The Doctor stared at what the Tardis moniter was displaying in front of him. "It can't be" he whispered to himself, but of course his companion, and one of his closest friends, heard him. "What can't be, Doctor?" Jack Harkness asked, his tone still worried, as it probably would be for a long time to come after what had happened to the two of them aboard the Valiant. The Doctor hesitated before answering, his mind still reeling from the newest discovery, "Jack, the Master was working on a way to cross universes, he suceeded." The Doctor watched Jack's eyes widen in shock,
"You mean..." The immortal man didn't have to finish his question, the Doctor knew.
"We can get her back, we can see Rose again." Jack's face lit up and the Doctor felt his own doing the same.
"What the hell are we waiting for then, let's go!" The Doctor immediately spun around the consule, hitting buttons and levers, feeling happier then he had felt in a long time. The Tardis jolted, jerked, and shook violently before it finally settled down. Running towards the doors, the Doctor's joy suddenly disappeared as he registered what he had missed before and he froze, his hand on the handle. "Oh god, he would have killed her." The Doctor spun around, and saw the confused look on Jack's face. "Put the pieces together, Jack." His companion's eyes filled with horror, and the Doctor knew Jack understood. "The Master was planning on coming for her, he knew about her, he reminded us of our losing her all the time; he would have come here, taken her, and then...killed her, in front of us, to make sure we would never fight him back...and it would have worked." Fury filled the Doctor's voice and for the first time, he was glad the Master was dead, his death had preserved the life of someone infinitely more precious to him.
"Doctor, that didn't happen, we stopped him, and he's gone. Let's just get Rose back, okay?" Jack said. The Doctor nodded in response, but he could still feel the fear that came when he thought about something happening to the woman he loved. He turned around and opened the door, and stepped out into a London where zeppilins were flying above the towering architecture. "It hasn't changed at all, never thought I'd be glad to see those things" Jack remarked lightly.
"Me either," the Doctor agreed as a wave of excitement came over him and he turned to lock the Tardis door, "Let's get to the Tyler household then. I really hope Jackie's not home, I don't feel like regenerating today"
"Oh, she's definately not at home." Jack said a bit of amusement in his voice. The Doctor turned around and forgot how to move, standing thirty feet away from them, far enough away to not hear what he had just said, which was very fortunate for the Doctor, was Jackie Tyler, who seemed to be frozen as well. Jack, however, wasn't, "Jackie! It's so good to see you again, how's the family doing, are you still single?"
Jackie turned to look at the ex-time agent and found her voice, "Shut up, Jack.", and she then walked towards them catiously, as if she were afraid they would disappear. Two feet from them she spoke again, "You two are really here aren't you?".
"Yes, Jackie, we found a way." the Doctor replied. Jackie stared at him for another few seconds and then slapped him, hard. "Ow, Jackie!" the Doctor shouted, his hand now on his red cheek.
"That was for telling Rose she'd never see you again. This, is for coming back." Jackie suddenly hugged the Doctor tightly and after a second he hugged her back.
"I'm so sorry, Jackie, I never meant to hurt her, I love her."
Jackie pulled away, "I know you do, why else would I let you take her away? Don't give me that look, I know what's going to happen. She's at work, I'll take you there, you have no idea how glad she's gonna be to see ya."
"How come he got a hug and I got a 'Shut up Jack', I'm very hurt that you didn't miss me." Jack broke in, pouting.
"He got slapped too, and unless you'd like that..." Jakie trailed off.
"I changed my mind, I'm good with 'Shut up Jack'"
"That's what I thought." Jackie turned to the Doctor again, "The Torchwood building is a few miles that way, we can take the car and be there in ten."
"That's probably for the best, the Tardis needs to rest for a while before she can go anywhere. Allonsy!"
Rose Tyler sat at her posh Torchwood desk, in her posh Torchwood office, absolutely bored. Nothing had happened in the past two months, nothing, not one single alien threat, not one single alien invasion, not even a single prank involving aliens. So here she sat, filling out meaningless paperwork in a room that looked more like a spa than a workspace, and she hated it. Granted, filling out paperwork was better than doing nothing at all, but still! There had been a time when she never would have even considered doing something like this, a time when danger and adventure had constantly been present, a time when- Rose stopped herself from finishing that thought. No, she couldn't think about that time, it was over, gone, there was no way she could get it back, and thinking about it only made her heart hurt.
"Just finish the damn paperwork", she told herself, "Then you can go home and play with Tony." Another few minutes passed, and she only grew more and more restless. Her secretary's voice came on over the intercom, making her jump slightly.
"Miss Rose, you are needed in holding room 52, something about an alien not cooperating."
"Thank you, Linda." Rose replied as she stood up. Finally, something she could do that wouldn't drive her nuts. Rose walked out of her office and past the ones that belonged to her father and Mickey, both of whom were at the Tyler mansion. She smiled as she came out of the corridor and passed Linda in the main room, knowing it was better to appear like nothing at all was wrong with her. She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the underground floor.
The car, which had turned out to be a limo, finally pulled up in front of a extremely tall building. "Here we are." Jackie said, stepping out of it. The Doctor and Jack did the same and followed her into the building. They were greeted by a cheerful young woman who's nameplate read Linda, something that made the Doctor and Jack exchange a small amused look.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Tyler. Are you looking for Rose?" Linda said with a smile.
"Yes, Linda, where is she?" Jackie replied, her tone suggesting that she liked the girl, "And for goodness sakes, we'll be family in two days, there is no need to call me anything but Jackie."
"I know, but it sounds more professional if I call you Mrs. Tyler in front of guests." Linda replied with a laugh.
"Oh them?" Jackie said pointing, "They aren't guests, they're family too, just members you haven't met yet." Then she turned to the men, "Doctor, Jack, this is Linda, Mickey's fiancee." "Mickey's getting married, well isn't that brilliant!" the Doctor replied, glad his favorite idiot had fallen in love and could be happy.
"Isn't it just?" Jackie sighed happily, "Now, Linda, is Rose in her office?"
"No, she went downstairs, holding room 52."
"Right, you'd better get down there." Jackie said looking at the Doctor, who looked at Jack.
"Go and get her, and be quick about it!" his friend told him.
Needing no further encouragement, the Doctor ran towards the lift and got in, pressing the only button that would take him down. The ride only took half a minute but it felt like hours to the eager Timelord. Finally, the lift doors opened and he stepped out into a long hallway lined with doors, the one immediately on his left was labled with the number one, the one on his right the number 2. He started walking quickly down the hall trying to reach the one where a 52 would be painted on. A sudden terrified scream made the silence vanish and the Doctor broke out into a run, he knew that scream, it belonged to Rose.
The hallway seemed to stretch and he thought he'd never make it to her, but finally, finally he got to the door and flung it open. He saw Rose immediately, gagged, blindfolded, and with her hands tied behind her back, her shirt torn off of her, but her bra still on, surrounded by three men, who looked a whole lot stronger than the Doctor did. The Doctor saw red, and knew that these men were going to find out just why he was called the Oncoming Storm. He raised his sonic screwdriver, "Let her go now, and I won't kill you."
One of the men, the man nearly on top of Rose, laughed, "And just what do you think you can do to us?"
"A whole lot of things, and, believe me, they will hurt. You will be begging to die long before I grant you that wish, unless you let her go, right now." The Doctor replied. All three of them were laughing now, "Allright, I warned you." The Doctor turned the sonic screwdriver on and aimed it at the nearest of the three, who fell to the ground in agony, turned it to the next, who did the same, and then he knocked them out before they could even think about getting back up.
The man on Rose stood up, and cracked his knuckles, "You're gonna get it buddy." "Rose kick, now!" The Doctor shouted, and felt a swell of pride when she did so and met her mark, causing the man to double over. The Doctor took a step over and swiftly hit the back of his neck, whether it rendered him unconcious or broke his neck, he didn't know or care. The only thing he cared about was the slightly shaking blonde haired woman on the floor. He touched her, making her tense, "Rose," he said softly, "It's allright, it's me." Rose immediately relaxed and he helped her sit up, then tore off the blindfold, and was met by a pair of tear-filled, terrified, chocolate brown eyes. The Doctor quickly pulled down the gag, "Are you allright?"
Rose nodded softly, "You came back."
The Doctor cupped her cheek with his right hand, his left still holding her aright, "Yes. I never did get to finish my sentence after all." Rose's eyes widened and the Doctor continued, "I love you, Rose Marion Tyler, and I swear I'll never lose you again."
Rose was crying now, "I love you too, I missed you, so much." The Doctor pulled her close to him and then kissed her softly.
"Well, don't worry, you'll never have to miss me again, you're never leaving my sight again."
Rose smiled, "Good." The Doctor kissed her again, harder this time, Rose responding eagerly.
"What the hell is going on in here!" Jackie's voice made both of them look up at the door, where stood a very confused trio.
"Oh, Jackie." the Doctor said, "Um, we had a bit of trouble down here, and I was just untieing Rose and...um."
"And what, she doesn't look untied to me." Jackie said. The Doctor looked back at Rose, whose hands were still behind her back, and saw the mirth in her eyes and the amused smile on her face.
"I fail to see what's so funny about this." He told her, which made Rose start laughing. "Your mother's going to kill me!"
That only made her laugh harder, but she calmed down long enough to say, "You just took out three guys more than twice your size, and your scared of my mum?"
"Yes, she's already slapped me once today, and it hurt!" Rose's smile grew bigger at that.
"Are you two quite finished?", Jackie interupted, "I want to know what happened now." The Doctor's expression grew dark, "Those men, tried to...they're very lucky they aren't dead, let's leave it at that." Jackie and Linda looked horrified, and Jack murderous as the meaning of what the Doctor had said dawned on them.
"Linda, go upstairs and call the police now, and then call Peter and tell him to get the hell over here." Jackie said quietly and Linda ran towards the lift to do so. "Let's go upstairs, we can keep them locked in here untill the police arrive." She finished. The Doctor helped Rose stand up and used the sonic screwdriver to saw through the ropes around her wrists, put his trench coat on her, and kept an arm around her as they walked out of holding room 52.
They had just said goodbye to her family and were heading towards the Tardis, The Doctor and Jack still wearing their tuxes and Rose still in her maid-of-honor gown. Rose was holding his hand and leaning against him slightly, an old habit that was now being carried out again. When Rose caught sight of the blue police box she froze and then broke out into a sprint towards it, the Doctor and Jack running after her quickly, the Doctor correctly guessing that the immortal was just as paranoid about her getting hurt, or kidnapped, or killed, or her just being the jeopardy-friendly girl she always had been, as he was. The Doctor watched in amazement as the Tardis opened her doors willingly for her, clearly his ship had missed her too. Rose stood next to the console stroking it softly, "I'm home."
The Doctor smiled at that and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, "Yes, you are. Now, where do you want to go?"
Rose beamed back at him, "Everywhere." The Doctor grinned even wider, leaned in and kissed her, slowly and passionately.
"Everywhere, it is, Rose Tyler."
The End!