New Fic: Weaving 1/8?

[wendymr]

Story: Weaving
Author: wmr   wendymr
Sequel to: Broken Threads (Series: Tapestry)
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler; Team Torchwood and other characters in minor roles
Disclaimer: None of them are mine, and that's a good thing ;)
Spoilers: DW: S3 and VotD; TW: pretty much all of S2, though this is completely AU.
Summary: She's back, and it should be just as it was before, the three of them... but can you ever really go back?

Author's note: I've been procrastinating about posting this for a while, but here goes. As always, I'm worried about failing to live up to expectations! But many, many thanks to dark_aegis and kae_nine for BRing and reassurance. This is a sequel to Broken Threads, as noted, and might not make a lot of sense without it. And please note: much as I love Donna, this series was begun well before the start of S4 and so goes in a completely different direction.



Weaving

a sequel to Broken Threads

Chapter 1: Transmission Complete

It’s worked. It’s really worked. She’s really standing here in the Plas Roald Dahl, in her universe, breathing the right air, everything in focus. She’s home.

All their working, all their planning, all those weeks and months of trial and error, of frustrations and setbacks, successes followed by failures, and she’s here. Mickey’ll be so-

Well, he won’t. Because he’s there and she’s here, and she can’t get back again. One-way trip, that’s all it could ever be.

From the day they realised that the alien object Jake brought in and that’d sat in the laboratory for months was actually transmitting some sort of interdimensional signal, she’d begun to hope. One day she glanced at it and saw an image. The sky over London... but without zeppelins. It disappeared, but a few days later there was another. Buckingham Palace, with the royal standard flying over it; in the parallel universe, the palace is a museum and there isn’t a royal flag any more.

They began to work, to see if it was possible to send a signal in the opposite direction - to see if it was possible to transmit matter. The first day Mickey experimented with a Coke can and it vanished, she squealed and hugged him, ecstatic - but that was months ago. It was weeks before they were even able to repeat the experiment.

And then they progressed to being able to open up a window. For a few seconds each time, she was able to see this universe. She couldn’t hear or touch anything, but she was here, surrounded by it, while behind her she could still hear Mickey and Jake and the sounds of machinery.

The first time she blinked and saw the London Eye in front of her, a lump swelled in her throat; all she could think of was her first Doctor standing in front of it, wittering on about a massive great circle transmitting a signal, while she was pointing right at the Eye. Then they ran across the bridge hand in hand...

There’s no Eye in the parallel universe.

Now, finally, they’ve been able to send her through. She insisted on coming to Cardiff, because while the Doctor did visit London a lot she’s got no way of knowing if that was only because of her. He’ll come to Cardiff to refuel. All she has to do is wait.

Just three minutes ago, she was in the Cardiff office, swapping jokes with Mickey and Jake to cover her nervousness, blurting out to Mickey that he had to tell her mum goodbye again for her and she’s sorry but she has to do it, and then in the blink of an eye, even while Mickey was still arguing that it wouldn’t work, she was here.

As dawn’s breaking over Cardiff, reddish-gold light faintly visible over the sea on the eastern horizon, she’s here. Back in her universe.

And... oh, god, there it is! The TARDIS. It’s here. He’s here.

She fumbles for the chain around her neck. It takes several tries to pull it out and to get the key on the end of it. Then, when she’s run over to the ship, she can’t get the key into the lock at first. There’s a moment of panic. He hasn’t changed it, has he?

But then it works. The door’s opening and she’s inside.

The console room is empty. But the door leading to the rest of the ship is open, and the lights are on. So he must be here somewhere.

She trails her hand along the hallway wall, trusting the sentient ship to lead her to the Doctor. And, whether it’s the ship or not, in under a minute she finds herself by an open door, leading into a room she knows well. They often sat here to watch TV, play games or just chat.

He’s there. An armchair’s blocking her view, but just beyond it she sees a leg clothed in a very familiar pair of pinstriped trousers. Looks like he’s sprawled on the floor. Strange, but... well, whatever.

She’s about to announce herself, but decides to surprise him. She creeps further into the room until she can see past the armchair - and then her jaw drops, stunned, at the sight that meets her gaze.

He’s there, in another man’s arms. They’re both haphazardly dressed; the other man’s naked from the waist up and his trousers are obviously undone. The Doctor’s shirt is thrown on the chair, and he’s just wearing his undershirt. His trousers are halfway down his hips and she can see his underwear. The other man’s hand is in his hair, and the Doctor’s holding the man’s free hand.

They’re not in the act of shagging. It’s actually far worse than that; they’ve been shagging, and what’s blatantly obvious is that this is the aftermath. Cuddling. Touching. Loving.

This is not just a one-off. It’s nothing casual. This is a relationship, and one that matters a lot to the Doctor.

It’s everything she always hoped for from the Doctor, and that she used to dream he wanted too, but it never happened. She finally decided that he just wasn’t into humans that way, even despite Madame de Pompadour, and she accepted that their very close friendship was all she’d get. It was still worth it, of course it was. Always.

But this... this feels very like a betrayal. Even if she has no right to see it that way.

Then the other man turns his head as the Doctor says something she can’t hear, and she recognises him.

Jack. The Doctor and Jack. Jack and the Doctor. Jack, who she thought was dead. The Doctor, who she thought was hers.

“Oh my god,” she gasps. Cries out.

And she does what she’s never done before; she runs away.

***

The Doctor’s already sprinting into the hallway as he finishes getting his shoes back on. He catches up and is right at the Doctor’s heels as they tear out the door into the Plas. But there’s no sign of her anywhere.

The Doctor’s whirling, searching the area with his gaze, obviously desperate to break into a run but not knowing which way to go. And he looks frantic. Jack lays a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find her. I promise, we’ll find her.”

“What if she’s gone back?” Wide, terrified brown eyes meet his. “Jack, what if-”

“Cross that bridge when we come to it. I already said we’d find a way.” He taps his earpiece. “Ianto? Ianto! Good, you’re there. Need some help up here.”

“What do you need, Jack? Owen and Tosh are here too. No Gwen yet, but-”

“Understandable. Look, we need you to find someone. Check the CCTV. She ran out of the Doctor’s ship two minutes ago. Blonde, early twenties, five feet four inches, brown eyes, wearing a red sweater and jeans. Can’t have gone far - but get Tosh to check for Rift activity as well.”

They’re walking out towards the sea wall now, him and the Doctor, still scanning everywhere for a blonde head and a red jumper. The Doctor grabs his arm once he’s finished his phone conversation. “She came all the way back, Jack. She did the impossible. Came back to me. Why the hell did she run?”

He’s got a pretty damn good idea, and if the Doctor really hasn’t realised it too he needs to get a clue. It’s obvious what Rose saw: the two of them in a very compromising position. And she was hurt, so she ran.

She loves the Doctor; he’s always known that, and so has the Doctor. Seems they never actually did anything about it, and he can’t imagine that Rose didn’t want to. In fact, he knows she did. He saw it in her face several times when they all travelled together before.

So they never did it, and she comes back to see him and the Doctor obviously post-shag, and she felt slighted. Replaced. Understandable, even if it does smart just a little that she couldn’t even stay around long enough to say hi. She hasn’t seen him since the Game Station, after all.

But that’s okay. For now, finding her before she disappears back to her own universe - assuming she hasn’t already - is the important thing.

***

Oh, he knows why she ran, despite what he’s just said to Jack. And, by the look of the grim expression on Jack’s face and the guilt in his eyes, he knows too.

He lays a hand on Jack’s arm as they continue to search the area. He’s not going to deny Jack, not now, not after everything. Because he remembers lots of things, and probably more than most people expect.

“Is that what happens, though, seriously? You just get bored of us one day and disappear?”

“Not if you’re blonde.”

“I don’t regret it, you know,” he says quietly as they walk. “Oh, I wish she hadn’t seen us like that, but I don’t regret us.”

Jack flashes him a very brief look, and it’s grateful. “I’m glad. But - well, if you think it’d be easier if you and she had some time alone, I can stay in Torchwood for a while. Few weeks, whatever works.”

“Stop that.” He pauses as they reach an intersection, scanning in all three directions. “Anyway, we have to find her first.”

He chooses a route and begins running. Behind him, Jack suddenly shouts and, as he looks back, he realises the Captain’s gone in a different direction and he’s talking into his headset again. Has his team seen Rose on the CCTV? He whirls around and follows.

Rounding the corner in Jack’s wake, at first he can’t see anyone else in the street. But, after a few strides, he sees her. She’s about a hundred yards away, sitting on a bench overlooking the bay. His view of her’s in profile, blonde hair - a different shade from before, surely? - spilling around her shoulders, her features just as he remembers. Though does she look a little older? A year, two years, maybe three - well, time did seem to run faster in the parallel universe, which is a bit odd now that he comes to think about it, but - yeah.

Rose. Why did he never expect it? It’s not the first time she’s done the impossible, after all.

As he breaks into a run again, Jack comes up to her; they talk for a bit, and then Jack holds out his arms. He’s almost holding his breath - she ran, after all - but she springs to her feet and flings her arms around him. Jack bends, bringing his head down to Rose’s level, tucking her head into his shoulder.

A movement above Jack’s head catches his eye; the CCTV camera. Automatically, even as he’s still running, he reaches into his trouser pocket, and only as he does he remembers that he came out in a hurry without even dressing properly. But the screwdriver’s there. A press of a button on the appropriate setting, and the camera’s disabled - no reason why the Torchwood team needs to see this. None of their business.

It’s a touching reunion, and he stops running, hangs back, wanting to let them have this without him getting in the way. It’s his fault, after all, that they haven’t seen each other since Satellite Five, and he knows Rose missed Jack. She rarely mentioned him, but he caught her in Jack’s bedroom a couple of times, holding his RAF cap and quietly crying. Guilt twisting his gut, he always backed away without letting her know he’d seen her.

He let her think Jack was dead, after all. Evaded first, telling her Jack was saving the Earth, and then outright lied. Never told her the truth, even though he knew she was grieving. And then he lost her before he could bring himself to tell her what really happened. Found Jack again too late to reunite him and Rose.

Well, looks like he’s got another chance to make it up to both of them. Rose is back, and it’s going to be brilliant.

***

She didn’t run very far, in the end. Because it’s stupid, childish, and she didn’t try all this time to get back to this universe and the Doctor just to run away because he’s got someone else. Because sex, or a romantic relationship, isn’t the most important thing about being with the Doctor. Never was. And she never wanted him to be alone anyway.

So what if he’s letting someone else share with him what he never let her have? It’s not her business, really, is it? If he’d wanted that with her, he’d have said so long ago.

Yes, it hurt to see them like that, but she’s adult enough to get over it. And anyway, the important thing is that she’s back. And so’s Jack - he’s alive, when she thought he was dead, and that’s - well, that’s amazing, right?

And if the Doctor loves him, and he’s helping the Doctor not to be so lonely... of course she’s happy for them. No doubt about that.

Sitting on the bench overlooking Cardiff Bay, she’s decided to take a few minutes to calm herself, to let the images in her mind fade before going back to the TARDIS to announce her presence properly and to see if he even wants her back.

Because that’s something else that just occurred to her. She’s been trying for so long, since they figured out that it might be possible, to get to him, but what if he doesn’t want her back? What if it’s off with the old and on with the new, and he’s annoyed with her for not staying put like he told her? The fact that she managed to get back here, and he never found a way back to her, should tell her something, shouldn’t it? That maybe he didn’t want her back.

“Rose.” Her name’s said softly, and she whips her head around. Not the Doctor. Jack. He’s standing there, mere feet away, legs apart, hands loosely by his sides, and he looks so different from the man she remembers. No more jeans and skin-tight T-shirts; he’s wearing tailored trousers, a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and red braces. He took the time to put his braces back on, she thinks, and stifles a laugh at the realisation.

“I missed you,” he tells her, and the emotion in his voice brings a lump to her throat. “Thought you were dead until he told me what really happened at Canary Wharf.”

She swallows the lump. “Thought you were dead too. The Daleks...”

He smiles faintly. “I’m not that easy to kill.”

“Yeah.” She can’t take her eyes off him. “Missed you too, Jack.”

He opens his arms, naked emotion all over his face, and she doesn’t hesitate.

He feels exactly the same, smells the same too, pressed up against her, his arms holding her tightly, his face against her hair. Just like the very last time she hugged him, after he and the Doctor rescued her from the Daleks. So many times, she’d thought that if she’d known that would be the last time she’d touch him...

But he’s here now. He draws back from the hug, releasing her, but before she can move away he’s framing her face with his hands, tilting it up, and he’s leaning in. It comes back to her then: that very last moment she saw him, when he kissed first her and then the Doctor goodbye, and she was too taken by surprise to kiss him back.

Her lips part under his, and he seizes the advantage, his tongue surging forward to tangle with hers, and she meets it gladly, her heart racing as she clings to him. This has been coming ever since 1941 and his invisible spaceship, and there’s only a brief moment when she feels a slight pang of guilt because she wanted the Doctor too. Still does.

And then he breaks the kiss, resting his forehead against hers as his breathing slows, and she remembers, pulling away as the wrongness of this hits her. He’s the Doctor’s lover, and this isn’t fair; she won’t get in between that, even if she knows very well that Jack’s always been the sluttish type. The Doctor’s not, she’s pretty sure.

His expression’s questioning for a moment as he registers her attempt to create physical distance; and then he gives a nod of realisation. “He’s just over there,” he tells her immediately, and glances off in the direction where he came from.

She looks too, and there he is. The Doctor, standing about ten yards away with his hands in his pockets, looking so different from almost any time she’s seen him before. His hair’s dishevelled and he’s not wearing a jacket, just a shirt, completely unbuttoned, over a T-shirt.

And he’s staring at her, looking at her as if she’s water and he’s dying of thirst.

Jack releases her, and he seems to fade into the background in the same moment as the Doctor breaks into a run. She takes a few stumbling steps towards him and then she’s caught up in a hug, swung off her feet and held so tightly against him he’s crushing her. But she doesn’t care, could never care, not when she’s touching him, holding him again after all this time. Three long years without him.

He loosens his hold at last and brings his head down to hers, their foreheads touching. “Missed you,” he murmurs.

“Missed you too.” Oh, so much.

“I dunno how you did it, and you’ll have to tell me and I suppose I’m going to have to seal up the walls again to save both universes, and I should care about that. I really, really should.”

She catches his hand and squeezes, reassuring. “It’s safe. Really. Mickey said there shouldn’t be any damage-”

“And what does Mickey know? Yes, yes, I was wrong, he’s not an idiot, but he’s not a genius either and he doesn’t know the first thing about dimensions and portals and how fragile it all is. One thing, one tiny thing coming through the wrong way at the wrong time and the wrong place-”

“I bow to your expertise, Doctor, but I’ve just been talking to Tosh,” Jack says, interrupting, and she realises that she was indeed vaguely aware of him talking to someone in the background while she was hugging the Doctor. “She says that apart from one tiny spike about twenty minutes ago - which fits - the Rift’s fine. No sign of anything out of the ordinary and no trace of any anomalies.”

The Doctor turns to face Jack, dropping his arms from around her, though he holds onto her hand. “That’s something, but it still doesn’t mean there isn’t damage. Still.” He grins, and it feels as if his entire body’s vibrating. “We can fix it. Rose is back. I’ve got my best mate back.” His hand squeezes hers. “It’s not been the same without you. I missed you.”

His best mate. Yes. Well, it’s what she always was, so there’s no change there. The only question is, with Jack as his lover, does he still need a best mate?

***

It’s tempting to kiss her, as Jack did. But... oh, there are always buts. They were never like that before, so would it be a step too far? Even if he’s pretty sure she would have quite liked it before, would she now? She’s only just come back after what he’s fairly certain is a few years away. She’s bound to have changed. How long is she going to stay, anyway?

And, of course, there’s Jack and what she saw. How she feels about what she saw. The fact that Jack’s only just got over the whole abandonment thing, and the whole situation’s just too complicated.

So he just clings to her hand, loops his free arm around Jack’s shoulders and grins, happier than he’s been in such a long time. “Let’s go. The TARDIS is waiting.”

Rose bumps her shoulder against his. “Missed her too. Just wasn’t the same, living in a house with doors and carpets an’ that wasn’t bigger on the inside.”

He grins down at her. “Ooh, did you have a mortgage, too?”

She laughs, and it’s such a familiar sound. Oh, it’s good to hear it again. “Nah, not me.”

“Oh, right, s’pose you lived with Pete and Jackie in that huge house we visited?”

“Nah,” she says again. “Dad - Pete - sold that house after we were there the first time. Too many memories, he said, an’ anyway it was never his kind of house. Jackie - his first wife; god, it gets confusing sometimes - she chose it, but Dad never liked it. He bought a town house. ‘S still big an’ worth a fortune, but at least it’s not a mansion. But, no, got my own place not long after Bad Wolf Bay. Just rented, though. Could have bought somewhere, but...” She pulls a face. “Never felt permanent, did it? Yeah, I knew you wouldn’t be able to come back for me, cause you said, right? But... well, s’pose I just believed that one day I’d get back here.”

“Mm.” He doesn’t really want to say it, but he has to. “And you are back, and it’s brilliant, really it is. But what about your family? What about Jackie? You can’t ever see her again. I can’t bring you back to her any more.”

Rose doesn’t answer. He hears her take two or three breaths in quick succession, though. Oh, he’s useless. She’s barely been back five minutes and he says the one thing that’s guaranteed to upset her.

Jack pulls away, not abruptly but deftly before he can stop him. “Think I’m gonna go down to the Hub and say my goodbyes. Give you two a chance to talk properly. And, Doctor,” he adds, and his expression’s as serious as Jack can get, “if you change your mind and want to take me up on that offer, just call me and say so. It’s fine.”

“No.” He doesn’t even need to think about it. “We made a plan, Jack. If you want to change your mind, that’s your decision. I meant what I said.”

Jack meets his gaze for a long moment, then nods with the faintest hint of a wink. “Yes, sir.” He salutes smartly, then bounds over to hug Rose, holding onto her long enough to suggest that it’s as much comfort as temporary goodbye. “It’s great to have you back, sweetheart,” he says, letting her go. “I want the whole story later, you hear?”

“Promise,” she says, and then, as she watches him run off, she glances at the Doctor. “The Hub? What’s that?”

He’s glad enough of the momentary distraction; yes, they have to talk about how she got here and what about her mum and all the rest of it, but not just yet. That’s best kept until they’re safely inside the TARDIS.

“Torchwood,” he explains. “Jack runs it. Well, ran it.”

“What? You’re joking!”

“Nope.” That was more surprise than shock, though. Unlike him, she’s obviously not jumping to conclusions. But then didn’t she say she was working for Torchwood in her own universe? “He’s been with them for-” Ah.

Not a good idea to tell her Jack’s actually been with Torchwood for over a hundred and thirty years. That’s definitely an explanation that’ll wait. And maybe, too, it’s Jack’s story to tell, not his. Apart from anything else, he’s got no idea how Jack feels about Rose’s role in things, specifically the fact that she’s the one who made him immortal.

“A while,” he amends. “Torchwood Three, though. Nothing to do with Canary Wharf. Jack had no idea what Yvonne Hartmann was doing, and by the time he found out it was too late to do anything about it.”

She nods. “I just... Was he there? Did we miss seeing him? Is that where you found him again?”

Another dangerous topic. Easily skirted around, this one. “No. He was busy fighting off Cybermen here.”

“Right.” She falls silent for a few moments. Almost at the TARDIS now. “So how did you find him? Must’ve been a shock. I mean, we thought he was dead!”

Was there ever a conversation so full of minefields? “He found me. Came to Cardiff to refuel, and there he was, same old Jack-” Except he wasn’t. Far from it. “-and that was that.”

“But I don’t get it.” She’s stopped walking now; they’re right in front of the TARDIS. “He died. On Satellite Five. You said the Daleks killed him.”

He did tell her that, didn’t he? A convenient half-truth, to stop her asking inconvenient questions. He looks away, forcing a smile on his face. “Oh, you know Jack.” He drops her hand and steps forward, key in hand; the best offensive action right now is to change the subject. He unlocks the door, then pushes it open and stands back to let Rose past. “Here we are! She’s missed you, you know.”

But she hesitates, hanging back. As he watches her, she glances inside the TARDIS, and then back at him. He can see the longing on her face, but also something else. She’s conflicted about something.

Maybe... oh, maybe she’s having second thoughts? It’s a huge decision, leaving everything behind.

“Rose?” He reaches for her hand again. “If you want to go back, I’ll find a way. I promise.”

So transparent, humans. He can see the battle she’s having with herself. Obvious what it’s about, too.

“No. ‘S not that.” Her thumb strokes the back of his hand, a gesture that’s so very familiar. “I knew what I was doing when I crossed back. Thing is, Doctor,” she says slowly, “it’s different now. Different for you, I mean. You’ve got Jack. An’ I’m happy for you, believe me. I hated to think of you bein’ alone. An’ he’s got to be special to you if you’re... well, shagging him. I don’t want to be in the way, so I think it’d be best if I didn’t come with you, yeah?”

He’s actually lost for words. All he can do is stare at her, jaw slack.

“I’ll be fine. I can stay here. It’s good that Jack’s in charge of this Torchwood. He can get me a job. An’... well, I’ll see you whenever you have to refuel, right? So ‘s not as if it’s goodbye.”

What? “Rose-”

“S’ all right, really it is.” She withdraws her hand from his, then leans up and presses her lips to his cheek. “My fault for assuming. You look after yourself, and Jack, an’ be happy. That’s all that matters to me.”

She steps back, gives him a bright smile that barely wavers at all, and begins to turn away.

***
tbc