"After a mission we get to come back to Torchwood and write up a report," Rose informs the Doctor. "There's a template to follow and everything."
They're in the jeep on the way back to the Institute, and Rose has remembered what usually comes next after a day in the field.
"Is there? What do you do with all the reports?"
"We email them, file them, make copies, send them to all the higher-ups and forget about them," Ian says. "Waste of time, really."
"Someone needs to have a record of what we see," Rose corrects him.
"'Someone', Rose. Fine. But writing reports is a bit much like school for me."
"Ian is a man of action," Rose says seriously.
"I hate to type when I could be doing something else. You'll see, Doctor. Soon enough they'll come after you and start demanding paperwork. The never ending paperwork."
The Doctor is playing with the tracking computer in the backseat. "Yes, paperwork," he says absently. "What does this computer connect to?"
"There's a satellite in the sky and towers all over London," Rose answers. "Don't break it."
Once they're back at Torchwood, Ian drops them off and heads off to return the jeep. "More paperwork there, Doctor, and heaven help you if you damage a vehicle in pursuit of saving the world."
Down in the basement office, Rose turns on her computer.
"It is best to start paperwork immediately," she tells the Doctor. "That way it's over with sooner."
He is amused by the tone of her voice. He can recall her telling him that he could find his feet at the end of his legs in that same tone.
"Is that funny?" she asks. "I don't think I meant it to be."
He smiles at her and settles in to watch over her shoulder. "Sorry. I was a few wars away back there."
She shoots him an odd look but apparently decides that he's all right.
"Dancing," he clarifies, but that clearly does not reassure her.
"Dancing. Right. So here's the template." Rose pulls it up and has a strange feeling of regret. Her Doctor is a man of action, isn't he? Paperwork is not what he should be doing. Also, she's not sure how accurate he can be.
He's watching her and notices that she's stopped. It's not hard to figure out what she may be thinking.
"I don't think they'll return. Jennets hate everyone, but they valued their home planet more."
"What?"
"I said they won't return. Isn't that what you were worried about?"
"No," she says in surprise. "You said they wouldn't."
He blinks. "And that's it? I said they won't, so you're not worried anymore?"
"No. Should I be?" She tilts her head and watches him over her shoulder.
"Uh, no. No." He's pleased that she thinks so highly of him as to accept his word on something, but she's always done that. Well, mostly always. But clearly his Rose-reading skills are not as sharp as they could be.
"So what's wrong, then?" he asks.
"Nothing's wrong. It's just...paperwork, yeah? Not something you've done before. Feels strange to have you sit at a computer and do stuff like that."
"Is that all? I've done that lots of times. I used to work for UNIT. I ever tell you that?"
Rose nods and turns all the way around in her chair to face him. He kicks back in his chair and looks thoughtful. "I was...stuck on Earth for a while once. Long time ago. Six, seven regenerations ago, as a matter of fact." He sees Rose's eyes widen and decides not to pursue the topic of regenerations past right then. "I worked for UNIT. No desk computers back then, by the way. Talk about paperwork."
"Why were you stuck on Earth?"
He shifts uncomfortably in the chair. "I was...exiled. I was exiled from my home for a while. Long time ago, as I said. I went to work for UNIT because they had the facilities that would allow me to repair my TARDIS."
Rose is silent, processing this. "You are just full of surprises," she says finally.
"You live a few centuries, it happens. But don't worry about me, Rose. Anything that happens to me here, it's because I want it to. I'm glad to be here."
She nods and turns back to her computer. "Okay, then. So you pull up the template and name your report with the date and label it either 'human' or 'alien', depending on what was dealt with. It used to be 'extraterrestrial', but no one wanted to type that all the time."
He listens to her explanations, but her question has forcibly reminded him of something. He is exiled, once again, on Earth. Instead of working at UNIT as a scientific advisor, he's here at Torchwood as a sort of alien hunter. His home planet will never call him back because it does not exist in this world. It doesn't not exist anywhere.
"Doctor?" Rose says. "You okay?"
He forces himself back to reality. He can leave whenever he chooses, even if he is limited to this one world and this one life. He has chosen to stay with Rose, and that is exactly what he will do, for as long as he is able to.
"Yes, I'm okay. Sorry."
"Right, then. So some reports are more detailed than others, obviously. Tell me again about that little one's planet? I don't think I caught it all."
The Doctor repeats the fate of the Malandra galaxy. Rose doesn't type as fast as he talks. No one could - he talks too fast and too much most of the time.
"Here, budge over," he says finally, after the fifth or sixth time she tells him, rather crossly, to slow down. Sitting in her chair, he starts to type out his comments. Rose watches in surprise.
"How are you typing so fast? I've never seen you type so quickly."
He rolls his eyes as he types. "Super temp! Donna typed 100 words a minute."
"You're not even looking at the keyboard," Rose marvels.
"I know!" He winks at her. "Come and sit on my lap like a proper secretary. We'll see how well I can type them."
"Dream on." But she kisses his cheek anyway. "I'll be right back, okay?"
She finds Riley turning in her weapon. All Torchwood employees carry a standard-issue gun when in the field. Anything larger and more powerful, like Riley's gun, get logged in and out of a secure storage room watched over by a guard.
"You all right?" Riley asks. "What a strange day."
"I know. Have you seen Simon anywhere?"
"We drove back in together. He was going to turn in the car and come up here."
"Here I am," Simon himself says from behind them. "What's up?"
"Just wanted a word," Rose says lightly.
"Just a sec." Simon hands in his own weapon, signing the paperwork that states he did not fire the weapon, drop or damage it, lend it to a third party, or have it out of his sight at any time.
"So what's up?" He turns to look questioningly at Rose. Riley sees the expression on Rose's face and folds her arms across her chest, settling in for something entertaining.
Rose continues to stare at Simon, her hands on her hips.
Simon rolls his eyes. "I was just making sure he's a decent bloke, Rose."
"You barged into my flat and made a nuisance of yourself this morning."
"Oh, Simon," Riley says in disappointment.
"I wasn't trying to embarrass you. How was I to know that you two were -"
"We weren't! And that's not the point, you dolt."
Simon takes a quick look up and down the hallway. The guard is in the gun room and no one else is about.
"When I met you," he says in a low voice meant not to carry down the corridors, "you were broken. I watched you get better, and then the darkness started, and the dimension cannon was finished, and I watched you disappear and come back, disappear and come back."
"You know why. It wasn't his choice to leave me here. I didn't choose to be stuck here without him. "
"I know. I know that the cannon was created at your urging because you wanted to go home to the Doctor. The darkness just changed your plans a bit. But we were afraid you'd fail. Or not come back."
"I knew what I was doing. I knew the Doctor long before I ever came here. I don't need you acting like an overbearing father."
Riley smothers a laugh. They both glance at her, surprised to find her standing there.
"If he's here now, then we all depend on him, Rose. I wanted to make sure I could trust him with our lives. Yes, I know your dad and Jake do. That's not enough for me when it's my life on the line."
"He's saved more worlds than you could imagine or ever hope to," Rose says evenly. "He's saved my Earth time and again. He's saved me, and protected me, and he's died for me, Simon. He died for me. Don't make me choose between him and anything else, because I will always choose him."
Riley's eyes are going back and forth between them.
"I trust you, Rose. You're my friend. I don't want you hurt."
"The Doctor will not hurt me. He will never hurt me. He will never fail me, and he will not fail any of you."
Simon nods. "Then we're good," he says briskly.
An awkward silence falls. Some people would hug, but they're not the kind to do so.
"I'm hungry," Riley says. "Simon?" She takes his arm and glances at Rose. "We'll just go get some lunch. Come with us?"
Rose starts to answer but Simon cuts her off.
"Go get Dr. Smith," he says. "He's entertaining enough. Has anyone told him about the meal plan yet?"
Riley rolls her eyes. "You mean the plan where we don't pay if we die?"
"It's an excellent feature, Riley."
"He does know about it, as a matter of fact," Rose says with a laugh. "We'll meet you down there."