A/N: Thanksies for the amazing response! You guys are seriously the best, hope you enjoy the chapter!
The Doctor sat on the couch, still staring at the pictures on the mantel. Rose looked so happy… he wished he could have been there. He wanted to be there when she was smiling, wanted to be there for all those tiny precious moments that he almost always missed in his travels. He finished off his tea, and then stood to take his mug to the kitchen. He filled it with water, then turned and leaned against the counter, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Oh my God," said a small voice from the doorway. He froze. He knew that voice; it was a voice he had sorely missed while he was traveling, a voice that haunted both his dreams and his waking hours.
"It's you," Rose said again. The Doctor's hands fell to his sides and he raised his head to look at her. She was holding back tears, but there was a smile on her face. They stared at each other for a moment, too mesmerized to do anything else, but finally he grinned hugely and opened his arms for a hug.
Rose ran forward and flung her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her so close to him so that she could feel his hearts pounding in his chest. He kissed her hair repeatedly, burying his grin and a few escaped joyful tears in the scent of her strawberry shampoo.
"I missed you so much," Rose whispered once his grip had loosened slightly. His arms were still wrapped around her waist, and his face was still buried in her hair; her hands had moved around to his front and were playing with the lapels of his jacket.
"Me too," he whispered, kissing her forehead gently. Rose felt a grin tug at her lips, and she leaned up to kiss his cheek softly. "I have a question for you, though."
"Nosy," she murmured jokingly. He chuckled.
"That's me, always curious. But really, I want to know, who is Kendall?" Rose fiddled with his tie uncomfortably, not meeting his gaze when he drew back just enough to look her in the eyes.
"My daughter," she answered vaguely. She saw the Doctor swallow, bracing himself for his next sentence.
"Glad to see you found some one in that parallel universe," he lied. "What's his name?"
"Doctor," she said, still not looking at him. "I never found anyone else."
The Doctor's brow furrowed in confusion. "But then how-"
"Doctor," Rose said again, finally looking into his eyes. "Kendall is your daughter."
The Doctor stepped back a pace, holding Rose at arm's length. "What?" he asked bewilderment evident in his voice. "How?"
Rose bit her lip, much like Kendall had earlier. "Remember Bad Wolf Bay?"
"How could I forget?" he asked quietly, "But what does that have to do with this?" Rose ignored his question and supplied him with another of her own.
"Remember who I said would be with me in that parallel world? Can you tell me what I said?"
"Why? I'm sure you know," he asked. He didn't really want to remember that day, but he had kept the conversation in his mind. The last time he had ever talked to her. Rose rolled her eyes at his question.
"Of course I remember, you daft alien, but I want you to tell me. Please?" she added the last plead when he look reluctant to comply. "Please tell me what I said."
"Fine. You said, 'There's the five of us then; Mum, Dad, Mickey… and the baby.'" He realized what that meant, and stared at her in shock. "But… but you that it was Jackie's, you said it was your mum's!" The Doctor's voice was a shaky whisper.
"I lied," Rose admitted quietly, once again not meeting his gaze. The Doctor's mouth was dry, and when he tried to talk his voice could hardly be heard.
"Why?" he took another step back from Rose and her hands fell limply to her sides. His voice took on a more accusing tone and he asked again. "Why did you lie to me?"
"I didn't want it to hurt you," Rose said, stepping forward. The Doctor took another step back, running into the countertop behind him. Rose stopped moving forward, tears forming in her eyes.
"How would that have hurt me?" the Doctor demanded. "How could that possibly have hurt me?" his voice was rising, along with his temper, and it pushed an already emotional Rose over the edge.
"How could it have hurt you? Oh, I don't know, maybe I thought it wasn't a good idea because you're so against being domestic, 'I don't do families' and all that." She said angrily.
"I could have changed!"
"Really? Are you really sure about that? And you can't deny that the thought of me raising a child on my own in a parallel universe would have haunted you! Don't even try! You don't need anymore weight piled on your shoulders, and I was trying to keep some of it off of you for once!"
"Have I ever looked like I wanted help?" the Doctor fumed.
"Only when you thought I wasn't looking!" Rose retorted. The Doctor looked like she was about to say something else, but she stopped him with a warning hand. "Don't say anything! I'd see you staring at the console sometimes, and when I asked if anything was wrong I would get no response, you'd just realize I was there and whisk us off to some new world! And I loved it, I love you, but sometimes I wonder how it's possible that you hadn't exploded what with everything you keep inside. You're so damn stubborn, insisting that everything's alright, that you're fine, but one day you won't be and what will you do then?" She stopped and took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of a hand.
The Doctor was speechless. How could he possibly answer that? He was hardly ever anyone's definition of "fine", what with the Time War and losing Rose being so close together.
"Don't answer that," Rose said quietly. He remained silent. She took another steadying breath and spoke again, as quietly as before. "I think I'm just going to…" she didn't finish her sentence, letting it trail off as she walked out of the kitchen.
After she left the Doctor let himself slide down the counter until he was sitting on the floor, leaning his head back against the cupboards under the sink.
Kendall heard a car coming down the street and clambered to her feet. Jack's black SUV was roaring down the road, slowing down as it came close to her house and parking on the street.
"Hey sweets," Jack said with a grin as he clambered out of the driver's seat. "How's it going in there?" he gestured towards the house as he walked up the drive.
"I'm waiting for the shouting to start," Kendall admitted, then winced as she heard the volume increase dramatically.
"You didn't have to wait long," Jack pointed out; cringing as he got close enough to hear what was being said. "Why don't you show me what this alien thing was that was chasing the Doctor, sound good?"
Kendall was sure he had already seen it from his car, but she was glad for the distraction. She led him around to the road and he let out a low whistle as he squatted down to look it over.
"What is it?" she asked, kneeling beside him.
"Ugly, that's for sure," he said, and she grinned and let out a small giggle. He smiled back at her. "Did you kill it or what?"
"It's something I developed," Kendall replied, a hint of pride in her voice. "It's literally a bullet made of sedatives, dissolves on contact with liquid. Whatever it is, it's only asleep, and it will be for a while."
"Good going, kid," Jack said, ruffling her hair and standing up. "Let's get his ugly mug back to Torchwood; I'll get you something to drink on the way there."
They loaded the creature into the back of his car, Kendall scribbled a note and shoved it under the door, and they were off.
Forty-five minutes later, they were on a bridge over the river Taff, finishing off some ice cream they had bought down the road and messing around. Dark clouds had been gathering overhead all day, and the sky was dark and ominous but they paid it no mind.
"You know what this would be good with?" Jack asked Kendall as she finished off her strawberry cone, licking the ice cream off her fingers as she raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Apple pie," he said decisively. Kendall wrinkled her nose.
"Apple pie and mint chocolate chip ice cream? No offense, but that sounds awful."
"You just don't have good taste in food," Jack argued, popping the final bite of his ice cream into his mouth.
"So you're saying that other people would like that?" She asked disbelievingly.
"Heck yeah! It's amazing! You know what else is good?" Kendall shook her head. "Sugar cookies and cheese fondue."
"Ew! Jack seriously, why are you even eating this stuff? You know what, I don't want to know." Jack looked hurt.
"Seriously, sweetheart, you should just give a try sometime!"
"No way! If you want people to eat it, open a restaurant and serve weird stuff like that there. I can even think of a name for it- 'That one restaurant that no one goes to because the owner is insane'."
"Oh please," Jack scoffed, "that's a terrible name!"
"I'd like to see you come up with better!" Kendall retorted.
During their playful argument it had started to drizzle slightly, and by now that drizzle was quickly becoming a downpour. Puddles were forming in the streets, and the cars that drove by splashed them with street water. A passing taxi left Jack dripping, his heavy coat soaking up the water and drops running down his face. Kendall laughed at the look of shock on his face after being drenched in the cold rainwater, and he grinned at her, spreading his arms wide.
"Come give me a hug!" he cried, running towards her, and she shrieked and dashed away, her black converse splashing through the puddles and leaving her feet thoroughly soaked. Her brown hair, darker than usual now that it was wet, flew out behind her as she flew over the wet pavement, Jack hot on her tail.
She rounded a corner and pressed herself into the wall, grinning and breathing heavily. She could hear Jack splashing down the pavement towards her and got ready to run again when she was grabbed from behind.
Whoever it was clamped a large hand over her mouth, attempting to pin her arms to her sides with the other arm. On instinct, Kendall bit down as hard as she could and the man cursed loudly, his grip on her loosening just enough so that she was able to escape. She ran back onto the main road, slamming into Jack as she did so.
"Whoa there, sweetheart, what's the rush?" Jack exclaimed, catching her by the arms before she could fall.
"Jack there's someone back there they grabbed me and I don't know what they were going to do but I bit their hand so they would let go and they're right behind me please Jack we have to go now!"
Jack was used to Kendall's panicked rambles by now, and he could see the man in the shadows behind her. He pulled Kendall around so that he was in between her and the stranger and reached into his coat for a weapon.
"Stop there," Jack said calmly, bringing up the gun so that it was aiming at the shadowy figure. Without hesitation he pulled out a gun as well, pulling the trigger and shooting Jack between the eyes. Kendall screamed as Jack fell to the ground like a ragdoll and the man stepped forward. He pulled Kendall back into the alleyway, throwing her over his shoulder and running silently down the narrow street.
All Kendall could do was pound uselessly on her captor's back, yelling herself hoarse as they turned a corner and she lost sight of Jack's body. Minutes later Jack awoke from death with a gasp, scrabbling for his gun, but it was far too late. He pulled his mobile out of his pocket, dialing the number and, upon no one picking up the phone, leaving a message for the Doctor and Rose.
"Hate to break up any argument that might be going on, but I just got shot in the head and your daughter is gone. Get the TARDIS to Torchwood 3, I'll meet you there." He hung up, stuffed the phone and gun into his pocket, and started to run.