Her eyes glowed hauntingly, yet as scared as the Doctor was for Rose, he couldn't move from the floor. He was so in awe of her beauty and power, that any mere mortal would barely be able to handle it.

"I want you safe. My Doctor." She said in her eerie voice, changed now that she had the vortex running though her mind. What did she see in that head of hers? "Protected from the false God."

The Doctor barely heard the Dalek rant about his immortality, he was still gazing at Rose in awe an fear, fear for what could happen to her if he didn't stop her right now.

Rose looked up and in a powerful voice that was so unlike her caring nature, she boomed, "You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space, every single atom of your existence, and I divide them." Her eyes flashed golden once more, and she raised her hand. The Doctor watched in shock as she destroyed the Daleks, every last one of them. "Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies. The Time War ends."

With her arms at her side she destroyed them all, ending the battle the Doctor never seemed to be able to. She had saved his life and ensured his people had not died in vain.

"Rose, it's done. You can stop now." He insisted, pleaded with her.

She looked down at him suddenly, offering him both of her hands. Unthinkingly, he grasped them, standing slowly and looked strait into her eyes that glowed with all the power of the vortex. Suddenly, a strange sensation began to creep over their entwined hands, and when he looked down, ribbons of the liquid gold were weaving around them, through fingers, around wrists and up arms. It felt wonderful. It felt oh so wrong.

"What are you doing?" He asked in shock, looking back up at her.

Rose's head tilted back slightly, and when she spoke, her voice was even more altered then before, it was barely Rose. "I look inside Rose Tyler's mind," The powerful and ancient voice echoed, "and I see such potential. This is my gift to you, The Doctor. A Gift born of the power of the Bad Wolf."

The glow enveloped the both of them entirely, and for the first time in hundreds of years he heard it, the Bad Wolfs gift to him. Music that could only be heard on his home planet and it brought him to tears. It was the ceremonial music for the birth of a new Time Lord, a song of time that welcomed in joy.

When he opened his eyes once more, it was just in time to see Rose start to fall forward. He caught her and gently laid her down onto the ground. He knew what he had to do, she was dying and there was no other choice. So he leaned in slowly, hesitating only slightly, then he softly pressed his lips to her own and, ignoring the chaotic feeling in his gut, he concentrated in absorbing the vortex from her.

After it was done, he knew he had but moments before his regeneration process started. It was odd, because never had he considered giving up one of his regenerations for the life of a human, but this is different. This is Rose. She sacrificed her life to come back and save him, and now he was returning the favor.

Hurrying, the Doctor carried her into the Tardis and laid her onto the soft seat by the console. Then he managed the smoothest ride he had ever conducted in a while, and just as the first symptoms of his regeneration began to hit, he steadied the Tardis in the Vortex, hoping it would float there for a few days while he—

The Doctor collapsed onto the floor beside the seat Rose was currently laying on.

She opened her eyes in time to see him cringe in pain, and taking in a ragged breath she whispered, "Doctor?"

"Rose," he gasped. "There isn't much time to explain. I'm going to change, and it's happening—"he broke off as another wave of pain washed over him. "Fast." He concluded. "I won't look like me, but it'll be me. I promise." He said, grasping her hand before he felt the tidal wave rip through is body and the golden glow similar to the Bad Wolf took over him.

That was the last thing Rose saw before she passed out again.

The Doctor had no idea how long he had been sleeping. At least he felt normal again. Well, different normal; normal in the sense that he didn't have the time vortex ripping though his body, or the particularly painful process of regeneration. It took him a moment to figure out why he was still on the floor of the Tardis.

He rolled over onto his back, groaning in a voice that was yet unfamiliar to him. Then he saw Rose, still on the seat he had placed her in, still in the same position he had last seen her.

The Doctor suddenly jumped to his feet, panicking. How long had they been out? He didn't expect Rose to have this kind of reaction to the Bad Wolf, not after he had absorbed the vortex out of her. The only reason he had been out was because his body was recuperating from the extreme change.

He desperately felt for a pulse, and was relieved when he felt one, but pulled back his hand quickly.

"No." he whispered, backing up and nearly tripping over his own feet. He didn't stop until he crashed into the console. He was breathing hard, his chest heaving, and he ran his hand through his hair, vaguely recognizing that he had a full head of thick hair.

He thought over what Rose had said to him as Bad Wolf. I see such potential. This is my gift to you, The Doctor, a gift born of the power of the Bad Wolf.

She had the power to destroy entire species, and bring life. But such a transformation was impossible. Literally, in all sense of the word, impossible. He shook his head, not wanting to believe that Rose had been subjected to this kind of life, but at the same time, he wanted it. Had he not been denying himself the luxury of an extended companion for years now?

This though… his was permanent.

He walked slowly back over to her and just to be sure, laid his ear onto Rose's chest to listen.

There was no mistaking that rhythm, the tell tale sign, but he wanted to make sure. He couldn't run any tests without her being awake however, and without her full consent.

She was going to wake up to the sight of a seemingly complete stranger, telling her that not only had he gone through a dramatic change in all his cells, but she had as well. Then he was going to ask a DNA test just to make sure and hope she goes along with it?

Sure. It was never going to happen just like that. So he decided to take it one day at a time.

He watched her for what seemed like hours for the first signs of consciousness, and sure enough she began to stir.

"Ugh," she groaned, sitting up with her eyes still closed and twisting her back. He heard it crack three or four times, and she started to scratch her scalp and blinking her eyes open. "Doctor?" she asked, looking around before her eyes finally fell on the man standing with his arms crossed, watching her.

She flinched back, eyes widening a little, looking wide a wake all of a sudden. "Who are you?" she demanded to know, staring at him with wide eyes.

"I'm the Doctor," he said, knowing full well that she probably wouldn't accept this answer from him, but it was worth a shot.

She shook her head slightly. "No …. Where is he? Where's the Doctor, what have you done to him?" Rose demanded, sounding only a little confident in her words.

"Don't you remember Rose?" he asked her. "I told you I was going to change, that I wouldn't look like me but it would still be me. Don't you remember?"

She shook her head silently. "So you replaced him like a… a teleport or a…transnat or a body swap or something." She took some steps towards him, regaining her bravery, but the Doctor wasn't sure quite what to say. "Your not fooling me," she insisted, pushing him slightly just under his shoulder. All he could do was stare at her. "I've seen all sorts of things. Nanogenes, Galf… Slithene" she added in what he assumed was supposed to be an intimidating voice, and were he in any other situation but this, he would laugh at her. Funny how he could laugh in the face of death, but not at the young woman standing before him, whom he was trying so desperately to win her confidence and trust once more.

"Oh my God, are you Slithene?" she asked.

He had to crack a small smile at that one. He shook his head, "I am not a slithene."

"Send him back," she demanded. "I'm warning you, send the Doctor back right now."

"Rose, it's me," he insisted, not knowing how to convince her of anything, not in this body that he had been consciously using only for a couple hours now. "Its—honestly its me…. I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell but… its still me."

Shaking her head she whispered, "You cant be,"

He got an idea suddenly, and walked towards her. "Then how can I remember this? The very first word I ever said to you, trapped in that cellar, surrounded by shop window dummies—oh… such a long time ago. I took your hand-" and he did just that, weaving his new fingers with hers, and they still somehow seemed to be the perfect fit. "I said one word. Just one word, I said… 'Run'"

He saw it then, in her eyes. She was starting to believe him. "Doctor…."

The Doctor smiled at her. "Hello."

She raised her hand and he was almost certain it was destined to trace the contours of his face, when she suddenly gasped and cringed into herself.

"Rose?" he asked, closing the distance between them once more and placing a consoling hand on the side of her face. "Look at me Rose."

She did so, looking extremely confused. "Doctor," she said, the word sounding weird on her tongue, like she was still uncomfortable with the fact that he was the same man as before. "What's wrong with me."

He knew what was wrong. Her still developing brain was trying to cope with the work of a new cardiovascular and respiratory system. He sighed and decided now was not the right time to tell her.

"What do you remember from before?" he asked her.

She explained to him that she remembered attempting to break into the heart of the Tardis, then staring into the time vortex. Next thing she knew she was waking up on the seat by the console to an unfamiliar man claiming to be her Doctor.

So he told her. About Bad Wolf, how she destroyed the Daleks and why he had regenerated. She looked at him, starting to trust in him a little bit more, knowing that this was the kind of stuff only the Doctor would know about.

"I suspect your just feeling the lasting effects of absorbing the vortex," he said, hating to lie to her, but knowing it was for her own good at the moment. When the time came to tell her, he hoped she would understand. "It'll improve over time."

Rose nodded and looked around the room. "I think I'm going to take a nap. My chest feels funny."

The Doctor merely nodding in reply, knowing she would soon get used to the feeling in her chest, as it would be with her the rest of her life. It was the feeling of two hearts beating side by side.