Disclaimer: May I please consider this disclaimed now? Or do I have to hire one of those adorable little trumpet boys?

A/n: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I actually have an excuse this time, or rather, several excuses that all fit in under one subject-midterms. Yes, I have been waging war against the dreaded Terms of Mid, and though I have defeated some with a rousing victory, I have fallen at the hands of others. (The only beast fiercer than a Term bred in the barren country of Mid are the dread Finals, especially those from Cumulative, though I thank the gods that those are as yet hibernating from the cold of winter and shall not arise until summer is nigh).

Spoilers: Basically all of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End. This Spoiler Alert will last until the end of the fic. If you have not finished s4, do not read this, because there will be Spoilers. You have been warned.

000

"And you were brilliant," he finishes with her. She smiles because it's sweet of him to say, even if it isn't true. Still, it's nice of him to try, and the thought is what counts and all.

It took long enough to get to the dalek ship that the cute guy, Jack from Torchwood, and the new guy, Mickey or whatever, had time to corner the Doctor and get the whole story out of him. Not without some comments from her, because you really can't count on a crazy spaceman to tell a story straight and especially not a slither-outer like the Doctor. Of course once that was done the boys had gotten into a fight because apparently the new guys were both incredibly protective of Rose. It had been up to her to calm the poor girl down and she eventually had needed to move her to the medical bay just to get her away from the noise.

Now, though, they are all assembled once again in the console room and the Doctor is doing what he does best and making everyone feel important right before they walk out into certain death. Really, it's ridiculous the amount of certain death they walk into on a daily basis. It was bad enough the first time she met him with Lance and that ugly spider woman (and how did he ever find that thing attractive? At least she is human! And yes, she is well over Lance, the bastard, thank you very much) but ever since then it's been "Run for your life!" at least once a day. She doesn't know how he gets into so much trouble, she really doesn't, and she's right next to him half the time.

As soon as she walks out of the TARDIS her ears are filled with the sound of robotic voices chanting the same thing over and over: "Daleks reign supreme! All hail the daleks!" Then a deep voice to her right says something about how great daleks are or something, and when she looks she sees that it's another one of the monsters only in a different color. It looks really ugly; someone should tell it that red's not its color.

Suddenly the TARDIS door slams shut, but Rose wouldn't close it would she? But maybe she's trying to hide from the daleks, and Donna knows she feels safer in there. But without the Doctor? It doesn't make sense, but there's no other explanation and when the Doctor asks her to open the door nothing happens. Unless the daleks did something, but Ugly Red over there keeps insisting that he didn't do anything and that the Doctor's tricking them and that the TARDIS is a weapon.

Then the TARDIS drops through a trapdoor in the floor and all she knows is that everything's about to go to hell in a hand basket and fast.

000

She's burning. She can hear the screams coming from deep inside her mind outside (him outside, the other inside, not possible can't happen her brain hurts), can feel the pain resonating down the lines between him and her and herself (lines of thought, lines of emotion, lines that don't exist the way the screams in her head can't exist), though time and space, never ending and never beginning (never felt this before). She can feel the fire hotter than anything she's ever known or imagined (not her knowledge but things she's known before she met her doesn't make sense what's happening) and it hurts, more than being taken away from him, more than what they did to her, more than when he sent her away (Gone have to get him back he doesn't want her he needs her always).

And now she has been sent away again without him, only this time he hasn't done the sending and she is in more danger of dying than before (always in danger life's not safe not this life not that life cars and diseases and wars feel safer with him). He said he would keep her safe, didn't he? So why did he let this happen (Why did he let this happen her head is killing her)? He sent her away last time they faced the monsters (gods and demons and angels and people dying everywhere), he sent both of them away. But they dared to disagree, dared to go against everything he told them, dared to take a chance and look into each other's hearts (Her head it hurts it hurts something exploding in the back of her brain expanding and opening free at last)…

…Bad Wolf.

Golden light flashes around Her, light that She creates and controls. She controls time and space, life and death, and She has created this moment…

…"Doctor!" The girl goes flying towards the void, towards infinity, towards death. She reaches out, slows the fall, lessens the pull just enough, and instead of emptiness the girl slams into a white expanse of wall….

…"No!" He lunges forward and grasps for the small hand being pulled away from him. He's so close, almost got her. The so-called doctors of the Reformatory tug her away just as their fingers brush, filled with the burst of strength She gave them….

…He opens his mouth to ask what happened to his favorite blonde time traveler, to argue with the man with the new face if he left her or fight with him if he lost her, but She pushes the memories aside before he can get the words out….

…The girl stands in front of a broken shop window, staring at the flap of black cloth in her hand. She reaches around and ties it on the girl's head, for when they dance he must not recognize her face….

…He wanders through the galaxies and onto the small planet, older and more tired than ever. She guides his eyes to a notice fluttering in the wind, "Public execution today…"

…He doesn't know what to do as he stares at the girl lying limp in the bed. What's wrong with her, what happened to make her like this? She whispers in his ear to look and see, to heal what's broken as only he can….

…Moments, seconds, instants when things could have changed completely. She slides them into place, pushing them all down the path of Her choosing. She has seen the other possible futures, but She does not care for them.

She flies from the flames and into the heart of the monsters' home, leaving a trail of fire in Her wake. She does not care if anything is burnt; the only things She cares about have been gathered together by the Enemy. She will save them soon, but for now She will destroy all those who would kill them.

A/n: Anybody get the Howl's Moving Castle reference? The book, not the movie. Donna and book!Sophie probably would have been good friends. Maybe the Doctor and Howl, but that I'm not so sure about. Somehow, Donna and Sophie just seem like they would immediately be friends and start mocking their oh-so-powerful-and-mysterious men (is that the right term? Because while the Doctor and Donna aren't at all romantic towards each other, I have the feeling that at the same time they sort of belong to each other, just in a platonic way). Howl and the Doctor would have to bond over the shared experience of being pushed around by the sassy women in their lives.

And yet my battles with the Terms of Mid rage on, for there are still two of the terrible monsters still abroad in the land to be defeated! One is especially fearsome, the Term named PreCalcAccel! But for you, my fair readers, I might have lost hope of ever posting this chapter in the face of such mighty odds. Alas, perhaps some REVIEWS shall urge me onwards...