DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Doctor Who. Still don't make any money from this. But if he doesn't stop leaving TARDIS prints in my flower bed, we're gonna have words…

SUMMARY: Something goes horribly, horribly wrong in the Parallel Universe and the Doctor's not there to save the day.

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"Rose?"

John's voice reached Rose as she shot the Marisk soldier that had just killed two of her team. Good people, great agents. Too young, damnit.

"John, I told you! Get them the hell out of here!" She fired twice more, downing another soldier while gesturing to the other injured member of their team.

"Rose?"

Rose chanced a look back at John and froze.

John stood near the scorched and over-turned conference table, one hand to his chest, looking at Rose in shock over the body of the soldier he had killed to protect his wife. "Rose?" He moved his hand and blood poured from the blast wound in the center of his chest.

"JOHN!" Rose screamed and kept firing, killing more soldiers as they transmatted in, and rushed to her husband.

His legs gave out and he crashed to the floor, blood spotting his lips when he coughed. John pressed a hand to his chest again, winced at the burn, and fell to his side against the conference table.

Rose skidded in the pooled Human and Marisk blood and fell, smashing her hip and head on the floor. Bright stars exploded in her vision when a particularaly sharp piece of broken coffee mug caught the side of her head.

The dead Marisk soldiers in the large room and in the hallway started disappearing in flashes of light, transmatting back to the ship in orbit around Earth's moon. The Marisk Captain, Corvith, sneered at them, then teleported to his ship after the last of his men disappeared.

In the new quiet, Rose and John's breathing was harsh and ragged, broken only when Rose managed to pull herself up and move toward where John lay trembling.

"John! No! Oh god… GET ME SOME HELP IN HERE!" Rose screamed to anyone she prayed could hear her.

What she didn't realize was that the Marisk soldiers had killed the majority of the people around the conference room they should have been holding trade talks in. The massacre left bodies scattered for three floors below the one they occupied.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light exploded from behind John. Their eyes met for a brief second before she was tossed back, slamming into the wall with enough force to crack the wall in several places. Her vision went dark but could still hear herself screaming when John disappears.

"NO! JOHN! Bring him back! Please, just bring him back! JOHN!"

Then pain. Then emptiness. Then nothing.

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The remainder of Torchwood's employees, including Jake Simmonds and Rose's alternate father, Pete Tyler, managed to get to the conference room minutes later. Pete, barking orders to secure the facility, search for survivors, and treat the injured, found Rose by following the thick, dark trail of blood streaked down the wall where her head had impacted and she'd slid down.

"Oh my god, Rose…," Jake whispered and was frozen in the doorway with Pete for a split second. He rushed back out yelling for a medic.

Pete started throwing debris from his path and stepped carefully over the body of one of his most trusted advisors. Grieve later, and crouched over Rose to check her vitals.

"JAKE!" The blond was back in the doorway instantly. "She's got a pulse but she's hurt badly. Possibly internally. Get the medics here NOW!"

"Yes, sir! They're coming now," then moved to allow the medical team into the room, lead by this universe's Ianto Jones, Pete's assistant.

"Sir, the Marisk ship has started to break orbit from the moon."

"Take them out." The ice in Pete Tyler's voice brooked no argument.

Not once, in the seven years since Rose and John had made this Earth their home, had Torchwood done such a thing. Their ability to work together to encourage peaceful congress between Earth and dozens of other races had made Earth a rather popular place to visit. The people of Earth had accepted the truth of life outside of their home amazingly quickly and well. Trade and commerce, vacation and relaxation, even immigration to and from Earth had become almost commonplace.

Zepplins were replaced by anti-grav technology. Transmats and other teleports had been made public access, opening up the world to its new and native inhabitants. Peace had even been established within the first three years, allowing free access to almost every mile of the planet.

The people of Earth had suddenly, happily, and rightfully taken their place when this Universe's version of The Shadow Proclamation realized their potential and allowed Earth to immediately join their ranks.

But now, an unprovoked attack had guaranteed the destruction of an entire ship of militant Marisk soldiers and their leader.

A bright beam of yellow-green-gold light shot from Torchwood Tower, through the atmosphere, to a satellite in orbit, were it was focused then blasted through the Marisk ship seconds later. The ship was engulfed in flames for a fraction of a second before it was vaporized, no trace to be found of it again.

Ianto looked to his boss and watched as the medics stabilized Rose's neck and back, moved her to a gurney and began transporting her from the room. "It's done, sir. The Shadow Proclamation has been contacted as well."

Pete watched Rose being wheeled out of the room but stood frozen, finally allowing the carnage to set in. "Good." He looked around the conference room, expecting … something. "John. Ianto, where's John?"

Both men shot from their positions to opposite sides of the room, tossing broken furniture and turning their friends and co-workers bodies looking for John.

"Not here, sir."

"Jake!" Pete ran to the door and braced himself with his hands on the mangled doorframe, leaning into the hallway. "Jake! Where's the Doctor? John? Do you see him anywhere?"

Jake paled but continued his search for survivors. "No, sir. He's not out here. He was with Rose when the shooting started."

Pete looked back into the room and his gaze was instantly drawn back to the blood smear on the wall. "God, please let him be alive. Rose. God." He moved to rub his face, saw the gore on his hands and froze, staring. "Ianto. With me."

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