Hiya, peeps! Sorry this took a little longer than I expected, but at least it wasn't a month this time! Hopefully won't ever be that long again, I am sorry.

Which links me beautifully to my next apology: this chapter. You'll soon read why I'm apologising, but please, do forgive me and review just to tell me what a bitch I am! Enjoy... or not, which will probably be the case... God, i must stop rambling...

Donna xxx

PS If anyone's reading my Life On mars storieee, just to let you know that I'm nearly done with chapter four, so sorry about the wait! Muchos love D xxx

Chapter Eleven - Unmistakable

"For what?" Mickey asked in a playful tone of voice, followed by a laugh from Rose. The unmistakable laugh that the Doctor had always loved, that had never failed to cheer him up, even in the most dire of circumstances. Just knowing that Rose was beside him had always given him strength, always let him know that while he may be many things, he was never alone.

Until now. At this moment, the high-pitched sound merely made him feel violently sick.

"For this." He heard her husk, and then she kissed him again and this was all too much for the Doctor. All of a sudden, he tore the headset from his ear as if it were burning hot, throwing it straight to the ground - not in anger, but simply in pure pain and confusion that she could do this to him.

It was just so out of the blue, so awful and unlike Rose to lie to him all this time. Because they must have had it going on for a while, Rose and Mickey, for them to feel so strongly about one another. Practically the whole time she'd known him, in fact... but then why had she ever come with him in the first place, why had she always seemed to adore him as much as she did?

The Doctor's heavy breathing echoed around the silent Hub, the room spinning around him. He leaned against the desk, his head in his hands as he tried to comprehend this. A memory washed over him, the memory of their not-quite-goodbye on Bad Wolf Bay. She had seemed so genuinely upset as she told him she loved him, so horrified by the thought that they'd never see each other again...

Then again, she had been separated from Mickey, too. He had been in the same universe as the Doctor, working with Torchwood... was it him that Rose had been so sorry to lose, him who she'd been thinking of when she'd said those three fateful words?

Because that certainly wasn't something the Doctor would take lightly. Back on that beach, he had been about to say the same back, really he had, for the first time in his life. Love, to a Time Lord, was a difficult thing to comprehend, and it had been so hard for him to sort out his feelings for her, to finally gather the strength to admit just how much he loved Rose.

And even when she'd come back, as utterly overjoyed as he had been, it had been difficult to admit how he felt. But he had done it, taken the leap for her and told her he loved her, because it had been what she wanted more than anything.

At least, he'd thought it was. He'd been sure of it, but now? After hearing this? Now, he had absolutely no idea. All he knew was that he needed some space, some time to think about what he wanted, what in the world he could possibly do now. And here, at Torchwood with everyone - well, with Rose - that was going to be absolutely impossible.

xXx

"Shh!" Donna suddenly interrupted Gwen mid sentence, gesturing for her to quieten down, "Did you hear that?"

"'Ear what?" She asked, looking puzzled, but Rose nodded.

"I 'eard it." She stood up, and made her way over to the door of the conference room in which they sat, "A click, like the lock, or..." She cautiously stepped forward, glancing back at Donna and Gwen before reaching out for the doorknob. She turned the handle... and the door swung open just as it should, revealing a completely normal, empty corridor.

"That's weird, I coulda sworn..." Rose trailed off, and Donna merely shrugged.

"Yan?" Gwen asked loudly, a finger to her ear and a puzzled look on her face, "Ianto, is everythin' alright up there?" There came no response, "Ianto! Jack, Doctor, anybody?" She pulled the chip from her ear, giving it a tap before shaking her head at the other two women, "No' workin'."

Rose dug in her pocket, but withdrew her hand a minute later, still completely empty, "An' mine's gone missing." She said seriously, "What's goin' on here?"

"You probably just left it downstairs," Donna said, standing up with a yawn, "We'll go and have a look."

"Yeah," Rose agreed, heading out of the door and starting down the stairs, "Probably about time to start thinkin' about food, as well."

The three of them walked out into the main Hub, Rose smiling as she saw the Doctor sitting at a desk.

"Hiya!" She called out casually, and as expected, he turned around. But what Rose had not been expecting was the look of upset all over his face.

"Rose." He said quietly, seriously, and now there was definitely a hint of anger in his expression.

"You alright?" Rose asked him, confused, "What is it, what's wrong?" There were a few moments of pure, all consuming silence in which he just stared at her, so intense, before he managed to speak again.

"Please," The Doctor said, still in that quiet voice which sent shivers down Rose's spine, "Please don't treat me like I'm stupid."

"Wha'?" She asked disbelievingly, utterly baffled. "Doctor, I don't-"

"I said don't!" He cut her off, louder this time, "Please! You've made me feel like enough of an idiot already thanks, Rose, I don't need you trying to deny this!"

She was stunned into silence by his words, her mouth hanging open and her eyes filling up in shock as he seemed to get angrier.

The Doctor stopped, putting his head in his hands, apparently trying to calm himself down. He finally looked up at her, eyes shining with hurt as he spoke again, more softly.

"I understand," He told her, his voice cracking with raw emotion, "If that's how you feel, Rose, if that's how you've felt all along." He took a deep breath, "But what I don't get, what I find so utterly incomprehensible, is how you could have lied to me all this time, how you could be so..." His voice trailed off as he tried desperately to put his feelings into words.

"You knew." He finally managed to choke, "You knew how hard it was for me to do this, to sort out how I felt and admit that I loved you! I had to sacrifice so much, but I did it all the same! I did it because I trusted you and I love you and I thought that was what you wanted, but as it turns out..." His voice was wavering madly, his breathing hard as he struggled on with what he needed to say, "As it turned out, none of it was real. None of it mattered to you, all of this was just some big joke!"

Rose, by now, had tears streaming down her face, desperately confused and hurt by what he'd said.

"I don't understand what you mean." She gasped though her tears, "Honest to god, Doctor, I don't-"

"Stop it!" He yelled, "I don't need this from you, Rose, not now." He ran his hands through his hair, looking completely desperate, and Rose couldn't get out another word.

"I just can't..." He choked, "I just need to... I can't think, I..." The Doctor stopped, and took one last deep breath as if making up his mind before looking her dead in the eye the look of sorrow on his face almost breaking her heart.

"I need this." He said finally, so quietly and intensely it was practically a whisper... and then before either Rose, Gwen or Donna knew it, he headed towards the exit at a run, not looking back once.

"NO!" Rose managed to cry out through her tears, darting after him without even thinking about it. But she just wasn't fast enough. She reached the cog door just as it rolled shut behind the Doctor, the gentle buzz of the sonic screwdriver on the other side ringing through her ears.

"DOCTOR!" She screeched, pounding desperately against the door, but nothing happened. For Rose, it was Canary Wharf all over again - only this time, for a reason she might never understand, the Doctor had left her by choice.

Donna couldn't comprehend any of this, didn't have a clue what to do or how to stop the Doctor as he left so quickly. Jack, who had obviously heard the commotion and come out of his office, went immediately over to the cog door and began a fruitless attempt to get it open, while Donna rushed over to Rose, who was continuing to pound on the metal.

"Come here, sweetheart." Donna practically sobbed herself, trying desperately to subdue the hysterical blonde, "Jack, do something!"

"I CAN'T!" He yelled back, "He's managed to deadlock it!"

"Come on!" She pleaded, "There's got to be a way to get it open before-"

But she never managed to finish her sentence, would never be heard over the sound that was now filling the room from above. The sound that could usually only mean something good, but at this moment only managed to confirm all of their very worst nightmares.

"He can't..." Donna whispered, and even Rose stopped yelling, although tears continued to stream down her face as they all heard the unmistakable sound of the TARDIS dematerialising. And that could only mean one thing.

The Doctor was gone.