"Just one problem," Rose said, putting her hands on her knees and leaning forward.

The Doctor tilted his head to the side. "Only one?"

"Ha," Rose responded dryly. "But really, Doctor, you don't see the flaw in the plan?"

"Other than the small possibility – and really, it's me, so it is pretty small – that I'm wrong, and lack a back-up plan?"

"I don't know anything about fixing the TARDIS, and other than aiming a sentence in the general direction of the walls and the one time I almost killed myself absorbing the Time Vortex, I've no experience even communicating with her. How am I supposed to not only start up a conversation about Jack, but…" she paused, searching for the word the Doctor had used. "Recalibrate something?" she finished.

"Ah," the Doctor said. Jack tilted his head and watched the other man. It was a problem he'd thought of but decided not to bring up until it was absolutely necessary. He had, of course, hoped it wouldn't be a problem, even if he hadn't believed it. He still held out hope that the Doctor would have a solution, and was relieved to see that he probably wasn't going to be disappointed. "I think I can help you with that," the Doctor said. He looked Rose steadily in the eye. "You know I'm telepathic, right?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah. S'how you communicated with that jellyfish thing at the Olympics."

He smiled a little at her description of the isolus, but nodded. "Exactly. If you're willing, I can do something similar with you and show you how to strengthen your connection to the ship, help you do it."

"You'll be inside my head?"

"Yes. I'm sorry," he hastened to add. "I know how you feel about stuff like that, but if there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine shutting a door on it. I won't look."

"No," Rose said, shaking her head. "It's all right. Been lonely in my head for the last few years. Could do with some company."

The Doctor resisted the urge to question her further on this revelation. Had she felt the lack of the TARDIS the same way he felt the lack of the rest of the Time Lords? He pushed the question aside as Rose tilted her head in consideration.

"Just shut a door?" she verified.

"You could even slam it if you wanted." He brushed his knuckles across her cheek softly. "Not that you'd need to, but you could."

The Doctor got to his feet and did a quick circuit around the console, occasionally flipping a switch or adjusting a dial. He stopped when he was in front of Jack and Rose again. "Okay. Hopefully Rose will be able to tell the TARDIS where to go, so it's nice and simple. But as simple is not always our forte," he continued with a wink, "I've set the TARDIS controls for Cardiff shortly after we left." He turned to Jack. "Do you remember enough from when we traveled together to keep her steady if Rose and I don't come out of it right away and she goes off?"

Jack nodded. "Sure thing, Doc. Long as you both surface eventually."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at the subtle warning in Jack's tone. As if the Doctor's first priority wasn't going to be making sure Rose was fine – no, better than fine – the whole time. He'd only just gotten her back, there was no way he was going to lose her again. "We'll be safe as houses, don't worry."

"Hmm," was all Jack would say.

The Doctor held out a hand for Rose and tugged her to her feet when she took it. She stood in front of him, close but not touching other than his hand in hers. "So… how do we do this, then?"

"Well," the Doctor said, dropping her hand and raising both of his to her temples. He shut his eyes and Rose followed suit. "I just do this, and…"

Rose stifled a gasp as a thousand images rushed through her mind all at once.

Sorry, she heard as the rush slowed until she felt nothing from the Doctor – for surely all that had come from him – but an encompassing feeling of safety. A lot goes on in my head at once.

Apparently, Rose thought caustically. No wonder you can never hold a subject for more than a few sentences.

Oi!

Am I wrong?

…no.

Rose felt very smug and immediately felt a wave of happy annoyance from the Doctor. Curious, she concentrated on her love for the Doctor and was staggered by the response it triggered.

Oh, she thought, breathless even in her mind.

As Jack looked on, a concerned mask locked over his face, the Doctor and Rose both broke out in wide smiles, eyes still closed. Then to Jack's surprise, the Doctor spoke out loud.

"I told you I did, didn't I." He paused, as if Rose were speaking to him. Jack supposed it was entirely possible that she was, just not out loud or with actual words. "I know," the Doctor said. Then his face went serious again, his voice low and intense. "But now's not the time, eh? The TARDIS needs fixing."

Rose nodded ever so slightly. "I'm ready," she whispered.

Jack watched them lapse into silence again, their lips occasionally half-forming words they were most likely speaking to each other inside their minds.

Okay, Rose, the Doctor told her silently. I need you to concentrate on the TARDIS, on whatever feeling of connection you've felt before, and then try to intensify it.

Rose, her eyes still closed, looked around the empty black space she felt as if she were occupying. Off in the distance, she thought she saw a faint golden glow. She concentrated on it and felt the same warm glow in her heart that she felt whenever she thought she understood what the TARDIS meant by one of her hums or buzzes. She focused on it even more and felt a burst of pride from the Doctor. That's it, Rose, he said in her head. Knew you could do it.

Glad one of us did, she thought at him wryly. She felt the Doctor's strength seep into the corners of her mind and found it even easier to focus on the golden glow, which grew larger and brighter with every second, until she felt completely surrounded by it.

Now, came the Doctor's voice, tell her it's okay.

Rose took a deep breath. She had no idea what she was doing. But the Doctor believed in her, and she was dimly aware of Jack's presence in the room. She could feel his mind, not connected to hers like the Doctor's was, but still there nearby and still focused on her. Believing in her.

Hello, girl, she began. I'm so glad to be home. An' so is Jack. Rose smiled. You remember him, I know you do. He's the one that makes you feel like something's wrong, but it's not his fault. Nothing's wrong. He just feels different now because of me. Because of us, Rose corrected herself. You were with me, singing in my head, and we saved him, remember?

The glow surrounding Rose and the Doctor intensified. Though Rose still didn't hear actual words coming from the TARDIS, she felt the response. Confusion, uncertainty. Trust. Rose nodded encouragingly. I promise, she said. She felt the Doctor send out a surge of agreement. Jack's different, but he's still Jack. We still love him. He's still welcome here. He's still ours.

Rose felt a surge of response from the TARDIS accompanied by a sort of shifting that she couldn't quantify or identify. The glow around them grew even brighter, until it was so bright that Rose blinked in response.

And found herself back in the console room, staring into the Doctor's deep brown eyes. She was dimly aware that Jack had jumped to his feet, leapt at the console, and was now doing his own version of the Doctor's customary flying-the-TARDIS dance of wild lever-pulling and button-pushing.

"Did I do it?" she whispered, unable to stop staring into the Doctor's eyes. He lowered his forehead to hers.

"Rose Tyler, you did it." He caught her mouth in a deep kiss, and through the vestiges of their mental connection Rose felt a myriad of emotions from him, pride and love and lust and wonder all mixed together. She kissed him back, forgetting everything else until the sharp jerk of the TARDIS' landing had them breaking apart and stumbling to keep their balance.

Jack grinned at them. "Good. If you didn't come up for air soon, I was gonna get jealous." He was at their side in an instant and pulled Rose into bear hug. "I knew you could do it," he said, and he kissed her with no less enthusiasm than the Doctor had. Then he released her and, before the Doctor could guess his intentions, pulled the Doctor's wiry frame against his own more muscled one and kissed him thoroughly as well.

The Doctor sputtered for a moment when Jack released him, and Rose giggled at the gobsmacked look on his face.

"You did it," Jack said, gesturing at the monitor. It showed an image of the plaza above his hub. Judging from the angle, Jack thought they were probably parked right on top of the invisible lift. He grabbed the Doctor with one arm and Rose with the other and pulled them into a group hug.

They were still hugging and laughing when Martha stumbled in. "Is everything all right?" she asked, sounding worried. "I was sleeping, and then I nearly got tossed out of bed." She glanced at the monitor. "Are we in Cardiff?"

The Doctor disentangled himself from Jack and Rose and beamed at Martha. "That we are, Martha Jones. That we are."

"How did you do it?" she asked, a smile on her face.

The Doctor opened his mouth, ready to sing Rose's praises, but she cut him off. "Jiggery pokery and sweet talk," she said, nudging the Doctor slightly with her elbow. "I provided the sweet talk, and these two did the rest."

The Doctor seemed satisfied by this account of events, if only because Rose had turned around and narrowed her eyes at him briefly before he had the chance to elaborate. Jack, for his part, caught on to what Rose was trying to do for Martha, and probably also for herself, and just smiled. "Sometimes the sweet talk is the most important part," he said, ruffling her hair as he brushed by her to fiddle with the monitor.

"Now that we're here," he continued, changing the subject, "there's something I need to tell you, Doctor." He made a few keystrokes and accessed his remote login to the Torchwood computer system. "And I don't think you'll like it at first, so I'd appreciate it if you'd let me explain." He swung the monitor around so that the Doctor could see it – and the Torchwood logo it now displayed.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed instantly, and Martha was reminded of the way he'd looked when she'd asked him about Canary Wharf, though even this was nowhere near as cold as that had been.

"Is this the part where you tell me I'm under arrest?" he asked Jack coolly. "And Rose? You gonna stick her under a microscope, too?" He shifted closer to her, standing so that he was between her and Jack, his stance protective.

Jack shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not like that any more. I made it not like that. I never even worked for Torchwood I – that's the Torchwood you ran into, in London. I did freelance work for their outpost in Cardiff, and Doctor, I swear to you, any time you came near them I threw them off."

He pulled up a document from his private, encrypted files. Even Tosh would have had trouble getting to them, but it was still something he'd kept only hard copies of until after Alex had handed Torchwood III over to Jack – so to speak – and Torchwood I had fallen in the aftermath of Canary Wharf. It was a list of dates and times the Doctor had visited the rift, prior to meeting Jack, after meeting Jack. All times that Jack had made sure Torchwood wouldn't be watching.

"Time and time again, I kept them away from you. And it could be hard, let me tell you. Thankfully it was me they chose to send out after Margaret the Slitheen, or else we could have been in a right mess."

"It's true," Rose said softly. She took his hand and squeezed gently. "I've seen his team at work, been through his hub. His Torchwood isn't their Torchwood."

Martha had silently watched the proceedings without really understanding what the deal was with Torchwood. From the Doctor's reaction and Jack's mention of running into them in London, she felt safe assuming they'd had something to do with Rose's unplanned trip to a parallel universe. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, trying to decide if she really ought to say anything. Rose was looking pleadingly up at the Doctor's face, but he was focused on Jack, still looking cold.

"For what it's worth, Doctor," Martha finally said, "I think Jack's a good bloke. I don't know your history with Torchwood, but from what it sounds like, Jack isn't like that."

Rose nodded. "She's right. You know him, Doctor. You know he wouldn't do anything that would hurt you or me."

Slowly, the iciness in the Doctor's expression faded away.

"I did it for you," Jack said quietly. "In your honor. And Rose's."

The Doctor closed his eyes. "It had to be Torchwood," he said. Then he opened his eyes, and the coldness was gone, replaced by a perhaps slightly dimmed version of his usual mischievous twinkle. "Couldn't have been UNIT, or some black-ops division of MI-5, no. Had to be Torchwood."

Jack let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Hey, don't complain too much. You wouldn't believe the trouble I went through to keep them from interfering with the whole Margaret thing."

Rose smiled and the Doctor managed a chuckle. "Well thanks for that, then. Had enough trouble on our hands with rifts and extrapolators and Raxacoricofallapatorians. Or one of each, anyway. Mind you-"

Rose cleared her throat, cutting off the ramble the Doctor had been about to launch into. "I think you should meet his team," she said. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her and she narrowed hers right back. "They're good people, Doctor. They're doing their best." She tilted her head. "Doin' what I was doin' in Pete's World. And you weren't angry with me over it."

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets and paced away from his companions silently.

After a moment or two of quiet, Jack took a deep breath. "Assuming I still have a place here-" He broke off and glanced at Rose, who, he was certain, would really be the one deciding that matter. She nodded emphatically. The Doctor glanced back at them momentarily, still uncharacteristically silent. He didn't contradict Rose's response, so Jack pressed on. "Then I'll need to say goodbye to my team, give them their marching orders, make sure they'll never let Torchwood return to what it was before I took over. I think meeting you would help ensure that."

He logged out of his remote access account and the quiet plaza once again appeared on the monitor. The Doctor turned around to face Jack, who shrugged slightly. "Please, Doctor. It would mean a lot to me."

Rose practically held her breath waiting for the Doctor's response. When he allowed a slow smile to spread across his face, she sighed in relief.

"All right, Captain," the Doctor said. "Show me what you've got."