Chapter 1

"Jack! Rift activity! Got the co-ordinates." A young woman with dark hair and dark skin.

"Come on then!" an American replied who was Jack. He pulled his World War two coat on over his broad, muscular shoulders. "Gwen! Ianto! We gotta go!"

"Coming, Ianto's gone to get the car." Gwen, a middle-aged woman with a welsh accent.

"Let's move people. Martha, got co-ordinates?" Jack yelled over everyone's preparations

"Yes Jack. I said that, didn't I?" she rolled her eyes at him .

"Well. Just checking." Jack ran out the door of Torchwood's base and waiting impatiently at the elevator for the rest of his team. Gwen, Ianto and Martha.

As the rest of his team ran into the elevator, Gwen asked, "So, What's going on?"

"Huge rift activity. Just outside of Cardiff. The flare is way beyond average size." Martha explained as they stepped out into their public office and out the door to the cool, night breeze.
Gwen nodded as a black car came around the corner. The moment Ianto had parked, he jumped out and into the back. Jack was already in the drivers seat with Martha next to him, giving the directions.

"Go onto the free-way, Jack." Martha directed. There was a sudden beeping from the hand-held device that she was holding. "You might want to hurry. It just got bigger."

"Everyone hold on." Jack said, as he pushed his foot down on the accelerator and sped of into the night.

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She took a deep breath of fresh air. Savouring it. The air inside the void was stale but breathable. It still lacked one of the most important things to Rose Tyler at the moment. Scent and freshness. She shivered in her torn clothing and sneezed five times in a row. When she was done, she heard a black car screech to a stop in front of her. Great. Now I have to invent some story she thought, preparing herself to lie. Before she could gather her thoughts, four people got out of the car and walked over to where she was. One of the people held a device that was glowing and beeping at her. The car's headlights were in her face, blinding her.

"Yep. This is the spot. She must've come through." a young female spoke. Addressing the tall, broad shouldered person in the middle.

"Hello. Are you lost?" the leader asked me. His accent was American and familiar. Rose squeezed her eyes shut in her attempt to remember where she had heard him before. "Are you OK?"

That line did it. Rose remembered where she had seen this man before, she whispered, "Jack?"

"How do you know me?" Jack asked, in a guarded voice.

"It's me. Rose." She spoke louder, more confident, "Jack, I need your help."

"Rose." Jack stared at her with his mouth open. "Sure, I'll help you. Once you prove you are you."

She smiled and started laughing, but her laughing soon turned into coughs that shook her entire body. She swallowed, and in between gasps she said, "Sure Jack. 1942. Middle of German air-raid. I was hanging from a barrage balloon. Union Jack T-shirt on. I fell. your invisible spaceship that was tethered up to Big Ben caught me with some device or thingy. You asked me to turn my mobile phone off."

"Well. Welcome back Rose." Jack smiled at Rose. Rose smiled back as her eye-lids fluttered and she fell forward, in a dead faint. Jack stepped forward to catch her and lifted her up, grunting in surprise, "Some-one hasn't been eating. Let's go team. Back to base." the Torchwood team, turned around, got in the car and drove back to base, all of them confused and shocked with no idea of what had just happened.

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Jack stood by the bed. Rose's blonde hair was tangled around her head as he chest moved up, down, up, down in a steady rhythm that was her breathing. Martha and Gwen had changed her into some spare clothes and the cut on her leg had been cleaned, stitched closed and covered with a bandage. Martha sighed, "She's been through a lot, hasn't she?" Jack simply nodded, not looking up from Rose's face. "So, this is Rose?" she asked him, trying to start a conversation.

"yep." he replied, making it harder on Martha

"Why aren't we calling the Doctor then? He misses her. I know that much." She asked.

"We have to wait for her to wake up. She may not want to see him her while she is half dead." Jack growled. Martha flinched and Jack's expression softened. "Sorry Martha. It's just, I saw her collapse. I thought she was going to die. She looked so pale and tired and sick. I don't think she would want the Doctor to see her like this. He would panic."

"That's OK. Well, I know she wont die. I did a blood transfusion and fed her liquids and protein through the tube. She should make a full recovery." Martha patted Jack's knee. "She'll be OK."

He smiled up at her and said, "Well then, we better go explain to Gwen and Ianto. I bet they are wondering why all this fuse over one woman."

Martha nodded, "Ianto might be jealous." she said in a teasing voice.

"Well then, let's go explain." Jack stood, offering Martha his arm.

"Let's go." Martha linked her through his and they walked up towards the other two members of their team.

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"So, this man, the Doctor, he comes to Earth and saves the entire planet a couple of times then leaves without waiting to be thanked?" Gwen struggled to understand why the Doctor did all that he did.

"Yep. He used to travel with Rose but then they were separated when she was trapped on a parallel world. They loved each other. They still do." Jack continued his explanation.

"Then, after they were separated, the Doctor met me and I began to travel with him." Martha added. "But, recently, I wanted to settle down on Earth and all, so the Doctor and I parted, but I left my phone on the TARDIS, his ship, so I could call him to talk or if there was a problem I could call and he would come to help solve it."

"So, you're going to call him?" Ianto asked, only slightly grasping the true meaning behind the story.

"Yes. Once Rose wakes up, I will call the Doctor and they will be re-unite." Martha finished, happily.

"Why are you waiting until she wakes up?" Gwen asked, her head was tilted to one side.

"Because if the Doctor saw Rose, lying on the bed, deathly white and asleep, what do you think he will think?" Jack cut in smoothly.

A soft voice said from the doorway, "can you call him now?"

All the people in the room turned to see Rose standing in the doorway. She leaned against the door frame casually but if you looked closely, you could see that she was leaning on it to stay upright. "Umm. Yeah but do you want to wait until you can actually stand on your feet without support before calling him?" Martha asked, jumping up and helping Rose into a seat.

"Not really. I want to see him." Rose spoke with a determined voice, looking at Jack with a determined glare.

"OK. Martha, will you go call him? Tell him to come to the rift but don't tell him why." Jack asked Martha.

"Yep. Sure. Be back in 5." She said, walking out of the room. She called over her shoulder, "Rose, don't walk or get up. You have to rest."

Rose rolled her eyes at Martha's retreating back. "So, Rose. I think you have an explanation. How the hell are you here? You were trapped in a parallel world. If it were possible to get you back, the Doctor would've done so." Jack burst out, his curiousity no longer contained.

Rose laughed, "If you gave me a chance, I'll tell you." he shut up so Rose continued, "Back at the other world, the idiotic scientists at Torchwood found a hole into the void. It was just bigger enough to send a probe through. Which made the hole bigger. And it kept getting bigger because they kept playing with it. Soon it was big enough for a person to walk through. They were going to try it, but my dad, who is the boss, and I came back from our family holiday with Mum and Tony,"

Jack interrupted her, "Tony?"

"My little brother. Don't interrupt." Rose continued, "Dad stopped them and all but it was too late. The hole kept growing. So the scientists made a machine that closed the hole. But it would only work from the inside. So I volunteered to do it. I thought maybe I could search for this world and find the Doctor again. It took a while for me to convince my dad. And then it took even longer to convince my mum. So I was given supplies and the machine and I went through. I closed it up and kept walking. Just in any direction." Rose broke of to close her eyes. Jack was about to ask a question when she continued in a pained whisper. "I ran out of food first. Then I ran out of water. I kept walking. I forget how I cut my leg but I did. I fell down so many times. And all I could see was an endless black. Never ending black that was all around me. I don't know how I got here. There are millions and millions of parallel worlds and I managed to find the one I wanted but I felt a connection that I just followed. It led me here."

Martha came back in and said, "I called him. He's on his way here. Probably already here. Rose, I will go get him and bring him here, you are not to get up unless someone helps you. Understood?"

"Yes. Just go and hurry up." Rose was suddenly impatient. "I want to see the Doctor."

"OK. Be back soon." Martha said as she left the room.

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The TARDIS was parked right were the sunlight was shining, the sun was only just starting to rise so everything was bathed in an orangey glow. Martha walked right up to the door and knocked. The Doctor opened the door, smiling. "Martha! How are you?" he exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm good. What about you?" She hugged him tightly back then pulled away.

He shrugged. "The usual. So, why did you call me here?"

Martha laughed, "straight to the point. I can do that. Come on." she began walking back to Torchwood base.

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"So, what have you been doing?" the Doctor asked Martha as they were in the elevator.

"This and that. Jack, Gwen, Ianto and I saved the world last week. Stopped an alien from eating everyone and watched the Lion King." she shrugged, "Not much."

"Can you tell me why I am here yet?" the Doctor asked, trying to act like he didn't care but he failed.

Martha laughed, "No, I can't tell you. It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises." the Doctor grumbled.

"No, because you just travel forward in time to spoil it. Now just stop asking and wait patiently." Martha told him, smiling up at him.

"Fine. It better be a good surprise." the Doctor mumbled, crossing his arms and acting like a spoilt kid who didn't get his way.

The elevator door opened and Martha led the Doctor to where Jack and Rose were waiting. Rose's chair was facing the opposite wall to the door so the Doctor didn't see her when he first came in.

"Jack! How are you?" the Doctor said, giving Jack a hug.

"Good. How are you?" Jack asked, returning the hug.

"Good." was all the Doctor said,

"He wants his surprise now. Should we tell him, or show him?" Martha added, with a grin on her face.

"Oh, I don't know. What do you think?" Jack asked Martha,

The Doctor interrupted, "I don't care, I just want to know."

Jack and Martha laughed but before they could say anything else, Rose stood up and turned to face the Doctor. She smiled at him while he stared at her with his mouth opened. She opened her mouth and said, "Here's your surprise."

The Doctor closed his eyes and whispered, "That's impossible. You, you can't be here." his breathing had sped up.

Rose took a step forward ad winced in pain but continued walking until she was right next to the Doctor, "No it's not. Nothing's impossible. It is me Doctor." he shook his head, his eyes still squeezed shut. "I'll prove it. We first met in the basement of the shop I worked at. I was giving the chief electrician the lottery money and I heard a noise in the supply room. I went in and the shop-window dummies started to move and surround me. They were going to kill me but you grabbed my hand, "as Rose said this, she grabbed the Doctor's hand and continued, "You then said your first word to me. It was 'run'. And then we ran. And I never stopped running with you. We ran an awful lot of the time."

The Doctor opened his eyes to look at Rose. He whispered, "Rose. Long time no see?"

Rose laughed, by now they were completely oblivious to Martha and Jack who were watching their re-uniting closely, happy that Rose and the Doctor were now happy, "Very long time." she stopped and bit her lip, she then went on to say, "Told you I made my choice. Told you I wasn't going to leave you."

They both laughed and the Doctor wrapped his arms around Rose's waist, while she wrapped her arms around his neck. Rose buried her face into the Doctor's neck as he said, "Rose Tyler, I love you too." Rose looked up at him through tears and smiled. She moved forward and kissed the Doctor. He instinctively moved one arm to support her neck as he deepened the kiss and she wove her fingers through his hair, pulling herself closer to his body.