After a bit of a break, I am trying to get back into writing this story as I do have a lot of love for it. It has been a while, so excuse me if I do seem a bit rusty.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Seven: The Plan

Better to fight for something than live for nothing – George S Patton

Rose's hand tightened on her gun as the console room melted away, and only herself and the man in black remained. It took everything in her power not to spin round to take in the barren wasteland that appeared around her.

"Where are we?" Rose questioned as the man grinned once more.

"We're inside your head. I have got to say, your mental barriers are quite something. Luckily I had a helping hand." He responded.

"The TARDIS?" She questioned, receiving an enthusiastic nod in return, "Why is she helping you?"

"Well, that's where it gets a bit complicated." He stated, before looking around, "you see, I am the one who convinced the TARDIS to bring the three doctors here. As you guessed, we needed you to have full control of the powers that you possess. You are the only one with the power to put an end to the horde before they destroy not just this universe, but every universe."

Rose studied the man before her, his manic behaviour from before didn't match the serious tone he used now.

"What do I need to do?" Rose questioned. The man seemed to stare at her for a while, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"You seem very trusting of me all of a sudden." It was more of a statement, than a question but Rose could hear the curiosity burning within him.

"The TARDIS wouldn't have helped you find me, let alone get into my head if you weren't being honest. That's good enough for me." The man's manic grin returned full force.

"Very well, Rose Tyler."

Time seemed to slow for Ten as the man in black disappeared and Rose stumbled forward, falling to one knee and clutching the console.

"Rose!" Nine exclaimed before moving to kneel next to her, his eyes widening as he noticed the blood running from her nose.

"I'm fine, hell of a headache though." She grumbled, managing a grateful smile when Amy handed her a tissue.

"What the hell happened?" Ten exclaimed, his mind spinning with everything that had happened. He found himself on the receiving end of multiple glares while Rose winced at the volume. He really wasn't winning any popularity contests today. Nine sighed in exasperation before turning back to the blonde.

"What happened exactly?" Nine said gently.

"He said that he there is a way to stop the Horde before this was spills over to other universes." Rose stated, finally standing up with a slight wobble. Ten desperately wanted to reach over to steady her, but stuffed his hands into his pockets instead, not entirely sure she would accept the help he gave.

"How could it spill over? The walls between worlds are sealed." He finally managed to force out.

"There is a small opening, close to the dead zone, that's how you were able to make it through. And because it is so close to the dead zone, no one from this side knew about it." Rose explained calmly, "There is a way for us to travel to the dead zone and stop the horde from invading further."

"I though you said no one could travel there?" Amy questioned nervously, her hand searching for Rory's.

"There wasn't, which is where you three come in." Rose stated, turning her attention towards the three Doctors, "The TARDIS can power the Aegis, using the vortex and a homing chip from a Horde warship when can get to the Horde base. Once we make it through, you will be able to make the jump to the original universe." Rose stated. Ten couldn't believe how matter of fact she was being about it all. "The hard part is going to be getting the homing chip, but we should be able to…" She trailed off and her right hand went to her ear. She shook her head slightly before turning her head to nine, "What are the chances of this working?"

"Provided the TARDIS has all the information, it could work." He stated, he looked reluctant to continue.

"What is it?" Rose questioned with narrowed eyes.

"It…wouldn't take the three of us. One would have been more than enough, so why are we all here?" Nine questioned. No one was really surprised when Rose shrugged slightly.

"That, I am really not sure of." She replied, before flinching, her hand flying to her ear again, "Alright Joker, I hear you. I'm on my way." She turned back to the others, "We don't have long before we reach the Citadel, I would recommend having a look around. It really is something." She made her way out the door. Ten hovered for a second before following her, ignoring the protests from the others.

"Rose. Rose wait, please." He stated, jogging slightly to catch up with her. He stamped down the hurt at the slightly wary expression she had.

"If you're here to judge me more about what I have been doing, I'm really not in the mood." She stated impatiently.

"No, that's not why. I want to apologise to you?" He watched as her eyebrows rose.

"Is that a question?" She answered back, her lips twitching with the effort not to smile.

"No, no it wasn't a question." He chuckled slightly, "I'm sorry Rose, I haven't exactly been very understanding of what you went through. This isn't what I wanted for you," He raised a hand as she opened her mouth, glare firmly in place, "And before you say anything, I know it's not about what I want. I selfishly wanted to believe that there was a part of me that got that happy ending, spending the rest of my life with you. I just wanted the best for you."

"I know." Rose sighed in response, "But I can't have you make decisions for me. Not now, not again. I made my peace a long time ago with being left. I was happy with John, but I'm not the same anymore. You will always mean the world to me, but things won't go back to being the same."

Ten nodded in agreement, even as his hearts crumbled. Rose hesitated before bringing a hand to his arm in a comforting gesture before walking off towards the elevator.

He meant everything that he had said to her, but that didn't stop a small part of him trying to figure out how to get her away from all this. With a heavy sigh he turned back towards the TARDIS.

"And you believe that this could really work?" Rose really couldn't fault Captain Anderson for sounding as skeptical, judging by the Admirals face, the feeling was mutual.

"Honestly, I don't know. There are a lot of variables that we need to work out, but at this point, I'm not sure what we've got to lose by trying." Rose replied, bringing a hand to rub the back of her head, an old nervous tick that she had never been able to get rid of.

"This could turn out to be a suicide mission Tyler, do you really want to risk your crew for something that might work?" Anderson replied. Before she could answer, Admiral Hackett interrupted.

"Send us over all the data before you do anything. I want to know everything there is to know about this plan before we agree on anything. Hackett out." With that the hologram flickered out of existence.

"I don't like this Tyler, there is a lot riding on this and not a lot of solid proof."

"Trust me sir, I don't want to be running into anything blind. But we are running out of time." Rose replied, watching the man run a hand over his face, suddenly looking older than ever.

"I will get a team working on tracking a downed Horde ship. We may be able to salvage what we need from that. Tyler, keep yourself safe." Anderson replied, with a salute, he was gone as well.

Rose heaved a tired sigh and leaned heavily on the bar in front of her, not turning when she heard the footsteps behind her.

"How you holding up?" Jack asked, surprisingly gentle. Rose smirked slightly before turning to face the other woman.

"Not gonna lie, I have been better." Jack smirked slightly before pushing off the wall and leaning against the bar beside Rose.

"It's showing; you are starting to look as bad as Garrus!" Jack cackled as Rose rolled her eyes, "Seriously though, you should get some sleep."

"I'll sleep when I am dead." She replied automatically, this conversation had happened many times before. Without disappointing Jack replied;

"We're going to be waiting a while if that's the case! C'mon, we are almost at the Citadel and I could use a drink." Jack said while walking towards the door, "Besides, I hear Aria is looking to see you." Jack laughed as Rose groaned, shoulders slumped as she followed her.

This day is getting better and better she thought to herself sarcastically.

Well that is it. I know I rushed through the reasoning behind everything, but I am just trying to get back into the swing of everything.

As always feedback is much appreciated and I promise I won't leave this as long next time.