The TARDIS was worried. The Doctor had not done anything for several days, just sitting around. She thought he might be depressed, as whenever she attempted to look into his thoughts they were always about Rose, and about what Donna had told him before he left her.

The TARDIS missed Rose. The bubbly, cheerful London girl had brightened up the ship, and while Rose had travelled with the Doctor his thoughts had radiated happiness. The ship knew that it was bad for him to stay like this, and resolved to find a way to help him. Of course, she had all the details of what had happened when Rose was trapped in the parallel universe, so she started searching her databanks, looking for even the tiniest piece of information that could help. It took time, but eventually the ship found something. She considered telling the Doctor before doing anything else, but decided against it – he might attempt to stop her. Instead, she reasoned, she would tell him when they were on their way there.

She checked his location, finding him asleep in his bedroom, and then quietly set the coordinates.

The Doctor's Bedroom, inside the TARDIS

The Doctor felt the TARDIS jolt into movement, and sat bolt upright in bed. He wondered for a second what might be happening, then realised that for some reason, the TARDIS was moving out of the Vortex. He sprang out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and ran out of the room. Unfortunately, the TARDIS didn't want him interfering and changing the coordinates, so she rearranged her corridors to keep him running in circles.

When the Doctor figured out what his ship was doing, he stopped. He spoke out loud, though he didn't need to. "Come on, old girl, why are you doing this?"

His reply was a soft, feminine laugh in his head. "Oh, Doctor… I'm just doing you a favour, that's all."

"A favour?"

"Yes. I'm going to bring her back to you."

"You're doing what?"

"You heard."

"So… why won't you let me get to the control room?"

"So you can't interfere."

"Ship, where are we going?"

"Earth."

"You're not going to tell me anything else, are you?"
She laughed again. "No."

"So what am I supposed to do until we get there?"

"Oh, use your imagination. Now stop bugging me and find something to do."

The Doctor sighed dramatically, and headed back to his room. He lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what his ship could possibly be up to. Then it came to him. The ship had said that the "favour" was bringing her back. There was only one her that the ship could possibly be referring to.

The only thing he couldn't work out was how the TARDIS was going to get Rose back.

Torchwood Three Hub

Jack still couldn't sleep. Everyone else had gone home, so he had made himself some extra-strong coffee and sat up in his office. Tonight he was poring over the plans for the Rift manipulator, because he had a hunch that it might help him do what he wanted to do. He'd checked the records from the battle of Canary Wharf over and over again, even getting hold of the security footage, until he was almost sure of what had happened. Which meant he could start trying to work out how to fix it.

As he worked, he kept glancing at the hand in the jar, that he had moved from the main Hub into his office. The hand had turned to face him, pressing its fingers against the glass as if it was trying to reach him.

He had some files, in his private storage area, about what the TARDIS could do, how it operated. The files were incomplete, but he had enough to form an idea. The problem was that he couldn't test anything. He had a theory, but he couldn't test it to find out if he was right or not. In the end, he just pushed the plans and notes to one side, and stared at the hand for the rest of the night.

Inside the TARDIS

The Doctor had been pacing the corridors of his ship for two hours when he felt the TARDIS slow down.

"Ship?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"What's happening?"

"Get to the control room. We're almost here."

"Finally." He sprinted down to the control room, and immediately checked the destination screen. "Okay… Earth, 2007… Cardiff? Ship, what are you up to?"

The TARDIS just laughed, a soft giggle that he would almost call girlish if the ship wasn't older than he was. "We're going to see Jack, Doctor."

"Jack? Jack Harkness?"

"Yes… is there another Jack we know?"

"Well, not as such… but Jack Harkness is dead, ship. He died, on the Game Station, I remember it."

"Oh, Doctor… you should know by now, when a human travels with me, even after we are parted a connection remains. I know Jack is alive, I can feel him."

"You can? Can you feel Rose?"

"It's different with Rose… my sense of her is much more vague, because she isn't in this universe. But Jack is, and my sense of him is very strong. He's alive, Doctor."

"Oh… so, somehow, Jack can help bring Rose back."
"I believe so, yes."

"Well, old girl, you've never let me down in the past. I suppose I'll have to trust you this time as well."

"As well you should."