"What?"

"You're dying Rose, and I don't know how to fix it. It's locked up somewhere in our heads, connected together. You were pulled back to the TARDIS, yes, this TARDIS, all properly, but you're also in 10 other TARDIS's and different parts of time. 10 places where you can't possibly be. How did he not see that?" His voice was a bit frantic, and a bit angry as well.

She stood there, brown eyes wide, as she watched his run around the TARDIS. He spat out curses in gallifreyan, threw some things and even slammed his hands against the time rotator in defeat. All screaming at a dead man.

Eventually he heard a mutter from him, saying he was sorry and just needed time alone to think. She nodded and left the room, feet carrying her to the corridor while he stayed.

His hands were braced against the edge of the control panel, nails digging into the clear plastic of the ship until it started to hurt his finger tips. His face was down, staring at the controls in frustration as he tried to think of something that could save her. But nothing popped into his head until a familiar voice rang out inside the control room.

Soon a hologram was standing next to him, and image of his last self. He looked the same age as he had when he last seen him. The Doctor's brows furrowed in confusion. Rose said he looked 90.

"It's a perception filter if you're wondering, assuming she told you. Just makes you remember how you last saw me. I'm actually really old now, believe it or not. I know you figured it out by now, Doctor. I know why she's the way she is. Her time crossing over the void, and the time radiation coming off of the growing TARDIS just heated up the Bad Wolf particles basically and froze her. She's frozen in time, doesn't actually exist anymore, but she can still die. Like the TARDIS. And now she is dying."

The eleventh Doctor broke out in the rage and began to point his finger at the hologram, as if he could hear him. "Yes, she's dying because you clearly overlooked something. You sent her over knowing this would happen. She's dying because of you!"

"I know, it's my fault. I also know you can fix it."

"What?"

"She'll die, 10 other times before she gets to you. She's split up into pieces, each time she's saved she'll disappear and go back into our Rose. Let's call her Now Rose. If you miss one, if you miss more than half, she'll die. You can fail at maximum five times Doctor, do you hear me? That includes saving her right now, present day. 5 deaths to 6 savings. Not one more or she's dead. Everytime she dies she gets weaker, which will make it harder to save her when it comes down to you since she won't be able to run, amongst other things. She won't remember you up until our ninth incarnation. She'll always be just someone in the crowd, or crossing the street, a victim in the midst of saving people and things. You'll have to cross your own timeline in order to find her, you'll see her at one point every time. She'll be a girl who got hit by a car, a victim. Not Rose. She will not be Rose and you cannot mourn her, even if she knows who you are. That'll waste time and make it more likely to fail on the next one. I'll send you dates and coordinates to where she'll be. And Doctor." The hologram solidified and turned to look directly at him, voice becoming fuller than before. "Keep her safe."

The hologram switched off and the last remnants of his previous face had disappeared. He was staring at an empty face, the ghost of a dead man gone and lost. He really quite fancied that face though, despite the piles of dislike for the human version of him. Perhaps he liked it because Rose liked it. But she liked this face too didn't she? Not that it really matter, he was what she was stuck with, like it or not. He was never losing her again.

When the Doctor walked down the hall and emerged into Rose's room he was shocked to find it empty, and sent out a silent message to the TARDIS to guide him to her. The halls shifted in front of him, a curve going straight, several doors appearing and disappearing until it was just one. A single wooden door he was sure he had never seen. (Unless of course it was new, a sanctuary for Rose that he would have never thought of. The TARDIS fancied her like that). But as he creaked open the door his breath caught as he saw the blonde standing in the middle of a white room, talking to his past self on the wall.

Her head shifted towards the door quickly, but he was already tucked inside and hidden behind a wall. His ears scanned for her every breath and just waited until she started to talk again.

Rose turned back to the painting. "It's weird, seeing you so young."

"He's even younger, you know."

"Yeah I know," Rose glanced down at the floor, lip being worried between her teeth.

"What's wrong Rose?" The pinstriped Doctor looked down at her, a longing in his eyes to touch her, even though he knew he couldn't. It was Bad Wolf Bay all over again. "Don't you like him?"

"Of course! Of course I do, how could I not? I mean he's a bit eccentric, but he's lovely really. I just feel… bad. Terrible actually."

"Why?"

"My husbands dead and I run back to the Doctor? It's incredibly selfish. I could have gone anywhere, locked onto the TARDIS and left. I mean what if he's just keeping me here out of guilt? He may not even want me here, not really. I could've went to Jack, Martha, Mickey, Shareen maybe, tell her I just got some really amnesia. Tell her I met some great bloke and we got married outright, so I didn't come around for a while to see her. I'd tell her I was sorry, and I'd tell Jack and Mickey the same thing. And now he has to save me too because he has to save everybody doesn't he? What if he just doesn't want that? Doctor… Doctor I knew my husband. I know he was you- I know that's not the problem- but what if he's not?"

The man on the wall stared at her, clearly perplexed. "He loves you Rose."

"How do you know?"

"Because I don't think he'll ever stop. I never did."

Rose giggled slightly and nodded at the floor before looking back up to him. "I'll miss you though, you and that great hair."

"I did have great hair didn't I?" He grinned at her, the same manic grin her husband used to give her. She couldn't help it, the corners of her mouth immediately brighten and followed suit. The same goofy smile plastered onto her face as his. "Rose,"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me something,"

"Anything, Doctor."

"You'll love him just as much as you loved me. Even if I could never say it before." His face was serious now, warmth still peaking in his eyes though. "Because I suppose, since it's my last chance to say it. Rose Tyler I love you."

"Quite right too," she whispered back, a small smile on her features. It was a mixture of sadness and guilt, yet filled with something else. Something entirely more beautiful because she knew, that she could keep her promise to this pinstriped Doctor. She would love him, just as she loved him and his great hair and manly hairy hands.

The eleventh Doctor slipped further into the shadows, his ships providing another wall for him to hide behind. It was a good thing she was in a good mood today, he didn't feel like getting discovered eavesdropping on Rose.

Once she walked out of the room, the Time Lord breathed a sigh of relief as a voice called him over to the other room.

"You shouldn't eavesdrop, it's rude."

"Oi, and you weren't?" He replied tartly then shook his head. "Sorry, sorry, you're not him. You're me, sad and lonely old me."

"Not so lonely, got these guys. Although they don't make the best company, especially him." The tenth Doctor head flipped in the direction of the ninth Doctor who grumbled and mumbled something about 'thanking god he was dead because he wouldn't have to turn into those two pretty boy idiots.' "Also once you're up here, oh I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I will anyways. Once you're up here, we disappear, relive moments in our lives. We also get to create moments that never happened if we know the people around us well enough. It's taken from our subconscious, and created around us. I still travel with Rose. I never stopped."

"Sounds nice, some peace after it all."

"Oh I suspect it was all the TARDIS's doing, keeping our minds locked up here in these neat little frames. She's sweet that old girl, wants to keep her Doctor happen even after death. It's still all relative anyways. I'm still on this ship, sand shoes and pinstripes pulling up levers and bringing us to New Earth. Somewhere, hidden away."

He nodded and looked at the floor.

"You need to save her?" Ten asked him.

"Your clone is a sodden idiot. How could he risk Rose like that?" There was a certain rage in his voice, hints of The Oncoming Storm showing through.

"He knew you won't let her die."

"You think so?"

"You- we- would never let anything happen to her if we can help it. Now we can. You'll save her so much you'll be sick of it by the time you're done."

"Thanks," was all the Time Lord said as he left. The man in the frame disappearing behind him into his own little heaven of a 'the Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS how it should be.'

The Doctor slid down the door as he shut it and sat in the hallway. He'd save her. Yes, he'd save her. Most definitely he would save her. 100% positive he would save her.

Wouldn't he?