Chapter Seven

A/N: Thank you to tastycakes817, chocolaty, H3LLOmynameiskibs and Zarelyn for reviewing the last chapter.

That evening, the group slept within the walls of the Torchwood Institute, in the office of Captain Smith himself, as it was the safest place to remain after the attack, it being almost impregnable to any outsider, other than the Doctor, of course.

For the Ponds and for Rose and Reinette, sleep had come relatively easily, though neither of the wakened men could understand how it could have done for the latter, after the day she had endured, what with the destruction of her school building, and the realisation of the alien forces behind it. They were only a little less surprised by the fact that her mother was consumed by slumber, as she had spent so much time worrying during that day that she was unable to concentrate on anything but that.

Now, the only ones awake were the two men who had once mirrored each other's images, resting against the wall on opposite sides of the room, one beside his companions and the other beside his family, his hand entwined with his daughter's. Neither had been able to summon the capacity to sleep, though whether it was due to the excitement of the unknown or the fear of the same, neither was able to see.

"This is still normal for you, I suppose." John said to the other man, keeping his voice low, so as not to wake the others, particularly his wife, who he felt certainly deserved the rest, after the hellish day she had had. "Fighting monsters, watching disasters happen all around you, it's just like the old days."

"They're just days to me." the Doctor responded, his voice more monotonous than his acquaintance's. "I never stopped fighting them, or watching disasters around me. And I've faced far worse things than you could have done, even if you've worked for Torchwood all this time."

"I don't doubt it." the man sighed, glancing across the room, in the direction of the window, where the moon was risen to its peak in the sky. "I may have become a normal working man, but you will have taken off in the TARDIS, doing what you've always done, what you will always do. Save people's lives and run away before you can be thanked. With all this excitement, I'm surprised that you even remember me. Or Rose."

The Doctor snapped his neck around to face the man, from where the pair of them had been facing the moonlight. He could feel his blood almost boiling with rage at the accusation, but attempted to conceal this fact, trying desperately to remain the one who saved face, as he had always been.

"Technically, we're the same person." the man pointed out, knowing that the statement was not entirely factual, but using it anyway, given that it was the only idea he had as a comeback and he did not want to give the other version of himself the satisfaction of thinking he had silenced him, during the wait that would undoubtedly follow. "You're me, I'm you. So, if you remember Rose, then I will as well. Besides, I could never forget her."

"She's not an easy person to forget." the Meta-Crisis replied, his voice a little more relenting, apologetic perhaps, than it had been during the last time he had spoken. It seemed that he had noticed the extent of the offence he had caused. "She never has been, really, and she hasn't changed to make that any truer in the past few years, either."

"How much have I missed?" the Doctor suddenly asked, shocking his acquaintance into silence. "Nine years since the last time I saw Rose, and look how much she's done. She has a child now, a little girl of her own, and I didn't even know about her existence. I didn't even know she'd gotten married, to be honest, though I probably should have done. We are the same person, after all."

"Yes, I suppose so." responded John, who seemed to deliberately be avoiding the question, or seemed to be in the Time Lord's mind, in any case. However, a minute later, he did answer. "I married Rose in 2009, a few months after you disappeared. There's a picture of our wedding day on the desk, actually. It's one of mine. She doesn't have one in her office, because she's not quite as high up in the office as me. Hardly anyone comes into my workplace who doesn't already know about our marriage, anyway."

The man stood for a moment, reaching for a pair of photographs on his desk. When he sat down, the Doctor could see the layout of each of them clearly.

The first image was of John and Rose's wedding day, as he had said it would be. The man in the bow tie did not concentrate much on the attire of the Meta-Crisis, as he could hardly breathe for the appearance of Rose. She was dressed all in white, as a bride traditionally would be, and her dress was slim fitting, with crystal roses adorning the bodice and satin ones adorning the skirt. Presumably the floral touch had been an idea of Jackie's, as it seemed like something that she would have done, as a show of intelligence. 'She looks beautiful.' the man thought. 'But I should've been there.'

Leaving no more time for reminiscing, the man turned his face to the second picture, the one which the captain was clutching tightly to the frame of. Once again, it was an image of Rose and John, the latter with his arm wrapped around his wife, once again standing in the doorway of a church. However, on this occasion, they were not alone, as the blonde was holding to her chest a child in a lace blanket, dressed in a gown of the same colour. 'It must have been Reinette's christening.' he supposed, but his thoughts were cut short as the man spoke once again.

"It was actually Rose's idea to name her Reinette, you know." he told the extra-terrestrial man, by means of an explanation. "She wanted to have a reminder of what we'd come through, what we'd lost and what we could do for the future. She knew the relationship I'd almost had with Madame de Pompadour, of course she did, and she wanted to give us a way to move on. Reinette was our second chance, the saviour for us, and so that's what we named her."

At that moment, it was very clear to the Doctor. For John, his family was everything, and that was why they needed to fight the threat to their world. For the sake of second chances, they needed to win.

A/N: A lot of people commented on why she was named Reinette, and I wanted to explain that she was a second chance for them, and so they named her after the person they wanted to move on from. Hope it makes a little more sense. Please review!