And now the chapter you were all waiting for! Like always don't forget to tell me what you think of it. I'm really anxious about this one, I've been working on it for weeks!
Like always a million thanks to my beta penandpaper83 (she's perfect).

Chapter 7:

As the TARDIS began to slowly materialize, Rose felt panic and dread take possession of herself. This was not supposed to happen. She couldn't see the Doctor. Not today. Maybe not ever. Her weapon already forgotten, she took a step back. And then another one, until she was a few meters away, her heart beating wild in her chest. Alarms were screeching deafeningly in her head, screaming her to run as far as possible. Even her breath was starting to come short. Martha, who was too busy looking at the spaceship appearing, didn't seem to realize her predicament.

But she had run out of time to hide herself. The TARDIS was there in all her magnificence. After all this time, it was time for her to face the music. After a few seconds, a century for Rose, the Doctor opened the door and stumbled out of the TARDIS. His face brightening when he saw Martha, who was just beside the door.

"Martha Jones! Just the person I wanted to see! Hold on, why haven't you changed into normal clothes?" he asked, frowning at the fact she was still barefoot and wearing that hospital gown under his coat.

Martha started to reply with a large grin on her face. However, Rose didn't hear a sound with the thud of her heart pounding loudly in her head. Her entire being entirely focused on the man in front of her. If she was not as scared as she was right now, she could have cried.

She had dreamed about this moment a very long time ago. Hoping every day to see his face, telling herself it was just a bad dream that she will soon come out. But that day never came, and she had to make peace with it and move on. She started a new life, and with that came a path which lead her to a life that she could never have imagined when she was growing up in the estates.

But now he was in front of her. Not more than a few meters away, still as beautiful as she remembered. If she was still the old Rose, she would have probably wept at the sign. But the old Rose was long gone and the only thing she wanted to do now was run far in the other direction. Because everything had changed. She had changed. Drastically. And she was not that sure that the Doctor would want that version of her on the TARDIS.

She started to back away, after deciding that it was better to leave when he just happened to look her way, the ending of a laugh still on his lips. For a split second his gaze passed through her, as if she were simply a ghost, something that couldn't possibly be here.

But then he did a double take, his face paling slightly. He put one foot forward but stumbled, stepping backwards instead into the TARDIS, as if his brain decided otherwise. Martha moved towards him, slightly confused as to the reason behind his stumble. Rose met his gaze and it was like coming home, their eyes not tearing from each other.

Later on, after the fact, she would swear that time had stopped during that moment. She didn't see Martha trying to get a response from the Doctor, nor the soldiers who were advancing on them, curious to see the famous Doctor outside of battle. She didn't even realize she dropped her radio, letting it bounce aimlessly on the ground. The world was suddenly two bottomless brown eyes. Filled with ice and fire, the burning of the stars themselves, overflowing with a grief and sorrow almost too bright to turn away. During those few seconds, it was like the universe itself held its breath. Reducing it to the Doctor and Rose, stuff of legends.

"Rose..." he murmured, his voice choking with emotion.

And just like that, time resumed his course.

Rose gasped at his tone when he said her name. A sound she hadn't heard for so long, she almost forgot it. Absently, she realized she could hear the world again around her. But she was rooted in place. "Doctor..." she whispered in a reply. As soon as those words left her lips, she swore she saw tears forming in his eyes as he realized she was not a product of his fatigued mind.

Martha squeaked in excitement as she witness the brief exchange. "Oh my god! You're Rose!" Her eyes were huge with amazement. "We found you. Oh my god!"

This made Rose turned her head to the young woman in surprise, easily breaking her gaze from the Doctor who, by the way, still had the the same look of shock that one could expect after being hit square in the stomach. She wasn't expecting to hear that they were looking for her. "What do you mean? How do you know me?" she asked, puzzled by the fact that this stranger, who she knew had been the Doctor's companion sometime after their separation, seemed to know her well enough.

Martha opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the right words but failed. She looked at herself and seemed to finally realize she never changed into some proper clothes. "You know what? I'm going to run and change real quick. Don't move!" She turned to the Doctor who still looked at Rose like the world around them didn't exist. "Don't you even think of swanning off without me!" He nodded almost absently. She started to say something else, but after realizing that Rose was the only thing in the Doctor's the focus right now, she quickly took her leave, telling the few remaining soldiers to follow her out of the field. Leaving Rose and the Doctor alone.

Rose was still feeling paralyzed, her heart and mind still at war on what to do. A part of her, the one who still remembered the happiness of old days, wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and bury her head into the crook of his neck, to forget everything ever happened. But she couldn't. The past was just too painful and she had to remember she had a mission now. Responsibilities to the people who depended on her. Things happened in their past that could not be forgotten. But her heart in this moment was winning over her rational thought. She took a step forward, not really sure about what she was going to do, when he finally spoke.

"Rose. How?" he asked after a few seconds, the pain and hope in his voice so strong she almost cried then and there.

Rose tried to play it natural and shrugged as if it were common fact. "I hitched a ride, and here I am."

Her nonchalance at traveling across the void as if she merely caught a cab downtown threw him off for a moment. He moved from the TARDIS towards her, his voice betraying his shock and light fear, "But. But, it's impossible! Rose, those walls were sealed!"

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." She smirked gently while quoting back their favorite movie, which made him almost smile. "As for the walls… Don't worry, it's safe. We were very careful. It's just..." She sighed, her fingers wiggling in anticipation as she considered the best way to explain her reasoning. "It was an emergency. We didn't have a choice. One by one, the stars were dying. One day they were there and the next...Nothing." Rose paced as she wondered how he would react to the solution they had devised. "So, we built this machine. A cannon really, so that I could cross over and discover what's was happening. And we realized that it wasn't just a problem for Pete's universe. It was happening in every universe, Doctor. The walls were weakening and their stars were going out too. And we became conscious that the point of origin was right here, in this universe. So my intention was to found you and solve the issue" She sighed. "But during the last jump, I somehow landed earlier than intended. Then my hopper burnt out for some reason, and I was stuck here. Ironic isn't it? Stuck in my home universe again. So, time passed on and things changed."

She wanted to tell him about the fear of not being adequate for the challenge, the misery of being suddenly totally alone in this universe, the dread to move in a world that forgot about her, the horrors she had to face. She wanted to tell him everything that happened since the last time she saw him. But before she could let her heart go wild, possibly ruining everything she was working for, he was in front of her, wrapping her into his arms. Hugging her like she was his lifeline. She didn't even hesitate and hugged him back fiercely and desperately, like she was afraid he would disappear at any moment. It would not be the first time.

"Oh Rose," he sighed in a hushed almost reverent voice, tightening his embrace a little more. Like he was trying to melt all their pains away with the sheer force of his mind. And for a while, he succeeded. She was Rose Tyler again, travelling the stars with the one brighter above all. The other part of her soul.

She didn't know how long they stayed that way. In a peaceful state of grace where nothing could touch them. But of course, reality caught up in the form of a returning Martha Jones.

"Oh good you're still there!" Martha said in a relieved voice.

They broke apart at her voice, and Rose had the sudden urge to take a few steps back. She needed to regain herself and her thoughts. She saw the hurt in his eyes, and felt her heart clench but she needed to stay strong. Soon he would be gone and she would stay behind, and she was already too deep.

"I still can't believe you're here! I've heard so much about you. 'Rose this'. 'Rose that'. It can give a woman a serious complex!" she joked with a smile. Rose turned to the Doctor with wide eyes, blinking a few times in shock.

"You talked about me?" She was stunned. He never mentioned past companions. Ever.

The Doctor squirmed a bit, scrubbing his neck, deliberately not meeting her eyes. "I might have mentioned you once...Twenty times..."

Martha snorted with a roll of her eyes. "Right. You are so full of..." But she was interrupted by the sound of her phone. "Oh excuse me!" She accepted the call, and swept a few feet away. "Martha Jones!"

They looked at each other awkwardly, the Doctor's smile painful as he drank her in. This had to be some cruel trick of the universe - hiding her from him until this seemingly random moment. "I still can believe that you're here," he said with amazement, his eyes going soft. "Look at you." He looked at her for a few seconds before taking her face with his hands, touching her forehead with his own. Breathing out a shaky, "Rose."

"I missed you, Doctor," she answered with tears in her voice. Her eyes fluttered close as she felt his fingers caressing her cheeks and temples. "I really missed you." She mirrored his actions, stroking his face with her hands. Trying to reassure herself that he was really here, and not a product of her broken spirit. It had been really hard for her all of these years, learning to live without him again. Like she couldn't breathe properly. It had taken a long time for her to be able to live without his ghost on her shoulder. She wondered how long it had been for him.

She heard his smile in his voice. "I missed you too Rose. So much." He released her face, taking a step back to look at her in the eyes. "Like you wouldn't believe." They stood there for a few moments, staring at each other with what was undeniably stupid smiles on their lips. However, in addition to that, the Doctor had this determined look on his face. Like he was trying to make a decision on some long internal debate, and the romantic in her made her dream that he was mustering up the courage to kiss her. But the realist part of her, the one who knew this would be a bad idea caused her to panic internally. Which side would win out? Would she hold her ground and walk away? Or would she let herself be swept back into their old routine of mixed messages and adventure.

But they were interrupted by Martha who was hurrying back in.

"Sorry to interrupt" She grimaced. She had caught a fleeting sight of them standing close together, assumingly on the brink of reunion when Rose took the opportunity to jump back a few steps. Not noticing the Doctor display a brief look of grief in his eyes before going blank again. "That was Donna. She said she's ready to be picked up! And I quote: 'hurry up spaceman! Don't have all day!"

The Doctor sighed and also took a step back, putting his hands into his pockets. They were almost there. He could feel it. He knew when Rose was deep in thought, and he had hoped that the heavy contemplation in her eyes was a sign that she was considering coming home. "Okay, everyone in the TARDIS." He pushed Martha, who laughed all the way to the door. "You're coming Rose?" he continued, a hopeful smile on his lips. He had a niggling feeling that he still had a chance.

Rose took another step back. Her smile faltering. "I...I can't, Doctor. I have a mission now. I have a life." She closed her eyes and turned around. She could not face the Doctor, not without showing tears. She told herself again and again that it was for the best. For all of them. "I'm sorry but… I'm too different now."

For a few seconds, an eternity for her, she heard nothing, only the sound of her own heartbreak. But just as her resolve was at its breaking point, and ready to let the old Rose take control and say screw it to everything, she heard the sound of a closing door. She bit back a sob, biting at her lip to not make a sound. She thought that if she was going to watch the TARDIS go, it's going to be with dignity and pride even if it killed her inside. It was with this notion in mind that she turned around, ready to say goodbye to the only man she ever loved more than life himself, and the home that she called her own for so long.

But she was shocked to see he was still here, looking at her with agonizing eyes, his hand on the closed door of the TARDIS. At the moment she knew she was staying upright only by the sheer will of her own stubbornness.

"Rose," his tone was pleading, and she wanted to cry. "I just… For one moment? Please?"

Rose shook her head. "Doctor, you know if I come into the TARDIS, it will be too hard to stay away," she replied. She was drained in almost every way right now. Physically because of the battle, and emotionally from coming face to face with the Doctor.

His shoulders slumped at that. The dejection on his face as he replied, "I just want to have a little more time. Because..." He briefly closed his eyes, visibly pained to say that. "But you're right. It's your decision. I just want you to meet Donna and after that I will..." He looked away. "I will drop you off wherever you want."

Rose knew that she should say no. She should ask him to bring Donna to her if he wanted them to meet each other so bad. She knew it was a bad idea, probably the worst since her big incident with the Ice Warrior, even worse than her jumping universe to universe. Even her inner voice was screaming about repercussion. Possible reapers and therefore consequences worse than death.

But the look in his eyes. Those sad eyes that were full of hope, it make every resolve that she had break under the weight of the love that she still felt for him somewhere. Even if she'd never openly admit it. "Open the door," she said before she could change her mind. "I would love to meet Donna."

The Doctor's demeanor instantly changed. He straightened and the smile on his face was so bright and wide, that she saw his previous face for a split second. He opened the door of the TARDIS, and as she stepped inside for the first time in many years, she was welcomed by the most beautiful sound of the universe.

"She missed you," he murmured as he passed by her while looking to the ceiling with a fond smile. "She didn't hum so brightly after you..." His voice hitched. "Since you've been gone."

Rose walked to the console, passing a curious Martha casually leaning against a pillar. As she touched one of the panels, the column illuminated brightly for a second. "Oh, I've missed you too, beautiful," she said with a warm voice. "Has he been treating you right?"

"Oh god, there are two of you now!" Martha scoffed. "If you start stroking her, I swear I'm leaving to search for Donna myself!"

"Don't listen to her, you're perfect!" continued the Doctor, suddenly appearing beside Rose. He patted the grating before doing his magic, moving the TARDIS up to the house of Donna.

Rose rejoined Martha, sitting down beside her. "She needs attention too, you know. I know he's a little extreme" She snickered, remembering all the times she caught him caressing some part of the TARDIS. "Okay not in the magnitude of what the Doctor does, but some love from time to time doesn't hurt."

Martha huffed. "I know she's alive and all that, but she's still a machine. And if she didn't play with her lighting from time to time, or move the kitchen into one of the holo-rooms every two weeks, I still would be a little skeptical."

"You just have to listen to her. With time it becomes easier as she gets to trust you," Rose offered.

"What do you mean listen? To what?" Martha frowned.

But before she could reply the Doctor declared proudly they arrived, and the door to the TARDIS opened suddenly, admitting a very distressed redhead.

"Donna are you ok?" The Doctor looked at her in concern, moving rapidly around the console to approach his friend.

"Yes, yes it's nothing I swear." Donna began to smile, but then realized there was one more person than earlier. "Oh and who are you?" She turned to Martha with a raised eyebrow. But Martha could only smile like a cat who swallowed a canary.

Rose stood with a smile. "Hello. I'm Rose. Rose Tyler. I used to travel with the Doctor. You're Donna right?"

Donna looked at her with astonishment for a few seconds, making Rose a little awkward, before she pulled her into the fiercest hug. Making Rose huff in surprise. But before she could do anything, Donna had released her and turned to the Doctor. "Why you didn't tell me you found her, you dumbo!" she exclaimed while hitting him on the shoulder, making him yelp with pain. "And you!" She turned to Martha. "A little warning could have been nice!" She looked again at Rose, smiling like she had won the lottery. "Oh my god, I'm so happy to see you! How did you find each other?"

In the background the Doctor, still rubbing his shoulder, peaked up at the question. He had been wondering the same earlier. "Oh yes! Why were you here by the way?"

Donna groaned and covered her face when she heard him. "Oh my god! Sometimes I seriously wonder how you are still alive, Doctor."

"I work with UNIT," Rose replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I needed a job, and since I'm deceased in this universe, my job prospects are rather limited."

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck at the reminder of the repercussions of the events at Canary Wharf. He didn't know if it'd be right to say anything in response to that really. While Rose didn't seem angry, he was sure that she didn't need to reminder.

Donna opened her mouth to reply. But before she could voice her thoughts, the door slammed shut on its own and the time rotor activated - throwing everyone around.

The Doctor looked around in alarm. "What? What?!"

"Doctor, what's happening?" Rose asked while trying to hang onto one of the coral pillars.

"I don't know! I didn't touch anything! She's flying herself!" he said as he lost his footing and slipped while trying to access the console board.

"Where are we going?" Donna asked as she was practically launched from the chair.

"I just said that I don't know. It's out of control!" the Doctor replied while pushing button after button without effect. This wasn't good at all! He couldn't figure out how this happened. What if she was malfunctioning? Or if someone found a way to control his ship. But how though?

"Doctor you have to take me home!" shouted Martha, trying without much success to get up.

Rose nodded vigorously. "Make her turn around! Do something!"

"I'm trying! I swear!" And without any other warning he started to whack the console with a hammer. However the only thing that came out of that was sparks and some new dings on the surface.

The TARDIS was out of control, and the Doctor had absolutely no way to regain it.