A/N: Happy to be back! A chapter today, just as I promised. From now on, a new chapter will be posted every Wednesday because I like Wednesdays. Also, read to the very end for the surprise!

Rose's first thought when she came to was that her head fucking hurt. Her vision was smeared like hastily done watercolor, and she groaned. Did Jack escape? Did he get back? Gradually a woman's face swam into focus. Her silvery eyes were flat and her face was slackened, like she was in a coma with her eyes open. Rose arched her back, every limb tingling like she'd slept on them, her mouth as numb and fuzzy as if she had just gotten several shots of novocaine.

"You return to knowing. Excellent. You have been darkened for many hours now," the woman said, her chilling voice as expressionless as her face. She stood awkwardly, as though not quite sure how to stand for maximum comfort. "You will tell us where the one of fire has left to."

The room was so bright it made her nauseous. "F-fire?" she grunted. "I'unno whadder talking about." Rose slurred. She reached up to rub her eyes but found that she couldn't move her right hand. Or the left, for that matter. She rolled her head to see them lying dead on the table, along with her legs. There were no restraints, but as she turned her gaze upward she encountered a blue beam of light that seemed to stay targeted on one spot on her forehead, shifting with her as she tilted her head. Some sort of paralyzation beam, then. Fucking brilliant. She scowled. "Shut it off."

"No," the woman said evenly. "The one of fire," she repeated. "Of ashes to flame. Of circles."

"Wha' th'fuck?" Rose frowned, staring at her captor in irritated bemusement.

The woman stared back, unblinking. "He has taken what we miss in our counting, and it shall be restored to us. Where has he left to?"

Thank god, he got back. "Gone," she grunted. "You won' be able to find him. Nah' even I could if I somehow managed t'get out." She tried to send her hand a message-Brain to hand- MOVE! but it may as well have not belonged to her. "Wha' d'you need with a genetic bridge, anyway? Why're you takin' people's bodies?"

The woman shifted slightly, raising a hand to inspect it. "In the days of younger stars we had bodies of our own. We exceeded them. Long we have lived well without them, but we are threatened. This is... curse your sounds of the tongue..." she paused, mouth closing as she thought. "This is shield and tool. Armor. But it is slippery. The substance we have wrought firms us in our place. It bonds us to flesh once more."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "What are you?"

"Our existence of past or present is not of your concern. You have been kept in existence of present in order to tell us of the one of fire. You will answer now." The woman's voice never changed, never rose or fell, but the words carried a threat.

Rose sighed in frustration. "I told you, I don' even know where he is right now, not exactly. You won't be able t'find him an' I can't either, an' it wouldn't matter anyway. I'm sorry we had to steal it, but it was important. That's really all I can tell you."

"Then your use has been expended," the woman said evenly, walking to a panel. "Your health will be evaluated, and you will be worn."

Rose felt her heart thrum in panic despite herself. "You can't! You don't understand, I'm not your average human! I'm all soaked in- in void stuff! It's dangerous- lemme go!"

"Void stuff?" That stopped her. She turned. "To what are you referring when you use the sound 'void stuff'?" she asked, walking back towards Rose.

Rose stuttered, playing for time. "I- Anti energy. From th'nothingness between universes. Hell. The white space. I've been through there, hundreds of times. I've walked through hundreds of different universes, different realities, being blasted through the void each time. Background energy- sorry, um, the stuff that makes the nothing, it's stuck to me. Soaked up into my bones. If the void opened up, I'd be sucked in. I don't know what else it does, but trust me, you probably don't want it."

The woman's face was still expressionless, dead-looking and cold, but her eyes stayed fixated on Rose's face. "You refer to the Not," she said after a moment. "This is the Is. That is the Not. You have awakened past the Not."

"Yeah, sure, the Not. Whatever you wanna call it. I almost got sucked in there, before someone saved me last minute. Not to mention I have a different universal signature. An'- I've held the entire time vortex in my head. It almost killed me, it could come back any day now and burn me up an' everything around it for all I know. You don't want me."

"We know of this 'vortex' in your mind. We are of mind and we can sense it. You are the Bad Wolf."

Rose stilled. "How d'you know that name?"

"This does not concern us," the woman continued like she'd not heard. "Your mind is not to be our concern. We shall be mind. You shall be armor. But the Not... that is of great mystery. You will be examined."

Rose glowered at the woman, grateful for at least a little time. "Examined how?" She wondered if they were going to cut her open, see if void stuff really clustered around her insides like she'd said. Oh yeah, that was a brilliantway to put it, Rose. Bloody fantastic.

"Explanation will not provide use to you. You will observe at the time appointed," the woman said, turning for the door. "The time to that point will pass with your rest."

"N-!" she began to shout in protest, but the beam into her brain had already begun shutting down her consciousness. There wasn't even a fight, it was like turning off a light. Rose had time for a single thought as she realized what they were about to do.

Fuck me.

He'd woken up with hope in his chest and the shadow of a dream of Rose, dressed in beautiful red and simply glowing. She'd smelt of time and sweet coffee. The wide smile she'd pressed against his lips was so elated it was hard to believe he'd dreamt it up.

He had been alone. That was the first thing he'd noticed, and it sat in his gut like a weight even now, almost a day later. He didn't know why he was so surprised, but tried to think what exactly it was he must have done to finally have made her leave. The optimism from the dream had faded, and he could feel the reserves of his strength rattling like pennies inside him as every breath got shallower, his heartbeat becoming more sluggish. He was dwindling, both mentally and physically. Maybe that's why she left. He wouldn't blame her.

He was frightened.

He sensed something was wrong before he saw the cause. A sudden shock sprung up his bones, cold intangible electricity. The foggy timelines he could barely sense wriggled and buzzed behind his eyes in a nauseating way that was all too familiar.

Before he could move to do anything- press the call button, warn someone somehow about the broken chaos moving toward them- the very cause burst through the door, a silver case under one arm and an utterly bemused looking Dr. Grinnald trailing behind him. "Well, you look like shit," Jack grinned good naturedly.

The Doctor blinked blearily at him from behind the capsule's blue film. The other man didn't miss a beat. "Apologies, we haven't officially met. Captain Jack Harkness. Well- used to be a Captain." He took a pair of laser pliers from the paper bag and began to disconnect a cylinder from the strange cask.

"Jack," the Doctor rasped. "I feel like shit- How th'hell are you-" He stopped, overtaken by a coughing fit, the man's nauseating aura burning up the back of his neck. He went silent for a few moments as he focused solely on breathing properly, then continued. "What are you doing here? You... You shouldn't exist."

Jack wasn't listening. "You, biggest syringe you have," he pointed at Dr. Grinnald, before going back to removing the top of the cylinder with care. "Give him the whole container."

"What?" the man in the pod squawked.

"But where? It's his whole spine! Even 'lumbar area' is five vertabra long- this in unprecedented as it is-"

"That's all the info I have and I can't exactly call back for verification." Jack turned to the Doctor, whose left eyebrow's dramatic angle was only rivaled by the rapid angles of the increasing heart monitor.
"Doc, I'll need your verbal consent."

The weak plodding of the heart monitor was starting to trip in panic. "Verbal consent to what?" he practically squeaked.

"For us to fucking fix you," Jack said a touch testily. "Look, I promised Rose I'd get this to you as soon as possible-"

The narrow hills in the heart monitor became mountains. "You talked to Rose?"

"Is that a yes?" Jack asked, finding the correct switch on the side of the pod. The blue sterilization film went off with a flicker.

The Doctor could still run diagnostics, feel the malfunctioning of his blood vessels and lungs and the weak lump of his heart. Rose. "Yes."

Without another word, Jack reached into the pod, moving trails of tubes and wires. "Flip over," he commanded, already partially lifting the Doctor so he could turn over more easily.
The Doctor yelled as his skin revolted at the other man's very touch, but grit his teeth and rolled over weakly. His teeth chattered as his hospital gown was opened and a cold swab was wiped near the base of his spine. The smell of medical alcohol stung his throat.

"Hang on to your-" Jack's eyes flicked down to the Doctor's exposed buttocks. "Nonexistent pants, Doc. This is going to hurt like hell."

He cried out at the sudden explosion of pain at the base of his spine, back arching away slightly. Strong hands pinned him down as the heart monitor nearly screeched- the contents of the syringe seared coldly up his back, the pain so intense he couldn't breathe. He bit his tongue, gripping the sheets, and he groaned choppily as the thick needle was pulled out from between his spinal discs. He clutched the sheets a moment longer, chest heaving.

"Little- more warning next time," he growled through grit teeth. "Now, for the last time, what the hell did you just do?"

Dr. Grinnald taped a wad of cotton firmly to the puncture before helping him flip back over. "That was just a neutral bonding protein to bridge the gap between the conflicting sides of your alleles. You're welcome," Jack replied. "And it better work, because it was hell to get." He slid the empty cylinder back into the paper bag.

He ignored most of what Jack was saying, his chest bucking, still in shock from the what felt vaguely like dry ice injected into his spine. "I suppose we'll have to see about it working. Jack, look, you'd said you'd seen Rose? Is she alright?"

Jack paused and blew out a sigh. He looked at the hovering doctor in the corner. "You can go, now," Jack said, leaving little room for argument. Grinnald scurried out and Jack lowered himself into the chair on the far side of the room. "Rose came to me almost a day ago- in my time, anyway. We managed to get advice from the other Doctor in the other universe. He told us about this, manufactured 200 years in the future, to steal it. He said it was dangerous, but Rose was insistent." He paused, and the Doctor's weak, singular heart sunk further. "I said it was hell to get, Doc. They were closing in. She ran into the mob as a distraction, made me leave without her, to get this stuff to you."

"What?!" He tried to sit up, but fell back, wheezing, grimacing as his body protested. "We have to get her," he rasped finally. "Who are they? Will they hurt her?" He looked over at Jack, trying not to feel betrayed. "Please don't leave her on my account again, Jack," he added quietly. "Not like that."

"You think I wanted to leave her? I don't even know you!" Jack snapped. "There was no other way, either I left so I'd be able to rescue her later, or we both got taken." He sighed, crossing his arms. "They're an alien race that lives in thought form and has taken over human minds as their work force. I don't know if they'd hurt her or not, I didn't exactly have time to stick around and chat to see what their policy of thieves are, but I can guess that they could always use another human body for their task force."

"Dammit," he muttered, arms shaking as he tried to push himself up again. He barely got halfway before his elbows gave out, and he cursed as he fell back. "We have to go. Find me clothes, will you? We've-" He was cut off by another fit of painful coughs that went on so long, Jack started to press the call button until the Doctor held up a shaking hand. He gulped in a few breaths of air, eyes rimmed red. "We've got to go- get her back."

"Easy there, tiger," Jack said dryly. "I want to save Rose as much as you do, but I'd prefer we do it effectively, rather rush into a half baked thing and frankly, you still look like shit. The nice thing about two hundred years- you have plenty of time to recover and become a half-time-lord who's able to shag Rose like she deserves," he winked. "If it works, which it better."

He glanced over at Jack, but sighed, nodding and laying back slowly. "You're right," he admitted grudgingly. He pulled the blanket back over him, shivering a little.

"Look, we can't tell anyone else about this. It was strictly off record. It would've taken weeks to get approval, and I'm not ah, exactly allowed to use the vortex manipulator."

"I know the rules, Jack," he says, trying not to roll his eyes. "I helped write half of them. Start filling me in on the layout of this place."

Jack made himself comfortable in the rickety hospital chair and began to recite every detail he could remember of the research facility. "Can't tell you too much about it," he finished. "We didn't have a lot of time to look around. Heavy security, we set it off in the first two minutes we were in there. I don't know how many bodies they've taken, maybe thousands. But the base seems massive. They must have a perception filter on it to keep it away from prying eyes."

The Doctor nodded slightly. "Alright... Finding Rose in all that will be difficult, but not impossible... We can modify something to lock onto conscious human brain waves, which, if she's conscious, should single her out from the others and enable us to track her down rather quickly... If she isn't conscious it will be a little more difficult. We'll have to hack the security mainframe. But we may want to do that anyway if security is as tight as you say it is."

Jack hesitated. "What if... what if they've already taken her? Gotten inside her head? Is there any way we can save her after that?" A pause. "Doctor?"

He looked over at Jack, hesitant. "It.. it really depends on the race. You mentioned that the other Doctor requested you not harm the bodies, which seems to suggest that recovery is possible, or it's possible he wasn't sure either. The mind is a delicate thing. A tiny bit of damage can have a lasting effect. It's best if we don't let that happen."

Jack nodded briskly. "What should I tell Pete and Jackie? Rose'll be missing for at least a few weeks until you've hopefully recovered, they need to know something." Like that their daughter may not be coming home.

"You're team lead, Jack... Just tell them she wanted to get out of here, that she volunteered for a mission and she'll be away for a few weeks. It's not a lie." He looks up at the ceiling. "We'll go get her back as soon as I'm able."

Jack nodded. "You rest up, Doc. And don't beat yourself up." And then Jack ducked out of the room.

The hospital staff were less than thrilled to find that Jack had injected something without clearance, but he managed to charm his way back in in the way only he could to keep a close watch on the funny little man his best friend had seen the universe in.

The next few days were slow and painful. Whatever the stuff was, it had left a large bruise around the injection, and at first the only effect it had was to make the Doctor's nausea return, and raise his fever again. He slipped back into a less conscious state, mumbling in a foreign tongue. Jackie visited every day, fretting and worrying and clearly not believing a word of what Jack said about Rose's 'volunteer for a highly confidential mission'. The fact that she was completely furious at him for injecting the Doctor with an unknown substance didn't help.

After the third day of Jack silently panicking, Jackie's not-quite-silent wrath, and the hospital staff shooting him dirty looks, the stranger's fever broke.

No one could deny the improvement after that. The next time Jack came in, he was sitting up on his own and not willing to talk about anything but their plan to rescue Rose. Jack let himself be interrogated on every detail of the heist with Rose multiple times.

"They were able to tap into our brains, that's how we were found out. If you could figure out a way to hide our brain's... not alienness, that'd be great."

The Doctor screwed up his face in thought. "Here's the thing... I don't know what their psychic print feels like so I can't duplicate it. The best I can do is have you make something to make us unreadable and hope that will buy us some time."

"Should be good enough." Jack suddenly turned quickly to his pocket, and the Doctor inhaled quietly at the thin silver device he held out. "Rose gave me this before we got separated. It's yours, isn't it?"

He took the device, turning it over and sighing. "No, not mine, not exactly. Let's say it's hers and leave it at that. But I know how to use it." He turned the sonic over in his hand absently, the one that belonged to the proper Time Lord. "You'll need to manufacture some of those silver jumpsuits, best as you can."

"Yeah, sure. They were pretty simple, probably made from your average alominium; they have human bodies, so I don't think they'd need anything special." He paused to watch the Doctor handle the device nostalgically, before telling him that Jackie sent her love and Tony was eager to see him. It got him a small smile, small, but bringing life to his eyes and Jack thought that maybe he understood what Rose saw in this weird alien bloke after all.

The next day during visiting hours, a four year old boy bounded into the hospital room. "Doctor!" he beamed.

"Careful, Tony, the Doctor's been through a lot, let 'im breathe," Jackie chided behind him.

Tony ran up to the cot, but stayed a good foot away just in case. His eyes widened. "Mummy said you almost died." he said worriedly. He looked remarkably like his sister.

"I'm fine now," he said, smiling broadly at Tony, and then at Jackie. "Thanks for coming," he said gratefully. "It's been horribly dull here." He returns his attention to Tony. "Well, then, how have you been, mate?"

Tony began to ramble endlessly about real live Torchwood people being in his house and getting to sleep with Mummy and Daddy in the big bed even though Daddy grumbled a little about it that he could easily sleep in one of the guest bedrooms until Mummy said she'd make sure he wouldn't ever be able to-

"That's enough of that." Jackie said sternly. The Doctor let out a laugh as Tony rambled on, and even more so as Jackie cut him off.

"I heard that Jack Harkness administered you a foreign substance through the spine! He could've killed ya, what the hell did he do?"

"He acted on good information, and it's working. I'm getting better. It was risky, but... To be honest, if he hadn't... I wasn't doing well, Jackie. I'm grateful."

Jackie nodded, then touched Tony's shoulder. "Why don't you go with Daddy to get the get well soon card? We left it in the car, I think."

Tony brightened and hopped out of the room, singing, "Be right back!"

The softness in Jackie's eyes melted after her son had left. "Now Doctor, answer me, an' answer me honest -cos I don't believe the nonsense Jack is tryin' to tell me an' I'm only gonna ask this once- where's Rose?"

He looked at her for a long moment, his expression dulling slowly. "About two hundred years in the future," he said quietly. "She went with Jack to steal the substance he injected me with, and she stayed behind to ensure his escape. I swear we'll get her back, Jackie... I'm so sorry."

Jackie slowly covered her mouth. "I thought it might be something like that," she whispered. "That's Rose all over. But- she's still alive. Isn't she? They've not-" She couldn't even think about it.

"I don't know," he murmured, looking away. "Last we knew, yes. I told you I'd protect her and I didn't, Jackie. I'm so sorry. But we will get her back."

She shuddered and nodded. "Of course she'd stay behind. She'd been bloody willing to get herself killed for you, and now she's done it again." Jackie blinked furiously, like she was deciding whether to take the the mickey out of him or not. She seemed to concede that screaming at bedridden person wasn't the most decent thing to do. "Rose... you shoulda seen her when we didn't think you were gonna make it... She wasn't my Rose anymore. It broke 'er heart, the thought of- of losin' you so soon after she got you back." She swiped at her eyes and fixed the Doctor with a stern stare. "When you do find her again, I expect ya to bring back all of her. Fix 'er."

"I'll do my best, Jackie," he promised, sighing. "But I can't do much if she doesn't want to be fixed, or if she doesn't want me fixing her. She's got to work with me."

Jackie nodded again, cleaning away any evidence of tears as Tony ran back in brandishing his home-made card proudly. It had the entire family holding hands across what looked like Mars. 'Get well soon' was scrawled messily inside. "Rosie's comin' back soon, isn't she?" Tony asked quietly, his bottom lip caught between his teeth in a way that was so Rose it made the Doctor's chest ache.

But he took the card with a broad smile and set it on his bedside table. "Thank you, Tony! And she'll be home before you can recite the Bloovian alphabet- granted, it is the longest written alphabet in eleven galaxies, but it's not too-"

Tony suddenly curled his arms around the Doctor's neck, avoiding the wires carefully. He smelled like cheese toasties and Paddie's Children Shampoo. "Will she be happy again?"

The Doctor hugged him back, tight. "I hope so. Rose is clever, and strong. I think she'll be alright," he smiled.

"We should be leaving soon, sweetheart." Jackie said abruptly.

"But Muuum, I just got here-"

"An' visiting hours are almost over. The Doctor needs his rest. Th'sooner he gets better, sooner Rose will come home."

He smiled until the two left, then sighed quietly. He'd seen it in Jackie's face. The confusion and slight panic. One by one he was losing his friends. He lay back, returning to watching the ceiling.

He didn't have to wait for more company long. (Fourteen hours, sixteen minutes, to be exact.)

The man who walked in had shaved down the juvenile gelled spikes and lost most of the round boyishness in his face, and the Doctor honestly couldn't place him at first.

"Weird," he snorted. "Jack wasn't kiddin'. Never thought I'd see you in the flesh again."

The Doctor squinted, then sat up very slowly, wanting to be in more command than he was. "Jake... Pretty boy Jake. What're you doing here?"

Jake Simmonds didn't bat an eye. He set the large and bright yellow gift bag on the Doctor's knees. "Brought you what you asked for. For the perception filters. Don't mind the paper, Tosh always goes a bit overboard on these things."

He started opening the package as quickly as he could, trying not to tug on the IV in his hand too much, his fingers trembling just a bit, though he got the package open without too much trouble, starting to look through the equipment. "Good, good... No, alright, these are brilliant, but they aren't going to be strong enough. I'm either going to need thicker wire, or a wire stripper and a lot of tape." He looked up. "Why you, though? Where's Jack?"

"Thanks a lot," Jake said, not sounding especially bothered. "Jack actually has an organization to run, he's head of Torchwood One without Rose, an' he has to keep everything together. The world doesn't stop movin' for you, you know." He crossed his arms.

"I know it doesn't- well. No. It has once or twice, actually. Once... I got it to go backwards for a whole four hours, and then stop. But I get... your point, I suppose..." He paused to catch his breath. "Jack's just a bit crucial to... the whole plan."

Jake rolled his eyes. "He'll be available soon as you're released. Besides, I'm comin' with you," he said, matter-of-fact.

He snorted, wincing as that irritated his throat, but persevered. "Like hell you are," he grunted. "Not a chance. Jack and I."

"Like hell I am," Jake corrected. "What if Rose is hurt, or unconscious, an' you need to carry her out? You need at least backup, s'well as someone else t'carry her. And if you don't mind me sayin', boss, you won't be strong enough t'be good for neither." He paused. "These past six years, it's always been us four. She's one of my best friends, and if anyone has a say in this, it's me."

He took a slow breath, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "I don't like it, Jake," he said with a sigh. "The more people we bring in there, the more dangerous this becomes."

"Fuckin' tough. It also gives us a better chance of getting her out." He gestured loosely at the gift bag. "There's enough in there for a third filter, so you'd better get workin' on it."

He glared at Jake for a long time, but his physical weakness left him little choice but to agree with his points. It was the height of annoyances. Weak, idiotic human body... "Fine."

Finally looking satisfied, Jake uncrossed his arms and made to leave. At the door, he seemed to fight with himself, before finally turning. "Doctor."

He glanced up. "Reconsidered? Excellent. I've had an idea about an exoskeleton, but honestly I think by that point my body will have recovered substantially, at least there's even a smidgen of time lord left in me. You lot really do have pathetic healing rates."

"No, I'm still going. Shut up for once." He sighed heavily through his nose. "I just wanted t'ask. Did Mickey, did he say anythin'? About why he decided to..." He broke off and shrugged.

"Ah..." the Doctor said, leaning back in the bed and considering him. "I think he didn't feel he was needed here anymore."

Jake studied the tile. "He didn't say anything to me. To anybody."

He sighed. "Sit, Jake," he said, nodding to the chair.

"I'd rather not, actually," the man snorted, meeting his eye with a smirk that wasn't completely genuine.

"Fine, stand there like a love-struck fool, see if I care," he muttered under his breath. He looked over at Jake. "I'm sorry. I wish I had answers. Speaking as someone with experience... being on the wrong side of the dimension... is a hard... place to be..."

"S'not hard," he glowered. "Just- you'd have thought he'd tell his best friends that he never planned on never seeing them again. That's all."

"I don't think he planned on anything, Jake. Think it... was just spur of the... moment." He crumpled up a clean tissue and lobbed it Jake's way in an attempt to be annoyed, though the weak throw fell far short. Jake watched its pathetic arc. "And of course it's hard. He was your friend. More than. Don't be a... moron."

"You don't know anything. You've not been around." He pointed at the bag. "Keep tha' out of sight. May be a Torchwood hospital, but this is strictly off book."

He snorted. "Don't have to have... been around... I know that look. Wore it for... years." His chest ached from the talking and it was becoming more difficult to plow through a sentence. He picked the bag up, put all the bits and bobs back inside, and slid it into the space between the end table and the bed.

"Rest up. I'll be seeing you." Jake gave a tight, polite smile before finally heading for the door.

"Thank you, Jake..." he said quietly, resting back and breathing slowly, shallowly so as not to aggravate his lungs further.

Giving one last look over his shoulder, Jake sped-walk down the corridor, shoving his shaking hands in his pockets and swallowing past the pain lodged hard in his throat.

Two weeks passed sluggishly, and the Doctor made a rapid recovery that stunned the nurses. His mutating lungs settled and firmed and his circulatory system didn't seem confused by itself anymore. Within a few days of Jack's first visit, he was well enough to begin walking again. Shortly thereafter, his Time Sense was back to its normal state, and despite his new human DNA, he could still see and the Time Lines fairly clearly, much to his relief.

He found a surprising ally in Jackie Tyler. She bought him several new clothes to help him feel more like himself, and he was surprised that he didn't hate them. She brought over his old red converse, reassured him that the TARDIS coral was safe, and snuck in shepard's pie and spaghetti bolognese, insisting the hospital food was practically poison and he was too skinny already. She visited frequently, sometimes with Tony, sometimes without, and she always fussed over him, and he was surprised to find he didn't hate that, either.

The night Dr. Grinnald cleared him, he called Jack.

Jack snuck him out of the hospital with the help of a few of his "contacts", then drove them back to Jake's flat in North Greenwich before anyone else was contacted. Jake was waiting in his cluttered foyer with the bag of jumpsuits.

"You have no idea how much I missed normal clothing," the Doctor sighed as he buttoned his shirt, a purchase from Jackie.

"I dunno, I liked the open back." Jack almost pouted. "So d'you think you can manage running for your life soon? How have your nurses been exercising you?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Very well," he shot back easily, winking at Jack as he straightened his tie. "I'm ready now. I don't want to wait any longer. This is taking its toll on all of us, Jackie and Pete especially."

Jake raised his eyebrows. "You make the mental cloakers?"

"No, Jake, I've been sitting on my arse looking at the stain on the ceiling. Yes, I made the 'mental cloakers'," the Doctor sniffed, and tossed Jake a scrappy looking necklace from the yellow gift bag he'd brought along, then threw a second to Jack.

Both men looked incredulous, but put the things on.

The Doctor put on his own cloaking device and put another carefully in his pocket for Rose, once they got her. "I want to get her back."

"Yeah, I know," Jack said quietly, pulling the largest jumpsuit on. "I have the coordinates to the last time we traveled to the facility, but we'll have to wait until we're sure that I've left and she's been captured. Manipulator's crystal won't take another setting." He looked sternly at both men "I know you'll both want to help, but you know the rules. No paradoxes allowed."

"I know, I know," Jake sighed, pulling on one of the other jumpsuits as the Doctor did the same.

"Let's just go as quickly as we can," the Doctor added. "That's all."

"Right." Jack grunted, twisting the vortex manipulator. "Hang on tight." Jake grabbed tightly to Jack's shoulders, and after a moment of hesitation, the Doctor grit his teeth and did the same.

Jack pressed the button and they folded away in a shock of electricity.

The Doctor's still settling body twisted in itself, the timelines ran through the shoddy crystal and spiked behind his eyes. He tensed every fiber of his existence and focused on the time within him. They had to get there. They had to get Rose.

They landed in a cold black room. Jake gasped, stumbling away. The Doctor dropped to his knees, heaving.

"Woah, easy," came Jack's voice. He clapped the Doctor's shoulder. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," he rasped sharply.

"Jake?"

"Yeah, in one piece. Barely. Where are we?"

"Hang on-" Rustling as Jack fished in his jumpsuit pocket, and then a circle of light shone on the wall. Shapes of boxes and empty canisters were clustered around them. "Damn, storage closet. I had to shift the coordinates a little so we didn't land right on top of Rose and me." Jack turned the light to the other wall. "I think Rose and I hide here later on."

"You could have put us right in a wall, Harkness," the Doctor growled, stand shakily but managing to roll his eyes.

"The other Doctor sent the blueprints of the place. I made sure we weren't going through a wall. You can get your panties untwisted." He tossed an empty bucket off his head and wrinkled his nose. "Somehow, when I picture myself in a dark closet with someone else, this wasn't what I imagined I'd be doing."

"Oh, so you're the comic relief in th'group now?" Jake hissed.

"I'm dead serious. Jake, we have time for a quickie."

"Right, I'll pass."

"Will you shut up for ten seconds?" the Doctor snapped. He rubbed at the nauseating headache that was still behind his eyes. "Right... Jack. You're going to have to tell me where you are, timing wise. We'll go on your count."

"We should wait until we hear the alarm, which should be in about, erm, five, six minutes. Then we run like hell."

"Brilliant," he grunted, leaning against the wall. He looked over at Jack after a moment. "What if she... what if we're too late?"

Jack took his blaster out of his jumpsuit pocket. "We won't be. They won't kill her. At least, I don't think they will. Like I said, they need healthy bodies, especially after Rose injured a few dozen of them."

Jake didn't look encouraged, but pulled out his own weapon with a steely expression. "Th'parasitic bastards won't know what hit 'em."

The Doctor nodded a little, adjusting his necklace and jumpsuit, and pulled out the sonic screwdriver right as an alarm went off. "You weren't kidding about the six minutes thing," he said with a laugh, waiting on Jack's lead.

"Yeah, the damn shiny door was hiding from us," Jack grunted, pushed himself into standing position, and waited until the stampede clomping of the workers ran past the door. He pocketed his gun and Jake did the same. "Now!" he said, pushing out of the closet and into the blinding white light of the hallway. "In here, in here! Look blank. Think Botox gone wrong."

They nodded, following Jack quickly, then slowing to a casual, if slightly awkward, walk, expressions blank as they made their way down the halls. Jake kept his hand near his pocket, ready to pull his blaster at a moment's notice. The Doctor covered the sonic with his palm. "I'm working on finding her," he said out of the corner of his mouth as Jack led them into a stairwell and they started downwards, eyes on the barely concealed blue light. "You keep us from bumping into yourself."

Jack rushed to a clipped awkward walk, looking like they were off to look at the security breach. "We didn't come down this hallway," he muttered between his teeth. Familiar voices murmured from the inside of the metal walls, and Jack realized they were on the other side of the room where they had stolen the solution. He cursed. "Quick quick!" he hissed at the others. "They'll be swarming this room any minute!"

"Get us to wherever they took Rose, and we'll hide," the Doctor growled, increasing his pace, starting to feel the slight drag of not having been up and about for weeks, but pushing past it, adrenaline carrying him easily. "We'll follow her from there."

They all jumped as they heard the lift crash. Jack bolted towards the noise, the others following. Through the mob, they could just see Rose run straight into the enormous crowd of silver suits, firing every now and then before hands seized her. The Doctor tensed.

"Right here. Where they take her from you," he murmured quietly, swallowing and setting his sonic, locking in on Rose's signal. "I've got her, we'll be able to follow this," he said, locking down his emotions, going into battle mode.

"Go, Jack! J's go! You c'n come back fr' m-" screamed Rose through the muffled hands before they plunged a needle into her neck. Her eyelids flickered and they could hear the past Jack cry out before he dashed down the hall.

The Doctor made to step forward. "We should wait until the room's cleared," Jake mumbled as they dragged a limp Rose roughly into a separate room.

He stopped, nodded, eyes following Rose until she was out of sight. He watched impatiently as the room's occupants began to drift back to their assignments.

"They'll want to interrogate her."

Jake felt for his blaster again. "What will they interrogate her about? Will they torture her?"

"Not physically," the Doctor murmured darkly. "Mental beings, remember? Let's just hope they don't get to that. They'll want to know where her accomplice went."

Jack nodded curtly. Mental torture could often be much worse than physical, and he'd been fortunate enough to experience both. "How do we get her?"

He pressed his lips together tightly, thinking. "We're going to have to watch where they're keeping her enough to learn how to get in and see if there's a guard... My guess is that it'll be a psychic lock. If that's the case, I'll need to listen telepathically as they open it... probably two or three times, get the combination."

"What the hell does that mean?" Jake asked, watching carefully as workers took those injured in the lift to safety, filing out of the room like wind-up-toys.
"It doesn't matter right now," Jack interrupted as the Doctor opened his mouth to explain, and beckoned them into another storage closet.

"Limited time, remember? If you know what you need to do, Doc, then we'll just get you there and keep you covered."

He nodded. "Just don't talk. At all. I need to concentrate."

The Doctor proceeded to stand silent, almost unnervingly so, for over an hour. Once or twice Jack checked that he was breathing. Eventually, a last set of footsteps walked from the direction of the room, and he shifted and spoke, making the other two occupants of the closet jump. "I have the combination," he said, sounding tired. "We should move."

Jake nodded, reaching up and turning the handle slowly, opening the door a crack and peering out, making sure, before standing, letting out a quiet groan as he stretched his cramped legs.

The Doctor strode out ahead of them. He placed his forehead against the door, reaching out to mentally connect to the lock and thinking through the combination. There was a moment of tense uncertainty, but then the door clicked open. He breathed a sigh of relief.

They crept along behind the Doctor, blasters in hand. The door slid apart quietly, and they slipped inside. The room was dark. "I can't see a bloody thing," Jake hissed. "Is there anyone in here with us?" he breathed in the Doctor's ear.

He could hear breathing. "Rose, presumably," he whispered back. He thought he could smell her, but that may have been wishful thinking. "Hang on... light switch poking my spine," he muttered. "Be ready. 3...2...1..." He flipped the light on, looking around the room carefully, but it was small, and bare, except for a table against the far wall, and on that table... "Rose."

She was very still and very white. A single ray of electric blue light beamed between her closed eyes. She looked like a statue of some martyr in a church, almost peaceful, but the stillness was unnerving.

"What've they done to her?" Jake asked in a horrified but furious whisper.

"They've shut down the brain," the Doctor said, almost to himself. "Need to figure out how to disable it without shutting her brain off permanently."

"Then how do we turn it off? Any ideas?" Jack prodded.

He didn't respond, walking slowly forward, eyes on her face, gut twisting. He took Rose's hand in his, holding it tightly for a moment before he took a breath. "Let's... take a look at the systems," he murmured, turning away and moving to look at the device.

Jake looked at Rose's face, stomach turning over. "Could you remove it with that passcode you had?"

"Maybe... but I doubt they'd use the same code, and if I get it wrong, we'll trigger the security system..." He leaned back, shoving his hands into his pockets. "We can either cut the power. Or I can try contacting her mind and fight it off from in there," he muttered, sonicking the machine.

"How can you be sure that they haven't just put one of their own in there, and it's immersing in there right now?" Jack paused, looking at the door. "Can't you connect with her- telepathically? Isn't that a thing you do? See if she's still in there, guide her through."

He inhaled through his nose, nodded. "If I start to struggle, break my physical contact with her," he muttered, leaning over and pressing his fingers to Rose's temples. A moment later, he sank into her mind, finding himself surrounded by cool darkness. Rose?

Something shifted. Her name, called gently, nudged her out of nothingness a little. Even in only thought, she'd know him anywhere. Doctor? came the soft reply.

Rose! Rose, keep talking, let me find you, he said, wading through the blackness.

Ta-talking? Doctor where are you? Where am I? She felt a rush of panic as she came further into awareness. There was nothing, she was nowhere, and for a moment she wondered if she was in her reoccurring nightmare of the void. I don't know where I- I can't think, I can't-

You ARE thinking,

he said firmly. We're in your mind. It's alright. You're safe right now.

If it was her own head, why was there nothing? Why can't I see you? Rose whispered. Where was I before you came? I- I felt like nothing. Nowhere. The void. How can I find you if I'm nothing?

I need you to concentrate. You can hear me, right?

Not quite, but she could feel it, the same way she could feel her own internal thoughts.

The Doctor's words floated through her again. You know my voice. Imagine it. You can hear it.

She could. High and fast and full of diphthongs.

Which means that somewhere you have ears. And those ears have to be attached to a head, and a neck, and the mouth that you're speaking with. From there the rest of your body. Think about your body. You need to manifest yourself in here.

Rose concentrated. Dyed hair, starting to go brown at the roots. Turned up nose, too-wide mouth with too-big teeth. Sharp knuckles, thin hands. Feet and legs that ached to run. Weight filled in beneath her. I can feel. I think. I feel the ground beneath my feet.

He whipped around, and there she was. I've got you. Work on seeing. Do you remember what I look like? Imagine me about two meters in front of you. That should bring your sight into focus.

Long legs. Narrow waist and skinny thighs and an arse she had always fantasized about pinching. A crazy haired bobble-head on a thin neck, pretty mouth and hands and excitable eyes that had rheumy darkness lurking behind the childlike innocence. Feet tucked in converse that never stopped running. My Doctor. And something faded into view, it felt like she had eyes again.I- I think I see you!

Good. Brilliant. I'm walking towards you,

he said, moving in her direction. Hello, Rose Tyler. It's good to see you again.

Rose reached out a phantom arm to touch him. She imagined his face, warm and soft. How are you here? How did you find me?

I entered your mind. Standard Time Lord ability that seems to have carried over to this me. Though it's more difficult, admittedly.

He looked around at the darkness.We need to get you out of here.

If she had been real, she would have jerked away. Not the Doctor. The Metacrisis. You were dying. How are you here? She groaned. Fuck, we've both died, haven't we?

No, not dead. Jack got to me. I've been recovering for weeks. We came back for you. It's a few hours after you were taken.

She felt his hand tighten on hers. Thank you for what you did for me. We'll have time for more explanations later, but right now time is limited. I need you to try and wake up.

Her imagined body felt it's blood go cold. These aliens- they're trying to build new bodies, they're interested in the void stuff, it's why they didn't just take my body for workforce. I think they did something. They did something to-

He sighed a little. Rose, I mean it. Explanations later. Maintaining mental contact like this is exhausting on a good day.. I need you to focus on following my lead back to consciousness.

Sorry, sorry. What do you need me to do? How do I wake up?

I'm going to withdraw from your mind. Your brain will probably make sense of it by making it seem like I'm exiting through a door of some sort. The appearance is going to depend on your mind, don't worry about it. Just stay close and get through with me. I'll keep it open as long as I can.

She was afraid. Right, right behind you.

He nodded. I'll be right there when you wake up, he promised.Jack and Jake, too. With that he started walking, envisioning his exit.

Rose focused. I see a door. And there it was, the door she wanted to go through more than anything. Then he was gone, through the TARDIS door. It was hard to keep a grip on finding a way out, she felt herself fading again, but the panic kept her reaching towards consciousness. I'm trying, I'm gonna make it-

Don't be so sure, poppet.

Rose turned around. Who's there? she demanded. She hoped she came off as less afraid than she was.

Funny question. We spoke earlier, remember? The voice was wholly toneless, like her own internal monologue. Have you been thinking about what I said? Offer's still open.

You- texted me, Rose realized. How the fuck did you get in here? You can't be real!

You thought I texted you. Trick of the mind. Just a way to get your attention while you were awake. I can talk to you more directly when you're not! Isn't this nice?

Leave me alone! I'm getting out! Rose stumbled out the door, into reality, into the light, but not before hearing the dark voice behind her-

Oh, by all means. I can't do much if you're still in here.

The Doctor's eyes snapped open, and he pushed himself upwards, his head pounding. For a moment he thought he was going to black out, but it passed, and he looked over at Jack and Jake, nodding to the machine. "She's out. I saw her come through. Cut the power and she should be able to move."

Jack nodded, cutting the power on the machine. The beam weakened and Rose spasmed on the table. She moaned, eyes still shut. Her knees bent, fingers moved.

"Rose can you hear me?" Jake called.

"Mmmffffnnn."

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. He'd been 99 percent sure on this plan. Well... 93%. 87% at the least. But obviously it had worked, as she was waking up. He moved to start massaging her legs, working to try and get her ready to be walking as quickly as possible.

"Wha' th'fuck are you doin t'my leyyys?" Rose slurred, her voice syrupy slow as the alarm sounded. Jack cursed under his breath.

"We don't have time for that, Doctor!" Jake growled and picked up Rose's limp form.

"C'mon!" Jack yelled, running for the exit. The door slammed shut, deadlocked against all their thoughts, despite the cloaking pendants. "Dammit! There's gotta be another way!"

The Doctor cursed in Gallifreyan, looking around and spotting a ventilation grate in the corner near the floor. "Like action movies, Jack?" he asked, running over and sonicking the screws free, pulling the grate away with an almighty heave. "I'll go in first, then pass her to me and I'll pull her. We can work back to the closet, s'close by. Start working on getting those coordinates set," he growled, crawling backwards into the tunnel and reaching for Rose.

Rose gave a miffed grunt as Jake lifted her up and shoved her towards the man at the end of the tunnel. "Sorry, love," he said as she slid down the freezing metal. Jack was starting to set coordinates and climbed into the shaft himself.

The Doctor caught Rose carefully, hooking his hands under her arms as he started to back his way down the passage. His arms shook with the exertion, but he ignored it. "Any time now, Jack," he called hopefully as he moved around a corner.

"I'm doing my best!" he snapped from behind Jake. Rose's shoulders and armpits burned as she was dragged and pushed along, and if she had been able, she'd have given Jake a word or two about keeping his hands off certain places.

"I got it!" Jack cried triumphantly. "I think."

"Anywhere's better than here," the Doctor called.

"Closet should be right below and to the left," Jake called up.

They crawled along until they smelled smoking rubble and still dispersing energy particles from the vent below. With the help of the sonic, the Doctor removed the vent and carefully grabbed Rose as Jake passed her to him. The other two jumped down and joined them in what was left of the destroyed closer.

The Doctor pulled Rose up to sit against him, gripping her tightly and reaching to grab Jack's wrist as he approached. Jake did the same, Rose tried her best to clutch onto him.

Jack turned the vortex manipulator- in the brief second before they were twisted away, Rose let out a chilling scream. Everything tore in bright, hot strips of agony, split crudely down the middle. Make it stop, something's wrong! My body. Where's my body? she wanted to scream.

Then she was alone, floating in a white, quiet place. The Doctor, Jake and Jack all gone and far, far away.

And somehow, so was she.

Thank you for waiting! I'm happy to bring you this- I'm not at all satisfied with it but I hope you enjoy. It covers the entire fic so far, and it also hints at the next one. Enjoy!
-Alexandra

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