Disclaimer: Doctor Who is not mine! I own nothing!
Donna wandered down the corridors of the TARDIS. Even though she'd been with the Doctor a few months now, there were still parts of the TARDIS she hadn't explored yet. It just seemed to go on forever. Even when she'd thought she'd seen everything in a certain area, new rooms or corridors seemed to appear. Sometimes rooms seemed to disappear and reappear in another place. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen.
She'd left the Doctor fiddling around under the central column, as usual. She passed her room and continued on her way down the hallway. She started to wonder where the Doctor's room was. He'd told her he didn't sleep, well he could he just didn't need to.
As if the TARDIS had read her thoughts, a door opened to her left. She walked slowly over to it and stood in the doorway. Peering in, she saw the room was filled with weird and wonderful pieces of alien technology. Some whirred and emitted colourful lights where others simply stood quietly. The parts of the walls that weren't covered up by the machines were dotted with those weird circles and symbols the Doctor had told her was the Gallifreyan language. On the far side amongst all the chaos, was a fancy four-poster bed, similar to the one in her room. She entered the room, her eyes travelling over everything, taking it all in.
As she walked over to the bed, she spotted a load of photographs piled up on the bedside table. They were all of the Doctor and his companions over the years. He'd explained to her how he regenerated but even if he hadn't have told her, she would have recognised those eyes anywhere.
She smiled at the latest photo of her and the Doctor. It was taken on a planet where the grass was purple and the rivers and seas sparkled like diamonds. The Doctor had scooped some of the water in his hands and shown her the tiny crystals left on them after the water had drained away.
As she sat on the edge of his bed, another photo caught her eye. It had been placed separate from the rest. The Doctor was smiling at a blonde woman with brown eyes. She was beaming at the camera she was holding, her pink tongue poking out between her teeth. The Doctor was looking straight at her. Donna could almost feel the love in those eyes. The corners of the picture were slightly crumpled as if it had been held a lot and attempts to straighten it out had been made. She obviously meant a lot to him.
A sound stirred her from her thoughts and she looked up. The Doctor was stood in the doorway, staring at her. His face was blank and his hands were shoved in his pockets.
"I'm sorry, I was wandering...the door was open and I..." She stammered. The Doctor remained silent as he continued to stare. "This girl – this woman..." Donna held the photo up to him. "This is the friend you told me about, the one you'd lost. This is Rose Tyler." The Doctor walked over to her and took the photograph from her hands. He turned his back to her as he looked down at it. "What happened to her?"
The Doctor continued to say nothing. She saw his shoulders shaking and he bowed his head.
She was about to stand up and leave to give him some privacy when he turned around to face her. His eyes were bright red as he sobbed and he clutched the photo to his hearts. Donna stood up and wrapped her arms around him. He cried into her shoulder and held her tight to his chest. She'd never seen the Doctor like this and in a way it scared her a little, but what she felt the most was a deep sadness for him.
When he stopped crying, she led him over to his bed and sat him on the edge. She sat next to him and took her hand in his.
"The day I lost her was one of the worst days of my life." He whispered.
As he explained what happened, fresh tears rolled down his face and Donna felt her own eyes watering.
"I'm so sorry." She told him when he'd finished. He smiled weakly at her and squeezed her hand. "She meant a lot to you. I think you lo-"
"I never got to tell her." He said, cutting her off before she could finish. "All the times I wanted to but I was just so scared."
"Scared of what?" She asked.
"Scared that she didn't feel the same, scared of admitting my feelings and then losing her. I thought, the longer I kept from telling her, the longer I could hold on to her somehow. But now it's too late and every day I regret not telling her." The Doctor explained.
"And there's no way of seeing her again?" Donna asked.
"No. The walls between the parallel universes have closed. If I even try to get through, a hole would rip through time and space and every universe would collapse." He told her.
The Doctor and Donna sat in silence for a while. It was hard to tell the time of day on the TARDIS but Donna knew it was getting late.
"I should be heading off to my own room now." She said. Pulling the Doctor into one last hug, she stood up and went to leave. "Goodnight Doctor."
"Night Donna." He smiled. "Thank you...it felt good to talk about this."
Donna smiled at him and left the room.
The Doctor kicked off his shoes and lay on his bed, the photo held to his chest.
A few days later, Donna was sat on the seat in the TARDIS' main room. The Doctor was still fiddling around under the central column. Her eyes wandered around the room as she waited for him to come up and tell her where they were headed next.
Something on the monitor caught her eyes. It was just a quick flash but she thought she saw a face and a flash of blonde hair. She watched the monitor for a few seconds to see if it would change again. When it didn't she shook her head and rolled her eyes at herself. Now she was seeing things.
But then it happened again, this time the picture stayed on for a few more seconds.
"Rose!" She shouted. The Doctor poked his head out from the grate and stared wide-eyed at her. "Rose – she was just on the screen."
He climbed out and ran over to the monitor. He frantically began to press buttons to try and bring the image back up.
"Donna, are you sure it was Rose?" He asked.
"Positive." She nodded.
"What was she doing? Did she say anything?" He demanded.
"I...I don't know...it was too fast...she was...I think she was shouting 'Doctor' but I couldn't hear anything." Donna frowned.
"How is that possible?" He asked, more to himself rather than her. Standing back from the monitor, he watched it intensely, waiting for something to happen. He gave up after a few minutes. "Donna, if you see it again, hit this button. It'll record it and hopefully keep it up for longer."
She nodded and watched him disappear off down the corridors of the TARDIS.
"What about you? What are you going to do?" She called.
"I just...need some time." He answered.
Donna watched the monitor for hours with no results. She was starting to get hungry and she needed to use the bathroom. The Doctor hadn't returned and she didn't know what to do. If she was quick, she might not miss anything.
She ran off in search of the nearest bathroom.
After grabbing something to eat from the kitchen, she made her way back to the main room. She froze as she heard a voice – a female voice.
"Doctor! Doctor where are you?" She shouted.
Donna ran into the main room and looked at the monitor. Rose stared back at her as she walked over to the monitor. The image crackled and broke up like an old chewed up video.
"Rose, I'm Donna Noble I'm travelling with the Doctor. What is it? Is there something wrong?" Donna asked quickly as she hit the button the Doctor indicated.
"Where's the Doctor? Is he with you?" Rose asked, her voice sounded hopeful.
"I don't know. He – he just disappeared somewhere." Donna answered. "I can find him if you want."
The image faded into snow then back again.
"No time." Rose's voice said. "Keeps breaking up...Torchwood...Captain Jack..."
Donna tried to make sense of the random words Rose shouted out through the poor quality connection.
"I can't – I don't understand. What are you trying to say?" Donna shouted.
"Tell him...Torchwood Three...Jack...the rift..." She repeated. Rose screamed in frustration. The image cleared a little. "Get him to Jack...the answer...Torchwood has the answer."
"The answer to what?" Donna asked. The connection was cut off and the screen went black. Donna hit the button over and over again but nothing happened. "Rose. Rose are you still there?"
The Doctor ran over to her.
After hearing the commotion, he'd ran as fast as he could to get back to her.
"What is it? What happened?" He demanded.
"Rose, she was on the screen. She was talking to me. She said something – about a Captain Jack. Something about...something three? They have the answer." She told him.
The Doctor took out his glasses and hit another button, bringing up the recording. He stared at the screen long after the recording had finished. His eyes were watering again and he reached out to touch the screen.
Donna noticed for the first time that he was holding the jacket she'd found on her first day in the TARDIS. His fingers seemed to tighten around it.
After a few seconds, he pulled himself together and turned back to Donna.
"The answer? The answer to what?" He asked.
"I don't know. I asked her but she was cut off before she could answer." She replied. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to Cardiff to give Captain Jack Harkness and his team at Torchwood a little visit." The Doctor answered simply.
He threw the jacket onto the seat and started running around the control panel, hitting buttons and pulling switches. The central column started moving up and down as the TARDIS travelled through time and space. Donna walked up to him and stood by his side.
"Where did you go?" She asked softly.
"Rose's room." He answered quietly. "I go in there when I need some alone time or whenever the pain gets too much. I got the TARDIS to preserve it exactly as she'd left it – even her smell." A small smile had crept onto the Doctor's face as memories of Rose flashed through his mind. The TARDIS shook and he turned to Donna. "Donna Noble, meet Captain Jack Harkness."
The Doctor opened the door to reveal the location.
They left the TARDIS and she saw that they were in front of the water tower outside the Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
As the Doctor expected, a man in a long blue coat came running towards them, a big grin on his face.
"Wondered when I'd be seeing you again." Jack smiled. "If I ever saw you at all." Donna smiled at the handsome blue-eyed man in front of her. Jack caught her looking and winked. "And who is this charming young lady?"
Jack took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. She giggled like a schoolgirl.
"Jack, not now." The Doctor sighed. "This is Donna Noble."
"What a pleasure it is to meet you." Jack grinned.
"Jack." The Doctor warned.
"Oh, I don't mind, honestly." Donna said quickly.
The Doctor rolled his eyes at them both and shook his head.
"So what brings you here? I take it you're not here on a visit." Jack said.
"No, not exactly." The Doctor answered. "Listen, could we go somewhere a bit more private?"
"Thought you'd never ask. But you can't expect to just come back and ask me something like that. Isn't there some catching up to do first?" Jack smirked. He caught the Doctor's expression and laughed. "I'm kidding. Come on Doctor, Ms Noble, come meet my team." Jack turned to step on the invisible lift when he saw the TARDIS had landed right on top of it. "You're kind of parked on the more scenic entrance so we'll have to go through the tourist shop." Jack led them to the little shop and held the door open for them. Another man in a suit was standing behind a counter. Jack entered and smiled at him. "Ianto Jones, this is the Doctor and Donna Noble."
Ianto's eyes widened as he shook their hands.
"The Doctor? It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Jack's told us...not so much about you. We're all curious to hear more though." Ianto told them.
"Nice to meet you too Ianto Jones." The Doctor smiled. Jack pressed a button behind the desk to open the secret door. "Oh, a secret door. How clever!" Jack grinned at the Doctor's comment and led them into the corridor beyond. Donna stared around her in fascination as they entered through the rolling door. "Oh, now this is brilliant." The Doctor grinned.
A dark haired woman walked over to them, smiling at them.
"Jack?" She asked in confusion as a small Japanese woman and a man in a white lab coat joined her.
"Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, meet the Doctor and Donna Noble." Jack said.
The three of them stood staring at the Doctor in amazement.
As he shook Gwen's hand, Donna noticed the pink tinge to her cheeks as she smiled shyly at the Doctor. The man in the white coat coughed and she looked at him quickly, the blush deepening. Owen took the Doctor's hand and shook it quickly, stepping back as Tosh took her turn.
Donna watched the look that passed between Gwen and Owen and quickly pieced things together. Gwen saw her watching them and quickly smiled at her, holding out her hand for Donna to shake.
"Donna, isn't it?" She asked.
"Yes, that's right." Donna nodded. She stepped closer to Gwen and whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
"Oh, it's not a secret." Gwen laughed. "We've been together for a couple of weeks. It's actually a bit complicated...very complicated. Anyway, he just gets jealous easily."
"Oh if you think your relationship's complicated, I almost married a man who was with a giant spider." Donna told her.
The Doctor and Donna stood at the head of the table in the meeting room as the Torchwood team sat, waiting patiently for them to start. Jack sat at the end with Tosh and Ianto on one side and Gwen and Owen on the other. Donna smiled at their hands clasped in Gwen's lap.
"So we were on the TARDIS and we receive a message from an old friend in a parallel universe. It's not -"
"Rose? You got a message from Rose?" Jack asked excitedly.
"Yes. But the thing is, it shouldn't have even been possible for her to send a message to the TARDIS. The thing is -"
"What's a TARDIS?" Gwen asked.
"It's a time machine. TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." Ianto explained.
"Yes, that's right." The Doctor nodded, amazed. "How did you know that?"
"I did some research." Ianto shrugged.
"Oh...ok. Now, please no more interruptions." The Doctor said. "Anyway, so we get a message from Rose. I don't know how and I don't know why. The connection was too bad for her to tell us much. All she said was that I had to come here to Torchwood. She said that you had the answer to something – I don't know what to, just that you have it."
"How do we know if we have it if we don't know what it is we're supposed to be answering?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. Has there been anything strange happening? Anything strange coming through the rift?" The Doctor asked them.
The team looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Nothing we don't usually get." Gwen answered.
"Any unusual readings?" He asked again.
The team looked to Tosh and she pulled out her PDA.
"Nope, nothing out of the ordinary." She replied.
The Doctor started pacing, running his hand through his hair.
"What is it she wants us to find? Is there something coming she's preparing us for?" He asked himself. He thought about the message she sent and stopped pacing abruptly. What if she was trying to get through to him again? He wouldn't know if he was all the way down here. He turned to Tosh. "Sorry, Toshiko wasn't it?"
"Yes." She nodded.
"Good, Toshiko do you think you could link the TARDIS communication wavelength to one of these monitors?" He asked.
"Possibly. I'll need the base code though." She told him.
"Oh that's alright." He said and took the PDA from her and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. Pointing it at the device, he smiled as the team watched him in fascination. "There we go."
He passed the device back to Tosh. She pressed a few buttons and smiled up at the Doctor.
"Done." She grinned.
"The only problem is, the quality isn't very good. The image breaks up and doesn't last for long." He told her.
"Well, I could boost the signal using the water tower, like when Ianto used it to get a signal on his phone when the Hub went into lock down. If we boost the signal, we might be able to get a clearer reception." She suggested.
"Toshiko Sato, you are a genius." The Doctor grinned.
She blushed and smiled shyly.
"So do you really have no idea what it is Rose was trying to tell you?" Jack asked.
"She couldn't tell us much, the connection kept breaking up." Donna answered. "She mentioned something though, the rift? What's that?"
"It's a giant crack in space and time. Torchwood is here to protect the Earth from what comes through it. Literally anything and anyone can come through it and sometimes things are taken through but we try to stop that." Jack explained.
"So does she mean that something's coming through? Or going to be taken? Maybe she knows how to stop it." Donna shrugged.
"No she didn't sound urgent enough for that." The Doctor answered. "Wait a minute...coming through...coming through the rift...but she couldn't...it's too dangerous...there's no..."
Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to explain.
Jack suddenly caught up and stood up.
"No way, she can't." Jack shouted.
"But how? How can she -"
"Will someone tell us what's going on please?" Gwen demanded.
The Doctor and Jack looked up at her as though they'd only just remembered they were in the room. Donna placed her hand on the Doctor's arm.
"What is it?" She asked.
"I think – I think...she's planning on opening the rift at her end and we open it from here so she can get back through." The Doctor told them. "But how can she be certain that she's going to end up here? That rift could take her anywhere."
"She could be killed." Jack whispered.
"Don't." The Doctor spat as he glared at Jack. There was a moments silence in which no one knew what to say. "I need to speak to her."
"How? Did she say she was going to try to get in touch with you again?" Jack asked.
"No and we can't wait for her to try. I need to get through to her but how?" The Doctor growled in frustration.
"You could always press redial." Ianto shrugged.
Everyone turned to look at Ianto. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Ianto this is serious. No offence, this is not the time for one of your jokes." He said.
"I wasn't joking." Ianto said. "You could reverse the signal."
Everyone watched the cogs turn in the Doctor's head.
"It...just might work." The Doctor called as he ran out of the room. "Come on."
"He's always like this." Donna sighed as they followed him quickly from the room.
The Doctor was tapping away at one of the workstations when they caught up with him, his glasses perched on his nose. Gwen raised her eyebrow as she admired him, earning a glare from Owen.
"Why won't this work?" The Doctor growled.
"The keyboard's are designed to work for Torchwood operatives only. They don't recognise your DNA." Tosh told him.
"Clever. Whose computer is this?" He asked.
"It's mine." Gwen answered and stepped up.
"Ok Gwen, all you need to do is run the signal through the computer and then reverse it." He explained.
Gwen tapped a few buttons and nodded. The Doctor reached around her and showed her which buttons to press when she got stuck. She blushed again, feeling his warm chest pressing up against her back.
"Signal's reversing." She said.
Owen wrapped an arm around her waist possessively as they all waited anxiously for anything to happen. The Doctor tapped his foot impatiently.
"Come on. Come on." He muttered. Suddenly a picture came up onto the screen and someone moved into view. "Rose." He whispered.
Donna smiled up at him as he smiled at the screen.
"Doctor?" Rose called.
"Rose, I'm here. It's me." He smiled, tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Oh my God, it's you." She grinned back.
Jack stepped into view and waved.
"Hey, long time no see." He smiled.
"Jack Harkness." She giggled. "I'm sorry about the...bringing you back for good thing. I've only just found out myself."
"Don't worry about it." Jack shrugged.
"So you've made it to Torchwood and I guess you've figured out my plan. I knew you'd try and stop me." She sighed.
"Rose, it's dangerous. You could end up anywhere. You could end up -" The Doctor choked on his last word and shook his head. "You can't do this."
"I want to come back to you Doctor. Don't you want me back?" She asked, a little wounded.
"Of course I do Rose. Every day I wish there was some way I could bring you back. But you can't do this. It's too dangerous." He explained.
"Not to mention the last time the rift was opened, all hell broke loose." Jack added, shooting a look at Owen.
"Last time you didn't have the TARDIS." Rose said.
"What do you mean?" The Doctor frowned.
"I might as well start from the beginning." Rose sighed. "When you left me on that beach, I didn't know what to do. I spent months just wasting my life, hoping you'd come back for me. My mum and dad brought me to my senses and I got a job working with my dad. We rebuilt Torchwood One and we've been working here ever since. We've tried to get those teleportation disks working but we couldn't. All we could do was enter co-ordinates but that was it. That's when it hit me. If I stepped into the rift with one of these and entered the co-ordinates for Torchwood Cardiff in your universe, I could teleport there. We did a few simple tests transporting from one place to the other in this world and it worked. The trouble was when we tried to get to a different universe, it wouldn't work unless the rift was opened there. We tested it once and it was completely safe. If the rift is open at both ends, I can get back."
"Where does the TARDIS come into this?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, we all know it's dangerous to mess with the rift but the TARDIS can stabilise it and keep it safe. As soon as I'm through, the rift can be closed again." Rose answered. The Doctor looked at Jack and the rest of the team. He looked at Donna and she smiled at him, nodding. "What do you think?" Rose asked nervously.
The Doctor turned to her and sighed. It was risky. He'd be putting the whole planet in danger if it went wrong. The thought of having Rose back though...was he willing to risk everything to make himself happy?
Jack placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded slightly.
"We can bring Rose back." Jack whispered.
The Doctor looked between him and Rose. A small smile appeared on his lips and he nodded.
"Rose Tyler, we're bringing you back." He smiled.
She cheered and clapped her hands. The Doctor watched her in adoration and chuckled.
"Let's get to it." Jack said, clapping him on the back.
"Right, you lot do your bit, Donna with me to the TARDIS." He told them.
Jack handed him one of their communications devices.
"So we can keep in touch while we do this." He told him.
The Doctor clipped it to his ear and led Donna back out to the TARDIS. Rose disappeared out of view as she got into position. Jack could just make out the Torchwood One team behind her, ready to take her orders.
Both teams entered the codes and security procedures to open the rift. Tosh's finger hovered over the enter button as she waited for her signal.
Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor also had his finger waiting to press the button that would keep the rift stable. Donna was standing by the monitor, watching the readings for any signs of trouble.
"Ok, here goes." Rose whispered nervously. She entered the co-ordinates into the disk and turned to nod at one of her team members. "Three..."
"Two..." Jack said.
"One!" The Doctor shouted and hit the button. "Get ready to close it again."
Both the Torchwood bases began to shake as the ground rumbled beneath them. Everyone found something to cling onto. Gwen grabbed Owen's hand and held it tight.
Rose took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she stepped forward into a blinding white light. The disk was clutched tightly in her hand as she prayed it would work.
"Please." She whispered.
She'd lied about the test. She knew the Doctor would never have tried if she hadn't have told him.
Donna read the readings out to the Doctor. Everything seemed to be going fine so far.
"Donna, come here and keep your finger on this button." He shouted over the noise. She ran over and took over from him as he ran out of the TARDIS. A white light filled the area and he had to shield his eyes from the light as he tried to keep himself steady. A dark shape began to form in the light. It slowly spread out into the shape of a figure. It was blurry around the edges but it was getting clearer by the second until Rose was stood in front of him, her eyes screwed shut and hair whipping around her face. "Now." The Doctor bellowed.
"Now." Jack repeated, shouting to his team.
Tosh hit the enter button again as Gwen and Owen did their best to type in the codes that would secure it once it was closed.
The rumbling stopped and the light disappeared. Everyone looked around, making sure everything was ok. Jack turned the monitor to the CCTV overlooking the Plass.
Rose opened her eyes and found herself looking straight into the Doctor's brown ones. They stared at each other in disbelief before Rose launched herself at him, her arms wrapping around his neck. His arms locked around her waist as he lifted her off the ground and spun her around. When he placed her back on the ground, both their eyes were sparkling with tears of happiness. He cupped her face in his hand and smiled.
"Rose Tyler..." He whispered.
"Doctor..." She replied.
"I love you." He told her.
"I love you too." She smiled, the tears pouring down her face.
He lifted her off the ground again and into a kiss. Her fingers locked into his hair as she deepened the kiss.
"Hey, quit hogging her." A voice said in his ear.
The Doctor laughed and put her down.
"Come on, Captain Jack's waiting to see you and there's some people for you to meet." He told her. He took her into the TARDIS, holding her hand tight in his. Rose looked around, sighing happily. He smiled over at Donna. "Rose Tyler, Donna Noble."
"The Doctor's told me a lot about you." Donna grinned.
"Oh God, what's he been saying?" Rose giggled.
"Oh just how much he loves you. How he's head over heels in love with you." Donna told her.
"Thanks Donna." The Doctor nodded, embarrassed. "Now ladies, can I escort you to the Torchwood Hub?"
He held out an arm for each of them and they stepped up, linking their arms through his.
Jack grinned at the three of them as they stood in the doorway before running up and hugging Rose tight.
"Oh it has been too long." Jack sighed.
"It has." Rose nodded. Jack turned to his team and introduced them all to Rose. They were sat in the boardroom, Ianto providing coffee for them all. "This is so weird. I've met Torchwood Three in the parallel universe but things were a bit different there."
"What was it like?" Gwen asked curiously.
Rose looked at the Doctor and bit her lip.
"I don't think I should. The wrong thing said in the wrong place..." She said.
"Oh I think we'll be alright here." The Doctor shrugged.
"Well...it was strange, there was no Captain Jack Harkness." She said, smiling at the Captain.
"A universe without Captain Jack? What kind of universe is that?" Jack said.
The rest of the team laughed at him and turned to Rose, waiting to hear more.
"A woman named Suzie Costello used to be in charge but something happened to her. I wasn't told what though. The second in command, Gwen Cooper took over then." Gwen grinned at the idea of that. "She was married to a Rhys Williams who also worked for Torchwood." The smile disappeared from Gwen's face and she sighed. "Ianto Jones was then made second in command. He had a girlfriend, Lisa, who didn't know about Torchwood."
Everyone turned to Ianto. A sad look had appeared on his face but he quickly shook it off as Jack placed a comforting hand over his.
"Did that Ianto Jones still make the coffee?" He asked.
"The best." Rose nodded.
"Nothing can beat a Ianto Jones coffee." Ianto said to himself.
"There was a Toshiko Sato but she mostly kept herself to herself. I didn't really find out much about her. Owen Harper joined the team recently. He was a bit hopeless to be honest, bless him." Rose smiled, her tongue between her teeth.
Donna recognised the smile straight away and couldn't help but smile too.
"Why did I have to be the useless new boy?" Owen moaned.
"Shut up Newbie." Gwen grinned.
He folded his arms over his chest and sulked as she placed a hand on his knee. After a few seconds of batting her long lashes at him, he smiled and took her hand in his.
Rose looked at the Doctor and smiled. Right now, she was the happiest woman on Earth. She'd been so determined to get back to the Doctor's side and she was finally here once again, where she belonged. There was no way she was going to be separated from him again.
When the Doctor led her and Donna back to the TARDIS, he turned to Rose and looked at her.
"Rose, are you sure this is what you want? What about your mum and Micky and Pete?" He asked.
"They want me to be happy. They knew I wasn't happy there without you." She answered. "I'll miss them a lot but I want to be here with you."
The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it then he turned to Donna.
"At last, there's another woman on board for you to do womanly things with." He smiled.
"Actually Doctor, I think I want to go home. I should stop running away from reality and face the real world. The TARDIS was an easy escape for me." Donna told him. "I'd only be in the way here anyway."
"No you wouldn't." Rose said. "Donna, I know better than anyone how hard it is to give this life up. You won't be able to live a normal life again. Stay with us. You won't be in the way."
"I don't know." Donna shrugged.
"Please." Rose begged.
"Donna don't make me beg too." The Doctor added.
She giggled and shook her head.
"Ok, I'll stay for a little while." She said.
"Good." The Doctor nodded. "Now Donna if you could show Miss Tyler to her room."
"But I don't know where -"
"Course you do. It's right next to yours." He grinned.
Donna frowned and tried to think if she'd seen any doors next to hers.
"The rooms move around." Rose told her. "It confused me when I first came onto the TARDIS. You get used to it after a while."
"Oh." Donna said. "But Doctor, I thought with Rose back...you'd be sharing rooms."
"We are." He nodded. Both women raised their eyebrows at him. The Doctor looked between the two of them before realising they were waiting for him to explain. "I was thinking you could give her a hand moving her things into my room."
"Are you sure it's all going to fit with all those machines in there?" Donna asked.
"Yeah." He nodded simply. Donna rolled her eyes and walked off towards Rose's room. Rose went to follow her but the Doctor caught her arm and pulled her into a hug. "Did I tell you I love you?"
"Yeah but you can tell me again if you like." She laughed.
How he'd missed that laugh and the way she'd hold her tongue between her teeth, sometimes running it across her bottom lip. He took the lip in question between his own and kissed her gently.
"I love you Rose Tyler." He told her.
"I love you too Doctor." She smiled.
He watched her go and felt both his hearts fluttering.
The TARDIS let out a gentle note as if it was sighing happily.
"I know." The Doctor whispered, turning to stroke the controls. "Rose Tyler's home."