A/N: Okay, so this chapter was extremely difficult to write and that's why it's taken so long to get to you.

Also, I need to say this, but I haven't seen an awful lot of Torchwood (in fact, I've seen about two episodes), so I apologise for any inaccuracies (though this story completely deviates from any form of cannon after Doomsday, so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a problem). I also apologise Gwen and Ianto are out of character (Jack, too, actually as I don't write him often, but he's fairly easy to write sometimes) - like I said, I'm not familiar with Torchwood at all.

And, while I remember ('cause I always forget), I own a big fat nothing and this is purely for entertainment purposes only

It wasn't long after the Doctor and Rose had finished their conversation that the Cannon team were brought back into the room to help the Doctor with checking the readings. Rose found that she could do nothing but stand and watch as the team went about their work. The Doctor knew what it was he was looking for while Rose hadn't the faintest idea what was what. She may have had a hand in helping design and build the Dimension Cannon but, when it came to meta-dimensional readings, she was no help. Of course, because he was so busy – and rightly so, so Rose couldn't blame him – the Doctor barely noticed.

"Ah ha," the Doctor exclaimed. He was reading a print-out that he only just taken from the printer drawer moments before. Nothing about his exclamation told Rose that he was happy with what he was reading. In fact, it was more of an exclamation that suggested 'I was right' with a rather large hint of worry etched in there, too. Rose couldn't help but feel a deep sense of dread.

"What is it?" She asked with no attempt whatsoever to mask her worry.

"I was right; something has affected the Void and, whatever it is, it's killing it." The Doctor said gravely.

"Which means it could also affect other universes? Including our own?" Rose asked, knowing exactly where the Doctor was going with this.

"Yes."

"Then hadn't we get on with trying to save the universe? Or should I say universes?" Rose smiled at the Doctor as he looked at her and found that, despite the situation they had suddenly found themselves in, he couldn't help but smile back at her.

Just like old times.

…

As expected, Pete understood that they had to do what they needed and immediately told them that he would allow for the Cannon team to let the two of them travel across the dimension if that's what they needed to do.

His only request from them was simple enough:

Tell Jackie.

And, despite being his mother-in-law in all but the eyes of the law, the Doctor would rather face a fleet of Daleks than explain to Jackie that their plan to save the universe involved him and her daughter travelling back home using a Dimension Cannon that hadn't actually yet been tested for any form of safety – simply because there just wasn't time – not knowing what they might come across once they got there. If they got there, that should be.

Yep, this was certainly going to go down well.

"You want to do what?!" Jackie said, her voice rising just a little too much for the Doctor's liking as she reached the end of her question of disbelief.

To be honest, though, it was a relief that she hadn't slapped him.

Yet.

The Doctor tried not to shudder at the mere thought.

"Look Jackie, I know this isn't ideally what you want to hear and, believe me, if there was another way or if we had time to test the Cannon then we would. But the truth of the matter is just that; there isn't enough time. This universe is already affected; the other is running behind this one so, with a bit of luck, nothing has happened there yet, meaning that we might be able to find an explanation as to what is happening and, hopefully, a solution." The Doctor explained, praying that Jackie would understand.

"But why can't you do this on your own? Why do you have to put Rose in danger, too?" Considering Rose was her daughter, Jackie's question was fair enough and the Doctor understood the fact that she was concerned for her daughter's safety. If he was honest with himself, he would rather he wasn't putting Rose in unknown danger, but he couldn't see an alternative. Every time he sent her somewhere to keep her safe, she came back.

Fortunately, he was saved from having to answer Jackie's question as Rose decided to answer on her own behalf.

"Because this is what we do – together. I never left his side before we came here and I have no intention of doing so now." Rose told her mother. "And I know you've never really liked the idea of the Doctor whisking me off to places that might propose a threat but, the truth is, I wouldn't have it any other way and, for three years now, we haven't been able to do anything that we used to. Now's our chance – there's no way I'm missing out on this." She finished explaining and Jackie found that she had nothing to say that would make her daughter change her mind and stay behind.

"OK, fine, but please be careful." Jackie sighed. She had no choice but to give in.

Giving her mother a tight hug, Rose smiled at her before making her way towards the entrance of the mansion with the Doctor.

"Oh, and Doctor," Jackie called after them. The two of them stopped in their tracks before turning around and looking at Jackie behind them. "Look after her."

The Doctor looked at Rose and gave a small smile before looking back at Jackie. "Always." He then took hold of Rose's hand and led her out of the mansion and to the car parked on the gravel outside.

…

"Right, are you both sure about this?" Nathan asked as he passed both the Doctor and Rose a small device that would allow them to travel across the dimension. It wasn't far off the device that this version of Torchwood had come up with the last time that they had travelled across the Void. The Doctor was pleased, however, to see that it was smaller and less yellow than those had been. He couldn't help but look at it in amazement, but there was something bothering him at the same time. it had been at the back of his mind since Rose had told him about the Cannon. But, for the life of him, he couldn't work out what it was. He had been too busy thinking about other things to really pay attention to what his mind was clearly trying to tell him. They had a whole set of universes to save; now was not the best time to dwell on this. If he remembered, he'd come back to it later once this was all over with.

"As sure as it's possible to be." The Doctor told him.

"Good." Nathan pointed over at the Cannon in the centre of the room. "This will send a reading to the computer screen when you land, letting us know when and where you are – but only geographically. We won't have any idea if you've landed in the right universe but there is a return button on the device which'll bring you back, should you find yourself in the wrong place. Sorry we can't be more accurate."

"It's fine," Rose told him. "I spent two years with his useless driving; it's not unheard of for us to land in the wrong place." She nodded in the Doctor's direction.

"Oi! I wasn't that bad!"

"Twelve months, Doctor."

The Doctor found he had no response to that.

Nathan just laughed at the two of them. God, he was going to miss them.

No, he shouldn't think like that; they would be back, he was sure of it.

That's what he liked to tell himself, anyway.

…

The feeling of travelling through to a different dimension was, quite frankly, ineffable. There were no words to describe how you felt, it just was what it was. It wasn't as if you could see anything, but it also wasn't as if you could see nothing. There was no indication that the journey took any time at all but, at the same time, a lifetime could have passed you by.

It was a unique experience. But you could never tell if it was a good one or a bad one.

When they arrived, it was dark. There were people running around, screaming. It was chaos.

Utter chaos.

"What the…oh," the Doctor looked around at their surroundings when his eyes fixated on something above them. Rose looked up too and gasped in surprise.

"Oh my God."

"It can't be." The Doctor said, his teeth grit together in the way Rose had come to know that he was trying to hold back some kind of anger.

"Doctor, what's happening? Are we in the right place?"

"Yes, we're in the right universe. The Earth has been moved. Look at the sky," he gestured up and Rose's eyes followed to where the Doctor was pointing. "This isn't your region of space."

"But, how are we still alive? The Earth would have lost the sun and the moon. There shouldn't be any heat and the tides would be chaos."

"Something wants the human race alive, it seems."

"But that's good, surely?"

"Not necessarily." The Doctor looked down from the sky and took Rose's hand. "Come on, let's go and find someone. There's an extra-terrestrial planet-wide crisis involved, I bet there's someone from UNIT around here somewhere."

As they turned around, facing the other way, above the noise of the pandemonium surrounding them, a voice rang out. It was oddly familiar, but it was too mixed in with the screams and shouts that it was difficult to pick out exactly what it was saying.

But it did sound somewhat like he – they were sure it was a man – was shouting their names.

Turning back around, they tried to locate where the voice was coming from. And, despite the crowd surrounding them, it didn't take long for them to recognise a familiar figure running very fast towards them.

"Doctor, is that…?" Rose asked turning towards the man standing next to her. She was in a state of disbelief; she hadn't seen this man since the Game Station, some four years previously. The Doctor said that he was rebuilding the Earth and refused to anything else on the matter. She had never believed him, always thinking that he was hiding something from her and that this man was dead – no doubt killed by the Daleks. She often wished she could remember more from what happened.

But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was what was going on around them and the fact that a very fast, very alive Captain Jack Harkness was running towards them.

"Jack?" Rose asked, still in shock as their old friend came up to them.

However, there was nothing in his expression that suggested they had any time to catch up right now. They were slap bang in the middle of some crisis and now was not the right time for a catch up.

"You two better come with me, and quickly."

There was no time to argue or to ask where it was they were going; both the Doctor and Rose followed their old friend to wherever it was he was taking them.

"Step on," he told them.

"On what?" Rose asked.

"That paving stone."

The Doctor could tell Rose was about to argue and so gently pushed her to do as Jack told them. They didn't have time for questions now. They could ask any and all questions they had later when they were less pressed for time. And, boy, did he have some questions he wanted answers to.

Both the Doctor and Rose were in awe as the hub came into view.

"Whoa, what is this place?"

"Torchwood," the Doctor all but snarled noticing the name of the institution on one of the walls. "You work for Torchwood?" This was directed at Jack as the three of them made their way further into the hub.

Jack turned to look at the Doctor. "This isn't the Torchwood from Canary Wharf." He told him. "When that collapsed the other year, I set up this one in your honour." The tone in his voice was telling of a tension that existed between the two of them, which Rose had no idea about. She had spent months with Jack on the TARDIS before the Game Station and, yes, their relationship had certainly been an interesting one, but all comments were tongue-in-cheek. There hadn't been this much tension between her old friend and the Doctor since the two of them first met.

It scared Rose to think how long ago that was.

"And you didn't think to change the name?"

"No, as it happens, I did not. My mind was on other things. For example, how Rose's name was listed on the list of the dead and how you seemed to disappear from the face of the universe about the same time. That, and I was still trying to come to terms with the idea of whether or not I could forgive you for abandoning me."

"Did I?" The Doctor asked as though it meant nothing to anybody.

Rose, on the other hand, couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Hold on, what?!" She looked from the Doctor to Jack and back again. "You did what?!"

The Doctor looked at Rose, hoping that there was something he could say to get her to let the topic go, but he knew it was futile. "Rose…"

"No, don't." She stopped him. "You told me, when I asked, that Jack was rebuilding the Earth!" She said. "You never once let on that you had just left him there, in 200,100, with a fleet of Daleks!"

"The Daleks were gone by the time we left." The Doctor told her, choosing that as the point to focus on.

By now, the other two members of the Torchwood team had noticed what was going on and decided to make themselves known.

"'cuse me, but what is going on here?" The young Welsh woman asked coming up to the three of them. "Unless you haven't noticed Jack, there are planets in the sky and, right now, we don't know what's caused them to be there, so do you three think you can sort your differences out some other time?" She looked directly at the Doctor and Rose. "Who are you anyway?"

"Gwen, Ianto," Jack pointed at his team members individual before pointing to the Doctor and Rose. "This is the Doctor and Rose Tyler."

"So you're this mysterious Doctor?" Ianto asked. "Jack mentions you from time to time, but very rarely by name."

"Yeah, that's me…I'm surprised he talked about me at all…considering." The Doctor said, scratching the back of his neck.

"You're different from how I imagined you'd be." Gwen said, although, quite frankly, she wasn't sure how she would've imagined him in the first place. Jack never gave a description. But, of course, the Doctor didn't know that.

"That reminds me," the Doctor turned to Jack, all previous tension now seeming to disappear. It was strange how easily the Doctor seemed to forget about what he had done to his old friend and move straight on. "How did you know it was me?"

Jack nodded as if expecting this question to come about. "When I saw you with Rose on the cameras, I started to wonder. I'd heard all about Time Lord regeneration when I was a kid – although with the myths of the War, I never knew how true it all was. But I have a 'Doctor-detector'."

"A 'Doctor-detector'?" Rose asked, her eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Yeah," Jack nodded before walking towards him office and coming back a few moments later with a bubbling jar, containing something inside that horrifyingly resembled a hand.

"B…but." The Doctor started, looking closely at the bubbling hand within the glass. "That's mine!"

"What?!" Rose asked.

"You remember, don't you? Christmas Day; the sword fight?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, this is my hand that I lost that day." The Doctor told her and Rose just nodded. She had learnt very early on that it was best not to question things when they concerned the Doctor. Just accept it and go – that was her moto.

"Where did you find it?" The Doctor asked, now looking at Jack.

"Stumbled upon it the day after. Just be glad I did. If that had landed up in the wrong hands, God knows what would have happened."

"You've no idea how many times we've wanted to ask him about that thing. Thank God we now know." Gwen said, mainly looking at Rose as she spoke.

Rose looked back at her and found that there was something familiar about the woman standing next to her. She wanted to ask Gwen some questions but now wasn't the time. Like she had said, there were planets in the sky and, as of yet, they had no idea what had happened and, maybe more importantly, why.

"Oh, and there's something else you should know." Jack announced as he put the jar down only for the Doctor to pick it up again.

"What?"

"Ianto here used to work for Torchwood One and managed to escape the Cybermen attacks on the tower. When the ordeal was over, he went back, hoping to find survivors." Jack started.

"It was at that time, after the battle, that Jack came – I assume now that he had been looking for you. I was down stairs, on the bottom floor. I knew how valuable some of the stuff was that Torchwood had collected since it formed and knew that it couldn't be shown to the public. Therefore, I wanted to make sure anything too valuable was out of the way before the authorities came. That was when I saw it. We had all been told about it in briefings; always told to look out for it. I was just about to go near it when I heard Jack call out for me to stop." Ianto explained, looking at Jack for the rest of the explanation.

Jack nodded, affirming what Ianto had told them. "I think it's best you come with me for this bit. I suspect you'll both want to see it."

He led them out of the main area of the hub and into a room out near the back.

"Perception filter on the door. Don't trust your own people, then?" The Doctor asked as he and Rose walked into the darkened room.

"It's not that…sometimes I don't trust myself." Jack told them honestly.

Suddenly the Doctor gasped and clutched at his head, his mind being filled by an all-too familiar presence. He had only just gotten used to the emptiness he had felt on a daily basis for the last three years and, so to have his mind filled once more, it came as a shock. He hadn't been prepared, so the intrusion hurt a little.

"Doctor, you alright?" Rose asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah…b-but. Can't be." He looked across at Jack and Rose could see that there was a pleading look in his eyes. He knew what was in this room and Rose knew, from that expression, that he hoped he was right.

Turning on the lights, Jack revealed what was yet another door at the back of the small room they had entered. He smiled knowingly at the Doctor and Rose before unlocking the door and pulling it open.

What it contained made Rose gasp in surprise and the Doctor's face light up in a way that had happened very rarely during their time away.

Standing proudly in the cupboard-like area behind the door, its brilliant blue-coloured panels contrasting with the dull greyish colour of the walls surrounding it, stood the one thing that both Rose and the Doctor had accepted they might never see again.

The TARDIS.