Disclaimer- RTD may have my soul, but I have...zip zilch.

Title- Part of Her

Chapter Six

Rating- T ( Could possibly change in future chapters)

Time- Set prior to established Series Four. I'm sending Donna home for a while. Not 'cause I don't love her, but I don't need her (perfect) comic relief right now. I will bring her back at..some...point.

Author's Note- Enjoy and review and please steady yourself for a bit of angst

Part of Her

While Rose was trying to figure out just how to explain her certain uniqueness to the Doctor, a certain captain with a similar situation found himself running off in the direction of a certain siren...

Plan A for Rose was simple. Change The Subject. Fast. "So why exactly are we in Cardiff, Doctor?" Rose smiled innocently, tilting her chin up towards him with her sweetest expression she could muster. The Doctor raised one eyebrow, and Rose felt her attempt fall flat.

"The ship needs a bit of an energy boost after yanking you about." Her companion spoke exaggeratedly slow, clearly humoring her. "Now," he paused to pick up her previously-injured hand, running his fingers absently along her burnless thumb. And Plan B just became think straight. "What kind of wonder are you, Miss Tyler?" Her sweet facade faltered before crumpling totally, and she found herself avoiding the Doctor's glance while she spilled her secret.

"I don't know. I really, really don't. From the moment I landed in Pete's World I was a sodding mess. I hardly ate, wouldn't talk to anyone. I stayed in my bed for almost a month. I know it was dumb because I had a bigger family than ever, but I just felt so alone. I actually counted once and I didn't eat a thing for nearly two weeks. I just didn't care." Rose pulled her free hand through her blonde hair and continued, still not looking at her Doctor. " But then I finally dragged myself out of bed. And Mum told me how fantastic I looked?" She peeked up at him and found that confusion and worry was plastered all over his face. "So I looked in the mirror and sure enough, I was practically glowing. Bit thin maybe, but I hardly looked like I had been under any stress at all."

"So this is when you realized that you recovered faster than you used to?" The Doctor asked carefully. When Rose met the Doctor's deep brown eyes, he felt his hearts sink. She shook her head with one quick burst and rearranged there hands so she their palms rested together. As Rose began talking, her serious tone took him by surprise.

"We were dealing with a group in London claiming to be Torchwood Five and stealing money from citizens that needed our help." She straightened the rumpled fabric of her shorts and continued with a steadying breath. " The most convincing part of their charade was their arsenal, big guns that looked very... old Torchwood. So when we had finally tracked them down outside some quarry or another they were heavily, heavily armed. I got there before the rest of my unit to find lots of army-grade vehicles and and people rushing about trying to get gone before we arrived. I was supposed to wait out at a specific rendezvous point for the rest of the team, but of course a scout saw my SUV." She gripped her best friend's hand even tighter and looked him square in the face. "I was shot six times in the chest. The group was gone by the time my unit got there and I was nowhere to be found, so they assumed I had been nabbed by the criminals. They called my dad at headquarters and everyone broke apart into search parties." At this point they both had tears rimming their eyes, but Rose refused to stop now. "I woke up half a day later in a fifteen-foot ditch in a dried pool of my own blood. I climbed out of the hole and felt...fine. Doctor, I had died the night before and I felt fine." Suddenly, Rose what hit with a wave of fear. What if he wouldn't want her now. The Doctor was never a fan of anomalies, and what other way was there to describe her? As she fought to keep back a sob at the thought, her not-ginger Doctor did something unexpected. He took both of her hands in his own and lifted them to his lips to place a kiss on her knuckles.

"Wonder Girl." The Doctor smiled at his Rose and did his best to erase the sadness that was filling up both of them, keeping it at bay. For now, at least. Rose gave a tiny chuckle and he felt her hard demeanor soften, watch her full lips curl up into a smile containing only the tiniest hint of rue. Dear lord how he wanted to touch those lips. A lot. And often. You do not want to kiss her. Repeat, do not want to kiss Rose Tyler completely and utterly senseless. And then feed her a banana, and kiss her more. You want none of that. Really.

A loud banging from the control room brought the Doctor from his thoughts and made Rose jump nearly a foot off the bed. "Who could that be?" The Time Lord mused aloud. "Its not as if there's anyone in Cardiff who would notice the TARDIS. Is there?" With a nagging feeling that there was something, like usual, he was forgetting, the Doctor motioned for Rose to stay where she was and headed out to answer the door.

Thirty seconds or so passed with Rose hearing only faint murmurs from the control room. Then without warning a boisterous, bellowing laugh emerged from the entryway. As the sound tapered off, Rose focused on the dying laugh. I have absolutely heard that before. Suddenly an imaged filled her brain, all perfect smile and dimpled cheeks and eyes filled with chagrin. Her heart skipped a beat so hard she swore she felt it against her chest. Running towards the sound, Rose hoped to god she wasn't the only person in the Doctor's life to defy death.

"Jack?"

A/N- So I was always under the impression that Rose thought Jack was dead after the whole Bad Wolf thing. This may be wrong but I'm going with my thought for the sake of making their reunion that much more fun. And its not really a cliffhanger for once, yay. Sorry about the angst, but it isn't over yet.