The TARDIS knew what she had to do. Necessary steps to keep her thief safe, but more than that, to ensure that he would save the yellow girl who was more than a girl. She reached out to that little bit of the Time Vortex, that little bit of her that lay dormant inside her other daughter. She'd already done it twice. This would be the third time.

It'd been a long time since she'd seen the yellow girl. Not long for her other daughter, but long for her. They would be together again though. Soon. Then things would be as they should. Her thief would be safe. The yellow girl would be safe and the little one. That's when everything would change, but a good change.

Her thief had suffered enough. Would suffer more, but in the end he would have what he deserved. He would have his forever.

Rose materialized next to a set of closed shops. I like a little shop. The memory made her smile. She missed the Doctor so much. Seeing his future self and realizing that she wasn't with him anymore hurt, but Sarah Jane was right, he was worth getting her heart broken.

She was in love with him. Had been since he wore leather and talked with a Northern accent. It took some getting used to after he regenerated, but her feelings didn't change. He was her Doctor no matter what he looked like. She thought he might feel different, which was why she'd been nervous, standing outside with him that first night while ash fell around them like snow, but he held out his hand, inviting her to come with him with that brilliant new smile she came to love.

They came together easily. He was different, but the same on the inside and that's what mattered. He never said I love you, even after he changed, but she could see it in his eyes. Not so much at first, but after Mickey stayed in the parallel universe and things between them changed, she could see it every time he looked at her. And, oh, the way he looked at her, particularly after, a shiver ran up her spine as warmth crept into her cheeks.

Her phone rang, bringing her out of her thoughts, thoughts that were best left on the back burner for now, especially with more important things to think about, like the fact that the walls to reality were collapsing.

"Ms. Tyler?" Ted asked.

"Yeah," Rose said.

"You're still a little off, time wise."

"I kind of figured since I can see the stars, yeah?"

"Oh, right."

"Hopefully, you can get me there in the next shift," she said, sounding more irritated than she intended.

It wasn't Ted's fault, whatever was causing her to jump around in time, but there was so much at stake and she had to blame someone.

"Yes…um…"

"Sorry, Ted, I know it's not your fault. I'm just a little anxious to get back to the proper Doctor and tell him about all this."

"The proper…?"

"Never mind. Can you shift me again?"

"Yes, but…um…it's going to be a little while."

"How long?"

"I'm not sure. I'm getting some strange fluctuations with the equipment and I need to run a couple diagnostic tests before we shift you again."

She sighed in frustration.

"I'm sure it's fine."

"But-"

She heard movement on the other end then a familiar voice came over the line.

"We're running the tests and that's final," Pete insisted.

Rose rolled her eyes at her dad's authoritative tone. This Pete was actually a parallel version of her dad because her real dad died when she was little, but since her and her mum had been stuck in the parallel universe he'd become her dad in every sense of the word. Although he was more understanding when it came to Rose wanting to return to the Doctor he was just as protective as her mum.

"I'm sure it's fine," she said.

"Well, I'm not. I'll give you a call after we've checked everything."

He hung up before she could continue protesting. She could call him back, but what was the point? She was stuck. She sighed again and stuffed her phone back in her pocket. Might as well get comfortable. She pulled the gun off and set it on the ground.

The Doctor held the phone to his ear in stunned silence as the time rotor slowly moved up and down. Time catches up with us all.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Dorium asked, well, Dorium's head from inside the box that was sitting upside down in the jump seat.

"Nothing. I…just…" the Doctor said as he slowly hung up the phone. He stood there for a moment letting it all sink in. Not even a Time Lord could escape his fate. He'd been running for so long and maybe… He slipped his hand into his pocket and it closed around the TARDIS blue envelopes. He pulled them out and looked at them, then nodded to himself. "It's time." He was so tired of running and now… "It's time."

"Time for what?" Dorium asked.

The Doctor ignored him as he flipped levers and pushed buttons without the flair he'd once used. He knew the truth better than anyone. Everything has its time. Everything dies, even Time Lords.

"Doctor, where are we going? Where are you taking me?"

He crossed the room and closed the door, cutting Dorium off. This was hard enough without listening to his blue head chatter away.

He'd drop the envelopes off with the Teselecta because that would be safer than crossing his own timeline. He didn't need to create a worse situation because he wouldn't be around to fix it.

The TARDIS materialized and the Doctor crossed the room to the door. He stood there for a moment then took a deep breath and stepped outside. He expected any number of things, but the one thing he didn't expect was what he found. Rose Tyler leaned up against the front of a closed shop. She was wearing the same clothes she wore the last time he saw her, but she didn't have a gun strapped over her shoulder. He spotted it a moment later, sitting on the ground next to her feet.

He knew he should go, but then she smiled.

"We really do have to stop meeting like this, yeah?"

In the next moment he'd run the few steps to her and was wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't sure why he was there, but he thought that maybe the TARDIS was granting him a last wish. He'd gone back to see her the last time he was dying and now, at least he'd get to see her one last time.

"I missed you," he said, without thinking.

"I just saw you ten minutes ago," she laughed.

Ten minutes? It'd been so much longer for him. Lifetimes. She still smelled the way he remembered, like strawberries in summer and even though he had a new body she still fit perfectly in the crook of his shoulder. He knew he should leave, but he decided to allow himself a few minutes. He was going to his death after all. A few minutes with the woman he loved wasn't too much to ask.

"It's been a bit longer for me," he murmured into her hair.

When the Doctor released Rose, she looked into his eyes. She could tell that it'd been a lot longer for him, not a bit like he claimed. He was looking at her as if he thought he'd never see her again and there was something else. She'd seen many things in the Doctor's eyes over the time they spent together. Fear. Anger. Joy. But the one thing she never thought she'd see was resignation and it was there in his eyes now.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I…nothing. I'm fine," he lied. She folded her arms. "Really. I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, really, it's fine. I'm fine."

She studied him. Well, his eyes actually. His previous regeneration would have closed down by now. Stepped away and hidden his feelings, but this one reached out and tucked a stray lock of her hear behind her ear. She could almost feel the weight of loss that radiated from his green eyes. It was nearly enough to take her breath away.

There was something going on. Something beyond him losing her. Help him. The thought whispered through her mind. She wasn't sure where it came from, but it was accompanied by such urgency that she knew she couldn't ignore it. Somehow she had to get the Doctor to tell her what was going on so she could help him and she didn't have a lot of time. There was only one way to do that.

"I can see that something's wrong. I've got about an hour and if you don't start talking," she pulled her phone out, "I'll give my team a call and tell them to delay the shift."

She wasn't sure how long she had, but she needed him to believe her threat so it was best to be as specific as possible. Even if it was a specific lie.

With those words the Doctor's stomach dropped if she delayed her shift there was every possibility that past events, his past events, might begin to alter. She wouldn't really do that, would she?

"Rose, don't," he insisted.

"Then tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing…" He watched her lift her phone as if to dial a number. "Stop! It's…it's just…there's something I have to do."

"Something you have to do?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"It's complicated."

"Yeah, I'm not buying that."

"Look, it's…" He ran a hand through his hair. "It's too dangerous if I tell you. I'm…you…if I tell you and something changes because of that...if something worse happens then it'd be my fault and I can't chance that."

He couldn't tell her. He knew he couldn't tell her. Rose wouldn't stand by and let something happen to him. She'd taken the Time Vortex inside of her to save him and if she found out what he was about to do she'd do everything in her power to stop him and then she'd never make it to his past self and for all he knew Davros might succeed and everything would cease to exist. No, it was far too dangerous. He needed to go, but now he couldn't even be sure she'd find him if he left, well, past him. He growled in frustration.

"Doctor," she said and a moment later he felt her hand in his. He turned to her. "I get that you're worried. That you think it's dangerous because you don't want me to change something that might hurt someone and I don't want that either, but if you're in trouble I…I want to help, if I can."

"I…um…" He was trapped. He had to tell her something, but he needed to be very careful about what he said. "I've been running from something for a long time and I can't run anymore."

"What does that mean?"

"There's something that I have to do. I've been avoiding it, but my time's up and now I have to do it."

"You're time's up?" she asked, a troubled look crossing her features.

He sighed and rubbed his face. Of course she'd latch onto that. One little slip up and she caught it.

"That's…I don't mean that…it's just this thing I have to do."

"What thing?"

"I can't get into details. What I've told you already is dangerous enough."

"Okay, then tell me what you can."

"There's…there's a fixed point. It's something that has to happen. That I have to do. Otherwise the entire universe will collapse and everyone will die." She laughed, making him pause. "What are you laughing at?"

"You."

"What?"

"You still think the entire universe revolves around you," she teased.

"It…it does, well, okay, this time it does."

"Because it's a fixed point, yeah?"

"Exactly."

"So whatever this thing is. It has to happen, yeah?"

"Yes."

"And it's bad?"

"Well…"

"Would I think it was bad?"

That was a loaded question. "Yes…no…well, yes. You would."

"But you can't tell me what it is?"

"No, definitely not."

Rose looked at him for a minute. Whatever he was keeping from her was bad. Very bad. My time's up. She knew he was afraid to tell her because he was afraid of what she might do. She could see that in his eyes. She also knew that it was dangerous for her to know, but she couldn't just leave him like that. He needed her. She couldn't leave him on his own, especially with something like that looming over him, but she didn't have much time. She had to find the past Doctor because the future Doctor remembered her finding him and since he was here everything must have worked out. She couldn't chance jeopardizing everyone.

"Okay, we need to straighten this out," she said, walking over to picking up her gun.

"Straighten-" but that's as far as he got because Rose walked through the door and into the TARDIS. "Wait, what are you doing?" he asked, chasing after her.

She sat her gun down next to the door and then crossed the room.

"Doctor? Is that you? Where are we?" a man asked.

"Who's there?" Rose asked.

"Oh, that's just Dorium. Well, Dorium's head actually." the Doctor said, gesturing toward a box sitting in one of the jump seats.

"Dorium's head?" she asked, glancing from the box on the jump seat to the Time Lord.

"It's not important. What are you doing? You really shouldn't be in here," he insisted.

"I hear voices. Who's there? Doctor, is that you?" Dorium asked.

"It's too noisy out here. Is my room still back there?" Rose asked, heading down the corridor.

"It's…you…really you shouldn't be in here," the Doctor stammered chasing after her.

She ignored him as she walked down the corridor. A door appeared halfway down. Thank you. She knew the TARDIS could hear her thoughts because, as the Doctor told her before their first date, the TARDIS gets inside your head. The lights brightened as she opened her door and stepped inside.

Her room was exactly the same, even her unmade bed.

"You need to leave, Rose," the Doctor said, behind her.

"I still have time before I can shift and it's enough time to work out your problem."

The Doctor sighed. He'd forgotten how stubborn she could be. She wouldn't let this alone, not until she had sorted his problem. He should've left when he had time, but he couldn't just walk away. He missed her too much.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and patted the area next to her. That was a really not good idea. He knew sitting next to her like that could be very dangerous. She might not know, but he did.

"I'm…um…I'm fine here, thanks," he said.

"Doctor," she insisted.

Reluctantly, he crossed the room and sat down, making sure there was at least a foot between them. Only she wasn't going to let that pass, he realized too late as she scooted closer to him. His hearts began to beat wildly and he had to take a breath and try to calm them.

"Okay, now, if I've got this straight, well, as straight as I can since you're holding things back." She put up a hand when he started to protest. "I know why you're not telling me, I'm just saying it's harder because I don't know everything." She took a breath. "Okay, so there's something you have to do, you don't want to do it, you've been avoiding doing it. No, actually running from it, but it's a…fixed point, yeah?"

"Yes."

"So you have to do it. If you don't everyone could die."

"Not just everyone, everything. Everywhere. The entire universe."

"So, obviously you have to do it. I mean, you can't let the entire universe die. You'd never do that," she said, giving him her smile, which made him smile because…how could he not? "Okay, so…fixed point. What does that mean exactly?"

"There's a point in time where something has to happen."

"Okay, and you have to be there?"

"Yes, that's the whole thing. Something has to happen to…well…and I have to be there."

"So, something has to happen and you have to be there, yeah?"

"Yes."

"And it's bad. Whatever is going to happen?"

"Um…I…um…" He couldn't tell her. She knew. He could see it in her eyes, but he couldn't admit it.

"Too dangerous. I got it. You-" He's going to die. The thought, which wasn't hers, struck her with enough force to pierce her heart. Where did that thought come from? It couldn't be true. She looked around her room as if she might find the source. Whoever was sending those thoughts to her.

"Rose, what's wrong?" the Doctor asked in concern.

His voice drew her attention. She looked into his green eyes. Father's day. That thought brought her back to the day she tried to save her dad and the creatures that came out of the wound in time she opened by altering the events of his death. Death. He was…the Doctor was going to die. That's why he was being evasive. Why he wouldn't tell her what was going on.

"Rose?" the Doctor asked again.

She couldn't let him die. She wouldn't. She had to stop him from going to that fixed point. No, you must make him live. What did that mean? Stopping him from going would make him live. He must go. She felt the Doctor grab her shoulders, forcefully.

"Rose! Tell me what's wrong," he insisted.

"You," she said, barely above a whisper as she locked her hazel eyes with his. "You're going to die, aren't you?"

She saw his eyes widen in surprise, but he covered it up a moment later.

"We're all going to die, eventually."

"The fixed point. It's your death, isn't it?"

This was really not good. He should've known she'd figure it out. She might've been a shop girl from London when they first met, but Rose Tyler was the most brilliant woman he'd ever known. Now she knew and he couldn't deny it, well, he could, but she'd know he was lying and what would be the point?

"Yes," he said, resigned.

"But you'll regenerate, right?" she asked.

He could hear the fear in her voice, not of him regenerating, but of the truth, which of course she probably guessed. It was true that he didn't particularly like regenerating, changing into another man, but he hadn't been running from that.

"I think you know the truth," he said, because he couldn't bring himself to tell her.

"But…but you can't."

"I have to. No way around it I'm afraid and I've tried. I ran farther than I've ever run before. Tried to change things. Hell, I ever restarted the whole bloody universe."

He laughed, sadly as he looked away because he couldn't stand the pain in her hazel eyes. And the accusations hidden there. Accusation that he'd given up, which he had. Didn't have a choice.

"You can't just give up."

"It's for the best."

The soft touch of her hand on his cheek snapped his eyes back to hers.

"How can you even say that?"

"Rose, you have no idea. The things I've done. I…" his voice broke. He cleared his throat before he continued. "…I caused this. It's my own fault because I couldn't save her. I tried, I really did, but by the time I worked it out it was too late. Amy and Rory said they don't blame me, but it's my fault. I just…"

"Doctor," she said, resting her free hand on his chest. "You've got to stop blaming yourself for everything. Look at all the good you do. All the people and planets you've saved. Who's going to do that after you're gone?"

"I'm just so tired, luv," he said, looking down, which made him miss the surprised look in Rose's eyes at his use of such an endearing word. "Maybe it's ti-"

In the next moment she'd grabbed his lapels and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He was so surprised that he didn't know what to do, but that only lasted for a second before his hand cradled the back of her head while the other wound around her waist. Her arms encircled his neck.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew it was a mistake. This was past Rose and this could very well change his history, but those thoughts were far away. They were clear on the other side of the love he felt for her and the desire that had been building inside of him ever since he sat down next on her on that bed.

His hand found its way under her shirt and jacket, as if it had a mind of its own, to caress her back. A moment later her hands gripped his hair firmly, pulling him closer and he obliged in deepening their kiss.

The moment his hand touched the bare skin of her back Rose felt a shiver of desire run through her body. He might be the future Doctor, but he was still her Doctor. The thought to kiss him hadn't been hers, well, not entirely hers. It had been a couple years since she was with anyone because it had always only been the Doctor. The man she loved.

She needed him to remember who he was. That he was the man who fought. Not the man who gave up. Although it became much harder to keep those thoughts in her head as he pulled her onto his lap and began unzipping her jacket, which she had to admit was pretty talented of him since he hadn't broken contact with her lips.

He felt her loosen his tie and was once again reminded of how very dangerous this situation was, but he told those thoughts to sod off. He spent years, hundreds of years, doing what was right and at that moment he didn't care that it was wrong. That he was being selfish. He was there and she was there. They could both go back to saving the universe later, but for now all that mattered was her.

The Doctor woke with a start. I…sleeping? What? He didn't sleep, well, he did, but not very often and usually in the library or somewhere else, but not in his bed, at least, not very often.

He sat up. Rose. A dream. Of course she'd been a dream. That was good. Yes, definitely good. His hearts begged to differ, but he knew it was for the best. If he'd…if they'd actually…that would've been bad. Definitely, really not good.

He pulled the covers back and realized… No! No, no, no, no, no! This was worse than bad. Worse than really not good. What had he done? He wasn't in his room he was in Rose's room and his clothes…

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Going back to that day in his mind. That day all those years ago with Donna. When he stepped out of the TARDIS and she was talking to him and she'd said, Why don't you ask her yourself? He turned around and there was Rose standing at the other end of that dark street. It was still there. All of it. Rose, Donna, Jack, the TARDIS, the Daleks, the Meta-Crisis, and everyone else. All of it. Nothing changed.

Why? How? She'd gone back to him and she hadn't said anything. He wasn't upset that she didn't say anything he was…amazed. She'd kept his secrets because she knew how dangerous it could be. Because she didn't want to jeopardize anyone. She didn't want to chance that he wouldn't be there to save everyone he'd saved. He smiled. Rose Tyler was the most brilliant person he knew. He sat there for a few minutes before the first wave of guilt washed over him as he thought about how hard it must have been for her. He thought back to that day on the beach with the Meta-Crisis. She hadn't said anything about what happened with him…future him, but she'd tried to get him to see. To understand how much she cared and that he was making a mistake by leaving her, which he had. He knew he had, but it was too late now.

Promise me you'll fight. Her words whispered through his mind. Her head had been resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around her, when she looked up at him. Promise me you'll fight. He tried to tell her he couldn't, but she hushed his protests with a kiss and then pulled away before he could draw her closer, like he wanted. You're clever. Very clever, remember? I'm sure you'll find a way.

I don't own Doctor Who, any of its Characters, any of its Story Lines, however I do own a fez.

Thank you to all my brilliant readers and if you have time reviews are always welcome! :)