Notes: Here we are, the final installment! Thank you so much to everyone reading and doubly so to anyone who took the time to favorite and/or review. Your feedback and encouragement mean a lot to me. I hope this didn't turn out too confusing – or at least, not any more so than the canon episodes it was built around (keep in mind, this is meant to be more or less canon compliant). I have plenty of details in my head which didn't fit into the story, so feel free to ask if you'd like clarification on some of the more timey-wimey points – or the character dynamics, or anything else, really.
Onward!
-DW-
Amy Williams awoke with a gasp and was shooting out of bed before she had time to construct a single coherent thought. She burst into her daughter's room, scooped the startled girl from her bed, and pressed her nose into her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of children's shampoo and trying to calm her racing heart.
"Mummy? What's going on?"
"Amy, what's wrong?"
Amy looked from the frightened child in her arms to her befuddled husband in the doorway.
"I . . ." She shook her head. "Nothing. Just a nightmare. Sorry, honey." She smoothed the eight-year-old's hair and let her pull away. "Everything's fine. Go get your brother up; it's almost time to get ready for school."
The memories (were they memories?) were already fading, and she smiled as she watched her daughter run off. Melody, the girl who had been named after a dream.
-DW-
Rose Tyler awoke to the sound of breathless laughter and was reaching for her husband before she even opened her eyes. The cool hand which hers found gripped back firmly, and the laughter tapered off, much to her relief. It was the sort of laughter born of adrenaline with just a touch of hysteria, and in her opinion, it had no place in their bed first thing in the morning.
"You alright?" she questioned as she pushed herself up and peered down at the Doctor.
"Oh, I'm excellent," the Doctor replied, grinning widely. "Spectacular, in fact. I am absolutely brilliant; I really am."
"Glad to hear it," said Rose with a smile. She pressed a kiss to his lips before climbing out of bed, making a mental note to ask him what he was talking about later. "I'm going to get a shower. Don't forget to put a suit on when you're done complimenting yourself; we're meeting with that journalist at nine."
"I thought we agreed that Pete would handle all that media rubbish," the Doctor said, his face falling somewhat.
"He thought we might want to do this one ourselves," Rose replied, as off-handedly as she could manage. She turned away to hide her smile as she added, "It's someone called Sarah Jane Smith."
-DW-
Liam Price awoke with a curse and was groping blearily for several moments before he managed to turn off his alarm. He rolled out of bed and rubbed sleep from his eyes as he got ready for work. He had a feeling that he had had a really weird dream, but he couldn't remember any details. All he recalled was a potent mix of excitement and fear with a hint of . . . exasperation?
Huh.
He was still trying to chase the remnants of it when he walked into the Hub, and he nearly ran into a very agitated Jamie.
"There's a call for you," he said, nearly vibrating with excitement as he gestured towards the Boss' office. "Trust me, you want to take it."
Liam gave him a curious look, but he only waved him on even more frantically. Stephen was pretending not to watch him as he jogged up the stairs, and Brian was openly staring. Liam swallowed a sudden knot of nerves and stuck his head through the door of the office.
"Jamie said there was a call for me, Boss?"
"Good thing it's for you; I have no idea what he's on about," said the Boss, tilting the phone away from her mouth. "Do you know what spatial genetic multiplicity is?" Agent Gwen Cooper questioned, and Liam shrugged.
"Who is it?"
"The Doctor."
Liam nearly dropped his coffee.
"The – I – what?"
The Boss just smirked and tossed him the phone. He somehow managed to catch it and bring it to his ear with fumbling fingers.
"H-hello?"
"Liam!" exclaimed a cheerful voice on the other end of the line as if they were old friends. "Just checking to make sure everything's back in place; seems like it is. Out of curiosity, you don't remember anything, do you?"
"I – um – no? I mean . . . sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."
"No, no, course you don't. Quite right. Don't worry about it; everything's sorted. Not quite sure how the other me managed it, but he did. Love it when I do that. Probably helped that I was here, of course; who knows what sort of holes were left in the Universes which don't have time-sensitive transcendental people keeping an eye on them."
"Um . . . yes, sir?" Liam tried, thoroughly bewildered.
"Don't call me –" the Doctor – the Doctor, he was talking to the Doctor – began, and then sighed. "Oh, never mind. You're brilliant, Liam; you really are. Sharp mind, good in a crisis. Torchwood is lucky to have you."
"Th-thank you, sir," Liam managed when he finally found his voice, but the Doctor had already hung up.
Liam stared blankly at the phone for a moment.
"Price!" the Boss barked suddenly. "We've got a call!"
Liam jerked into motion, pushing the strange conversation to the back of his mind.
At least it was a story to tell.
