Title: Phantom

Genre: Angst, Romance, Drama

Rating: PG-13

Couple: Ten/Rose

Spoilers: Spoilers for season 2 through Doomsday

Summary: Hope. Simultaniously Humanity's greatest strength and greatest weakness. He might have said it was impossible, but he had also taught Rose not to believe in that word. Not even if it destroyed her. Post Doomsday.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5



Disclaimer: Oh no no no. If I owned DW, I would do anything I could to keep 11 from coming for a looong time.

AN: Shifted to a longer chapter format to fit in everything I want into the size I want. Did I post two chqapters in like a half hour or so? Lies.

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Phantom

Chapter 6: Confession



She couldn't stand to hold it in any longer. She couldn't breathe at the thought, the minute chance, that he somehow might not know. That she could go on the rest of her life without him, and never have told him. She didn't think she would be able to survive if she did.

And of course...he wouldn't return the sentiment. How could he? It simply wasn't his way. He would go on. He would forget her. He had to. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry, but at the moment she was more inclined toward the latter.

"I suppose..." He said softly, grief and tears thickening his voice, as he fought to smile, and succeeded only in tearing her heart to smaller pieces. "...If its my last chance to say it..."

A lump caught in her throat that had nothing to do with her tears. She shouldn't hear it. She shouldn't want to. It wouldn't help when he was gone, it would only hurt more. She knew. She did...really. She would never see him again...

Her heart beat sped up considerably as he settled his gaze on her, love and sadness shining so plainly it was almost blinding. "Rose Tyler..."

...And then her heart was ripped mercilessly away and crushed under fate's heel with a cruel laugh. And it was all she could do to stand. To tell herself she still had to breathe. To tell herself life was worth living still.

To promise herself he would one day finish his sentence.



"I'm going to do it properly this time, Rose. And you of all people should know...nothing in this universe or any other is going to keep me from saying what I damn well want to say."

She attempted to swallow, but found her throat suddenly dry, as she stared up at his dark brown eyes. It was finally happening, the final bit of what she had promised herself--when she was too afraid to promise herself to be happy with him again. She didn't know whether to stall him or hurry him up. She didn't know if she would survive another cut-off.

The intensity of his expression clearly said he could not.

"Rose Tyler...my wonderful, brilliant, Rose Tyler." He smiled softly, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "Rose Tyler...I..." He sighed softly in irritation. "Oh, sod it all. I love you, Rose. I love you more than any Time Lord ought to love a human. More than he ought to love anything. More than anything's allowed to love anything, really."

He laughed softly. "I think thats what the multiverse is trying to say to us."

Any semblance of control over her tears vanished right then and there. It was pathetic, but it didn't matter anymore. Here was everything she ever wanted, everything she had ever dared to hope when she was feeling the most brave, and she was going to lose it all in less than five minutes. And all she had to blame was the universe.

It wasn't bloody fair!

Her Doctor was holding her as tightly as he could manage--although he could 'touch' her, he wasn't really there, so if he pushed too hard, he would just slip right through her--and murmuring soft nothings into her hair, offering meager comfort that could never truly soothe her.

"I love you..." She managed through her incessant wrenching sobs. "I love you so...so...I don't wanna lose you again!"

He pulled her chin up to his face gently once more. A tear had managed to escape him, and offend his cheek. She had never seen him cry before. Not really. It was somewhat shocking, somehow beautiful, and soul-shatteringly tragic. If she weren't already clinging to him--and if she wasn't worried she'd just go right through him again, like when she'd tripped on the desk getting up for coffee--she would have pulled him into a feirce hug to wipe it away.

"Rose..."

"Don't tell me to have a good life." She interrupted, biting her lower lip again. "Please...I...I just...not again."

He closed his eyes a moment, and shook his head, before smiling softly at her. "All good things must come to an end, Rose."

She hiccoughed.

"And if I have to go out..." He grinned. "I can't think of a better face or a better place than here with you."

And that was when her heart froze in her chest, when all breath and all thought fled faster than a startled cheetah. That was when he dipped his head down just a fraction of an inch, and kissed her. It was a blazingly hot, beautiful, wonderful, heart shattering kiss.

And it was more than she could have ever dreamed in her wildest nights.

--

Mickey sighed softly as he handed Jackie Tyler a cup of tea, and fell back into a loveseat with an exhausted sigh. She was still gone. Not a word. Not a sign. Not a trace. And the damned Torchwood security refused to answer a single question he or anyone else had asked! Not even her own mother, Jackie!

Said mother shook her head sadly, gazing into her cup of tea without actually drinking. "I shouldn't have let her go."

"You couldn't have stopped her." Mickey said, hoping to reassure her slightly.

His efforts were rewarded with a sharp glare. "I'm her mother!"

Jake was sitting on a nearby recliner, and shook his head. "Rose wouldn't be stopped by anyone. I don't know her as well as all you, but I know even from what I've seen, she won't be stopped from what she really wants to do."

"What if the Doctor is really trapped between worlds?" Pete supplied. "She's safe, I'm sure. She's strong, she's smart. She'll be fine."

Mickey nodded, shaking off the cold fear that tried to settle into him anew. "She'll be okay."

--

It seemed like forever. Warmth surged through her body, made her feel more alive than she ever had before--and she wasn't sure how much of that was the kiss, and how much of that was his hands running places no physical hand ought to be able to (And really, that was just cheating.).

In actuality it was probably about two minutes when they finally broke apart. Considering the fact that neither of them were physically there, they technically could have stayed that way forever. But that would have meant the Doctor doing the same thing for an extended period of time. And that was something he simply did not do.

He chuckled almost awkwardly, grinning at her. "I was going for the classic last kiss thing. Probably should have timed it a little better."

"And leave without a proper goodbye?"

"Well, I figured that was the best way to go out...but can't really do that now...the mood's gone kaput." His grin had almost no lingering sadness in it, and she found herself smiling back at him through the tears that still dampened her cheeks.

"Guess I should just get to saying it, then." He said, smile dissolving into that all-too-familiar sadness.

"Don't want time getting in the way again..." She said softly, forcing her smile to stay in place.

"No...certainly not that." He shook his head, hand caressing her cheek gently, and leaving a trail of fire in her skin. "I guess...this really is the last time I'll see you."

She fought back a sob and shook her head.

"No, Rose, it is." He slid his hand back to run through her hair. "It's been fantastic travelling with you, Rose. Really. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Nothing."

"Wouldn't give it up for the world." She affirmed.

"Or quite a bit more." He grinned. "So...my beautiful, fantastic Rose..."

And that was when her heart was mercilessly wrenched from her chest and deposited in her throat, as a precariously positioned stack of books left carelessly in their rushed researching fell uncerimoniously to the floor with a resounding crash.

With a scream, she whirled toward it, the Doctor's gaze following. There lie the books, with no one around to have pushed them. But what caught her gaze much more intently, was the clock that they had knocked off the table in their tumble.

It read, quite plainly. 12:05 am

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AN: GAH. Somehow it ended up another chapter longer than I hoped! STOP THAT!