Daniel stood in front of the mirror carefully rehearsing his first words of welcome to his home. He still had trouble believing this night had finally arrived. It felt as if ten life times had passed since that day standing on the sands of Dårlig Ulv-Stranden in Norway. It would be ten more before he ever went back. Now, all these months later, he stood in front of his own mirror, in his own bedroom, in his own house. Home, not house, he corrected. Despite the lack of faith in him expressed by his progenitor, the best part came from knowing, for the most part, he'd done this on his own.
Everyone from London, including Marcus was coming to see his success tonight. Rose was coming. Now that he was healthy, the thought of having her close again raised a fiery ache that threatened to swallow him whole. He could solve any issue when he wrapped his arms around her beautiful body. He'd proved that at the conference in London. Things felt so right when they strolled along the Thames and hiked around the estate. Leaving her behind hurt, but after tonight, that would never happen again.
First, he would unveil the home that he built for his pink and yellow girl, and then he would take her into the office where she would be surrounded by the images of the TARDIS interior. There, with only the baby coral as a witness, he would ask her to marry him.
Daniel stepped back from the full length mirror to better study his image. "You were wrong about me, Doctor," he muttered to his image. "Where ever you are, but you should know, I win." Daniel turned and walked out of the bedroom.
"Addie!" Daniel yelled the second his feet hit the bottom stair. Daniel felt like an overgrown teenager calling for his mom as he crossed the lounge.
"In the kitchen, Mr Daniel."
Even after three days in the house, the scent of paint still clung to the air in the former shell of a house. He stopped to run his fingers across the mantle, and walked around to make sure the pictures chronicling the dramatic changes were all in place. Daniel was proud; not just of the photos, but at his skill as a photographer. He couldn't wait for everyone to see the display. He chuckled at the picture taped to the bathroom door showing how the room had its fixtures ransacked before he'd bought the place. Now the necessaries, as Addie called them, were fit for an actual lord.
Addie's domain shined. She and the designer created a thoroughly modern kitchen that evoked a true country feeling. Daniel tried to make sure he crept as quietly as possible across the new kitchen stone floor tiles so that Adela wouldn't hear him. He'd almost managed to reach the German woman when she turned pointing a paring knife at him.
"I raised two boys, and a husband, you can't sneak up on me." She laughed at his embarrassed look.
"You can't raise a husband, Addie, his mother does that." Daniel laughed.
"So, you say. You wait until you're a husband." She laughed again and turned back to apply the final touches to the nibbles tray.
"Are we almost ready?" he asked.
"No, Mr Daniel," she replied with a grin, "we are completely ready. At least, we will be when you put that punch bowl on the buffet table - please."
"Addie, do me a favour."
"What?"
"Stop calling me, Mr Daniel. After all this time, and everything that has happened it doesn't sound right."
"I can do that, I think," she responded gently.
"Thanks, and, I just wanted to say, before everyone comes - thank you. I don't think I could have done any of this without you. I know when we started, it was your job, but..."
"Daniel." Adela stressed his name when she turned to face him. "It stopped being my job a very long time ago. Come," she said holding her arms out.
Without hesitation, Daniel walked into her arms. "Donna would have really loved you. Everyone thinks you're my secret mum, and - I think maybe you are - in a way. My mum. At least, you are the closest thing to a mum that I have in this universe. I couldn't have done any of this without you. Two aliens against on an adventure, eh."
"Two idiots," Adela repeated their joke as she tightened her hug. "You don't talk about her as much, your Donna." She pulled back to study his face. "But you still miss her, Ja."
"Ja, but it doesn't hurt so much. I'm still working on forgiving him like you said, but it's better. A lot better, I think."
"Ja, I think so too."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure. What do you want know."
"If you met someone and fell in love again, would you feel guilty or would you take a chance?"
"Hmm, not that it would happen, but if did, I would take the chance. My Edgar is gone, and there is nothing I can do to change that. He will always be my heart, but hearts grow. My heart grew for you after losing my boys. Did I tell you, Georg's wife was pregnant when they ..." She spoke wistfully and then took a deep breath in an obvious effort to control her emotions. "Now, that's done. My heart would do the same if I met someone who would love me." She patted his arm.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to ... Thanks."
"You did nothing to upset me, goose. Have you taken your evening medicine? You don't want Dr Jones to be upset when he gets here."
"Yes, Mum, I have and changed my patch." Daniel snorted. "There is no way, I am messing up getting my licenses back. Marcus yanked them before I even had the chance to use them. Not to mention the fact that it lets you off the hook, or that I will finally get to ride my new motorcycle. It will be nice to actually try out the fancy helmet that I spent a fortune for. There are rear view mirrors in the bloody thing"
"Just don't you go wild. Now, let me see you." She laughed. Daniel held his arms and turned dutifully for inspection. Clean shaven with a brand new haircut, his snug, black jeans showed how the last weeks of working on the house had toned his bum. The open-necked blue Oxford shirt and dress jacket accentuated his slim physique. He'd even spritzed on a little of Howie's long forgotten cologne.
"So - what do ya think?"
"I think, Mrs McDougall will chase you around the house or maybe that Nora. They'll all have a hard time focusing on the changes you've made to this place." Adela laughed.
"So, it's good, yeah?" he asked a little worried that he'd gone overboard with the cologne.
"Ja, it's good. Miss Rose will love it." Adela reassured him.
"Good." He waggled his eyebrows at her and then drew her in his arms for one more hug. Adela pulled a face as the whroop sound of an engine filled the house and then faded. "That crazy doorbell. Your guests are here."
"Future TARDIS doorbell. Took me a week to get the recording right. Oh, I nearly forgot, I invited someone else," he said with a note of pride in his voice.
"Who?" Addie caressed his cheek and then gave him a quick peck.
"Bloke I met in the village when I did the shopping. I met him before, in London. We played pool. You'll like him. He's from Canada," he explained walking away. "Who would have thought, Addie." He turned walking backwards. "I'm the bloody lord of the manor - with guests." He grinned.
"Yeah. Go answer the door," she called to his disappearing back. "The lord of the manor, with a new guest to stir up trouble," Adela muttered to herself.
o0o
Do you have your GPS turned on, Jake?" Rose asked from the back seat of the SUV.
"I know where I'm going, Rose. I've been here a few times now." Jake had no intention of letting his boss know, but he truly did hate driving country roads in the dark. He glanced over at Nick who sat stone faced with his eyes glued out the window. Jake knew his partner well enough to know that Nick was expecting an alien life-form to leap from the side of the road intend on thrusting them down the side of a mountain or into an energy beam to transmat them off planet. He didn't need his boss' daughter ranting at him too.
"You know, Pete said, "The Aldini made contact recently. This would make a great first contact spot. Nobody around to interfere."
"Can we not talk about aliens, please. Just for one night, I'd like us to have an alien free night. Even if it is in the back of beyond." Jackie fussed.
"I don't know. Daniel assured everyone they were friendly but -"
"Peter Allen Tyler!"
"Right, sorry. So, Jake. What's that place really look like?" Pete asked.
"It's ..." Jake hesitated. "It's nice - now. But, man - the first time I saw, it was a complete dump. Someone had even ripped the fixtures out of the loos. Didn't he send you pictures? I get a new set every other day."
"Yeah, well you can always fake pictures can't you," Marcus piped in.
Rose ignored the conversation upfront. She'd spent weeks in the field dealing with aliens, people who saw aliens and the worst; people who thought they saw aliens, but really needed to be sectioned. For the moment, she preferred to give the murky landscape her full attention. Despite all the conversations with Daniel, she's never actually expected the silly git to take himself to as her mother called it, the middle of the back of beyond. Rose glanced out at the black sky in time to see rain laden clouds push across the moon shutting out even that source of light. Her thoughts centred on Daniel. The further they drove from civilisation, the more she realised that she was so tired of chasing after a face with two hearts. She reached for her mother's hand grateful to feel her comforting squeeze back.
"I don't understand. Why couldn't he at least settle in Glesca, Torchwood is there?" she fumed.
"That's why he didn't settle there. Now, young lady," Jackie fussed, "you plant a smile on your face and keep it there. It's time to get over being angry. He's made his choice, and it's done. It's not like he doesn't come back to London. He spent every free second with, you and I didn't hear you complain about his choices while he was snogging your face off."
"I really thought he'd change his mind, and come home."
"Rose," Pete turned to face his stepdaughter, "we talked about this. You need to understand; this is his home. He still comes when we need him, but he has a right to live where he wants."
The rain started five minutes later with big fat raindrops splatting against the window. First one then another followed in rapid succession beginning a downpour. The car grew silent during the drive through the evening listening to the windshield wipers slap back and forth as the rain pelted against the windows. Jake chortled followed by everyone else laughing at the sight of a large sign on the left side of the road illuminating the night.
"I think we have arrived." Marcus chuckled.
"What gave it away," Pete laughed.
Jake pulled a face when Nick elbowed him, teasing him. "Now there's a beacon for the lost; great big sign blinking: Jake, turn here."
"You get the idea he was afraid you'd miss the turn in the dark," Marcus added.
"Very funny, all of you," he moaned while turning up the narrow road for the kilometre drive up the narrow tree lined lane. They all gasped, unsure what surprised them more; the cars filling the clearing or Daniel's house lighting up the night. The wheels crunched on the gravel as Jake pulled to a stop next to a plumbers lorry. Jackie was about to comment when the front door flew open to reveal Daniel standing in the light.
Jackie squealed as she dashed through the rain, "Come here you plum." She yelled, pulling him in a hug.
"Hi, Jackie. Welcome to my house. That really sounds good doesn't it. Never thought, I'd like hearing myself say that, and now I've said all night," he babbled with Jackie's arms tightly hugging him. "Pete, Marcus, Nick welcome," he greeted when he pried Jackie's arms off. "Jakie boy, told ya it would look good when I finished. Come meet everyone." He pumped hands with excitement of finally having everyone in his home.
The sounds of his guests' laughter and Adela's squeal of delight when she spotted Jackie and Pete faded when he saw Rose standing in the doorway. Everything from the way her hair fell around her face accenting the delicate curve of her jaw, to the delicate way her neck met her shoulders even the shape of her eyes to his breath away. The same outfit that she'd worn all those months ago, still accentuated her curves taking his breath away, just as it did on their first magical night. A tear drop necklace graced her neck. Daniel remembered that necklace. The Doctor bought it the day she'd purchased the bezoolium for her mother. Part of him wondered why she would wear it, but then she smiled and he forgot. He held his hand out wiggling his fingers to entice her closer. She hesitated, but then her hand was in his, and he pulled her in his arms. He wanted to revel in her scent and the way she felt when she nestled against him.
"I have so missed you," he whispered against her ear.
"Yeah," she started only to hear Marcus disturb their moment.
"I hate to be a bother, but the quicker we talk, Daniel, the quicker I get to eat. The food smells delicious, and I'm bloody starvin'." The doctor slapped Daniel on the shoulder redirecting him up the stairs.
"Right," Daniel chuckled and then kissed her head.
"I will be right back, promise not to leave?" he muttered softly against her ear. He was rewarded when she pressed a hand against his cheek. Between his nerves and fear of failure, Daniel's heart pounded in his ears as he headed up the steps to his office with Marcus. This was the first time since London that Marcus actually would examine him. Since the day Adela fussed at him for working too hard, reminding him of everything he could lose, he'd followed every single directive required of him. Monks lived less rigid lives than he had for the last thirty-five days. Everything from his licenses to drive, to the freedom to ask Rose to marry him road on Marcus' findings.
""I have to tell you, I am shocked," Marcus continued nudging Daniel in the side. "This is more than nice, Daniel you have done a remarkable job on this place," Marcus said as they climbed the stairs. "Did you take all these pictures."
"Yeah, Nora - she's the decorator - framed them for me.," he answered whilst opening the door to his newly finished office, "She's says that I have a natural eye," he laughed. "Somehow, I never thought that would be a term someone applied to me."
"Yeah, well you are one helluva photographer." Daniel stepped around him and led the way to his office to let the first outsider enter his space. He smiled when Marcus let out a low whistle of appreciation.
"Daniel - This is bloody spectacular. It looks like some alien spaceship. Who did the painting?" Daniel tossed his head. He couldn't resist rocking on his broke on his heels.
"I did most of it, and it is alien. It's an accurate a portrayal of the inside of the TARDIS as Rose saw it."
Marcus turned in a circle taking in the art work. "Where did you score the lab equipment?" he asked.
The look on his face told Daniel he already knew the answer, but he gave it anyway . "I sort of recycled - when I helped Jake with the upgrades in Glesca. I managed to salvage the outdated stuff, reconfigured and re-programmed, and now it's top of the line."
Marcus walked around the office taking in the remarkable amount of equipment shoved in this space all without looking cluttered. Three computer screens adorned one wall for Daniel's lab work, photography and programs for tracking any alien activity. A laptop rested on his desk. The mini lab stretched across the counter on the wall opposite the computers. Marcus walked to the end wall intrigued by the terrarium setup containing the fragile pink TARDIS coral. The special lighting arrangement mixed with a fine mist cast a strange glow around the little crèche. "Is something buzzing in here?" Marcus asked, reaching to rub his temple.
"Yeah, that might be a little off-putting at first. It's just the baby coral reaching out for a psychic connection." Daniel flashed a grin as he rolled up his sleeve. "So, what's first, my blood or my blood pressure?"
"You know, there was a time when that answer would have gotten you sectioned.
"What?" Daniel arched an eyebrow.
"Baby coral - psychic connection? Believe me when I tell you, five years ago - straight to the mental ward." Marcus chuckled. "Now - it makes perfect sense. And, it's your blood pressure," Marcus said as pulled out the cuff.
"Has Rose said anything about me?" Daniel plopped down in on the edge of his desk with his arm stuck out. "She seemed - quiet." He glanced away trying hard to hide his worry.
"Well, I can safely say that she's not happy about you wanting to stay up here. She wants you to come home." Marcus wrapped the cuff around Daniel's arm.
"Right, but when she sees the mountains, she'll understand. She will. It will be fine. How's my pressure?"
"Normal." Marcus passed the bioscanner over Daniel forwarded the data to his laptop.
The exam that followed was quick but thorough beginning with shining a penlight first in one and then the other moving on to test Daniel's reflexes. By the time that Marcus made Daniel stand on his heels and then toes, the scan results appeared on the doctor's computer. The silence in the room added to Daniel's worry, but finally Marcus turned the screen for Daniel and sat down across from him. Daniel sagged with relief when he saw Marcus smile.
"Right, first, thank you for following the restrictions. I know how hard it was." Marcus began.
"Thirty-five days. Thirty-six if you count this one." Daniel interrupted.
Marcus smiled, more than aware how difficult the last months had been for Daniel. "First, the good news. Other than your metabolic read outs, your bioscans are stable. You seem well on your way to adjusting to this universe. Adela did call me a few weeks ago, to tell me that she was worried about you. She said that you were times that you were very hyper, working much longer than I wanted you to, and then you became inordinately tired. It's one of the reasons that I asked Pete to bring you to London for the conference. You were working to hard. I needed a way to do a physical on you without you getting bent out of shape."
"Yeah, Addie, yelled at me before I left. She told me to take walks and to use her words: chill out Mr Daniel, things will work out," Daniel mimicked.
"I have a feeling she said more than that. Since then, what ever Adela said to you, you have done well. The last record of a Jacksonian seizure was six weeks ago. Do you remember?"
"Not really. I remember one day at the end of term when I came home with a nasty headache. I still tend to get them, so I don't always tell Addie; I don't want her to worry. I'm pretty sure, I didn't tell her about that one."
"Yeah, you didn't which is why that wrist monitor," Marcus pointed to the device Daniel still wore, "still comes in handy. It keeps you honest. Whether you tell anyone or not, the data doesn't lie, and Adela is very good about using the phone transmitter. Bless her heart, every night when your sleeping, she resends the day's info just to make sure what I get is accurate." Marcus couldn't help chuckling. "Anyway, I changed the patches to a higher concentration of acetylcholine and had Jake deliver them without telling you."
Daniel straightened. "Can you just do that? Why didn't you tell me this in London?"
"Because you would have just obsessed about not recovering, and it seems to have solved that particular issue. However, I want to wait a month before we try cutting the strength back. It will give the neurons longer to stabilise. The bigger problem now is your metabolism. It concerns me that after all this time, your blood sugar still tends to take a big dip late in the afternoon. Although it's far less severe than when you first showed up, it's enough to concern me. I'm worried that it may always remain an issue. So, you are stuck with the dietary regimen and testing for the foreseeable future. Keep sending me your blood sugars. With this little lab, I should be able to trust you not to fake your results."
"Well, I can live with that. Guess I have to, don't I." Daniel flashed a smile.
"What else - go on - say it," Daniel said hopefully, waggling his eyebrows at Marcus. "You know you want to."
"I. Will." Marcus started slowly almost dreading the next words. "Loosen the reins. Just don't take that as permission to run bonkers. And - "
"And ..." Daniel encouraged. "You can use your license. Just - Daniel, don't go crazy," he pleaded.
"Yes!" Daniel jumped up. "You - are my new best friend. Well, right up there with Addie, Jake and Pete. You are in the gang - my gang, I have a gang."
"Yeah, screw up and you'll find yourself back at Torchwood in infirmary, and then I'm sure, you will kick me out of the gang. Daniel, you need to understand, I will not okay you for field duty. There isn't going to be any chasing aliens. You can keep going on as an advisor, but that's it. And you still need to get a proper nights rest."
"But I can drive, right?"
"You can drive, and ride that bike you bought," Marcus affirmed.
"When can I go on the occasional mission? I mean, sometimes it's easier for me to be on site to understand what happened and what species is involved." Daniel stood up to roll down his sleeve. "I can't be stuck forever."
"For as long as you have headaches and your blood sugar bottoms out like it does, I have a problem with you going. You have any idea why that's still a problem?"
"No, Addie makes sure that I don't forget to eat, I haven't really cheated. My guess is Davros' weapon blast interfered with the process finishing correctly. If it hasn't corrected by now, you're right. It might stay an issue." Daniel blew hard. "It'll be fine, it will. One thing, Marcus, well two actually."
"What?" Marcus' expression showed his concern.
"Don't tell Rose. Let me go on the occasional trip that involves no chasing through woods so to speak and I. Will. Follow the rest of the restrictions without argument."
"Daniel, Rose is already suspicious. You're going to have to tell her sooner or later that you are not invincible."
"I will, I promise but in my own time and my own way. I'm not quite the idiot everyone thinks I am, I know something is off with us. We need to build more, but I will not have her mixing up pity with love. I was going to - never mind." Daniel quietly sucked against his teeth.
"No one thinks you are an idiot. Far from it, you just tend to ignore things. And,yes, if you can manage not to hit the floor for awhile longer, I will agree to the occasional quiet field trip."
"Good, I will work the rest out." Daniel smiled.
"Now, can I finally eat? " Marcus laughed.
"Oooh, right. Yes - guests. I have guests. Can't say that enough either."
Daniel forced the disappointment away, made sure his usual grin was in place and walked out of the office to the stair landing. He chuckled when he saw everyone including Adela gathered at the foot of the stairs waiting. Without a second of reservation, he buried Marcus' concerns, grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and waved.
"I can drive. I am a free man, " he announced to a round of applause. "No one, especially Addie, has to drive me any more."
Adela's gleeful squeal brought a round of laughter from everyone.
Daniel bounded down the stairs two at time, grabbed Rose in his arms and twirled her around the foyer. "See, even without music, I can dance. You want to know something else?"
"What?" She laughed.
"I've a brand new motorcycle at the side of the house. Bought it when I was at the mansion. Jake and the boys brought it up for me. Fancy an inaugural ride in the moonlight?"
"It's raining, remember." Rose chuckled.
"Where's that sense of adventure?"
"Not dressed in a silk blouse and skirt." She laughed.
"Well then," Daniel took her hand, "come with me, I have something to show you." He flashed a cheeky grin at Pete and Jackie as he pulled her away, nearly dragging Rose up the stairs to the office. "Close your eyes and prepare to enter my den of iniquity," he said with an arched brow.
"Is it bigger on the inside," she asked. The tip of her tongue poked slightly through her teeth when she grinned back.
For just a moment, he was back in the other universe pushing the TARDIS door open for her. This was how it was supposed to be. "Maybe." Daniel stepped behind her and place both hands over her eyes. "No peeking." She couldn't see the delighted expression on Daniel's face. He guided her giggling inside the room toward the terrarium. "Now," he said moving his hands, "you can see."
The delighted look on her face sent his heart racing. "You built her a nest," she murmured in awe. "Oh - it's beautiful. I can feel her; she's trying to sing." Rose traced the age of the glass lovingly. "Look at you, you beauty. She's bigger, isn't she? " Rose looked around the room. Her grin broadened. "This room is amazin'. You nested her between the struts, like home. It is beyond amazin'."
"Thanks, I had help with the painting. Nora is a wonderful artist."
"Nora?" She tilted her head slightly. "Yeah, Howie recommended her. She is a brilliant interior designer. She and Addie really got on well together. Between the two of them, they pulled this place together.
"Great - that's great." She turned back to the terrarium. "Look at you, you are growing so big aren't you," she murmured to the coral. "What's in the mist?" She turned back to Daniel.
"I cut a small section of the wrapping, dissolved it in deionized water, and bombarded it with rift energy. Setting up the mister took a little configuring. It wanted to put out too much water, but it's right, now -"
"Go back, you found a source of rift energy up here?"
"Yeah, a tiny leak left over from sealing off the universe, but yeah, I did."
"Why didn't you report it to Torchwood? You should have." Her voice rose an octave.
"I don't see why. It's harmless. Do you want to hear or be an offended Torchwood operative?"
"Sorry, habit. Finish telling me. I really do want to hear."
"Good, that's good. The lighting was tricky. I mean the difference between Gallifrey and here is huge to say the least. It took a bit to adjust it to mimic the right wave length. It required 625nm to interact with the mist, and now - it's feeding her." Daniel wrapped his arms around Rose and rested his chin on her head. "I think - she's ready," he said, sounding very much like a proud dad.
"For what?" Rose reached to touch the coral.
"To shatterfry the plasmic shell. Using Donna's directions, I've built a dimensional stabiliser, and modified my own sonic. I've already set the foldback harmonic to 36.3, and she was right. We can accelerate her growth by the power of 59. It's bloody brilliant."
"How long before she would be fully grown?"
"Well, left like that, our kids would get to use it, but with rift energy feeding her, a couple of years for the shell and another few months for the interior. So I'm guessin' three years," Daniel answered proudly. He slid the sonic in her hand and then rested his hand on hers. "Ready?"
"Wait." She pulled away, turning to face him. "You intend to live up here - for three years?" Rose's tone suddenly turned cold. "
"Well, yeah. This is our home. Wait 'til you see the mountains. Even with the heat wave they are tipped in snow. In the winter, I'll be able to close my eyes and picture Gallifrey," he said softly. "You'll love it."
Rose slipped out from his arms and stepped away, careful to avoid upsetting anything near the terrarium. She left the sonic next to the crèche. The action left him confused with his heart pounding in his chest. "What makes you think I want to live up here?"
"You talked about it," Daniel answered perplexed. He had no idea what he'd done wrong, but this wasn't how he rehearsed this conversation at all. "You told him ... you told him that you wished, you could see Gallifrey. Rose, look out the window. Those mountains are a lot like them."
"Yeah, see, here's the thing, Daniel - there not on Gallifrey are they? They're in Scotland," she sneered.
"Yeah, and I want to raise our kids to closest facsimile that I could find. I've checked, Rose. We can have kids, and this - is a great place to raise them.
"You made that decision for me, have you?" Rose's voice grew cold. " We've never even talked about kids. Do you really think, knowing what kind of life we lead, that I would want to have kids?"
"Okay, yeah, I just ... " he stuttered. "Rose, you talked about doing the domestic thing with him. I have those memories tucked in my head. You dreamt of kids with him. I did this for you."
"Did you?" Rose retorted. "Daniel." Rose's long tamped down anger flooded through her words. "You are not the only one who has changed, so have I. You didn't ask me what I wanted. Not once. You just assumed that I would want to live up here. You just assumed I wanted your kids. That's a lot of assumptions made from a man who didn't even have the ... From a man who didn't have the decency to tell me that he was leaving me."
"I didn't leave - I was trying to protect you. If this thing failed, I didn't want you to watch me die. You've seen enough horror. Pete and Jackie understood why I left. Hell, even Jake understood." How did this turn pear shaped so fast? Daniel thought, fighting to remain calm. Every doubt that he'd buried rose up to hit him full force. He searched her face for some sign that his pink and yellow girl understood, but all he saw was her anger.
"Who the bloody hell gave you, the idea that I need protecting, 'cos I'm here to tell you flat out, they were wrong. I'm a big girl, now. I make my own choices and my own decisions, and I haven't needed protecting for a long, long time. What I need, is a partner. Someone to take my hand and run with me. I thought that's what you wanted," Rose snapped. "I want you to come back to Torchwood and help defend us - unless ..." Her expression darkened as a thought suddenly struck.
"What?" Unsure of where to put his hands, Daniel crossed his arms. "Unless what?" he repeated when she didn't answer.
"You actually haven't broken the rules they gave you, have you? Not even one?"
Completely confused now, he tried to understand the switch. "No, can't say I wasn't tempted, though. I kept a picture of you in my head. Next to you, the thought of splattering myself along these roads just didn't seem a good idea."
"So, taking a few risks here and there are too much for you now?"
"Rose - what are you sayin' 'cos I don't understand."
"I'm sayin' that maybe too much human DNA got mixed up with his. Maybe - maybe all that human DNA left you with the tendency to be a coward," she snarled. "Because, I think Davros' ship was all you had. Basically - you're just a bloody coward. You're afraid. And - you proved it when you ran up here to hide. You are one cowardly bastard for walking away while I was gone. He would never do that."
Daniel stared open mouthed feeling his heart break, and shatter into more pieces than the coral's shell would eventually do. He wanted to breathe, but he couldn't. Nothing would come. He tried to suck in something, but it just burned when he pulled air through his nose. His brain told him to tell her everything, but he couldn't. The wrong words came.
"Yeah, but" he finally uttered quietly, "he did leave you, didn't he? He just gave you excuses about the dimensions closing and universes imploding. If he'd wanted, he could have taken you, but well, we know what happened there, don't we. So, instead of being pissed off at him, you just keep trying to turn me into him. I'm not. I never will be. Hell, I don't want to be him, because I've turned out damn good!" He swallowed thickly as he stepped closer. "I just realised something."
"What?" she growled.
"I thought, I just need to work on my kissing technique, that's why you were slow to kiss back, but then you did, and I soared. I understood when you didn't want to go to bed that night, I did. I just took a shower, But, it was all a lie. You weren't snogging me at all, were you? That last day in London when you said, you wanted to be with me, you lied. Damn it." He turned away scrubbing his hands across his face. He was positive a black hole would open up beneath his feet. When he turned back, his voice trembled with rage. "For as beautiful as you are and for as much as I love you, and I do love you, Rose Marion Tyler, you are one selfish bitch!"
The slap that rose up from Rose came from the part of Jackie Tyler that lived in her daughter's inner most soul. The blow hit him so hard that his ear rang.
Daniel's hand flew to his face. "Right then." He stepped back. "Enjoy the party. Spend the night. Enjoy my bed. You don't have to worry, I damn well won't be in it." He turned, grabbed a leather jacket that he'd tossed earlier on a chair and headed for the stairs with Rose close behind.
She stood at the top of the stairs as he stormed down the steps. "Daniel, don't you walk away from me! Don't you dare!" Ignoring the concerned looks and questions of his stunned guests, Daniel grabbed the helmet and keys resting on the sideboard, and stormed out the front door shoving a man aside as he went. Seconds later, the sound of a motor bike roaring away filled the night air.
"What the bloody hell did you do?" A stunned Jackie whirled angrily on her daughter who now stood silent behind her mother with mascara stained tears running down her face.
"Mum I ..."
"What the hell are you doing here?" Pete roared at the stranger standing in the doorway.
"It looks like I'm saving his arse from wrecking," the stranger responded as he turned and headed for his own bike.