Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me

Okay – some allusions to violence her and a smidge of gore. Please let me know if the rating's inappropriate.

Chapter 7

Naturally Jack had some patches with him to neutralise the effects of alcohol. Lifestyle like his it was kind of essential. The Doctor unwrapped one and took it to Rose's room. "Rose?" he called gently, knocking on the door. There was no answer, she must be asleep, he assumed. He opened the door, peering into the darkness. He needed to apologise to her, let her know that even though it was an insanely stupid thing to do, he understood why she'd felt the need to make everything numb for a little while.

"Rose?" he called again. "I've got something here that'll help you." He heard no signs of stirring; she must really be out of it. He walked over to the bed, reaching out to gently shake her awake. His hand froze mid air. She wasn't there. His eyes darted around the room in panic. Where was she?

Maybe the bathroom. He strode quickly to the large, family bathroom off the main hallway. No need to check in there, the door was open, the light was off and the room was empty.

"Jack." He called, the urgency clear in his voice.

"What?" Jack was there in an instant.

"I can't find Rose." And then he noticed, the front door slightly ajar. "Nonononono!" thrusting the patch into his pocket, he ran towards the door, Jack hot on his heels. A quick scan of the balcony showed no sign of her. He leaned precariously over the side to search among the lower balconies, nothing. The street below, nothing. His hearts clenched in his chest. Where had she gone? Had something happened to her? Was she okay? How would they find her?

"Did she have her phone on her?" Jack's voice broke through the Doctor's panic.

Thick! Thick! He was so thick! Her phone! Of course! He dashed back to the living room, grabbing the portable handset and punching the numbers to her mobile in, his desperation causing him to make mistakes, he had to start over three times. He berated himself again when he saw her name appear in the readout. Of course her mum would've had her on speed dial. Why was he being such a blithering idiot?

"Mum?" Rose's confused voice came through the earpiece.

"Rose!" the Doctor cried in relief. "It's me. It's the Doctor, it's not…" he broke off, no time for explanations…. And how could it be her bloody mother anyway? "Rose, where are you?"

There was silence at the other end of the phone, the Doctor felt his heart rate increase, his panic rising again. "Rose?"

"Yeah, 'm here." She said, her tone guarded.

"Rose, where are you?" he repeated "Why did you leave the flat?"

"Heard you talking." She answered quietly.

"What did you hear Rose?" the Doctor asked urgently, remembering the conversation he and Jack had had after he'd yelled at her. He swallowed, anxiously.

"Heard you say you're gonna leave me behind, like you did Jack." She accused, her voice was hard but the Doctor still heard the sob behind it.

"I didn't say that Rose!" he said desperately, "I said I wouldn't do that! I promise you! I won't do that! Please, tell me where you are?"

"Rose? ROSE!" he yelled, fear gripping him. There was silence at the other end of the phone. "Rose, answer me!" the silence was punctured by an ear splitting scream, the Doctor dropped the phone, he'd heard that in stereo, both through the earpiece and through the open front door. He ran, his feet pounding on the concrete stairs, leaping two or three at a time in his haste to get to street level.

"Doctor!" Jack shouted urgently from the other side of the courtyard below, his desperation clear in his voice.

The Doctor sprinted along the concrete towards the voice, "Jack! Is she there?"

As he skidded to a halt, his question was answered for him. In the shadowy recess of a loading bay door there was a large pool of blood, shining black in the orange glow of the streetlights. On the edge of the pool, splattered with the sticky gore, was Rose's mobile phone.

The Doctor froze, his amazing, brilliant, multitasking Time Lord brain completely shutting down for what might have been a moment, a few minutes or even several years as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

There was no body but there was so much blood… too much.

"She was taken." Jack said, stating the obvious, nobody who'd lost that much blood could get anywhere under their own steam.

"Here, look." He pointed to the still wet smears on the pavement, evidence that she'd been dragged. The smears stopped at the edge of the road so she'd obviously been loaded into a car or a van.

This had to be the Master's work, it was too much of a coincidence.

"What do we do, Doctor?"

"We take this city apart, brick by brick until we find her!"

"Yeah, I'm with you on that one, but where do we start?"

"I don't…." The Doctor dropped to his knees, his hands going to his face, it was taking all of his effort to force down the scream rising within him. There was so much blood, and with a future already so very fragile… this could be it. This. Could. Be. It…. And the last thing he did was yell at her. He vowed that if they – no, when they – managed to recover her, alive and well, he'd never shout at her again. She could stop time, destroy universes… drink as much of Jack's bloody JD as she wanted. He'd never, ever be angry with her again…

"Doc." Jack's urgent, slightly fearful voice interrupted his thoughts. He felt a tentative hand on his shoulder. "No time to break down now Doctor. We've got to find Rose."

He took a deep breath, removing his hands from his face as he nodded. That was when Rose's mobile phone went off. Both men looked at it for a moment, "Unknown" flashing on the display, then both reached for it at the same time. The Doctor snagged it first, wiping the worst of the blood off the handset onto his trousers as he lifted it to his ear.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Doctor." The Master's voice crooned his name.

"Master." He acknowledged shortly

"I like it when you use my name…."

The Doctor wasn't getting drawn into this. "Where's Rose?"

His anxiety elicited a laugh that was almost a giggle from the other end of the receiver.

"What have you done with her?" he demanded, his voice harsh, desperate.

"Oh, now, now Doctor." The Master admonished. "She's fine. Well, probably will be. Although, might be a good idea to let me know her blood type, I think the guy who went to collect her may have been a bit… overenthusiastic…"

The Doctor hissed through his teeth. "Take her to the TARDIS!" He pleaded.

"Well, she's not actually here yet, he's only just picked her up." The Master stated, half exasperated, half mocking.

"When she gets there. Please Master." He begged. "Take her to the sick bay. The TARDIS has her blood in storage."

"Well, I would. Of course I would but the TARDIS is being rather… uncooperative right now." The Master drawled in his sing-song voice.

"A positive!" the Doctor spat out, desperately. "She's A Positive. Just help her. Please. She's nothing to you. She can't hurt you just keep her safe. I'm begging you."

"Well, well, the Doctor begging. Hmmm. I like the sound of that!" The Doctor could hear the smug smile in his voice.

"I'll keep her alive for now. She's no good to me dead after all."

The Doctor sighed in relief. Scrunching his eyes closed for a second. "What do you want, Master?"

"Hmmm. Well… there are so many choices!" the Master sang. "How about this planet? Yeah? No! Boring! How about…." He paused for dramatic effect. "The Universe!" he laughed manically. The victory already won in his head, then he silenced suddenly.

"Where is it Doctor? Where's Gallifrey?"

"Gone." The Doctor said sadly, taking a deep breath.

"How can Gallifrey be gone?"

"It burnt."

"And the Time Lords?"

"Dead… and the Daleks… more or less…."