Chapter 13 – New Plans

First, sorry for the break: I'm on holiday right now, and the laptop I bought to continue writing on my journey is refusing to work, specifically the keyboard ('you had ONE JOB, laptop…'). Grumblegrumble. Also, I had some trouble with another account online and consequently changed my user name here. Sorry for the possible confusion, and thanks for sticking with this story! This is a bit of a filler episode, but it'll pick up again soon enough.

x

"Right," Jack said, clapping his hands once he'd let go of Rose. "We're gonna get some food, and then we can figure out what to do next."

"Ooh, I am a bit famished," Rose mused.

They left the hub - the Torchwood team staring some more at Rose - and walked around Cardiff until they reached Jack's favourite sandwich place. Rose devoured her food and milkshake whilst Jack told her more about how he got back to the 20th rather than the 21st century, and how he got stuck with Torchwood eventually. Rose filled him in on the adventures she and the Doctor had had after he regenerated, and Jack couldn't help grinning.

"You know, the whole regeneration bit sounds a bit weird, but it certainly hasn't changed how completely crazy you are about him!"

Rose blushed and her face became wistful. "You don't know half of it…if we ever get him back, you'll see what I mean…"

Jack leaned forward and took her hand. "Not 'if', Rose. 'When'." She looked up, her sad eyes meeting his. He grinned. "Why? Is he hot?"

"Jack!" She swatted his hand, and he pulled back, hands raised innocently.

A small smile stole onto her face. "But yeah, he's kinda gorgeous," she admitted, biting her lip.

Jack laughed. "I knew it!"

"Different face," she added thoughtfully, "but, you know, still the same man. Just with really great hair," she said with feeling.

Jack took her hand again. "We'll get him back. The way I see it, the universe bloody owes you two. And you're not gonna die. If there's anyone who can think of a way to make you right again, it's the Doctor. Heck, it's his job description! He's done all sorts of things for everyone else; don't you think he'll move heaven and earth to save the woman he loves?"

Rose looked away, a painful look crossing her face. "What?" he asked.

"Well…" she began, chewing her lip. "Are you so sure about that?" Her voice was almost inaudible.

Jack's eyes went wide. "Of course I am! Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

Rose fiddled with the sleeves of her hoodie. "I don't know… sometimes, yes. But nothing ever…" She trailed off, sighing.

Jack felt his heart go out to her. For him, things were often so easy. He met people, he spent some time with them, and he was usually very open about it when he was attracted to someone... but Rose looked like she had bottled her feelings up for a while now. He frowned. "You know, I reckon he just needs a good push in the right direction. He's mad about you – and you know it," he added, raising an admonishing finger. Rose smiled. "He's just not good at… taking the first step," he offered.

Rose pulled face. "Always running..." she muttered.

"Exactly," Jack said, decisively. "So. First we save his ass. Then he saves your ass. Then you show him what he's been missing. Deal?"

Rose, he noted to his delight, blushed scarlet. "Deal," she smiled.

x

On returning to the hub, Jack called everyone together. They took the normal entrance this time, and Jack beckoned Ianto to follow them. "Time for some proper introductions," he winked. They walked down the stairs and made it through the large vault door. Somewhere above, the flapping of wings could be heard. Owen and Tosh came over from their workstations. Rose followed Jack down the steps. Suddenly, when Gwen stepped forward to meet them, Rose gasped. "Oh my god, it's you!" She moved up to Gwen, rather entering her personal space, and searched her face, a bemused smile on her own.

"Gwyneth!"

"Er… it's Gwen, actually," she said, carefully moving a step backwards.

Jack looked between Rose and Gwen as the rest of the team joined them, eyebrows raised in surprise. Owen mouthed 'Gwyneth?' at Tosh and both suppressed a grin.

"Uh, your family been living in Cardiff long?" Rose asked almost casually, still peering intently at her target.

"Yeah, we go way back," Gwen answered, looking confused.

"Right, smack bang on the Rift…" she trailed off, then suddenly capped her hands together. "Spatial genetic multiplicity! Of course!" Rose now looked at Gwen happily. "Met one of your ancestors! Lovely girl. Spitting image," she rattled on exuberantly, but then her voice grew a little wistful. "Saved the world, actually, she did…"

Before Gwen could react to this, Rose swiftly moved on to Owen. Gwen looked at Jack in utter bewilderment, who just shrugged and chuckled.

Rose shook Owen's hand. "I'm Rose, nice to meet you! Sorry for the scare earlier."

"No problem," he smiled. "Owen Harper, I'm the chief medical officer here."

"Oh, then thanks for helping me, I guess," Rose said earnestly, and Owen seemed to smile a little more. Then she drifted off for a moment and looked just past him, as if there was something shifting her gaze away. Jack saw a painful expression flit over her features briefly. He'd seen that look before. He wondered what she'd seen, what she knew. Rose tried to shake out of it, so to prevent any more awkward moments, Jack stepped forward and introduced Toshiko and Ianto. Then wasted no time. If Rose's life was in the balance, he would use the combined effort of the Torchwood team to help her. An unwilling afterthought entered his mind; given her volatile state, and her strange new affinity to time, it was probably better to not have her hang around for too long. As much as it pained him to admit it, she was probably as much a danger to everybody else as she currently was to herself.

"Okay, guys, we need your help. Briefing, now."

He led the way to the briefing room, handing out instructions. When Ianto turned to go back to the reception, he quickly shook his head and motioned him to join them. This was something where every extra help would count. In the room, Tosh pulled up the files on the Cybermen incident as he'd asked, and everybody gathered around the large conference table. Jack explained how the Londoners had accessed the void by exploiting the breach in the universes that the Daleks had first created. Ianto was very quiet, and Jack felt sorry for him – he had experienced the horror first-hand and was still mourning Lisa's tragic death. He tried to skip over the Cybermen part as quickly as possible and focussed on the nature of the void. Tosh eagerly supplied a few scientific facts here and there as she extrapolated from the data. Suddenly, she gasped. "But… what the Daleks did must have permanently damaged the barrier. The void energy, according to these readings here, looks to be similar to that in the Rift. If this is the case, then the Torchwood team tore open the breach further, weakening it every time they let the 'ghosts' through."

Rose's face darkened. "They didn't care about that," she muttered into space.

"But then… you can see here that the constant strain already tore the cohesion to a point where it would unravel by itself! How did they stop the walls from collapsing completely?"

"In other words," Owen added from across the table, "how are we still sitting here?"

"The Doctor," Rose simply said and finally tore her eyes away from studying the table's woodgrain. "He found a way to pull all the Cybermen and the Daleks back into the void, using the breach like a magnet." She pushed some hair behind her ear. "Through the force, the breach then sealed itself. The walls are closed." She swallowed.

Jack quickly took over. "Unfortunately, the Doctor was trapped on the other side of the void. In a parallel universe. This is where we come in."

He looked at his team with a steady gaze. "We're going to get him back. The Doctor has saved this planet more than we can count, and it was Torchwood's fault that he got trapped. I believe it's our duty to help him get back."

Gwen's eyes moved over to Rose and Jack could see her silent conflict. A blind man would realise how heartbroken she was, and that getting him back was a little more than just 'duty' to her. Nevertheless, Gwen was also a Torchwood agent, and thought first and foremost of the safety of their own world. "I agree that we should help," she began gently, looking at Rose. "But… if we try to breach this barrier between the universes… how do we make sure we don't destroy it again?"

Jack's eyes flittered to Rose, who looked like she couldn't care less this time round, but before she could utter any such dark thoughts, he turned to Gwen. "That is exactly the question we are going to investigate. I have seen many crazy things in this universe, and if the Doctor has taught me one thing, it's that there is always a way." His eyes rested on Rose as well as he debated how much to tell the others. Maybe he shouldn't tell them too much about her strange new powers. One thing at a time. "We… know for a fact that there are several possibilities," he finally said. "We just need to figure out what they are, and which way is the safest."

Rose glanced his way, and had picked up on what he was doing. She sat up straighter and spoke up again. "The Time Lords used to be able to travel between parallel worlds pretty easily, according to what the Doctor told me. That means, the technology is not the problem, we just need to know how to use it."

Jack nodded and clapped his hands together. "Right, time is of the essence, so let's go. Tosh, you and Owen take another look at the scientific side of this. Check the medical records of former employees at Torchwood 1, see what tech they used to control the breach… it's all in the computer, just dig up anything that might help us. Gwen, Ianto, you're coming with us." He stood up, and the team followed suit. "We're taking the more traditional approach."

"Where are we going?" Gwen asked as they all filed out of the room.

"The library," Jack winked.

x

Rose drew her key from around her neck and slowly unlocked the TARDIS. She stepped inside, leading the way for Jack, who followed with a spring in his step and threw his coat over a railing. He took a deep breath. This felt like coming home, somehow – even though he'd only spent a relatively short time on the ship. He looked around the console room and finally took in all the differences. The central platform seemed to be made out of some smooth, wooden material now. Ramps snaked away from it to several corridors high and low, and down beneath the console. The large coral structure remained, yet was complemented by a narrow walkway that seemed to be littered with things. The console snaked upwards, a little bit reminiscent of a plant, and he saw intricate roses moulded into the three narrow pillars around the platform. A warm light filled the cavernous room, and a leafy smell lingered in the air. When Jack looked up, he thought he detected the rustle of a canopy above. Despite a certain mess after the crash, it looked beautiful.

"Wow, at least if you're going out, you're going out in style!" He raised his eyebrows at Rose, who was busying herself at the console. "Nicely redecorated!" He fondly stroked a hand over a smooth wooden pillar. "Good to see you again, girl," he added gently.

Rose looked up and smirked. "She says, 'stop it'," she translated. "But yeah, she always likes showing off a bit, doesn't she?" The TARDIS gave a short bright hum around them and they laughed. Grown spaceship she may be, but she was a lady, he thought amusedly to himself.

Rose looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "She still has a hard time… well, let's just say she must like you a lot, otherwise she'd be trying to fly away from you as fast as she could. It was hard enough getting here. You saw what happened."

"Wait, you crashed because of me?" He stared at her, eyebrows raised.

Rose shrugged. "She was a bit… reluctant."

Suddenly, a voice came from the door. "Are you talking about the… ship?" Gwen stood on the ramp, gesturing vaguely around the room. Disbelief was etched on her face, and she was gaping in amazement at the impossible, bigger-on-the-inside structure. At the same time, Ianto was poking his head inside the door, only to disappear again, and then to reappear with an incredulous stare. His mouth had gone slack but he remained silent, just staring at everything. Jack thought he looked rather adorable.

"Sentient ship," Rose explained to Gwen. "Make yourselves at home," she said, only to stop herself in her movement to add, "although, stay away from locked doors. And the second corridor on the left. Also, the kitchen sometimes acts up and disappears." Jack was grinning as Rose scrunched up her face in thought before turning to Gwen and Ianto again. "Actually, just stick with me, and you should be all right."

Ianto now looked positively afraid to touch anything, while Gwen took a deep breath and stepped over to Jack boldly. "And you've been around in this thing…?"

"All over Time and Space, yep. They saved my life with the TARDIS, actually. Parked her right inside my own ship when it was about to blow." He smiled at Rose, who'd looked up and caught his gaze.

"We danced," she said gently.

"They danced, I was forbidden to cut in," he said with a meaningful look at Gwen, who managed a small smile at their antics.

"Okay, we're all set," Rose declared. "She's still recalibrating from the shock of Mr. Impossible here and our little crash, and she's recharging on Rift energy. We'll be fine in the library."

Without further ado, she walked down a corridor, and Jack motioned his amazed team to follow. Once again, he felt a fond warmth at the thought that he was finally able to share this with them. Even if – no, when, he corrected himself – the Doctor and Rose would travel on without him, he could be more open with the Torchwood team, hopefully leading to a renewed trust between them all.

They followed Rose down a few corridors to a set of large, wooden double doors. They opened up into an enormous, dimly lit library. Everything was as Jack remembered it, and he guessed it hadn't changed in centuries. The walls and inlaid shelves were panelled mahogany, going all the way to the vaulted ceiling. From a large central space – which incorporated a lit, crackling fireplace – several winding staircases led to the ongoing galleries of books above them. An arrangement of comfortable leather couches stood around a coffee table strewn with books and papers.

As Jack moved closer, he saw several pages of handwritten notes – the papers were covered in a strange, circular patterns. He recognized them from the console room monitors and finally made the connection. "Did you make these?" He held one out to Rose.

Rose slowly cleared away some books and put them to the side in piles, then picked up the sheet from him. "Yeah. It's Gallifreyan," she added, sounding somewhat sheepish. "I found it to be faster than English writing." She pushed some hair behind her ear and continued gathering the notes up. "It's a bit like shorthand, really… Sorry, I was basically here as much as I could, trying to gather some information on what I could do... so it's all a bit of a mess."

Jack was once again amazed at the change that had come over her. From the carefree Estate girl he'd known, from the cheeky levity they'd shared, she'd gone to become an alien and a scholar, things she clearly felt very uncomfortable with, but used it all as a means to get the Doctor back. She seemed very aware that she might be freaking them out, so he sought to reassure her. "Hey, just leave it, and we'll pick up right where you left off, yeah?"

Gwen sauntered over to the shelves. "This is amazing… so many books from all over the universe…" She trailed her hand over the book spines, then paused. "Hang on a minute! These are all in English! The Sunlight Worlds, Anatomy of the Ood, Draconian Fauna…" she read out the titles and turned to Rose. "Why aren't they in that swirly language of yours?"

Rose walked over to her and peered at the books, then just shrugged. "They are. Except that one, I think that's a Draconian original." She gestured at the room. "It's the TARDIS. She translates all languages in your head and turns everything you read into your language."

"In my head?!" Gwen stared at her.

Rose smiled a little. "My exact reaction when I first heard that. It's nothing to worry about though. It's not messing with your brain or anything… just imagine it like you have… the right kind of glasses on?"

Gwen peered at the books again, shaking her head slightly. "All right…"

Ianto had been examining the shelves on the other side of the room, and had to raise his voice slightly. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Jack grabbed hold of one of the railings and quickly made his way up to the first gallery level. He glanced back down at Ianto. "Anything that suggests parallel worlds and their barriers, the void, and anything about travelling to other universes."

Rose had picked another shelf to start from now. "Also be on the lookout for Artron Energy, Huon particles, and any mention of the time vortex," Rose called out to them.

Jack frowned. That certainly didn't sound like it was directly related, but he decided not to ask.

x

A few hours later, Jack dropped another book on a pile she'd labelled 'useless' and flopped down on the couch. They'd gone through tons of strange, alien writings; most of them so weirdly phrased that not even the translation into English made any sense. He sent a commiserating glance over to Rose, who was slamming shut another large volume.

She made an annoyed sound in her throat. "All of these are more or less history books," she sighed. "Once upon a time, this or that species may have possibly experimented with this and that parallel universe, blah blah, super dangerous, blah." She wiped a hand down her face. "How about an instruction manual, and not in the past tense, that would be something," she said.

"Actually," Ianto piped up, and everybody looked over to him, hidden behind another pile of books. "I may have found you one."

Rose, Jack and Gwen jumped up and crowded around Ianto. He held a large, atlas-like volume bound in black leather with dark blue pages. The writing was in white, and every page contained several small drawings that looked like schematics. "It's called Transdimensional Bond Theory," he read out, and cleared his throat. "From what I've read so far, this has some ideas how to connect different dimensions. Maybe it'll work on your parallel world?"

"Ianto, you are a genius," Rose beamed and gently took the giant book from him. She flipped through the pages rather quicker than a normal human would, but to Jack it seemed like she was taking it all in nonetheless. Suddenly, she became excited.

"Oh my God, this could actually work. Gwen, you had a book earlier about TARDISes, could you dig that out again? Jack, find that kid's book that explained how sonic screwdrivers worked, yeah?"

Jack grinned and searched for the square, brightly coloured book again. It had touched him to see something that had obviously been written for Gallifreyan children, explaining how sonic devices worked in simple terms. He could just imagine the Doctor as a little kid being fascinated by the things.

Gwen carried over another volume to Rose. "Here, got it."

"Brilliant," Rose said with feeling as Gwen sat down on the carpet next to her. "Find the chapter on the Eye of Harmony."

Gwen began flipping the pages, and Jack opened the small book in his hands. "Sonic screwdrivers are one of the most basic tools invented on Gallifrey. They are highly versatile, and can be used for a large variety of applications," he read out in a soft, sing-song voice that made Gwen send him an amused grin.

Rose looked up, smiling as well. "Flip to the part about its energy signature."

Jack searched for the right page. "Here we are… ah, I see what you mean. 'Every sonic screwdriver has its own unique energy signature.' Let me guess, you want to use that to home in on the Doctor?"

Rose nodded. "It's the only thing I can think of apart from him that we could use to… you know, use as an anchor in the other world," she said.

Gwen let out a little triumphant cheer. "Found it! 'The Eye of Harmony'. Ooh, long chapter, what do you need to know?"

Rose leaned over and skimmed the page. "That's it there," she pointed. She looked up at Gwen. "The Eye of Harmony is an… an exploding star," she gestured a bit self-consciously, the words sounding odd coming from her instead of the Doctor. "It's been suspended in time, just at the moment where it would turn into a black hole – and that's what powers the TARDIS, essentially," she finished, and pushed some hair behind her ear.

Gwen's eyes went wide. "There's an exploding star…. In this ship?"

"Oh it's quite safe! And the ship is so big, I haven't even seen it yet, the Doctor just told me about it once." She pointed at the book again. "Anyway, it says here that the Eye on every TARDIS is just a… a duplicate or a piece of the original Eye on Gallifrey… only…" she trailed off.

"Only there's only this one left now," Jack added. "So how will that help?"

"Well," Rose began slowly, running her finger down the page in Gwen's book. "The Eye has a specific energy signature, so that it wouldn't accidentally cause a temporal schism should it come into contact with other TARDISes. So you could tell them apart, basically," she said.

Gwen caught on. "So the energy signature in that screwdriver…?"

Rose smiled. "Exactly. He got the sonic from the TARDIS, so the energy signature between them should match. Maybe. I hope."

"And then what?" Jack asked.

Rose pointed at the large, dark pages in front of her. "This is the key," she said, the excitement in her voice now evident. "The, uh, 'Transdimensional Bond' this bloke describes, if I get this correctly, is basically a bridge. It finds two objects, usually the same object in different dimensions, or things that are related, and bonds them." She ran her finger down the page. "It sounds quite experimental and the guy treats it a bit like magic, but I think it might be worth a shot."

Ianto joined them and sat down on the other side of Rose. "So what happens once the objects are bonded?"

Rose flipped the page and pointed to an illustration. "According to this, the bond is created by accessing the time vortex – something the TARDIS can do – and basically, with these calculations, latching on to the objects and creating a bridge between them, allowing someone to use the bond to travel along the bridge."

Gwen glanced over the illustration. "So how would that not tear the walls between the universes?"

"Uh, well," Rose began, flipping another page. "The theory is, that the bond would not breach the walls so much as it would make them non-existent. The bond would create a connection between the walls to make the objects believe they're in the same universe, or something."

"In theory?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

Rose sighed. "I checked the front of the book. It was written at a time when the Time Lords had the 'best' method of travelling between parallel worlds, so no other way was needed. I'm pretty sure this guy was laughed at for even researching his theory. So it's not exactly tested and approved, 'cause there was no need."

Jack put the children's book down and sat down with a sigh. "Well, after a few hours of searching, this is the best theory we've got so far. How about we try it, and if anything goes wrong, we abort and try something else?"

Rose pulled a face. "Yeah, we can't just wing it, I'm afraid. That's the only problem. The bond requires a huge energy surge to get it going."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just say you had an exploding star around here somewhere?"

Rose smiled ruefully. "Yeah, but because it's the TARDIS itself we use as part of the bond, I think the energy needs to come from the outside. Like, we'd need a lightning bolt or something ridiculous like that."

Jack smiled. "Well, that shouldn't be too hard to come by, right?"

"I guess. We might have to monitor the weather a bit and see where we could fly her to make this work," Rose said slowly.

"What about on the Doctor's end? Would he need a lightning bolt, too?"

"I think, 'cause we'd been the ones initiating the bond, he would only be our anchor." Rose sighed in frustration and put the giant book aside. She flopped with her back against the couch. "I know this sounds like a lot of 'if's and 'maybe's, but honestly, it's the best we got so far."

Jack clapped his hands together and smiled. "Well! I'd say we deserve a break after this breakthrough!"

Rose glanced at the books around her. "You guys go ahead, I'll just…"

"Oh no, don't you start, missy, we're getting food and drinks and you're coming with us. Ianto: pizza! Gwen: wine! The good one from the vault. Let's go people!"

He gathered up a weakly protesting Rose and led his team out of the TARDIS. Rose shot him pleading looks, and when Gwen and Ianto were out of earshot, she held him back. "Jack, I can't take a break. I'm running out of time."

He grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Rose, we've been searching for hours. You need a break. You still look weak from whatever hell you've been through, and I'm making sure you don't drop from exhaustion long before that vortex energy can get to you. Okay?"

His voice was gentle, but serious. "Okay," Rose muttered meekly. She looked incredibly tired, and Jack pulled her in a quick hug. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. He slowly rubbed soothing circles on her back. "We've got a plan now, right? We'll set up a weather monitor and have our pizza, so if anything comes up, we'll know immediately."

Rose nodded and pulled away, and arm in arm they walked back to the hub.

X

Soon enough, the Torchwood team and Rose were gathered in a small circle of couch and chairs in the hub, with half-empty pizza boxes strewn between them, and the second bottle of Apalapucian Purple. The atmosphere was loose and relaxed, and Jack enjoyed seeing Rose make friends. She was leaning back on the sofa, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders, telling a wild story where she and the Doctor had met an alien they called the Abzorbaloff. Jack noted the wild gasps, cheers and laughter from everyone were a far shot from the initially fearful reactions of his team. Especially Owen seemed to be hanging on Rose's every word.

After another fit of giggles had subsided, Gwen leaned forward and narrowed her eyes with a smile. "So… you said you'd met my ancestor once? What was she like?"

Rose finished another slice of pizza and looked up with a wistful smile. "Oh, she was amazing. There we were, in Cardiff at Christmas; and suddenly there were ghosts and Charles Dickens, and I was kidnapped, and we had no clue," she laughed.

"Hang on, did you just say Charles Dickens?" Tosh piped up.

"Oh yeah, brilliant man! Got some ideas that night, I think," she grinned.

"So… who was she?"

Rose looked at Gwen, sobering a little. "Gwyneth was the serving girl at a funeral home," she began. At the mention of her name, Owen and Tosh broke out in fits of giggles once again.

Gwen punched Owen in the arm. "Oi! It was like 150 years ago, I don't wanna know what your ancestors were called! Probably Fitzgerald or something," she pouted and grabbed her glass.

Rose raised hers as well. "Yeah, you leave her alone, she saved the world!"

"There, you hear?" Gwen cried.

Owen grinned. "Whatever you say, Gwyneth," he muttered, and Tosh nearly choked on her pizza.

Rose then launched into the story of the ghosts in Cardiff, and Jack leaned back, sipping on his wine, enjoying the happy atmosphere.

It was quite late when something finally went wrong. Ianto had basically fallen asleep, Tosh had already excused herself, and it was only him, Owen and Gwen trading stories; Jack was so engrossed that he didn't notice Rose drifting off and becoming quiet. Owen had tried (and failed) to flirt with her all evening, and was now trying to rope her back into the conversation. He said something casual and touched her arm, when Rose suddenly became stiff at his touch. She gasped and sucked in a sharp breath. Jack was instantly on alert, fear cutting through the slight tipsiness. He stared at Rose, whose eyes seemed to glaze over with a golden sheen.

She stared at Owen, who hastily removed his hand. Her face became puzzled, then infinitely sad. "I'm so sorry," she said, her voice sounding strangely detached.

"W-what for?" Owen asked, clearly spooked now.

Rose reached out and stroked her hand just over his cheek. Jack saw him shiver, and felt something ripple through the air. "I am so sorry," Rose repeated. "You will die twice." Her face became confused again, as if that statement meant just as little to her as to everyone else.

Owen's eyes had gone wide. Rose's eyes fluttered closed and her hand went to her head. She sank down and Owen just managed to hold her up right when she was about to fall. Jack quickly jumped up and came over to sit next to her, holding her steady. Owen immediately let go of her as if he'd been burnt. Gwen stared at them with wide-eyed shock.

Rose mumbled something beneath her breath, leaning in to Jack. "So tired," he heard, and he lowered her down to lie on the couch. He got up, raised her legs to lie comfortably, and grabbed a nearby blanket to drape over her protectively.

Owen and Gwen had been quiet during all of this, but now Gwen piped up silently. "Jack…?"

Jack waved her off. "She… just needs to rest. Long day," he muttered. "We should go. Ianto, come on, wake up…" he softly touched his shoulder to rouse him. Ianto shook himself awake and blinked.

"Party's over," Owen said coldly, nearly choking on the words. He grabbed his jacket and left abruptly. Ianto frowned, but when he looked at Jack in question, he only shook his head. He didn't want to have to explain this. He didn't even know how he could. Ianto lowered his head sadly and turned away to leave the hub as well. Jack turned off the small light by the couch and stepped away, noticing that Gwen was still lingering.

"Do you think it's true? What she said?" she asked quietly.

Jack rubbed a hand over his face as they both stood there, watching Rose sleeping. She looked so frail, yet she was now possessing a power beyond any of them. Jack had no doubt that Rose had seen Owen's future, no matter how little sense it made at this moment.

"I… I don't know, Gwen… She has changed, and I don't know exactly how or what that means now. But," his voice became steadier. "I know she's still Rose, no matter what." He gazed at Rose, sighing softly.

Gwen looked at him for a long while. "You love her," she stated quietly.

Jack smiled, his eyes not leaving her sleeping form. "Yes," he said softly. When Gwen took a deep breath next to him, crossing her arms, he turned to her. "Not like… that," he added quickly. "She and the Doctor belong together, Gwen. I've never met anyone like them, and I likely never will again."

Gwen smiled. "Judging from her, he must really be something," she said.

"One of a kind," Jack said wistfully. He put an arm around her and together they left the strange, new Rose to sleep in peace.