How Long Is Forever?
Spoilers: This is a post Journey's End Reunion fic, so there are spoilers up until there.
Chapter3: The Letter
"They're UNIT."
Seemingly endless minutes of silence ensued after that declaration. Torchwood Three exchanged frowning looks, while the Doctor just tightened his hold around his beloved's body. She looked so small, even more so since she was still wearing his oversized coat. He could feel her body heat against the cheek he had set atop her brown crown of har, but her uncontrolled trembling had not subsided. It had lessened somewhat, though.
He was glad he still had that effect on her, glad he could still soothe her fears.
"What?" Ianto finally broke their stupor. "But UNIT is the Doctor's ally. He's their scientific advisor- more or less."
"Not in that universe." It was Mickey who answered. "There is no Doctor in that dimension. Or well, there wasn't, until… John."
"So, in the other dimension, UNIT are the bad guys who want to experiment on the Doctor, yeah?" Martha summed up the situation for everyone, chancing a look at Rose. The brunette was still held tightly to the Doctor's chest. She barely had enough room to nod. Once upon a time, this sight would've filled Martha with a jealous rage, and she could still feel a twinge of envy that the Doctor had never viewed her with such affection, but she was now above such feelings.
She only wished her friends happiness.
"And…John is said Doctor in that universe?" Gwen wondered.
Another nod from the hazel-eyed woman.
"Speaking of him, where is the Doctor's clone, anyway? He should be-"
But Jack never finished that sentence, because Rose wound herself out of the Doctor's grasp, and gave him the patented Tyler-slap she had inherited from her mother. The deepest frown edged onto her face, she watched with cold fury as Captain Jack Harkness brought his hand up to touch his sore cheek, his mouth opened in a silent 'o' of surprise.
"Don't call him that!" Rose snapped at him. "Don't you dare talk about my husband as if he wasn't alive! As if he was less of a person than…"
A new sob interrupted her tirade, and the Doctor pulled her back to him again.
"Still, where is he? What happened to… John?"
Rose pressed her lips together, her eyes dull with defeat, and the entire team knew that something had gone terribly wrong on the other end of the rift. Everyone in the room knew the outcome, although only Rose knew how it had happened. They waited silently for her to regain her composure, so she could tell them. Instead of saying anything, though, she pushed away from a slightly put out Doctor, and fished something out of her pockets. It was an envelop, they realized as she handed it to the Doctor without so much as a glance.
The man himself needed one look to see that it was addressed to him, and had been written by his clo… by John. The Time Lord heaved a sigh, before slowly opening the envelop, and bringing forth the letter inside. He dreaded the content of said letter almost as much as the news of there being any Dalek survivors left in the universe. With shaking hands he unfolded the letter to find his own messy handwriting staring back at him.
Dear Me,
(he smiled at that)
if you read this, it means that I'm dead.
(said smile left his face as fast as it had gotten there)
It means that said 'Tragedy' the TARDIS has been on about- and yes, I heard every word through our connection- has taken place or is about to happen. Or maybe I'm decaying like every human does sooner or later.
In the end, it doesn't matter, what the reason. Point is, our Rose is losing me.
Which led me to follow through with the plan I had made up to bring her back over to you, in case of emergency. I stabilized the rift, and opened it a crack, but just in one point. Just big enough for our beloved to slip through. Like a bubble surrounding her, she has traveled all the way over to the universe you're busy saving, so that you won't have to come back to Earth anytime soon. Still, I trust Captain Jack has called for you, once he noticed this rather unusual Rift activity, and I hope you could make it.
I've told her about this plan not long after you left us stranded on the beach, and while she hasn't said so, I'm more than sure that she was relieved at knowing there was still a chance to get back to you- in case 'we' don't work out.
I don't know how much time exactly has passed for you, or for Earth, but I'm confidently certain that it has been less than to us. This universe is running ahead of our own, after all, and so I can assume that you will probably fail to realize it. Quite some time has passed on Pete's World, and our love still looks as beautiful as ever. She noticed it, too, even asked me about it, but I would not answer. I can not, after all, be sure of my theory, since I don't have the TARDIS to make the appropriate tests. However, we can both guess what has happened, can't we?
Which is why I'm asking you not to leave her.
I don't know if you still harbour feelings for our Rose (he scoffed at the mere implication that he could fall out of love with his angel), but even if you don't, even if you are long over her, if you ever loved her at all, don't let her walk away. Take her with you, when this is all over, and travel the stars with her again. And if she says no on the first try, you know what to do. Although, in case you don't, I'll spell it out for you:
Ask her again. And it might help to mention that you can travel in time, too!
One more thing. In case of persecuters, I programmed a security mechanism into the Rift Manipulator on our end. Five and a half hours after Rose came through, the Rift will suck in everything that came originally from this universe.
Yours sincerely,
John Smith
There were two more phrases added in a hurry at the bottom.
P.S.: By that time, our beloved better be in the TARDIS,'cause I don't know if the child qualifies. If that is not possible, you better hold on tight, or we'll be back to square one.
The Doctor immediately grabbed Ianto's stopwatch, and set the according time. Then he turned to Rose.
"He could still be alive," he told her, but she just shook her head.
The tears were falling from her cheeks as she answered.
"John made this… drug… that would make him human, completely human. But… it's toxic. If taken, it will turn him human, but at the price of killing him. He promised me, never to use it unless there was not other choice, and when we… when he sent me through… the look in his eyes… the way he said goodbye… his voice was so final!" she sobbed, her face hidden in her hands as Gwen returned to hug her again. "He killed himself, rather than letting them experiment on him, and build some stupid empire!"
The Doctor, not knowing what to do, nodded.
"We need to get back to the TARDIS."
"Why, do you have a plan?" Jack asked.
"No need," the Time Lord retorted, handing his old friend the letter.
"Shit!" the Captain cursed loudly, after reading the whole thing. "How are we supposed to do that? There are over two dozen UNIT soldiers out there, and by now they're probably in the hub- with the TARDIS. 'Cause I doubt that a perception filter is gonna stop them. So what do we do?"
"We defend this station from them, and when the time comes, we hold on tight," Martha said grimly. She'd read the letter over Jack's shoulder.
"And just how do we do that?" Mickey panicked.
"He's right," Ianto agreed. "Those are trained soldiers. The officers here are merely police. They won't stand a chance… We could call Torchwood Two for help."
"Yeah, 'cause they're such good friends with the Doctor!" Gwen snorted. "They're still a by-the-book kind of Torchwood, and by the book, the Doctor is Torchwood's greatest nemesis. I don't think it's a good idea to let them anywhere near the Doctor, or Rose's child."
"We could call UNIT," the Doctor himself suggested.
"But they are UNIT. How could we trust whoever would come?"
"Good point," the Time Lord admitted, the cogwheels in his head already turning to find a suitable solution.
"Do you have voice-identification-software in your hub?" Rose piped up, her voice small, but her eyes concentrated.
"Uhm… no. Not anymore. It was destroyed by a virus an alien sent on a rampage through our systems some time ago. We've been waiting months now for the new one," Jack admitted.
"Then we could use a private cell phone toring this universes UNIT," the brunette suggested. "Even if they're controlling every policeman's mobile, there must be some civilian in here. Someone locked up, until they can transfer him to a proper prison. And one of them must have a cell phone we can use."
Torchwood and the Doctor looked at her for a moment. Then, with a shriek- well, two, first fan enthusiastic one from the Doctor, and then a surprised one from Rose- the Doctor enveloped his former- hopefully soon to-be-again- companion in a bear hug, babbling at 90 miles per hour how utterly brilliant she was. The becoming mother, rightfully surprised at first, got over the shock quite quickly, being used to it from her husband. A crimson blush spread over her face and neck at the praise.
"Martha Jones!"
"Yes, Doctor," said woman responded, his enthusiasm slowly affecting her and everyone else in the room.
"Go find yourself a mobile, and make that call!"
"Aye, aye, sir!"
And off she ran.
"Alright, as for the rest of Torchwood Three, go check if everything's ready. Must be prepared for our weary travellers."
Only Jack remained for a second longer, just long enough to hear the Doctor sigh.
"This is gonna be a long night."
End of chapter 3!
A/N: I know this chapter is a bit shorter, but I wanted to tell what happens next in a chapter of it's own. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review! After all, reviews make us authors feel loved, and loved authors update sooner. So, yes, I'm bribing/blackmailing you! ;)
Love you all,
Mayet