Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own anything, nor do I get paid for it.

A/N Thank you for the amazing response on the last chapter. Your reviews make my day, I swear!

A brand new chapter and a few developments coming up. I think this was one of my favourites to write.

Happy Reading!

Chapter Sixteen

Previously

"What is it?" he asked.

Rose was trembling lightly, her mouth open. "It-It's empty," she said finally. "Shada's empty."

"The Neverpeople, they must have got to them," said the Doctor furiously.

"Who the hell are the Neverpeople?" asked Rose, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes.

The Doctor sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "The Time Lords possess a temporal device called the Oubliette of Eternity," said the Doctor.

"Hang on, I've heard that before," interrupted Rose. "There's one of those here on Shada. It is supposed to be decommissioned…"

"But it isn't, yes, I know," said the Doctor. "It can wipe people out of existence, make it so that they were never born. Instead of simply vanishing, the people executed by such a method find themselves in the universe of Anti Time and become the Neverpeople."

"Anti Time?" asked Rose incredulously.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "These Neverpeople once created an Anti Time Bomb and tried to trick the Time Lords into detonating it on Gallifrey, thereby infecting the whole universe with Anti Time. But I stopped them then, by materialising my TARDIS around the Bomb to contain the explosion of Anti Time. But I was inside when it happened, and I got infected."

Rose gasped, but the Doctor went on. "The Anti Time inside me became sentient and gained the form of Zagreus, a creature from old Time Lord mythology. I isolated myself from the universe after that happened, choosing to go into the Divergent universe so that I wouldn't damaged the web of time. Unbeknownst to me, the Anti Time was drained out of me the moment I stepped into that universe. It took the form of someone else."

"Who?" asked Rose.

"Perfection," said the Doctor. "And now she's here. She was on that Dalek base we were sent to destroy, except the Neverpeople had already taken care of the Daleks. Perfection left a holographic message of herself telling me that they would attack Shada next and take the prisoners for the army of Zagreus."

"So, this Perfection is Zagreus?" asked Rose.

"No, she is a facet of him. Zagreus has a new body. I don't know who it is," he added to Rose's questioning look. "But he is calling himself the King and recruiting an army of Neverpeople."

"And these Neverpeople will fight the Daleks?" asked Rose.

"Not just Daleks, but Time Lords and in time, the rest of the universe too," said the Doctor darkly. "They have become bitter and twisted in that universe of Anti Time and all they want is for the rest of the universe to suffer just as they have. They have no other purpose but death and destruction."

Rose's brow furrowed slightly as she turned back to the mainframe. "What would you say is the opposite of Anti Time?" asked Rose thoughtfully.

"Time," said the Doctor, like it was obvious.

Rose shook her head. "Even more than that, it would be pure time, wouldn't it?" she asked.

"There is no such thing as pure time," said the Doctor at once.

"No, but there are beings comprised purely of time, aren't there?" she asked, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

The Doctor's eyes widened a little. "You said Shada is empty," he said.

"Relatively empty," said Rose, showing him the schematics of Shada on the mainframe. "See the orange parts? Those cells are still occupied by their prisoners."

"And who are housed there?" asked the Doctor, already certain he knew the answer.

"The Travesties in these parts," she said, pointing to the four corners of Shada. "And the beings infected with excess Artron energy over here," she added, indicating the central part.

"Two kinds of creatures that the Neverpeople couldn't convert," realised the Doctor. "Beings of the vortex and Time Lords who had so much Artron energy in their system that the instability fought off the Anti Time."

"Explains why the Neverpeople didn't take me," said Rose, shaking her head. "Fat a lot of good I was though, sleeping away without a care in the world."

"There had to have been someone here with you, Rose," said the Doctor.

"But I don't remember," said Rose, nearly growling with frustration. "There is no memory, no hints, not even a clue."

"Like it was never there?" asked the Doctor.

His words made her pause. "You think the Neverpeople took whoever was here," said Rose, looking aghast. At the Doctor's sympathetic look, Rose started pacing, trying her hardest to clear her mind and think.

"I could help you remember, Rose," said the Doctor delicately.

"How?" she asked, still pacing angrily.

The Doctor cleared his throat and looked a little uncomfortable. "I would have to use telepathy on you," he said.

Rose stopped pacing and stared at him. "No," she said finally.

He looked surprised. "Honestly, Rose, it wouldn't hurt and would only take a moment…"

"I said no," snapped Rose harshly, turning her back on the Doctor to fiddle with the controls on the mainframe.

The Doctor seemed taken aback at the abrupt response, but for once did not push and demand to know her reasons. He turned away from her and his gaze fell on something glinting on the floor. Curious, he bent and picked it up, recognising it as one of the silver charms that they gave at the Academy for outstanding achievements. They were usually engraved with the name of the person receiving it, along with their accomplishment but this one was completely blank. The Doctor looked at it thoughtfully before walking up to Rose and holding it in front of her.

"What is this, Rose?" he asked.

Rose gave the charm a cursory look and continued her work at the mainframe. "The thingamabob they give your lot at the Academy," she said absently. "Skelton must have dropped it," she added and then froze abruptly.

The Doctor had a triumphant look on his face. "Skelton?" he asked. "Who is Skelton?"

Rose bit her lip. "I-I don't know," she said, rubbing her forehead. She turned to the Doctor who was looking at her encouragingly. "He must have been here with me, right?" she guessed. "And now I can't remember him because the Neverpeople took him."

"I expect so, yes," said the Doctor. "Or he might have dropped this deliberately."

"Why?" asked Rose, confused.

"To keep a reminder of his existence," said the Doctor. "For you, presumably."

Rose was staring at the charm in the Doctor's hand. "May I?" she asked, extending her hand. The Doctor gave her the charm and she took a moment to examine it before looping the black thread around her wrist and tying it securely. "Alright," she said with a sigh. "Go on and have a peek."

The Doctor nodded with a small smile and touched his fingers to her temple. Rose did her best not to flinch but the Doctor felt it just the same. "You have to relax, Rose," he said. "Close your eyes."

Rose looked at his blue eyes with shades of green in them and closed her eyes. He cupped her face gently, holding his index and middle fingers at her temple and framing her face with his palms. Rose felt her face burn red and he surely felt the heat emanating from her cheeks too, though he didn't comment on it.

She felt it then, the gentle pressure against her mind, so painful in its familiarity that Rose stumbled back from him, the connection dislodging uncomfortably. "Sorry," she said, taking a few steps back. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor was staring at her with wide eyes. "Rose," he said, his voice sounding a bit hoarse. "I-I didn't realise...I should have known…"

"Stop," interrupted Rose, looking down in embarrassment. "It's alright, I just...it's been too long since we...I mean, not that we, as in you and I now have…" she cleared her throat and wished for a large blackhole to swallow her whole.

"Rose," he said, kindly. "I understand."

Rose averted her gaze and nodded slowly. "Let's try it again," she said, sounding determined.

The Doctor cleared his throat and nodded before resuming his position from before. This time when he entered her mind, the warm welcoming embrace of her mind was subdued and he could tell that she had developed quite sophisticated mental shields for a human. He was careful in his approach, being mindful of the fact that he could feel Rose trembling with the effort of holding herself back. It wasn't as if he was faring any better. Her mind was utterly fascinating and he knew that it would be quite easy to lose himself in her.

It was pulling him in already and the mere idea that he would one day share such an intimate part of himself with her was enough to make him dizzy and wanting to make himself at home. He made himself turn away from the alluring memories of his future and decided to focus on his task. He finally found the memories of the alternative timeline and pulled on the thread gently, unravelling the knot so that Rose could have the memory. His work done, he drew on every bit of strength he possessed and eased himself out of her mind.

Both of them shuddered as their minds separated, but neither of them moved even after they had opened their eyes. Rose had tears in her eyes and the Doctor brushed his thumbs just under eyes and Rose blinked, letting the tears fall. Ducking his head and looking at her for permission, the Doctor brought her lips to his and kissed her slowly. Rose froze at the first touch of his lips against hers, an ache building in her heart from the remembered tenderness of every kiss she had shared with the Doctor. It hurt when he kissed her, but only because she kept expecting the guilt to come pouring in and not understanding when it didn't.

The Doctor realised quite quickly that she wasn't kissing him back and he started to withdraw but Rose reacted on instinct and moved her mouth against his, parting her lips to kiss his top lip and then his bottom lip, letting her tongue dart past his lips to brush against his tongue. Abruptly the kiss went from a gentle gesture to one of urgency. Rose's hands tangled in the Doctor's hair, some part of her brain noting that it had grown longer after she had trimmed it the last time, while the Doctor's hands glided down her body to span her torso, his thumbs brushing absent circles just under her breasts.

It was only when he felt the conference table hit the back of his thighs that the Doctor realised how far things had really gone. He pulled away reluctantly and tried to control his breathing, realising that Rose looked just as surprised as him. Her face as red as the flower she was named for, Rose untangled her hands from his hair and stuffed them in her coat pockets. The Doctor let his hands fall from her body and cleared his throat, trying to think of a way to say something vaguely coherent.

Fortunately, Rose gasped and stepped back. "Skelton...an-and Eliana," she said, clapping a hand to her forehead. "Oh my god, how could I have forgotten them?"

The Doctor was about to launch into a long-winded explanation about alternate timelines but he was still feeling distinctly flushed. There was a stern voice in his head telling him that there was a war on that he ought to focus on rather than the woman he had just kissed. "Do you-erm, remember now?" he asked, clearing his throat once again when he heard how low his voice had gone.

Rose blushed deeper at his voice but kept her attention focused on the matter at hand, a feat the Doctor was still having some trouble accomplishing. "Yeah, I think so," she said. "How do we find out what happened to them?"

That snapped the Doctor out of the haze and he looked grave. "Rose," he said and that was all it took for Rose to understand.

"No," she said firmly. "They can't have."

"I am sorry, Rose," he said earnestly.

Rose stumbled back and clapped a hand to her mouth. "They were just children," she said, looking pale and shaky. "I said I'd protect them, keep them safe…" she trailed off as she sat down in a chair and buried her face in her hands.

The Doctor kneeled in front of her and took her wrists to guide her hands away from her face. "Rose, they knew what they were getting themselves into," he said softly. "They might not have been soldiers but they were fully aware of the risk involved."

"You didn't know them, Doctor," she said, though not unkindly. "They were so optimistic that this war would be over and they'd be back to doing what they always did. Eliana wanted to join the High Council and become President. Skelton, he wanted to teach at the Academy. They were looking forward to going back to their lives, Doctor," said Rose, her face contorted with anguish. "They were not prepared to die."

The Doctor nodded helplessly and folded her in his arms. Rose clung to him tightly and let her tears fall.

"Can we change it?" she asked, her face still buried in his neck.

"No," he said. "We have to go to Gallifrey. They will be able to isolate the timeline in the Matrix and we can see exactly what happened here."

Rose pulled away slowly and nodded. "What about the Travesties and those...oh my god!" she jumped up from her chair and ran to the mainframe, hardly noticing that she had almost knocked the Doctor back on his bum in her hastiness.

"Something wrong?" he asked, getting to his feet and walking behind her.

"The SER, it's rising," she said, looking at the rapidly climbing reading. "Eliana was using the brain patterns of the other prisoners to act as a scrambler to sever the link between the Travesties and the prisoners with excess Artron energy."

"And now the buffer is gone," realised the Doctor. "Come on, we have to leave," he said urgently, grabbing her hand.

"What about Shada?" asked Rose, looking reluctant to leave.

"Activate the defenses and reinforce any shielding you might have on the cells," he said. "How fast are the readings rising?"

"Pretty steady as far as things go," said Rose, following his instructions quickly, slightly unnerved at the two sets of memories that she currently had about operating the mainframe. "At this rate, they'll regain proper consciousness in about a week, maybe less."

"That's good, which means we have time," said the Doctor, snatching up her hand as soon as she had finished.

"Where are we going?" asked Rose as he pulled her back to her quarters where the TARDIS was still waiting for them.

"Gallifrey," he answered, unlocking the door and holding it open for her. "Is there anything in particular you need from your quarters?"

Rose looked around the room that had been home for a year and shook her head. "Let's go to Gallifrey," she said, walking past him into the console room. "We don't have a lot of time."

The War Council was already in session by the time the Doctor and Rose got down to Gallifrey's surface. They had remained stranded outside the transduction barrier for what seemed like ages, and given a thorough examination by the medics to check for any signs of Anti Time.

Rose had been uncomfortable enough at the poking and prodding as it is, and the openly curious and sometimes even fearful looks she was getting was grating on her nerves. She was all too glad when she and the Doctor had both been declared free of Anti Time radiation, and allowed to maneuver the TARDIS onto the surface.

Braxiatel was waiting for them, and he greeted them with a curt nod and a sharp look to follow him. Rose stuffed her hands inside her pockets, clenching and unclenching her fists, hoping to relieve her stress. She wished she could reach over and take the Doctor's hand, but he had both his hands clasped behind his back, and his head tall, the very picture of the Lord General.

She half-expected Braxiatel to lead them to the amphitheater that she had seen when she had first come to Gallifrey but instead he opened the doors to a darkened chamber that held an ornate scarlet and gold table decorated with swirls and loops of circular Gallifreyan. Golden chairs were placed on either side of the table, some of them occupied by Time Lords and the others empty.

President Romana sat at the head, still as a stone, her beautiful face pale and tired. Narvin sat at her left and kept darting surreptitious looks at her. A few seats down sat an old woman with Gallifreyan writing traced all over her papery skin with black ink. Her hand moved with a speed that belied her age, tracing writing on the parchment in front of her, while she muttered under her breath. The Time Lords seated around her deliberately kept their eyes off her.

When Braxiatel entered, silence fell over the council chambers, with the exception of the old woman who continued to mutter. Without missing a beat, Braxiatel took the seat to Romana's immediate right, leaving the Doctor and Rose to find their place. The Doctor sat down at the other end of the table facing Romana and nodded at Rose to take the seat on his right.

Rose slid into the stiff-backed chair, keeping her expression as neutral as she could in the face of the openly outraged expressions on some of the Time Lords' faces at her presence.

"Madam President," spoke up one of them at once, a Time Lord in green robes much like Eliana used to wear. "I must protest at the presence of an alien in our War Council meetings."

"Sit down, Lord Valyes," said Narvin. "She is the Lady Commander of Shada and you will show respect."

Rose only just stopped herself from gaping at Narvin. Of all the people present, she hadn't expected him to be the one who rushed to her defence. The Doctor also seemed to have found this curious, but he said nothing.

"Enough," said Romana when Valyes looked furious at having been told off by Narvin. "Coordinator Narvin's words go to anyone who disputes the presence of Lady Commander Rose." The remaining Time Lords dutifully lowered their gaze and Romana nodded in satisfaction. "We reviewed the footage from the Matrix," she began, addressing the Doctor and Rose.

"Was it the Neverpeople?" asked the Doctor sharply.

"Yes, they took the young Arcalian first," said Braxiatel. "It only took a touch for them to take her."

Rose's fists clenched at the mention of Eliana's death but she bit her lip and made no sound. "And Skelton?" she asked, her voice surprisingly steady.

"Skeltonoquirisuen was not killed by the Neverpeople," said Narvin. "He took his own life."

Rose stiffened. "Why would he do that?" she demanded in a low voice, her knuckles nearly white where she was clenching her fists.

Without moving his gaze from Narvin, the Doctor reached over and placed his hand over Rose's clenched fist, making her relax her grip.

"We found his charm," said the Doctor. "I assume he dropped it to leave behind a steady link for us to trace the timeline through the Matrix."

"Yes, he did," said Narvin. "The Neverpeople would have taken him as well, but he led them to the Oubliette of Eternity and then activated it, taking a few of the Neverpeople out with him."

"Then who took the prisoners on Shada?" asked Rose, trembling a little as she listened to what Skelton had done.

"The Neverpeople are many and the loss of a few that Skeltonoquirisuen destroyed did not inconvenience them," said Braxiatel.

"And now they have the rest of the lunatics on Shada too," said Valyes sourly.

"Not all of them," said the Doctor.

"We were under the assumption that Shada had been emptied," said Romana as everyone sat up a little at that pronouncement.

"The Travesties are still in their cells," said Rose. "As are the recent victims of the excess Artron radiation."

"Are their defenses holding?" asked Braxiatel sharply.

"For now, but the Stasis Energy Readings are rising," said Rose. "We have a week, maybe less before the Travesties are revived."

"Why were they not taken by the Neverpeople?" asked Narvin curiously.

"They are creatures of pure time, Coordinator," said the Doctor. "It seems the Neverpeople could not take them as easily as they took the others."

"That makes sense," said Romana, nodding along.

"You have the Lady Commander to thank for coming to that conclusion," said the Doctor, tilting his head towards Rose.

"Does the Lady Commander have a way of dealing with the Travesties too?" asked Valyes in a saccharine voice.

Rose had evidently been thinking deeply, and at Valyes' words, she gave him a cold look. "No," she said, hoping she sounded convincing. "I don't."

"Then it seems we have a battle on two lines," said Valyes, sitting back in his chair. "Zagreus and the Neverpeople, and the Travesties of our own history."

"And the Daleks, don't forget about them," said Romana. "Well, I have heard everything that I wanted to hear." She stood up and everyone hastened to get to their feet. "Lord General, you will call all the troops back to Gallifrey."

"Madam President?" asked the Doctor, evidently surprised at the order.

"You heard me, Doctor," she said, fixing him with a steely look. "All the troops come home, as do all Gallifreyans. As of this moment, I am ordering Gallifrey to be locked down. We are now under siege."

Rose sat on the floor with her back against the TARDIS's side, resting her head on the blue wood. The Doctor had returned only a few hours ago, having carried out the President's orders. He was currently debriefing his Commanders, but he had promised to come back to the quarters that had been ever so graciously been offered to them in the heart of the Capitol. They were nice enough, but Rose's attention wasn't on the decor at all.

She had forgone the comfortable sofa and the inviting bed to sit against the TARDIS in order to gather her thoughts. It helped that she knew what she had to do, but how she could go about doing it was still lost to her. The double doors squeaked open in a sound that was becoming all too familiar to Rose, and she stood up as the Doctor walked in.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"As well as I could expect it to," he said. "Some of them are glad, the others are indignant at our retreat. Mostly they are all scared."

"Nothing different there then," said Rose wryly.

"No, I suppose not," said the Doctor and then sighed. "I have to go soon and supervise the siege preparations. My TARDIS is one of the few that can wield the vortex well enough to craft some of the more sophisticated defences."

"How many defences are there?" asked Rose curiously as the two of sat down side by side on the sofa.

"Countless," said the Doctor. "They extended out from the Capitol in all directions."

"So the defenses get weaker as you get further away from the Capitol," said Rose.

"Or get stronger as you get closer," he countered with a dry smile. "Arcadia guards the Capitol. It is one of our best lines of defence. Nothing can quite compare to it, and as long as Arcadia stands, the Time Lords stand."

"And what about the transduction barrier?" asked Rose. "That's over the whole planet, isn't it?"

"The whole planet and a significant portion of the orbit around Gallifrey," said the Doctor. "Zagreus couldn't get past it before, and he won't be able to now either. We are as safe as we can be for now."

"But the war is still going on," said Rose. "Once the Travesties are revived, then what? They are some of the most brilliant minds that Gallifrey has ever produced. They would be able to counter those defences. Probably not immediately, but eventually."

The Doctor exhaled roughly and closed his eyes for a moment. "I believe Romana expects us to rebuild our defences and come up with better strategies on how to fight back when the time comes," he explained.

"Yeah, thought it would be something like that," said Rose. "She is buying you time."

"Yes," he said and then opened his eyes. "I have to go. Would you like to join me?"

Rose smiled a little at having been offered the choice but she shook her head. "I have some things I want to catch up on," she said. "Sleep, most of all," she added with a wink.

He grinned at her and kissed her forehead. When he tried to move, Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him properly. He made a pleased sound in the back of his throat at the action, but it turned into a loud moan when he realised just how much ardour was in that kiss. Rose wasn't holding back at all as she plundered his mouth with her tongue, as if mapping every inch of him with an almost tangible sense of desperation. Lost as he was in the kiss, he did not allow himself to dwell on the desperation of it, and kissed her back with equal fervour.

When they had pulled away, their lips were red and swollen and they were panting to catch their breath. The Doctor smiled and brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek tenderly.

"I'll be back before you know it," he said, keeping a grip on her hand as he stood up.

Rose stood with him and squeezed his hand. "See you then, Doctor," she said, swallowing back the sobs she could feel just waiting to burst forth.

He smiled brightly at her and went inside the TARDIS. Rose closed her eyes and let the dematerialisation sound of the TARDIS wash over her. When she opened her eyes again, she was alone and with a determined look, she went to the cupboard where she had stashed away a bag containing some basic clothes and supplies. She had got them from the TARDIS when the Doctor had been gone, and she double-checked that she had everything that she needed before hoisting the bag on her shoulder.

The door opened before she had taken a step and Rose dropped the bag behind her. Narvin entered the quarters and Rose's eyes went wide.

"Coordinator?" asked Rose, surprised. "If you are looking for the Doctor you just missed him." She discreetly pushed her bag behind the sofa.

"I am not here to see the Doctor," said Narvin, crossing his arms behind his back as he walked up to her. "Going somewhere?" he asked lightly, looking down at the bag.

"Nope, just stuff I brought over from Shada," lied Rose.

"Ah, I see," said Narvin. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a very bad liar?"

Rose stared at him. "Yes," she said.

Narvin nodded. "Yes, I thought they might have," he said. "You lied earlier too. At the meeting."

Rose looked a little startled before she glared at him. "You better not have been anywhere near my mind, Narvin," she snapped.

"I was nowhere near your mind, I assure you," said Narvin seriously. "But you did lie when you said that you didn't know of a way to deal with the Travesties."

"I might have," said Rose. "So what?"

"So, I need to know," said Narvin, his voice hardening. "Do you have a way to deal with them?"

"I might have," said Rose again. "Why do you care?"

"I care because I coordinate our war strategies and unless I am much mistaken you were about to return to Shada," he said severely.

Rose raised her chin defiantly. "So what if I was? You can't keep me here against my will," she said.

"I can, if I tell the Doctor," he pointed out.

Rose did her best not to scowl at him but her displeasure was apparent on her face. "The Doctor's not my guardian, nor is he my warden," she said, crossing her arms.

"No, he is far more important than that to you," said Narvin. "And you to him. Which is why you did not tell him what you planned to do."

Rose sighed tiredly and shook her head. "What do you want Narvin?" she asked.

"I want to help you," he said, looking very uncomfortable at the prospect.

Rose's brow furrowed. "Why?" she asked.

"Do I have to have a reason?" he snapped, more out of embarrassment than irritation.

"Yes," said Rose firmly. "Why would you want to help me, Narvin?"

"Because I feel responsible," he said, his voice rising angrily.

Rose looked taken aback at that. "Responsible for what?" she asked.

Narvin deflated suddenly and looked so tired that Rose felt pity rise in her heart. "Responsible for starting this war," he admitted in a small voice.

"I don't understand," said Rose, her mind whirling at his admission. She had always assumed that the Daleks had started the Time War. It made sense with their policy of destruction and lust for power.

"I started the Time War," said Narvin. "I sent Valyes back in time with a Time Ring to give to the Doctor so he could stop the Daleks back before their creation on Skaro. The Doctor didn't succeed, and my actions have brought us to the events we are seeing now."

Rose fell silent at that, unable to think of a single thing to say. Narvin saw her shocked face and chuckled bitterly. "You can me hate me even more than you usually do, but I assure you that you cannot despise me as much as I despise myself," he said. "If there is a way for me to set this right, I intend to do it."

"Alright," said Rose finally and Narvin looked at her, unable to believe it. "I need to get to Shada, and avoid anyone knowing about my departure. I will need some technical help and access to some archived information too. There are a few things I need cleared up before I can do what I am planning on doing."

Narvin nodded and drew out a bluetooth-like device from his robes. "This has a private line to me," he said. "Anything you need, you have to call me and I will find a way to get it to you. You will keep me informed about your progress."

Rose took the device from him and nodded. "It will take me some time," she said. "Is there a way to secure Shada to stop the Travesties from escaping?"

Narvin paused thoughtfully but nodded. "There is an old defence in place that will seal Shada to stop anyone from escaping. Or landing on it for that matter. No TARDIS will get past it, not even the Doctor's Type 40. You would be cut off from everyone but me."

Rose smiled wryly. "Don't worry about me," she said.

At her tone, Narvin looked at her speculatively. "You are not planning to survive this, are you?" he asked in a level voice.

"No," she said honestly. "If all goes to plan, I will be dead."

"What about the Doctor?" asked Narvin, still in that level voice.

"Just…" Rose swallowed and blinked back tears. "Just tell him I'm sorry. Tell him that I am so very sorry."

A/N Thank you for reading. Let me know what you thought.

Chapter 17 will be up next Saturday. See you then!