Author's Note: There was a line in this chapter that shouldn't have been there, and it was commented on by several people. Let me be clear: the Doctor wants to know how other aliens might have come to Earth. He does not want to know how to leave. He does not WANT to leave.

How did I survive in this world before you?

They walk home from the restaurant after dinner, holding hands and peeking in shop windows.

At home they ignore the mail and the phone messages and go the bedroom to change out of their clothes. By unspoken consent they do not mention houses anymore.

Rose takes off her skirt and shirt, decides she doesn't need a shower so late in the night. She puts on a tank top and sweatpants instead, and washes off her makeup. As she's brushing her teeth at the sink the Doctor comes in and leans against the sink. He's still wearing his work clothes.

Rose rinses her mouth out and dries her face. "How's your hand?"

He looks down at the bandage. "It's all right, I guess." He starts to unwrap it, and Rose digs around for a new strip of bandage to cover it up with.

As he holds out his hand to examine the burn, Rose winces. "Ouch." The skin is still raw and red and the blisters look painful. Across the middle of his palm is a slightly deeper burn that is just about the size of a sonic screwdriver.

"Yes," he agrees.

She carefully dabs on the cream Owen gave him at work and winds a new bandage around his palm. "You'll have to keep this dry," she says.

He makes a face. "That will be hard to do."

"Oh, I don't know." She smiles up at him. "Depends on what you've got planned."

Rose goes to work alone the next morning. The Doctor had had an uncomfortable night with his hand. Every time he managed to fall asleep he ended up rolling onto his hand, and the pain would wake him up. It was a miserable few hours for him. Finally he got up and lay down on the couch in the dark.

Rose stops in the doorway, looking down at him. "Love?"

He looks up at her. "Hello."

"How is it?" Rose doesn't quite know how to treat him. He's never been injured to such an extent before.

"It's better," he says shortly. "Still feels like it's on fire."

She sits down on the couch next to him. "I thought your Time Lord genes helped you heal faster," she says. "You've been hurt before and it always got better soon."

"Yeah." He doesn't sound puzzled or upset about it. "The sonic had some alien elements in it. The combination was pretty severe, I guess. Not surprising, when you consider the fact that a wall disappeared."

"Are you up to going in today?" she asks casually. She really doesn't think he should.

He hesitates and then shakes his head. "Tell Pete I need a sick day."

"Do you want me to stay with you?" she offers.

"I'm fine. Just some pain and blisters and probably an upcoming infection. Nothing serious." He smiles at her. "Have a good day."

Rose isn't totally convinced, but she doesn't want to treat him like an invalid. "All right." She kisses him goodbye and heads out to defend the Earth.

The Doctor leans back against the couch and yawns. The pain relievers he took before Rose woke up are taking effect, and he closes his eyes to take a quick nap.

When he wakes up a few hours later he's surprised by how much time has passed. He'd slept for three hours and forty-three minutes last night, and he's just spent another two hours, twenty-seven minutes asleep on the couch. His hand feels better, though. He looks at the hand thoughtfully. Maybe more sleep is necessary to heal faster.

He makes himself a sandwich and eats it at the kitchen table while he reads the paper. The usual complement of criminal activity and glamourous events out in London today, by the looks of things. A small photo shows him Jackie and Pete, dressed in black tie and attending a charity event the night before. He wonders briefly where Tony was - usually he stays with them if his parents have something to do.

Turning to the horoscopes is more of a habit now than anything, and he scans the column until he hits his own.

"Keep an open mind and a clear conscience and you will go far in business this week."

"That's just rubbish," he mutters, and tosses the paper aside.

He checks on the TARDIS, still growing in the cot in the spare bedroom.

"How are you?" he asks it. "Anything I can get you?"

It doesn't answer, of course. He asks again, this time in the old language that feels slow and halting on his tongue. He repeats his words, just to hear the sound of them again. His people are gone, more so now than ever before. They never existed here in this universe. There is not even an echo of them.

That's still hard to accept.

He has time to kill before Rose comes home, and he doesn't want her to think that he's been waiting for her all day. He logs in to the website of one of the universities in London. He's made friends with some of the scientists who work there. Not close friendships, because a close friend might start asking questions about his background and his knowledge, and he's not ready for that. But he's certainly on friendly terms with them. Rose likes to tease him about it and asks when he's leaving Torchwood to solve this world's scientific mysteries.

He wouldn't, of course. It's not as much fun.

He does some work on a paper he's writing, stops after a few minutes because it hurts his hand to type so quickly. 100 words a minute - fastest temp in Chiswick.

There's really nothing much left to do in the flat. He certainly doesn't want to clean anything. Finally he gives in and turns the tv on.

A knock on the door catches him just as he sits down. It's Jackie.

"Jackie!"

"Rose said you were hurt. I came to see." Jackie walks in, setting her bag down on the couch and turning to look him up and down, hands on her hips.

"You look awful," she says bluntly.

"Thanks very much."

She ignores him. His hair is mussed and his clothes are wrinkled. His face is a bit pale, even for him, and she doesn't miss the way he's holding his hand against his chest.

"Sit down," she says. "I brought you lunch."

"I've already eaten."

"Mrs. Colton made it."

"Really?"

"Come on." Jackie walks into the kitchen, expecting him to follow.

"Oh. Well, if she made it." He sits at the table and allows Jackie to hand him a container. He can always blame it on the pain pills later.

Jackie sits down across from him, setting out plates and forks for the two of them. "What are you up to?"

He's blissfully chewing warm pasta and doesn't answer right away. "Mm. Brilliant. Not going to work today. I was about to watch some television."

"Don't you have anything else to do?"

He thinks guiltily of the TARDIS growing in the other room. "No. Not today."

"Don't usually see you just sitting around doing nothing." Jackie takes two bottles of Vitex out of her bag. "D'you want cherry-lite or grape?"

"Neither one, thanks."

She levels a look at him.

"Honestly, Jackie, I'm not that fond of Vitex."

She glances around as if there might be someone else in the room with them. "Neither am I, to be honest," she confides, pushing the bottles aside. "Never was when my Pete was trying to sell it, years back. I was amazed as anything when they told me Pete made his fortune on the stuff." She stands up. "How about some tea?"

"Oh, I'd love that."

She looks in the cupboards, finding the teakettle and tea and setting it on the stove for the water to boil.

"Where were you last night?" he asks.

"Oh, Pete had a charity event through Vitex. We went for a little while. I was going to ask you to come but Pete said you'd hurt your hand."

"Where was Tony? You didn't bring him by."

"He stayed at a friend's house last night. He's getting old enough to want to do things like that."

"He's still a bit small for that."

"I know, but he wanted to so bad. I'm going over to pick him up after this."

He nods, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Jackie Tyler, mother and wife. Her hair is still long and blonde and her makeup is colorful. She's wearing much nicer clothing and real jewels, but essentially she's still the same Jackie she's always been. He's very glad about that. There's been so much change in his life that this one constant is a very good thing, even if he won't admit it to her.

"Did you look at houses with Sally? Rose never told me."

"We looked." He's uncomfortable talking about this, because his reaction to the houses is something he's still trying to figure out.

"Well, don't rush into anything," Jackie advises. "Take your time and make sure you find the right one."

"Oh, absolutely! We are going to take our time. Lots and lots of time."

"Well, don't take too long. Neither one of you is getting any younger."

His mouth twists in a wry grin. "No, we're not."

Jackie is silent for a moment, looking at her hands. It's very unlike her to be this quiet with him, and he watches her uneasily. Finally she looks up. Seeing his eyes upon her face, she smiles.

"You're the same," she says simply. "You're big ears with the leather jacket who took my Rose away for a year. You're the one who saved the world with a sword and a satsuma. You've saved the world over and over again, haven't you? But you don't know what to do here."

"I'm right here. I know what to do."

"It's different, taking on a new life. Trying to pretend to be something you're not. I manage it okay. Rose is fine, now that you're here. But it's not so easy for you."

He can't help but be defensive at this statement. "Jackie, I'm fine. Honestly."

She smiles at him and actually reaches out to touch him. Memories of previous slaps flash before him, but he doesn't flinch. He's reduced to speechlessness when Jackie smoothes back his hair.

"You stayed here, with Rose. You loved her enough before to send her home, even though she didn't stay. And this time you stayed with her."

He nods, not trusting himself to speak.

"You can use all the excuses you want, Doctor, but I know the real reason. You've loved her all along. I don't blame you for staying. I'm sorry that you're human now, if that's not what you want, but I won't pretend I'm not happy for Rose. I get to have her here, I don't have to lose her again."

Again the memory of the TARDIS comes between them, and he wonders what Jackie will do if she ever finds out.

He swallows hard. "Jackie." It's difficult to hold such a conversation with her. They've never been close before. Since he's come here they've been friendly, and he knows that she is happy he stayed, but they don't burden each other with very many of their personal thoughts.

"Life is hard," Jackie says softly. "But it's worth it. I want that for you and Rose. I want you to be happy."

"We are happy."

"I love Rose," Jackie continues. "More than my own life. And I care about you, too."

His mouth works open and closed, but he can't find any words. He's stunned by this open admission.

Jackie smiles, a mischievous smile that he rarely sees on her. "Never thought I'd see the day when I actually liked you," she says, "but it's here."

He smiles back at her. They're bound together by their love of Rose, but he does care about Jackie for her own sake.

"Now," she continues, "I know that you and Rose have had some problems in the past. I know you're not exactly him, but she knows that. She wants you."

His head jerks a bit, involuntarily. Jackie has hit his sore spot, right on the head.

"She does," Jackie says.

"I wasn't her first choice." He's never spoken like this to Jackie, but their relationship is on easier terms than it used to be. "If it were up to her she'd be there with him, and I'd be...well, somewhere else, I suppose."

"Well, it wasn't up to her and you're here together. So make the most of it. Do you think I lie awake at night, worrying if Pete loves me or just the memory of his first wife?"

The Doctor looks up at that, meeting her eyes.

The kettle starts to whistle, and Jackie sighs. "I do, sometimes. Even after all this time. And I know he wonders the same about me. But we still made it work."

Rose is very brave, he thinks. But she learned that from her mother. Jackie will do what needs to be done, will face whatever she has to. He's a bit sorry he never understood that before.

"Thank you, Jackie."

She shakes her head. "You don't need to thank me. Now. Have some tea. I better get going or Tony will wonder where I am."

"Tell him we'll see him soon."

After Jackie leaves he watches a movie. He didn't catch the title but the storyline had something to do with a man and and woman trying to track down tornadoes. It is almost, but not quite, like another movie he'd seen back on the other Earth, years before. The entire thing confuses him so much that he turns the tv off and takes another nap.

When he opens his eyes again the room is dark, and Rose is sitting beside him.

"Hi." He struggles to sit up, clearing his throat.

"Hi." She smiles back at him. "Have a good day?"

"Yeah. Your mum came by."

"I know. She was worried about you. Dad told her what happened."

"She brought me lunch."

"How's the hand?"

It hurts a bit, but he shrugs. "It's all right. I'll be back at work tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" she asks in concern. "I don't know that you could do much."

"I'll be all right. Even if I can't go out I can get some things done."

"Your lab is being repaired."

"Good."

"Anyway, I brought dinner home. Want to eat in here?" Rose doesn't wait for an answer but stands up to get it all ready.

"Shall we watch a movie?" Rose sets out containers on the coffee table. "We've been doing that a lot lately, but there's hardly anything else we can do, is there, with your hand all red and swollen."

"Already done, Rose Tyler." He nods at the tv. "I've been watching a lot of television lately," he confesses. "Feels wrong, but there's not always a lot to do at night."

"What, when I'm asleep?"

"Yeah. I can't go over scientific theories all night, can I?"

"Of course not," she agrees. "I couldn't. But isn't that when all of your scientist friends are roaming the message boards online?"

"Well, I can't spend all my time doing that, either. Here we go." He stops the channels at one that looks suspiciously like a science-fiction movie.

Rose tries not to cringe. "How about something fluffy and fun? A romance? Or a musical?"

"Musical," he scoffs.

Despite herself, Rose gets lost in the movie. The plot itself doesn't make very much sense, but it's nice to just sit and relax. She'd spent the day meeting with Pete and Jake and working out how to fill the Doctor's absence. She squeezes in beside him and rests her head on his shoulder.

Halfway through the movie she gets up to clear away their dinner. She brings him back a glass of Vitex and a pain pill.

"No popcorn?" he asks. "I thought that was getting to be a regular Tyler habit."

"Maybe later." She sits back down next to him, propping her feet up on the table.

"It's a bit silly, isn't it?" she asks after a few minutes. "How come those little snake things are slithering all over the place?"

"I'm not really sure," he admits. "It may be because that tall silo is emptying that green toxic stuff into their habitat. Or possibly because those mutant birds are looking for a meal."

"We need to find better movies," Rose says.

She's grown very comfortable leaning against him, but she can't help feeling relieved when the movie is over.

"Well." She sits up straight and stretches. "The world is safe again. Thank goodness."

She stands up and heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she returns, the Doctor is sitting in the same spot, watching credits roll past on the tv screen.

"Love?" she asks.

"That was another Sam Lively movie," he says slowly.

"Was it? Who's Sam Lively? Did he play the bloke who got swallowed by the giant bird?"

"This was a Sam Lively production. He writes and directs these movies. Look." He pulls out Lights!Camera!Action! from the table and shows her the article he's bookmarked.

"Is this what you do in your free time? Read gossip magazines?"

"It's not gossip, Rose, honestly. Look."

Rose scans the article he's pointing out, reads the lists of what she assumes are movies. "He's done a lot of them," Rose observes. "That last one even sounds familiar."

"It is! We watched it a few months ago, right here in this flat."

It's clear he considers this news momentous, but they've watched a lot of things in this flat. She's forgotten most of them. Rose waits for him to continue.

"Don't you remember? Earth and Venus? Humans and Venusians at odds? I said to you, at the time, that the Venusians were very much like they were portrayed in the movie!"

"The Venusians."

"From Venus."

"There aren't any people on Venus."

"No, not now! But in a few centuries they'll be discovered, and by the thirty-first century they'll be as lively and outspoken as they were in the movie."

Rose doesn't quite know what to say. "Maybe if we watched it again?" she suggests.

"And these films, all of them. They're different alien beings, different planets, different time periods, but they're all correct."

"It's science fiction, love. So he got lucky and made something accurate without knowing it'll be accurate in a thousand years or whatever."

"Rose! How can you not see this! Look." The Doctor pulls out a notebook. "See?"

She decides to humor him and takes the notebook. There are names of what she assumes are films, all with science-fiction sounding titles. Some of them are the ones listed in the magazine she just read. He's written down the writer, director and main actors for each one, as well as a description of the plot. The plot descriptions are enough to make her want to roll her eyes and close the book, but she keeps going.

"What am I looking for?" she asks, turning notebook page after notebook page. "Blimey, you've been busy, haven't you?"

"Underneath the movie stuff I've written how closely it resembles reality, as it was or is or will be. It's all correct, Rose! This man has an astounding knowledge of alien life."

She shuts the notebook and grins at him. "I suppose next you'll be telling me that he is an alien."

He simply stares at her.

Her easy grin fades. "No!" she exclaims. "Doctor, this is ridiculous!"

"Rose, you are discounting my ideas. I'm fairly certain this man is somehow connected to aliens."

"How is he connected to aliens?"

"This information is all accurate! It makes perfect sense."

"To you, maybe. We don't have him on our radar at Torchwood."

"No, because no one suspects him! He's making movies. They're not supposed to be real, so he can do anything he likes and no one knows any better."

Rose considers this. "All right. So he is. Even if he is an alien, does it matter? He's not hurting anyone."

"No." He can't bring himself to voice his real reasons for tracking Sam Lively down. Another alien to talk to, to ask how he got to this place.

"Seems we'd be doing him a favor by leaving him alone," Rose says. She knows Torchwood is meant to track down aliens and alien technology for the good of the Earth, but she's not eager to go looking for someone who isn't harming anyone.

"We're not going to bother him. If he's an alien we ought to investigate."

"That's a pretty big 'if', Doctor, you have to admit."

"I'm just suggesting theories, Rose."

"What's really going on?" she asks.

"Nothing! Nothing is going on. I have a simple curiosity about this."

"Maybe he's not an alien at all. Maybe he's a...a time agent or something."

"And he left the Time Agency to make movies on Earth?"

Put that way, it does sound a bit odd. But no more odd than alien movie producers.

"Maybe we can look into it," Rose says. "But without telling Dad."

He nods enthusiastically. "A covert mission. You and me, sneaking around, looking for trouble."

She can't help laughing. "Just like old times."