The ride back to London in the zeppelin was awkward, at first. The Doctor stared out the window while Rose stared at her shoes. And Jackie kept staring at the both of them, arms crossed. Probably trying to read them. Rose almost chuckled at that. Good luck trying to read the Doctor.
"Did I tell you that I met Shakespeare?" the Doctor piped up.
"You mentioned it," Rose said.
"Oh, he's just as brilliant as you would expect. Fought witches with him, Martha and I did."
"How'd you do that?" she asked, grateful for the lack of silence.
"Beat them with spells from Harry Potter," he said, flashing that mile wide grin.
"You didn't," she said, laughing.
"Weeell, I didn't. It was Martha's idea. Worked, though." He then proceeded to fill them in on the years that he had spent traveling with Martha and Donna. He only told them funny or amazing things and Rose had a feeling that he was leaving out the darker things. But she understood why and let him entertain them with stories about Agatha Christie, Jadoon, or the Ood. By the end of the ride, even her mum was enthralled.
When they landed in London at the Torchwood institute, no one questioned them or pressed them on the issue of jumping dimensions and coming back here with a human/Time Lord hybrid. Rose was expecting to be debriefed, at least. She had a feeling that her mum had something to do with that. Everyone at Torchwood was familiar with the wrath of Jackie Tyler, especially after she found out that they were letting her daughter jump dimensions. She had probably threatened them all within an inch of their lives to leave Rose alone for the night.
The minute that they exited the zeppelin, they were surrounded by a team in black Kevlar and Rose eyed the Doctor warily. His face was a mask, but Rose knew him well enough to see the subtle changes in his posture. His back straightened out and his chin lifted as he surveyed each and every person standing around them. He didn't trust them, and that probably had something to do with the guns that they were carrying.
"Pete has done very good job making Torchwood better," he said to Rose, arching one eyebrow and giving her a certain look. She knew that look. It was a disapproving look.
"They're stun guns, Doctor. Torchwood has a very firm rule about unnecessary violence."
"All violence is unnecessary," he said, sniffing. Rose decided to let that one go, since he had just committed genocide. But, knowing the Doctor, he wasn't taking that lightly.
"Well maybe now that you're here, you can help us improve it even more," Rose suggested.
"Is that what you want?" he asked.
"Aren't we the defenders of the Earth, yeah?" she asked, smiling and pushing her tongue through her teeth.
"That we are," he admitted, holding back a chuckle. "I suppose we do have an obligation, then."
"Mrs. Tyler, Miss Tyler, it's a pleasure to have you home," a man said from their right side. It was Richard, her father's second in command. He was a pleasant sort of fellow in his mid-forties with sandy blonde hair and kind gray eyes. He was wearing a black suit, not Kevlar. And he didn't carry a gun. Perhaps, Rose though, the Doctor would take more to him.
"We've 'ad a very long day, Richard," Jackie said. "We just want to go home and rest."
"Quite right, Mrs. Tyler. We've arranged for a car. If you'll follow me," he said as he started to lead the way. "It's especially an honor to meet you, Doctor. I'm Richard Marseille. I assist Pete Tyler in running Torchwood." He extended his hand in the Doctor's direction.
The Doctor shook Richard's hand and nodded, still darting his eyes about at the bustle of the landing strip, washed in spot lights. "Looks like you've made some changes to Torchwood, Richard. It's a lot different than I remember it. I'm curious, just how many employees do you have now?"
"Doctor," Rose cautioned, rolling her eyes.
"It's alright, Miss Tyler," Richard said, offering her a shy smile. "Right down to business, then?" he asked the Doctor.
"That's me," the Doctor said. "All business."
"We'll have all sorts of time for that later, if you don't mind. I'm under specific instruction to see you home safely for the night before we think about starting any serious discussion."
"And you always follow specific instruction," the Doctor said, a mocking lilt in his voice.
"When it comes from Mrs. Tyler over here…yes, I do," Richard said firmly.
Jackie gave the Doctor her best "dare to challenge me?" look.
"You're a wise man, Richard," the Doctor admitted, finally letting his guard down.
All four of them slid into the back of a black town car. The minute that they started to drive, the windows immediately went black and they lit up green with night vision. Rose and her mum were expecting this. However, the Doctor was not.
"Blimey," he enthused, unbuckling himself and leaning forward to stare at the street out the window. "Oh, look at that." He pulled out a sonic screwdriver and started scanning the console of the car. "This is highly advanced technology for your time. How'd you all come up with this?"
"It's from alien tech that fell through the rift. We use it mostly for the paparazzi and our protection. Where'd you get a sonic, anyway?" Rose asked.
"Had a couple spares lying around the TARDIS. It still needs some work. This one has a couple of broken settings," he said as he hit it against the palm of his hand. The sonic blinked a couple times and then buzzed in protest. "Hair dryers interfere with it something awful. And it needs a good charging," he said, frowning and sticking it back in his jacket. "Still, better than no sonic at all. How am I supposed to defend the Earth without a sonic? With a kettle and some string?"
"I'd like to see that," Richard said, grinning.
The Doctor grinned back at him, "Well, if I can't get this charged, you might get to."
It seemed to Rose that the Doctor and Richard were getting on better. Good thing, too. She had a feeling that the Doctor wouldn't be able to keep his nose out of Torchwood business, especially if she continued to work there.
They pulled up to the Tyler mansion and said their goodnights to Richard. Rose knew her mum would want at least one cuppa before bed, and that was fine with her. Truth be told, as exhausted as she was, she didn't think that she'd be able to just go right to sleep. Her mind was racing and she was too keyed up from the day's events. She wondered how the Doctor felt. He didn't seem tired in the least bit. Then again, he never did. She knew that he slept, only because he told her that he did. She had never been awake when he wasn't, except for that time on Christmas day right after he regenerated. But that hardly seemed to count as sleeping. And he was part human now, but what that meant for his bodily functions, she hadn't a clue and doubted that she ever really would.
Pete greeted them at the door and pulled both Rose and Jackie in for a hug. "If you ever disappear on me again, Jacks, I swear I'll lose it. Where's Mickey? He's can't hide from me forever. Can't believe he let you jump around with the dimension cannon."
Jackie shook her head. "He didn't come back with us. He stayed in the other dimension. And don't blame him. I was gonna go, whether he came or not. Mickey came with to look after me."
Rose hadn't even had a chance to think about what she felt about Mickey leaving. Now that everyone fell silent at the thought of his absence, she realized that she had just lost a good friend. The Doctor must have noticed her fallen expression, because he reached out and simply held her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. When she looked up him, his eyes seemed troubled. She forced a smile.
"He's not alone, though. Mick's got Martha and Jack. He'll probably work for Torchwood there. So I'm sure that they'll see the other Doctor and Donna again, right?" Rose asked the Doctor, trying to turn the situation around.
The Doctor swallowed thickly. "Right," he said softly. There was something in his voice that bothered Rose, but she decided that now was not the time to prod.
"And you, Doctor," Pete said, turning to face him. "It's good to see you again. Jacks told me that you're some sort of Meta… Cycle… clone of the Time Lord Doctor?"
"Meta-Crisis. I'm a Meta-Crisis clone," the Doctor said. "Basically, Pete, all you need to know is that I'm an exact replica of the Doctor…thoughts, mannerisms, memories, intellect… I am the Doctor, I just have a human body now."
"So he gave this dimension a Doctor of our very own?" Pete asked, joshing.
"Yep," the Doctor said, rocking back on his heels. "You could say that."
"Can we take this into the kitchen?" Jackie asked. "I'm dying for a cuppa. Is Tony in bed?"
"Yeah," Pete answered her as they all trudged through the expansive house. "He's been in bed for a while. I promised him that his mummy would be here in the morning."
"Aw," the Doctor said, pulling up a chair at the kitchen table. "I was looking forward to meeting little Tony Tyler. Tony Tyler…sounds like something out of a comic book."
Jackie put the kettle on and they all sat around, telling Pete everything that happened in the Medusa Cascade.
"Torchwood will want to talk to you about all this," Pete said, looking at Rose.
"Yeah? Well, they can bloody well wait until she's recuperated," Jackie said firmly. "My daughter will be taking a couple of days off."
"Mum, you can't just call me into work like I'm home sick from school," Rose said, sighing.
"No, Jacks, you can't. Good thing I know your boss. I'm pretty sure he'll let you have a couple of days," Pete said with a smile. "And you will need some time to get acclimated, Doctor. But I do know that Torchwood will be pushing for me to bring you in as well."
"You aren't going to probe me, are you?" the Doctor teased.
"Nah, nothing like that. But they'll be on me about getting you to come aboard. You know, you're welcome to, if it's something that you're interested in." After looking at Jackie's expression, he added, "But we can talk about all that later."
"Pete, I will be interested in talking about it later. But for now, we'll just go one day at a time," the Doctor said, extending his hand to Pete. After they shook on it, he said, "Blimey, one day a time. That'll take some getting used to."
"The guest bedroom has carpets, Doctor," Rose said conspiratorially. "You sure you're alright with that?"
"Don't know how I'll cope." He shook his head and smirked at her.
"Guest bedroom?" Jackie asked.
"Mum," Rose said, cautioning her.
"No, no. That's fine. I was assuming…" she trailed off when she noticed Rose's horrified expression and the Doctor's rigid posture. "Yeah, the guest room has lovely carpets."
"Good," the Doctor said, perking up. "Carpets are good. I like carpets just fine. Berber, shag, woven… always been alright with me. What color are the carpets?"
"White," Rose said, suddenly very interested in her tea mug.
"Actually, they're eggshell," Jackie corrected.
"Eggshell, really?" the Doctor asked, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows as if it were very important information.
"Hate to leave this lively conversation about carpets," Pete said, rolling his eyes. "But I do have to go to work in the morning. Jacks, we should head on up."
"Yeah," Jackie said, obviously relieved at an excuse to leave the room. "Goodnight, Sweet'eart," she said as she kissed Rose on the top of her head. "G'night, Doctor."
"Night, Jackie," the Doctor mumbled.
"Oh, Doctor," Pete said, sticking his head back into the kitchen. "I had someone pick up some stuff for you when Jacks called earlier to say that you'd be staying here. There are some pajamas and a toothbrush and stuff in the upstairs hall bathroom. We had to guess your size. I hope they fit alright."
"Thank you, Pete. I'm sure everything will be just fine."
"My mum has a big mouth," Rose said when her parents had finally went upstairs.
"Eh, she means well," the Doctor offered. "At least she isn't hitting me. I'm not very fond of the hitting." He then made an exaggerated frown. "Or the shouting."
They sat for a moment in the quiet. The Doctor started drumming his long fingers on the table in time with the kitchen clock. "Soo…," the Doctor said, awkwardly. "What's the plan, then?"
"Plan?" Rose asked, absentmindedly.
"Are we going to sit in the kitchen all night? Go to sleep? What are we going to do tomorrow? You have the day off, and I seem to be free for a while. We could see a film or take a walk. Both, if you want. Oooh, we could see some museums. I wonder if the Earth's history is much different here. Do you know anything about that? I don't. Brand new Earth for me." He reached forward and grabbed a biscuit from the tray in the center of the table and popped it in his mouth. "I'll get this new TARDIS grown, you just see if I won't. Whole new universe to discover. Never had that before. Well, at least not in the past some hundreds of years. But, for the time being, exploring a whole new, new, new, new Earth will have to suffice. Why are you staring at me?"
"You have sugar on your face," Rose told him, giggling.
The Doctor wiped at his nose with the back of his hand.
"No, come 'ere," she said, leaning forward and brushing his cheek with her hand. She wasn't paying attention to the proximity of her body to his. For the moment, she was only concerned with the sprinklings of powdered sugar that were stuck to him. She moved her hand to his chest to wipe away the crumbs on his lapel. Her hand lingered there, over his single heart. When she looked up at him, the emotion in his eyes contrasted greatly with the stone set of his jaw. Then, she realized just how close their faces were. "We should get some sleep," she said, letting out the breath that she was holding.
He swallowed audibly. "Yeah," he said slowly, his voice gruff. Neither one of them made an attempt to move. They just sat there, staring at each other for a moment. "Rose," he finally said in a hoarse whisper.
"Yeah, Doctor?" she asked, her eyes not leaving his.
"There's a tiny human wearing space ship pajamas not five feet to our left," he said, the corners of his mouth playing at a smile.
Rose spun herself around in her chair, "Tony!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing out of bed?"
"I'm not sleepy," the little boy said, trotting over to the table and climbing up in an empty chair. "I want to have a tea party too."
The Doctor laughed loudly at this and handed Tony a biscuit.
"Tony, it's very late. We were going to bed," Rose said, getting up from the table and taking their cups to the sink.
"Who are you?" the three year old asked with wide eyes.
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said, munching on another biscuit.
"Sissy!" Tony shouted. "He's not lost anymore. You found him."
The Doctor set his half eaten biscuit back on the plate, his face somber. "From the mouth of babes."
"Rose is good at finding thing," Tony kept chattering away. "I lost my 'onic screwdriver once. But Sissy found it so I could save the day again. Were you really lost?"
"Very much so," the Doctor said, giving Rose a meaningful look.
"But Sissy found you," Tony said, nodding.
"Yeah, I found him," Rose said, shooting a sad smile at the man sitting at her kitchen table. "Now, it's off to bed with you. We'll see you in the morning. Come on." She went over and started to lead Tony away by the hand. "I'll see you in the morning, mister?" she asked the Doctor.
"You bet your buttons," he called out. Rose shot him a quizzical look. "Don't know why I said that," he said, scrunching up his face and shaking his head.
After putting Tony back to bed, Rose spent a great deal of time in her bathroom, going through her bedtime routine as slowly as possible. It calmed her, grounded her. It was something normal, something human. She finally collapsed on her unmade bed and felt something poking her through the sheets. It was a notebook of unread research for work that she had been meaning to get to for quite some time. Truth be told, she was never that interested in it since she didn't think that she'd be coming back to this universe. That notebook seemed to mock her and all of her intentions. She threw it across the room, scattering papers all over the floor. But then she shrugged her shoulders, sighed, and scooped them all up to set on her dresser. She felt like she should be upset. She should be furious or sad. Nothing had turned out the way that she had planned. It was strange, then, that she was so calm. Even though she knew that what she had originally wanted to happen when she jumped dimensions hadn't happened at all, she found herself…not minding the outcome.
Huh, she thought, I really don't mind, do I? And it's because of him.
Rose listened to the water running in the hall bathroom and didn't fall asleep until she heard the door to the guest bedroom close. Maybe I am getting too used to this alien stuff, she thought as she drifted off. No, she didn't mind at all.