time she'd been in this universe. She and Jack had spent days making it more efficient and quicker to fire, meaning she could shoot several rounds faster. They'd consider taking out the Dalek-killing capabilities altogether, but she'd reasoned, through gritted teeth, that they never knew when the damn things would show up, and they'd best stay prepared.

She lowered her gun immediately when she saw the frightened civilians, holding one hand up in apology. The gun was slung back into its resting place on her back, and she advanced towards the person – a older man, white hair, wide around the center. She recognized him immediately.

Wilf Noble.

What on earth was he doing in Cardiff?

"Mister Noble?" She called, jogging towards him. She brushed away grime she could feel on her face, unsure if he would recognize her.

"Miss Tyler?" He asked, his eyes widening in shock. She smiled at him, and, impulsively, she gave him a quick hug.

"What are you doing here?" Rose asked him. "'S'not safe."

"Sylvia and I," Wilf indicated his daughter, who looked worn down and tired, "we're trying to get to Cardiff. The Doctor, he's mentioned it before…he said there were people who would know what to do there."

Joy was tempered by worry in her heart. "Donna?" If the woman were brought to Torchwood – where the Doctor had been called to – she might remember. And she couldn't. She couldn't.

But Wilf shook his head, "She's off with her boyfriend on some trip." Rose could see the worry in his eyes. She reached forward and put her hand on his shoulder, wishing she could offer him some sort of help.

She turned and looked at her team. They were mostly civilians, although some had been training with longer than others. They watched the interaction from a distance.

"Right," Rose said, stepping away from Wilf. "Danny, Ellie, I want you to take these two back to the Hub." The two she'd asked for looked at each other, hesitant to separate from the group. "It's still broad daylight and you've done really well in your training. Just be careful," she stressed. "I've put a lot of work into you. And these are my friends." A light chuckle went through the group. She turned backed to Wilf and Sylvia, what she hoped was a reassuring smile on her lips. "Danny and Ellie will take you to where it's safest. I'll see you when we get back."

"Stay safe, sweetheart," Wilf said quietly before following Danny and Ellie, Sylvia moving quickly behind him.

Rose said a quick prayer, squeezing her eyes shut, hoping Donna was safe, wherever she was. Then she settled her shoulders. "Let's keep going."

"Rose, you should get some sleep." Jack's voice interrupted her thoughts. She was looking through old books, looking for anything that would help them defeat the Baranthabas (it had taken weeks to identify the aliens attacking them).

Now, three months into the attack, they were still in the same position. People were going missing by the hundreds, and Rose was starting to feel the weight of those people on her shoulders.

"Don't need much sleep, me," Rose muttered, flipping through an old book on alien technology that had fallen to earth.

She heard Jack sit next to her, and looked up to meet his worried eyes. He said nothing, but Rose knew what he was wondering.

With a sigh, she put down the book and leaned back, rubbing her face with her hands. "It was all going so bloody well, Jack. We were working for Torchwood, living together, and we were so happy. We got engaged, we were planning our wedding…

"And then the Sontarans came. We'd been fighting them for five days when I got separated from my team. I got shot," she ran her hands over her stomach, "and I died. Then I woke up." She said bitterly.

She felt Jack stiffen beside her, and knew that he was now hungry for details.

"And then my mum pointed out that I hadn't aged a day. And I mean literally – I haven't aged a day since…"

"Bad Wolf," Jack whispered, finishing the thought for her. He reached around and hugged her tightly, and she returned the embrace with fervor.

"Exactly. Anyway, We got married anyway, and we lived together until he died of old age. That was 218 years ago." Rose said, feeling bile rise in throat. "Everyone died. My mum, my dad, John, even my little brother Tony."

"Why didn't you come back?" Jack asked her, his voice tense.

"I…" Rose stumbled, "My life was there – my family, my job, everything. And I couldn't…I couldn't leave them. It took me 64 years before I was finally able to stop going to their graves everyday. I wanted him to know what was going on in my life, and that I missed him." She let out a sob.

They stayed entangled for several minutes, Jack gently stroking her hair and her sobbing into his grip. They took comfort in knowing that they were no longer alone – immortality couldn't be quite so bad if you didn't have to suffer through it alone.