Rose and Matt ran for their lives with the ghostly General chasing them up the hill. Rose yelled encouragingly to him, "Almost there! If we can get to the Doctor before he gets to us we'll be fine!"

The General was beginning to close on them and Matt's extra weight from the gold in his pockets wasn't helping. "Rose, I… I… can't… I… can't… keep… up."

Rose reached the top of the hill first and the Doctor knew immediately that something bad was afoot just from her facial expression. He pointed to the hole in the machine knowing time must be short. "Here! Here!"

Rose looked back noticing the distance she'd put on Matt with the General getting closer behind. She quickly turned around to stop and reached into her pocket throwing the gold in the futuristic round machine.

Matt saw the short distance he had to go but could feel the breath of the ghost behind him as he vocalized, "I'm… not… going… to… make… it."

The ghost pushed him down to the ground going in for the kill as Matt grabbed for the gold in his pockets and threw them in the air towards the Doctor and Rose. The Doctor and Rose both caught the pieces and threw them in the machine, but Rose suddenly stopped and started running straight toward Matt with reckless abandon.

The Doctor couldn't believe his eyes. It was suicide! "Rose! No!"

Rose didn't listen and jumped falling to the group as she pushed Matt away from the General. Matt took the opportunity to throw his last piece of gold to the Doctor who caught it and threw it in the Golwenderum 5000.

The machine suddenly lit up the dark skies around them with a green light as the General noticed and yelled. "I'm not going alone!"

Rose and Matt laid panting right next to the ghost which turned its head over to them primed for one more kill. Again, Rose was primed to protect as she got ready to hold him back, but was shocked when suddenly Matt used his energy to push her out of the way. As the General moved closer, Rose fell over to the left face first into the ground not saying a word despite the pain.

Rose could only look on in dread as the General reached out to his closest target touching Matt's heart and making him fall to the ground screaming before falling unconscious. Just as quickly a purple light blasted from the machine straight at the General as he screamed in a loud protest, "Nooooo!"

The General radiated glowing so bright that the Doctor had to shield his eyes before it vanished along with both the purple and green lights as everything fell silent and dark. Rose got up and ran over to the motionless Matt.

The Doctor stood by the machine not wanting to interfere as Rose cried feeling for his pulse and finding nothing. The only thing she muttered was, "I'm sorry, Matt. All my fault."

Rose turned her head over towards the Doctor. His expression standing over by the machine conveyed almost no emotion as she informed her companion, "He's dead."

"Yeah."

"I couldn't save him."

The Doctor knew very well how she felt. It was the worst feeling in the world anyone could ever experience and there was literally nothing his gob could say that would make it better. "Yeah."

She turned back to Matt and this time said, "I'm sorry" with more volume before planting a kiss on his now cold lips.

"Do you… Do you want to talk about it?"

Rose stood up and met his gaze. "I want to go home."

The Doctor was so resigned. That was something he could never do for her again. She was stuck here with him. "Rose… I can't, the void…"

"No, Doctor, I want to go home." She walked over and hugged him crying into his shoulder which he returned rubbing her back under the dark skies of that mountain.

The Doctor wanted to ask Rose why she risked her life for Matt and about what he had meant to her. He wanted to ask her why she had almost given her life for the man and why she had looked so torn apart because of it, but he didn't. Inside he grieved for Matt too because he was ready to ask him to be a companion, but Rose had lost something more than just a potential companion or even friend. The young chap would have made a great companion and he'd never forget that he had just given his life for Rose. It was a sacrifice he would always be grateful for.

As he held Rose he thought about how there was no one else he wanted to hold like this ever again. She'd leave him someday, but he could enjoy her for what she was. A brilliant companion and his biggest friend in the whole universe. As they broke their hug, the Doctor let the most relaxing aspect of this regeneration take over, his gob.

The Doctor neither sounded excited nor bored. He was just talking, but it sounded like he was saying something completely different. "The Golwenderum 5000 was from the 49th Century from the early years of the Time Agency. One of their agents set this trap, but met their demise before they could trap the General. He's trapped now in a secure prison for spirits on some planet such as Nykon Three or Florida Twenty Six. The gold was altered to open up the time portal, but it's closed now. No more General to worry about."

Rose just listened. She didn't want to talk and despite the actual words not being the least bit interesting at the moment, they never sounded more soothing. She'd always remember Matt, she mused, but nobody would ever hold the same spot in her heart as the Doctor. She could dream all she wanted about a different life, but she knew that she could never have made another choice and been happy. For that she was grateful and always would be. "Thank you."

He had no idea what she was thanking him for, but suggested what he thought would be right. "How about we go home?"

Rose nodded with a half smile before they both walked down the hill and back toward the TARDIS apart, but possibly much closer than they had been in years…