What can I say?

Silence. It was the first thing Donna noted, as she took a tentative step out of the TARDIS. Jack was sitting by himself at a desk, hands moving and covered in something that looked like old blood. Donna cringed. Gwen, who was crying silently, was sitting on the floor with Owen, who had an arm around her. He looked pale and tired. Tosh and Ianto was sitting on the dingy couch, both with red eyes. None had gotten up to "greet" them.

Martha was out next, not exactly sure what to expect. The Doctor hadn't said anything, just hung up the phone and started to pull levers on the TARDIS, landing them inside the hub. Obviously she knew it was bad, something had happened to Rose, but…. Looking around Martha felt sick. She tried catching Jack's eyes, but he was staring intently at his hands that were, to Martha's horror, covered in blood.

Jack abruptly stood up, as the Doctor exited the TARDIS. For a moment they just sort of stared at each other and the tension in the hub was palpable. No one said anything, it was like no one wanted to break the heavy silence resting in the hub.

Finally Owen stood up, looking awkward. "She's… She's downstairs, if you want to see her?"

The Doctor swallowed and nodded, following Owen.

Gwen got up to follow them and Martha gently touched her arm. "Gwen, what happened?"

"I…" Fresh tears came to her eyes. "It was so awful. I don't even really know."

Ianto made his way over to them. "Come on Gwen" he said in a low tone and gently nudged her forward. "We should go too…"

Martha looked at Donna, who was staring at Jack's hands. "Jack, are you….?"

Jack turned to look at Martha with almost dead eyes. "He just… Shot her! He killed her and I couldn't do anything." He looked back at his hands.

"Jack" Martha said in a tone one would use when dealing with scared children. "Is that… Rose's?" She gestured his hands.

"There were so much blood, but we couldn't do anything. Owen tried everything, but…"

"Oh god" Donna said, as the situation dawned on her. "Oh no…"

Martha felt her heart break for the Doctor. It was just too cruel. "And she's downstairs?"

Tosh finally rose from the couch. "I'll take you" she said, walking past Jack without a glance. She knew it was unfair, but if he hadn't been so lenient with Rose, if he hadn't just bent to her every whim, she would still be here. She would be safe! And somehow Tosh couldn't find it in herself not to blame Jack just a little bit.

It was overwhelming for him to even take a step inside the room. It was cold and sterile, clinical; all the things Rose was not. It felt wrong that she would be here, she shouldn't be in a place like this.

"I um… Cleaned off the blood and…" Owen started, but the Doctor didn't pay him any attention. In front of him, on a cold metal slab was Rose, covered by a white sheet. She looked peaceful, like she was just resting or something like that. If he tried hard enough, maybe he could convince himself of that?

"What about Jackie? Does she know?"

Owen nodded. "Jack called her, after he talked to you… They should be here soon."

The Doctor nodded. He didn't know what to say, what to do… He didn't have any words, it didn't feel real, any of it. And really, what purpose would words have now? What purpose would he have, now that Rose wasn't here anymore. There were no words, no actions, no tears. Nothing! He felt empty, he was empty.

"What happened?" Owen and Gwen turned at Donna's quivering tone. "What did this?"

"It was a Time Lord" Gwen started.

"Impossible!"

Gwen looked at the Doctor, who hadn't even turned around. "He said his name was the Master, he knew Rose from the alternative universe…"

"They died, they all died" the Doctor argued. "Whoever he was, he lied!"

"He wasn't lying" Jack interrupted.

The Doctor turned. "And how do you know that? Because he told you? You don't know anything about Time Lords!"

"He knew about you too… He knew about all of us, about me…" Jack sighed, ignoring the Doctor's mocking tone. "He was stalking Rose, he crossed over when we opened the rift. He said he wanted answers…"

"To what?"

"I don't know."

"What happened?"

"We got a trace on him and followed it. He ranted on about answers and you and Rose, he wanted us to deliver a message to you."

The Doctor turned around to look at Rose again. He wasn't sure if he should touch her. She used to have such warm hands and whenever he said something silly blood would rush to her cheeks. If he touched her now, her hands would be cold and he wasn't sure if he would like to think of her like that, to have that be his last contact with her, when she was cold and not Rose. "What message?"

"You're looking at it" Jack said.

"I thought you said he wanted answers?"

Donna could tell the Doctor was getting aggravated and she didn't think a fight between him and Jack would do anything to help this unhappy situation. "Is Rose's mum on the way?"

"She should be here any minute" Owen repeated.

"Why don't I just go look for her" Donna volunteered herself. She felt sick just being in the room and she knew the Doctor well enough to know that he wouldn't accept her comfort, at least not yet.

"I'll come with you" Martha said. She felt weird too. Donna and herself didn't really know Rose, except from the Doctor's recollections. And although it was heartbreaking, they both felt misplaced and like intruders in this so private and unbearable time. They left the Doctor and the Torchwood team to grieve.

"This is horrible" Martha said, as she and Donna stood outside the hub, waiting for Jackie.

"It's not fair. He was going to go back, to make things right and now this…"

"I know." Martha gently shifted around on her feet. "Do you feel weird? I mean, we didn't know her, not really."

"Yeah…" Donna just muttered. "You think Jackie will be here soon?"

Martha shrugged. "I hope so."

"It's just... So cruel!" A tear made its way down Donna's cheek. "He's already lost so much..."

Martha nodded. "First Jenny and now Rose. There's no one left now... He's truly alone."

"He has us" Donna argued, wiping away the tear.

Martha sighed. "It's not the same, though, is it. Not really. We can't fill the void."

They stood in silence a few moments, neither knowing what to say. It was a hopeless situation; unless Rose suddenly decided to wake up from the dead, hard times where ahead for them all.

"I'm sorry." It came out as I whisper, but the Doctor heard it.

"I know."

Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Ianto had left the sterile room, giving the two men who were closest to Rose some privacy.

"I tried to protect her."

"I know."

Jack sighed. "Please just say something, other than that."

"There are no words" the Doctor said in a small voice. He was still debating whether touching Rose would grant him a small comfort or make his pain worse. He shook his head: it couldn't possibly be worse than this, and he gently touched her left hand. It felt the same as it used to, cold, but still like Rose.

"I'm so sorry" Jack said again, his voice hitching. He had lost a lot in his life, but somehow this felt so much more unbearable. He could have stopped it, he should have stopped it. He was Rose's friend, her boss, her…. What they had was special and he had lost it now.

"What's the point" the Doctor asked. He didn't even look at Jack, he was so engrossed in Rose's hand. He used to hold that hand, a lot. It had brought him comfort and joy, made him feel more human.

An inhuman cry brought both men out of the reverie. They turned and saw Jackie, dressed in black from head to toe, clutching a visibly shaken Pete. Her eyes were puffy and red and tears streaked both her cheeks. They both took a step back and let Jackie and Pete have a moment with Rose.

After a few moments Jackie turned to look at them. "What happened?" It came out more like a snarl than an actual question.

"She was shot" Jack said.

"I can bloody well see that" Jackie yelled at him. She then turned on the Doctor. "And where were you, eh? Where the hell where you when my daughter was dying?"

"Jackie" the Doctor started.

"No! Don't you dare "Jackie" me! My daughter is dead! Do you understand that? She's dead!" Jackie gave the Doctor a hard push. "You were supposed to protect her, to keep her safe!" Another push.

"Jackie, please" Pete intervened, but didn't move to stop her. The rest of the team and Martha and Donna had turned up at the noise as well, but they too just stood there. No one had the heart to stop Jackie in her grief.

"She's dead!" She hit him hard on the shoulder. "You promised me to look after her, you promised…" Jackie started to sob again and gave the Doctor another halfhearted hit.

The Doctor gently took both her arms, forcing her to look at him. "I know Jackie. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Jackie buried her head against his chest, crying uncontrollably and the Doctor put his arms around her, letting her cry and grieve. "I'm so sorry" he whispered again.

A/N: Okay, so this was a hard hard chapter to write. The words just wouldn't come out right and I'm still not satisfied by the chapter, but I couldn't just sit and stare at a blank screen anymore. I apologize for the wait and hope everyone is not too upset. Some of you complained about the cliffhanger and sorry, but that's just how it worked best for me.

Huge thanks to all the reviewers, especially Little Miss Fahrenheit, who totally made me blush (and no worries, exams demands our time, I really know the feeling. Hope you did great), and Miss Snazzy, who reviewed all the chapters (that was pretty awesome to wake up to).

I think there's going to be longer between the updates and I'm truly sorry about that, but I have to start focusing on school again and stuff like that, and I'm struggling with the ending to this story (I think that evil writer's block is coming back for another round). Consider yourselves warned, although I'll do my very best to update regularly.

Also, I'm kinda fiddling around with a sequel of sorts, to this story… Not really sure if it'll evolve to anything, maybe no one's interested, but I think I'll try to write down an outline of the story and see if I can make it work.