All standard disclaimers apply, since I don't own any of this and aren't making a cent.

Sequel to Death Will Bring Us Together, which will make this make more sense.

The Doctor paced around the console room. His life had changed dramatically, and he still hadn't come to grips with it all. A flicker of color in the center column brought a smile to his face.

Rose stepped out of the console and stood beside him. "Am I never going to be able to sneak up on you?" she asked, wavering between teasing and frustration.

He shrugged indolently. "Don't know." Looking over at her, he smiled brightly. "Although I can't say that I mind you trying."

She grinned back. "Then I'll keep trying." Wandering around and gazing at the controls, she nodded back toward the living quarters. "So, do you think we can get through an adventure without those two squabbling?"

"I sincerely doubt it." The Doctor grimaced. "This is why I don't do domestic. There's just too much infighting."

"Oh, like you don't love every minute of having a full house. We ought to go get Jack just to round out the bunch," Rose teased.

A frustrated squawk and curse echoed through the corridor. The alien and the ghost shared a look. "You really shouldn't do that to her," Rose chided the TARDIS.

"Oh, where's the fun in that?" the Doctor grinned. "Donna needs a shake-up every now and then?"

"Fine. She's headed this way. You deal with her." With that, Rose vanished.

"What's with the bleedin' doors changing 'round?" the redhead demanded as she stomped into the control room.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently, trying to keep the grin off of his face.

"It's like musical chairs down that hallway. I never know what I'm going to get," she stormed. "I know it's your fault, Doctor!"

"It is not." He knew his guiltless expression had slipped when she frowned.

"You bloody alien!" Donna screamed as she lunged for him.

His manic grin was firmly in place, he dodged her attack, strategically keeping the controls between them. "It was the TARDIS!"

"Don't blame it on the ship! It was you! I know it was!"

Martha stopped at the door, watching them circle each other. She grinned at the gleeful expression on the Doctor's face. Despite his difficulty dealing with Rose's death, having her with him, at least in spirit form, had brought him out of the depression that had dogged his steps during their early trips.

"How bad was he?"

She jumped and whirled to stare at the blonde ghost. "What?"

"Your expression tells me a lot. How bad was he?"

Considering her words, Martha looked back at the alien playing. "I've never seen him play like this. He had brief moments like this, but it never stayed." She sighed. "This is how you knew him, wasn't it?"

"Not at first. Before he regenerated, he was so different." Rose's expression turned dreamy. "He wasn't anything like this one. We were on our third adventure before I found out anything about him really. Tall, dark, northern, and only flirting when he felt threatened." She grinned. "Jack was good for something, at that. He brought out the best of that first one."

"Really?" Martha regarded Rose curiously. "I can't imagine the Doctor not being, well, him."

"I think I have a picture of my first Doctor. Remind me some time and I'll show you what he looked like."

Martha opened her mouth to comment on that when an enraged screech startled them out of their discussion.

"I better go save him," Rose said. "Otherwise, he's just going to get her really mad." Stepping forward, she called, "Donna!"

The redhead charged right through her, intent on causing bodily injury to the Doctor.

"I can handle this myself," he said happily.

"Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of." Rose concentrated for a moment. The lights dimmed down to nearly nothing, finally drawing the woman's attention to the ghost. "Donna, the ship really does change things about. It's a common occurrence."

"You telling me that this thing is intelligent?" Donna asked, never taking her eyes off of the Doctor.

"More so than some people," he returned cheekily.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted as he had to dash out of reach again. "Donna, he's just tormenting you. It really was the TARDIS."

The ghost's words finally got through to her when the ubiquitous hum raised a level. She stood for a moment, weighing the words. "You better hope so," she said before stalking off.

"Oh, Rose! Why did you have to ruin my fun?" the Doctor laughed, leaning against the railing.

"When you learn to communicate with people without making them mad, then I'll quit butting in," she said. "You're still rude."

"And you still love me," he grinned unrepentantly.

Rose returned his smile before she could hide it. "So, why don't you tell Martha where we're going today?"

Blinking, he looked toward the door where the young doctor was standing, watching the whole scene. "Oh. Good morning, Martha. Didn't see you there. Did you sleep well?" he breezed, turning back to the console.

She shook her head at his sudden change of subject. "I'm fine, thanks. So, where are we going?"

"Absolutely no idea. Wanna go?"

Laughing at his manic smile, she shared a look with Rose. "Since when do you not know where we're going?"

"Since I programmed in coordinates at random. Let's see what we get!"

Rose snorted. "Don't you ever learn? The last time we did that we ended up running from a bunch of things of that looked like the Michelin Man."

"Yeah, but they had great chips, didn't they?"

"They were green!"

Martha watched the two as they dissolved into an argument. Neither one was angry, but she could see how well they fit together. The young doctor sighed. Rose was truly a part of him, and the Doctor that she'd known and loved hadn't been whole. She really wished she could dislike the ghost, but Rose made it impossible with her quick smiles and peacekeeping abilities. It was obvious that they loved each other. Despite Rose's protests that the alien couldn't love her like that, his smiles and flirting told Martha that he did love her.

"As long as it's not a spaceship plunging into a living sun, then I'm game," Martha said, interrupting their play fighting.

"Brilliant!" the Doctor said. "Random coordinates, here we go!"

"I'll go let Donna know," Rose said and vanished.

Martha saw the grin fade from his face. "How are you coming along with fixing it so she can leave the TARDIS?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged, but she saw the strain in his posture. "Something's blocking it. It might be the TARDIS itself." Straightening, he tried to regain his former joviality. "Still, I have her here, so I shouldn't be greedy, should I?"

"She makes you happy. Why shouldn't you try for everything you can?" Martha asked.

"Because when I get happy, bad things happen."

She dropped the conversation, although she wanted to protest. Bad things happened no matter what his mood was, but she knew he didn't want to hear that. "I'll get ready," she said finally. "I'm glad she's here."

The Doctor stared after her as she left the control room. Martha was a good friend, and she tended to speak her mind concerning most subjects. She was also completely honest, and he appreciated her for her candor. Most of the time, anyway.

He had been trying to make Rose corporeal, but his work was not progressing like he wanted. It had been enough at first to simply have her there, but as the weeks passed, he was craving her touch. His hands itched with the desire to take her hand in his, just as they had before Canary Wharf.

Sighing, he pulled levers and turned knobs, taking the TARDIS out of the vortex. The comforting shudder flowed through him, and he ran his hand along the console. "Thank you for bringing her back," he whispered to the ship.

"Talking to yourself?" He jumped, which prompted a giggle from Rose. "I finally got you," she laughed.

The Doctor smiled, unable to resist her glee. "So, will you be okay while we're gone?" he asked.

"As I've said before, as long as the TARDIS is good, then I'm good," she reassured him.

"Good."

There was an uncomfortable silence that was broken by Donna walking back into the room with a big grin on her face. "So, are we there yet?" she chirped.

The Doctor's eyebrows rose dramatically. "What did you do to her?" he whispered to Rose.

Grinning evilly, she said, "I told her that you were taking her shopping."

His jaw dropped as she vanished. He swore that her cheeky grin was the last thing to go. Turning to the ship, he barked, "No more Lewis Carroll, do you hear me?"

"What in the world are you going on about?" Donna asked.

"Nothing. Hold on now."

Martha barely had time to grab the railing as the ship began shaking. Donna was a little more prepared, but still got tossed about a bit. "All right. Let's go see what we've got," he called cheerfully, pulling his trench coat on.

Flinging the doors open, they stared out at a very long corridor that was lined with shops. Donna squealed behind him, not even bothering to look apologetic when he glared at her.

"So, where is this?" Martha asked hesitantly.

"Let's go find out," the Doctor said as he stepped out. Looking around, he sniffed and cocked his head. "Either space station or ship," he announced. "The technology suggests nothing terribly advanced, so I'm thinking maybe the thirtieth century."

"And that's not advanced?" Donna asked.

Martha laughed. "Not even. Been to the year five billion. This is nothing." She looked around as well. "In fact, this looks familiar."

The Doctor stared at her. "Familiar how?"

"I swear I've been here before," she repeated, staring at the shops. "I've got it. These are shops straight out of our time. Look at the names."

"Henrick's!" Donna exclaimed. "I loved shopping there before it was blown up."

Martha noticed the Doctor's face fall at that. "Something wrong with shopping?" she asked.

Shaking his head, he plastered a grin on his face. "Nope." Striding forward, he looked into a nearby trash bin. "Neo-plastic wrappers," he said, feeling around inside. Sniffing, he continued. "No meat products. That narrows this down to about the year 2948 or 49."

"So we're nine hundred years into the future?" Donna asked, a little awed. "So what do they use for money?"

"Plastic." The alien stepped over to a small booth and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. The machine chirped and he turned back to the women. "Now, this ought to keep you both amused for quite some time."

The redhead frowned. "This is money?" she asked, staring at the small translucent sheets.

"Yep." He looked around. "Will you two be all right by yourselves for a while?"

"What are you planning?" Martha asked suspiciously.

The Doctor shook his head. "Something just feels … off." Snapping back to the present, he grinned at the two women. "Go on and have fun. You deserve it."

Donna took off, dragging Martha with her. The Doctor saw the hesitant look Martha threw his way and shrugged. He wasn't going to make her go with him.

Striding toward the hum of the engines, he weaved through the crowds. Most were human, but there was an assortment of aliens in the mix. Suppressing a shudder, he tried to banish the images of the GameStation. There were similar feelings running through this station.

The feeling got stronger as he neared the bridge. The sonic screwdriver made quick work of the door, and he wandered around the inner office. Everything was automated, so he saw no one in his prying. None of the computers were out of place, and he shook his head, frustrated that there was no glaring reason for his unease.

He was tempted to go back to the TARDIS and run checks from there when he passed the navigational computer. The numbers jumped off of the screen at him.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he said, typing in a verification request. "This can't be!"

When the coordinates remained unchanged, he flew out the door. He knew that he knocked people over, but he didn't care as he ran as fast as he could back through the crowds. The doors of the TARDIS slowed him down only a tiny bit.

"Doctor! What are you doing?" Rose asked, startled by his appearance.

"Something is very, very, very wrong!" he said as he frantically typed queries into the controls.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked again, frustrated when he didn't answer her. "Doctor, tell me!"

"We shouldn't be here!" he said, shaking his head and never looking up from the readouts. "It's impossible!"

"Where are we?" Rose demanded. She got the answer from the ship and from the Doctor in the same instant.

"Gallifrey."

"But …" she began.

"We're on a ship traveling right through the coordinates where it used to be," the Doctor explained. "These weren't the coordinates that I put in. I don't know why we're here!"

"But if the planet's gone," she said, cringing against the pain on his face, "Then there's nothing to pass through, right? No harm done?"

The TARDIS plunged into absolute darkness, answering Rose's question quickly. She closed her eyes, trying to see into the mind of the ship as she'd been able to do since she'd been drawn back. There was nothing.

"Doctor? Where's the TARDIS? Why can't I see anything?"

"I don't know." There was fear in the alien's voice, and it tore at Rose. "I don't know."

There was a moment of absolute dead calm before the dark ship was thrown about. Rose felt a sensation of movement through the deafening roar. "Doctor!" she called. "Where are you? I can't see you."

There was no answer, and the ghost was scared. She knew that Martha and Donna were trapped outside, and with the Doctor not answering to her shouts, she had never felt her limitations as much as she did then. There was nothing that she could affect, physically, and she'd tried. She'd tried everything she could think of to touch something, but none of her efforts had succeeded.

The noise gradually subsided, and as it did, the TARDIS began giving off dim light. Rose looked around as the ship brightened back close to normal.

"Doctor!" Rose fell to her knees beside the still form. Her hands went through him as she tried to touch him. She could see blood dripping through the grating under his head. His arm twisted unnaturally beneath him, and she could hear his labored breaths. Glancing around, she realized that the ship had been tossed about, since everything loose in the room had been thrown from its place.

Before panic set in, she reached for the TARDIS again. A whisper of the presence she normally felt was there. "How can I help him?"

There was a long silence before the very faint answer came. You can't.