Chapter Two: Homecoming

"Great. Bloody Norway. Fat lot of good that is," Jackie groaned as she stepped onto the beach. "I'll have to call Pete to come out here. He's taking care of our son. Did you know that I had a son, Doctor?"

"Congratulations! What did you call him?" the Doctor inquired brightly.

"Doctor," she said seriously, laughing hysterically at the look on his face. "No, dumbo. We call him Tony."

Rose hugged her mum as firmly as she possibly could. "Mum," she said, already feeling the tears threatening her eyes.

"I know," Jackie chuckled, although her eyes were filled with tears as well. "Doctor, you better take care of my little girl. You are going to take her with you, aren't you?"

Honestly, Rose didn't think of that. She assumed that she'd come back and that would be that, but time had passed and he had Donna along for the ride. The Doctor's face was downright merry. "Oh yes. I mean, if that's all right with her."

Donna whacked him and Rose looked offended. "Of course it's all right with me. Is it all right with you?"

"I just said that I'd be taking you with me!" he defended, rubbing the spot that Donna hit. "How was I supposed to know if you still wanted to come along? You could be married in this universe for all I know."

"Well, I'm not and you're thick for thinking that."

"You are thick for thinking that," Donna agreed.

His mouth bobbed, but he couldn't come up with anything else to say. Instead, he motioned to the TARDIS. "We don't have much more time before the gap closes."

Rose hugged Jackie again while Jackie rattled on and on. "Now, you take care of yourself. Make sure you eat right and get your vitamins. And don't be afraid to smack him once in a while to keep him in line!"

"I do that," Donna spoke up. The Doctor glared and she threatened him with her hand.

"You better remember who you are and where you came from, Rose Tyler. You're a girl from London and my daughter, not some alien!" Jackie added. "I love you so much. I can't believe this is it. I'll tell Tony that his sister is out saving the universe."

Rose smiled sadly. "Tell Dad and my little brother that I love them. I love you too, Mum. Take care of yourself. I mean it."

They hugged a final time and the three travelers prepared to leave in the TARDIS. Rose waved from the doorway and Jackie waved back, shouting, "I love you! I'll always remember that face! And Doctor, you better not get her killed! I don't care what I have to do to find you, but I will and I will make you pay for it!"

"Bye, Jackie!" the Doctor called as they began to disappear. "I'm sure you would!"

Once they were gone, Rose stood by the closed doors. She tried to keep her emotions under control, but tears were threatening to escape. Donna motioned to her in case the Doctor couldn't tell, yet he did. He was already walking to her. His arms went around her and she turned into his chest, bawling her eyes out.

"You're sure about this?" he whispered. "I might have time to take you back."

"I made my choice, remember? I'll keep making the same one," she forced a brave smile. "I'll miss my family, but not as much as I missed…" she paused, gazing up into his dark eyes. "All of this."

He nodded. "Quite right too. Now, I say we stop by London. I'm sure Wilf is very concerned about his granddaughter and the blue box that appeared in his living room."

When they arrived, Wilf and Sylvia darted across the garden to embrace Donna. Sylvia smacked the Doctor when they got close enough. "What was that for?" he declared, pointing a finger at Donna. "Now I see where you get that hitting thing."

"You've been traveling with my daughter and I didn't know! And then the planet and those things…" Sylvia rambled. "And then out of nowhere that blue box showed up in my living room!"

"Stop it, sweetheart. They saved the universe!" Wilf laughed, hugging the Doctor and embracing Rose. "And you, Rose! You were something else! That big gun and destroying that trashcan thing with the plunger eye!"

Rose grinned shyly and the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Really? You must have been brilliant."

Her blush deepened. "Yeah, well. Defender of the Earth and all that. No big deal."

"Poppycock. You were amazing! Stay for tea?" Wilf offered at the protest of Sylvia.

As Rose and the Doctor were in the kitchen pouring their tea, Donna was sitting with Wilf nearby. "See that, Gramps?" she whispered with a nod in the couple's direction.

Wilf looked and winked at her. "They're…?"

"Not yet. Story of lost love. Really tragic. But, I'm worried."

"About what? Don't tell me more aliens are on the way!" he exclaimed, searching the room with his eyes to find his paint gun.

"No," Donna chuckled. "The Doctor can be…how do I put this…he's not one for acknowledging his feelings. I hope he doesn't mess up with her."

"You know what," Wilf muttered, motioning her closer. "Do you remember when you were little? All your friends would come to you with their love life problems?"

Her eyes lit up. "I charged a quarter for drafting love notes. Once a temp, always a temp."

"Why don't you use some of that magic? Play matchmaker. The man deserves to be happy."

They heard Rose laughing about something and the Doctor was smiling. Donna grinned. "If it comes to that, I have no problem butting in."

"You never have."

"Gramps," she scowled. "Wait, was that compliment?"

"Of course it was, my Donna!" he laughed happily. "Look at you lot. Off to save the world. See the stars. Quite a team you'll make."

Donna nodded. "I wonder how things will change with her on the TARDIS. What if I become a third wheel?"

He scoffed. "You're too fiery for that. From what I know about that blond, you two will get on just fine."

After a lovely time over tea, even Sylvia loosened up, they said their goodbyes and piled into the TARDIS. The Doctor grinned. "Where would we like to go next?"

"Your pick," Donna offered. "We can take turns."

"I really don't care. Anywhere is fine with me. I'm just glad to be back…" she glanced at the Doctor and blushed when Donna made suggestive faces at her.

"Well, the TARDIS could use some power. After that, the universe is ours to explore!" he exclaimed and hit a few buttons, rattling off to stop at Cardiff for a spell. Once they were stopped, he went over to Rose with his hands in his pockets. "Your room is how you left it. Hasn't been touched. Well, except that it's moved a few doors down."

Donna pointed. "I can show her. It's the one that's always locked, right?"

He flustered a bit at the surprised look on Rose's face. "Yeah. That's the one."

Donna and Rose didn't move. He motioned them on, but Donna held out her hand. "I need the key, spaceman."

"Right, of course…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably as he reached into his breast pocket. He tossed the key to Donna, and she caught it with ease. "Off you go, then. I have some tinkering to do."

"This way," Donna whispered as she took Rose by the arm.

They wandered down the hallway past her room and the Doctor's, briskly moving by several doors. She stopped at one and tried to get inside. It was locked, so she smiled triumphantly and put the key in the lock. They went in and Rose covered her mouth. "I can't believe it."

"Believe what?" Donna inquired as Rose looked around.

"It's the exact same. Everything about it. Sorry it's so messy. I wasn't expecting to leave when I did," she explained as she neatened a few drawers and kicked some clothes back into her wardrobe room. She ran a hand down the photographs she pinned to the wall of her mother and father, and even a few of Mickey, Jack, and London. "Nothing has even moved or aged."

"That's the TARDIS for you," Donna chuckled. She frowned when Rose looked stricken. "What? What's wrong?"

"Well, it isn't the exact same after all. My bed's been made. I know for sure that I didn't make it before I left. My mum was on the TARDIS and came in here. She really complained about it. I remember everything about that day. Worst day of my life…"

Rose sat down on the bed and Donna decided to join her, holding out the key to the room. Rose took it and smiled at her initials carved into the metal. He kept the key close, which said a lot. Her head was spinning. After years of trying to get back, there she was.

"So," Donna started a little uncomfortably. "It's interesting, isn't it? Both of us being on here at once."

"Yeah," Rose laughed. "Although, we've traveled with three before. Jack was along for a while. Things went well then."

Donna nearly fainted at the thought of him. "He's so dreamy! I mean wow."

"I know," she laughed. "That's what I thought when I met him."

"He's not like the Doctor. He's all big and muscular. The Doctor's so thin. Like a twig. I keep trying to get him to eat something, put on a little weight. All bone, that one."

She smirked. "He is pretty slim. What's it been like traveling with him?"

"Loads of fun. So exciting! I met the Ood—"

"So did I! Where'd you meet them?"

"This snowy planet. We liberated them. All in a day's work. Let's see, I also met Agatha Christie once."

"Really? I've met Charles Dickens."

"Got taken by a library computer."

"Had my face taken by a television."

"Responsible for the eruption of Pompeii, saved the world from ATMOS, dealt with alien babies made from fat…"

"Responsible for one of the explosions during the Blitz, saved the world from Cybermen and Daleks, dealt with a possessed child…"

Donna beamed. "We have so much in common!"

"Don't we just?"

They embraced and Donna pulled back gleefully. "Oh, it'll be so nice to have a human around. Especially a female."

"Poor Doctor," Rose chuckled, looking slightly forlorn. "You said that he…you know. Mentioned me."

She nodded. "He did. Always very fondly, by the way. Was he ever…dark…around you?"

"How do you mean?"

"He stood by and watched as he killed this alien's children. If I hadn't told him to go, he would have died right there. If I hadn't told him to go back, he would have let this family from Pompeii die. And they helped us. They were lovely people. This other time, I was convinced that he was going to shoot this man for shooting Jenny. He didn't, but I was really worried."

Rose was confused. "Jenny?"

"Oh, right. He had a daughter. Sort of. They used his DNA to create a new person. Jenny, we called her. She was a lovely young woman. Planned to travel with us. But, they shot her. She died in his arms. Funny, she was blond like you are. Wonder if that was a subconscious thing on his part. Doesn't matter. She's all gone now."

"That's awful," Rose grimaced, wishing that she could have been there for him.

"Yeah. Anyway, he has these moments where he scares me to death. I wonder what would happen if I weren't around to keep him in check. Did you ever feel that way?"

She shook her head. "Not this version. I did when we first met, but after he regenerated he was so different. Every now and then I'd see that he still had that in him. From the war. But, we were almost always laughing and smiling."

"I can tell."

"Seriously?"

"Definitely! He's alive now that you're back. You should have seen him after you left."

She recalled that Donna met the Doctor close to when she left, but she didn't know how soon after it was. "When exactly did you meet him?"

"According to him, right after he said goodbye to you. Literally right after. I just showed up. I thought he'd kidnapped me. Finding your jacket made it worse."

"You found my jacket?"

"Draped on the railing. I asked him about it and he just went completely dismal. Like he was a lost boy in the woods. I felt so sorry for him. And when I asked your name! My heart broke. Her name is Rose, he said looking like he was about to blubber. I knew right then."

Rose wasn't following. "Knew what?"

"How special you are. Don't tell her I said so, I quite like her really, but he never got that way about Martha. Sure, he'd talk about her, but not like you. I can tell he's special to you too."

"Donna!" the Doctor called from down the hallway. "Where did you put my tool kit?"

She rolled her eyes. "Men can't find things to save their lives!" she got up and shouted out the door. "One moment!" she turned back to Rose. "Welcome home, Rose."

"Thank you, Donna."

Rose was left to her thoughts. She held the key in her hand and flopped down on the bed, which smelled like laundry detergent and aftershave. It made her very suspicious about his "Hasn't been touched" comment. Could it be that he missed her as much as she missed him? Could it be that Donna was right and she was somebody special? She hoped so because she didn't come back to be mates.