A/N: Obviously I don't own Doctor Who or the characters therein. Have you ever seen my name on the credits? Silly people. I just feel that Rose fit the Doctor so very well that she should have gotten to stay. So I took matters into my own deviant little hands and now she can!

(Picks up with the Doctor in the parallel world because that's where I want to start making changes.)

02-13 Doomsday

The Doctor pressed against the white expanse of wall in the parallel Torchwood, squinting as if trying to hear something. And he was, but Rose could not be heard here. Was she safe? Was she still alive? If they hurt her... Pete stood behind him.

"When you left this world, you warned us there'd be more Cybermen. So we sealed them inside the factories. "

The Doctor stepped away from the wall. He focused glumly on the man who was not his Rose's father.

Jake spoke in a rushed tone, "Except people argued. Said they were living. We should HELP them."

Pete gave a bit of a forced laugh. "And the debate went on. But all that time, the Cybermen made plans. Infiltrated this version of Torchwood, mapped themselves onto your world, and then vanished."

The Doctor nodded slowly. "When was this?"

Pete answered. "Three years ago."

"It's taken them three years to cross the void, but we can pop to and fro in a second. Must be the sheer mass of five million Cybermen crossing all at once..." the Time Lord rambled in his attempt to understand and fix the siuation. He had to fix it - he promised to take care of her.

"Yeah, Mickey said you'd rattle off that sort of stuff. "

He spun to look at the only Tyler living on this side, "Oh, where is the Mickey-boy?"

"He went ahead first. Any chance to go and find Miss Rose Tyler," Pete looked almost annoyed.

There was something the doctor could not understand. How anyone wouldn't want to find and be with Rose. To protect her. "She's your daughter. You do know that? Did Mickey explain?"

"She's not mine. She's the child of a dead man."

The two found themselves at the window, staring down at the scene below.

Pete nodded at the idyllic London. "Look at it. A world of peace. They're calling this 'The Golden Age'."

Seeming mildly curious at best, the Doctor asked, "Who's the President now?"

"A woman called Harriet Jones."

The Doctor exhaled slowly, raising both eyebrows and turning away. "I'd keep an eye on her."

Pete raised a hand to the glass. "But it's a lie. Temperatures have risen by two degrees in the past six months. The ice caps are melting. They're saying all this is gonna be flooded. That's not just global warming, is it?"

"No."

The man had a sense of finality in his voice when he spoke. "It's the breach."

The Doctor looked at him with severe irritation. How could some people be so thick?! Rose understood him! "I've been trying to tell you - travel between parallel worlds is impossible. Then the Daleks break down the walls with the sphere..."

Pete turned from the window. "Daleks?"

The Doctor continued on as though he hadn't spoken. "Then the Cybermen travelled across, then you lot - those disks - every time you jump from one reality to another, you rip a hole in the universe. This planet is starting to boil. Keep going and BOTH worlds will fall into the Void. And I won't let you condemn her to that."

If Pete noticed the last line, he didn't react. "But you can stop it - the famous Doctor...? You can seal the breach?"

The Time Lord gave him a withering look. "Leaving five million Cybermen stranded with my R-on my Earth."

He shrugged negligently. "That's your problem. I'm protecting this world, and this world only."

The would-be hero gave a short, forced laugh and looked at the man. "Hm... Pete Tyler... I liked you better when you were dead. Now here you are, fighting the fight... alone..." He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "You know why I can't just abandon them. There is a chance... back on my world... Jackie Tyler might still be alive."

The man recoiled. "My wife died."

"Her husband died. Good match."

Pete seemed to consider it, then shook himself. "There's more important things at stake. Doctor... help us."

"What? Close the breach? Stop the Cybermen? Defeat the Daleks? Do you believe I can do that?" the Doctor asked, backing away.

"Yes." There was absolutely no doubt in his voice. And it sounded like his Rose saying it.

He grinned. "Maybe that's all I need. Off we go, then!"

Buttons were pressed, and the Doctor, Jake and Pete appeared back in the world with two horrible enemies. The Doctor rushed to the phone.

"First of all, I need to make a phone call. You don't mind?"

Jake gestures to two of the soldiers. "You two, guard to door."

Jackie was running down the stairs when her phone rang. She answered breathlessly, not even caring who it was at this point.

"Help me! Oh, my God, help me!"

"Jackie, you're alive! Listen-"

"They tried to download me but I ran away!" she shouted at the Doctor.

"Listen, tell me - where are you?"

"I don't know! Staircase."

"Yeah, which one? Is there any- any sort of sign? Anything to identify it?"

"Yes! A fire extinguisher!"

"Yeah, that helps..."

She got a bit perturbed. "I'm trying! Oh, wait a minute - it says 'N3'."

"North corner, staircase 3. Just keep low, we're trying our best," the Doctor said sincerely. He was fond of Rose's mother, even if he pretended not to be.

"No, don't leave me!"

"I've gotta go, I'm sorry."

He put the phone down and turned to Pete, who watched him warily.

"Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler. "

The man shook his head. "She's not my wife."

The Doctor merely smiled a bit. "I was at the wedding. You got her name wrong."

The Doctor walked over to Jake and took his gun off him.

"Now then, Jake-y boy, if I can open up the bonding chamber on this thing, it could work on polycarbide."

"What's polycarbide?" the younger man asked curiously.

"Skin of a Dalek."

A white sheet of A4 paper attached to stick to make a flag popped around the corner and waved comically. The Doctor followed a few seconds later, a less than serious look on his faced. At his "Sorry." the cybermen in the hall turned and stared at him with their cold, unfeeling eyes.

The Doctor shrugged and apologized. "No white flag. I only had a sheet of A4. Same difference."

One of the cybermen held his fist before him, ready to shoot. "Do you surrender?"

The man strode forward to meet the Cyberman, no expression on his face. "I surrender. Unto you." He stopped only inches from the mechanical being's face. "A very good idea."

If the cybermen knew the Doctor and had emotions, they would have been frightened. Because then the Doctor grinned.

In the sphere room, the Daleks backed away from the Genesis Ark. Rose and Mickey stood close, watching warily.

"Final stage of awakening."

The one called Sek faced Rose, pointing its weapon at her. "Your handprint will open the Ark."

She shook her head. "Well tough, 'cos I'm not doing it."

The weapon shifted aim to Mickey. "Obey or the male will die."

She immediately stepped toward the ark, glancing apologetically to her oldest friend. "I can't let them."

"Rose, don't," he pleaded.

"Place your hand upon the casket," the Dalek ordered.

The woman snapped at the metal monster. "All right!" She turned to the ark once more. "You're gonna kill us anyway, so what the hell?"

Before she can touch it, a thought seems to occur to her and she turns back to Dalek Sek. "If you um... escaped the Time War... don't you want to know what happened?"

Undeterred, the Dalek ordered again, "Place your hand-"

Rose interrupted. "What happened to the Emperor?"

The creature stated, as though there was no doubt."The Emperor survived."

She nodded, stringing him along. "'Til he met me... 'cos if these are gonna be my last words, then you're gonna listen. I met the Emperor. And I took the Time Vortex and I pulled it into his head and turned him into dust. Do you get that? The God of all Daleks... and I destroyed him."

Mickey stared at Rose as though she was some kind of alien he's never seen before. She didn't seem to notice as she gave the Dalek a gloating smile, and laughed.

The Dalek leader's eye stalk turned red as it shouted furiously, "You will be EXTERMINATED!"

"Oh now, hold on, wait a minute," a grim voice said softly from the doorway.

Everyone in the room turned to the doorway, the Dalek breaking the brief silence.

"Alert, alert - you are the Doctor."

Rose smiled with delight as the Doctor sauntered into the room wearing his 3D specs.

Another of Daleks spoke. "Sensors report he is unarmed."

He nodded in agreement. "That's me. Always."

Dalek Sek seemed smug. "Then you are powerless."

"Not me." The Doctor whipped his specs off with a flourish, smirking confidently. "Never."

He turned to Rose with a concerned look. "How are you?"

She couldn't have kept the grin from her face if she'd wanted to. "Oh, same old, you know."

He beamed proudly at her before turning to the other man in the room. "Good! And Mickity-McMickey! Nice to see ya!"

The two bumped fists as though they had always been the best of friends.

"And you, boss."

This seemed to make the Daleks furious. "Social interaction will cease!"

The leader addressed the Doctor. "How did you survive the Time War?"

"By fighting. On the front line," the Doctor intoned fiercely. For a moment, the centuries old Time Lord shone through his eyes, warring with the vulnerable man who needs Rose to be with him and safe at the same time.

Mickey turned, as if that was the first time he's heard of this. His gaze swung from the Time Lord to his friend, seeing their connection clearly.

The Doctor wasn't finished yet. "I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot - ran away!"

"We had to survive," the Dalek leader insisted.

The Doctor moved slowly closer to Rose, "The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about YOU?"

She spoke in a soft tone as soon as he was close enough. "Doctor, they've got names. And Daleks don't have names, do they? One of them said they—"

"I am Dalek Thay."

"Dalek Sek."

"Dalek Jast."

"Dalek Caan."

"So THAT'S it! At last... the Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend," the Doctor exclaimed, sounding for all the world be pleased about it.

"Who are they?" the woman asked him.

The Doctor briefly touched her arm to comfort her, then turned and strolled around the Daleks. "A secret order. Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine. Think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names. All to find new ways of killing." He finished with a certain amount of distaste.

Mickey gestured to the Ark. "But that thing, they said it was yours. I mean, Time Lords. They built it. What does it do?"

"I don't know. Never seen it before," the Doctor replied, glancing briefly at the casket.

"But it's... Time Lord," Rose murmured, just a bit confused.

"Both sides had secrets, dear Rose," he said, not even noticed the affection himself. Turning, he spoke to the Daleks. "What is it? What have you done?"

The Dalek leader announced. "Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy."

"What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?"

Rose answered, "They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up."

The Doctor nearly laughed at that. "Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do. Touch. Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything... ever... from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage." His voice dropped to a mere whisper. "Completely alone. And that explains your voice. No wonder you scream."

"The Doctor will open the Ark!" the Dalek called Sek screamed out.

The Doctor laughed contemptuously. "The Doctor will not."

"You have no way of resisting."

"Well... you got me there. Although... there is always this." He takes his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.

"A sonic probe?"

"That's 'screwdriver'."

The Dalek seemed to sneer. "It is harmless."

"Oh yes. Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do - it is VERY good at opening doors."

He activated the screwdriver, and immediately, the doors exploded inwards. Jake, his men, and the Cybermen leapt into action, firing their guns at the Daleks.

"Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete!"

"Alert! Casing impact, casing impact!"

The Doctor and Rose flung themselves to the ground, trying to avoid the guns. He looked at her with a certain amount of desperation.

"Rose, get out!"

Nodding, Rose made for the door but stumbled after just a short distance.

"Fire power insufficient! Fire power insufficient!"

Pete was there, helping Rose to her feet – she was surprised to see him but obviously there was no time for him to explain. They made for the door, Rose shooting a look back at the Doctor. Mickey snatched up a gun and started firing wildly.

The cybermen were still screaming. "Daleks will be deleted. Delete! Delete!"

The Doctor managed to scramble to Rose and Pete where they stood in the doorway, out of harms way.

Rose screamed back at her friend. "Mickey, come on!"

"Adapt to weaponry!" one of the Daleks shouted.

The Dalek leader primed its weapon. "Fire power restored!"

The Dalek fired once at a Cyberman, immediately destroying it. Jake managed to reach the door - but Mickey lost his footing and accidentally placed his hand upon the Genesis Ark, leaving a red hot mark there as he dashed for the door. Regaining his balance, he ran like mad for the door.

"Cybermen primary target."

Mickey winced in pain as he looked at his hand, his palm burnt and bright red. The rest of Jake's men managed to slip through the door before it closed, sealing both the Daleks and the Cybermen inside.

The Doctor grabbed Rose in a fierce hug, so glad to see her alive. When he let go, he still held tightly to her hand. "Jake, check the stairwell. The rest of you, come on!"

The group split, Jake and the other men headed to the stairwell, while Pete, Mickey, Rose and the Doctor ran down a corridor.

Mickey apologized, "I just fell, I didn't mean it!"

The Doctor shook his head. "Mickey, without us, they'd have opened it by force. To do that, they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favour!"

He kisses the top of Mickey's head, and the other man pulled away.

"Now, run!" the Doctor encouraged.

They ran through the building, around corners and finally they came upon two Cybermen, guns pointed at something down the hall.

The cybermen shouted at their target, "You will be upgraded."

The voice of Jackie whimpers, "No, but you can't! Please—"

The cybermen were shot from behind - falling to the ground, dead, and revealing Pete Tyler aiming a gun at the space where they stood. Just behind him, a bit surprised at his speed in gunning down the woman's assailants are the Doctor, Rose and Mickey. Jackie squints through the smoke clouding her, uncomprehending, then her eyes widen as she realises...

"Pete!"

Rose's hands cover her mouth, touched and bemused by this meeting of her "parents". After a breath, she turned to the Doctor who held out a hand to her. She took it with a soft smile. Really, she knew that there was nowhere in the universe that she belonged if he wasn't there with her.

"Hello, Jacks," Pete murmured.

Jackie blinked, whining a bit even with her eyes shining hopefully. "I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?"

He smiled a bit. "I'm not a ghost."

"But you're dead. You died twenty years ago, Pete."

The doctor stepped forward tentatively in an attempt to explain. "It's Pete from a different Universe. There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where—"

"Oh, you can shut up," she said dismissively, still staring at the only man she ever loved.

And for once, the Doctor does just that, stepping back into the background and pulling Rose a bit closer. Mickey saw them and nodded to himself. He knew, and he wouldn't even try to come between them, he knew that they needed each other. Pete smiled even broader at Jackie.

"Oh... you look old," the woman said, stepping closer.

"You don't," he answered easily.

"How can you be standing there?"

"Just got lucky... lived my life. You were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or...?" He didn't want to admit that he cared about her answer.

She shook her head, a bit sadly. "There was never anyone else."

The Doctor and Mickey share a look, both happy for the woman who had cowed them both on various occasions.

"Twenty years, though. Look at me - I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself," Jackie lamented.

"Brought HER up. Rose Tyler," Pete nodded toward the woman at the Doctor's side.

Rose blushed, ducking her head as the Doctor and Mickey smiled at her.

"That's not bad," the older man admitted.

Jackie whispered, "Yeah."

Pete shifted, "In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine. They worked. Made me rich."

Rose's mother shook her head. "I don't care about that… How rich?

"Very."

She tipped her head. "I don't care about that. How very?"

Pete laughed. Rose rolled her eyes and buried her head in the Doctor's arm as he smiled fondly.

"Thing is though, Jacks, you're... you're not my wife. I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean, we both..."

Jackie nodded. He stared at her, fighting it. Would it really be so awful? So wrong?

"You know, it's just sort of..." He startedwalking toward her. "Oh, come here."

They ran to meet each other, Jackie starting to cry. Pete swept her off the ground in a huge hug. Watching only a moment longer, the doctor urged them on.

After a moment, he turned and ran back, wrenching open the door to where the battle between the Cybermen and the Daleks is taking place. He peered into the lab, waiting for the right moment to enter. He dove into the room, watched anxiously by Rose who winced every time a beam passed near him. The Doctor snagged two of the magnaclamps, using them to deflect the rays from himself. He made it back to the door with them, dodging the beams. He tripped over a Cyberman's body and sprawled on the floor.

Rose reached toward him, whispering desperately, "Come on, please."

The Doctor quickly jumped to his feet and slipped through the door to safety. Rose closed it after him, exchanging a significant look. After a few moments of looking into her eyes, he slips the glasses back onto his face and opens again, and peers around wearing the 3D specs.

The Dalek leader screamed. "Override roof mechanism."

The roof began to open slowly.

"El-ev-ate."

Rose tipped her head. "What're they doing? Why'd they need to get outside?!"

The Doctor shook his head, trying to think. "Time Lord science- WHAT Time Lord science?" He pulled the specs off and stared. "What is it?"

Dalek Sek elevated through the ceiling into the open air with the Ark. The pair shut the door and exchanged a worried look. They sped back down the corridor, the Doctor shouting to the others as he moved.

"We've gotta see what it's doing, we've gotta go back up! Come on! All of you! Top floor!"

"That's forty-five floors up! Believe me, I've done 'em all," Jackie hollered back.

Jake popped his head out of the lift. "We could always take the lift..."

When the Doctor and the others finally stepped out of the lift on the top floor and rushed to the window, the Doctor pausing to dump the magnaclamps down on Yvonne's desk as he goes. As the Genesis Ark spins, Daleks shoot out of it, more and more of them. The Doctor stared in horror, instinctively reaching for Rose who's already pressing herself to his side.

He murmured in horrified tones, "Time Lord science... it's bigger on the inside."

"Did Time Lords put those Daleks in there? What for?" Mickey asked.

"It's a prison ship."

Rose looked up at him. "How many Daleks?"

"Millions."

Pete shook his head as the Daleks and cybermen began open warfare on the street, taking no note of the humans running in terror and walked away from the window. "I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's gonna crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home. Jacks, take this."

He tossed her one of the yellow buttons. She stared at it for a heartbeat, then looked back at him incredulously.

"But they're destroying the City!" she cried.

He smiled at her, obviously affectionate. "I'd forgotten you could argue."

He looped the button around her neck himself and continued. "It's not just London, it's the whole world."

He took her face in his hands, making her look at him. "But there's another world, just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe. As long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?"

The Doctor turned from the window with his 3D specs on and a big grin.

"Oh, I'm ready. I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood!"

The Doctor dashed to a computer and began working. "Slam it down and close off both universes."

A computerized voice spoke, "Reboot systems."

Rose shook her head. "But we can't just leave. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen-?"

The Doctor stood, smiling at her. "They're part of the problem. And THAT makes them part of the solution. Oh yes!"

Rose laughed nervously, not quite following.

He seems to be rather bouncy, excited about this even, but two people in that room could tell he was covering for something else. Something he would try to avoid saying. "Well?! Isn't anyone gonna ask? What is it with the glasses?"

Rose grinned at him. "What is it with the glasses?"

"I can SEE! That's what! 'Cos we've got two separate worlds, but in-between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here! And you lot - one world to another, via the Void! Oh, I like that. Via the Void! Look!"

He pressed the glasses onto Rose's face.

"I've been through it. Do you see?"

He dodged about so Rose could see, with the aid of the glasses, that he was surrounded by floating green and red particles. She reaches out to try and touch them, but he took her hands.

The computer shouted again. "Reboot in three minutes."

He smiled at her. "Void stuff."

"Like um... background radiation!"

He hugged her. "That's it. Look at the others."

She turned to look at Jake, Mickey, Jackie and Pete. Jackie was the only one not surrounded by the 'Void Stuff'.

The Doctor pointed at them. "The only one who hasn't been through the Void - your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life."

Rose giggled even as her mother gave a shout. The Doctor dashed into the clear white area, Rose following.

"The Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen - all of them. I just open the Void - end of verse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."

She nodded, her enthusiasm beginning to match his. "PULLING them all in."

"Pulling them all in!" he repeated, beaming with pride.

"Sorry... what's- what's the Void?" Mickey finally asked, breaking into their conversation.

The Doctor turned, almost having forgotten the others were there. "The dead space. Some people call it 'Hell'."

Mickey looped his button around his neck. "So... you're sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell. Man, I told you he was good."

Rose had been looking around with the glasses. "But it's... like you said, we've ALL got Void stuff. Me too, 'cos we went to that parallel world."

She flexed her fingers, examining the particles floating around them and pulled the glasses off. The Doctor is there, standing before her.

"We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in," she said to him, frowning now.

"That's why you've gotta go," he said slowly, staring at her sadly.

"Reboot in two minutes."

Rose gapes at him, uncomprehending. "No…"

"Back to Pete's world. Hey, we should call it that - 'Pete's World'. I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."

Rose continued to stare at him, not wanting to believe he would do that. Not wanting to believe he could.

"And then you close it. For good?" Pete clarified.

The Doctor still stares at Rose, wanting her to understand why he would do this to her. "The breach itself is soaked in Void Stuff, in the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput."

She began to realize what this meant. "But… you're staying… on THIS side?"

Mickey shakes his head. "But you'll get pulled in."

The Doctor held Rose's gaze for a moment longer before he moves over to the magnaclamps. She didn't follow, watching him with an expression like she'd been slapped around the face.

"That's why... I got these," he said, careful to avoid her eyes now. "I'll just have to hold on tight - I've been doing it all my life."

"I'm supposed to go."

At her words he flinched, staring at the desk. "Yeah."

"To another world, and then it gets sealed off."

"Yeah."

It was obvious he didn't want to think about the idea, let alone discuss it. He moved to another of the computers and worked on it as well.

"Forever." Rose laughed at the absurdity of the idea. "That's not gonna happen."

A crash from outside shook the building, causing them all to look around in alarm.

Pete spoke briskly, "We haven't got time to argue, the plans works, we go in. You too. ALL of us."

Rose rounded on him angrily. "No, I'm not leaving him!"

Jackie shakes her head. "I'm not going without you, Rose."

"Oh, my God. We're GOING," Pete declared, sounding like the husband and father he'd spent the day denying he was.

"I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her," Jackie snapped.

Rose goes to her mother. "You've GOT to."

"No."

"Mum..."

"Reboot in one minute."

Rose's voice trembled with suppressed tears as she spoke in soft tones, "I've had a life with you for nineteen years. But then I met the Doctor and... all the things I've seen him do for me. For you. For all of us. For the whole... stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum."

Behind her, the Doctor watched her with terrible sadness in his eyes as he silently took a button on a chain out of his pocket.

"But not anymore. 'Cos now he's got me."

She turned, blinking as the Doctor looped the chain around Rose's neck.

"What're you-?"

Pete quickly pressed his button. They all disappeared, leaving the Doctor alone and gazing at the place Rose was with a heavy heart. He wanted her safe. Above everything, even his own life. And there was one way to be sure of it. He turned back to the computers.

The others reappeared in the parallel Torchwood. Rose looking around wildly.

She muttered under her breath, thinking quickly. There was almost a faint glow about her as she assessed her situation. "Oh no you don't. He's not doing that to me again."

She looked at the soldiers, noting two had what looked like climbing ropes. "I'll need those ropes," she said briskly before moving to her mother.

"I'm not staying, mum. I can't. I'll die in this world. You know I will. I need to be with the Doctor."

"But… you're so young," her mother said weakly.

Rose nodded. "I am, but I'm part of him now. You know what he has to do, and you know he needs someone with him."

"Why does it have to be you?" Jackie asked, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Because he loves her," Mickey answered, handing Rose the ropes. "And she loves him. That's the way it is."

He hugged his friend goodbye. "Go to him, Rose. I'll look after your mum. The boss needs ya."

Rose hugged him, then her mother. With one last, brave if tearful smile, she pressed down on the button.

"I think this is the on switch..."

The Doctor starts whirling around. "Rose?!"

He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, stooping slightly so he could look straight into her eyes.

"Once the breach collapses, that's IT. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!"

She answered calmly, although her voice trembled from still unshed tears. "I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never gonna leave you."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment, stunned. Slowly he released his grip.

"So what can I do to help?" she prompted.

"Systems rebooted. Open access."

Rose stubbornly held the Doctor's gaze. With a she, he finally accepted that she wasn't going to leave. He pointed to a computer.

"Those co-ordinates over there, set them all at six."

Rose did as she was told. He watched her walk to the computer, sounding almost angry when he spoke. "And hurry up."

Rose leaned over the computer, taking her button from around her neck and glancing at the Doctor nervously. Had she misjudged his feelings? The readings on the screen distracted her.

"We've got Cybermen on the way up," she told him.

He ran to her side, looking at the screen. "How many floors down?"

"Just one."

The screen showed the Cybermen marching up the stairwell. They watched for a brief moment, shocked when a cyberman that sounded a lot like the former director of Torchwood aimed at the advancing troops. It fired at the oncoming cybermen, stating that it did it's duty for Queen and country. The Doctor moved away, tapping in a command on the laptop.

"Levers operational."

The Doctor grinned up at Rose.

She cheered at his look, "That's more like it, bit of a smile! The old team...!"

He picked up a magnaclamp and walked to her. "Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake!"

"Which one's Shiver?"

"Oh, I'm Shake."

He dumped the Magnaclamp in her arms. She pulled one of the ropes from around her.

"So we don't have to worry if it's hard to hang on," she said, meaning much more than the words she's using.

Silently, he took the rope and nodded, swallowing thickly. There's so much he needs to tell this woman, but this is not the time or place. He looked at her and she nodded, once again understanding him far better than anyone has in his life thus far. He gave a bit of a smile, and next moment, they've both attached them to the wall next to the levers on opposite sides of the room, tying themselves securely to their clamps.

"Press the red button."

Rose obeyed, trusting him. What else could she do? Outside they could see the Daleks beginning to head for the building.

The Doctor began to speak very fast, "When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void Stuff. Are you ready?"

They got into their positions beside the levers.

She nodded at the window. "Yes, and so are they."

The Daleks were just outside the window.

"Let's do it!"

They pushed the levers upwards and then hurriedly took hold of the magnaclamps.

"Online."

The area was filled with the white light once more, but this time, there was also the sound of a strong wind. The Daleks were sucked through the window, smashing through the glass as they were pulled into the white light and back to the Void. Rose and the Doctor held their clamps tightly, struggling to maintain their hold.

The Doctor shouted triumphantly, "The breach is open! Into the Void! Ha!"

Rose smiled across at the Doctor as they are billowed by the wind. He had done it again, saved them all. Suddenly, there was a small explosion of sparks and the lever on Rose's side moved back into the 'off' position. The smiles fade from their faces.

"Offline."

Rose took one hand from the clamp. "I've got to turn it on!"

"Be careful!" the Doctor exclaimed, his hearts frozen in fear as she removed her hand.

The suction was starting to ease. Rose reached for the lever whilst trying to maintain her grip on the clamp, but it was just slightly too far away. She strained to reach it, eventually falling onto it. The Doctor watched, full of dread. Rose whimpered as she struggled with the lever.

"I've gotta get it upright!" she insisted.

She pushed the lever upwards, groaning with the effort, and finally, she managed to push it upright. The Doctor watched with his heart in his mouth.

"Online and locked."

The suction increased once more. But now, Rose had nothing to hold on to but the lever.

The Doctor felt his hearts plummet and shouted in desperation, "Rose, hold on!"

But the Void pulled at her, making it near impossible for her to keep her grip. She winced and cries out with the effort, trying so hard to keep holding.

"HOLD ON!" the Doctor screamed, fully panicking.

Rose moaned, her strength almost spent - the Doctor stared at her in absolute terror, horribly powerless, reaching out to her in vain. With one last cry, Rose's grip finally slipped. She was pulled inexorably towards the Void, crying out. The Doctor screamed her name as she was pulled away from him.

Then, the rope snapped taut, catching her around the middle. She gasped, winded, but retained her senses enough to grab the rope like the lifeline it was. The breach began to close itself, sucking in the remainder of the two armies. When the wall sealed, Rose fell to the floor, still tied to her clamp and gasping for her next breath.

He thought his hearts would stop as he fought against the rope and rushed across the room to her. But there she was, his Rose, laying on the floor, panting miserably and unable to rise with the shock of what had happened, but beautifully there.

"R-rose?" he finally managed, tearing the rope from around her stomach.

She pushed herself to her hands and knees, then sitting up, looking around. "Oh, Doctor. We did it!"

He grinned like the madman that he kind of was, and swept her up in a crushing hug. It was a miracle! It was more than a miracle. It was his wonderful, humanly perfect Rose.

"I'm getting entirely too spoiled by you coming back when I tell you not to and saving my life," he told her, laughing with only a few tears mixed in.

"I told you, Doctor," she said, holding him just as tight. "I'm staying with you forever."

He sighed happily, as happy as he had ever been. Now... if he could only figure out a way to get past the fear of losing her... or of watching her grow old. But those were not this day's problems.

"Doctor," Rose murmured after a moment of being held. "Should we really be here when they come to see what's happened?"

He stepped back and beamed at her. "Oh, most likely not. Shall we go home?"

The Doctor couldn't help but notice how his hearts sped at the brilliant smile she gave him when he said that phrase. He took her hand and the pair ran laughing to the TARDIS.

Later, the Doctor landed the TARDIS right in what had been Jackie's living room. With Rose taking some time to go through her mum's place, it gave him a chance to scans for other breaches. If he found them, they'd have to be closed, but he had a plan to help Rose. She'd given up a lot to return to him. Everything. She had absolutely no ties to her home planet now.

Finally, things had been sorted, and that which meant something special to his dearest companion had been loaded into the TARDIS. She sat in his captain's chair as he set a course in the console.

"We can tell them goodbye, Rose. One shot. But… if it would help…"

He'd never sounded quite so eager to please someone, it even sounded foreign to his ears. But for the first time in over an hour she looked up at him. Her hazel eyes were red rimmed and she nodded.

"I would like that, Doctor."

He moved over to her and held open his arms. It killed him to see her hurt. When she moved into his embrace, he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"I'll get you a chance, Rose. If it takes all I've got."

It was several weeks before he found the right spot, the right breach, the right power source, but between them, they finally managed to project themselves to the parallel world that her family now lived in. The landscape they projected to was a deserted, bleak beach. Pete, Jackie and Mickey stood by the water as Rose and the Doctor seemed to ghost into sight.

"Here I am."

The three turned, staring at the people barely in focus.

Jackie spoke first. "Where are you?"

The Doctor replied, "Inside the TARDIS. There was one little gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection, we're in orbit around a super nova.

Rose laughs softly, "We're burning up a sun just to say goodbye."

Mickey shakes his head. "You look like ghosts."

Rose looks at the Doctor.

"Hold on..." he said taking his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the console and somehow this strengthened their projection.

They now looked as solid as if they were really there. Jackie walked closer to them and raises a hand to touch Rose's face.

"Can I t-?"

The Doctor sighs regretfully, "We're still just an image. No touch. Believe me, Jackie, if I only could, I'd welcome a slap from you right now."

Mickey moved closer as well, though Pete hung back just a bit. "Can't you come through properly?"

"The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse," Rose said. "Took me a bit to accept that too."

Her mother nodded and they watched each other for a few seconds before the Doctor looks around at their surroundings.

"Where are we? Where did the gap come out?"

Pete spoke up, "We're in Norway."

The Doctor nodded. "Norway. Right."

"About fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called 'Dårlig Ulv Stranden'."

Rose blinked in surprise. "Dalek?"

The man who looked so much like her father shook his head. "Dårl-IG. It's Norwegian for 'bad'."

The Doctor continued to stare at him, brow furrowed.

Pete shrugged. "This translates as 'Bad Wolf Bay'."

The Doctor and Rose share a look, laughing a bit at the irony of this, but sober almost immediately. Rose turns to her mother, then glances at the Doctor.

"How long have we got?"

"About two minutes..." he told her softly.

She almost laughed at the absurdity of this. "I can't think of what to say!"

The Doctor almost laughed too, but then looks over Jackie, Pete and Mickey.

"You're taking care of them, yeah Mickey?" One would think it was the Doctor's family there instead of Rose's.

Jackie nods, bumping her shoulder against the boy who's been like a son to her. "There's four of us now. Me, your dad, Mickey... and the baby."

Rose seems taken-aback. "You're not...?"

The Doctor looks at Jackie with a smile.

"Three months gone. More Tylers on the way," the woman said proudly, her hands on her stomach.

Time passed differently it seemed for them.

"I wish you two could be here, part of it," the pregnant woman said sadly.

Rose sighs. "Me too, Mum. But… this is where I belong, yeah?" Rose said with conviction, reaching down and lacing her fingers with those of the Doctor's.

He didn't speak, just looked down at her hand in his, finding it near impossible to form words around the knot in his throat.

Mickey nodded. "Yeah, Rosie. It is. Boss, you take care of our girl, now. You're the only one what knows how special she really is."

The Time Lord's voice is a bit husky as he answered, "I know, Mickey… I know. She's the most important thing in the universe…"

Rose looked between them in surprise, her gaze lingering on the Doctor who refused to look up.

Finally looking at her mother again, Rose decided to break the news of her so-called death. "You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead."

Jackie began to cry quietly. "Are we ever gonna see you again?"

The Doctor answered, quietly, and so, so sorry, "You can't."

The small family all nodded silently. Rose studied them, memorizing each face, tears falling thick and fast.

"I love you all. So very much."

"We love you, honey," Jackie cried. "And you, Doctor. I don't care if you are an alien or a million years old –"

"Oi!" he laughed. "Only nine hundred!"

"Shut it," Rose's mother said, a small smile on her tear tracked face. "You're as good as a son to me, so don't go getting yourself killed now."

The Doctor smiled gratefully at Jackie, starting to say something in reply, but their time was up.
The scene faded away into nothingness. He and Rose are left alone now. She screwed up her face against the pain, sobbing into her hands until he folded her into his chest, holding her tight. A few tears escaped him, and they remained locked together in that embrace for quite some time.

Finally, they silently agreed that they needed to move forward. Rose stepped out of the control room to wash her face, and the Doctor moved to the TARDIS console, pushing the buttons and levers as he walked slowly around it without a great deal less of his former enthusiasm. There was a strange sound in the room and he looked up, expecting to see Rose retuned.

Instead, he felt his eyes go wide with shock. Standing by the door, with her back to him, was a bride.

"What?" he choked out.

The bride turned around to see him standing there and yelped with surprise.

"What?!" he repeated, utterly confused.

She made a face at him."Who are you?"

He looked around, wishing Rose would come back and help him. "But—"

The bride shouted, "Where am I?"

"What?!" His vast vocabulary was wretchedly useless at this moment.

"What the hell is this place?" she shouted.

The Doctor did the only thing he could think of in this desperate situation. He turned to the door his dearest companion had gone out and shouted as loud as he could, "ROSE!"

(There we are, the ending I wish season two had actually had. Why didn't they think of using a rope to secure themselves? In all the stories I've read, I just can't help but wonder, why didn't anyone think of a rope? Anyway, I digress. Reviews are adored, and readers are lovely. Thanks for peeking in. I hope to have The Runaway Bride up soon.)