Chapter One -o- Time

She stood at the window, her face a mask of indifference. There were two people standing behind her going over figures, interest was up, unemployment was down and life was good. She nodded her head, the information going in one ear and out the other. She had other things on her mind, much more important things. She nodded her head again and the room went silent. She turned from the window and looked at the two of them. A young man and a young woman, both looked to be about her age. They were not.

"Is that all?" She asked and the young man nodded and she smiled at them. "Thank you." He turned to leave but the woman stood her ground. "Something else Stacy?"

"Ma'am" She said pushing her hair back behind her ear. "Your granddaughter is here with her daughter. They were hoping for a moment."

"Thank you Stacy." She said smiling. It had been a good long while since she'd seen her granddaughter. "Would you have them come up?" Stacy nodded then turned and walked out a side door.

She sat down at her desk to wait and smiled when the elevator tinged and the doors opened. A small girl of about four came running out at top speeds. Her long blond hair, done in long plaits, was flying behind her. The little girl had the darkest brown eyes ever, far darker then her own eyes.

"Grandma Rose!" The little girl cried as she tried to climb up onto her desk. Rose lifted the child up and smiled at her. Only Jackie called her that, even though she looked like she could pass as the girl's mother. When, in truth, she was her great, great grandmother.

"Hello Jackie" Rose said smiling down at the small girl. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." The little girl told her looking back as her mother came walking in, her dark brown hair was done up in a bun on the back of her head. She was just like her mother, a fact that never ceased to amaze Rose. Jackie however took after Rose's side of the family, a fact that seemed to frazzle Kelly at times.

"Hello Rose." Kelly said smiling at her. She wasn't a cold woman; she just didn't show off her emotions much. Rose had always been confused by what Jason saw in her, he was such an open person.

"J.J. is gonna gradu...gradu..." The little girl looked up at her mum when she couldn't get the word out.

"Graduate sweetie." Kelly said smiling, though it was not hard to see that she loved her children very much.

"Yeah, that's the word." Jackie said nodding her head. "He's gonna gradu... He's gonna finish school." She said when she still couldn't get the word out right. "I'm 'pose to give you this." She said handing over a datapad Rose hadn't seen before.

"We'd really love it if you could come Rose." Kelly said sitting down across from her desk. Rose smiled at her and nodded her head sitting down with Jackie in her lap. "Jason would really love it if you were there."

"I'm sorry." Rose said setting Jackie down and smiling at her before she looked back up at Kelly. "I can't, there's just too much..." She trailed off and Kelly sighed as she nodded her head. She had known it was useless to ask, Rose never left this monsters tower. Her home, and her work, was here, at Torchwood.

"But I'd love it if you'd come here and have dinner with me next week. We'll celebrate." She smiled at Kelly as Jackie climbed up into her mother's lap.

"I'm sure they'd love that." Kelly said nodding her head smiling. "We'll I've got to get Jackie to school." Kelly said standing up a smile on her face.

"Of course," Rose said nodding her head smiling as well. "Tell Jason I'll have his graduation gift here for him."

"Of course," Kelly said smiling. "We'll see you next week."

"Good bye." Rose said watching the two of them walk out. Jackie looked back at her and waved from the elevator a small smile on her face. She looked so much like Rose's little Lily had looked at that age. Rose sat down in her chair and thought back. So very long ago. Lily had been gone now for almost 8 years. It was wrong, to have to watch your own child grow and wither in front of you while you stayed ever the same.

-o-o-o-o-o-

He looked up at the sound but couldn't put his figure on the source of it. He had been hearing it for days now, weeks even. But he had no idea where it was coming from, and neither did his TARDIS. It sounded like crying, like someone somewhere was crying. But there was no one on the ship, no one for more than a month now. It was hard, traveling alone. But it was harder still to continue to leave people behind. After her it just seemed to get worse and worse each time. Martha had lasted a long while before she couldn't take it anymore.

They'd saved the world together, faced off against the Master, but she wanted to be with her family. He could understand that. He wanted to be with his family too. And of course there at the end he'd had Jack around too. That had been a double edged sword, good and bad. Good because he was fun and silly and so loved life, and bad because he made the Doctor think of her. But, in the end he was sad to see him go too.

Jack had had secrets, big secrets. 'I can't die.' Had shocked the hell out of the Doctor, and it was awfully hard to shock him anymore. The Doctor concluded that something she did when she brought him back to life had changed him, something in the vortex. The Doctor often worried over her as well, she'd had a bigger dose of it then Jack had. What secrets had she kept?

It had been years now, since he saw her last. And yet, when he closed his eyes he could still see her perfectly, right down to the small moll on her neck that she hated. There had never been any one like her, and he knew there never would be.

No one like his Rose.

-o-o-o-o-

Rose pulled her long blond hair back from her face and twisted it up into a bun. She held the clip board in her hand and stared at the white wall in front of her. It had been a long while since she'd been up here. Almost two years now. The technology was far more advanced than it had been, even 20 years ago. She was sure she was close now. She reached out with her free hand and placed it on the wall, part of her sure she could almost feel his hand on the other side. She was sure it would only be a little while longer. She had to be sure though, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it would hold. That it wouldn't tear the very fabrics of the universe in two.

While as a young girl Rose had not liked school, the older, wiser her had known the only way she'd ever get back, get home, was to learn.

Before she'd known there was something...off...about herself she'd started school again. First she'd gotten her A levels. Then she'd moved on to a science degree and then a Masters in Quantum Mechanics. It had taken a lot of hard work, but it came to her after a while, easier then she would have thought. She'd met Tom in college, when she'd been 24 and studying for her degree. She'd fallen for him, it wasn't the same hard intense earth shattering love she carried in her heart for her Doctor, but it was love.

Tom didn't know about her Doctor, and she never told him. Her mum, Pete and Mickey never told him either. There was no need to know whose shoes he was trying to fill. Rose had been over joyed when she'd discovered she was pregnant. Lily had been born right before she was supposed to start school again. Rose had decided to take a year off, to be with Lily. Of course a year had turned into two and two turned into five. Rose didn't get back to school till she was almost 31, and by then she knew something was wrong with her.

She played it off to Tom as an experiment gone wrong at work, because while she'd continued school, she'd also stayed at Torchwood. For some reason she felt safe there, she had something to work for there. So it was the best explanation to give him without telling him about the Doctor. After all, he was bound to notice the fact that Rose didn't look a day older then the day they'd meet, seven years earlier. It had been nice at first, have the energy of a 20 year old while running after a 6 year old. But after a while it began to wear thin. When Lily was only ten, Tom left, he couldn't take her never aging as he grew steadily older. Lily grew and yet her mother never changed. When Lily was 16 Rose told her about the Doctor, her Doctor. Lily loved to hear about the man who still held her mother's heart. Though by now the two of them had decided it would be easier if Rose went as Lily's sister, rather than her mother. It hurt, more than Rose let on, to hear her daughter call her Rose instead of mum, and it killed her to watch as her daughter got older. After a while, what seemed like only seconds to Rose, Lily was married with her own child. Steven, what a joy he was. And Lily's husband, Kevin, he was all Rose could have hoped for her daughter to find. Steven called her Auntie Rose, and Kevin was brought in on their secret.

It was hard for Rose, to watch as her daughter grew and aged before her eyes. Everyday there seemed to be more age on her. And Steven grew so fast, primary school to secondary, and then on to college. And all the while Rose stayed as she was, watching her world change around her. Lily was almost 45 when Steven married Danielle, who was then introduced to Rose, who now lived at Torchwood. She was brought into the family secret; at first she didn't believe them, thinking it a joke on the new family member. But she came around after a while. And she saw for herself as the years went by. Danielle brought Jason into the world, and by then Rose was pushing 75 though she didn't look a day over 20. Lily was 49 when her grandson was born. Jason was just like his father, and like his grandmother and great grandmother before him. He went to school, thirsty to learn. He didn't seem to ever not be holding a book, always reading, always studying. So it had surprised them all when he'd meet, courted and married Kelly. A woman nothing at all like any of the women in his life. Their first son, Jason Jr., after his father, was born in 2086. Rose hit 100 years old three days after he was born and Lily was almost 75. Rose was 102 years old when her great, great granddaughter was born; Sandra came into the world two years after her brother.

But Lily, sweet, loving, Lily never got to see her last great grandchild born. She died when Sandra was only 5 years old. Lily was 76 when she slipped peacefully away in her sleep.

Rose closed her eyes and tried not to think about her daughter. It was so hard, to think about the child she'd been, the small energetic 6 year old running through the house with their puppy. Or the sassy 12 year old that didn't need her father and wouldn't open his letters when they came. The love struck 16 year old who loved to hear about The Doctor and all of her mother's adventures. Rose shook her head and opened her eyes looking back at the white wall; she pulled her hand away and let it hang beside her as the memories swamped her.

She knew now, more than ever, what the Doctor had been saying so long ago. 'You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone.' Rose sometimes thought back to those words and it hurt. To know that know he could, he could love her the rest of his life. They could be together, forever. But she was here and he was there and there was only this white wall keeping them apart.

-o-o-o-

She had done it again. She was lying in bed staring up at her ceiling, watching as the blades of her fan moved noiselessly around. Almost 100 years and she still woke with the sounds of the TARDIS in her head. She still looked around her room, expecting to see her room on the ship. She swung her legs over her bed and got up. It was almost pointless to sleep any more. When she did it only lasted a few hours and it didn't seem to do much for her anyway.

She walked into her kitchen and started the tea. Tea, it always made her think of her mother, gone so long ago. And Mickey, she still watched over his family. His great, great granddaughter went to school with Sandra. Lily had only been 17 when Jackie had been hit by that car; Rose thought it ironic now, that her mum died the same way as her father, her real father. Pete lived to be almost 83 before he passed away. And her little brother, Mike, he was 71 when he died, only a few years before Lily.

"Ma'am" A voice said and Rose looked up at her comm and sighed. She looked at the clock; it was almost 3:30 in the morning, she had someone working on the White Wall project at all hours. Rose got up and walked over to her comm.

"Yes Tam?" She said into the comm.

"Ma'am" Tams voice said and Rose could hear a note of something new in her voice. "We've had a break through." She said and took a deep breath. They had a break through all the time. They were normally small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

"Ok." She said looking at her tea whistled. "Have...who's working right now?"

"Jackson." She answered back "But-

"Have Jackson write up a report, I'll read it over in the morning and-

"Ma'am, excuse me, but it's a little bigger than that." She said and Rose nodded her head. "Jackson wants you to come down, right now."

"Ok." Rose said nodding her head. She wasn't sleeping anyway. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Yes Ma'am, I'll let him know." Tam said then clicked off. Rose walked back to her room and threw on some clothes. She was working on not getting excited. It could be anything. They were close, but she didn't think they were that close.

-o-o-o-o-

"What is that?" he demanded at the funny sound. It almost didn't sound like it was coming from the ship anymore, almost like it was coming from everywhere. He felt like he had somewhere to be but couldn't figure out where or why. He sighed heavily as he sat down in the captains chair.

Something was going on, something even he couldn't figure out. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and sighed. He felt like someone was watching, and waiting for him. Like there was a presence on the ship he couldn't see. He closed his eyes and reached out trying to see what it was, but all he could see was a white wall.

-o-o-o-

"So," Rose said as she walked into the lab. "What have you got for me Jackson?"

"Well." A tall skinny dark haired man smiled at her as he jumped up from his desk. He jittered like he'd had one too many cups of coffee, but that was just his way. He was American and one of the best on their team. "Well." he said again, "as Tam told you there's been a huge break through. We've been able to stabilize the power transfer, to almost 100 percent without any damage at all." He said and Rose's eyes lit up.

"Where is all the power coming from?" She asked as they both walked towards the white wall.

"Two places actually." Jackson turned to her and showed her a large black box. It was plain in every way, just a big, black, box. "This is from the Camrax," They were an alien race that had recently visited earth. "A parting gift from their king after their Prince tried to sell off all the children of our world." Rose had put a swift stop to that, with the help of her very large team. "It gives off more energy than 100 nuclear power plants."

"Oh, wow." Rose said nodding her head. "I didn't know we'd adapted it to our systems yet." Rose said and he nodded his head.

"Surprise," He said and Rose smiled looking very impressed.

"And the other place is here." He said walking her over to the white wall. "As you know it gives off low energy readings to begin with. We've been studying it more and more and Smitha found a way to use that energy in a kind of loop to help run it."

"Well," Rose said nodding her head. "You have been busy." She smiled at him, but he could see it didn't reach her eyes. "How much under 100 percent are we?"

"We're at 96.342 percent, but-

"No." Rose said shaking her head a grim look on her face now. "That's good Jackson, its great in fact but it's not good enough. Not yet." Rose hated to see that look of triumph fade but she had to do it. "No where under 100 percent is going to work. Not even .00000001 percent under."

"I know, but-

"It's taken us a very long time to get to this point." Rose said smiling at him reassuringly. "You're doing great, I'm so proud of you." She reached out and put her hand on his arm for a moment. "But it has to be perfect; otherwise we run the risk of-

"Tearing the fabrics of the worlds apart." Jackson said and she laughed lightly.

"Said that before have I?" She asked and he nodded his head.

"Once or twice." He said and she smiled.

"Go home, get some sleep. Isn't Kim's play tomorrow night?" He nodded his head and she smiled. "Take the night off, be with your daughter."

"But the Project is-

"Not as important as you spending ever second you have with your daughter." Rose said and he nodded his head. "Have fun."

"I will." He said nodding his head a slow smile spreading on his face. Rose turned to walk away but he called out to her. She turned around and he smiled. "Give me two weeks; I'll have it up to 100 percent."

"Jackson it took a specialized team almost 40 years to get it where it is now." She said smirking at him. He was always saying he'd get it to a 100 percent next week. He promised her, over and over, mostly it was a joke, but she knew they both wished it would work.

"Two weeks." He said again and she laughed and nodded her head walking out.

-o-o-o-

Finally he opened his eyes and jumped up as something struck him. He'd seen that wall before, had stared at it for hours and hated it more then he'd ever hated any inanimate object before. It was the white wall in Torchwood, the one that had been the almost end to his Rose. The place where she had been yanked from his life forever. He closed his eyes again and now he could hear the noise just a little more, it was still crying, but not tears of fear or pain, what was it? There was something happening, something huge, something earth shattering, life changing, course altering, huge.

What was it?

-o-o-o-o-

Rose signed something and set it aside as Stacy handed her another one. Rose looked down at her watch and smiled. In another hour her family would be here and she could give J.J. his graduation gift. Of course she'd gone a little over board, but she always did. She did love to spoil them as much as she could. She'd been doing it since Lily was a child. She'd loved being able to give her child things she'd missed out on.

"Miss Tyler" Rose looked up at Stacy and smiled.

"Yes?" She asked smiling up at Stacy.

"They've got it all wrapped up in the garage." Stacy said and Rose nodded her head. Ok, so she'd gone way over board.

"Thank you Stacy, will you see to it that my family is shown up as soon they get here?" She asked and Stacy nodded her head taking the last paper from Rose. Stacy knew what was so special about Rose, most that worked here did, but she didn't understand why Rose shut herself up in this huge tower, away from everyone, even her family. Eternity on earth and she stayed in, it just didn't make any sense to Stacy.

-o-o-o-o-

"Ok, I know you said nothing to big." Rose said smiling at the look of pure joy on JJ's face. She looked at Kelly, who, for her part, was holding back on the berating comment Rose knew was just below the surface. "But, a boy only graduates high school once." She held out the keys to the new air-bike. JJ leaned over; being a good five inched taller than her, and kissed her on the check.

"Thanks Rose." He said reaching out for the keys.

"There are two helmets." Rose said holding back the keys. "I expect one to be on you at all times and the other to be on your passenger? Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, I promise." He told her and she smiled brightly as she handed over the keys.

"Go get Sarah; I'm sure she'd love to take a ride with you." Rose called as he ran towards the bike.

"Wow, you're so cool Rose." Sandra said smiling up at her. She looked like her father more than her mother, which meant she looked a little like Lily, and that always made Rose smile. It was good to know, even though her Lily was gone, pieces of her lived on.

"Only two more years Sandra," Rose said a sparkle in her eyes. "What color do you want?"

"I want pink!" Jackie said raising her hands for Rose to pick her up.

"Well, you've got a few more years yet." Rose told her and she pouted a little.

"Rose, it really wasn't necessary." Kelly said taking a deep breath.

"I know, if it was necessary, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun." She looked down at Sandra and winked and the girl giggled.

"It seems we've been out done." Jason said laughing at the look on his wife's face. "We got him that new game system, you know, the new VR game." He watched as his oldest son sped away on his bike with a holler of thanks over his shoulder.

"I'm so glad he likes it." Rose told them as they all turned and walked back into her apartment.

"I want Purple," Sandra told rose answering her earlier question.

"I'll file that away from later." Rose told her nodding her head as she put her arm around the girl. "Now, who's up for some cake?"

"Me!!!" Jackie said bouncing up and down.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He paced around the old broken down room. It had been a long while since he had been here. Though he found his way to the wall with hardly an upward glance. The wall looked almost just as it had, almost 8 years ago now. Though the rest of the place was falling down around him. He couldn't understand why he had been drawn to this place. There was still no way, as far as he could tell, to bring her back, if she was even still alive. The universes could travel on very different time waves; there was no way of knowing just how long it had been for her. He reached out and placed his hand on the wall, as he had so long ago, and a tear slipped out as he thought of her, doing the same.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Rose sat at her desk, a cup of tea and her left hand and a pen in her right. For the past ten years or so, she had been writing, rewriting and writing again, her story. She wanted it down on paper, something to give to her family, something they could have always. It took her a while, to get it all just right, and while it would have been easier to just record it from her mind, she wanted to do it the old fashion way.

Rose had two plans, one was as easy as, they got the wall to work and she went home. The other plan was not that simple. Rose had decided when she took on this project that if she couldn't get it to work that was it for her. She was tired, tired of living without him, tired of watching those she loved die, tired of life. So, if this didn't work, if they couldn't open the rift without killing everyone in all the worlds out there, then she was going to do the next best thing to dying. She was going to have herself cryogenically frozen. She wouldn't be alive though she wouldn't be dead either, just, there. No more pain and fear, just a deep sleep where she could live in her dreams forever.

But, before either of those things, she wanted to get down on paper her life, and her love of her family. It was hard for her, the prospect of losing everyone here that she loved. But it was harder still to sit back and watch as they grew old and died. It may be a little selfish of her, but after all these years, she thought she deserved to be a little selfish. Rose put her pen down and looked at the time; it was 4:15 a.m. on a Friday morning. She was finally done, she was sure now. She hadn't forgotten anything this time. She picked up the stack and flipped it over removed the first page, and began to read.

It was 7:30 when my alarm when off that morning. I woke up not knowing that my world was about to change, for the better...

-o-o-o-o-o-

"This can't be right." Rose said looking up at Jackson; whose grin was so wide Rose thought it might split his face in two. "Are you-

"We've gone over it all night, over and over, I'm sure. In fact I've gone beyond sure. I'm so positive I feel like dancing." Jackson grabbed her free hand and twirled her around the small office. "So?"

"There are still test to run, Jackson, we can't just jump into this head first and-

"Didn't I tell you?" He asked as he stopped dancing and looked down at her. "Didn't I say, two more weeks?"

"You did." Rose said nodding her head. She was trying to stay calm, trying not to get too excited, this could all come crashing down around her and she didn't think she could handle that. "There are still so many things to test and-

"Would you lighten up a little and celebrate with me?" He asked shaking his head at her. "We just did something that everyone said was impossible, but they should have known, nothing is impossible with Rose Tyler!" Rose smiled, pulling on hidden joy and nodded her head. She'd once thought that too, nothing seemed impossible when the Doctor was involved, but she'd buried that hope, put it away. It was hard to pull it out again when she'd lived so long without it.

"Ok, ok, this calls for a glass of champaign." Rose said nodding her head and Jackson smiled.

"That's more like it." He nodded and reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out a bottle. "Been saving this since the day I joined the project." He told her as he fiddled with the top. "Janet brought it back from some tiny town in America." It popped open and fizzled over the top a little and they both laughed.

"Ok." Rose said taking the bottle from him when he offered it. She looked around the small office he had pulled her into to give her the news. There were no glasses, no cups of any kind. She smirked at him a little as a giddy feeling began to fill her chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"To the beginning." Rose said raising the bottle high then tipping it back and taking a drink. She handed the bottle off to Jackson and he smiled.

"To your beginning." He told her as he too took a long drink off the bottle. Rose nodded her head slowly as she watched him drink. She could go home, she could start again, and she could be with him. Jackson lowered the bottle and smiled at her. He reached out and wiped away the tear that fell, she hadn't even realized she was crying.

"So, let's get started on those tests shall we?" He asked after a long silence. Rose took a deep breath and nodded her head.

"Let's," She told him taking the bottle when he offered it to her. Buffy

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack sat at his desk going over paper work. It was a slow week; actually, it had been a slow month. Nothing worth looking into had happened, and Jack was starting to get a little restless. Owen poked his head into the office and Jack looked up at him. He had a small smile on his face and Jack smiled back. He looked down at his clock and nodded his head.

"Heading home?" He asked and Owen nodded his head stepping into the room.

"Tosh has an appointment in the morning." Owen said and Jack nodded his head.

"How's she doing?" Jack asked and Owen smirked looking over his shoulder at her. She was sitting behind her computer her chin resting in one hand.

"She's good, tired a lot, morning sickness has passed though, for the most part." He told Jack a smirk on his face.

"Thank god." Jack said and Owen laughed nodding his head.

"Hey guys!" Tosh called as she sat up straighter in her chair. She looked towards Jack's office. "I've got something here!"

"What is it?" Jack asked as he and Owen ran out to her desk. Gwen and Ianto were headed over too when they got there. Tosh looked up at them a smile on her face.

"I've got rift activity." She told them a little too excited about it. Man they were all getting a little bored, not to mention every one of them was an adrenalin junkie. "There's something major going on here."

"Here?" Jack asked and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, like, right outside our front doors." She told him as a smile curled on her lips.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"So, this is it huh?" Jackson asked as he smiled down at her. She was holding a small bag, mostly filled with pictures of her family and mementos of her life here.

"Yeah," Rose said nodding her head a sad smile on her face.

"And your family?" He asked and Rose touched the little bag.

"We had a big dinner last night. I told them what was going on." She said nodding her head. "We said our good-byes." She told him sadly.

"I wish..." He trailed off and Rose nodded her head smiling. "I wish you could visit." He said changing the course of his words.

"Me too." She told him nodding her head. She looked over his shoulder at the techs behind him and took a deep breath.

"Everything ready?" She asked and Smitha looked up from his control panel and nodded his head. "100 percent?" She asked a small smile on her face. Part of her was excited, going home, to him. Part of her was scared this wouldn't work, that it would fizzle and sputter and then nothing. And another part of her was worried, what if they did something wrong, what if it tore everything to shreds and she destroyed the world?

"Don't worry." Jackson said touching her arm pulling her from her worries. "This is going to work; we've been going over things for a month. You just have to take that final step now." Rose nodded her head and looked up at him; his eyes were shining with tears that Rose knew he was trying to hide. They had grown close over the years he'd been here; he was very much like a brother to her.

"I'll miss you Toby." She said calling him by his first name, something she never did with any of the staff.

"I'll miss you too Rose." He said and she leaned in and hugged him. She pulled away and then brushed the single tear from his eye. He laughed and she smiled as she took a step away from him.

"Smitha, turn it on, let's see what this thing can do." She called over to Smitha. He nodded his head and she watched as switches were flicked and there was a loud rumbling. She looked up at Jackson now, as the noise levels rose.

"You remember what to do?" She asked just above a whisper, so just he would hear her. He nodded his head a solemn look on his face.

"It has to look like an accident." Rose told him still whispering.

"I know, I've got it worked out." He told her nodding his head. Rose, trusting no one else to do it, had left him the dirty little job of destroying the wall and all the work they had done on it. While she was sure it would be ok for this one jump (Well, 99.99999 percent sure) She couldn't know how well it would stand up to more, the link had to be cut, and sealed. Jackson knew just what to do and she trusted him to do it.

"You have a safe trip, and tell that Doctor of yours he'd better treat you well, or, link or no link I'll come over there and kick his ass." Jackson told her making her laugh.

"I'll be sure he gets the message." She told him nodding her head. He nodded too and his smiled faltered.

"Ok." He told her handing over the small round object he'd been holding. It was shaped kind of like the ones Rose had used before, so very long ago, but this was build for one jump, no back and forth. "So, good-bye Rose."

"Good-bye Toby." She told him a smile on her face as she pushed the button and waited. Seconds later Jackson was alone in front of the white wall starring at the spot she had just been.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Where now?" Jack asked as they all pilled out of the elevator onto the street above Torchwood. Tosh held a small palm sized tracker in her hand and waved it around a little. There was a small crackling of light and Tosh smiled.

"There." She said pointing to a spot fifty meters away from them. Someone or something was opening some kind of a portal. It flickered a little as though having trouble opening. They all set off running, ready to subdue whatever came through. They didn't get to close; you never know how violent these portals could get. There was a spike in the electricity in the air and the hairs on the back of their necks stood on end and there was a bright flash of light.

Jack stared at what seemed to be the back of a human head, connected to the rest of a human body of course. Long blond hair fell down what Jack assumed was a girl's back. He watched her take a deep breath, as her shoulders rose and fell slowly.

He watched as she turned, her posture was stiff and her movements' were jerky, her head bowed so that her hair fell in a curtain around her face. Her shoulder bag slid slowly down her arm but she caught it before it could fall. Slowly she raised her head, her hair falling to the sides. Jacks mouth fell open as he stared at her. Her eyes were glowing, a bright amber light, a light that seemed to radiate from her, everywhere.

"Rose." He whispered as he stared at her.

"She's gone, Jack. She's not just living on a parallel world. She's trapped there. The walls have closed." The Doctors words echoed through Jacks mind as he stared at her. Jack took a step towards her as the light began to fade. Before it was gone he was at her side easing her down as she collapsed in his arms.

"Jack." She whispered her eyes all but normal now.

"I'm here." He told her and she nodded her head slowly. "I'm here." He told her again as she met his eyes; something in them scared the breath out of him. Rose, looking no more than her 20 years, and yet, her eyes told a very different story. "What happened?" He asked but she shook her head.

"Jack" She said his name again and he nodded his head smiling as the worry began to over take him. "I did it? I didn't destroy the world?" She asked her voice weak and Jack knew she was moments from passing out.

"Tosh how's the rift look?" Jack called over his shoulder.

"Everything is stable." She called back and Jack nodded down at Rose.

"Sure looks that way." He told her and she smiled again as her eyes drooped.

"Doctor," Rose whispered as her eyes finally fell shut and she passed out. Jack just watched as her chest rose and fell, her breathing an easy steady rhythm. He pulled her close and slipped his other arm under her legs and stood with her cradled in his arms.

"Owen, you look her over for me?" Jack asked as he passed his team. "I know you wanted to get home-

"Of course, don't worry" Owen cut him off nodding his head. Everyone exchanged looks as they followed him towards the elevator.

"Who is she?" Ianto asked looking to Gwen, who had been the only one standing right next to Jack when he'd spoken.

"Rose." Gwen said and they all looked astonished. Jack had told them all about this woman, his best friend, trapped in a parallel world. They had all thought, as had he, that there was no way back.

-o-o-o-o-o-

'Doctor,' the word seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. It rolled through his mind, over and over again. He knew that voice, would never, as long as he lived, be able to forget that voice. But it wasn't possible, he'd searched, there was no way. If he couldn't do it...there was no way. The whole room seemed to be buzzing with energy now. The walls around him seemed to scream with the power, and it was a very familiar power. Finally he raced into the TARDIS and slammed the door behind him before running to the controls. He pushed, twisted and prodded as he looked for answers. When he found the rift shift in Cardiff his head swam.

"It can't be." He told the ship as he did the search again. "No!" He said shaking his head as his eyes filled with tears. "No, it can't be." He finally set the coordinates, he had to get to Cardiff, to Torchwood, he had to find out what was going on. He shook his head as the feelings of hope began to worm their way into his hearts.

"No." He said again refusing to believe this until he was standing, staring at the proof. If he let himself believe and then he was wrong...He didn't think he could stay sane through that. He took a deep breath and set the TARDIS off.