Fic: 24 Hours
Title: 24 Hours Chapter 1
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Journey’s End spoilers, a little cracky.
Characters: Tenth Doctor(s), Donna Noble, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, Sarah-Jane Smith, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, Martha Jones and possibly others
Pairings: Ten/Rose, Jack/Donna
Summary: They have 24 Hours in the TARDIS. They intend to make the most of it. An AU to the end of Journey’s End.
A/N: Hugs to Ivydoor, Dettiot and Shinyopals for the read-overs.
24 Hours
They beg and plead.
“It’s a time machine! Why can’t we stay for a bit?”
“Come on, Doctor, what’s the harm?”
“I think we deserve a holiday, yeah?”
His clone, the one in the blue suit, nudges him with a grin; one that he used to wear all the time. “Come on.”
The Doctor gives a soft heave. “Oh…alright. You’ve got twenty-four hours.”
The cheers in the console room are loud, and echoing. The TARDIS herself hums happily. She’s never been so full of so many who love each other so much.
*****
He’s kissing her as soon as they’re alone.
“Jack…”
He sighs. “Rose…”
She grins a little against his lips. “Hello to you, too.”
He smiles back, full and bright. “It’s been a long time.”
Rose nods and wraps her arms around him. “You can’t die.”
“No, I can’t die,” Jack replies. “That’s actually kind of your fault.”
“Me?”
“Bad Wolf? You bring life? Game Station? Ringing any bells?”
Rose looks down. “Oh…”
He hugs her again, kissing her cheek. “Hey. It’s okay. You’re back.”
She nods, fiddling with the hair at the back of his neck. “Yeah…for now…”
“For now?”
Rose rests her head on his shoulder. “He’ll send me back. We all know it.”
Jack kisses the top of her head and holds her tightly. “Care to make the most of what little time we’ve got?”
Rose slowly looks up at him, quirking an eyebrow.
He wiggles his own.
She kisses him chastely. “I bet you the TARDIS has kept my beauty supplies fresh!” She lets go of him and darts off down the corridor.
Jack laughs. “I’m gonna go get the others!”
*****
“So you’re really part Time Lord now?”
Donna sighs as she and Sarah-Jane sit in the kitchen, tea cups in their hands. “It’s sort of wearing off. It’s weird. It-“ She stops as a wisp of energy leaves her mouth. “Bugger. I wish that’d stop happening.”
Sarah-Jane smiles. “In time, it will. What’s it like? Being in his head?”
“Mad,” Donna says automatically. “Mad and brilliant and stupid all at once. And depressing. I was thinking, when we get back to earth, maybe we could get him some help. You know, a bit of therapy. Maybe some drugs. I’d like to see him on drugs, he’d be-“
Sarah-Jane smiles.
“I’m doin’ it again, ain’t I?” Donna asks, horrified. “Bloody alien!”
“It’ll all be over soon,” Sarah-Jane replies, trying not to laugh.
Jack pokes his head in and grins. “Ladies.”
“Captain,” Sarah-Jane smiles. “Anything we can do for you?”
Donna quirks an eyebrow, giving Jack a once-over. “Anything at all?”
Jack grins at them. “Meet me in the communal bathroom.”
Donna’s eyebrow goes even higher.
Jack just laughs and leaves.
*****
On her way to find her supplies, Rose runs into Martha. “Oh! Hi! Want a make-over?”
“Scuse me?” Martha asks, starting to look slightly offended.
“Jack and I used to do this all the time. You know the big bathroom? The one with all the places to sit and five sinks and the lot? We always used to do hair and facials and nails and such.”
Martha has to laugh. “Why am I not surprised?”
Rose offers her an arm, smile teasing, and eyes alight. “I was just on my way to find my kits. Care to join me?”
Martha doesn’t hesitate. “Gladly.”
****
“So, then,” Jackie says, laughing through her words. “So then, I says ‘stitch this mate!’”
“And she slapped him!” Rose cries, howling with laughter. “Right across the face.”
The group gathered in the bathroom bursts into laughter, leaning on each other. Martha’s face is covered in an avocado cream and Donna’s toenails are freshly painted in scarlet. Jack is filing his nails and Sarah-Jane is taking a curling iron to her hair. Mickey is dabbing purple nail polish on Rose’s toenails as if he’s done it a million times before, while she is taking a straightener to Jackie’s hair.
Martha says, smiling, “my mum slapped him, too.”
“Blimey, I’m surprised he didn’t pass out, what with that glass jaw,” Rose laughs.
Donna laughs loudly, too. “One time I slapped him and he whirled round, smacked right into the console and passed out for three hours-oh…that’s not really funny, is it-“ more energy comes pouring out of her mouth, followed by a few well-placed curse words.
“It’ll be over soon, Donna,” Jack says soothingly.
“You know what would make it be over faster?” Donna counters, grinning.
Rose laughs, snorting a little.
Jack smiles brilliantly.
******
“It’s like he wants nothing to do with us,” Jackie says softly. “What’s wrong with him?”
Sarah-Jane bites her lip as they walk from the bathroom to one of the lounges. “I suspect it’s just been a very long day…and he and…him…probably have a lot to talk about.”
Jackie bites her lip. “You think there was another choice? Other than killin’ all those Daleks?”
Sarah-Jane merely frowns. “I honestly don’t know.”
*****
“Hey, Doc, I’m gonna go shag Donna.”
The Doctor gives a small grunt and keeps tapping on the console.
The other Doctor, the one in the blue suit, sitting on the jump seat, rolls his eyes. “Did you hear what he just said, you great big alie-oh. When is Donna’s influence going to wear off?”
“Never,” the other Doctor says. “You’re the rest of my regeneration, and Donna imprinted on you. I’m afraid you’re stuck.”
The blue suited Doctor pouts.
“Your influence on her, however, will dissipate in another few hours,” the Doctor says. “Which is good. Very good. Otherwise-well…I don’t want to think about it.”
Jack nods. “I’m still gonna shag her.”
“Oh, for-…Jack!”
“What?!”
The blue suited Doctor rolls his eyes yet again. “He already said that. If you’d been paying attention…”
Jack huffs at the two Time Lords, and turns to the one on the jump seat in the blue suit. “Do you want a job?”
The Doctor quirks an eyebrow. “What kind of job?”
“The kind where you work and get paid, genius,” Jack snaps.
“What kind?”
Jack sighs. “Scientific adviser. Or I could just pay you to be my toy. It’s up to you.”
The two Doctors look at each other, the brown-suited one looking blank.
The Doctor in blue nods. “I’ll take scientific advisor…mind you…you’re still very fit, Captain…”
The other Doctor cringes. “That’s more of Donna bleeding through.”
Jack laughs. “Then it’s a good thing I got her waitin’ for me in my old room. I’ll be in my bunk.” He winks, before leaving.
The Brown-suited Doctor eyes his clone. “You be on your best behavior for Jack. I mean it. No funny stuff.”
The blue-suited Doctor merely rolls his eyes again.
A voice clears and both of them turn to find Rose standing in the doorway. Both Doctors stand straight up, looking at her.
She looks from one to the other, and takes a step back. “Right. Two of you.”
“Hello,” the blue-suited Doctor says with a grin and a wave.
The brown-suited Doctor just gives a grimace and a nod.
Rose turns to the one in the blue suit. “You know, Martha and mum just popped in a film. Why don’t you go watch?”
He stares at her; her smile is too tight to be genuine. “Oh! I love films!” the Doctor says, smiling knowingly. He runs off without a look back.
Rose sighs softly, relieved. She sits on the jump seat and watches the Doctor - her Doctor - get back to work at the console. “So. Nineteen hours.”
“Yep. Nineteen.”
“You’re gonna spend here, aren’t you.”
He doesn’t look up at her or reply.
“We could go swimming,” she offers. “Go walk in the gardens…go watch that film with Mum and Martha and the other you.”
She still doesn’t get a reply.
“Right,” Rose snaps. “You don’t want to get attached, because you’re shoving me off again.”
He looks up at her.
“That’s what’s going to happen, yeah?” Rose asks.
“I never said that.”
“Didn’t have to.”
“Rose.”
She sighs and closes her eyes. “I’m such an idiot. For a second I thought maybe-“
“Rose!”
She looks up at him, and his eyes are full of the sadness she remembers so well from Bad Wolf Bay. Rose looks down at her shoes and curls her fingers around the edges of the jump seat.
The Doctor sighs and kneels down in front of her, trying to catch her eyes. “Please understand. There’s so little I can give you.”
She meets his eyes quickly. “That’s not true.”
He shakes his head. “The other me…he’s…he’s got a human body and a Time Lord brain. One heart. One heart, one life, Rose. Do you know what that means?”
“I know he’s not you,” Rose replies.
“Yes, he is,” the Doctor insists. “He is me. He’s just…human. More human than I could ever hope to be. He can give you so much.”
She shakes her head. “You wanna foist him off on me?”
“What?! Foist? I’m not foisting,” the Doctor says. “He’s still me.”
“No! You’re you!” she cries, getting to her feet.
He looks up at her, still kneeling. “Rose. I’m never going to be enough for you.”
“And that’s yours to decide is it?!” she asks, obviously getting angry. “When’s it gonna be my turn?!”
The Doctor gets to his feet, looking confused.
“The Game Station, Canary Wharf; now this.” She shakes her head. “When are you gonna get it through your thick skull?”
He swallows.
Rose takes the few steps to stand just in front of him. The tips of her bare, freshly painted toes are touching his shoes. Both her hands take his; warm and squeezing, but not enough to hurt; never enough to hurt.
“I’m never gonna leave you.”
The Doctor gazes at her, eyes wide and conflicted. He knows he should argue more; make her understand. It's for the best. She'd be happy; she would.
But he's so tired. And Rose Tyler is right in front of him. And she's still his Rose in every single way.
"And if you think," she continues. "If you think for one second that you can-"
Rose doesn't get a chance to finish due to the Doctor's lips touching hers quickly. He pulls away as if he's been burned, and while his eyes are still wide, hers have drifted shut.
He kisses her again before she can open them, and it's frenzied and desperate and everything he remembers it being from that very first time after Klop'Tor and the beast in the pit, and his hands are wrapping around her, pulling her closer, and he's stumbling forward.
*****
Mickey stops mid-sentence as he hears a crash from the corridor and pokes his head out of the library to look.
Sarah-Jane quirks an eyebrow. "What was that?"
"The Doctor and Rose snogging each other's brains out," Mickey replies. "They knocked into some sort of machinery. I think they're tryin'a find a bedroom."
"Ah."
Mickey nods. "What was I saying?"
*****
"Blimey."
Jack chuckles and stretches out; naked as the day he was born. "That good, huh?"
Donna lets out a giggle and holds a bed sheet close to her chest.
"You're cute," Jack comments, still grinning as he gazes at her.
"Oh, stop."
"No, you are," he tells her. "How's the head?"
She grins. "I think I am finally rid of the skinny Martian."
Jack laughs. "He's not from Mars."
"I know," Donna says. "But he gets all in a strop when I call him that. It's funny."
He grins.
"You work for Torchwood, yeah?"
"I run Torchwood," Jack replies, looking thoughtful. "How the hell that happened is as much a mystery to me as everybody else."
"You're not good at it?"
"The job kinda landed on me," he admits. "And I lost two of my team not too long ago..."
"Oh," Donna says, taking his hand. "I'm so sorry."
He gives her a sad little grin. "They knew the risks, and they went out trying to help people."
"Doesn't mean you don't blame yourself," she points out.
Jack blows out a breath, and then glances at her.
"What?"
He smiles.
Donna laughs and kicks him playfully. "What?"
"I offered the Doctor- well, one of them. The uh...the one that grew from the hand. I offered him a job at Torchwood."
Donna smiles. "That's brilliant! The last thing the universe needs is two of him in the same place."
Jack smiles. "I'm gonna need some help keeping him in line, though."
"Probably," Donna says. "He's a handful at the best of times."
Jack keeps smiling.
"What?"
"Come work for me. Help me keep an eye on him."
"What?!"
He gives her a confused look. "What?"
"I'm just a temp!" Donna cries, looking confused. "I've got no experience!"
"Are you kidding?! Donna you saved the universe!"
"Yeah, with bits of the Doctor's brain," she snorts. "That's all gone now."
Jack leans over, taking her hand tightly. "The Doctor only takes the best to travel with him. Look at the people you've met today. Rose used to work retail and now she spends her time defending a parallel universe. Sarah-Jane was a reporter when the Doctor met her. Now she splits her time defending the Earth and raising a son. Martha was a med student. Now she's a prominent member of UNIT."
"What about you?"
He shrugs. "I was a conman."
Donna snorts again, louder this time.
"I was. I cheated people out of money. Now I defend the Earth."
She nods. "What would I be doing?"
"You'd be a full team member," Jack says. "You'd go on missions and monitor Cardiff's rift in time and space, along with the extra duty of helping me keep the Doctor in line."
"What about this Doctor?" Donna asks worriedly.
Something crashes outside of their closed door and Jack smirks.
"Do you know what that was, Donna Noble?"
"What?"
"That was the intricate sound of the Doctor - the original one you'd be leaving behind - and Rose Tyler trying to find a bedroom."
She bursts into incredulous laughter. "No! How do you know?!"
He holds up a finger to silence her as muffled voices speak from behind the door.
"It's this way," the Doctor says.
"No, it's this way," Rose replies.
"I think I know my own ship."
"Oh come off it and let's go this way."
"Fine. Hold on, why aren't we kissing anymore?"
"Good question."
Donna flops back on the bed and puts a pillow over her face to silence her laughter.
Jack sits back, looking smug.
*****
"Seventeen hours," Rose says quietly, her head pillowed against the Doctor's chest.
He rumbles out a thoughtful "Hmmm," and looks down at her softly. "Took us a bit to actually find one of our rooms."
"I'm certain we gave at least Mickey a good laugh, running into all the stuff you've got piled up in the corridors," Rose grins.
The Doctor shrugs. "Few centuries, things start to pile up, I suppose."
Her arm wraps around him. "I could sleep for a week."
"Well, you've got seventeen hours."
She sits up abruptly. "You're still kicking me off?!"
"What?!" the Doctor sits up as well. "No. I meant...your mum and Mickey are going to be going back to the other universe, and Jack's gonna be taking the other me back to Torchwood with him...Martha's got a fiance to go home to, and Sarah-Jane's got her son...you'll want to say goodbye."
Rose visibly relaxes. "Oh..."
He sighs and stares at the ceiling. "Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could let you go," he admits. "I can barely remember half the arguments I had worked up for making you leave."
"I've shagged 'em out of you," she smirks.
"Smug," he accuses.
"Maybe just a little."
He gives her a wary look. "You sure you want this? I've changed, Rose. I'm not the same as I was."
"And you think I am?" she says with a quirked eyebrow. "Listen. I know this isn't gonna be easy. I know we're not gonna be skipping through daisies or-"
"We'd better not be," the Doctor says. "I'm allergic."
Rose laughs a little and swats at him, prompting a grin.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Journey’s End spoilers, a little cracky.
Characters: Tenth Doctor(s), Donna Noble, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, Sarah-Jane Smith, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, Martha Jones and possibly others
Pairings: Ten/Rose, Jack/Donna
Summary: They have 24 Hours in the TARDIS. They intend to make the most of it. An AU to the end of Journey’s End.
A/N: Hugs to Ivydoor, Dettiot and Shinyopals for the read-overs.
24 Hours
They beg and plead.
“It’s a time machine! Why can’t we stay for a bit?”
“Come on, Doctor, what’s the harm?”
“I think we deserve a holiday, yeah?”
His clone, the one in the blue suit, nudges him with a grin; one that he used to wear all the time. “Come on.”
The Doctor gives a soft heave. “Oh…alright. You’ve got twenty-four hours.”
The cheers in the console room are loud, and echoing. The TARDIS herself hums happily. She’s never been so full of so many who love each other so much.
*****
He’s kissing her as soon as they’re alone.
“Jack…”
He sighs. “Rose…”
She grins a little against his lips. “Hello to you, too.”
He smiles back, full and bright. “It’s been a long time.”
Rose nods and wraps her arms around him. “You can’t die.”
“No, I can’t die,” Jack replies. “That’s actually kind of your fault.”
“Me?”
“Bad Wolf? You bring life? Game Station? Ringing any bells?”
Rose looks down. “Oh…”
He hugs her again, kissing her cheek. “Hey. It’s okay. You’re back.”
She nods, fiddling with the hair at the back of his neck. “Yeah…for now…”
“For now?”
Rose rests her head on his shoulder. “He’ll send me back. We all know it.”
Jack kisses the top of her head and holds her tightly. “Care to make the most of what little time we’ve got?”
Rose slowly looks up at him, quirking an eyebrow.
He wiggles his own.
She kisses him chastely. “I bet you the TARDIS has kept my beauty supplies fresh!” She lets go of him and darts off down the corridor.
Jack laughs. “I’m gonna go get the others!”
*****
“So you’re really part Time Lord now?”
Donna sighs as she and Sarah-Jane sit in the kitchen, tea cups in their hands. “It’s sort of wearing off. It’s weird. It-“ She stops as a wisp of energy leaves her mouth. “Bugger. I wish that’d stop happening.”
Sarah-Jane smiles. “In time, it will. What’s it like? Being in his head?”
“Mad,” Donna says automatically. “Mad and brilliant and stupid all at once. And depressing. I was thinking, when we get back to earth, maybe we could get him some help. You know, a bit of therapy. Maybe some drugs. I’d like to see him on drugs, he’d be-“
Sarah-Jane smiles.
“I’m doin’ it again, ain’t I?” Donna asks, horrified. “Bloody alien!”
“It’ll all be over soon,” Sarah-Jane replies, trying not to laugh.
Jack pokes his head in and grins. “Ladies.”
“Captain,” Sarah-Jane smiles. “Anything we can do for you?”
Donna quirks an eyebrow, giving Jack a once-over. “Anything at all?”
Jack grins at them. “Meet me in the communal bathroom.”
Donna’s eyebrow goes even higher.
Jack just laughs and leaves.
*****
On her way to find her supplies, Rose runs into Martha. “Oh! Hi! Want a make-over?”
“Scuse me?” Martha asks, starting to look slightly offended.
“Jack and I used to do this all the time. You know the big bathroom? The one with all the places to sit and five sinks and the lot? We always used to do hair and facials and nails and such.”
Martha has to laugh. “Why am I not surprised?”
Rose offers her an arm, smile teasing, and eyes alight. “I was just on my way to find my kits. Care to join me?”
Martha doesn’t hesitate. “Gladly.”
****
“So, then,” Jackie says, laughing through her words. “So then, I says ‘stitch this mate!’”
“And she slapped him!” Rose cries, howling with laughter. “Right across the face.”
The group gathered in the bathroom bursts into laughter, leaning on each other. Martha’s face is covered in an avocado cream and Donna’s toenails are freshly painted in scarlet. Jack is filing his nails and Sarah-Jane is taking a curling iron to her hair. Mickey is dabbing purple nail polish on Rose’s toenails as if he’s done it a million times before, while she is taking a straightener to Jackie’s hair.
Martha says, smiling, “my mum slapped him, too.”
“Blimey, I’m surprised he didn’t pass out, what with that glass jaw,” Rose laughs.
Donna laughs loudly, too. “One time I slapped him and he whirled round, smacked right into the console and passed out for three hours-oh…that’s not really funny, is it-“ more energy comes pouring out of her mouth, followed by a few well-placed curse words.
“It’ll be over soon, Donna,” Jack says soothingly.
“You know what would make it be over faster?” Donna counters, grinning.
Rose laughs, snorting a little.
Jack smiles brilliantly.
******
“It’s like he wants nothing to do with us,” Jackie says softly. “What’s wrong with him?”
Sarah-Jane bites her lip as they walk from the bathroom to one of the lounges. “I suspect it’s just been a very long day…and he and…him…probably have a lot to talk about.”
Jackie bites her lip. “You think there was another choice? Other than killin’ all those Daleks?”
Sarah-Jane merely frowns. “I honestly don’t know.”
*****
“Hey, Doc, I’m gonna go shag Donna.”
The Doctor gives a small grunt and keeps tapping on the console.
The other Doctor, the one in the blue suit, sitting on the jump seat, rolls his eyes. “Did you hear what he just said, you great big alie-oh. When is Donna’s influence going to wear off?”
“Never,” the other Doctor says. “You’re the rest of my regeneration, and Donna imprinted on you. I’m afraid you’re stuck.”
The blue suited Doctor pouts.
“Your influence on her, however, will dissipate in another few hours,” the Doctor says. “Which is good. Very good. Otherwise-well…I don’t want to think about it.”
Jack nods. “I’m still gonna shag her.”
“Oh, for-…Jack!”
“What?!”
The blue suited Doctor rolls his eyes yet again. “He already said that. If you’d been paying attention…”
Jack huffs at the two Time Lords, and turns to the one on the jump seat in the blue suit. “Do you want a job?”
The Doctor quirks an eyebrow. “What kind of job?”
“The kind where you work and get paid, genius,” Jack snaps.
“What kind?”
Jack sighs. “Scientific adviser. Or I could just pay you to be my toy. It’s up to you.”
The two Doctors look at each other, the brown-suited one looking blank.
The Doctor in blue nods. “I’ll take scientific advisor…mind you…you’re still very fit, Captain…”
The other Doctor cringes. “That’s more of Donna bleeding through.”
Jack laughs. “Then it’s a good thing I got her waitin’ for me in my old room. I’ll be in my bunk.” He winks, before leaving.
The Brown-suited Doctor eyes his clone. “You be on your best behavior for Jack. I mean it. No funny stuff.”
The blue-suited Doctor merely rolls his eyes again.
A voice clears and both of them turn to find Rose standing in the doorway. Both Doctors stand straight up, looking at her.
She looks from one to the other, and takes a step back. “Right. Two of you.”
“Hello,” the blue-suited Doctor says with a grin and a wave.
The brown-suited Doctor just gives a grimace and a nod.
Rose turns to the one in the blue suit. “You know, Martha and mum just popped in a film. Why don’t you go watch?”
He stares at her; her smile is too tight to be genuine. “Oh! I love films!” the Doctor says, smiling knowingly. He runs off without a look back.
Rose sighs softly, relieved. She sits on the jump seat and watches the Doctor - her Doctor - get back to work at the console. “So. Nineteen hours.”
“Yep. Nineteen.”
“You’re gonna spend here, aren’t you.”
He doesn’t look up at her or reply.
“We could go swimming,” she offers. “Go walk in the gardens…go watch that film with Mum and Martha and the other you.”
She still doesn’t get a reply.
“Right,” Rose snaps. “You don’t want to get attached, because you’re shoving me off again.”
He looks up at her.
“That’s what’s going to happen, yeah?” Rose asks.
“I never said that.”
“Didn’t have to.”
“Rose.”
She sighs and closes her eyes. “I’m such an idiot. For a second I thought maybe-“
“Rose!”
She looks up at him, and his eyes are full of the sadness she remembers so well from Bad Wolf Bay. Rose looks down at her shoes and curls her fingers around the edges of the jump seat.
The Doctor sighs and kneels down in front of her, trying to catch her eyes. “Please understand. There’s so little I can give you.”
She meets his eyes quickly. “That’s not true.”
He shakes his head. “The other me…he’s…he’s got a human body and a Time Lord brain. One heart. One heart, one life, Rose. Do you know what that means?”
“I know he’s not you,” Rose replies.
“Yes, he is,” the Doctor insists. “He is me. He’s just…human. More human than I could ever hope to be. He can give you so much.”
She shakes her head. “You wanna foist him off on me?”
“What?! Foist? I’m not foisting,” the Doctor says. “He’s still me.”
“No! You’re you!” she cries, getting to her feet.
He looks up at her, still kneeling. “Rose. I’m never going to be enough for you.”
“And that’s yours to decide is it?!” she asks, obviously getting angry. “When’s it gonna be my turn?!”
The Doctor gets to his feet, looking confused.
“The Game Station, Canary Wharf; now this.” She shakes her head. “When are you gonna get it through your thick skull?”
He swallows.
Rose takes the few steps to stand just in front of him. The tips of her bare, freshly painted toes are touching his shoes. Both her hands take his; warm and squeezing, but not enough to hurt; never enough to hurt.
“I’m never gonna leave you.”
The Doctor gazes at her, eyes wide and conflicted. He knows he should argue more; make her understand. It's for the best. She'd be happy; she would.
But he's so tired. And Rose Tyler is right in front of him. And she's still his Rose in every single way.
"And if you think," she continues. "If you think for one second that you can-"
Rose doesn't get a chance to finish due to the Doctor's lips touching hers quickly. He pulls away as if he's been burned, and while his eyes are still wide, hers have drifted shut.
He kisses her again before she can open them, and it's frenzied and desperate and everything he remembers it being from that very first time after Klop'Tor and the beast in the pit, and his hands are wrapping around her, pulling her closer, and he's stumbling forward.
*****
Mickey stops mid-sentence as he hears a crash from the corridor and pokes his head out of the library to look.
Sarah-Jane quirks an eyebrow. "What was that?"
"The Doctor and Rose snogging each other's brains out," Mickey replies. "They knocked into some sort of machinery. I think they're tryin'a find a bedroom."
"Ah."
Mickey nods. "What was I saying?"
*****
"Blimey."
Jack chuckles and stretches out; naked as the day he was born. "That good, huh?"
Donna lets out a giggle and holds a bed sheet close to her chest.
"You're cute," Jack comments, still grinning as he gazes at her.
"Oh, stop."
"No, you are," he tells her. "How's the head?"
She grins. "I think I am finally rid of the skinny Martian."
Jack laughs. "He's not from Mars."
"I know," Donna says. "But he gets all in a strop when I call him that. It's funny."
He grins.
"You work for Torchwood, yeah?"
"I run Torchwood," Jack replies, looking thoughtful. "How the hell that happened is as much a mystery to me as everybody else."
"You're not good at it?"
"The job kinda landed on me," he admits. "And I lost two of my team not too long ago..."
"Oh," Donna says, taking his hand. "I'm so sorry."
He gives her a sad little grin. "They knew the risks, and they went out trying to help people."
"Doesn't mean you don't blame yourself," she points out.
Jack blows out a breath, and then glances at her.
"What?"
He smiles.
Donna laughs and kicks him playfully. "What?"
"I offered the Doctor- well, one of them. The uh...the one that grew from the hand. I offered him a job at Torchwood."
Donna smiles. "That's brilliant! The last thing the universe needs is two of him in the same place."
Jack smiles. "I'm gonna need some help keeping him in line, though."
"Probably," Donna says. "He's a handful at the best of times."
Jack keeps smiling.
"What?"
"Come work for me. Help me keep an eye on him."
"What?!"
He gives her a confused look. "What?"
"I'm just a temp!" Donna cries, looking confused. "I've got no experience!"
"Are you kidding?! Donna you saved the universe!"
"Yeah, with bits of the Doctor's brain," she snorts. "That's all gone now."
Jack leans over, taking her hand tightly. "The Doctor only takes the best to travel with him. Look at the people you've met today. Rose used to work retail and now she spends her time defending a parallel universe. Sarah-Jane was a reporter when the Doctor met her. Now she splits her time defending the Earth and raising a son. Martha was a med student. Now she's a prominent member of UNIT."
"What about you?"
He shrugs. "I was a conman."
Donna snorts again, louder this time.
"I was. I cheated people out of money. Now I defend the Earth."
She nods. "What would I be doing?"
"You'd be a full team member," Jack says. "You'd go on missions and monitor Cardiff's rift in time and space, along with the extra duty of helping me keep the Doctor in line."
"What about this Doctor?" Donna asks worriedly.
Something crashes outside of their closed door and Jack smirks.
"Do you know what that was, Donna Noble?"
"What?"
"That was the intricate sound of the Doctor - the original one you'd be leaving behind - and Rose Tyler trying to find a bedroom."
She bursts into incredulous laughter. "No! How do you know?!"
He holds up a finger to silence her as muffled voices speak from behind the door.
"It's this way," the Doctor says.
"No, it's this way," Rose replies.
"I think I know my own ship."
"Oh come off it and let's go this way."
"Fine. Hold on, why aren't we kissing anymore?"
"Good question."
Donna flops back on the bed and puts a pillow over her face to silence her laughter.
Jack sits back, looking smug.
*****
"Seventeen hours," Rose says quietly, her head pillowed against the Doctor's chest.
He rumbles out a thoughtful "Hmmm," and looks down at her softly. "Took us a bit to actually find one of our rooms."
"I'm certain we gave at least Mickey a good laugh, running into all the stuff you've got piled up in the corridors," Rose grins.
The Doctor shrugs. "Few centuries, things start to pile up, I suppose."
Her arm wraps around him. "I could sleep for a week."
"Well, you've got seventeen hours."
She sits up abruptly. "You're still kicking me off?!"
"What?!" the Doctor sits up as well. "No. I meant...your mum and Mickey are going to be going back to the other universe, and Jack's gonna be taking the other me back to Torchwood with him...Martha's got a fiance to go home to, and Sarah-Jane's got her son...you'll want to say goodbye."
Rose visibly relaxes. "Oh..."
He sighs and stares at the ceiling. "Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could let you go," he admits. "I can barely remember half the arguments I had worked up for making you leave."
"I've shagged 'em out of you," she smirks.
"Smug," he accuses.
"Maybe just a little."
He gives her a wary look. "You sure you want this? I've changed, Rose. I'm not the same as I was."
"And you think I am?" she says with a quirked eyebrow. "Listen. I know this isn't gonna be easy. I know we're not gonna be skipping through daisies or-"
"We'd better not be," the Doctor says. "I'm allergic."
Rose laughs a little and swats at him, prompting a grin.