Note*~

I had this idea in my head as I got series one for Christmas on DVD. So glad I did and the graphic bites on my laptop have been graced with Christopher Eccleston's face and bodyyyyyy *swoon* X3 :3 :D

In case if there was any confusion, the italics are the "past" (possible deleted scene from 'Boom Town'), and the "present" is during 'Bad Wolf'.

I dedicate this story to a friend of mine who's a fellow fan of Doctor Who, and who's an amazing talented fellow who has lots to offer to this world (and may I add that he needs to get on with this writinggggg ;; you haven't picked up the pen since the jurassic perioddddd ;A;). You've brought out the chatty, verbally expressive side of me that never flickered until I met you, and I'm glad for our friendship. :) You're practically family to me! :D Merry Christmas. *cheers*

R&R and peace on Earth and mercy mild...! Happy holidays! *hearts*

Too Late

"You know, you're gonna have to tell her sooner or later."

Rose was gone. The Anne Droid killed her right in front of the Doctor's eyes, and he was too late to save her. Not a bullet entered his body, yet he couldn't help but sink to the floor, his insides suddenly tightening and poking at him in bitterness. The dust on the floor... it used to be Rose. Free, expressive, lively Rose! And she was gone!

"What do you mean?"

The Time Lord turned to face the former Time Agent, just about to leave the TARDIS and take "Margaret" out to the restaurant.

An overlapping of Jack's shouts and the television crew echoed throughout the room. Weld up in fast darting thoughts, he couldn't hear what they were saying, despite the high volume of their voices. Soon, he felt a hand across his shoulder, Jack's raging voice roared at his direction.

"Don't you touch him, leave him alone!"

The Doctor found himself slowly getting up, the security guard spelling out the charges that were placed on him. Nothing mattered at that moment... Everything was lost. There was nothing he could do. There was no usual escape plan like they always had, every time they landed themselves into trouble. He couldn't think of a plan, he couldn't think at all in his mental state. She was gone, and nothing mattered!

Jack continued to yell in fury.

"You killed her! Your stupid freaking game show killed her!"

"It doesn't take a genius to tell you both have feelings for each other... Someone with a low IQ could even tell you that."

The Captain fiddled around with the tools and wires of the TARDIS, smiling and smirking a little as he mused.

"Who are you..." baffled at what Jack was talking about, he finally pieced it together and mild shock drew at his face. "Rose? You're being daft as usual, but ha ha, very funny...!"

Jack usually fooled around and didn't take life threatening situations to heart, but the sincerity on his face and the way his mouth pressed told the Doctor he was being serious. Which was rare. Of all the times to not have a camera, it had to be now.

"For crying out loud...!" breathed the Time Lord. "She has that Ricky fellow...! She's a human, nineteen, I'm the last of my race and nine hundred years old, it's not going to work!"

"From what happened in 1941, I see it differently," the smirk was still on Captain Harkness, which made the Doctor want to pound his head. "And you've got to be pretty desperate if you're using Slitheen to try and make Rose jealous."

"Oh, right I'm using a highly dangerous criminal in a supposed attempt to catch the attention of someone I fancy, which I don't. You on the other hand were all over her when I found you," began the Doctor, purging the thought of him ever going with Slitheen in that kind of fashion. "Are you sure you don't have at least a spark of interest in her?"

Jack chuckled.

"I like her, but I see her as a friend. Plus, you would have snapped me in half if I took her."

Lips curled inward as the Doctor couldn't help but feel more and more frustrated by the minute as he stood near Jack. He was always infuriating, but his annoyance was off the chart.

While having Rose as a companion, people thought they were a couple together, but they both objected openly. Could that indicate Rose only saw him as a friend? She couldn't feel for him that way. It just wasn't possible. They were from two different worlds, literally. They were two different species. She had that human Ricky anyways, she had a beau!

The Doctor considered humans to be dimwitted apes, but Rose was different from all the rest, which got her to be a Time Lord companion in the first place. She put up with the Doctor and what she saw in their travels. An ordinary person would be driven mad at half of what Rose saw, but she didn't get scared for one moment. A person with a darker intent could bring technology from the future and sell it in their own time, but Rose didn't do that. She obeyed the time laws that he told her, and she did very well, not causing a time paradox or disaster that could destroy the flow of time and space. Rose put up with so much during their travels and the dangers that came... Did it make their bond stronger every time they went through hardship?

"There were other companions before Rose, am I right?" the captain broke the silence.

A flow of memories and faces came as the Time Lord closed his eyes and nodded his head. So much loss... so much pain. It was a miracle he held back tears as he looked back on the many years with former companions. Bonds formed, bonds gone... The slightest thought while thinking about it was crushing.

"Rose is something special. For a lord of time, you don't have all the time in the universe to wait until you don't have the chance to tell her."

The Doctor glanced towards Jack, and realized for once in all their travels thus far he was right.

"She deserves to be happy, and she sacrificed a lot just to travel with us. That says something," continued Jack. "I'm sure she feels the same way."

Sacrifice. Oh, how much she gave away just to be with him...! Her mother, Ricky, her home, an ordinary life... She probably knew the meaning of the word more than anyone he knew. He couldn't push her away after every attempt they both tried to get closer to each other. All her sacrifices would be for nothing, and his obliviousness to them would be cold. He truly had feelings for her.

"Just..." the captain breathed. "Don't let anything hurt her, and make sure she knows before it's too late."

Death took her, and by the time he realized he couldn't live without her, it was too late.