Fic: Reunited (13/15) | Ten/Rose/Jack | M
Title: Reunited (13/15)
Author: aibhinn
Pairings: Jack/Rose, Jack/Ten, Jack/Ten/Rose, Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Doctor Who through "Doomsday", Torchwood through "End of Days".
Summary: The Rift is much more active than it was, and has been disgorging aliens and out-of-time people at an alarming rate… including one person Jack never expected to see again.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Everything belongs to Auntie Beeb. I'm stuck here on the far side of the wrong continent, playing in her sandbox.
Betas: dark_aegis, wendymr, joely_jo, larielromeniel, and sensiblecat-all of whom are AWESOME.
Author's note: A short chapter this time around, because it's been so very long since I've posted. I'll be posting more soon, I promise!
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIV | Part XV
Did you truly think you would be permitted to leave, Bad Wolf?
The Doctor's eyes flickered to each Wraith in turn. He, Rose, and Jack were surrounded by a ring of half a dozen of the smoky-black creatures, and he could feel the beginnings of Wraith-induced discord beginning to filter into him again. He pushed it away.
Rose stepped forward, chin high. "Did you truly think you could prevent me?" she said with amusement.
That wasn't Rose's voice. The Doctor felt a familiar surge of fear. Images from Satellite Five flashed in his brain: the TARDIS returning; Rose emerging from it, filled with the power of the Vortex; his horror at watching her manipulate time and space to save him; his shock at finally realising just how much she loved him, and how much that love was returned; the decision to sacrifice one of his lives to save hers, because his would be worth nothing without her to share it . . . .
"Rose?" Jack said, his tone full of uncertainty. He'd heard the strangeness in her voice too, the Doctor knew.
She turned to them and smiled, and the Doctor sucked in a pain-filled breath. Ribbons of golden light curled in her eyes, and tendrils were beginning to surround her face like a corona. Not as brightly as on the Game Station, but there nonetheless.
Not this. Oh, God, not again. "Rose, don't do this," he said-pleaded, really.
Rose's smile became tender. "There's no danger, Doctor. Part of me has been the Bad Wolf for almost seventy years now. I know what I'm doing, more than anyone could ever imagine."
"But you can't!" he insisted. All that old terror was back, just like those moments on the Game Station when she'd reappeared and he'd realised what she'd done. How long had that scene played itself out in his nightmares? How many times while she'd travelled with him had he sneaked into her room to be certain she was all right? Once they'd become lovers, how many nights had he lain awake, watching her sleep and marvelling that she was still alive, and silently thanking powers he didn't even believe in that he'd been able to save her life, even if it was at the cost of his own? "Rose, this is the Time Vortex you're talking about here. You can't just …" His voice trailed off, as he wasn't really sure what it was she was doing. He wanted to rush forward and take over, save her from herself, but something in her eyes held him back.
"Yes, I can, Doctor," she said gently. "I'm the only person in the universe who can." She turned back to face the Time Wraiths, pivoting on the spot to look each of them in the eye, and the golden glow about her intensified. "You wanted this," the Bad Wolf said. "You wanted me. Now you have me. This is what you've got."
And Time exploded.
The Doctor cried out in agony as his Gallifreyan senses were suddenly flooded, overwhelmed. He fell to his knees, and dimly felt Jack beside him, clutching his own head. No, not felt-it wasn't a physical feeling. He was aware of Jack-sensed Jack's own pain and fear as though it was his own, and knew that Jack could feel his. It was far more than simply understanding what Jack was experiencing. It felt as if they were inhabiting the same body-sharing all the fear and pain-
And then the pain abated suddenly, as though it had never been. Startled, he looked up and saw that Rose-no, the Bad Wolf-had surrounded him and Jack with a bright gold bubble-some kind of protection against what she was doing. She stood in the same place as before, hands raised to shoulder height, her entire body glowing with Vortex energy. He tried to race towards her, but the bubble of power that surrounded him and Jack bounced him backwards like a rubber ball hitting a brick wall.
"Rose!" he bellowed, hands splayed against the barrier between him and her. "Rose, please!"
Jack's hand fell on his shoulder. "Doctor, she's all right," the former Time Agent said in a voice that was far too calm.
He rounded on Jack in fury. "All right?" the Doctor demanded. "How can she be all right? Look at her!"
"No, don't look at her," Jack corrected. "Feel her. Close your eyes and feel what she's sending. You can probably sense it even better than I can."
How could he be so calm? But the Doctor did as Jack said, closed his eyes and reached out towards Rose with his mind-
And was shocked at what he found.
Love. That was the emotion that "felt" the loudest. Her love for him and for Jack, and her desire to keep them safe. There was also concern-for the universe if these creatures got out, and for the two of them, trapped in their limited understanding and needless fear. Anger at these Wraiths, that they had kidnapped her for their own selfish ends, and yet compassion as well, both for their imprisonment and for the quirk of the universe that had created them such that they required imprisoning for the safety of all other creatures. The Wraiths were as they were; they could not change their nature any more than humans could change theirs, and yet it was that very nature that made them a danger not only to living beings, but to the very fabric of space-time. And determination: these creatures would not escape again to cause havoc. Twice they escaped, she thought, and he wasn't certain if he was eavesdropping or if she was speaking directly to him. They caused death and terror to Aeswulf's village, and twice they kidnapped me. The first time, I was too new to my power. I was only a few months old then, and Rose was only nineteen; still a child, unsure of herself, not fully understanding what needed to be done.
But no longer.
The Doctor opened his eyes and watched as the Bad Wolf called Vortex energy to surround each of the Wraiths, not in a protective bubble but rather in a tight, enveloping cocoon of power. The Wraiths shrieked and struggled as she wound the energy around them more securely, layer upon layer like the linen wrappings of an ancient Egyptian mummy, until the darkness of their forms was nothing more than a smoky shadow within the gold.
"Bound and bound and bound," the Bad Wolf murmured. "But not only these few."
More Time Wraiths began to appear, struggling and shrieking like their brethren, only to be wrapped up in identical golden cocoons. And more of them, and still more, until there were hundreds of the creatures, each shimmering with gold like Christmas ornaments in the glow of fairy lights.
"You followed me through the Void and the Rift," the Bad Wolf told them. "I think it's time you went home. Back into the Void, where you can do no more harm. The Rift will no longer be visible to you, nor can you slip into it by accident. You will remain in the Void until the end of time, you and all your kind."
A rip appeared above them, a great dark tear in the whiteness that surrounded them. There were no stars above; it was pure darkness and howling wind. Slowly at first, but then more quickly, like autumn leaves picked up in a sudden breeze, the Wraiths began to rise, spun around in the whirlwind until they were pulled up through the dark tear above. The Doctor and Jack held onto each other, buffeted by the wind but not, the Doctor was relieved to note, feeling as though they were being pulled towards that darkness.
When the last Wraith had gone, the tear sealed itself as though a zip had been pulled across it, and the tempest died away. The Bad Wolf took a deep breath, then turned back to the two of them and smiled once more. A wave of her hand dissipated the protective bubble around them, and the Doctor stumbled towards her. He reached out to take hold of her, but stopped, unsure.
Her grin widened. "No kiss this time, Doctor," she told him. "I'm not going searching for another pair of men's pyjamas because you're suffering from regeneration sickness again!" She placed a hand on each man's cheek, tenderly. "Rose needs to rest now," the Bad Wolf said. "But she'll be all right. As will I."
Then her eyes rolled up and she collapsed into their arms.
***
Gwen was still watching the glowing-blue crack in the rock through which Jack and the Doctor had disappeared. Their lines had stopped paying out some time before, and she was getting antsy. What if one of them was sick or injured? Or both of them? What if something had happened, and they couldn't get out or tug the line to signal the blokes to pull them out?
The crack flared brightly, so brightly she had to throw up her hands to shield her eyes, and Jack came through cautiously, looking left and right. Gwen felt her heart leap with joy, but then it crashed right back down again: behind Jack was the Doctor, carrying Rose. She was limp in his arms, completely unconscious (Dead? Please, no!) and pale as skimmed milk.
Owen was at the Doctor's side in a heartbeat, gently lifting her head and prying an eye open. "What happened?" he asked.
"More than we can possibly say," the Doctor said with a sigh. "It's not an injury; she's just exhausted. Let's get her back to the TARDIS where she can rest properly."
"We should take her to my lab," Owen corrected, pulling out his pencil torch and checking Rose's pupils despite the Doctor's reassurance. "I can examine her there."
"I've got far more advanced medical equipment on board the TARDIS," the Doctor said flatly, but his eyes flamed with a mix of emotions Gwen couldn't begin to imagine.
Owen let Rose's eyelid close and switched off the pencil torch, glaring at the Doctor. "Look, I don't care what you call yourself, I really am a doctor, and-"
"And you have absolutely no experience dealing with what Rose has just gone through!" the Doctor shouted. "I'm not interested in catering to your ego. All I care about is Rose. We're taking her to the TARDIS. Now."
He strode past them and out of the cave, heading for the SUV. They'd left the TARDIS in its spot at the bottom of the Hub in an effort to keep it away from the Wraiths, and Gwen winced internally at the thought of the lot of them in the same car all the way back to Cardiff. Her dread was magnified by the expressive look Owen gave her.
Apparently Jack was a step ahead of her yet again. "The Doctor shucked his harness before he picked Rose up, so you just need to pull it back out," he told Ianto, unbuckling his own harness and letting it drop, then reached for his greatcoat and pulled it on. "You and Owen take care of the equipment and come back in your car once you've got it packed up. I'll take Gwen, the Doctor, and Rose in the SUV."
"Yes, sir," Ianto said. Owen rolled his eyes and said nothing, just started coiling the rope he'd been holding.
Jack turned to Gwen and smiled. "Come on, before the Doctor decides we're taking too long and uses his sonic screwdriver to hot-wire the car."
"Do you really think she'll be okay?" Gwen asked as she swooped up the Doctor's suit jacket and coat, and followed him out.
***
The trip back was silent. Jack kept a worried eye on the Doctor and Rose in the back seat, glancing frequently at the rear-view mirror, but there was no change; the Doctor sat with Rose beside him, his head turned to meet hers, their foreheads pressed together. He was fairly certain the Doctor was trying to reach her telepathically, or at least to work out what was going on inside her mind. He tried to contain his vicious stab of hurt and jealousy. He was always odd man out, wasn't he? Months he'd had with Rose, and yet as close as they'd become, as much as they'd shared, he knew he'd never be able to experience the kind of intimacy with her that the Doctor could. The fact that it came as easily as breathing to the Time Lord only added insult to injury.
Not very fifty-first-century of me, is it?
He didn't think about what would happen once Rose was all right again. He couldn't bring himself to contemplate it; it hurt too much. His imagination kept seeing that familiar blue box disappearing again, taking the two of them with it and leaving him behind.
And why not? he told himself firmly. It had been the Doctor and Rose long before he'd come on the scene, and had returned to the Doctor and Rose after he was gone. He'd spent only a couple of months with the two of them, and only three with Rose in this time. He didn't have the amount of shared history they did. And besides, they were perfect for one another, the two of them; they always had been.
And he wouldn't lose Rose permanently, after all. He was the only other truly immortal being in the universe, so far as either of them knew, and certainly the only other immortal human. She'd come back to him eventually, and they could pick up where they'd left off. After all, time was hardly an issue for him anymore.
His gut roiled at the thought, and he determinedly turned his contemplation to something else. Anything else. Switching on his headset, he said, "Tosh, what've you got on that stela? Anything?"
"The-stela?" Tosh sounded hesitant. "I hadn't been working on it, Jack; I was monitoring you and the Doctor in the Rift. I'm glad you made it out ok. Did you get Rose?"
"Yeah," he said shortly. "She's in the back seat."
"Is she all right?"
"She's been better," he said grimly. "But she'll be okay once she has a chance to recover, don't worry. We're on our way back; the Doctor wants to take her into the TARDIS sickbay and run a few tests."
"I'll get the emergency carpark prepped," Tosh offered. "That way you'll be able to take her directly in through our medical bay and from there to the TARDIS. It'll be faster than coming in the normal way."
"Thanks, Tosh." He didn't need to feign the gratitude in his voice. Despite the Bad Wolf's reassurances, he was worried. No, not just worried; he was out-and-out frightened for Rose.
"Hold on, sweetheart," he murmured under his breath, glancing up at the rear-view mirror again to find nothing had changed. "We're getting you home."
Gwen reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly. He squeezed back, holding onto the comfort she offered with all the hope in him.
He loved Rose, in a way he never thought he'd ever love another person. If there was ever someone he might, someday, have actually married, it was her. And he was coming to realise that he loved the Doctor as well, and always had. The thought of losing either of them, let alone both, twisted his gut. But it wasn't entirely his choice, was it? It was theirs too.
But first they had to know how he felt. He had to tell them.
He made a vow to himself, right then, that he wasn't going to let either of them go without a fight.
Author: aibhinn
Pairings: Jack/Rose, Jack/Ten, Jack/Ten/Rose, Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: Doctor Who through "Doomsday", Torchwood through "End of Days".
Summary: The Rift is much more active than it was, and has been disgorging aliens and out-of-time people at an alarming rate… including one person Jack never expected to see again.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Everything belongs to Auntie Beeb. I'm stuck here on the far side of the wrong continent, playing in her sandbox.
Betas: dark_aegis, wendymr, joely_jo, larielromeniel, and sensiblecat-all of whom are AWESOME.
Author's note: A short chapter this time around, because it's been so very long since I've posted. I'll be posting more soon, I promise!
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIV | Part XV
Did you truly think you would be permitted to leave, Bad Wolf?
The Doctor's eyes flickered to each Wraith in turn. He, Rose, and Jack were surrounded by a ring of half a dozen of the smoky-black creatures, and he could feel the beginnings of Wraith-induced discord beginning to filter into him again. He pushed it away.
Rose stepped forward, chin high. "Did you truly think you could prevent me?" she said with amusement.
That wasn't Rose's voice. The Doctor felt a familiar surge of fear. Images from Satellite Five flashed in his brain: the TARDIS returning; Rose emerging from it, filled with the power of the Vortex; his horror at watching her manipulate time and space to save him; his shock at finally realising just how much she loved him, and how much that love was returned; the decision to sacrifice one of his lives to save hers, because his would be worth nothing without her to share it . . . .
"Rose?" Jack said, his tone full of uncertainty. He'd heard the strangeness in her voice too, the Doctor knew.
She turned to them and smiled, and the Doctor sucked in a pain-filled breath. Ribbons of golden light curled in her eyes, and tendrils were beginning to surround her face like a corona. Not as brightly as on the Game Station, but there nonetheless.
Not this. Oh, God, not again. "Rose, don't do this," he said-pleaded, really.
Rose's smile became tender. "There's no danger, Doctor. Part of me has been the Bad Wolf for almost seventy years now. I know what I'm doing, more than anyone could ever imagine."
"But you can't!" he insisted. All that old terror was back, just like those moments on the Game Station when she'd reappeared and he'd realised what she'd done. How long had that scene played itself out in his nightmares? How many times while she'd travelled with him had he sneaked into her room to be certain she was all right? Once they'd become lovers, how many nights had he lain awake, watching her sleep and marvelling that she was still alive, and silently thanking powers he didn't even believe in that he'd been able to save her life, even if it was at the cost of his own? "Rose, this is the Time Vortex you're talking about here. You can't just …" His voice trailed off, as he wasn't really sure what it was she was doing. He wanted to rush forward and take over, save her from herself, but something in her eyes held him back.
"Yes, I can, Doctor," she said gently. "I'm the only person in the universe who can." She turned back to face the Time Wraiths, pivoting on the spot to look each of them in the eye, and the golden glow about her intensified. "You wanted this," the Bad Wolf said. "You wanted me. Now you have me. This is what you've got."
And Time exploded.
The Doctor cried out in agony as his Gallifreyan senses were suddenly flooded, overwhelmed. He fell to his knees, and dimly felt Jack beside him, clutching his own head. No, not felt-it wasn't a physical feeling. He was aware of Jack-sensed Jack's own pain and fear as though it was his own, and knew that Jack could feel his. It was far more than simply understanding what Jack was experiencing. It felt as if they were inhabiting the same body-sharing all the fear and pain-
And then the pain abated suddenly, as though it had never been. Startled, he looked up and saw that Rose-no, the Bad Wolf-had surrounded him and Jack with a bright gold bubble-some kind of protection against what she was doing. She stood in the same place as before, hands raised to shoulder height, her entire body glowing with Vortex energy. He tried to race towards her, but the bubble of power that surrounded him and Jack bounced him backwards like a rubber ball hitting a brick wall.
"Rose!" he bellowed, hands splayed against the barrier between him and her. "Rose, please!"
Jack's hand fell on his shoulder. "Doctor, she's all right," the former Time Agent said in a voice that was far too calm.
He rounded on Jack in fury. "All right?" the Doctor demanded. "How can she be all right? Look at her!"
"No, don't look at her," Jack corrected. "Feel her. Close your eyes and feel what she's sending. You can probably sense it even better than I can."
How could he be so calm? But the Doctor did as Jack said, closed his eyes and reached out towards Rose with his mind-
And was shocked at what he found.
Love. That was the emotion that "felt" the loudest. Her love for him and for Jack, and her desire to keep them safe. There was also concern-for the universe if these creatures got out, and for the two of them, trapped in their limited understanding and needless fear. Anger at these Wraiths, that they had kidnapped her for their own selfish ends, and yet compassion as well, both for their imprisonment and for the quirk of the universe that had created them such that they required imprisoning for the safety of all other creatures. The Wraiths were as they were; they could not change their nature any more than humans could change theirs, and yet it was that very nature that made them a danger not only to living beings, but to the very fabric of space-time. And determination: these creatures would not escape again to cause havoc. Twice they escaped, she thought, and he wasn't certain if he was eavesdropping or if she was speaking directly to him. They caused death and terror to Aeswulf's village, and twice they kidnapped me. The first time, I was too new to my power. I was only a few months old then, and Rose was only nineteen; still a child, unsure of herself, not fully understanding what needed to be done.
But no longer.
The Doctor opened his eyes and watched as the Bad Wolf called Vortex energy to surround each of the Wraiths, not in a protective bubble but rather in a tight, enveloping cocoon of power. The Wraiths shrieked and struggled as she wound the energy around them more securely, layer upon layer like the linen wrappings of an ancient Egyptian mummy, until the darkness of their forms was nothing more than a smoky shadow within the gold.
"Bound and bound and bound," the Bad Wolf murmured. "But not only these few."
More Time Wraiths began to appear, struggling and shrieking like their brethren, only to be wrapped up in identical golden cocoons. And more of them, and still more, until there were hundreds of the creatures, each shimmering with gold like Christmas ornaments in the glow of fairy lights.
"You followed me through the Void and the Rift," the Bad Wolf told them. "I think it's time you went home. Back into the Void, where you can do no more harm. The Rift will no longer be visible to you, nor can you slip into it by accident. You will remain in the Void until the end of time, you and all your kind."
A rip appeared above them, a great dark tear in the whiteness that surrounded them. There were no stars above; it was pure darkness and howling wind. Slowly at first, but then more quickly, like autumn leaves picked up in a sudden breeze, the Wraiths began to rise, spun around in the whirlwind until they were pulled up through the dark tear above. The Doctor and Jack held onto each other, buffeted by the wind but not, the Doctor was relieved to note, feeling as though they were being pulled towards that darkness.
When the last Wraith had gone, the tear sealed itself as though a zip had been pulled across it, and the tempest died away. The Bad Wolf took a deep breath, then turned back to the two of them and smiled once more. A wave of her hand dissipated the protective bubble around them, and the Doctor stumbled towards her. He reached out to take hold of her, but stopped, unsure.
Her grin widened. "No kiss this time, Doctor," she told him. "I'm not going searching for another pair of men's pyjamas because you're suffering from regeneration sickness again!" She placed a hand on each man's cheek, tenderly. "Rose needs to rest now," the Bad Wolf said. "But she'll be all right. As will I."
Then her eyes rolled up and she collapsed into their arms.
***
Gwen was still watching the glowing-blue crack in the rock through which Jack and the Doctor had disappeared. Their lines had stopped paying out some time before, and she was getting antsy. What if one of them was sick or injured? Or both of them? What if something had happened, and they couldn't get out or tug the line to signal the blokes to pull them out?
The crack flared brightly, so brightly she had to throw up her hands to shield her eyes, and Jack came through cautiously, looking left and right. Gwen felt her heart leap with joy, but then it crashed right back down again: behind Jack was the Doctor, carrying Rose. She was limp in his arms, completely unconscious (Dead? Please, no!) and pale as skimmed milk.
Owen was at the Doctor's side in a heartbeat, gently lifting her head and prying an eye open. "What happened?" he asked.
"More than we can possibly say," the Doctor said with a sigh. "It's not an injury; she's just exhausted. Let's get her back to the TARDIS where she can rest properly."
"We should take her to my lab," Owen corrected, pulling out his pencil torch and checking Rose's pupils despite the Doctor's reassurance. "I can examine her there."
"I've got far more advanced medical equipment on board the TARDIS," the Doctor said flatly, but his eyes flamed with a mix of emotions Gwen couldn't begin to imagine.
Owen let Rose's eyelid close and switched off the pencil torch, glaring at the Doctor. "Look, I don't care what you call yourself, I really am a doctor, and-"
"And you have absolutely no experience dealing with what Rose has just gone through!" the Doctor shouted. "I'm not interested in catering to your ego. All I care about is Rose. We're taking her to the TARDIS. Now."
He strode past them and out of the cave, heading for the SUV. They'd left the TARDIS in its spot at the bottom of the Hub in an effort to keep it away from the Wraiths, and Gwen winced internally at the thought of the lot of them in the same car all the way back to Cardiff. Her dread was magnified by the expressive look Owen gave her.
Apparently Jack was a step ahead of her yet again. "The Doctor shucked his harness before he picked Rose up, so you just need to pull it back out," he told Ianto, unbuckling his own harness and letting it drop, then reached for his greatcoat and pulled it on. "You and Owen take care of the equipment and come back in your car once you've got it packed up. I'll take Gwen, the Doctor, and Rose in the SUV."
"Yes, sir," Ianto said. Owen rolled his eyes and said nothing, just started coiling the rope he'd been holding.
Jack turned to Gwen and smiled. "Come on, before the Doctor decides we're taking too long and uses his sonic screwdriver to hot-wire the car."
"Do you really think she'll be okay?" Gwen asked as she swooped up the Doctor's suit jacket and coat, and followed him out.
***
The trip back was silent. Jack kept a worried eye on the Doctor and Rose in the back seat, glancing frequently at the rear-view mirror, but there was no change; the Doctor sat with Rose beside him, his head turned to meet hers, their foreheads pressed together. He was fairly certain the Doctor was trying to reach her telepathically, or at least to work out what was going on inside her mind. He tried to contain his vicious stab of hurt and jealousy. He was always odd man out, wasn't he? Months he'd had with Rose, and yet as close as they'd become, as much as they'd shared, he knew he'd never be able to experience the kind of intimacy with her that the Doctor could. The fact that it came as easily as breathing to the Time Lord only added insult to injury.
Not very fifty-first-century of me, is it?
He didn't think about what would happen once Rose was all right again. He couldn't bring himself to contemplate it; it hurt too much. His imagination kept seeing that familiar blue box disappearing again, taking the two of them with it and leaving him behind.
And why not? he told himself firmly. It had been the Doctor and Rose long before he'd come on the scene, and had returned to the Doctor and Rose after he was gone. He'd spent only a couple of months with the two of them, and only three with Rose in this time. He didn't have the amount of shared history they did. And besides, they were perfect for one another, the two of them; they always had been.
And he wouldn't lose Rose permanently, after all. He was the only other truly immortal being in the universe, so far as either of them knew, and certainly the only other immortal human. She'd come back to him eventually, and they could pick up where they'd left off. After all, time was hardly an issue for him anymore.
His gut roiled at the thought, and he determinedly turned his contemplation to something else. Anything else. Switching on his headset, he said, "Tosh, what've you got on that stela? Anything?"
"The-stela?" Tosh sounded hesitant. "I hadn't been working on it, Jack; I was monitoring you and the Doctor in the Rift. I'm glad you made it out ok. Did you get Rose?"
"Yeah," he said shortly. "She's in the back seat."
"Is she all right?"
"She's been better," he said grimly. "But she'll be okay once she has a chance to recover, don't worry. We're on our way back; the Doctor wants to take her into the TARDIS sickbay and run a few tests."
"I'll get the emergency carpark prepped," Tosh offered. "That way you'll be able to take her directly in through our medical bay and from there to the TARDIS. It'll be faster than coming in the normal way."
"Thanks, Tosh." He didn't need to feign the gratitude in his voice. Despite the Bad Wolf's reassurances, he was worried. No, not just worried; he was out-and-out frightened for Rose.
"Hold on, sweetheart," he murmured under his breath, glancing up at the rear-view mirror again to find nothing had changed. "We're getting you home."
Gwen reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly. He squeezed back, holding onto the comfort she offered with all the hope in him.
He loved Rose, in a way he never thought he'd ever love another person. If there was ever someone he might, someday, have actually married, it was her. And he was coming to realise that he loved the Doctor as well, and always had. The thought of losing either of them, let alone both, twisted his gut. But it wasn't entirely his choice, was it? It was theirs too.
But first they had to know how he felt. He had to tell them.
He made a vow to himself, right then, that he wasn't going to let either of them go without a fight.