I do not own Doctor Who...I wish I did...or maybe just DT...and Billie...and Chris...and John...the list goes on, really.

The Valiant Child

Chapter One

Rose huffed as she got her bearings. The last trip resulted in her almost landing in a volcano in what she later learned was Pompeii. Maybe she should scout ahead next time; she scoffed at the thought. She'd never send anyone else nor would she waste time on a probe. She shook the ash and dirt off her jacket and walked over to the MedBay.

"Everything go alright?"

Despite a bit of early animosity, mainly due to Rose's insistence that the only doctor she needed was in a different universe, Rose and Martha had become akin to friends the past few years. When they first met, Martha came in on an internship and Rose was just starting out with her own team. The two headstrong women had frequently come to blows over Rose's injuries and stubbornness.

"Yeah, nearly ended up in a documentary though."

Rose smiled wryly as she changed into shorts and a vest.

"Ooh, which one this time? The signing of the Declaration of Independence?"

Rose leaned in conspiratorially. "Nah, I would've ended up one of those skeletons they unearthed in Pompeii."

Martha gave her a stern look before moving to check her over.

"You do realize that your mum may just kill you this time. You missed New Year. Pete's been trying to placate her but she's your mum."

Rose cringed a bit. She'd not been much of a daughter since they got the cannon up and running. She did make it over once a week for family dinner and even took Tony a day or two. She spent time with Pete at work but her relationship with her mum suffered a bit.

"I'll visit on my way home. What's the date?"

"January 14th, Rose."

Pete's voice drifted in through the doorway. Rose looked up to see him standing there, a slightly disappointed look crossed his face.

"You're supposed to get in, get the date, check recent alien events, then leave. You've been staying longer and longer and Jackie's worried. She doesn't think you'll come back one of these days. You need to talk to her because I'm not getting in the middle of it anymore."

He turned to leave but threw a "glad you're back safe" over his shoulder.

The door shut and Rose looked down at her feet.

"Well, why Pompeii? Isn't that a major historical event? As in 'do not mess with?' Why would he be there?"

Martha cleaned a cut on Rose's thigh before grabbing some gauze.

"I don't know. I didn't even get to see him. I just ran and almost ran right into that volcano. I did this weird side-flip-fall thing and ended up on a ledge halfway down. I had to climb out and get away before it went boom."

An amusing hand gesture went with the 'boom.' Martha rolled her eyes and searched for any other injuries. Finding none she shooed Rose off the exam table and out to the break room.

"You do realize that one of these trips, you're going to hurt yourself bad enough for your mum to put a stop to this whole thing. She's been a bit unbearable lately. She's been hanging around waiting for you, which is sweet, but then she yells at the boys, Pete included, and she keeps asking why they can't bring you back; even Owen seems a fair bit scared of her; it's quite funny."

Rose made herself a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream, perfect after the freezing trip back, and sat down.

"I know she can be difficult. She knows we're close and she thinks I'll just swan off without a goodbye. I won't; I do need a bit of a break though. Maybe I'll talk Pete into lending me the zeppelin. I could take mom shopping! That'll work, right?"

The girls smiled and Martha answered.

"It should placate her for a bit. You should have a medical professional around just in case though."

The girls shared a look before breaking out into grins.

"Mum? You home?"

Rose's voice rang through the foyer and up the stairs. Jackie had insisted in living in a more modest home as opposed to the mansion. The large home was still used for social functions and parties though.

"Rose Marion Tyler!"

Rose steadied herself for the barrage on her ear drums that was soon to come. In retrospect, she probably should have kept to the schedule. Despite staying for about an hour longer than she should have, she couldn't really bring herself to regret it. Curiosity did kill the cat, after all.

Jackie Tyler stormed through the hall towards her daughter and grabbed her in a hug. Rose returned it adamantly, apologizing to her mother for worrying her.

"You have a schedule for a reason. You don't know how much time is going by here or there. You could be there for five minutes but it'd be a century here! They're supposed to pull you out but you didn't let them. You have that watch for a reason, Rose."

Now the guilt hit again. After the impressive side-flip-fall incident, she managed to smack her wrist and hand on a particularly hard rock. Her 'watch,' as her mum put it, is actually something similar to a vortex manipulator but with a watch telling her what time it was in Pete's World. It also hooks up to the cannon in order to bring her back through. Rose may have taken a bit longer to fix it than she needed to. She just wanted to see the city before it was buried in magma and ash.

"I know, mum, and I'm sorry. It broke after I arrived and I couldn't let anybody actually see it. I ended up in a city." Not necessarily a lie. "I didn't have much space to myself as it was. I'd rather not be labeled as a witch thank you." Wouldn't be the first time.

Jackie sighed at her daughter.

"Alright but you need to program a backup or code or something to let us know you're alright."

"Mum, the watch transmits back my heart rate, blood press-"

"I don't want to hear it. You let us know you're okay, got it?"

"Yes mum."

Rose looked over her mother's shoulder and saw Pete and Tony peeking around the door jamb to the kitchen. She looked to them pleadingly but neither dared intervene. Granted, even the Doctor was a bit weary of her mum. That slap made things quite clear.

"Now, let's get some food into ya. Did you want some tea?"

Rose smiled.

"Tea and food would be fantastic."

Rose, Jackie, and Martha collapsed on a large couch in the zeppelin. They'd just left a very snobby saleswoman completely scandalized.

They went to New York to do a bit of shopping and ended up in a very posh store. Rose and Martha wandered over to the knickers and bra section as Jackie browsed the dresses. Martha had held up a brilliant blue bra against Rose, stating it just suited her. Rose grabbed a bright green one and tossed it to her friend before declaring they must try them on.

In retrospect, that may have been where it started. The rooms were full, save one, so the girls, being quite used to sharing close quarters on missions, figured they'd be fine with just the one. They changed, modeled for each other, and began giggling profusely. The sales attendant came into the corridor, knocked on their door, and admonished them, stating only one per room.

Martha and Rose shared a look and a wink before Martha pushed Rose against the wall and snogged her. The saleswoman had opened the door and, within a minute, Martha and Rose were escorted out of the store, laughing; they were told not to come back. Jackie ended up buying their bras as well as knickers for their 'honeymoon.'

Now the girls were on their way back to London, still giggling.

"I'd have loved to see her face."

"She was bright red, mum. Absolutely horrified. Granted, the wandering hands bit might've been a bit uncalled for."

Martha snorted into her tea.

"You groped her arse and she flew ten feet into the air! It was hilarious."

It had been a month since the Bra Incident and Rose was getting restless again. She'd taken a bit of a break, mother's orders. Pete had also delegated her the job of 'artifact identification.' In other words, she got to spend days labeling and writing up reports of various alien objects. She wasn't even allowed to go out with her team on their trip to Kenya. There was a suspected crash landing that took place there and, being the Earth's chief alien liaison, Rose had anticipated going. Pete had told her no. Now she was grumbling, upside-down and half flung out of a Sontaran escape pod, trying to fix the gravitational stabilizers.

"Knock knock."

Mickey stepped through the double doors and into the large room, bearing Chinese take away and drinks. He heard a muffled 'over here' and walked over to the large scrap of metal. He could see Rose's legs sticking out somewhere towards the top. He snapped a quick picture of her and one of the food and sent them to her.

Rose looked at her watch and saw the pictures. She grumbled a bit more as she tried to extricate herself from the metal structure.

After about five minutes, she emerged, hand extended for her drink. Mickey smiled and dished up the food.

"You know, you keep up this workaholic attitude and your mum won't let you back on cannon work."

"I know. I just…I need something to do aside from this paperwork mess. I need to be out there, doing something, helping someone. I couldn't go with Jake, Pete won't put me back with the cannon, I barely see Martha, or you, and I'm getting more restless than the Doctor."

Rose rested her chin in her hand as she ate her chicken. She'd been starting to despise the slow path. Honestly, she had no idea how Sarah-Jane did it. Then again, she's a bit older, more years of coping behind her, different kinds of adventures to enjoy.

"Now, that's a bit of an overstatement isn't it? I mean, the Doctor? Really? You used to be able to do this stuff; stay in for a night with me or your mum. Now, all you do is work until someone kicks you out and then you go back to your apartment and collapse. It's not healthy, babe. You need another project. Why not teach gymnastics at your old school? That'd be-"

"No. It's not my old school Mickey. Nothing here is mine. I have an apartment because I couldn't take mum's hovering. I have a job because it'll get me back home. I have an identity because Ianto and Pete made one for me. Nothing here is mine."

A long silence ensued.

"Ya know, you got me, your mum, Tony, Pete, Martha, Jake, Owen, Gwen, etcetera, all who love you, don't ask me why, and who will help you get back home, but Rose, to us, it's not just getting you back home; it's you leaving us. You'll be gone from our lives. We still need you, babe."

Rose looked up at him. He looked so much older now. She stood and wrapped him in a hug.

"I get that. I do. I don't want to leave any of you. I've come to love all of you and it hurts that I'll say goodbye but we also don't have time to waste. Five more stars have disappeared since last night. We're running out of time, Mickey."

"Run 246: Visual communication only. Location: Midnight. Locked on to sonic device and projecting through nearest screen. Begin in 3-2-1."

Rose felt like cold water was dumped on her head. They'd designed a webcam of sorts, able to lock on to any video device and use it as a video link to the subject back in the control chamber. Rose would be able to see through to the area where the Doctor was during their brief communication window.

She opened her eyes and saw him, well, his back. Her breath hitched and she began to scream his name, trying to get his attention. Then she felt like she was being pulled out of a lake. She opened her eyes again and saw she was back in the control room. She felt tears well up. She'd been so close. If he had just turned around. If someone had just looked at her, it would have been worth it.

The building shook with the force of the explosion. Everyone was underground in the bunker below Buckingham Palace or they were dead. Rose and her team were frantically sweeping the floors of the tourist offices and sending everyone to Cardiff Central Station, where a transport was waiting to take them to the bunker. The Daleks had come and destroyed almost everything in a matter of hours. Only a few government strongholds were left and they were trying to evacuate the last of Cardiff. They had set up a frequency speaker on the rift. Daleks are resilient but they really don't like high-pitched, loud noises. Neither do humans but it was a decent tradeoff.

They reached the roof and found no more people.

"Hey, Owen. We're at the top. That's everyone. Start bringing people out and we'll meet you back at the tower."

"Aye, aye, Commander Tyler, ma'am."

"Owen, I'm so gonna slap you when I see you."

"Love you too, Rosie-Posie."

"Oi, you two stop canoodling and get back to work."

Rose turned to Jake and Mickey who were trying, and failing, to hide their laughter.

"Oh, shut it, boys."

Rose made her way to the cannon room. They worked it into the old breach equipment so she at least got some sun up on that floor. She did, anyway; now, the windows were covered with sheets of metal and the tower had been turned into a giant transmitter. They set up frequency transmitters all over London. Rose's favorite was the London Eye.

She walked into the room, followed by Mickey and Jake. Jackie, Tony, Pete, Martha, Owen, Ianto, and Gwen were already in the room. They all just stood around for a minute before Pete spoke up.

"Is this goodbye then?"

After the Donna parallel world debacle, Rose told Pete it wouldn't be much longer until she actually went over to stop this, and likely stay.

"Yeah."

There was more silence and then Owen threw himself at Rose's feet.

"Nobody gets me like you do, Rosalie. You're my long-lost sister, except for the flirting incessantly thing. I don't want you to go."

He began to dramatically sob into her knees. Rolling her eyes, Gwen came up and hugged Rose, avoiding Owen.

"I'll miss you, Gwenny."

"I'll miss you too Rose."

The procession of goodbyes lasted a few, short minutes. Owen let go when Jackie stepped forward to say goodbye.

"You'll always be my little girl. You may have grown up a bit but nothing will ever change the fact that I love you. If he doesn't do what's right and keep you safe, you tell him I'll find a way back across and I'll be sure to pay him a visit."

Rose choked a laugh before diving into her mother's arms.

"I love you mum. Always have, always will."

"Oh, I love you too sweetheart. Be safe."

Rose nodded into her shoulder before stepping back.

"Well, I'll see you on the other side."

She ran towards the white wall and with a bright, golden-blue flash, she was gone.

I do not have a beta so any mistakes are mine. I also live in Vermont, in the States, so I know there's bound to be weird words thrown in here or there and I apologize in advance. I do try to incorporate some words, like "chips" and "vest," that mean different things here.