Disclaimer: Not my characters, just my story.

A/N: Alright, thanks to everyone who has shown an interest in the previous story, The Megalomaniac Handbook, and have returned for a second helping. This one I am sure will be longer and might not have as steady updates, but I hope that you will bear with me and read and review for this one as well.

Now, without further ado…

Return to Me

Chapter 1

Rose and Martha helped the Doctor make it to his room where he collapsed on his bed. Both the girls looked worried as Martha asked, "You going to be alright?"

Closing his eyes and leaning back, the Doctor simply nodded. Rose and Martha exchanged a glance before Martha turned and left. Rose stayed for a moment before coming forward and sitting on the edge of his bed.

Opening his eyes, he smiled at her. "Rose, you really are wonderful. I still can't believe that you're here."
Rose smiled back. "Course I am. I couldn't leave you to that. I had to find a way across."

The Doctor frowned for a moment and then sighed, "I should have tried harder in the first place. If you were able to find your own way across, I should have found it for you sooner."

Rose shook her head and moved close enough to place her hand on his face. "No, everything had to be as it was."

The Doctor looked at her and forced himself to sit up some before taking her hand and holding it in his. "Rose, I really want to hear all about what has happened in your life and how you were able to cross into this universe again, but what I need to know first, how much do you remember from that room? Do you know what happened?"

Rose's eyes became distant as she tried to picture everything that had happened. "I remember screaming at Ka'ras as I thought he was going to kill you and then I felt something pull me, from inside. It was like a gentle tug and I felt warm and safe and… singing…" she said in a very far away voice before trailing off. "And then I don't remember anything until I was standing there with all of them asleep around me," she said, back in the present as she looked questioningly at the Doctor.

He looked back at her as he tried to decide how much he should tell her. He still didn't understand it himself. Somehow, Rose still carried the Time Vortex in her. He was sure that he had removed it all from her and put it back in the TARDIS. His ninth life had ended in doing so. If his own body was unable to handle the power for the short time that he held it, how could Rose possibly still be alive after carrying it in her, even dormant, for over three years?

He took a deep breath and asked, "Rose, I know I've asked before, but what do you remember after you looked into the TARDIS at the game station?"

Rose looked at him, wondering what he was getting at. "I… I remember a light and a warm… safety…singing" she drifted off as she began to put it all together.

"Rose, you are still carrying the power from the Time Vortex in you. That's what happened back in the room."

"But… but I thought you took it from me? I thought that it was going to kill me?" she said starting to stand in a slight panic.

The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her gently back to the bed. "Rose, calm down. You're fine, as far as I can figure. I did take most of it from you, enough to keep it from killing you. But apparently I didn't get it all. What was left has been…" he searched for the words that wouldn't make her upset again. "It has, remade you. It has been changing your mind just enough to allow it to be able to work through you without destroying you."

"You mean that it's messing around with my brain!" she cried.

He winced; he obviously wasn't doing a very good job of this. "Yes, but not in any way that you can perceive. You're still who you are, nothing has been changed about that. It's just like with a computer that receives an upgrade in memory. It's able to store more data and work faster, but it still keeps what was there to begin with."

Rose stared at him for a moment, "So you're saying that I have the Time Vortex, runnin' through my head, but I'm still the same person?" she said unbelieving.

"Essentially yes. True, you have a power that I can't even begin to fathom, but it's still mostly dormant. It's really like you have a split personality. When the power is active, it's the Bad Wolf. Back there when you put those men to sleep, the Bad Wolf said that it had been forced to act too early; that it hadn't been able to work with you enough to truly be able to support it. I have a feeling that it may be a very long time before that day comes. And until it does, you're still just Rose Tyler, the most fantastic girl that I have ever met and the one that has chosen to spend the rest of her life with me," he said with a soft smile as he reached out and placed a hand on her face, cupping it gently in his palm.

Rose didn't know what to think. She just found out that she had an almost limitless power within her that seemed to have a mind of its own that was rewriting her brain. On top of that, there was no telling when it might resurface again and she had no control over it.

But, even as frightening as all this information was, none of it seemed to really matter right now. Here she was, reunited with her Doctor and he was telling her how much he cared for her. He had even said what she had longed to hear from him on that beach two years ago, that he loved her.

Shoving her fear and panic aside, she allowed herself to smile at him, finally taking in the fact that he was really here, in front of her; that this wasn't just another dream. Sighing, she closed her eyes and leaned her face into his touch as she brought her hands up to hold his. She pulled his hand away from her face enough that she could kiss it gently. As she opened her eyes again, she laid her hand on his still bare chest once again while leaning down to kiss his lips.

Tentatively he responded and they shared their first true kiss with both of them as themselves, no alien influences, nothing hindering the moment, just the two of them, gently showing each other how much they cared and loved.

As their lips parted, Rose slid her hand up his chest casually only to quickly pull away as she watched him wince. The moment was instantly shattered.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said as she began to mentally berate herself for forgetting that he must still be in a lot of pain after what he had just gone through.

"Rose, don't," he said softly as he caught her hand once again. "It's alright, really. It's not your fault."

She sighed as she sat on the bed once again. For the first time since they had been reunited, she took a long hard look at him. She had seen the pain and the damage inflicted upon him before, but now she was allowing herself to truly take it in. Nearly overcome with the sight, an unbidden tear spilled down her face and splashed upon his hand.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been there sooner. I wasn't there for you," she began to sputter.

"Rose, you were. You were there as fast as you were able. It's like you said, everything had to be as it was. You could not have been there any sooner than you were."

She shook her head, as she wiped another tear from her eye, "I know. But it just seems… If I had just…just tried harder… thought quicker… that maybe you might not have had to gone through all of that."

They both remained silent for a while as Rose attempted to regain control. But she was still having difficulty coming to grips with one other aspect. In a trembling voice she asked, "It was my fault though, wasn't it?"

He looked hard at her. How could he make her understand that even though it was to bring her there that he had suffered, he didn't even in the least blame her? Finally he said, "The Master did want you, but he would have done this to me with or without the objective to capture you. Our rivalry goes back hundreds of years and his hatred of me is his driving force to keep on living long after he should have died. Nothing would give him more pleasure than to watch me suffer and eventually die at his hands."

Rose sniffed as she listened, she knew he was right, but could not shake off at least a piece of guilt. "But it was because of me, of the power that I have, that he went after you. If it hadn't been for me, he might not even have known you were still alive. It was me that he wanted and he went through you to find me," she said as tears of guilt continued to flow.

"Rose, I don't know how I can make you understand that I don't blame you. That even though it was you he wanted, none of this was your fault. When it comes down to it, it's my fault that you even have the power that he seeks. You cannot blame yourself for even a small part in what happened; just that you were there when I needed you the most and it was you who saved me."

Rose sat silently for a moment, taking in his words. Mentally, she knew he was right. She couldn't blame herself for any of it. But when it came down to it, her heart wouldn't let it go.

Still, there was nothing that she could change. Looking at him again, with a tentative smile she said, "You're right, but let's not dwell. You obviously need some rest yet and something for your wrists and ankles it looks like," she said glancing at the hand she had just laid on his chest and the raw wound that wrapped around his wrist.

Feeling every bit of exhaustion that he had been fighting off during this talk he sighed and said, "Yes. Ask Jack for the Dermal Regenerator please. I'll probably be asleep when you get back, just wake me up and I'll show you how to use it."

Rose nodded as she stood. Pausing, she leaned down and kissed him lightly on the forehead before leaving to find Jack.

She found him still in the control room. Before she could say anything to him, he spotted her and asked, "How is he?"

Rose sighed, "Exhausted, in pain, but recovering I think. He asked me to bring him a dermal regenerator. He said you'd know where it was."

Jack nodded as he led Rose down another corridor to the medical bay. "Any idea what he thinks we should do?" he asked as they walked.

Rose shook her head as she said, "No. We didn't talk much about what just happened. But I'm sure that we're going to have to go after the Master eventually before he comes for us again."

Jack nodded as he continued to lead Rose down the twists and turns of the TARDIS halls. They were silent for a while until they reached the med bay. Jack grabbed the small hand held device that Rose was asked to get and handed it to her. "Rose, what happened? How did you get here?" he asked.

Rose smiled, "I wondered how long it would be before your curiosity took over."

"Seriously Rose, how'd you manage it?"

"Well, apparently I used a hole in time and space that you are already aware of," she said, just ever so slightly accusingly. When she discovered that Jack had been aware of the Rift, she wondered why he had never mentioned it to the Doctor.

Jack though for a second, "the rift!?" he said surprised.

Rose nodded. "All I had to do was get close enough to it with the device that my dad and Mickey came up with to cross the universes before, and it brought me right back here."

"But... Rose, I swear, there had never been any indication that the rift extended into another universe. It was obviously through time and space, but I didn't realize that it was dimensional as well," he tried to explain.

"It's alright Jack. It really doesn't matter," she assured him. "But you really should check in with your team there. I think I got them rather worried about you," she said as she began to head back the way they had come.

"You met them?" he asked.

"Yup, both in this universe and the other. Well, I met most of them in both. The other universe has someone named Suzie running the unit and Gwen isn't there."

"Suzie!" he exclaimed.

"I assume that you knew her as well?"

"You could say that. At least I thought I had…"

Rose eyed him before saying, "Didn't get along too well then?"

He shook his head, "that's a bit of an understatement. But really, it doesn't matter. Whoever is in charge of Torchwood Cardiff in the other universe, is none of my concern. At least Gwen is still in charge here, right?"

"Yup. Doing a good job of it too."

"Good, I knew she would."

By then they had reached the control room once again and Jack chose to stay there and check over some things with the TARDIS. "Let me know how he's doing," Jack said.

Rose nodded as she turned and walked back to the Doctor's room. As she went, she began to wonder what they were going to do about the Master. She knew that if they left him for too long, he'd just pop up again and take them off guard. For once, they were going to have to take the offence and take care of him before he was able to develop a plan against them. But with the Doctor as weak as he was, it might be a while before they were going to be able to do anything.

Rose reached the door and slowly opened it. She thought she heard the Doctor mumbling something as she began to push it open. "Doctor?" she called in as she poked her head around the door.

He wasn't lying in his bed as she had expected. A quick glance about the room revealed him to be lying on the floor beside the bed. He had changed into what appeared to be the same pajamas that she and her mom had dressed him in after he had regenerated. He was thrashing a bit and seemed to be moaning in pain as he fought against an unseen enemy.

"Doctor!" Rose called as she rushed to him and dropped to the floor at his side. She took a hold of his shoulders and shook him as she called once again to him, "Doctor! Wake up!" But there was no response. He seemed to still be locked in whatever dream, or as it would seem, nightmare, that he was experiencing.

Rose looked at him anxiously as she continued to try and wake him, but was getting nowhere. Finally she gave up and ran to the still open door. Thrusting her head into the hallway, she called, "Jack! Come quick!" and then turned back and returned to the Doctor's side, still trying to wake him.