A/N: I know a lot of people have a problem with this episode, me included (What the hell was he thinking? What a stupid – okay, rant over), but you never know, Steven Moffat might amend this mistake by allowing the Tenth Doctor and Rose have proper kiss during the 50th Anniversary. Wishful thinking, it does work.

Rose left the Doctor in the console room, confronting his grief while she showed Mickey the rest of the TARDIS. She showed him the library, the swimming pool, the games room; however she declined his offer to watch a movie, claiming she was tired.

She retreated to her room, the TARDIS diverting her route so she would avoid the Doctor. Rose collapsed onto her bed, unsure of what to feel. How could he do that to them? Just leave them behind? But it was his decision. Rose had meddled with the laws of time when she saved her father and it had dire consequences. Who was she to tell the Time Lord what to do? Sarah Jane was right, she was a just a companion. Someone along for the travels.

But if that was the case, could she really stay? Watch the Doctor fall for some other pretty girl while she stayed on the side lines. It broke her heart when she realised she wasn't the only that has travelled with him. That she was special. After she was gone, he would move on again. She'd become a distant memory.

Rose had experienced a similar situation with Jimmy Stone. He always played mind games with her, and she was never sure of what he felt, until she walked in on him and some other girl in the toilets of a club they were at. It was then that Rose had the courage to tell him where to go. She left him and hoped that she never had to live through something like that again.

The Doctor wasn't like Jimmy. She was sure of that the day she met him. For one thing, Jimmy was never selfless, would never go the extra mile for someone. If someone else's life was in danger, he would run in the opposite direction.

When it came to the Doctor, it wasn't just the travelling she loved, it was simply being with him. She loved him. She thought he knew that. Rose shook her head. Maybe I should just leave? He's so different now.

New new Doctor was right.

A new man.

The old him would have never have done this. But even that wasn't strictly true, there was Lynda. Rose was jealous of her, another woman, another blonde to add to the list. Fantastic. Though that never led to anything, this time he had crossed a line.

She groaned, dark thoughts clouding her mind. She reached under her bed and found her rucksack. Start packing now, should I?

The Doctor let out a long, shaky breath, as he came to terms with the day's events. The realisation of a stranger accepting him so quickly, how she saw into his mind and never once judged him. But as he always did, he buried his feelings along with everything else. He slammed down the handbrake, and then watched the rotor rise and fall.

His expression was unreadable, nine hundred years of repressed emotion; he was good at hiding what he truly felt. Though sometimes this was misread as him not caring, his alien beliefs and attitude made friends feel like there was too much of a culture divide between them. The Doctor looked human but that didn't necessarily mean he understood why humans acted the way they did. He thought of Rose and how relieved she was when she saw him but what he didn't see was the hurt expression when she found out that he had asked Reinette to go with them.

He heard TARDIS grumble in the back of his head. "Not now." he growled to the thin air.

From a distance Mickey watched him, scratching the back of his neck. Rose doesn't deserve this, he thought. The TARDIS couldn't agree with him more and decided to help her.

Back in Rose's room, clothes were being throw left, right and centre. Shoes littered the floor and photos were taken from the wall and were in a pile on the bed. The angry blonde muttered under her breath. She decided that she needed a break. The Doctor needed to sort out his head and so did she.

He puts number one first, well so am I, she thought. I'm not having this again. Even if it is him.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked a familiar voice. A familiar northern voice.

She froze, scared to turn around in case she was misheard. It couldn't be.

"I asked you a question, Rose Tyler. What are you doing?"

Rose spun around to see the Doctor – her first Doctor standing behind her. His arms were behind his back as he gazed around the room, confused by her actions.

"Is this a dream?" she asked, weakly.

"Nope." he answered, then crossed his arms. "You didn't answer my question."

She swallowed and titled her head to the bag. "Packing."

"Ah." Her original Doctor stepped closer, just a few inches from her. "Don't leave."

"Why?"

"'Cause I'm telling you to."

Rose circled the man who couldn't possibly be the Doctor, but instead of being a full figure, he was flat, like the projection she saw when he sent her away. But the image looked exactly like him, a clear, flawless image. No blue lines.

Rose arched an eyebrow, struggling with what she was seeing. She must have hit her head when those droids attacked her. "How can you be here?"

"I'm not." he said, as if it was obvious.

"But you changed. You… told me that you couldn't change back. And now you—" Her voice faded and she took a deep breath. "I didn't think I was going to see you again." She felt relieved, like it was so long ago and yet the real Doctor was just down the hall with a new face.

"I'm not him." he explained, gesturing to himself. "This is a hologram. To make it easier for us to talk, Rose Tyler."

Feeling brave, Rose reached out a hand to touch the Doctor but it went straight through his face and out the other side. The hologram flickered and then re-established itself.

"You're the TARDIS, aren't you? You're just using this image." Rose said, finally understanding.

The hologram smiled. "I always knew you were bright. The Doctor's equal."

Rose couldn't help but scoff. "Sorry, I think that position has been taken by another." she told him.

The hologram titled his head, staring at her. "You're wrong. Not all the time, but on this occasion you are wrong."

"Okay. I'll play along, why are you here? And why look like him?" Rose asked, pointing to the leather jacket.

The hologram looked down at the clothing, then smiled. That big grin that made Rose fall for the Doctor when she first met him, causing her blink back tears. Oh, how she missed him. "I'm here to tell you that I've known this man for years and through every change, one thing has always remained constant. He's an idiot."

Rose chuckled. "Yeah. He's the smartest man I've ever known and yet sometimes he can be so daft." Her voice became serious, yet laced with insecurity. "You can see inside his head, right? I mean, you and him are connected." The hologram nodded. "Did he love her?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Before the hologram could answer, Rose changed her mind. "You know what, don't tell me." She loosely crossed her arms, shaking her head, backing away. "Don't think I want to know."

"Ask him." he suggested.

"I can't. He's never good with his emotions, he wouldn't tell me. Doesn't really tell me anything."

"Wrong again."

"Am I?"

Rose sat down on the bed, flattening her hands against the duvet so she wouldn't scrunch it up as the anger boiled over. "I'm a shop girl from council estate who failed to get her A levels. She's a beautiful, educated, sophisticated woman who is the uncrowned Queen of France." She looked up to see the fake Doctor's face soften, almost hurt by her words. "I'm not good enough."

If the TARDIS had a corporal body, in that moment she would have tracked down the Doctor and slapped him Jackie style. Or maybe just take the ship to Jackie and let her do it instead. She watched the distressed companion crumble in front of her unable to give the hug she desperately needed.

"You're wrong." he repeated. Rose looked up, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Rose Tyler, the girl who took the Time Vortex in her head and destroyed half a million Daleks in the blink of an eye. The Bad Wolf. So great, she created herself."

"Yeah, but it's still there, isn't it? That werewolf guy, before he changed, he told me there was something of the wolf in me." Rose remarked. "I don't have logical thoughts, I just jump straight in, feet first."

"That's right." the hologram said, cheerfully. "You trust your gut instinct. You don't over analyse the situation. That isn't bad."

"It isn't good." Rose countered. "Look how much trouble I've got myself in. Seeing London from a balloon during the middle of a German air raid. That was really clever."

"Don't compare yourself." The hologram Doctor sounded angry, not at Rose, but at the man who put her in this position, the man who made her feel this way. "I know things about the Doctor that no one should know, or can know. But I can tell you that this was a mistake. A lapse in judgement. He will see the error of his ways."

"Is that your prediction?" Rose asked.

"That is my promise to you, Rose Tyler and the Bad Wolf." His voice was stern, but not cold, warm, like the light that Rose once bathed in. The light she felt in her mind.

The hologram Doctor faded from sight, as it was never there.

There was pause. Rose thought she imagined the image, as if it was all one big illusion, her mind allowing her a bit of peace. Rose sighed, wanting a distraction, when she heard a knock at her door.

Mickey's face peered through, looking baffled. "Erm... how do you get the TV to work? I can't seem to work the controls." he admitted, sheepishly.

Rose pushed herself off the bed and pulled Mickey in for a hug. Shocked at first, he gratefully returned it. "What was that for?" he asked.

"I'm just glad you're here." she said.

Mickey glanced over her shoulder and saw the bag and mess around the room. His eyes fixed Rose with a look of concern. "Going somewhere?"

Rose turned, and then stepped back from him. "No, not right now."