There was blood everywhere. Rose used a piece of her shirt to apply pressure to stop it, but the blood just kept coming. It poured from the wound on his chest and looked nowhere close to stopping.

"Hurry up Tosh," she muttered under her breath, wishing that the genius could some how speed up the teleport. "If we ever needed a miracle-"

The subtle white light seemed to circle them, just as the hostile aliens got ever closer. The leader, Umier if their translators were to be believed, waved his gun in the air menacingly as he advanced. He had already made it clear that he would do everything in his power to prevent them from leaving his ship.

"Just a little longer Doctor. The infirmary can fix this up in no time, just a little longer," Rose whispered, her fingers caressed his hair. She didn't think there was much anyone could do, but she had to keep hoping. This was the Doctor and he lived off of impossible things. He had to make it.

Rose felt the teleport climax, and for a second, they were nowhere at all. She could feel nothing but the Doctor's unconscious body against her. There was no air around them and she could feel the tightening of her lungs that accompanied rudimentary teleport.

With a lurch forward, Rose felt her feet once again make contact with the ground. There were people everywhere. She wanted to let out a sigh of relief but knew she couldn't. So they had made it back to the Torchwood Hub, by no means did that mean the danger had passed. The blood was still gushing from the wound on the Doctor's chest.

The head medic was already taking the Doctor away from her. Rose let out an involuntary groan. She knew that this was necessary, but she was already losing him. There couldn't be a second when she wasn't at his side. Rose rushed to keep up with Owen and the stretcher with the Doctor on it.

"What happened?" The man did not pause to glance at Rose. They continued toward the infirmary at their brisk pace. "I need specifics. Did you see the gun?"

"Not really a model I was familiar with," Rose said trying to remain calm. "Not really the most important thing at the time either."

Rose saw the scene in her mind all over again. It was just below the surface, waiting to replay itself whenever she just stopped for a second. It should have been her. The bullet had been meant for her. Umier had aimed right for her.

She hadn't been paying attention. She should have been glancing over her shoulder more, being more alert, doing something more, something that would lead to something other than a gravely wounded Doctor. Tosh had been able to find them even without the teleport completely calibrated. Rose took a deep breath. There was so much she could have done differently. She had barely heard Umier's words at the time but now they seemed to echo in her head.

"She will be the first of many. That is a promise, Doctor." He had smiled, showing off his six pointed teeth.

And then the shot had sounded. Rose had whipped around at the sound but it had already been too late. The Doctor was already diving in front of her, knocking her sideways. He wasn't going to regenerate. He knew that. So why had he been so stupid?

"Anything, though? There had to be something," Owen insisted, shaking her back to reality.

Rose tried to concentrate, to find anything that might make this into just another scare. "Sector 7.52, Inaokl, I think. They were talking about a coup on Inaokl. This was no friendly trade ship."

"Couldn't have guessed."

Rose glared at the back of his head. She tried not to take it too personally. Owen was insufferable when he was fighting a losing battle. She didn't want to think how bad it already was if he was already this snide.

Rose moved around the stretcher, staying out of his way. She wrapped her fingers around the Doctor's hand, holding it firmly between both of hers. She felt a short jolt when she thought she could feel pressure from his side.

"Rose." It was a mixture between a groan and a whisper, but it was most definitely him.

"Shh, don't try to say anything. We'll have you fixed up in just a bit," Rose could feel the tears running down her face already. She didn't want to tell him just how bad it was.

"Rose Tyler, don't you lie to me. I can feel my body functions shutting down, just too much blood. All my cells are screaming to regenerate. Seems even my body couldn't get used to the idea that this is the end."

"It isn't the end. All of time and space. This isn't supposed to be how it ends."

"Oh, Rose, my fantastic Rose," The Doctor lifted one of his weak arms to cup her face with his hand. "We were going to do so much, make a difference right here, get a mortgage-"

He paused slightly, trying to see just a hint of a smile on her face from their old joke. There wasn't.

"Tea with Jackie, Telling Tony all those stories, the slow path." He didn't mention all the other things they had wanted. It was still too painful, knowing they would never raise children together or grow old and just sit reminiscing about old times.

Rose sniffled. "Never thought you'd ever care for domestics, Doctor?"

"Rose with you, I couldn't imagine anything better."

She blushed and he relished at seeing her small smile for possibly the last time.

"But why would you-" Rose began.

"Why would I take that bullet?"

"I mean, it's just, Doctor, I mean he was aiming at-"

"He was aiming at you. I lived far too long without you already. I wasn't about to survive losing you again."

"I'm not worth it though."

"Don't you even think that. Rose Tyler, defender of Earth, protector of the small, saver of planets, the one who kept coming back, my pink and yellow human."

He got a real smile at that, although a teary one.

"I love you," She tried to put all her emotions into those three little words.

"Rose Tyler, I," he gasped in obvious pain. Both their thoughts flickered back to the first time on Bad Wolf Bay. He groaned again. "I…I love you too."

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. She tried to ignore the sound on the monitor as his single heart gave out. He was gone. Her Doctor was gone. But he couldn't be. It was impossible. This couldn't be the end.

Author's Note: This is my first Doctor Who story (although I do I have quite a few practically abandoned HP fics that need a lot of work). I probably wouldn't have even attempted it except for the 50th rapidly approaching. I apologize for Owen being slightly out of character. I just couldn't seem to get him completely right. (But then again, this is a Parallel Universe; he would probably act differently.)