Next chapter is here…and I actually had to read everything over to remember what happened! Sorry, life kinda got in the way for a while. Hopefully you guys still like this story. I think I will put up a lot of new chapters in the next few days. But they will no longer have names because, frankly, I don't feel like putting any one there because they're just too stressful lol.

The Doctor looked over and found Rose laying on the floor beside him. She had been shot. She's hurt. The Dalek…it hurt her. That's all he could think about. There was no remedy for a Dalek 'extermination' beam, and Rose would soon be dead…if he didn't do something about it.

He was quickly at her side. He looked up to find the parallel version of himself also kneeling next to her. He felt a bit jealous of him; he seemed to really care about Rose. But, someone needed to take care of the Master (he still thought it was creepy that he looked just like him).

"No, you have to fight the Master. Find a way to make him see reason. I'm guessing that you've fought him before, yes?" The Doctor asked, desperately.

"Yes, many times. He's such a…," the parallel Doctor trailed off quietly.

The Doctor smiled sadly. "…a lost cause?"

The parallel Doctor looked at him and frowned. "Yeah."

"Go, talk some sense into him or something…anything to give me time to get Rose out of here and try to help her," the Doctor begged, "Please!"

"Alright, but if I don't see her again, please tell her that, though we may not have known each other long, I do care for her," he whispered, looking down at Rose's limp form.

"I certainly will," the Doctor promised gently. "Now go!" he bellowed.

The parallel Doctor shot up, and everything faded. There was nothing else for the Doctor except Rose, his Rose, lying on the ground dying. He gently placed one arm behind her back and the other under her legs and lifted her easily from the ground. He turned and spotted the Tardis and began to make his way towards it. He heard distant yelling and the sound of many Daleks, but it wasn't important now. He had to help Rose.

"You're too late to save her," a voice said.

Something about the voice made the Doctor turn around. Rassilion was standing there, in all his Time Lord glory. His robes were gently flowing around him, but there was no draft.

"You're too late," he said again.

The Doctor shook his head slowly. "No."

"She's going to die…," he told the Doctor.

"No!" He yelled forcefully over the noise of the fighting.

Rassilion looked pained and sad.

"Unless you come with me, she will die," he simply stated, prompting a look of incredulity from the Doctor.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"Come with me and she will not die," Rassilion repeated and started to walk away from him.

The Doctor looked down at Rose, who was rapidly fading, then back at Rassilion, who was rapidly retreating. He couldn't lose Rose again, not when he had just found her. So, in the end, he decided to follow Rassilion. He sprinted to keep up with the older Time Lord as he led him out of the room.

They entered a large hallway with many doors. Rassilion didn't pause at any of them until they were at the end. He placed a hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn the knob nor open the door. He didn't even turn to look at the Doctor when he next spoke.

"You must promise to not back out of this. Once we enter this room, there's no going back. Do you understand?" He asked, his voice demanding power and respect.

"Yes, I understand," the Doctor answered readily, sure of himself, and then, "Why are you doing this? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad. I mean, Rose is…very important to me. But, why?"

Only then did Rassilion turn to look at the Doctor. "Because, Doctor, she's very important to me, too."

The Doctor looked into the elder's eyes and Rassilion projected all of his past self's. It was a Time Lord trick. After all, any Time Lord could pretend to be another and have no proof of it because they could get new faces when they 'died'. It was the way that Time Lords proved who they were. The Doctor saw a man with black curly hair, an incredibly skinny man with long blonde hair, a hefty man with brown hair, another man with black curly hair, a man with a mustache, the parallel Doctor, a man with a beard, a man with no hair…wait. That's when he knew. Rassilion was trying to tell him who he was…who he really was. He wasn't just Rassilion, almighty ruler of the Time Lords…but he was also just like him, and particularly just like…

"You're…him? The parallel…me?" the Doctor asked. He really hadn't seen this one coming.

Rassilion sighed. "Yes, I am."

The Doctor didn't know what to think. He kind of wanted to tell him to back off. When did he get so jealous? On the other hand, he was about to save Rose, so he couldn't be too upset.

The steady drumming of battle in the Great Hall was getting louder, and Rassilion started to turn the knob of the door.

"Don't forget to tell her what I said," he whispered.

The Doctor nodded, knowing that he meant what the parallel Doctor had said about how much he cared for her. He looked down at Rose and noticed that her eyes were fluttering. Rassilion smiled sadly down at her.

"Take care of her, Doctor," he told him and opened the door, pushing the Doctor in without another word.

The Doctor almost dropped Rose, but he held onto her, thankfully. He looked around and froze.

"No, you can't! Rassilion, no!" the Doctor screamed, but it was too late.

Standing in the center of the room was Rassilion, his face turned towards a large oval in the center of the room which held the dangerous swirl that was the Time Vortex. He was telling it something, and his face was rapidly aging as he did so. The Doctor knew what he was doing.

"Doctor?" he heard.

He looked down at Rose and saw her eyes slightly open, but wow, she was so pale.

Rassilion turned to look at him then, his eyes gray and worn.

"Bring her…let her…look inside the Vortex. Let her see…time," he instructed in a gravelly voice.

"Rassilion, please. I…not like this," the Doctor muttered.

"You can't go back…this is what is meant to be," Rassilion shrugged and motioned for him to hurry.

The Doctor brought Rose over to Rassilion, who smiled gently down at her.

"She's only human. It will kill her," The Doctor whispered. "She can't handle it!"

"That's why I'm here," Rassilion answered, looking at Rose still, "Rose, I need you to look into my eyes. When you feel ready, look into the Vortex. Okay?"

Rose nodded tiredly and looked into his eyes.

Rassilion froze and the Doctor literally saw the life drain from his eyes as he gave it to Rose. Rassilion was old, yes, but he was so much more powerful than any normal Time Lord. His life and energy and power flowed into Rose, who was growing stronger and healing. Rassilion began to smile, and all the Doctor could do was stare at the phenomenon occurring in front of him.

Finally, Rassilion collapsed on the cold marble floor of the room. Rose's eyes were glowing bright gold, and the Doctor couldn't help but to remember the last time they were glowing the same color.

She looked at the Vortex then and the Doctor was amazed at what he saw.

Oooo, cliffie! Lol. Loving this chapter, which came off the top of my head. I made this up as I wrote it! Hope you like!