Well, thankyou to my first reviewer gaiafreedom21. Who knew my newest reviewer would be first? Thanks :)

Hehe. I wrote this chapter straight after my last one, but I waited a while before posting it. :P Took me four straight hours of the morning to do so, though. I was up until 6am:)
Hope you like a speedy new chapter

Well, look at me, ranting again. I wonder what it would be like if I had a chapter without a long, boring, ranting AN. :P

Guess we can only wonder…

The Doctor had such an unnatural anxiety about seeing Rose again, he landed the TARDIS ridiculously far away from Pete's home. It took him half an hour to get to the front gate, and rather than ring the bell, he opened the huge metal construction with his sonic screwdriver. He approached the door cautiously and only rang the doorbell because he considered it to be more polite.

Rather than a maid or servant opening the door, the large wooden object opened to reveal Jackie. The Doctor was surprised, but hid it well with his cheerful greeting.

"Hi there, Jackie." He beamed. "I was wondering if your daughter was home."

The last thing The Doctor ever expected Jackie Tyler to do was faint in her own doorway. Living the high life must have softened her up, and he hoped that maybe then she wouldn't slap him so hard for waiting three years to come and find Rose again - or for coming back at all.

He stepped around the dead weight on the threshold to look inside the magnificent house. It was just as he remembered it from the last time he was there, except it was quite empty instead of being filled with many rich and powerful guests.

The Doctor looked down at Jackie, who had not stirred, and sighed. He would have to move her by himself, he guessed. But where would he take her? He had no idea of where would be a good place in this house, and he couldn't exactly wander around their home uninvited.

The Doctor was a master of getting in and out of trouble, but he wasn't sure that was the sort of trouble he'd be able to get out of with a witty remark. Rose's family and friends were always tough to deal with.

The Doctor really wanted his presence to be a surprise, but decided that Jackie being found slumped in the doorway would have caused much more of a stir than if he announced himself.

"Hello?" He called out softly. When there was no answer, he hesitantly called a bit louder, then louder still when there was no sound from anywhere in the house.

As he began to yell for the fifth time, The Doctor was surprised once more when instead of a servant of any kind, Pete turned up. He didn't react exactly the way that Jackie had, but he stood in the one spot with his mouth open for quite some time. The Doctor just frowned as he stood very still as well, blocking Jackie's unconscious body from Pete.

When Pete started to move his mouth while no words came out, The Doctor thought that it was finally time to move from in front of Jackie. He stepped sideways and as soon as Pete spotted Jackie on the floor, he rushed to her side.

"Glad to see it's still going well, then." The Doctor commented nonchalantly. Pete looked away from Jackie to gawp at him once more.

"How are you here?" He asked suspiciously. The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not sure, exactly, but I'm hoping that it will become clearer in time." He stated uncertainly. "How are you, by the way?" He asked.

"We can get on with the small talk when we get Jackie out of the doorway." Pete said, giving The Doctor a welcoming smile. "I'm assuming this was your fault?" He began to lift Jackie up, and when The Doctor leant over to help carry her legs, he wondered again why there were no housekeepers or… anyone around to help.

"I didn't mean to." The Doctor grunted as he followed Pete's lead through a large archway. "I seriously was not expecting Jackie Tyler to react that way when she saw me again."

"You'll find that a lot of Jackie's mannerisms have changed since she got her second chance." Pete said pointedly as they laid her on a couch in the front room of the house. Giant windows flooded the room with light and Jackie finally began to move a little. She didn't regain consciousness, though; she just squirmed a bit on the couch.

"I think she's afraid of losing me again." Pete stated softly as he gestured for the Doctor to follow him to the next set of matching couches. Pete motioned for him to sit, but The Doctor stood and fidgeted slightly.

"It's good to see you again and all…" He started. "But I really need to…" He trailed off and wrung his hands.

"You want to see Rose?" It wasn't really a question, although it was posed as one. There was no way that Pete would have been confused about his motives for suddenly appearing in this universe and taking the risk of tearing the two worlds apart.

"She's not here." He stated dully.

"Oh, when will she be back?" The Doctor asked lightly, finally taking the seat next to Pete.

"She doesn't live here any more."

"Oh." The Doctor said again, more sadly. "Does she come around much?"

"Never."

"Oh." The Doctor realised he was beginning to sound like a broken record, but he couldn't stop himself.

"So I'm guessing she doesn't live nearby?"

"Closer than you think."

"Then I'll just…" The Doctor stood up to leave, but Pete held onto his arm.

"You can't leave without giving Jackie an explanation." He told him.

"You're right." The Doctor sighed, sitting down again. "And I can't leave without getting an explanation from you. What happened?" Pete sighed too.

"She's not going to be happy with you when she wakes up." He said, inclining his head towards Jackie. "She blames you, you know."

"For what? Rose coming into this universe? Being with her?"

"For making her daughter crazy." Pete stated simply. The Doctor had nothing to say. He didn't even look at the other man, just waited for him to go on. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Without you, Rose started to… say some strange things. She was acting like… like we weren't around. Jackie suggested that she go see a shrink. She went once... didn't like it… Jackie wanted to have her institutionalised, I think. I didn't get in the middle of that mother-daughter conflict, and before I knew it, Rose was out of here."

"And you haven't tried to-"

"I've called her. She doesn't seem to notice that I exist, just talks gibberish or to you, Doctor. I just… I didn't know what to do any more." He put his head in his hands. "And the worst thing is that Mickey was getting through and talking to her for a while…"

"I know, how awful must that have been." Pete looked incredulous.

"How can you be making a joke now?"

"Because that's how he's always been." It seemed the sleeping demon had awoken and was not happy. Jackie stood in front of The Doctor, hands on her hips. "Mickey used to go and check up on her for us, now he won't. He's too scared of her." Jackie fumed. "I want to know what you did to her." Surprisingly, Jackie kept her voice steady and low. Though The Doctor just gaped at her .

"You think I… did something to her?"

"She would never have left you by choice. All she wanted when she was here was to be back with you. You must have done something to her." Jackie now had her arms folded across her chest, her stance intimidating, but her voice was wavering, as if she didn't quite believe what she was saying any more.

"I'm sorry about Rose." The Doctor said quietly. "When I see her, I'll be sure to check her head out. I hope she's not too bad. You make it sound awful." He cringed at the thought of there being something horribly wrong with Rose.

"You should go over there right now." Jackie stated firmly. "Make her better now."

"Honey, she'll be at work now." Pete said soothingly. The Doctor should stick around here for a while. Have some food."

"I am a little hungry." The Doctor admitted, trying to remember the last time he ate.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

"You should talk to Mickey. Maybe he'll tell you what he won't tell us." Pete broke the silence of lunch with his comment.

"You have no idea why Mickey won't go near her, then?" The Doctor asked thoughtfully. "I never thought that Mickey would ever leave her side. I guess times change."

"I never thought Mickey would leave her, either. But he has. I know he's got his own life an all..." Jackie trailed off as she took a breath. "... But he won't even come over here any more, either. Something has got him spooked."

Jackie stood and moved over to the other side of the table where Rose's little sister, Annie was getting more food on the floor than she was in her mouth. The Doctor watched with interest. She was like this universe's version of Rose, although she wasn't meant to be there at all. She was a second-chance child, and he could see how much Jackie loved her by the tenderness in her touch. She had to love Rose that much, too. No matter how messed up she might have become.

The Doctor stood up and looked around the table at his two hosts and the terrible toddler.

"I have to go now." He told them. "What time does Rose finish work?"

And that's all I can say… hehe. A longer chapter than I'm used to being able to write. This one just flowed off the tongue… pen… uhhh. Can it flow off the keyboard?

Sorry there's no reunion, I really and truly thought that this would be the reunion chapter. Lol. Guess i got carried away.

Review!!

Mikkifavo