p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The gateway to the Void was closed forever. All of the Daleks and Cybermen were gone. The top floor of Torchwood Tower was empty and still./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor stood in the middle of the vacant room, his eyes trained on the flat white wall ahead of him. They were all gone now and his plan to do so had sent Rose with them. He stared at the wall with broken eyes and he remembered, remembered the frightened look in Rose's face as she had disappeared into the Void. He could still hear her screaming. He could still see her fingers losing their final grip on that goddamn lever and the way she had flown into nothingness. The girl who had faced down the Dalek Emperor, who had gotten Queen Victoria to use her catchphrase, who had taken charge when the Earth was in a panic and facing the Sycorax threat, who had helped the Isolus find its way home, who had helped to save the remains of that space crew on Krop-Tor, who had always run headlong into danger and had never backed down from doing the right thing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"That bright, beautiful, shining girl was gone forever./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The tears trickled down his face as he walked towards the wall, gradually building up into a steady stream. How could he be so foolish? He should have sent her back to Pete's World. He should have forced her to go and made sure Pete kept her there. He should have done more to save her. Now Jackie was out there thinking that her daughter was going to be okay, that he was going to look after her, that she was going to be out here living her life day after day, saving the world. She would never know that her daughter was dead ten minutes after coming back to the Doctor. She had trusted him with her daughter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He placed his hand on the wall as the silent sobs came to him as he thought of the days that Rose would never have, of the adventures they would no longer share. She was nothing but a ghost of what they'd had together, nothing more than a memory. And yet that memory ripped him apart inside./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She had healed him. She had given him a new sense of life after the Time War. He had been reborn in grief and rage from the Time War and Rose had shown him the light. She had embraced his change and everything he was and supported him. She had been everything he could ever have wanted from a companion. She was brave, funny, stood up for him and to him when she needed to, she helped him see things in a way that a Time Lord normally wouldn't. She'd made him smile and laugh for so long and he loved her for it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He loved her. It was a truth he could no longer deny and now she was gone before he could even tell her. He should have told her. Why didn't he tell her? So what if she was human, if she wouldn't have lived as long as him? They could have had plenty of great years together, amazing years. But he'd missed his chance for good now./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Leaning his head against the wall, the Doctor silently wept for his companion, his Rose./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose was sure that she had been walking for hours./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her feet and legs were aching and the meadow of violet grass just kept expanding. In the distance the blue shadowy trees were growing closer and, further on to the right, Rose could see the shapes of houses in the distance, some sort of town or village by the looks of things. She felt hope spring up in her heart. Villages meant people, maybe people who could help. But the village was still far off, maybe even miles. Rose looked up at the sky. It was darkening to a plum colour now and the stars were emerging in full brightness now./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose slowed down as the woodland crept closer to her. Walking through an alien forest at night wasn't really her idea of safe. She looked towards the right where she could see the town in the distance. It was even further off but she could skirt around the forest if she wanted. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she'd be any safer here as any animals in the trees could still come out of the forest to hunt. Well, thought Rose, it's hardly the first time I've been in danger is it? So she started to head towards the town, along the edge of the woodland area she was approaching./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She'd been walking for some time when another thought occurred to her. The TARDIS isn't here. How am I going to be able to translate what anyone is saying? She cursed her luck. Even if she found anyone helpful, they might not be able to help her. That was just great./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Still, it's better than being in the Void, Rose reminded herself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Eventually she had to stop and sit down in the grass. Relief spread throughout her legs as she rested. She ran a hand over her face and thought, again, about her predicament./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So something had gotten in the way of her going through the Void. Perhaps a transmat beam? Some kind of strange barrier? She didn't know. She was just grateful to be alive and away from the monsters. But then there was the matter of getting home. What was she going to do about that? She was stuck here. But at least she was alive. Alive meant she had a chance of finding her way home or finding the Doctor. Really, they were the same thing. The Doctor was home for her. He had been for a long time./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sky continued to darken as Rose rested. She considered laying down in the long grass, soaking in the scent of blueberries and going to sleep. But it was too much like being an easy target for any animals. Moving, she could at least run away. Stretching out her legs, she picked herself up and made her way around the woodland and towards the town. She kept one eye on the woods as she walked, conscious of any movements that might be an animal preparing to leap at her. But she saw nothing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"More hours passed and soon Rose's legs were aching again. This time the aches spread all over her joints and muscles. Her eyelids felt heavy and she wasn't even sure if she was walking in a straight line anymore. She swayed and stumbled through the grass more and more. Eventually she crashed to her knees in the grass, her body giving way to sleep./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was early evening when the sound of footsteps reached the Doctor. He sat against the back wall, breathing hard and staring at his shoes. The noise caught his attention and he looked up to see a group of four people in dark clothing entering the room. He recognized the man leading them by his long military court and the fact that every cell in his body was recoiling from the very fact of him, the fixed point in time that no person should be. His frown deepened and his brow furrowed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jack?" he called out./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The former Captain who was talking to a few of his teammates looked over and froze. He frowned for a few long seconds and then he began to walk over. "Doctor?" he asked. A smile began to creep across his features. The Doctor wanted to punch him, punch that smile off his face. How could he smile after what had happened here? But it wasn't Jack's fault. He didn't know. Though why he was here began to raise more questions in the Doctor's mind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah," the Doctor forced himself to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking to meet Jack in the middle of the room. Behind him, the others were watching them both curiously. Two of them were whispering to each other. The Doctor returned his attention to Jack who was still smiling at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Long time," he remarked. "And you regenerated then?" He cast an appreciative look over the Doctor but the Doctor wasn't in the mood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled coolly back at Jack. "Yeah." He frowned and nodded at the others. "What are you doing here? Who are they?" he asked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack glanced him. "My team. We're Torchwood Cardiff. We got a tip off about what Torchwood London were getting up to a few hours ago. We drove right over and saw the battle, well some of it." He put his hands in the pockets of his coat. "What happened, Doctor? I thought all the Daleks were destroyed."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor stared at him, horrified. "You're part of Torchwood? This dangerous, selfish organization that just put billions of lives at risk?! You're a part of that?" he snarled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack straightened up, his muscles tensing in his neck. "Torchwood Cardiff has nothing to do with what Torchwood London gets up to." He countered in a hard voice. "The only thing we have in common is scavenging alien technology to arm the human race against the future. We investigate rift activity and try to save lives. We don't deal with massive scale activities unless they involve the Rift."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One of the team, a man, stepped forward. "Which has happened once more than we'd like."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor's expression was still cold as he stared at Jack. "You expect me to believe you had no part in this?" Inside, he could feel his insides shaking with fury. The idea of Jack being connected to Torchwood made him feel ill inside. The fury of losing Rose to this organization burned fierce and bright inside his heart. "That you didn't know what Torchwood London was up to?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes, I didn't know anything" Jack fired back at him, his own temper rising./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""All right, Jack, calm down." A dark haired woman with a vaguely familiar face and a strong Welsh accent cut in, striding up next to Jack. "Who is this man? He's a Doctor?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. "He's the Doctor. He's… well he used to be a friend I travelled with back before he ditched me."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was the Doctor's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh don't start with that. You clearly did fine! You and your Torchwood," he added bitterly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fine?!" Jack repeated, incredulous fury in his voice. "Fine?" he argued. "Fine doesn't quite cut not being able to die, Doctor." The Doctor stiffened, still glaring at Jack. Jack's eyes were on him, narrowing as they scrutinized him. The former con man then laughed coldly. "Oh I see," he said, "you knew."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes I did."The Doctor answered before he turned away from him and looked towards the rest of the team, the man from before with the shorter dark hair and an Asian woman who looked very familiar. The Doctor's face relaxed a little as he tried to place her. Yes, he'd definitely met her before. A while ago. Possibly in a different face. Oh! "I've met you before," he told her a little brightly. "Yes with the alien pig a year ago," he mused./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The woman frowned. "I don't think so."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh you wouldn't recognise me. I had a different face back then."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What?" the Welsh woman asked, her face scrunched up now in extra confusion. "What does that mean?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. Meanwhile Jack was glaring at him. The Doctor continued to look at the team. "Well yeah, I'm kind of an alien. When my body is dying, it goes through a process of change and I change my face." He said. "Last time we met I had a leather jacket, virtually no hair and big ears. Oh and I sounded Northern apparently."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Asian woman snapped her fingers. "Oh yes! That was you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yep," the Doctor managed a smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh well, nice to meet you," she smiled, offering her hand. "Dr Toshiko Sato. But everyone calls me Tosh."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor smiled as he shook her hand. "Tosh. Lovely name."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This is Owen, our medic," Tosh said gesturing to the other man in the team. Owen held out his hand as the Doctor shook it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dr Harper, but Owen's fine."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay then," the Doctor answered. "Good to meet you Owen."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Are you really an alien?" Owen asked as he released the Doctor's hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Last time I checked."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Gwen, I'm the police liason," the Welsh woman introduced herself. The Doctor had just enough time to shake her hand before Jack lost patience and stepped in between them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Enough with the introductions," he snapped. "How did you know? That I couldn't die."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor stepped back, his patience reaching its limits again. "I'm a Time Lord, Jack. I can tell when someone's a fixed point. I knew it as soon as Rose…" he trailed off. Rose. Rose would be another can of worms he would have to open./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rose?" Jack repeated. "What's Rose got to do with it?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jack-" Gwen began but Jack held up his hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor moved away from the former time agent with a sigh. "Rose took the Time Vortex into her head. No one's meant to have that power and she used it to defeat the Daleks and bring you back from the dead. But she couldn't control it. She brought you back forever. The power was too much so I took it out of her. Hence this face," he explained bitterly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So she can't change me back?" Jack looked around and then back at the Doctor, the question the Doctor had been dreading dawning on his face. "Where is she anyway?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor didn't answer./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay enough strolling down memory lane," Owen interjected. "Would you mind just telling us what exactly has bee happening here? Where's Yvonne? Where is everyone? Do these Daleks and metal men leave bodies? Where is the Torchwood team?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor heaved a sigh and ran a hand over his face. All of the energy drained out of him and he looked down at the floor for a moment. "It's been a long afternoon…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He perched on the edge of one of the Torchwood employees desks and began to speak. He told them about his arrival at Torchwood and how Yvonne had explained to him about their ghost shifts and that they had gone on to cancel one ghost shift to learn more. He explained about the Cybermen and how they had infiltrated Torchwood. As he went on to explain about the sphere, he felt his throat become scratchy, still raw from the screaming and his grief. But he kept talking. He told them about the Daleks and the battle that had commenced. He explained how he and Rose had sent them back into the Void. But Rose had been taken through too./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh god," Jack murmured as he sat on the edge of another desk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm so sorry," Gwen said./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That is seriously fucked up," Owen said. "All this time Yvonne was messing with our dimension. They certainly kept that quiet. Makes me wonder what sort of things the other Torchwoods are keeping."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""To be honest, I dread to think." Gwen said as she looked around. "Are any staff left in the building?" she asked the Doctor who shrugged. "I… I don't know. I don't know if anyone else survived the battle," his voice was so low and quiet that they could barely hear him. However Gwen didn't push the matter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We can do a check," Owen said. "Tosh, do you want to check the Rift monitor and we'll do a sweep of the building." He said. Tosh nodded at him and he and Gwen left the room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack lifted his gaze from the floor and looked over at Jack. "I'm sorry. Doctor."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah," the Doctor responded. "Me too." He sighed as he folded his arms. "It wasn't right, leaving you. But I'm a Time Lord, Jack. It's in my nature to run from a fixed point," he remarked. "I can't help it. It's in my DNA."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So, what you're saying is," Jack mused, "you're prejudiced?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor managed a weak smile. "I never thought of it that way."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Shame on you," Jack murmured in a weak tease./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose woke up to the sound of whispering voices. She lifted her head and her vision began to focus in on what was in front of her. Two young women knelt in the grass a few feet away from her. Rose began to lift herself up onto her elbows, startled by their sudden proximity./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One of the girls was watching her with her head slightly tilted and intensely curious golden eyes. Rose blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing things properly. Both the women were extremely brightly coloured. The girl with the tilted head had emerald skin with navy blue wavy hair that floated around her shoulders and face. Her expression grew warmer and friendlier as she watched Rose wake up. She wore a dark pink blouse along with what looked like navy tights. A silver belt hugged her waist. At this level Rose could see the insignia on it - an infinity sign with two smiling faces within it. The other girl was identically green only her hair was a vibrant red with alternating orange and yellow streaks. Her eyes were closer to amber than golden and framed with large blue lashes. She wore a pale orange waistcoat and a matching skirt. She wore a golden pendant around her neck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hi," she greeted Rose with a bubbly wave. "You feeling okay?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah," Rose sat up fully with a groan. "I don't remember falling asleep," she said. She looked around herself. She was still in the long grassland. However the sky above her was baby pink and the violet clouds had disappeared. The planets in the sky were clearer than ever. Rose figured it must be day time then. She looked towards the girls. "Who are you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Elita," the redhead said, her eyes twinkling with brightness. "This is my cousin, Alora."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey," Alora answered in a more careful tone than her cousin. "Who are you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Rose," Rose looked around her again and then back at the girls. It began to sink in that she could understand them and she almost whooped out loud to think about that. That was one less problem to deal with, at least./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rose, that's a nice name," Alora answered with a smile. She tilted her head again. "Where do you come from, Rose?" she asked. "You don't look familiar at all and I know a lot of people," she continued. She spread her legs out to the side and leaned back on her hands. Next to her Elita continued to sit on her knees, smiling more broadly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm- I'm sort of new around here. I just… landed here. Um, sorry that sounds strange but… um…" Rose brought her knees up in front of her. "This is all really weird and it's hard to explain without sounding mad," she continued. "But I came through this… this thing… it was meant to be going to the Void but I came through here."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""The Void?" Elita repeated. "That sounds like a ghastly place, why would you want to go there?" she asked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well no, I wasn't trying to go there," Rose explained. "I was falling towards it. But I ended up here instead."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Through the Rift in time and space," Alora finished for her. Rose faltered. Alora began to smile more. "Yeah, sorry, but your predicament isn't exactly new to us. We get a fair few people coming through that thing. Humans, off-worlders. Well most anything really. They come through here and don't have a clue where they are."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We help them as much as we can but they come from all over," said Elita. "Sometimes we can't understand them. I mean we have two translators in our village but they don't know every language out there, you know?" She flopped sideways onto the grass and sprawled out, lightly kicking Alora as she did. "Nice to meet someone who can understand us," she added./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah me too," Rose said. "So, you said you try and help people?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alora nodded. "Yeah. We can take you to the village and someone can take you to Bluecairns, where our spaceport is," she explained. "But after that only you can get yourself back home."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose smiled, her heart leaping in delight. It was a lot to hope for, she knew, but it was also one step forward. "Thank you. That's enough."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack watched the Doctor slowly pacing back and forth in front of the wall, sorrow in his own heart as he thought about Rose's demise. Kind, brilliantly funny, brave Rose Tyler. It was hard to think about the reality of knowing she was no longer out there, that she had joined the growing list of dead friends that Jack now had by this point in his life. He'd always hoped that he would run into her someday again and that they could travel together. Now that was not to be./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It was my fault, Jack," the Doctor declared for the fifth time in the last hour. "This was all my fault. I should have told Pete to restrain her, to make her stay in that parallel world."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rose wouldn't have thanked you for that, Doctor," Jack pointed out. "It would have been like imprisoning her. Rose would never have stood for that. She would have tried to find you some other way. You know how stubborn she was. Look what happened last time you tried to send her away," he added. The Doctor tensed as though Jack had hit him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""At least she would have been alive to not thank me!" The Doctor stopped, throwing up his hands in the air. "She would have had that choice."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Forcing her somewhere she doesn't want to be is no choice at all," Jack countered. "Rose obviously knew she wouldn't be happy there. Doctor, Rose deserved to be happy."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah? You know what, Jack? Rose deserved to be alive!" the Doctor roared back at Jack, now facing him fully. "She deserved to live a full human life and thanks to me, she can't!" He stalked over to Jack and the Torchwood leader could see tears shining in his eyes. "I should have protected her. I failed her, Jack."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You didn't fail her." Jack attempted to console him but the Doctor was already turning away. Jack wished that he could say the right thing but he didn't think that was possible right now. If it would ever be possible in relation to Rose's death. He sat back on the desk, rubbing a hand down the side of his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Er, Jack?" Tosh suddenly spoke up from the empty office space in the back of the room, where Tosh had set herself up with her equipment. "You should come and see this."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What is it?" Jack asked tiredly. He turned to look at her, getting to his feet and walking over to her. "What's wrong now?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked back at him, her dark eyes wide, her brow furrowed. "We had rift activity back in TARDIS just after we left," she began./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack sighed. "Great. That's all we need," he said. "We'll have to deal with that later. We can only be in one place at once," he pointed out./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, Jack." Tosh said firmly. "That's not the issue. The rift energy sent a spike of power towards Torchwood Tower hours ago, at the time of the battle's end."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack frowned and crossed the remainder of the space between them. "Rift energy interfered with the Void hole collapsing?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tosh nodded. "The Cybermen must have dismantled the CCTV but these readings indicate that the Rift energy presented itself up here on the top floor, hours ago. It only lasted for a second but it was there."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Why would the Rift energy be drawn here?" Jack asked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't know," Tosh admitted. "It is strange."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack looked towards the Doctor. "Doctor,"he called, "can you think of a reason why rift energy would be drawn to the Void collapsing?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The question, at least, seemed to have the effect of distracting the Doctor from pacing again. He looked over and his brows knotted together. "Rift energy and the Void?" he echoed, hurrying over towards Tosh's desk. "Show me," he said and Tosh turned her laptop around from where it was hooked into various monitors. He looked at the time of the spike and the energy readings. His face began to pale. "That was the moment," he murmured. "That was right when the last of the Cybermen and Daleks were pulled through…" he continued. "Right when Rose…" Once more he trailed off./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What could that mean?" Jack asked as an idea latched onto his mind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't know. It could be one big blast of energy is attracted to another, like magnets," the Doctor mused. "Could be other reasons."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack began to smile as his idea took full form. "If the Rift energy interfered with the Void hole," he said, "then isn't it possible that Rose travelled into the Rift instead of the Void?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor stood in the middle of the vacant room, his eyes trained on the flat white wall ahead of him. They were all gone now and his plan to do so had sent Rose with them. He stared at the wall with broken eyes and he remembered, remembered the frightened look in Rose's face as she had disappeared into the Void. He could still hear her screaming. He could still see her fingers losing their final grip on that goddamn lever and the way she had flown into nothingness. The girl who had faced down the Dalek Emperor, who had gotten Queen Victoria to use her catchphrase, who had taken charge when the Earth was in a panic and facing the Sycorax threat, who had helped the Isolus find its way home, who had helped to save the remains of that space crew on Krop-Tor, who had always run headlong into danger and had never backed down from doing the right thing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"That bright, beautiful, shining girl was gone forever./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The tears trickled down his face as he walked towards the wall, gradually building up into a steady stream. How could he be so foolish? He should have sent her back to Pete's World. He should have forced her to go and made sure Pete kept her there. He should have done more to save her. Now Jackie was out there thinking that her daughter was going to be okay, that he was going to look after her, that she was going to be out here living her life day after day, saving the world. She would never know that her daughter was dead ten minutes after coming back to the Doctor. She had trusted him with her daughter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He placed his hand on the wall as the silent sobs came to him as he thought of the days that Rose would never have, of the adventures they would no longer share. She was nothing but a ghost of what they'd had together, nothing more than a memory. And yet that memory ripped him apart inside./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She had healed him. She had given him a new sense of life after the Time War. He had been reborn in grief and rage from the Time War and Rose had shown him the light. She had embraced his change and everything he was and supported him. She had been everything he could ever have wanted from a companion. She was brave, funny, stood up for him and to him when she needed to, she helped him see things in a way that a Time Lord normally wouldn't. She'd made him smile and laugh for so long and he loved her for it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He loved her. It was a truth he could no longer deny and now she was gone before he could even tell her. He should have told her. Why didn't he tell her? So what if she was human, if she wouldn't have lived as long as him? They could have had plenty of great years together, amazing years. But he'd missed his chance for good now./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Leaning his head against the wall, the Doctor silently wept for his companion, his Rose./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose was sure that she had been walking for hours./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her feet and legs were aching and the meadow of violet grass just kept expanding. In the distance the blue shadowy trees were growing closer and, further on to the right, Rose could see the shapes of houses in the distance, some sort of town or village by the looks of things. She felt hope spring up in her heart. Villages meant people, maybe people who could help. But the village was still far off, maybe even miles. Rose looked up at the sky. It was darkening to a plum colour now and the stars were emerging in full brightness now./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose slowed down as the woodland crept closer to her. Walking through an alien forest at night wasn't really her idea of safe. She looked towards the right where she could see the town in the distance. It was even further off but she could skirt around the forest if she wanted. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she'd be any safer here as any animals in the trees could still come out of the forest to hunt. Well, thought Rose, it's hardly the first time I've been in danger is it? So she started to head towards the town, along the edge of the woodland area she was approaching./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She'd been walking for some time when another thought occurred to her. The TARDIS isn't here. How am I going to be able to translate what anyone is saying? She cursed her luck. Even if she found anyone helpful, they might not be able to help her. That was just great./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Still, it's better than being in the Void, Rose reminded herself./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Eventually she had to stop and sit down in the grass. Relief spread throughout her legs as she rested. She ran a hand over her face and thought, again, about her predicament./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"So something had gotten in the way of her going through the Void. Perhaps a transmat beam? Some kind of strange barrier? She didn't know. She was just grateful to be alive and away from the monsters. But then there was the matter of getting home. What was she going to do about that? She was stuck here. But at least she was alive. Alive meant she had a chance of finding her way home or finding the Doctor. Really, they were the same thing. The Doctor was home for her. He had been for a long time./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sky continued to darken as Rose rested. She considered laying down in the long grass, soaking in the scent of blueberries and going to sleep. But it was too much like being an easy target for any animals. Moving, she could at least run away. Stretching out her legs, she picked herself up and made her way around the woodland and towards the town. She kept one eye on the woods as she walked, conscious of any movements that might be an animal preparing to leap at her. But she saw nothing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"More hours passed and soon Rose's legs were aching again. This time the aches spread all over her joints and muscles. Her eyelids felt heavy and she wasn't even sure if she was walking in a straight line anymore. She swayed and stumbled through the grass more and more. Eventually she crashed to her knees in the grass, her body giving way to sleep./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was early evening when the sound of footsteps reached the Doctor. He sat against the back wall, breathing hard and staring at his shoes. The noise caught his attention and he looked up to see a group of four people in dark clothing entering the room. He recognized the man leading them by his long military court and the fact that every cell in his body was recoiling from the very fact of him, the fixed point in time that no person should be. His frown deepened and his brow furrowed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jack?" he called out./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The former Captain who was talking to a few of his teammates looked over and froze. He frowned for a few long seconds and then he began to walk over. "Doctor?" he asked. A smile began to creep across his features. The Doctor wanted to punch him, punch that smile off his face. How could he smile after what had happened here? But it wasn't Jack's fault. He didn't know. Though why he was here began to raise more questions in the Doctor's mind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah," the Doctor forced himself to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking to meet Jack in the middle of the room. Behind him, the others were watching them both curiously. Two of them were whispering to each other. The Doctor returned his attention to Jack who was still smiling at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Long time," he remarked. "And you regenerated then?" He cast an appreciative look over the Doctor but the Doctor wasn't in the mood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled coolly back at Jack. "Yeah." He frowned and nodded at the others. "What are you doing here? Who are they?" he asked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack glanced him. "My team. We're Torchwood Cardiff. We got a tip off about what Torchwood London were getting up to a few hours ago. We drove right over and saw the battle, well some of it." He put his hands in the pockets of his coat. "What happened, Doctor? I thought all the Daleks were destroyed."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor stared at him, horrified. "You're part of Torchwood? This dangerous, selfish organization that just put billions of lives at risk?! You're a part of that?" he snarled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack straightened up, his muscles tensing in his neck. "Torchwood Cardiff has nothing to do with what Torchwood London gets up to." He countered in a hard voice. "The only thing we have in common is scavenging alien technology to arm the human race against the future. We investigate rift activity and try to save lives. We don't deal with massive scale activities unless they involve the Rift."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One of the team, a man, stepped forward. "Which has happened once more than we'd like."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor's expression was still cold as he stared at Jack. "You expect me to believe you had no part in this?" Inside, he could feel his insides shaking with fury. The idea of Jack being connected to Torchwood made him feel ill inside. The fury of losing Rose to this organization burned fierce and bright inside his heart. "That you didn't know what Torchwood London was up to?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes, I didn't know anything" Jack fired back at him, his own temper rising./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""All right, Jack, calm down." A dark haired woman with a vaguely familiar face and a strong Welsh accent cut in, striding up next to Jack. "Who is this man? He's a Doctor?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. "He's the Doctor. He's… well he used to be a friend I travelled with back before he ditched me."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was the Doctor's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh don't start with that. You clearly did fine! You and your Torchwood," he added bitterly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fine?!" Jack repeated, incredulous fury in his voice. "Fine?" he argued. "Fine doesn't quite cut not being able to die, Doctor." The Doctor stiffened, still glaring at Jack. Jack's eyes were on him, narrowing as they scrutinized him. The former con man then laughed coldly. "Oh I see," he said, "you knew."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes I did."The Doctor answered before he turned away from him and looked towards the rest of the team, the man from before with the shorter dark hair and an Asian woman who looked very familiar. The Doctor's face relaxed a little as he tried to place her. Yes, he'd definitely met her before. A while ago. Possibly in a different face. Oh! "I've met you before," he told her a little brightly. "Yes with the alien pig a year ago," he mused./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The woman frowned. "I don't think so."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh you wouldn't recognise me. I had a different face back then."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What?" the Welsh woman asked, her face scrunched up now in extra confusion. "What does that mean?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. Meanwhile Jack was glaring at him. The Doctor continued to look at the team. "Well yeah, I'm kind of an alien. When my body is dying, it goes through a process of change and I change my face." He said. "Last time we met I had a leather jacket, virtually no hair and big ears. Oh and I sounded Northern apparently."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Asian woman snapped her fingers. "Oh yes! That was you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yep," the Doctor managed a smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh well, nice to meet you," she smiled, offering her hand. "Dr Toshiko Sato. But everyone calls me Tosh."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor smiled as he shook her hand. "Tosh. Lovely name."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This is Owen, our medic," Tosh said gesturing to the other man in the team. Owen held out his hand as the Doctor shook it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Dr Harper, but Owen's fine."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay then," the Doctor answered. "Good to meet you Owen."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Are you really an alien?" Owen asked as he released the Doctor's hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Last time I checked."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Gwen, I'm the police liason," the Welsh woman introduced herself. The Doctor had just enough time to shake her hand before Jack lost patience and stepped in between them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Enough with the introductions," he snapped. "How did you know? That I couldn't die."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor stepped back, his patience reaching its limits again. "I'm a Time Lord, Jack. I can tell when someone's a fixed point. I knew it as soon as Rose…" he trailed off. Rose. Rose would be another can of worms he would have to open./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rose?" Jack repeated. "What's Rose got to do with it?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jack-" Gwen began but Jack held up his hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor moved away from the former time agent with a sigh. "Rose took the Time Vortex into her head. No one's meant to have that power and she used it to defeat the Daleks and bring you back from the dead. But she couldn't control it. She brought you back forever. The power was too much so I took it out of her. Hence this face," he explained bitterly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So she can't change me back?" Jack looked around and then back at the Doctor, the question the Doctor had been dreading dawning on his face. "Where is she anyway?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor didn't answer./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay enough strolling down memory lane," Owen interjected. "Would you mind just telling us what exactly has bee happening here? Where's Yvonne? Where is everyone? Do these Daleks and metal men leave bodies? Where is the Torchwood team?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor heaved a sigh and ran a hand over his face. All of the energy drained out of him and he looked down at the floor for a moment. "It's been a long afternoon…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He perched on the edge of one of the Torchwood employees desks and began to speak. He told them about his arrival at Torchwood and how Yvonne had explained to him about their ghost shifts and that they had gone on to cancel one ghost shift to learn more. He explained about the Cybermen and how they had infiltrated Torchwood. As he went on to explain about the sphere, he felt his throat become scratchy, still raw from the screaming and his grief. But he kept talking. He told them about the Daleks and the battle that had commenced. He explained how he and Rose had sent them back into the Void. But Rose had been taken through too./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh god," Jack murmured as he sat on the edge of another desk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm so sorry," Gwen said./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That is seriously fucked up," Owen said. "All this time Yvonne was messing with our dimension. They certainly kept that quiet. Makes me wonder what sort of things the other Torchwoods are keeping."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""To be honest, I dread to think." Gwen said as she looked around. "Are any staff left in the building?" she asked the Doctor who shrugged. "I… I don't know. I don't know if anyone else survived the battle," his voice was so low and quiet that they could barely hear him. However Gwen didn't push the matter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We can do a check," Owen said. "Tosh, do you want to check the Rift monitor and we'll do a sweep of the building." He said. Tosh nodded at him and he and Gwen left the room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack lifted his gaze from the floor and looked over at Jack. "I'm sorry. Doctor."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah," the Doctor responded. "Me too." He sighed as he folded his arms. "It wasn't right, leaving you. But I'm a Time Lord, Jack. It's in my nature to run from a fixed point," he remarked. "I can't help it. It's in my DNA."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So, what you're saying is," Jack mused, "you're prejudiced?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Doctor managed a weak smile. "I never thought of it that way."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Shame on you," Jack murmured in a weak tease./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose woke up to the sound of whispering voices. She lifted her head and her vision began to focus in on what was in front of her. Two young women knelt in the grass a few feet away from her. Rose began to lift herself up onto her elbows, startled by their sudden proximity./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One of the girls was watching her with her head slightly tilted and intensely curious golden eyes. Rose blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing things properly. Both the women were extremely brightly coloured. The girl with the tilted head had emerald skin with navy blue wavy hair that floated around her shoulders and face. Her expression grew warmer and friendlier as she watched Rose wake up. She wore a dark pink blouse along with what looked like navy tights. A silver belt hugged her waist. At this level Rose could see the insignia on it - an infinity sign with two smiling faces within it. The other girl was identically green only her hair was a vibrant red with alternating orange and yellow streaks. Her eyes were closer to amber than golden and framed with large blue lashes. She wore a pale orange waistcoat and a matching skirt. She wore a golden pendant around her neck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hi," she greeted Rose with a bubbly wave. "You feeling okay?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah," Rose sat up fully with a groan. "I don't remember falling asleep," she said. She looked around herself. She was still in the long grassland. However the sky above her was baby pink and the violet clouds had disappeared. The planets in the sky were clearer than ever. Rose figured it must be day time then. She looked towards the girls. "Who are you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Elita," the redhead said, her eyes twinkling with brightness. "This is my cousin, Alora."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey," Alora answered in a more careful tone than her cousin. "Who are you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Rose," Rose looked around her again and then back at the girls. It began to sink in that she could understand them and she almost whooped out loud to think about that. That was one less problem to deal with, at least./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rose, that's a nice name," Alora answered with a smile. She tilted her head again. "Where do you come from, Rose?" she asked. "You don't look familiar at all and I know a lot of people," she continued. She spread her legs out to the side and leaned back on her hands. Next to her Elita continued to sit on her knees, smiling more broadly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm- I'm sort of new around here. I just… landed here. Um, sorry that sounds strange but… um…" Rose brought her knees up in front of her. "This is all really weird and it's hard to explain without sounding mad," she continued. "But I came through this… this thing… it was meant to be going to the Void but I came through here."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""The Void?" Elita repeated. "That sounds like a ghastly place, why would you want to go there?" she asked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well no, I wasn't trying to go there," Rose explained. "I was falling towards it. But I ended up here instead."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Through the Rift in time and space," Alora finished for her. Rose faltered. Alora began to smile more. "Yeah, sorry, but your predicament isn't exactly new to us. We get a fair few people coming through that thing. Humans, off-worlders. Well most anything really. They come through here and don't have a clue where they are."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We help them as much as we can but they come from all over," said Elita. "Sometimes we can't understand them. I mean we have two translators in our village but they don't know every language out there, you know?" She flopped sideways onto the grass and sprawled out, lightly kicking Alora as she did. "Nice to meet someone who can understand us," she added./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah me too," Rose said. "So, you said you try and help people?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alora nodded. "Yeah. We can take you to the village and someone can take you to Bluecairns, where our spaceport is," she explained. "But after that only you can get yourself back home."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Rose smiled, her heart leaping in delight. It was a lot to hope for, she knew, but it was also one step forward. "Thank you. That's enough."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack watched the Doctor slowly pacing back and forth in front of the wall, sorrow in his own heart as he thought about Rose's demise. Kind, brilliantly funny, brave Rose Tyler. It was hard to think about the reality of knowing she was no longer out there, that she had joined the growing list of dead friends that Jack now had by this point in his life. He'd always hoped that he would run into her someday again and that they could travel together. Now that was not to be./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It was my fault, Jack," the Doctor declared for the fifth time in the last hour. "This was all my fault. I should have told Pete to restrain her, to make her stay in that parallel world."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rose wouldn't have thanked you for that, Doctor," Jack pointed out. "It would have been like imprisoning her. Rose would never have stood for that. She would have tried to find you some other way. You know how stubborn she was. Look what happened last time you tried to send her away," he added. The Doctor tensed as though Jack had hit him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""At least she would have been alive to not thank me!" The Doctor stopped, throwing up his hands in the air. "She would have had that choice."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Forcing her somewhere she doesn't want to be is no choice at all," Jack countered. "Rose obviously knew she wouldn't be happy there. Doctor, Rose deserved to be happy."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah? You know what, Jack? Rose deserved to be alive!" the Doctor roared back at Jack, now facing him fully. "She deserved to live a full human life and thanks to me, she can't!" He stalked over to Jack and the Torchwood leader could see tears shining in his eyes. "I should have protected her. I failed her, Jack."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You didn't fail her." Jack attempted to console him but the Doctor was already turning away. Jack wished that he could say the right thing but he didn't think that was possible right now. If it would ever be possible in relation to Rose's death. He sat back on the desk, rubbing a hand down the side of his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Er, Jack?" Tosh suddenly spoke up from the empty office space in the back of the room, where Tosh had set herself up with her equipment. "You should come and see this."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What is it?" Jack asked tiredly. He turned to look at her, getting to his feet and walking over to her. "What's wrong now?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked back at him, her dark eyes wide, her brow furrowed. "We had rift activity back in TARDIS just after we left," she began./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack sighed. "Great. That's all we need," he said. "We'll have to deal with that later. We can only be in one place at once," he pointed out./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, Jack." Tosh said firmly. "That's not the issue. The rift energy sent a spike of power towards Torchwood Tower hours ago, at the time of the battle's end."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack frowned and crossed the remainder of the space between them. "Rift energy interfered with the Void hole collapsing?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tosh nodded. "The Cybermen must have dismantled the CCTV but these readings indicate that the Rift energy presented itself up here on the top floor, hours ago. It only lasted for a second but it was there."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Why would the Rift energy be drawn here?" Jack asked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't know," Tosh admitted. "It is strange."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack looked towards the Doctor. "Doctor,"he called, "can you think of a reason why rift energy would be drawn to the Void collapsing?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The question, at least, seemed to have the effect of distracting the Doctor from pacing again. He looked over and his brows knotted together. "Rift energy and the Void?" he echoed, hurrying over towards Tosh's desk. "Show me," he said and Tosh turned her laptop around from where it was hooked into various monitors. He looked at the time of the spike and the energy readings. His face began to pale. "That was the moment," he murmured. "That was right when the last of the Cybermen and Daleks were pulled through…" he continued. "Right when Rose…" Once more he trailed off./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What could that mean?" Jack asked as an idea latched onto his mind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't know. It could be one big blast of energy is attracted to another, like magnets," the Doctor mused. "Could be other reasons."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jack began to smile as his idea took full form. "If the Rift energy interfered with the Void hole," he said, "then isn't it possible that Rose travelled into the Rift instead of the Void?"/p