Fic: Inseparable Chapter 4

[mrssjw]

Chapter Setting: The TARDIS; Cardiff, Wales, Earth;  Late April, 2010.

The Doctor was standing at the controls, putting the parking brake on, so to speak, when the door burst open. He turned to look at his intruder.

“What are you doing here?” He asked casually and Martha Jones smiled up at him.

“We got your message and I couldn’t wait for him, so I decided to pop in on my own.”

“I didn’t expect to see you. What are you doing in Cardiff?” She shrugged.

“I’ve been helping Jack with some stuff. So what was that you wanted to show us?” The Doctor grinned like a fool.

“Oh, it’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant! In fact, it might be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!”

Martha laughed at his enthusiasm.
“Well come on then, don’t I get a hug?” She laughed again when he gathered her close for a good squeeze. Just like old times, the thought crossed Martha’s conscious. Then, out of the blue, another voice rang out. An unfamiliar female voice.
“Doctor, am I going to need my heavy coat? What do you think? Doctor?"

Martha looked over the Doctor's shoulder to see a blond woman stopped short and staring at them. The Doctor let go of Martha and she felt a sudden sense of disappointment. He turned to face the blond and mentioned something about the temperature that neither woman gave any indication of hearing. Looking decidedly awkward, he began to rattle on about atmospheric fluctuations and weather patterns, but the blond interrupted him.

“Right, sorry, who are you?”

Martha was irritated. She should have known better than to think the Doctor would be traveling alone; But did she have to be so pretty and blonde? Then to add insult to injury, this girl didn’t even bother with a polite introduction. Oh no, she just starts to rudely question while standing there like she owned the place. Her irritation level rose, and Martha couldn’t stop herself from saying,

“I might as well be asking you the same thing!”

“I’m Rose Tyler. Doesn’t answer who you are.” Martha froze as she felt her world tip on its axis. There was something definitely not good about this situation, starting with the fact that this person could not be the Real Rose Tyler.

Martha had heard enough about her from the Doctor and Jack to know that the Real Rose Tyler had been trapped in a parallel world and that traveling between them was supposed to be impossible. So how could she be here now?

Rose was beginning to get pissed off. She normally did when her questions got ignored or went unanswered by anyone but the Doctor. It used to upset her when he did it too, but she’d quickly come to realize that that was just how he was. This woman did not have the same excuse. And she was staring at Rose like she had three heads or something.

“Don’t just stand there gawking.” This woman, whoever she was, was really getting on her nerves. “Go on then, who the hell are you?”

“I’m Martha,” the other woman squeaked out, before clearing her throat and trying again, “Dr. Martha Jones. I used to travel with the Doctor.”

He broke in with a smile.

“That’s brilliant. Now there’s two Doctors on board. Ha hah, isn’t that brilliant, Rose?” He looked to see her staring quizzically at him. “What?”
“This is like Sarah Jane all over again, that’s all.” Then she forced herself to smile and gestured at a very confused looking Martha.
“So tell me, which one was she? It couldn’t have been too many faces ago. After all, she’s certainly younger looking than Sarah Jane. Unless you, I don’t know, dropped her off sometime in the future or something.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Martha crossed her arms and stared hard at Rose. She wasn’t making any sense at all. Her very existence wasn’t making sense. She looked to the Doctor. He was watching the blonde warily, and rubbing the back of his neck, the way he does when he knows what he’s about to say is going to upset someone.

“This one,” he said, in response to Rose’s question, not Martha’s. Rose looked taken aback for a second, then turned to look over Martha thoroughly. Martha glared back at her.

“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on around here?” she demanded. The Doctor frowned, and turned away to fiddle with the knobs and switches. Anything to get out of the forthcoming confrontation. Rose smirked at her.

“What did you say your name was again?”

“Martha,” Martha snapped, fully aware of the mocking glint in Rose’s gaze, “Dr. Martha Jones.”

“Yeah, right, Martha. You see, you and me, we’re not the only ones the Doctor has traveled with.”

“I know that!” Martha’s nerves were fraying, and she took a deep breath to try to calm down, before continuing, “After all, we had Jack with us last time.”

Rose looked confused for a moment, and it gave Martha a sharp stab of pleasure to know that this blonde hadn’t been expecting that. Rose looked over at the Doctor for clarification. He was staring intently at the monitor, trying very, very hard to ignore the two women on his ship. Perhaps he thought that if he ignored the situation, it would simply disappear. Rose, seeing she wasn’t about to get a straight answer from him, turned back to Martha.

“Jack? How do you know Jack?” Martha opened her mouth to explain that she knew a lot more than Rose thought, but was interrupted by a hasty knock on the TARDIS door, followed by it being flung open by the man in question himself. Captain Jack Harkness was breathing heavily, as if he’d just run halfway across the city. The Doctor, grateful for the distraction, looked up, his beaming smile back in place.

“Jack! Welcome aboard.” He moved down the grated ramp quickly to be embraced by the Captain, who was grinning despite being out of breath.

“Doctor, it’s great to see you again! And under such cheery conditions.”

“How have you been keeping yourself?”

“Oh, can’t really complain. Busy, always on the move, but you know how that is.”

Martha cleared her throat pointedly, and Jack turned to smile at her.

“Martha, why doesn’t it surprise me that you beat me here?”

“I was nearby,” she told him smugly, and he chuckled.

“I’m sure.”

The Doctor bounced up and down on the balls of his feet excitedly.

“Speaking of surprises Jack… Do you recall a strange blip you that would have registered on the transcendental radar? It would have been… oh about a day and a half ago?” Jack’s eyebrows rose at this.

“That was more than a ‘blip’, Doctor. The readings showed some massive amounts of energy harnessed in that so-called ‘blip’. There was enough power there to tear a hole in the Time and Space Continuum. A big enough hole for me to fit a decent sized ship through! Did you have something to do with that? It wasn’t even centered over Cardiff, and we felt the effects of it.”

The Doctor smiled, and shook his head.

“It was in London, and no, it was not my doing.”

“Then what would need enough power that it could open a gap in the fabric of our reality?”

“Ah, but Jack… it did tear a hole in our reality. That’s why it was so controlled, it was a very precise hole, which opened up at a specific point in London.” He bounced again, hands in pockets, as if waiting for Jack to catch up with him.

“But if the tear was intentional, what caused it?” Jack asked, frowning now as the Doctor’s smile widened even further.

“You mean…” the Doctor paused for effect, “Who?”

“Who?” Jack’s expression betrayed his utter confusion, and he felt as if he was missing the punch line to a very obvious joke. It wasn’t a feeling he enjoyed.

He turned to see what Martha was making of the Doctor’s strange behavior, when a flash of yellow caught his attention. He froze.

There, standing in the glow of the console lights, was the last person Jack had ever expected to see again, and suddenly the hole in the fabric of Time and Space made sense. It was all coming together in his brain, and unconsciously, he took a step in the direction of the console. He stopped, not sure if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing and shot the Doctor a look. The Doctor merely raised his eyebrows and tipped his head in the direction of the blonde. Not needing any further confirmation, Jack’s face broke into the biggest smile yet, and he raced up the ramp to swing Rose up into his arms.

“Oh sweetheart! You have no idea how good it is to see you again!” Jack laughed out loud as a surge of overwhelming joy filled him. Rose laughed as well, and returned his fierce hug with one of her own.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes yourself there, Captain!” He pulled back to look her over again, as if he almost couldn’t believe it was true. Grinning wide enough to put the Doctor to shame, Rose pressed an impulsive kiss to his lips and hugged him tightly once again.

“Oh goodness Jack! I’ve missed you so much. I never thought I would see you ever again.” He held her firmly against him, feeling her shudder and sigh at the familiarity of their embrace. He’d missed her too, more than she could know. There’d been a long time that he thought she was dead, and while he’d grieved for her, he never thought his heart would recover. Now he could feel it pounding full force in his chest, and he was aware of the fact that she was whispering to him.

“I thought you were dead. I never knew you survived Satellite Five, until the Doctor asked if I wanted to come and visit you. God, how I cried after that day. ”

“We all did our fair share of crying, love. After I heard about Canary Wharf, I couldn’t sleep for days without thinking of you.”

“But I didn’t die at Canary Wharf, I got pulled through to an alternate universe.” She reassured him, still in that same hushed tone. He smiled and buried his face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her, a scent he’d never forgotten, no matter what else had been happening.

“And I didn’t die at Satellite Five,” he told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. When they came apart again, tears were streaming down Rose’s cheeks and standing brightly in Jack’s eyes.

“You look gorgeous,” they said simultaneously, then laughed and hugged one another again.

Martha watched it all through narrowed eyes. There was a gnawing in the pit of her stomach that she distantly recognized as jealousy. And even though there were four of them, she was feeling distinctly like a third wheel. She bit her lip as the Doctor joined in Jack and Rose’s exuberance. They made such a happy trio. Martha grimaced.

A trio is three, she thought not four. Turning, she walked down the ramp and out of the TARDIS. Nobody made any attempt to stop her. All her earlier happiness at seeing the Doctor again had diminished, and everything seemed colder now. She strolled away from the blue box, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. Staring at the water tower, it was a minute before she realized that she had company.

“I just don’t get it, Jack. I thought she was stuck for good. How can she be here now?” Jack put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Rose promised to explain it all to me. But you have to keep in mind how many times the Doctor has been ‘stuck’ somewhere too. It might seem a little hopeless at first, but he always finds a way out in the end.”

“But she’s not the Doctor,” Martha spat out, not even aware that Rose had made a similar comparison to Martha earlier, “She’s human, not a Time Lord.” Jack heard the jealousy in her voice, and squeezed her shoulder lightly, as a faint smile tugged at his lips.

“Rose was never just a human though,” He explained, and Martha rolled her eyes. Jack felt the smile blossom on his face fully, but tried hard to keep it from showing in his voice. “She always seemed a bit like a Time Lord in that sense. Always looking ahead, searching for the ‘why’s and ‘how come’s of the universe. Wanting to know what lie just around that next corner, or in that time period, or on the farthest planet from any other they’d already traveled to. And she never gave up. Rose refused to sit quietly by, or quit and go home. Even when she was forced into a situation, she always managed to turn it to her best advantage. My greatest surprise was not that she found a way back, but that it took her so long.”

“I had to wait for everything to line up just right.” The sound of Rose’s voice drew them around. She and the Doctor had joined them, walking hand in hand.

“What do you mean, line up right?” Martha asked Rose, trying to ignore the obvious truth in front of her. Rose sighed heavily, leaning into the Doctor for a second before straightening and meeting Martha’s eye.

“It’s like Jack said. I had to harness a big enough power source. It was difficult because everything we had on Earth… or Pete’s World…” she glanced up at the man next to her. He smiled briefly in response, but went back to solemnly studying his trainers again, so she continued with her explanation.

“Everything we had would start the process, but wouldn’t last more than thirty-three seconds. We figured out that it would take at least a solid two minutes in order for the ship to reach the correct velocity, and nothing we had was strong enough to open the gap safely, for just long enough to slip one tiny vessel through it.”

“When you say ‘we’ what do you mean?” Martha asked suspiciously. Rose gave her a tiny smile, the first time she had ever done so to Martha directly. Martha tried to ignore the little voice inside her that said she had better cut her losses while she still had some dignity. Rose really was a nice person, and it was making it rather difficult for Martha to dislike her. When Martha had been traveling with the Doctor, Rose had always been a specter between them, but she had never been a real person. It was much easier, Martha was quickly coming to find out, to hate someone who wasn’t real.

“Well, I couldn’t do it on my own, now could I?” Rose said sincerely, “I had a wonderful team of co-workers back at my world’s version of Torchwood. Although they never did seem to share my idea of an adventure.” She laughed lightly, and smiled up at the Doctor. He caught her gaze beneath lowered brows, and a ghost of a smile flitted across his face.

“What I don’t quite understand,” Jack interrupted, “Is, if you ran into all the problems finding a power source, what did you eventually use to get here?” The Doctor’s head snapped up. He suppressed a grin, and raised an eyebrow at Rose. This was his favorite part. It proved how truly brilliant his Rose was. He gave her hand a quick squeeze and she returned the gesture. She met Jack’s gaze head on, and said simply,

“Black hole.”

The Doctor watched Jack closely, as his clever mind began to fill in the pieces of the puzzle. He didn’t have to wait long. Jack had always been quick to catch on.

“Oh that’s brilliant!” Jack blurted out, beaming at Rose with pride. “That’s my girl!” He lifted her up and swirled her around, before allowing her to settle back against the Doctor with a laugh.

What is so brilliant about a black hole?” Martha asked, and Rose had to suppress an aggravated sigh.

She really wasn’t the quickest rabbit in the field, and Rose was almost disappointed in the Doctor’s choice of traveling companions. She’d always thought he had more respect for the human mind, preferring those who could keep up, as opposed to the stupid apes he so often accused humans of being. Luckily, Jack must have sensed Rose’s thoughts, because he answered quickly, still looking like a proud father.

“A black hole is a dying star, but it has an immense amount of energy. With the right kind of technology, alien tech, that is, you can transfer a small amount of that energy at a time to a more usable variety. It takes a lot of work, and I’ve never known a human who managed it before, but a small amount of the ever-consuming black hole energy could fuel this whole city for a week. It’s incredibly difficult to manage though. Too much and you run the risk of blowing up your base, at the very least. Too little and it’s not worth the work it takes to harness the energy to begin with. However, with the correct setup of gadgetry, and a certain amount of luck, you can literally blast a whole in the atmosphere of a planet.” He paused to look at Rose, as if confirming his next idea.

“I assume it would work much the same way if someone was trying to tear a hole in the Time Space Continuum.”

Rose nodded, then added,

“Except that you then run the risk of the hole not closing properly behind you, leaving a great massive hole in the atmosphere of whatever planet you were leaving. We had special storage areas designed to store the excess power we would need to close the gap behind me, and there was the matter of getting the funding for a ship that would never return.”

“Who paid for it, then?” Martha asked, intrigued in spite of herself. Sadness crept into Rose’s smile.

“My dad did. It was his last birthday gift to me. He did want to get me something I would like and use.”

“How old are you?” Martha wanted to know. Rose gave her a shrewd look, knowing there was more to the question than was apparent.

“I’ll be twenty-four next month.” Sensing an argument beginning to boil, the Doctor broke in and asked Jack excitedly,

“Isn’t that the most brilliant thing you’ve ever heard?” He turned to include Martha, but she was more interested in sulking apparently.

The Doctor wasn’t happy to see Rose and Martha disagreeing so readily, but he was much too excited that he averted another crisis, that he lifted Rose up and spun her around, as Jack had done earlier. She laughed and grabbed at his shoulders to keep from falling.

“Beautiful and brilliant!” He exclaimed, dancing her away from the other two across the pavement. He settled her gently against him, still swaying with her in his arms, moving them to some unheard music above them.

“Do you remember the first time we danced together, Rose?” He asked her brightly, and she nodded.

“That was the night we met Jack.” She giggled when he raised an eyebrow at her.

“I was trying to resonate concrete, and you accused me of having Captain envy.” He frowned at her menacingly, which only made her giggle more.

He looked so much like his former self just then, that it made something hitch in Rose’s throat. How she had missed her Doctor. Standing against that huge white wall had been bad enough, but to be left again on that beach in Norway… it had nearly killed her. Not that she would ever tell him that. He may be her best friend, and the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but she didn’t need to tell him everything. Besides, it would only cause him pain to know how lost she had been.

Reaching up, Rose tugged the Doctor down to her and kissed him.

She couldn’t help herself, and in the back of her mind, she realized that she needed the physical reminder that she was with him. She tried to put her whole being into the kiss, blocking out all the errant thoughts of sadness and misery, and concentrating solely on this moment in time. She was startled slightly by the intensity of his response. His hands slid up to settle on her waist, and when he dragged her closer to him, their three combined hearts beat out a rapid tattoo. This was what she needed, and so, it would seem, did he.
About ten feet away from them, Jack and Martha stood staring.

Martha, because obviously she was a glutton for punishment after all.

Jack, because he had never seen the Doctor and Rose together like that before. Yes, he had been witness to quite a few warm embraces, and he personally had kissed both of them. Then there’d been that time he’d snuck up on Rose as she was going from the bathroom to her bedroom after a shower, and caught them both unaware when she’d dropped her towel in fright. They had both agreed at that time to not mention it to the Doctor, because Jack knew that Rose was embarrassed, and that the Doctor probably wouldn’t have seen as much humour in the situation as Jack had.

He’d seen them angry, sad, elated and silly. They had seen each other in just about every situation, but to see Rose and the Doctor like this… it was certainly a first, but not much of a surprise. Jack wasn’t sure what might have transpired between the Doctor and Rose after Satellite Five, and the regeneration, but he was aware that they loved one another more than they realized. Fascinated, Jack strolled closer to the couple, tucking his hands into his pockets. As he neared them, a petite brunette ran past him. Recognizing her instantly, he pulled his hands free and took off after her.
“What is it, Gwen, what’s the matter?”

The brunette glanced around and seemed a bit surprised to see him keeping pace as they ran down the street.

“I thought you went out tonight.” She said breathlessly. He smiled.

“I am out. What are we chasing?”

“I don’t know. We got some funny readings, but they’re all hazy. It’s like the Rift spread out like roots on a plant.” She raced down the street, then made a sharp right. “There’s all these little glowing lines, but they stop and seem to flare at certain spots. Then they disappear.” Jack slowed slightly, disbelieving.

“We’re running after a spot on radar?”

“Tosh, what does it look like?” Gwen’s question prompted Jack to make up the distance between them. When he didn’t hear Tosh’s reply, he lifted a hand to check on his comm.

He was supposed to be off duty though, so it would be sitting in the top drawer of his desk. Next to his gun. Jack cursed silently at his own stupidity. He had been prepared for a night of civilian activity with the Doctor. He was showered, shaved and brushed, but he was completely unequipped for this situation.

Gwen was running down the sidewalk, and Jack was only a pace behind her, coat flapping behind him as they neared a busy intersection. She stopped quite suddenly and he nearly crashed in to her back at her abrupt halt. Over her shoulder, Gwen whispered,

“Do you see it?” Moving her head slightly to the right, she directed his attention to a man standing on the street corner. He looked across the street in one direction, then turned to look across the other.

“What’s he doing?” Jack asked in a hushed tone. Gwen kept her eyes firmly fixed on the man, but turned her head in Jack’s direction. When her lips brushed against his cheek, she realized just how closely they were standing together and edged away slightly.

“We can’t figure it out. But they’ve been popping up all over Cardiff. And they all just stand there, as if they can’t remember which way they’re supposed to be going.”

As they watched, the man shifted from one foot to another, stepped forward, then back again, as if he was fraught with indecision. Then, in a blink, he was gone. Jack was startled. He’d never seen anything like it, and that was really saying something, because he had seen a lot of things in his time. Gwen, however, didn’t seem to be bothered, and began making her way back toward the Hub.

“Hey, what happened just now?” He called after her, but she never stopped. She was speaking to Tosh over her Comm, and Jack had to jog to catch up with her. He waited for her to finish her report, then asked her again.

“Gwen, where did he go?”

“We’re just running a battery of tests and scans on the other areas they’ve been spotted. We just wanted to be sure that they were all following the same patterns. Jack,” Gwen stopped and turned to face him.

“You’re supposed to be taking the night off. Aside from the one night you and Ianto went out, you’ve been going non-stop.” Jack opened his mouth to say something, had second thoughts, then closed his mouth and motioned for her to continue. Gwen sighed.

“I know that you probably feel like you have to make up for the time that you were gone, but you haven’t smiled so much since you got that message this morning. I mean, Ianto heard you singing over breakfast!”

“What are you saying Gwen?” He asked suspiciously.

“You’ve been so cheerful all day, and I know it has something to do with the phone call you received. You didn’t tell us where you were going tonight, but I- we were all so happy just to see you leaving the Hub for something other than a mission.” She smiled and laid a hand on the Captain’s sleeve. “Go back and enjoy yourself. There will be plenty of time to work in the morning.”

Grinning down at her, Jack kissed her cheek, and took her hand, pulling her down the street.

“Come with me.”

“Jack, what are you doing? I’ve got to get back to the Hub.”

“Like you said, plenty of time to work in the morning, but right now there’s someone I want you to meet.”

Unsure what he was up to, Gwen allowed herself to be dragged along the sidewalk, back towards the Hub. As she and Jack neared the water tower, they found Martha and a strange man conversing quietly. The man was attractive; tall and slim, with a head full of dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. In a fitted blue suit, with a rather interestingly patterned tie, he could have been a businessman, with the exception of the bright red trainers he wore. They sort of destroyed the formal office look, but somehow seemed to fit him. As they approached Martha, she broke off with a smile.

“Where’d you run off to, Jack? We were getting worried.” Jack just shrugged and smiled broadly, giving her a rather noncommittal response.

“Jack’s a big boy, he can take care of himself.” Gwen pointed out, perhaps a little sharper than she had intended. Ever since Martha had shown up, she’d been acting like Torchwood couldn’t handle itself. Apparently UNIT was much better at taking care of its officers, Gwen thought unkindly. She immediately felt bad for taking out her frustration with the evening on Martha, even if the other woman did make herself a rather easy target. The man had raised an eyebrow at her tone, but covered it quickly with an affable grin.

“Quite right, you are! Hullo, I’m the Doctor.” Stepping forward slightly, he offered Gwen his hand. Jack took his cue.

“Doctor, this is Gwen Cooper. She’s my amazing co-pilot. She led the team while I was away, and kept everything from completely going to Hell.” Gwen blushed a little at Jack’s effusive praise. He was always quick to brag about his team, when the situation arose, but she wasn’t used to being singled out quite like this.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gwen Cooper. Busy night? I ask, of course, because you managed to distract Jack’s attention and keep it long enough for us to realize he’d gone missing.”

Puzzled by this strange man with his mystery relationship to Jack, Gwen was thrown off kilter. Jack had called him ‘Doctor’, which made her believe that this was “Jack’s Doctor”. The rest of the team had speculated about the phone call early this morning, but none of them had ever thought to ask Jack outright. If he’d wanted to tell them, he would have. Since he hadn’t, they figured they would have to find out on their own. Returning to the current conversation, Gwen gave the Doctor a small smile.

“We’ve just been doing some follow up work to a case we’ve got going right now.” She answered diplomatically, unsure of just how much Jack had shared with the Doctor about his work. Jack laughed, seeming to understand her reticence.

“Gwen, it’s all right. The Doctor here is one of the few people who has more alien knowledge than we do.”

“Well, I should hope so!” The Doctor exclaimed, and chuckled along with Martha and Jack at some shared joke. Gwen was feeling a bit out of her league with these three good friends, regardless of the fact that she knew two of them well enough by now.

“I should be getting back to work. I’ve got some things to finish up tonight.” Gwen raised a hand in a half-wave, and began to back away from the laughing group. Jack noticed and put out a hand to stop her, but she kept going.

She and Martha could get on well enough, but there was always an unspoken competitiveness between them, as if they were friendly rivals, and this Doctor… there was something about him that made Gwen’s instincts shiver. She stepped away slowly, then turned to run down to the visitor’s entrance of the Hub. Her progress was stopped by a petite blonde woman coming out of a large blue box. A rather familiar-looking blue box. Gwen’s eyes widened with recognition and a bit of fright.

“Are you all right?” the blonde asked, but Gwen couldn’t hear her through the ringing in her ears.

She’d seen this box before. Its image had been permanently burned into her mind. This box had taken Jack, and now Gwen knew without a doubt that “the Doctor” and “Jack’s Doctor” were one in the same. How Martha had come to know the Doctor as well was still a bit of a mystery, although the team had drawn its own conclusions based on the evidence.

Gwen focused on the blonde woman again when she put a hand on her shoulder, shaking lightly.

“Are you all right, Gwen?” This time the question came from Jack, near her ear. Eyes wide, Gwen turned to him.

“I’ve seen this, Jack.” She whispered, all the fear of losing him returning in a crashing wave.

They couldn’t let him leave again, not after the last time. Ianto would be broken-hearted, and Gwen… she wasn’t sure she had entirely recovered from the first time. How would she ever get through a second disappearance?

“I’ve seen this box before.” Gwen could feel the tears build behind her eyes, and rapidly blinked them away. The Doctor and Martha had drawn near at some point, and Gwen could tell they were standing behind her. Jack looked over the top of her head, at the Doctor, she assumed, and raised his eyebrows in question. Facing away from the rest of them, Gwen didn’t see the nod in response, but could see the positive answer reflected in Jack’s expression as he looked back down at her.

“TARDIS,” Jack said quietly.

“What?” Gwen wasn’t sure if he was calling her a name, or making up words to explain something she didn’t understand fully. He put a calming hand on Gwen’s arm.

“Not box. It’s called a TARDIS.”

“Okay,” she replied unconvincingly. Jack smiled slightly and gave her arm a gentle squeeze.

“Gwen, sweetheart, it’s all right. It’s a space ship. The Doctor’s ship, to be precise.” This made more sense to Gwen’s befuddled brain, but she still didn’t want to lose Jack again. She twirled around to see the blonde woman and the Doctor in the midst of an almost silent conversation. When he noticed her watching them, the Doctor bit off whatever retort he’d been about to make to his companion and gave Gwen a friendly smile.

“This ship… this-” she paused, searching for the word Jack had used.

“TARDIS,” The blonde supplied helpfully. Martha gave a tiny snort of laughter, and received a glare from the blonde. Gwen ignored her, choosing instead to keep what little bit of her wits were left the primary focus.

“Thank you. This TARDIS is yours?” She asked the Doctor, and he placed an affectionate hand on the blue panel nearest him.

“Yep.” Gwen frowned in thought for a moment, trying to keep her emotions in check long enough to confirm her worst suspicions. It was harder than she thought.

“And does your… TARDIS… sort of… fade at times?”

“Yep,” he repeated, his ‘p’ popping a little at the end, and his grin fully instated.

“Then you’re the one who took Jack!” She bit out furiously. All her fear of that day when she’d realized that Jack was gone flooded her, and all the anger that he’d left them returned with an alacrity that made the Doctor’s smile fall completely.

“Now Gwen,” Jack began at the same moment that Martha began protesting, and the Doctor stated, “He took himself off!” Gwen’s mind couldn’t hold back anymore, and she knew that there were tears streaming down her face. A sob broke free from her lips, and a comforting arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer to a warm body. Expecting it to be Jack, Gwen was startled to realize that the blonde was the one who hugged her.

“All of you, stop it.” The blonde woman commanded, and the other three fell silent, “Can’t you see she’s upset by all this?” In a softer voice, she introduced herself. “I’m Rose Tyler, by the way. It’s Gwen, right?” Gwen nodded, feeling very young and small all of a sudden. Jack had a picture of a pretty blonde on his nightstand. Ianto had told her about it, and it gave Gwen a tiny shock to realize that this might be the woman in that picture. She’d have to ask Ianto to find out for sure.

“Come on then, Gwen, let’s get you inside and get you a cuppa tea. Once you’ve calmed down a bit, then you can tell me what happened.” Rose pulled her forward, shooting a look at the rest of them over her shoulder. Gwen couldn’t tell where they were headed, but instinctively trusted Rose’s lead. Blinking against the sudden brightness, Gwen figured they must have stepped aboard the Doctor’s TARDIS. Looking around in amazement distracted her from her fear for a few moments, and she was seated on a bench next to Rose before she realized she’d even moved beyond the threshold. She turned to stare at the woman next to her, who took her hand in a reassuring gesture.

“It’s so… so… it’s…” Gwen was at a loss for words to describe the ship’s interior.

“Bigger on the inside.” The chorus came, finishing her sentence for her. They all smiled at her, as if letting her in on a private joke. The Doctor leaned against the center console and crossed his arms. Rose gave him a long look, then turned to the woman standing next to him.

“Martha, assuming you know how to find the kitchen,” Rose said, “Do you think you could manage a cup of tea for my new friend?” Her tone was sweet, leaving her words deceptive in character. When Martha began to argue, however, she brought out the steel. “Just go.”

Blind to the absolute insensitivity of it, Martha muttered to the Doctor as she walked past him on her way to the TARDIS kitchen,

“Can’t imagine why you let this one go.” A stern look she never saw followed her out of the room. As soon as Martha was out of hearing range, Rose turned to Gwen.

“Now, you said the Doctor ‘took’ Jack. What do you mean?”

Gwen took a deep breath and began the tale. As she explained about how Jack had been there one moment, and then gone the next, Rose nodded. When Gwen informed her about the CCTV footage, and how they had seen Jack disappear attached to the side of the fading blue box, Rose patted her hand. But when Gwen looked over at Jack with tears standing in her eyes, and told Rose how lost she had felt and the entire team in an uproar about the missing Captain they had just gotten back, Rose hugged her tightly.

Startled a little by the movement, it took Gwen a second to respond. It felt so wonderful to have someone hug her like that. Like a sister who understood your problems and was there for you to cry on her shoulder. Gwen hadn’t felt anything like that in years, not since she’d grown out of her teen years and away from her mum’s house.

“We can’t lose him again, Rose.” She whispered brokenly, “Please don’t let him leave us again.”

As they sat back again, Gwen looked in to Rose’s eyes, and saw all the same emotions that Gwen herself was feeling. That pain and loss, the sadness and overwhelming fear that you would never see them again. Rose had experienced the same feelings, and Gwen could understand why she had instinctively trusted Rose. Rose knew… Rose understood… They were kindred spirits in that sort of devastation.

Rose blinked back tears of her own, knowing her expression gave her away entirely. But Gwen’s fears needed to be addressed, so Rose took a bracing gulp of air and turned to the two men for a proper explanation. Jack knelt beside Gwen and took hand in both of his.

“Gwen, hun, I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it at the time, and I know that’s no excuse for what I put you through, but know I never wanted to hurt you. I had been waiting whole lifetimes for the Doctor to show up again. I couldn’t let him go without at least trying to get some answers.”

“I would like to point out the fact,” broke in the Doctor, “That it may have seemed like I took him, but I never invited him to come along. It’s not my fault he was stupid enough to grab onto the side of the TARDIS while she was dematerializing.”

Jack shot him a quelling look.

“That’s not helping, Doctor.” But Gwen smiled at the Doctor’s indignant expression and Rose smiled in turn.

“There we go, that’s better.”

Martha came back to the console room, still muttering mutinously under her breath. Jack got to his feet and took the mug from her, handing it to Gwen carefully. He had a feeling that if he’d left Martha to her own devices, the tea would have ended up on Rose’s head, rather than in Gwen’s hand. He wasn’t sure what had gone on between the two of them, but it was clear that one could barely stand the other and vice versa. He’d have to remember to ask the Doctor at some point when they were not all together.

“Furthermore,” the Doctor continued, as if there had been no interruptions at all, “Jack will not be coming with me when I leave this time. Rose and I have some lost time to catch up on.” This seemed to relieve Gwen, please Rose, and irritate Martha all in one go. Jack found it highly amusing. The three of them were alike in some ways, yet each was so different and unique.

“Jack,” Gwen said cautiously, “Where did you go?” He gave her a dazzling smile.

“To the end of the Universe and back again.”

“Yeah, you said that, but… how?”

“My TARDIS is a beautiful piece of machinery, and by no means any old ordinary ship.” The Doctor explained, resting one hand lovingly against the console. Rose rolled her eyes, used to his zealous pride and flattery. A sharp ping sounded in her head, and Rose silently justified herself.

Well you know it’s true, I know it’s true, and he knows it’s true. He just can’t help bragging about you!

A soft humming noise, the sound of a happy TARDIS replaced and soothed the sting of the former sound. Rose smiled to herself and tuned back into the conversation going on around her. The Doctor was telling Gwen how Jack had clung to the side of the TARDIS, going a hundred trillion years into the future, to the day the Universe ended.

“Hang on,” Rose interrupted, “If you knew it was Jack, why didn’t you just stop somewhere and let him in?”

All eyes focused on the Doctor as he shifted uncomfortably against the console. He cleared his throat.

“Well, you know Jack… he’s… impossible.” Everyone laughed at this description, Rose no less than the others did. She could tell he was hiding something, and Rose thought she might know why. Glancing at Martha, Rose resolved to ask him in the morning. After all, Martha couldn’t possibly be staying the night in the TARDIS with her and the Doctor. The ship gave a rather disgruntled sounding tone at Rose’s thought.

Well, I’m glad you agree with me. It would have been a very long night otherwise!

Martha felt like she was watching a film, rather than participating in the interaction before her. Not that anyone seemed to mind, or even notice. She and Gwen had never been overly close, choosing to focus on work rather than becoming friends. Martha had always thought that was just how Gwen was, and since Martha was the ‘outsider’ at Torchwood, she had never wanted to push it.

Yet to see her sitting so calmly and cozy next to Rose, made her rethink her opinion. Rose… the very idea of the woman’s unexpected and unprecedented return to this world made the hairs on the back of Martha’s neck stand straight up. To have the audacity to think that she could just use time and space for her own intentions seemed hardly a good thing. And yet, ever since Martha had met her, it seemed as if the Doctor was proud of what Martha saw as Rose’s selfish and irresponsible behavior. Even Jack had been impressed.

At least Jack didn’t ignore her, even if his attention was currently all on Gwen. Not that the Doctor was ignoring her either, per se, but he was certainly paying more attention to Rose than anyone else in the room. Making up her mind, Martha checked her watch.

“Wow, look at the time. I’ve got to get going. If I leave now, I should be able to make it back to London before midnight. Tom’s working late tonight, but we should be getting home around the same time.”

“Who’s Tom?” The Doctor asked casually. With a purposeful smile in Rose’s general direction, Martha answered.

“My boyfriend, Dr. Thomas Mulligan. We’ve been going out for six months this Thursday.”

“Ah, good for you!” The Doctor enthused, “Mind you, I never could quite figure out what it is about you women and doctors.”

“Oh you know…” Rose smiled teasingly up at him, “Some of us just have a preference for men in brainy specs.”

When the Doctor blushed lightly and smiled bashfully back at Rose, Martha realized she’d just been set neatly in her place. Jack watched it all with the greatest level of amusement, and exchanged a knowing look with Gwen. It was clear there was a sense of rivalry between the Doctor’s former companions, although after that last little exchange, Jack would put his money on Rose coming out victorious. She wasn’t the type to back down from a challenge, and Martha set herself up to fall every time.

Gwen looked on as Martha hugged Jack and the Doctor, and waved at her. Her obvious disdain for Rose made Gwen frown at the slight, but Rose didn’t seem to be bothered. In fact, as soon as Martha was out of the doors, she looked downright cheerful.

“It’s a shame she gets so jealous,” Gwen said quietly to Rose, “Otherwise I could really like her at times.” Confused, Rose asked her what she meant. “She’s got a clever mind, and she’s great at remembering detail. Maybe not the best in a leadership position, but wonderful at following directions without a fuss.”

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Jack, asking,

“What do you think, Gwen?” While she and Rose had been muttering to one another, the Doctor had expressed an interest in seeing the base of Torchwood Three.

“Torchwood?” Rose asked curiously, and Jack braced himself for the worst.

When he had told the Doctor that he now worked for Torchwood, the Time Lord had blown up in anger. Jack hadn’t taken it too personally, because he had understood the rage of loss. But if it were all the same, he’d rather not have a scene like that with Rose, and especially not in front of Gwen.

“Torchwood? You work for Torchwood?” Rose asked again, looking back and forth between Jack and Gwen.

“How do you know about Torchwood?” Gwen wanted to know. With a look at the Doctor, Rose bit her lip. The implications of the honest answer would bring up Canary Wharf, a topic that she and the Doctor had thus far successfully avoided. But Gwen was still watching her with an expectant look, so Rose forced a smile and gave her a less difficult answer.

“I used to work for Torchwood. I didn’t realize that you did as well.”

“Did you want to come and see the Hub, Rose?” The Doctor quickly interjected. At her accepting nod, he watched her a moment longer. She met his gaze equally, not looking away until he finally nodded and held out his hand for her. Hopping to her feet and grabbing his hand, Rose gave him a quick kiss.

“Now this is like old times. An adventure!”

Jack chuckled at Rose’s enthusiasm, as he and Gwen followed the couple out.

“I hardly think taking a tour of our base constitutes an adventure.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Jack. It was the first time I did. At least they don’t have to wander around for three hours then blunder in with pizza.” Gwen quipped, and she and Jack shared a laugh over the memory.

The Doctor looked down at Rose out of the corner of his eye. He was worried that she would dwell on the sadness of the reminder of that day in Canary Wharf. Goodness knew he was feeling a bit apprehensive. And what of her family? He knew how much Jackie, Mickey and Pete, and now little Jamie meant to Rose. Her family had always been so important to her, as it should be. But now that she was back with him, would she one day regret that choice, and miss her family too much? As if she read his thoughts, she said softly,

“Of course I miss them. Id have to be heartless not to, but they understood. Mum and Dad and Mickey, they knew I wasn’t going to be happy until I found you again. And I told Mum not to worry about me, though we both know she will. I knew I would find you, and I’d be safe, so she didn’t have too many other arguments. I love them, they’re my family, but I’m here with you, and that’s what matters to me the most.”

“Rose,” he breathed, amazed anew at the extent of her absolute trust in him. He hoped he was worthy of it. He meant to give her hand a gentle squeeze, but found himself unable to loosen his grip, clutching to it like a drowning man to a life preserver.

“Hey! Earth to Doctor, come in Doctor!” Jack called, and Rose turned around to see Jack and Gwen waiting beside a door.

Jack was smiling at them knowingly, and even Gwen appeared to be holding back amusement. Biting her lip, Rose stifled a giggle at the embarrassment written across the Doctor’s expression. Together they walked back to the waiting pair, and entered what appeared to be a tourist information area. Jack beamed at the man standing on the other side of the desk, carefully straightening travel brochures into equally spaced lines. He looked up when he realized he had an audience for his task. A smile graced his handsome face when he saw Jack.

“I thought you were taking the day off, sir.” The sandy-haired man said, setting down the last of the brochures and tugging at the hem of his suit jacket.

“I was. I am… I’m just showing off to some old friends.” Gwen rolled her eyes at Rose and Rose got the impression that Jack thought of the Hub in much the same way the Doctor thought of the TARDIS. Jack motioned the young man out from behind the counter.

“Ianto Jones, this is Rose Tyler.” Jack introduced her, and Ianto shook her hand with a smile that made his already handsome features seem to light up. Jack certainly kept pretty boys around… but that shouldn’t surprise her. This was, after all, Jack she was talking about.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Tyler.” Rose laughed at his formality.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too. And please, just call me Rose.” Ianto smiled his acceptance and gave her a slight nod, before Jack directed his attention to the Doctor.

“And this is the Doctor.” Ianto shook his hand as well, his brow furrowed slightly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Doctor -?” He left it hanging, obviously waiting for a name to follow. When one never came, Ianto’s professional face fell back in place, and he took a step back. Leaning to the side of the counter, he pressed a hidden button and a door that looked like a part of the wall opened up. Gwen preceded Rose and the Doctor, leading them down the hallway to the lift. Jack hung back, as Ianto laid a tentative hand on his coat sleeve.

“Jack, who was that man?”

“The Doctor.” Jack repeated, surprised by the question. He’s been hoping for a more personal reason for Ianto’s silently requested delay. Wishful thinking, he mused.

“Doctor who?” Ianto pressed, and Jack suppressed a smile.

“Just ‘the Doctor’, Ianto.” Jack quoted at the Welshman. Ianto raised an eyebrow at the Captain.

“Would this be ‘the right kind of doctor’, sir?” He quoted back at his boss. Jack smiled broadly and surprised him with a fierce kiss.

“I love that clever mind of yours, Ianto Jones!” Jack declared, then followed the others down the hallway to the Hub. Blinking out of the lusty haze inspired by Jack’s kiss, Ianto smiled to himself and went back to work.

Chapter 5