"I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's going to crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home." Pete Tyler's voice was cold and Mickey flinched at the clinical way he wrote off an entire planet, even as he followed the Director of parallel Torchwood out of the office and into the control room.
He didn't want to believe it could be true. This was his world, the world he had grown up on. Even though he had left it to live on the parallel world, had a place there now if he still wanted it, this would always be his home. The time he had spent on the parallel Earth had left him a changed man, a stronger man and Mickey couldn't help but wonder if his place was here now, on this world being ravaged by Cybermen and Daleks alike. Unless it really was as doomed as Pete believed.
The Doctor remained in the small office, staring out the window at the war torn city below. He was wearing those ridiculous 3D glasses again and Mickey couldn't hide his grin at how inappropriate the specs, made of simple card and coloured plastic, seemed here in this high tech building, surrounded by alien gadgetry. They would end up being significant of course and the Doctor would use them somehow to save the day, but in the meantime he looked a bit of an idiot. How Rose could fancy him so much he would never figure out.
"Jacks, take this," Pete was saying, tossing one of the dimension hoppers into the waiting hands of his wife's doppelganger. "You're coming with us."
"But they're destroying the city," Jackie exclaimed, even as her fingers wrapped around the device.
Pete looked shocked for a moment before his features softened. "I'd forgotten you could argue," he said, taking the hopper back from her and draping the chain around her neck. "It's not just London, it's the whole world. But there's another world just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe as long as the Doctor closes the breach." He glanced up to where the Doctor still stood, his back resolutely turned to them as if he were completely unaware of the argument going on behind him. "Doctor?"
The Doctor turned on his heel, huge smile already in place and Mickey felt his heart lighten at the sight of it. There was a plan brewing in that genius head. "Oh, I'm ready. I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood!" He darted to a nearby terminal and began typing away furiously. "Slam it down and close off both universes."
A computerised voice came over the tannoy, "Reboot systems."
"But we can't just leave. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?" Rose asked as the Doctor ducked around her heading towards the levers.
He turned back to her. "They're part of the problem, and that makes them part of the solution. Oh yes!"
Mickey shook his head in amusement. There was a plan and the Doctor would see to it that both worlds survived. As discretely as he could he removed the hopper from his pocket and placed it behind a computer terminal where it should stay out of sight.
"Isn't anyone going to ask?" the Doctor demanded, practically bouncing on the spot with contained energy. "What is it with the glasses?"
Naturally it was Rose who jumped to play along even though Mickey was curious about that himself. She had become so like him now, the two of them becoming some sort of double act no outsider could ever truly understand. "What is it with the glasses?"
"I can SEE that's what. Because we've got two separate worlds, but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here. And you lot, one world to another, via the Void." His grin grew even wider. "Oh, I like that. Via the Void. Look."
He tore the glasses from his own face and helped Rose fit them over her ears. "I've been through it. Do you see?"
As Rose settled the 3D glasses on her nose the Doctor stepped back, ducking his head from side to side.
"What is it?" Rose reached out as if she were going to touch the Doctor's shoulder, but she stopped just short, hand hovering above his sleeve, fingers seeming to sift through the air.
"Void stuff."
Fortunately Rose understood what he meant by that, because Mickey didn't have a clue. "Like er… background radiation."
"That's it." The Doctor took her by the shoulders turning her to face Mickey, Jake and her parents. He stayed right behind her, arm brushing her shoulder as he pointed towards Jackie. "Look at the others. And the only one who hasn't been through the Void, your mother! First time she's looked normal in her life."
Jackie looked horrified. "Oi!" If he had been in range the Doctor would have received a slap for that comment at the very least.
The Doctor turned, running towards the wall that was also the breach between two worlds, Rose skipping after him. "But the Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them. I just open the Void and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."
"Pulling them all in!" Rose cried excitedly, making a fist and yanking it towards her chest.
"Pulling them all in!" the Doctor echoed, copying her gesture exactly.
Sometimes Mickey wondered if they rehearsed these things.
"Sorry, what's the Void?" he asked, but almost regretted speaking when both Rose and the Doctor turned to him as if they had forgotten there was anyone else in the room.
"The dead space," the Doctor said, much of the exuberance gone from his voice. "Some people call it Hell."
Mickey smiled approvingly. "So you're sending the Daleks and Cybermen to Hell." He glanced back at Jake, who was frowning like he was struggling to keep up. "Man, I told you he was good."
Rose didn't seem to share in the celebratory mood that was beginning to settle around the rest of the room. "But it's like you said. We've all got Void stuff." She glanced down at her own hand, still wearing the 3D glasses. "Me too, because we went to that parallel world." The Doctor was suddenly beside her, standing far closer than was merely friendly. "We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."
"That's why you've got to go."
So he was planning on doing it by himself then. Even Mickey could see the glaring hole in that plan. Good job he was staying. And Rose too, once the Doctor stopped being thick.
"Back to Pete's world," the Doctor continued. "Hey, we should call it that. Pete's World." He glanced over at Pete with a faint smile around his lips, a poor shadow of his earlier beaming grin. Rose never looked away from the Doctor's face, as if she were trying to read some hidden joke there. "I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."
Pete nodded, impatient to get this over with. "And then you close it, for good?"
"The breach itself is soaked in Void stuff. In the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput!" The Doctor clicked his tongue at the end of his final word, but Mickey could see, by the tension of the Time Lord's shoulders, just how much effort it was costing him to appear unaffected by what he was suggesting. It had taken Mickey a long time to come to terms with how the Doctor and Rose felt about each other, but he knew now, probably better than either of them did, that the two of them were hopelessly besotted with each other. It must be killing the Doctor to suggest Rose go off to a parallel world where he wouldn't be able to follow.
When Rose spoke, her voice was quiet, small even. "But you stay on this side?"
Mickey had been wondering about that one too. If he was going to stay here to help, he wanted to be sure he wasn't volunteering for a one way trip to hell. "You're sure you won't get pulled in?" he asked, just to make sure.
For a moment it seemed like the Doctor hadn't heard him. He looked at Rose and she stared back, confusion and heartbreak in her eyes. Then the moment was broken and the Doctor burst back into life, sprinting back to the office. "That's why I got these." He came back to stand between Mickey and Pete, now holding one of those huge magnetic devices he had risked his life for only minutes before. "I'll just have to hold on tight. I've been doing it all my life."
"I'm supposed to go." It wasn't a question. Rose still spoke in that sad, little voice, while she looked only at the Doctor, everyone else in the room just a backdrop to her breaking heart.
"Yeah." The Doctor didn't even glance her way, turning to drop the magnaclamp behind him.
"To another world, and then it gets sealed off."
"Yeah," the Doctor said again, this time turning his back on her completely to focus all of his attention on a nearby terminal. Suddenly Mickey knew what the long look from before was about. The Doctor had been saying goodbye. Now he was going to pretend he didn't care in an attempt to make her leave quietly. And the Doctor used to call him an idiot.
"Forever."
The Doctor didn't even answer her that time, just typed away like he hadn't even heard her.
A small smirk appeared on Rose's face and she finally glanced away from the Doctor. "That's not going to happen," she told the room at large.
There was an explosion above them and the room shook. Mickey reached out to steady Jackie, but Pete was already holding her. Both armies were outside now; if they were attacking the building one or both of them must have figured out where they were, might even suspect what they were doing.
"We haven't got time to argue. The plan works. We're going. You too. All of us." Pete stormed towards the breach wall, gesturing for everyone to follow him. Mickey tagged along at the back, hoping no one realised he wasn't wearing his hopper. There was no reason to go back, except for maybe Jackie, but she would have Pete. And he had a feeling the Doctor would need him for this; even if the man himself seemed convinced he could manage alone.
"No, I'm not leaving him," Rose insisted.
Jackie followed behind Pete, shouting along with Rose, "I'm not going without her."
"Oh, my God. We're going!" Pete snapped, finally at the end of his patience, if he had ever had any to begin with.
But Jackie wasn't backing down. "I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her."
"You've got to," Rose broke in, glancing between Pete and Jackie. Mickey remembered the story of the day she had met her proper dad. He knew how much the idea of her mum and dad together again meant to her, but Jackie was as stubborn as her daughter.
"Well, that's tough."
"Mum," Rose began as the computerised voice intoned that there were three minutes until the system had finished rebooting. "I've had a life with you for nineteen years, but then I met the Doctor, and all the things I've seen him do. For me, for you, for all of us. For the whole stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum. But not anymore, because now he's got me."
Rose was so focused on convincing her mother that this was the right thing to do that she hadn't noticed the way that Pete and the Doctor were exchanging glances and she didn't see the Doctor step up behind her, hopper in hand until he draped the chain around her neck.
Pete, who had retrieved his own hopper from inside his suit jacket, instantly pressed the button and they were gone, leaving Mickey staring at the Doctor, allowing a little of his irritation to shine through.
"Yeah," Mickey said, watching the Doctor's expression shift from broken to confusion at the sound of his voice. "That's not gonna work. All you'll do is hack her off."
"Mickey? What are you doing?"
"Obviously I'm staying to help. Got no reason to go back. And you're gonna need some help." Mickey nodded his head toward the two levers behind him.
"Help?" the Doctor scoffed. "From you?"
Mickey smirked. "Well if nothing else you're gonna need someone to stop Rose from murdering you when she gets back."
The Doctors face shuttered instantly. "She's not coming back."
Right on cue Rose reappeared in the centre of the room, hands crossed over the hopper still around her neck. "I think this is the on switch," she said cheekily, but her voice shook over the words, knowing at least one of the people waiting would not be pleased to see her.
"You were saying," Mickey said snidely.
The Doctor rushed over to her, taking her by the shoulders and shaking her slightly, as if that would make her see sense. "Once the breach collapses, that's it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!"
Rose didn't even flinch. "I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you. So what can I do to help?" The Doctor stared at her in disbelief and Mickey felt guilty for witnessing such a personal moment. Or he would have done if the world weren't ending around them.
"Rose," Mickey called and she whirled to face him, her eyes wide with surprise. Typical, she hadn't even realised he had stayed behind. "Did you say goodbye to your mum? Properly I mean. You won't get another chance."
Rose's face fell and Mickey had his answer. "Go," he told her. "I won't let him start without you."
"And how will you stop me?" The Doctor was clearly angry. No one was doing what they were told and he always seemed to take that personally.
"Well I reckon it's a two person job," Mickey said casually. "And you know it too. Two clamps, two levers. How are you gonna do both, eh?" The computer announced they only had two minutes until the reboot.
"Fine," the Doctor almost snarled at him. "Rose, go say goodbye, but if you insist on coming back then be here before the system reboots. We can't wait any longer than that. Two minutes!"
Rose nodded determinedly. "Don't let him start early," she ordered Mickey and pressed the button, disappearing instantly, leaving Mickey alone with the Doctor once again.
"Those coordinates over there, set them all at six. And hurry up," the Doctor yelled.
"Get away from me!" Rose heard as she reappeared on Pete's World. Her mother was sobbing so hard she was shaking as she tried to push Pete away, tears streaking her mascara.
"Mum," Rose said sadly.
Jackie whipped around, her eyes wide with hope as she reached for Rose. "Rose, darling, you came back."
"The Doctor's giving me time to say goodbye," Rose told her. "I can't stay long, but I need you to know that this is my choice, that I…" she paused, swallowed hard and tried again. "I love him, mum."
Jackie smiled through her tears. "Don't be daft. Of course you do. And he loves you."
Rose scoffed. "I don't know about that, but I can't leave him. I'm gonna stay with him."
"Then I'll come back with you." Jackie turned back to Pete. "Give me one of them yellow things."
"No, mum," Rose touched her shoulder gently to draw her attention back. "You've travelled through the void now, you won't be safe. The Doctor only has two magnaclamps and there're already three of us. Besides, this is your second chance. You can't give up on that just for me. I won't let you."
She glanced up at Pete, who was watching her with understanding in his eyes. It was the first time he actually looked anything like her dad. "You look after her," she told him sternly, feeling her own eyes prickling as she fought to keep the tears from falling.
"I will," he agreed. "You know, I think I would have liked having a daughter."
Rose gave him a watery smile. "Maybe you still will." She looked back to her mum and felt her throat tighten at the thought of all the things she would miss, would never know. "It's not too late. I want you to have a fantastic life," she told her. Her voice sounded wobbly now, but she needed to get this out. "And know that I'm doing the same. Don't pine away and miss out on life, because I'll be out there, saving planets, meeting aliens and seeing things no one else ever will. And that's brilliant, so don't mourn me. And then I won't need to mourn you, because I'll know that you're happy too."
Jackie nodded brokenly. "I'll try, love, but I'll never forget you. My amazing baby girl. I'm so proud of you. And you tell himself that I'm expecting him to take care of you. No more leaving you on alien spaceships while he goes swanning off."
And with that the tears began to fall in earnest. "I love you, mum. I always will. You're the best mum I could have ever asked for." She wrapped her arms around her mum for the last time, trying to memorise the feel of her, her scent, the sound of her voice.
"I love you, sweetheart," Jackie cried into her shoulder and Rose's heart clenched and she held her tighter.
But she had to go, or the Doctor would convince Mickey to open the breach without her and she would be trapped on this side, never able to see him again. And even though it hurt to say goodbye to her mum, she knew that was nothing next to the pain of being separated from him forever.
And so she disentangled herself from her mother's arms and stepped back, fingers reaching for the hopper and drinking in this final image of her mother, safe in the arms of the only man she had ever really loved. Her mother and father, together again. The family she was leaving for good.
She pressed the button.
Rose reappeared in the lever room back in her home universe. The Doctor was darting around from terminal to terminal, a frantic expression marring his handsome face.
"We've got Cybermen, one floor below us," Mickey reported from the office. "And it looks like the Daleks are closing in too."
"Levers operational," the computer announced.
The Doctor glanced up at her then and she was relieved to see the tension melt away when he saw that she was back. Maybe he wanted her to stay after all. She was aware that she looked a mess. Her make up would be smeared from crying and her hair was probably a fright from all the running around. She forced her sadness away, wanting to appear as normal as possible for the Doctor's sake, before he made any further suggestions that she go back to Pete's world for good.
"That's more like it. Bit of a smile. The old team."
The Doctor actually did smile at that. "Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake." He paused, remembering. "And Mickey."
The Doctor picked up one of the magnaclamps and dumped it into Mickey's arms. "Press the red button," he told him.
"How's this gonna work anyway?" Mickey asked sceptically. "You only picked up two of these things."
"Rose and I will share," the Doctor shrugged. "One of these can easily hold the weight of two people. Now, when it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff. Are you ready?" He nodded to Rose to take hold the magnaclamp as he attached it to the wall, then he and Mickey moved around to stand at the levers. Rose looped both arms through the handle securely, watching them closely.
"We'd better be," Mickey said, nodding to the windows. "We're out of time."
The Doctor set his face into an expression of grim determination. "Let's do it!"
Mickey and the Doctor both took hold of a lever, forcing it into an upright position and then darting around to grab onto their magnaclamp. Rose felt a little thrill as the Doctor pressed up behind her, wrapping his arms around her before grasping the clamp firmly.
She didn't have time to enjoy it though, as at that moment the computer announced that the system was online and she felt a wind begin to buffet her from all sides, pulling inexorably towards the breach wall, now lit up brightly as it was opened to full capacity. Glass shattered as the first Daleks were caught in the wind and pulled into hell.
Her feet lifted away from the floor as the pull began to work on her too. She tried to use the base of the lever to brace herself, but it was difficult with the Doctor's body behind her. Their legs knocked together a few times and the Doctor yelped in her ear when her trainer caught him in the shin.
Dimly she heard a Dalek's voice shrieking as it whizzed past them. Risking a glance over her shoulder she saw the Doctor's face light up with hope and beyond him a blur of Dalek and Cybermen bodies being dragged into the void.
"The breach is open! Into the Void! Ha!" The Doctor's exuberance was catching and she tried to smile back at him, but the wind caught in her throat, nearly making her choke.
It was going to work! Two armies, Dalek and Cybermen, defeated by the Doctor, with some help from Rose and Mickey. All they had to do now was hold on and then she and the Doctor would be back in the Tardis and this whole mess would be left far behind. She wasn't really sure where Mickey would fit into that plan, or what he was still doing on this side. Last time they had spoken he was adamant on staying in the parallel world and she had thought she would never see him again. Now apparently he was staying. She felt a flash of guilt that her mother would also be left behind, but squashed it ruthlessly. She needed to be strong right now. There was no good to be had from the Doctor thinking she regretted her choice.
Over the banging and crashing of their enemies flying past and the rushing of the wind in her ears, Rose heard the computer announce, "Offline."
Immediately the suction around them decreased and the flow of Cybermen slowed. It took Rose a long moment to realise what had happened, but by then the Doctor was already leaning away from her, releasing the clamp with one arm as he reached towards the lever that was slowly, inexorably, making its way into the offline position.
Rose watched, her heart in her mouth, as the Doctor's fingers just barely brushed the lever. It was already too far away. Soon the pull of the void would cease altogether and they would be in a room surrounded by Daleks and Cybermen who would kill them all without thought, before moving on to kill and upgrade the population of her whole world.
"Rose!" the Doctor yelled by her ear. "Do you trust me?"
She nodded mutely, not feeling up to giving him the scathing retort he deserved for asking such a stupid question. His free arm came up to wrap around her waist and she got a glimmer of what it was he was going to ask her to do.
"Let go," he told her. "I've got you. I won't let go, I promise. You need to get the lever."
Rose closed her eyes for a second, imagining all the ways this could possibly go wrong. Then, with a deep breath, she let go.
The wind was much weaker now, but still had enough force to turn her round in the Doctor's grip, so she was facing the lever and he was clinging to her with one arm, while the other was wrapped around the magnaclamp, stretched back as far as it could go. She wanted to grab onto him with both hands and never let go, but the suction was dropping by the second. A Dalek drifted past her, its laser arm swinging around wildly. In a second it would get control of itself and that weapon would be aiming directly for its number one enemy: the Doctor.
Her hands wrapped around the lever and she pulled.
"Online and locked," the computer announced.
The suction picked up again and the Dalek disappeared into the void. Unfortunately that meant that Rose was being pulled harder too and even the Doctor's greater than human strength wouldn't be able to hold her for long.
She twisted in his grip as best she could, desperately trying to hold onto him. She managed to get her left arm around his waist and flung out her right trying to reach the magnaclamp. She missed by inches, instead finding his shoulder and grasping it tightly.
The Doctor was forced to let go of her now that she had a good grip on him so that he could hold the magnaclamp with both hands. She could hear him yelling over the wind, but could barely make out the words, some rendition of her name and the words 'hold on' repeated over and over. She buried her face in his chest and tried to imagine this was just a normal hug, that her life didn't depend on holding on for as long as possible.
Rose was just beginning to wonder if the onslaught would ever end, if they would be here for hours yet, when she realised that the drag was lessening again. She risked a glance towards the breach, which no longer glowed brightly at the other end of the room. Her arms were aching from the strain of holding on for so long, her fingers cramped and throbbing where they were clenched in the Doctor's suit, but she tightened her grip, not wanting to let go now the end was so close.
Her feet hit the ground suddenly, but she wasn't prepared and they buckled beneath her, unable to take her weight. She hung from the Doctors waist for a second before she forced herself to release him, falling the rest of the way to the ground in an undignified heap.
"Rose." The Doctor was kneeling over her, trying to help her into a sitting position. "We made it, Rose. They're gone."
And they were. The Daleks from the prison ship were no longer visible through the windows lining the walls and the sounds of lasers firing and humans screaming were no longer echoing up to them from the lower floors.
"We did it," she whispered, looking up into his smiling face. She flung herself up and into his arms, which were already open and waiting for her and this was a much more comfortable embrace, where she could bury her nose into the side of his neck and breathe him in without fear of being torn away from him forever.
"You OK?" he asked her, not letting go.
She took a quick stock of herself. All in one piece, at least on the outside. She had left one very important piece of her heart on the other side of the void, but she wasn't about to explore that train of thought now, with the Doctor holding her, just waiting for a sign of resentment because she had chosen him over her own mother. There would be time to grieve later, in the privacy of her room on the Tardis where she could cry without him seeing.
"Yeah," she murmured, pulling back so she could get a good look at him. "Bit shaky, but I'm fine. You?"
"Yeah." He released her to stand up, reaching down to pull her with him.
"I'm fine, too," Mickey said, a little resentfully. "I'm sure one of you was just about to ask."
"Oh, any second," the Doctor snarked. "It was on the tip of my tongue."
Rose laughed breathlessly despite herself and forced herself to take a step back out of the Doctor's arms. Her legs held and she felt herself begin to relax. Breathing easier by the second she reached out to Mickey, hugging him tightly in relief that he was still here with her. She hadn't lost everything of her old life.
"You stayed." A thought struck her and she pulled back, looking into Mickey's eyes for any indication that she was right, but his expression gave nothing away. It seemed Mickey's time in the parallel world had taught him not to wear his emotions on his sleeve. While she would be proud of the changes in him any other time, right now it only caused a twinge of frustration that she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Nothing else we can do here," the Doctor said, kicking absently at the lever that had nearly cost them everything. "Back to the Tardis. Mickey, you coming?"
"I could do with a lift, yeah," Mickey said agreeably. So he wasn't planning on travelling again then. Rose wasn't positive how she felt about that. "Not sure where to, yet. Did the landlord let my flat to anyone else?"
"Dunno," Rose said honestly, following the Doctor towards the lift. "We emptied it after you decided to stay behind. All your stuff is on the Tardis. I couldn't bear to chuck it all out and we're not exactly lacking for space."
They would have to empty out her mum's flat, too. Not today, though. She couldn't bear it yet. Fortunately she had a time machine at her disposal. The Doctor could take her back when she felt ready for it. She shuddered slightly as she stepped into the lift. Would she ever be ready?
The Doctor's hand twined with her own, their fingers twisting together in a way that had become so dear to her over the past two years and she knew with absolute certainty, that she had made the right decision. She would always miss her mother, but losing the Doctor would have killed her.
They rode the lift in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Rose was bolstered by the Doctor's hand in hers. Once again they had nearly been parted forever and once again they had fought to stay together. She frowned at that thought. She had fought to stay with the Doctor, but he had tried to send her away. Was that what he wanted? For her to leave him?
The lift opened onto the vault and they walked out, Rose pointing the way to where Torchwood had taken the Tardis. The Doctor let go of her when they reached it, unlocking the door and disappearing inside. Mickey went to follow, but Rose caught his wrist. She had to know or the guilt would tear her apart.
"What is it, babe?" he asked her worriedly and her heart caught in worry at the endearment.
Rose eased the Tardis door closed. The Doctor didn't need to hear this conversation.
"You stayed," she began. "I thought you were happy in the parallel world. Pete's world, or whatever we're calling it now."
Mickey smiled at her. "It's like you said, when we were down with the sphere before all hell broke loose. I'd follow you anywhere."
"Oh." That was what she had been afraid of.
He nudged her and Rose looked up at him. "What is it?"
"It's just… Me and you, we, well…"
Mickey snorted and Rose frowned at him in consternation.
"Sorry," he said not sounding at all sorry. "Wasn't aware there was a me and you. Thought that was over long ago."
Rose's frown deepened. "So you didn't stay because of me, then?"
"Bit full of yourself aren't ya?"
She hit him in the arm. "I'm serious," she snapped. "I want you to stay, course I do, but not if you only did it because you thought… And I didn't mean to lead you on, 'cause that's not gonna happen."
He grinned down at her. "I know. It's you and him. Always will be. No room for a tin dog as a third wheel."
She nodded slowly. He wasn't looking to get back together then. "I was just worried, because we were flirting a bit earlier and, well, we never did officially break up."
"Maybe not," Mickey said and not unkindly. "But I took it as a fairly good sign when you ran off with another bloke and never showed any interest in me every time I saw you after. But if it makes you feel better, we are officially broken up. You're free to shag the Doctor if that's what you wanna do. And I'm free to do what I want. And I want to stay here."
Rose giggled. "Here?"
"Well, not right here," Mickey agreed with a glance around at the vault, full of misappropriated alien technology. "You know what I mean."
"Mmm. And just so we're clear, I'm not shagging the Doctor. We're not like that. I don't think we'll ever be like that." She tried not to let her disappointment colour her voice. "So what did change your mind?"
Mickey looked away then, not meeting her eyes. "My gran died there, too. Got to spend her last days in a mansion, but she was old. Her heart gave out."
Rose laid her hand on his elbow. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah," Mickey said flatly. Then he shook himself. "Besides, the Cybermen up and left and that world's hardly ever invaded by aliens. I think I can be more use here."
Rose cocked her head to one side. "Well, if you're serious about that, the Doctor might be able to help. You remember those alien experts he told us about? When Downing Street was under attack from the Slitheen? I think he used to work with some of them. He might be able to get you a job."
Mickey's face lit up. "Ya think? Would be better than going back to the garage."
Rose shrugged. "Let's go ask."
She pushed the Tardis door open, stepping into the console room. The Doctor looked up from the monitor when they entered. He had a strange expression on his face, somewhere between guilt and concern and Rose knew he had been watching them on the scanner. Nosy git.
"Doctor? I was just telling Mickey about those alien expert friends of yours. See, he's looking for a job. Reckon he knows a thing or two about aliens. What do you think?"
"You mean UNIT?" the Doctor said thoughtfully. "Yeah, reckon they might be able to help you out."
"Yeah?" Mickey said hopefully.
"Sure," the Doctor nodded. "Why don't you and Rose go find the storage room where we're keeping your things? I'll put in a call to the Brigadier."
Rose smiled gratefully at him. "Yeah, I could do with a shower actually." And a good cry, but she wasn't about to admit that.
The Doctor caught her arm as she went to move past him. "You alright?" he asked her. "Really?"
The question only caused her breath to catch. She wasn't ready to talk about this. Not yet. Maybe not for a long while. If she cried now the Doctor would blame himself for letting her stay and he would end up walking on egg shells around her for the next six months. "I will be," she said thickly, glad her voice stayed somewhat even.
Mickey slipped past her down a corridor and she turned to face the Doctor properly. "I'll miss her, but it's like I told you before. 'Everyone leaves home in the end.'"
"Not to end up flying about in time and space with their alien best friend though," the Doctor pointed out cheekily.
Rose shrugged, a smile just beginning to creep onto her face. "Their loss."
He pulled her into a hug then, his arms wrapping around her as hers wound around his waist. She would take this, if that was all he could offer her. It was enough, just to be his friend. Her mother was gone, but he was still here and they were going to be alright.
They stood there, next to the console, swaying slightly, for several very long moments until Rose had to bite the inside of her cheek hard to keep back the tears. Don't cry, she thought desperately.
"I'd better show Mickey to the storage room," she said pulling away. "And I wasn't joking about the shower. See you in a bit, yeah?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "Off you go then."
She turned back when she got to the corridor, but he was already absorbed with something on the console. "It was the right choice," she told his back. "I won't regret it. I want to be here."
He tensed at her words, but he didn't turn around. "I hope that's true, because it's not something we can go back and change. The walls are closed for good."
"It's true," she insisted. She remembered the words that Mickey had given her outside and offered them to the Doctor now, only this time they were uttered without a trace of humour. "I'd follow you anywhere." And then, because she was certain she would break her promise to herself not to cry in front of him if she stayed, she headed down the corridor in search of Mickey.
The Doctor wandered around the console as Rose's footsteps disappeared into the depths of the Tardis. He input the sequence to send them into the vortex on auto pilot, his thoughts still on that last exchange with Rose.
She was so certain that this was where she wanted to be, but how long would that last? Until it really sank in that she would never see her mother again? Or would she continue to believe it for years to come, until something happened, some as yet unforeseen event that would make her see that this wasn't what she wanted, that choosing him over Jackie Tyler was the biggest mistake of her life?
Either way, she was here now and was planning to stay, at least for the time being. And he would greedily take every moment that she offered him until the day came that she couldn't stand to look at him any longer. The day she finally left him and he would be alone again.
Because it was too much to hope that she really would follow him anywhere.
He dropped the Tardis back into normal space, letting her orbit the planet Earth lazily while he tried to think of something to do with himself. Rose would probably want to sleep for a bit after the day they had and Mickey would pack up his stuff so he could go back to a normal human life. He could make that phone call to UNIT, but didn't want to seem too keen to help Mickey out. He could try to find something to repair on the Tardis, but she had taken to shocking him when he spent too long messing about in her internal systems without good reason.
He was actually glad Mickey had decided to stay, especially after the conversation he had just listened in on. Not only was Mickey happy to act like his eyes and ears on Earth, but the young man had matured from the cowardly little whelp he had been into a strong confident young man, one he was proud to call a friend. Not that he would ever admit that out loud.
Nor was he going to admit how pleased he was to hear that the two of them were no longer an item. That they hadn't been, not really, in all the time she had been on the Tardis. Because the Doctor didn't do jealousy. He was especially not jealous of Mickey Smith. And now he knew he didn't have any reason to be. He didn't want to dwell on Rose's assertion that they would never be more than friends and how much that bothered him.
Most of all he was selfishly glad that Rose would be here for a while longer. That moment when he thought he would never see her again, after he had sent her to the parallel universe, had nearly been the end of him. Since the time war she had become his best friend, but more importantly the light she brought with her onto the Tardis had made him feel again. He had come to need her desperately and didn't want to think what sort of man he would become without her to hold his hand.
A movement on the other side of the time rotor caught his attention and he moved towards it, thinking Rose or Mickey had come looking for him.
But it wasn't Rose. Or Mickey. Instead a red headed woman stood staring at the inside of his front door. And she was wearing a veil of all things. Why would anyone want to cover up such beautiful ginger hair? No, there was a more pressing question; how had she gotten on board in the first place?
"What?" the Doctor stuttered, not understanding this at all.
She spun around, a surprised noise squeaking out of her. Well that didn't help anything.
"What?" the Doctor said again, hoping for a better answer this time, maybe an explanation for how this human looking woman had come to be here.
"Who are you?" she said instead.
"But…" the Doctor tried, not really sure what he was even trying to ask anymore.
"Where am I?" She was getting over her shock now and beginning to get angry. That wouldn't do, she had appeared on his ship. If anyone should be getting angry it was him.
"What?" he tried one more time, hoping to get the upper hand.
She wasn't in the mood to answer him. "What the hell is this place?" she yelled in frustration.
"What?"