The Doctor tapped his fingers against his leg as the lift took them from the top of Torchwood Tower to the lower levels. He just wanted to be at home with Rose, preferably in bed as they celebrated their unlikely victory. It was easy to imagine how differently the day could have gone, and he was desperate to hold his wife until it sank in that she hadn't fallen into the Void.
Finally the lift doors opened, and he darted out into the corridor. He took two more steps before he realised Rose wasn't with him.
When he turned around, she was still in the lift, looking like she wanted to be sick. "Rose?" The Doctor strode back to her and pressed his hand to her forehead, but her skin was cool. The doors started to close, and he took her hand and pulled her into the corridor.
Rose sucked in a sharp breath and pulled her hand out of his grasp. The Doctor blinked a few times, then he remembered that until she'd managed to rescue herself, her hands been clinging to a lever against the powerful force of the Void.
She flinched when he reached for her hands, and he shook his head. "I'll be careful," he promised quietly. Then he gently took her wrists and turned so he could see her palms.
He winced sympathetically when he saw the angry, red abrasions on both hands. "I can fix this," he promised, pulling the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.
"Is there anything the sonic can't do?" Rose asked as he adjusted the setting.
"It doesn't do wood." He pointed the device at her scraped hands and the familiar hum echoed in the empty corridor. "And even though I've tried, I haven't managed to create a remote for the TARDIS. I'd love to be able to just press the button on the sonic and have her come to us, like the sonic is a homing beacon."
"Oh, that would solve so many problems," Rose agreed as the wounds on her hands healed.
When the last scratch disappeared, the Doctor put the sonic away, then lifted her hands and pressed kisses to the still-swollen flesh. "Better, at least?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Good." He clasped her hand in his own, but Rose remained where she was when he took a step towards the TARDIS. "What's wrong, love?"
Her weak smile made his stomach tighten unpleasantly. That was her "I've just realised something you won't like" smile, and she was almost always right.
"My mum is in the TARDIS," she muttered.
The Doctor raked his hand through his hair. Jackie was in the TARDIS. Jackie, who just twenty minutes ago had insisted they would talk about his intentions.
"Right. We could… go back to the flat instead?" he suggested. "The TARDIS is a time machine after all—we could spend the evening alone in the flat, then come back and get Jackie and only half an hour would have passed for her."
Rose pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "The TARDIS is a time machine currently stuck in one time stream," she pointed out patiently. "We've gotta go."
The Doctor sighed, but let Rose take his hand and lead the way home. "So what's this earlier conversation you had that she said you'd come back to?" To his surprise, she turned bright red and pressed her lips into a thin line. "Rose?"
"That was just Mum being Mum."
The Doctor pulled Rose to a stop fifteen feet from the TARDIS. "Yes, and she's waiting for us in there. I'd like to know what I'm about to walk into."
Rose sighed, but she couldn't deny the fairness in what he asked. "She was going on earlier, asking what I planned to do if you ever dropped me back at home."
He frowned. "I told you, I'm never going to do that to you." The muscle in his jaw twitched. "I thought… Senfina… I thought you understood."
Rose groaned and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. Oh, I knew I'd muck this up somehow. She heard fabric rustle and reached for the Doctor's hand before he could withdraw completely.
The lines around his eyes eased when she stroked her knuckles over his cheek before cupping his jaw in her hand. "I do, Doctor," she promised. "But Mum doesn't know we're married."
She held her breath after saying those words. Neither of them had ever verbalised what exactly the vows exchanged on Senfina had meant. Despite everything, there was still a tiny piece of Rose that worried the Doctor would panic in the face of such a… domestic label.
Instead, the hand she still held tightened convulsively. He whipped around to look at the TARDIS, and she saw his Adam's apple bob. "Oh, this is bad," he said, his voice squeaky. "This is very bad." He looked back at Rose. "Are you sure we can't just leave her there? We could try the domestic life. I was exiled in London once and survived… As long as I have you, I could do it again."
The Doctor's very typical fears eliminated Rose's. She chuckled and squeezed his hand. "Nah, that would never work," she said as she pulled him across the warehouse. "We just need to tell her we eloped and get it over with."
"Oh, she's going to slap me for this," he muttered.
Rose shook her head as she reached for her key. "She'll have to get through me first," she promised. "I'm not gonna let her hit you because of a decision we made together."
The Doctor pulled her close before she could fit her key into the lock. "Rose Tyler," he murmured into her hair as he pressed a kiss to her temple.
Rose pulled back and looked at him. It felt like there was something more he wanted to say, but when she looked into his eyes, he smiled and shook his head.
"Let's talk to your mum first," he told her, and Rose nodded and opened the door.
"Rose!" Jackie ran down the ramp and wrapped Rose in a fierce hug as soon as they stepped into the TARDIS. The Doctor closed the doors, then shifted around them to the console. While he set the coordinates for the Powell Estate, he listened Jackie's sharp exclamations as she listed all her fears, and Rose's softer voice calming her, reminding her that everything was okay.
He rested his hand on the dematerialisation lever, but didn't move it for a moment. We need an easy trip, he told the TARDIS. The lights glowed brighter for a moment, and he threw the lever.
Were it not for the movement of the time rotor, the Doctor wouldn't have known they were in flight. And when they landed, it was with the softest bump imaginable. He patted the console in thanks, then walked back to the door.
"We're back in the flat, Jackie."
Rose took his hand as Jackie opened the door, then sighed in relief and stepped into her lounge. "Hang on, what day is it?" she asked.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "July 8, just like it was a few minutes ago."
Jackie picked up the television remote and turned the news on. One shot of Cybermen marching through the streets was all they needed to confirm the date, and she quickly turned it off.
"Well, you got the landing right for once," she said, and the shakiness in her voice removed any bite from the words. "Can you stay for tea?"
The Doctor wanted to say no, but then he saw the lines around Jackie's eyes and he remembered he wasn't the only one who'd been terrified of losing Rose today. He tamped down his impatience to have Rose to himself and smiled at his mother-in-law. "Tea would be lovely, Jackie."
"Only a cuppa and some biscuits," Rose added. "Not an actual meal."
Jackie's face fell slightly, but she nodded. "All right, sweetheart. You sit down; I'll have it out in a minute."
Rose gave her mum another quick hug, then took the Doctor's hand again and tugged him over to the couch. On the way, she spotted a small trinket sitting next to the TV, and she picked it up. "I can't believe I only gave this to her eight hours ago."
Her hand was shaking, and the Doctor plucked the bazoolium from her fingers and pulled her close. "We made it, love," he whispered into her hair.
Rose took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She could smell the dust of battle that lingered on his suit, but beneath that was the soft scent of honey and cloves that always clung to him. After a moment, her breathing eased and she sat down, cuddling into his side as soon as he joined her.
"So we'll have tea and tell her, and then go home," she said quietly. "I just… I know Mum would like us to stay longer, but I want to be alone with you."
The Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm in complete agreement with that plan."
They heard the kitchen door swing open, and a moment later, Jackie joined them with the tea. "Here you go, just how you like it." She frowned at the Doctor as he took his. "Mind, I'm not sure anyone needs four sugars in their tea. No wonder you're so hyper all the time."
Rose patted the Doctor's knee. "Nah, that's not a sugar high," she said. "That's just him."
Her mum took a sip of her own tea and shook her head. "I guess you'd know, since you live with him."
It was the perfect opening. Rose leaned forward and set her mug down on the coffee table, then clasped her hands together and looked at her mum. "We don't just live together, Mum. You wanted to know earlier if I'm sure I'll never want to leave him, or that he's never gonna leave me. And… The thing is…" She took a deep breath, then finished the sentence in a rush. "We kind of eloped a few months ago."
Jackie's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean, you kind of eloped?" she pressed.
The Doctor cut in before Jackie could question the legitimacy of their wedding. "She means that while we both agree that the words we exchanged were vows, it was a very private, informal moment that you might not recognise as a wedding." The hand resting on Rose's shoulder absently combed through her hair. "But unique ceremony notwithstanding, we are very much married. "
Rose bit her lip and braced herself for the outburst from her mum about how alien ceremonies don't count, and how could she have eloped when Jackie had been waiting twenty-one years to plan her wedding.
Instead, her mum nodded once. "I thought so, but I wanted to be sure."
Rose's back stiffened. "You… you knew?"
"Maybe not before today," Jackie admitted. "I suspected you were keeping something from me during your last visit, though." She rolled her eyes. "And you gave yourself away this afternoon, with the way you tried to dodge all my questions."
"Hang on," the Doctor said. "If you knew, what was all that about my intentions?"
Jackie took another sip of her tea. "I figured that might get you to come clean." She raised her eyebrows. "Worked a treat, didn't it?"
The Doctor and Rose looked at each other, mouths hanging open. Finally, they both laughed and turned back to Jackie, who had her lips pressed together in a smug smile.
"Yes, it did," the Doctor admitted. "Well played, Jackie."
Jackie leaned back in her chair. "I won't say that I'm not disappointed I didn't get to see you get married, Rose," she said briskly. "But you've been travelling with this man for almost three years now, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that nothing about your life is the way I imagined it would be when you were a kid. I might have known you'd get married in some kind of alien way." She bit her lip. "I just want to know that you're happy, and it's plain to see you are."
Rose blinked back the tears in her eyes. "So happy, Mum. I promise."
"Good." Jackie turned to look at the Doctor. "So I need a promise from you that you'll bring her back to visit regularly. Not just regularly for me—it's important for Rose, too."
"You have my word," the Doctor promised. "We've been trying not to let more than six weeks go between visits."
Rose stood up and pulled her mum to her feet. "Thank you," she whispered as she hugged her.
"I love you, sweetheart."
Jackie met the Doctor's gaze over Rose's shoulder, and he swallowed hard when he saw the silent request in her eyes. He nodded once, trying to give her all the reassurances he could that he would always love and cherish Rose, and keep her as safe as he, could given their life and Rose's ability to find trouble.
Then Jackie pulled back from Rose and pushed her towards the TARDIS. "Now, I'd like to watch some telly if you don't mind, so why don't you move your box out of my lounge?"
The Doctor shook his head at the obvious dismissal and opened the door while Rose promised Jackie one more time that they'd visit soon. The emotions he'd managed to keep a tenuous hold on during the conversation with Jackie were unravelling, and as soon as Rose was inside and the TARDIS was on the way into the Vortex, he reached for her and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
Rose clung to him just as tightly, her hands fisted in his suit jacket. "Is this real?" she whispered. "Are we really here?"
"Yes," the Doctor said, his voice raspy with tears. "We've still got our forever, Rose."
She sniffed once, then pulled back and offered him a watery smile. "It's the same old story, Doctor," she said. "Travelling through space and time, stopping the villains who are trying to take over the planet… and then, home to the TARDIS, together. The Doctor and Rose Tyler—the stuff of legend."
The Doctor tried to answer her, but the lump in his throat made speech impossible. Instead, he swept Rose up into his arms and carried her to their room.