A/N. Hello again! None of my ongoing fics are officially on hiatus, nor will they ever be (until they are officially finished, that is). The pairing is, such a surprise, Ten/Rose. The rating will only change when the time is right. Some not thorough angst, probably not even that… some memory loss, because I seem to be comfortable with writing it (I am not, not really, but it was necessary for the plot). Is this a reunion fic? D'uh. Multi-chapter? Yes.

After You Get What You Want

Chapter One

"All I have asked of you was to be left alone!" Rose bit back a sigh.

"But, Miss! You are hurt! We can help!"

"I'll get that sorted myself, thank you, Toshiko!" The friendly computer-genius still could not make herself address Rose by the alias she has chosen… so long ago. Nobody but Jack Harkness was allowed to call her Rose… Not many people knew her real name in Torchwood. However, the immortal man stopped using Rose as soon as he saw her discomfort when hearing her birth-name uttered by someone in this place… She was known to everybody as Wolf now.

Her smile died away as soon as she has heard the woman go away. This was supposed to be her day off, the unasked-for alien attack both too simple and too easy to handle… That is, Rose believed some of the tougher guys could have dealt with it… but even Owen was afraid of her. This mad woman with glowing eyes. Even if he had attempted to flirt with her, one look she gave him has put him off his intentions. Jack was out of the building with some love interest of his…

This has left mostly Gwen and Rose to deal with the aliens. Tosh was trying to find an antidote against their bite… But even having injecting themselves with it did not save the girls from their sharp claws.

It was mostly fine now, due to-

She growled in frustration, unable to forget. Rose knew it was likely a kind of self-torture, knew she has had only to ask the TARDIS to block the memories, their connection still feeling fresh and strong… but she never did.

Even if her wounds were healing more quickly, her senses a great deal stronger now… The girl sighed heavily. The mental wound the Time Lord has left within her mind has been impossible to deal with. It never would be.

"London? Again? Why? What has this place done to earn all the attention from alien species? Even those tiniest, not at all dangerous beings?" The Doctor smiled to himself. London has been the place where Rose-

Right. He had to compose himself. Rose Tyler was no longer a part of this universe. Long since…

His attempts to reach her, with the help of the goddamned UNIT or even on his own, with the TARDIS somewhat reluctant to help (why is that? You love her!), have been unsuccessful.

With no-one to accompany him – even if both Martha and Donna would have been ready to come to him whenever, he grinned self-consciously – the alien could finally get to London without risking the companions' lives. It has never been the same without his Rose, although his memories of her felt somewhat dulled now… Ever since the fair-haired girl was gone, even the TARDIS seemed to have got touchier and less cooperative…

The Doctor was not surprised the ship has landed him straight at the Torchwood door. The bloody place was always to blame for all kinds of inconsistencies in the world. Naturally, it must have meant they were to blame for this, as well.

The TARDIS nudged him.

Right… He could not place the strange unwelcome feeling around him at first. When he did… His eyes went upwards. Zeppelins. The Doctor's face brightened up at once.

"Hello! Could we see your identification?" He has been expecting a guard, but saw a young woman instead.

The Doctor could have kissed his psychic paper then, having handed it to her confidently. It has been quite some time since he has made himself a new one… But using it in places like this has always been dangerous. Thankfully, this did not seem to be a problem now. "We have been waiting for someone like you, Sir! Even if you might have got here a little late, as all trouble appears to have been sorted," she said apologetically. "You might want to see the one responsible for dealing with this, though," the girl smiled at him kindly.

He nodded, having previously glanced at the paper and grimaced. 'John Smith, alien specialist'. Seriously?

The Doctor was quick to forget the silly title, though. There have been more important things waiting for him. "Where is the one responsible?" Parallel universe, parallel Torchwood… It could have meant the building has been nothing like the one he knew.

"Oh, you mean Wolf? Look for her in the headquarters or in the conference hall." The Doctor went straight to the headquarters, half-hoping the woman wouldn't be there. It was obvious he was about to discover something unpleasant. Although the pleasant smell of bananas has lifted his mood up considerably.

The woman has been there, nourishing a cup of tea. Banana-flavoured tea, most likely. "I have hoped there would be no more visitors today. It was supposed to be a free day for me," she spoke, not really hiding her irritation. The unexpected chase-away-the-aliens distraction has been enough for her for one day. Her expression and tone softened the next instant. This might have been another new member of the team, as they have recently decided they needed more people – or new faces for Jack to admire – same thing, really. Rose – Wolf smiled. "Have you lost your way, or-" She turned her head towards the visitor then.

She stared at him for a few seconds… cleared her throat… and began to giggle hysterically. The giggle sounded anything but happy, though.

"Rose?!"The Doctor gasped, seeing her eyes going through a myriad of emotions… The greater deal of those were not what he might have expected. "I- I should have known, your chosen name being-"

She shut him up with her eyes, an angry sob escaping her lips. "How dare you show up after- after everything?!" Rose did not call him by his widely-known name, having uttered his complicated real Gallifreyan name without a drop of uncertainty.

The Doctor was startled. This has been quite a blow. "Rose. From where, how-" His mind began picturing all sorts of alternative reasons for this to have taken place. There could have been only one occasion when-

She grimaced, waiting for the alien to catch up. "It's Wolf for you, Time Lord."

"But-" He stared at her, trying to see some answers in her eyes, now blazing with fury. Maybe if he hadn't come to her, she would have eventually started to bury the past in her mind… all the wounds of incomplete seemed to have opened in her head anew instead.

Rose brushed the sweat off her brows. Another ten, twenty or so years and she might have made the pain less conspicuous… Every such possibility was gone now.

"I don't understand," the Doctor admitted, his voice small. It was unusual for him not to have known something this important!

The girl sighed at him bitterly, ready to start explaining. "We, you and I, we have shared everything once, Doctor," she could not shake away a drop of disdain in her voice.

"I have shared everything with you," she continued, steeling herself. "My mind, my soul. My love. Myself. My body. My forever," she stopped, her eyes burning into his. "But you, you have never told me- not even when we were- and now you don't remember? How stupid of me to even-"

The Time Lord could not remember any of this, but chose to believe in her anyway. Memory could have been tricky, and Rose has never, never, would never have lied to him about something as important-

"You are Rose to me," he cleared his throat. "Wolf isn't- anyway. You do realise sharing something as personal as birth name means everything to Time Lords? We have to be-" This seemed to have been the biggest shock to the Doctor during his entire existence. Getting married was one thing, but going through the complicated, long-extinct ceremony of what only the most devoted Gallifreyans have gone through? He gulped, surprised Rose did nothing to chase away from his extended hand.

The companion exhaled. Soon, it was about to tire her down. "Bonded? Who says we aren't?" She bit provokingly. The emotion of anger was suddenly replaced with one of sorrow. If the Doctor has noticed, he did not let her see it.

"We can't be!" He was persistent.

Rose was on the verge of tears. But she could not, would not allow him see it, her expression having changed into one of poignant indifference. "Whatever you say. Now that you're here- what seems to be the problem? My tea is growing cold."

"Everything! This place! The people!" You! Rose smiled at him understandingly. "One gets used to everything."

"Have you? Rose?!" She shuddered. Hearing this name has always had that effect on her.

Of course she did not. Of course.

"Stop it. Bond-mate or not, you have made it perfectly clear by leaving me without a word." She spoke dryly. It felt as if she were aiming at hurting him. Purposefully.

"I have never stopped looking for you, Rose!"

"That's lovely. But it's too late now." She went to preparing another cuppa for him. This was going to be a long day.

"It's never too late!" He objected.

Rose exhaled. "Decades? It sure as hell is too late."

"I don't understand, Rose," the Doctor repeated meekly.

"You might have thought removing our memories would have been the best decision. But it does not work on everyone."

"Or it does, but the TARDIS has decided to overwrite my efforts."

This was not a question.

She nodded.

Oh, shit.

A/N. Okay. This was different. Even for me.