"Rose?" Jackie said, sticking her head just in the door of her daughter's bedroom. "I've made tea. D'you want a cuppa?"
"No, thanks, Mum," Rose said dully. She lay on her back on her narrow bed, staring at the ceiling. The cabin Pete had found for them wasn't large, and they hadn't brought anything with them that wasn't strictly necessary as well as easily portable, so the walls were completely bare—just knotty pine planks. Attractive in their way, I suppose, Rose thought, but still a prison—even if it's a prison designed to keep me safe. Us safe.
Her hands curved protectively over her slightly rounded belly, and Jackie tutted. "You've got to eat if you're going to keep the baby healthy," she said, coming to sit beside Rose on the bed and placing her hand over her daughter's.
"But how do we know if I am?" Rose asked, turning her head to look at her mother. "How do we know it's healthy? We don't know how long I've been pregnant, or how long I'm gonna be pregnant. I don't even know if I can give birth to a Time Lord kid! And the only people in this universe who can help me are more interested in dissecting me." Tears were leaking out of her eyes. Again. She was so bloody tired of crying all the time. Jackie had assured her that this was normal, a result of pregnancy hormones, but she hated it. It made her feel weak, useless, and she wasn't used to feeling either of those sensations. At least, not since she'd joined the Doctor.
The thought of him made it worse, of course, as it always did, and she turned on her side and buried her face in the pillow. It had been a year since that horrible day at Torchwood when they'd been separated—a year almost to the day. It felt much, much longer.
"Oh, sweetheart," Jackie said with infinite sympathy, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be all right. We'll get it sorted. You're going to have a healthy, beautiful baby. I just know it."
Anger flared abruptly, and Rose sat up, dislodging her mum. "Yeah? Well, I don't! I don't know anything anymore! I don't know where I am, I don't know what I'm doing here, I don't know this world, I don't know a thing! All I know is that my baby is going to be born not knowing her daddy, and of all the things in the world that I could offer my child, that's the last thing I wanted!" She'd risen to her feet, the words pouring from her with no conscious control. "I never wanted my baby to have to grow up with a single mother, to always wonder about her dad, to never have him there to pick her up when she falls, and teach her to play football, and watch her at her dance recitals."
"Rose—" Jackie began.
"I don't even have a picture of him, Mum! How am I supposed to explain this to her? And what if she's got some of his Time Lord powers? How do I teach her about them? I don't even know what they are! How can I be a proper mother to a child who's not even completely human?"
The tears were pouring down her cheeks now, and Jackie stepped forward, enveloping her in her arms. Rose sobbed into her mum's shoulder, clutching her tightly. "I don't know the answers, Rose," Jackie said softly. "But you have an advantage that I didn't when I was raising you: you've got us. Me, and Dad, and Mickey, and Jake. We're all here for you, all of us. You don't have to face this alone, sweetheart. You'll never have to face this alone."
With a supreme act of self-control, Rose swallowed her tears and pulled away, scrabbling in her pocket for a tissue. As much as she'd been crying lately, she kept a stash of them nearby at all times. "I know, Mum," she said with an attempt at a weak smile. "And I appreciate it, I do. I think it's just—hormones, or something. I'm all weepy all the time."
"I understand, darling, and so does everyone else. It's all right." She touched her daughter's cheek affectionately, then started as a baby's wail echoed from the next room. "Oh! Is it that time already?" she exclaimed, looking at her watch. "It is; I've got to go feed Charlie. Are you going to be all right? I can send Mickey in, or—"
"No, s'all right," Rose said with a shake of her head. "I'll just go for a walk down the beach, yeah? Clear my head. It'll help."
"All right, but don't be long. We'll have tea in a couple hours. And don't go too far."
"I won't," Rose said. "You go on, Mum. Take care of Charlie."
Jackie left, and Rose paused, taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes. She had to be stronger than this. She had to be strong for the baby. It was true that she wasn't completely alone, but it was also true that she was the only one of them who'd spent any significant amount of time with the Doctor. None of them really understood how different he was. He was quite good at playing human when he was around her family, but the fact of the matter was, he wasn't human; he was so much more. I can feel the turning of the earth, he'd told her once, not long after they'd first met. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go...
How could she explain that to a child? How could she comfort it, when it felt the spin and fall and cried in fear?
She'd have to work out a way, because, despite her family and how much they loved her, there was no one else.
She took deep breaths until she felt she was able to project a calm face, and then walked out into the lounge. She heard Jackie's voice speaking soothingly from their bedroom, probably nursing three-month-old Charlie in the rocker that Pete had bought when they'd first got here. There was one in Rose's room, too, for when her baby arrived—whenever that was. Shaking her head to clear it, she plucked her denim jacket from the coat tree and slipped out the door.
Mickey and Jake were working on the truck they'd bought a few days before. They glanced up at her, and Mickey's brows drew together. "Where d'you think you're goin', then?" he said sharply. Jake dug an elbow into his ribs, but he didn't back down; Mickey had been almost more protective of her this past year than Pete had.
"Jus' down the beach," Rose said, slipping the jacket on. It was tight around her waist—she still didn't show much; it looked more like she'd just put on a few pounds—but fit her shoulders and arms just fine. "I fancy a walk. 'S a bit stuffy in there."
Mickey put his ratchet down and reached for his own coat. "I'll come with ya," he said. It was clearly a statement, not an offer.
"No," Rose said firmly. "I'm goin' on my own. I just want to be alone for awhile, Mickey. There's too many people here; I can't think properly."
"What's there to think about?"
"Mick," Jake said warningly. "Just let her go, mate. She's not gonna run off and get herself killed."
Mickey opened his mouth to argue, but looked into Rose's face, and the set of her expression apparently convinced him. "All right," he said gruffly. "But mind the weather. There's a storm comin' in, an' you don't wanna be caught out in it."
"Yeah, all right, Dad," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "And I won't talk to strangers, either." She set off down the trail toward the beach.
"You better not!" Mickey called after her, then said sharply, "Ow!" Rose smirked; she could only assume Jake had elbowed him again. Sticking her hands in her jacket pockets, she broke into a jog down the shallow hill towards the bay, anxious to get out of sight of her rather overprotective family.
The sight of the open, empty beach made her a little melancholy, as usual. This was where she'd said her final goodbye to the Doctor—where she'd told him at last that she loved him, and he'd tried to tell her the same but had run out of time. What's he doing now? she thought, as she always did and likely always would. The wind caught her hair, whipping it into her eyes. She tucked the loose strands behind her ear. Has he found someone else to travel with?
She wanted to hope he had. She really did. But the truth was, she couldn't bear the thought of him travelling with someone else, wandering the Universe with a companion who wasn't her. She didn't want to condemn him to be alone forever, of course, but her heart squeezed painfully whenever she thought of him with another companion.
Tears welled up again, and she fought them down impatiently. This was ridiculous. She had to get herself under control somehow. She turned her back on the place where they'd said goodbye and started walking in the other direction, heading north along the ocean. If she walked long enough, maybe she could outwalk her emotions, changeable as the weather and even less predictable.
Rolling in from the west, the dark clouds gathered.
The pulse of the time rotor had hardly faded before the Doctor was bolting for the door. Jack leapt for him and dragged him back by a sleeve. "Doc, wait!" he said urgently. "You don't know what's out there."
"Rose is out there," the Doctor all but snapped. He was so close, it felt as though he could reach out and touch her.
"Yeah, and what else? Torchwood? Something worse?" Jack pulled his blaster with his free hand. "Let me check it out first, all right?"
"But—"
"You won't do Rose a damn bit of good if Torchwood gets ahold of you before you can find her."
Jack was right. Reluctantly, the Doctor took a half-step backward, letting Jack precede him. The former Time Agent slipped past him and to the door, stopping just before he opened it. "If I shut this door," he said firmly to the whole lot of them, "then get out of here."
"Not without you, we don't," the Doctor said just as firmly. "I left you once; I won't do it again."
"Doctor, if this door shuts behind me, it will probably be the last thing I ever do."
"Then we'll recover your body," the Doctor said. "Somehow. I'm not leaving you behind, Jack." He turned to look at Alex and Martha. "I'm not leaving anyone behind. And I am not leaving this world without Rose. We all make it out, full stop." He swung back to face Jack. "So check things out, Captain Harkness. I've a pregnant mother to rescue."
Jack flashed a grin at him. "Right you are, Doc," he said. "Everyone, get up against a wall out of the way of any stray shots. I don't want one sneaking in around me." Without pausing to see if they'd done as he said, Jack opened the door carefully, stuck his head out to look around, then slipped outside, leaving it cracked. There was a moment's pause, then he came back in. "All clear. Let's go."
The Doctor was moving even before he'd finished speaking, out the door right on Jack's heels. They'd landed in a clearing surrounded by large black rocks interspersed with patches of green. To the left was a clear view of the beach and the ocean; to the right and ahead about a hundred feet was a small wooden dwelling. Two vehicles were parked out front, one reasonably new, the other clearly in process of being repaired: the bonnet was up, as though someone had been interrupted in the midst of their work. The Doctor and Jack hesitated for a moment, taking their bearings.
"That's it," Alex said, coming out the doors behind them. Martha was with him. "That's the house they're in."
Jack turned to look at him. His blaster was still in hand and at the ready, though he had it pointed at the ground. "You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Then I'm going," the Doctor said shortly. He started forward, but before he got more than a couple of steps, the door flew open and Mickey stepped out, holding an enormous weapon to his shoulder, his eye in the sight. The Doctor skidded to a halt, holding his hands up.
"You'd better identify yourself properly before you take another step," Mickey said menacingly. Jake came through the door as well, another weapon trained on Jack, who'd pointed his sonic blaster. "And put the gun down."
"You first," Jack snapped, but the Doctor waved a hand, shushing him and indicating he should do as Mickey said, all in the same gesture. Frustrated, Jack lowered his weapon, but neither Mickey nor Jake did the same.
"I offered to take you with us after the incident with the Slitheen, before I regenerated," the Doctor said to Mickey, as calmly as he could. "You said you couldn't deal with the kind of life I lead, and asked me not to tell Rose you'd said so. When she invited you along, I lied and said I wouldn't have you; said you were a liability."
The gun lowered slowly, and Mickey stared at him, jaw slightly open in shock. The Doctor let his hands fall to his sides, but didn't move. Nobody did for a long moment. Then, softly, Mickey said, "Doctor—?"
The Doctor let a smile twist a corner of his mouth. "Yes," he said. "I found a way through. I'm back." He made a point of looking around. "Where's Rose?"
A small blonde streak came flying out of the house, and a surge of hope passed over him before he heard her voice say, "Doctor!" The hope crashed back to earth when he realised it was Jackie just as she hurtled into him, hugging him tightly. "Oh, you're here!" Jackie said tearfully. "Oh, thank God. You don't know—it's been so hard, poor Rose has been so upset—"
"I know," he said quietly. Pete had come out of the house and was standing beside Mickey, his face inscrutable. The Doctor carefully extricated himself from Jackie's embrace and stepped back a pace, his hands on her shoulders. "I know, and I'm sorry. How long has it been for you?"
"A year, since we came through," Pete said before Jackie could. "Almost exactly." He paused, glancing at his wife before adding, "Doctor, there's something you should know before you see Rose."
The Doctor held up his hands to stop him. "She's pregnant," he said. "I know. And Torchwood is after her, so you lot came out here to try to escape them. But it won't work for very long; they've got ways and ways of finding anything they're looking for, especially something as fascinating as an alien child. I've come to take all of you away—take you back to the other universe, where Torchwood doesn't know anything about you, and let you start over again."
There was a moment's stunned silence as all four of them stared at the Doctor. "Go back?" Mickey said at last.
"Yes, and we haven't much time. I don't know precisely when Torchwood will get here, but it's a good bet it'll be reasonably soon. How long have you been here, in this house?"
"Four days," Pete said, frowning. "But it's almost a month since we left. We took a roundabout route, trying to throw them off."
"That won't work for very long," Jack said. "They could be here any time. In fact—four days, I'm surprised they're not here yet. The only reason they might be holding off is if they're bringing in reinforcements." Jack was definitely worried now; his blue eyes were hooded, his hand tightening on the grip of his blaster. "I think it's safe to say they want you, and they want you bad. We've got to get you out of here."
"I agree," the Doctor said rather impatiently, "and so once again, I ask: where's Rose?"
"She said she was doing down for a walk on the beach a couple of hours ago," Mickey said, "but she's never been gone this long before. The tide's not coming in yet, but that storm is."
He nodded toward the west, and the Doctor turned to see the dark-grey, almost black clouds rolling in off the water. Lightning flashed in the midst of them. The wind was picking up, too, and it was more than just chilly; it was downright cold. "She can't be out in that," the Doctor said, worry beginning to creep through him.
"We were just organising to go look for her," Pete told him.
"I'll go," the Doctor said, turning back to them.
"Dunno which way she went," Mickey said. "There's a lot of beach out there, Doctor. We'd better come with you, so we can split up and search."
The Doctor shook his head. "You'll slow me down. Trust me, I can find her. You lot get your clothes and things packed, and get in the TARDIS. I'll be back soon."
He took off toward the beach without waiting for an answer. Behind him, he heard Jack trying to get the others organised, heading off Mickey from trying to follow him. He didn't care; his whole attention was focused on Rose. The connection would be weakened after so long without her—it had been just over a year for him as well, after all—but he knew it would still be there. Concentrating on her, he reached his awareness out in an ever-increasing circle, searching for the familiar blend of colours and textures that was indubitably Rose.
There. North, and farther than he'd expected. Definitely Rose, along with a second, faint shimmer that he could only imagine would be the baby. Relief sparkled through him briefly, until he realised there was a filter overlying and partly obscuring the two of them. A familiar filter—pain, mixed with worry.
The Doctor began to run, ignoring the thunder that boomed above him and the way the heavens decided to open suddenly, dropping buckets of water down on the beach. He wanted to project reassurance toward her, to let her know he was on his way, but he didn't know if it was getting through; the link was so weak now. Before she'd been pulled away from him, when they had been companions and lovers, the link had been thick and crystal-clear, so strong they'd actually been able to exchange thoughts in their more intimate moments—an uncommon occurrence even between Time Lords, and almost unheard-of with other species. Now it was attenuated, like salt-water taffy pulled too far: thin, fragile.
Already he was thoroughly drenched. His feet squished in his trainers, and cold water dripped down his neck and underneath his coat. He ignored it. There were footprints in the damp sand now, though they were starting to melt away under the deluge of water. Familiar footprints: Rassilon knew he'd helped create enough of them with her, running hand-in-hand for their lives. Encouraged, he pressed on.
At last he rounded a projection and saw a figure perched on a good-sized rock ahead of him: blonde, jean-jacketed, just as soaked as he was. Her arms were crossed over her chest, head bowed against the rain, one foot propped up on another rock. The relief that had shimmered so briefly through him earlier flared up again, and he put on a burst of speed. "Rose!" he yelled through the torrential downpour. "Rose! It's me!"
Her head jerked up, and he could see her face shift through all the emotions he could feel pouring off her: shock, disbelief, hope, and finally, as he came closer, elation. "Doctor?" she managed. "Oh, God—Doctor?"
Hearts brimming with joy, he threw his arms around her, picked her up, and spun her around, clutching her to him as hard as he could and pressing his cheek to hers. With the physical contact, the link between them quivered, then burst fully open like a window thrown open to the sunshine. "Rose," he murmured into her ear. "Missed you—missed you so much—"
"Can't believe it," she whispered, and there was a wash of amazement, the purple of a desert sunset, over and through the link. He could feel her tears, warm and wet, against the side of his neck. "Thought I'd never see you again—thought you couldn't ever get through—missed you, missed you—"
He set her down so he could frame her face with his hands and do what he'd longed to for so long: brought his face down to hers and kissed her deeply, possessively. She clung to him, letting herself go pliable against his body. He slid one hand down to wrap round her waist, pulling her closer, and felt the hard roundness of her belly pressing against him. She shifted, and through the link he felt a sudden orange flash of pain that caused him to pull away, shocked. "What's wrong?"
She winced, flexing her right ankle. "Sprained my ankle, I think. Slipped on some seaweed. I was resting it, hoping I could get the swelling to go down so I could walk back to the house."
"You're not walking anywhere." The Doctor pulled off his coat and helped her into it. "You're already chilled, and I'm getting you back to the TARDIS as soon as I can."
"What about you?" she asked as he buttoned the coat. "You're just as soaked."
"Faster metabolism. I'm not cold." He finished fastening the coat and looked at her sharply. "You are."
"'M fine."
"You're shivering, and your core temperature has dropped nearly a whole degree. I'm not risking you getting hypothermia." Without warning, he wrapped an arm behind her back and slid his other behind her knees, sweeping her up into his arms. She squealed in surprise, clutching at him.
"You can't possibly carry me all that way!"
He grinned at her, starting off back down the beach. "I most certainly can. Time Lords aren't only impressive mentally, you know. We can do all sorts of impossible things."
She chuckled. "Don't I just know it," she purred.
He turned to kiss her forehead, letting his love pulse through the bond between them. Hers pulsed back, streaks of reds and pinks and blues in the sunshine-yellow. He'd nearly given up on ever experiencing this completeness again; even the presence of Alex in the back of his mind couldn't begin to replicate the sensation of having his lover with him again, body and mind and soul. In all his years, and with all his loves, he'd never had a lover whose mind meshed as well with his as Rose.
And he'd almost lost her forever. His arms tightened slightly, and he felt her wordless surge of reassurance through the link. Even if he didn't know she'd have the extended life span the Time Vortex had given her, even if he truly thought she'd never live past a human's normal life span, there was no way he could give her up again. He needed her too badly.
"There's the path," she said, pointing to the left, and he turned obediently to climb the slight incline toward the house and the TARDIS. He felt her joy when she saw the familiar blue police box. "Home," she said happily.
"Doctor! Rose! Thank God." Jack was running toward them, his expression filled with concern. "The TARDIS is picking up signals coming in from the main road east of us. There's a whole convoy of vehicles on their way, and they're carrying an awful lot of alien tech."
The Doctor quickened his pace, and Rose's arms tightened about him, holding on. "How far are they?"
"They'll be here any moment. We've got to get out of here. Now."
Jack reached the TARDIS just before them and opened the door. The Doctor turned sideways so he could slip in without releasing Rose and carried her up to the console. "Is everyone on?" he demanded, ignoring the way the two of them dripped.
"Pete and Jackie are in their bedroom with Charlie; the TARDIS created a little crib for him," Martha said, standing next to Alex. They were damp as well; they must have helped the others bring their things on board. "And Jake and Mickey are checking the weapons stores."
"Good. Alex, take us into the Vortex." Alex nodded, bending to the controls. "Jack," the Doctor continued, "you stay in here with him and watch the monitor, make sure we can get away clean. I'm going to get Rose settled and change my clothes, and then I'll be back." He was already heading for the corridor as he spoke.
"I'll be back in here, too," Rose said firmly, still in his arms. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"Dematerialisation sequence initiated," Alex announced, stepping back from the console. The familiar pulsing of the time rotor filled their ears.
"Doctor," Jack said, his voice a warning. Frowning, the Doctor stopped and swung back to face the console. Jack was leaning forward, eyes on the monitor. "Torchwood's arrived. They've got us surrounded, and they're powering up their weapons."
"Human weapons or alien?" Rose asked before the Doctor could. He felt a surge of pride.
Jack shook his head, eyes still on the monitor. "Hard to tell, but whatever they are, they've reached maximum power and are readying to fire."
"We're nearly through the demateralisation sequence," the Doctor said, stepping forward. "If we can just hold out another—"
The TARDIS shook violently, nearly causing him to drop Rose. As it was, he staggered into one of the support pillars; Rose had to grab onto it to keep them from falling. "What was that?" Rose yelped.
Jack lifted a worried face. "We're hit."