A/N Okay, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT NOTE: To any old-school fans who have seen all the old episodes and know about the people I mention in this chapter: sorry if I completely mess up the whole idea of what they are and everything but I wanted to do something different and so I twisted them to suit my purposes – I know a lot of what I say in this chapter probably isn't factually true, in accordance with the show, but I thought it was a good idea anyway.

To those of you who haven't seen them: Don't worry, you don't really have to have seen them to understand this chapter… just the part about the man knowing the Doctor but that isn't that important.

Also I'm really sorry about there being no Doctor in this chapter but I'll probably put up the next one in the next two days to get on with it, I just really wanted to explain this bit well.

So yeah: Please enjoy, I hope I don't let anyone down and, as always: REVIEW!

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Doctor Who because if I did Rose would have either not been pulled into the alternate universe or she would have stayed after Journey's End. Grr, wishful thinking.

Chapter 5: the Guardian

Rose was thrown violently down onto the grating as the TARDIS dropped, into what exactly she could only guess. She threw her arms out in front of her, hands slamming painfully into the floor as fire started erupting around the room and the ground grew hotter to the touch.

Tears streamed down her face as everything rushed through her mind in a second flat; the thought of dying, of never seeing the Doctor again, never being able to kiss or hold him again. The thought of the beautiful ship she was inside burning along with her, the fire taking down the Doctors oldest friend.

No. This can't happen, she thought, struggling to her feet and stumbling to the console, hitting buttons and slamming her hands down around it helplessly.

'Come on!' she screamed towards the centre that usually glowed a brilliant blue-green. 'Get us out of here!'

A low, pain-filled groan emitted from the ship, a clear sign that the old-girl just couldn't do what Rose was asking of her. She knew the fact that the TARDIS had lost the ability to communicate telepathically with her, only able to use the noises she used to communicate with his other companions to speak, was a sign that it would soon be over.

The young girl fell to her knees in sobs, still clutching the sides of the controls above her head, fingers turning white as she gripped the console out of fear and desperation, thinking of the Doctor, seeing his face in her mind – her sobs increasing at the thought of never seeing him again.

So lost was she in her despair that it took her a full second to notice that the moment she fell to her knees the ground had stopped shaking, the noises coming from the TARDIS had stopped and the sound of things crashing down around her had come to a halt.

Her head snapped up and as she saw her surroundings she stumbled back to her feet, stepping back a few paces in complete and utter disbelief.

The flames that had been started remained around the room, but they did not flicker or sway or grow. The pieces of the crumbling TARDIS were suspended in mid-fall just as the smoke from the flames was suspended in mid-air. She gaped at it, tears stopping - her confusion and shock too great to allow any other emotions through.

'I suppose you are wondering what's happening,' came a voice from behind her. She spun quickly on the spot, eyes meeting a figure standing on the other side of the TARDIS, a few meters away from the controls.

He was old, at least 60… from what she could tell. He wore a white, buttoned-up suit with two small pinned-on red flowers on the lapel and a beige brimmed hat. She backed up another step, cautious but finding herself wondering who would transport themselves there in the first place.

'I assure you I am nothing to fear child.' He spoke again, not moving from his place and looking rather indifferent to everything going on round him.

Finally finding her voice Rose found herself angry, she didn't like not knowing what was going on… not any more. 'What the bleedin' hell is going on?' she demanded in a voice that sounded a lot more confident than she really was. 'What have you done? Why's nothin' moving?' She finished, slightly hysterical as she gestured to the hovering objects above their heads.

'I shall explain,' he said calmly, almost as if he was ignoring her little speech. 'But I do not wish to be interrupted.' When he was met with silence he continued. 'Who I am does not concern you; it is what I am doing here that does. To put it in a way that might make you pay closer attention to the rest of what I have to say… I knew the Doctor once a very long time ago – or I'm sure it seems that way to him.'

Rose looked up, not sure whether she should dare to hope, just to have it crushed if this somehow turned out to be another trick from the Daleks or something. Ideas crowded her mind but her mouth remained closed, wanting to hear his full explanation before deciding. What could she do anyway? She looked down at her feet. After years of working with Torchwood she did not like the feeling of being helpless.

'I have recently come into full possession of a rather valuable and dangerous item that is known as the "Key to Time".' He paused here, as if waiting for some sort of recognition but continued in a stoic expression when her facial features did not even twitch at its mention. 'This device has the power, when absolutely necessary, to stop everything for a moment… just a moment, but then when time comes to a stop a moment can last forever.' At this the corner of his mouth turned up just slightly. 'If the carrier is knowledgeable enough he or she can extend that moment as I am doing now.' He paused here, allowing time for the human to take in everything she was being told, but was surprised when she jumped straight in with a question, she was faster than he had thought… perhaps the Doctor wasn't as crazy as he thought, associating with humans.

Rose felt as though if she intervened here she wouldn't get her head bitten off and so she spoke quickly. 'But why?' And then she surprised the man further. 'Something that powerful, and you said yourself it's dangerous… it can't come without some sort of side-effect or somethin'?' Her words coming out as more of a question than a statement.

'Yes, that would be true unless it is used in the direst of circumstances. But you see the Doctor is breaking. His control, his mercy and his compassion are slipping, everything that makes him who he is… or was. Before the Time War this would have made no difference to the rest of the world but being the Last of the Time Lords he is also entrusted with the title of Protector because there is no other that could, or would, do the things he does constantly. This universe needs the Doctor and the Doctor needs you – therefore we shall give you to him.' The man raised his arm high in an ominous gesture.

She threw her own arms up in front of her in a sort of protection she knew would be useless against anything he could do to her, especially if he was telling the truth. 'WAIT!'

Of course she wanted to go back to the Doctor, if that was indeed what he was suggesting, but she needed to know what exactly was going to happen to her first. She rushed her words as he looked up at her in annoyance. 'First I want to know who you are and how you can do this and second I want to know how exactly you are going to get me back to the Doctor… that is what you're going to do yeah?' She ended, insecurity peeking through her otherwise strong façade.

'Very well but I must hurry,' he spoke, lowering his arm again. 'I am a guardian. We and the Eternals exist beyond time and therefore must control the balance of what you might call the "status-quo" of the universes – we are immortal.' Her eyes widened as she thought of the implications of what he had said. As far as she understood, not even the Time Lords had that sort of power.

Her eyes shifted as the man… the guardian pointed to something to the ground of the TARDIS. 'When the Doctor received his hand back he didn't think about what it might hold inside. It is a limb that has been preserved since it was part the way through a regeneration cycle and so it still retained some of the power or essence of regeneration. It contains a certain amount of the same energy that gives the Time Lords the ability to cheat death and when Donna Noble set foot aboard this ship a fraction of her Huon particles were set free into the air, being a human she obviously could not contain them properly throughout the activation process.'

Rose looked at him confused, how had Donna just been pulled into the conversation? 'What has this got to do with getting me back to the Doctor?'

The man chuckled condescendingly at her. 'Getting you back will take to milli-second to achieve it is what I will do before you go back that is important. As I said, the world needs the Doctor and the Doctor needs you – it is no longer a want, since the first connection you shared, what you refer to as a kiss, you were bonded, and with your death comes the destruction of the Doctor.' He saw her about to interrupt again and rushed on. 'Not by outside influences but by his own doing. He may continue to live on but even when Gallifrey still existed a true bonding was very rarely witnessed and interspecies-bondings up till now have been impossible, or have been assumed to be. Usually the living party would live on, eventually move on but would never share the same connection with anyone else. But by the losses he has already suffered this is the one that would lead to his final obliteration. Because of all this we can not allow you to remain as… mortal as you are now. You must live alongside the Doctor until his time runs out, then and only then may you leave this world.'

'What and don't I have any say in this?' Although her tone was harsh inside her heart filled with hope. Her eyes had once again filled with tears as she heard about what he would go through, what she realized he WAS going through now, but the idea of being able to stay with him for a real forever, being able to keep her promise… the reality of it was beyond her wildest dreams.

'You cannot hide your feel emotions from me; I already know you will agree. But we must finish this now,' he said, his tone turning urgent. He raised his hand again and drew it back down, clawing the air as if a draw something out of it. And as he did, in his upturned palm a misty ball of all too familiar golden light gathered, shimmering powerfully, coming from different points in the TARDIS, a fair amount being dragged from the hand that still lay on the ground.

'This is the Huon particles – so ancient and everlasting that their, when used properly can help to extend the span of a life form - and regeneration energy combined. It will be absorbed into you and contained so that you may control it better than average humans would. You will still be human; you will not regenerate because the energy will be always inside of you, protecting and healing you – if you are fatally wounded it will only take a small amount of time for them to rejuvenate you. There are other things that will come with this but we have no more time. Use this gift wisely Rose Tyler, no other human has ever meant as much to the universe as you do and we are not in the habit of helping lower-beings, count yourself blessed Wolf.'

She blinked in surprise at the nickname and any remaining doubts left her as she braced herself, seeing the light moved from his hand and drift towards her. 'One last thing then yeah? What was that heart beat I kept hearing before?' She said, surprised that she had even remembered after all this.

'That was the TARDIS. She knew something was going to happen and was calling out, trying to warn you. Next time I'd mention it to the Doctor, he would've known.' She could not stop the slight blush that came with the reprimand and started to get slightly giddy as she knew she got minutes closer to seeing her Doctor again and never having to leave his side again.

Then the light covered her skin, almost like it was attaching itself to her on the outside, just like a new layer of skin. The shimmering calmed as it settled over her, but it was only a second before her entire boy began to burn. She looked up at the man, who seemed to be less solid than he was a second ago.

'It will burn like the sun but your body will shut itself down before it becomes unbearable. When you wake up you will be given temporary knowledge, enough so that you can return to your Time Lord but after that you will have to relearn that knowledge.'

The pain intensified, seeping below her skin. She glanced down and saw the light sink underneath her skin, being absorbed through her pores, invisible tongues of flame licked at her body and she fell to the grating, curling up to stop her scream of agony escape.

The man face was suddenly above her, swimming in and out of her vision. 'I will send you into the Vortex until then. Tell the Doctor the White Guardian assembled the key and returned the loyalty he was shown. You will both figure out the rest. Goodbye Wolf.'

With that he was gone and she was left alone as the sound came roaring back all around her, the TARDIS humming in confusion for probably the first time in her life… or existence. The last thing Rose heard was the beautiful sounds of the ship being transported into the Vortex and the feel of the shaking stop as her eyes closed and darkness claimed her, just as she thought "Other things will come with this?" Why did he have to be so cryptic?

A/N So, information heavy a bit and again; sorry to any old-school fans who know that I probably just massacred the whole idea of the Guardians and Eternals, I just wanted to do something different – I wasn't to concerned with sticking to their actual stories and abilities etc. Please, I am hanging out for your reviews. The past two weeks have been stressful because I couldn't decide what to do with this chapter since I really wanted to do something different instead of just saying it was Bad Wolf again. Reviews are love! :D