Rose woke up the next morning haunted by her dream. She was in Darlig Ulv Strand, Norway and it was that day again. It was a recurring dream she'd had since it had happened, and it'd played out in her head just as it had happened those years ago, with one exception. After the Doctor disappeared, in stead of turning away, she looked past where he had stood to the horizon. There she saw a man, pale of skin, naked with black eyes. She looked into him as he looked into her and suddenly it was night. Her dream would continue until she tried to look away, at which point she would wake. Sometime she would have this dream 3 or 4 times a night, this night she'd only had it once as she spent the night looking into the eyes of this pale figure, searching for something, anything, an answer maybe.

Her room was bright as she sunk low into her covers, into the warmth and comfort they provided. At once Jackie stalked in and pulled the covers off her. "Come on, get up, I've made you a cup of tea and some eggs."

Rose stumbled out of bed, yawning and stretching, clambering down the stairs and sleep walking into the dining room. Her eyes were barley open as she reached for her toast and found a hand instead. "Wh…what are you doing here?"

"Told you I'd be here tomorrow…which so happens to be today." The Doctor smiled as he bit into a crispy bit of toast.

"It's 6 o'clock in the morning." Rose exclaimed incredulously, blinking her eyes as she looked at her watch.

"Ahwell, nothing like a fresh start. These eggs are brilliant Jackie!"

"Thankyou, glad to see someone appreciates my breakfast." Jackie spoke more to Rose then to the Doctor.

"Oh, now that's just put me off my food right there." Rose pushed her seat back and stood up. "You two getting along is just…wrong. I'm going to go wash, have fun now kids." Rose smiled sarcastically and stomped upstairs to the bathroom.

"I just don't understand her sometimes," Jackie shook her head in Rose's direction, "spoiled is what she is. Oh look now what she's done, she's woken up the baby with her stomping around." Jackie put down the cloth she was using to wipe up the table and left the Doctor behind, alone, eating his toast. "Coming sweetheart."

When Rose returned downstairs, having taken her time scrubbing up, she found the Doctor sitting at the table staring into space. She sat opposite, waving a hand in front of his face. "Hello…?"

"Oh…uh…" the Doctor looked at her, away again then back at her. "Yes, sorry, what were you saying?"

"I wasn't saying anything." She paused as he looked away again. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, uh, quite. Sorry. Distracted. So." He banged both palms on the table, pushing himself back into his chair and then standing up, jutting his hands into his pockets and turning away to look around the room. "Tell me about last night."

After giving him a quizzical look, Rose answered. "Well, there isn't much to tell really. It was a weird sensation, and then suddenly, poof! A crowd of people, a dead woman, and no Doctor in sight."

"And you looked…?"

"Yes, yes I looked around, broke a few rules, and a few locks. Didn't talk to anyone, well, one woman spoke to me but…"

"So no sign of him?"

"Nope, no sign." Rose folded her arms on the table and sunk her chin into them, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes. "You're so similar to him, but, so different." She watched him pace the room randomly, looking at everything but her. "It's like…it's like you're missing something he had. He was always walking around with the weight of the universe on his shoulders, but he still had a spring in his step." She saw him stop, seemingly entranced by the pattern on the china in the glass cupboard in front of him. Rose raised her voice slightly. "I've been watching you…the past couple of years, trying to figure it out." She watched him pull out his black rimmed glasses, inspecting the pattern closer. "Trying to see what's different about you. You slink in and out of here, sacrifice you're ability to go to the ends of the universe and back, for me, a girl you never met before."

"Is this Russian?"

"You're not listening. You never listen. You ask questions. Then you leave. Then more is added to the tower. Then you come back. Then you ask more questions. I don't even know where you go!?" Rose stood up and walked towards him hurriedly, getting in between him and the Russian china.

"Right, well, I think I'd best be going, things to do, places to be." The Doctor backed away from Rose, turning around to head for the door.

She grabbed his arm. "No, don't go." Her words were stunted by a short intake of breath. She had never touched him before. Not on purpose. Not once in the entire two years. She thought that if she tried, her hand would go straight through him and he would disappear. He was the closest thing she had to her Doctor and she couldn't bear to see him gone.

The Doctor looked at his arm and then back at Rose as she pulled her hand away from him, holding it awkwardly suspended in the air. Rose looked at him and as he stepped back, she stepped towards him gently and asked softly, "I need to know what happened, why you are so different?"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his head and turned away. "Well, you know, what's different? What's different to you could be the same to someone else, if they were standing far away, like on a hill. Anyway, distance, perspective, parallel universes, cause and effect. It's all relative. Speaking of relatives, here comes one now. Hallo Mr Tyler!" The Doctor shook Pete's hand jovially, taking the distraction as a chance to make a beeline for the door.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rose pushed her bewildered father out of the way and followed the Doctor out the door into the front garden. The air was fresh and the grounds were whitened with morning fog. She saw the Doctors outline fading down the driveway."Doctor! Come back!"

He stopped. Turned on the spot and headed back towards her determinedly. She quickened her pace and met him in the middle of her front yard.

"I just want to know your story. I need to know." Rose pleaded with him, yet with determination rather then desperation lacing her voice.

"The only thing you need to know Rose is that I am not him. I am not the man you knew. And I never will be." The Doctor gave her a stern, terrible look, then, turning around, stalked off towards the gate without so much as a glance back.

It was later that afternoon when Mickey came riding up the driveway on his motorbike, cursing Rose's name. Rose was sitting on the front balcony, staring into space, after deciding to take the day off from her duties.

"Oi! You forget something!?"

"Huh?" Mumbled Rose, glancing at him casually as she pulled her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"Last night, I didn't have a way to get home. I had to walk home. I could've been killed!" Mickey threw down his helmet and folded his arms.

Rose stood up and moved towards him, putting her arms around him. "I'm so sorry Mickey, I wasn't thinking. I just wasn't thinking at all."

"Damn right you weren't thinking." Mickey sneered and looked away.

"Anyway, I'm sure you handled yourself really well, under the circumstances. I mean, you're alive, not eaten, are you?" Rose smiled at him and Mickey, faltering momentarily by looking at her, was suddenly seduced by her charms.

"Well, yeah, I did alright, on my own. Had a tranc on me." Mickey shoved her off him, turning to face her then kicking the dirt beneath his feet.

"Those wolves never stood a chance." Rose laughed and punched his arm gingerly, making Mickey give into a slight smile in the process.

"So, talked to Doctor Two yet about what happened?" Mickey moved towards the balcony, sitting down with a deep sigh.

"Yeah, he…"

"…just asked questions and took off?"

"In a nutshell." Rose sighed, and sat down next to Mickey, crossing her legs and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"He's a nutter, that one. I wonder where he goes?"

"Me too."