CHAPTER TEN

Rose was sitting at her desk reading through the current case files. It certainly made for interesting reading. Surprisingly there were quite a few references to aliens that she had met or seen before. Thinking that she might go and get a cup of tea, Rose stood up and headed over to the break room. Before she got halfway there Jack was at her side.

"Come with me."

"Why? Where are we going?"

"Just come with me."

"But I was going to get a cup of tea."

"I'll buy you one and something to eat but let's just go. I need to talk to you but not here."

Jack grabbed her hand and led her to the elevator. Wondering what was going on, Rose followed him. They stepped into the elevator and rode down in silence. Striding through the lobby, Jack didn't slow down for anything or anyone. When they reached the cafe, Jack found a table and seated Rose before going to the counter to place their order. When he returned with their food and drinks he sat very close to Rose.

"Jack, what's going on?"

"Since we spoke on Friday I've been doing some thinking about, well about your situation."

"Jack, what are you talking about? My pregnancy, what, you want to be the father?" She replied jokingly but then she saw he face. "You can't be serious?"

"No, your baby has a father and I'm going to help you return to him."

"Jack, there isn't any way. The gap is sealed. There's no way to get through."

"Rose, the gap's not completely sealed but it will be soon. Having said that, it'll be risky trying to get to it. We'll have to go up against all of Torchwood."

"So what, we go to Norway and step through the gap somehow?"

"No, unfortunately, it's not that simple. We have to go to the actual fracture, in space."

"Jack we need a ship. Do you happen to have one in your back pocket?"

"Not quite in my back pocket but yeah we have a few at Torchwood."

At Rose's surprised look Jack explained how they had retrieved several ships that had crash landed on Earth over the last few decades. He also told her that he had access the where they were kept. Rose started to get excited. She could get back to The Doctor. Return to her true love, her only love.

"Tell me Jack, how are we going to get one of those ships?"

"We'd have to break into level 4 and steal one but that's the simple bit. We then have to fly the ship out to the rip undetected. Torchwood are scanning that area constantly. As soon as we enter that section of space they will send other ships to investigate if they haven't already sent some after us."

"If you're anything like the other Jack you'll have a plan and you'll think that this is fun."

Smiling at her, Jack nodded and then proceeded to tell her of his plan. When he had finished Rose was nodding her head and smiling at the simplicity of it.

"When do we do it?"

"We have to do it soon. Tonight even, but Rose, you need to be sure. If this works you can NEVER come back. Do you understand? You have to leave your mum and Pete behind. Can you live with that?"

"I know that Pete will take care of her and she knows how much I love and miss The Doctor. She'll understand eventually."

"Alright then, we'll go tonight. Tell Pete and your mum that we're going out to dinner and a movie or something so that they don't get suspicious. We'll then go into Torchwood. OK?"

"Yeah alright, but how will we get in?"

Flashing his security card, Jack smiled and told her that they would just walk straight in.

Later that day Jack came to collect Rose. When it came time to leave, Rose gave Jackie a long hug and told her that she loved her. She also told her how happy she was that Pete and she were going to be married and that Jackie had never looked happier. She told her mum not to be sad about anything, that everything in this life had a purpose and a reason to it.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?"

"Yes mum, I'm fine, great even but remember that I love you."

"And I love you too sweetheart. Have a good time with Jack tonight. He seems very nice."

"He is mum, he's a great friend. I don't know what I would have done without him. I'll see you later, yeah."

Rose turned and left the house before she broke down completely. Once she was in the car, she let the tears flow. This was harder than she thought. She'd never see her mum again but on the bright side, she would be back with The Doctor. Silently Jack handed her the tissues. Blowing her nose and wiping her eyes she smiled her thanks to him.

When they reached the Torchwood Tower, Jack led her inside and waved to the security guard. Luckily Alan was smitten with him so he didn't ask any questions. Stepping into the elevator Jack swiped his card and punched the button for level 4. When the elevator stopped, jack got out and motioned for Rose to follow him but to stick to the walls. Lucky for them that Jack knew where all the security devices were.

They slowly made their way down the corridor towards the large doors at the end. Proceeding cautiously, they opened the door and looked inside. There were only two guards in the room. Obviously nobody thought that the ships were in to great a danger. Besides all the main security had been bypassed by Jack's security clearance. Backing out, Jack withdrew a stun gun from his pocket.

"Where did you get that?" she whispered.

"It's standard equipment for field agents. It'll knock them out but it won't kill them. Once they're down, I'll disable the cameras. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Jack opened the door just enough to have a clear shot at the guards. He took them down quickly and efficiently and then proceeded to disable the cameras. Once this was done, they entered the hanger size room.

"This way." Jack said in a low voice pointing to the back of the room behind the three ships that were stationed in the room.

Rose followed him to an office hidden away in a corner of the hanger.

"What's in there?"

"The teleport devices are stored here as well as the access codes for those ships. We'll grab them and then we'll be on our way."

He opened the door and gestured for Rose to precede him; he then followed her in and promptly walked into her back. She had stopped just inside the room.

"Rose, what are you doing here?"

Oh no, they were in trouble.