A/N: I am so sorry that this was left in such an abandoned state. I honestly thought I'd finished this one. I bounced across all ready to write my next fic - something in the Gal'Verse (oh ... not using that one again) - and discovered that this was actually incomplete.

I. Well. I am not terribly happy with this, but it does have to end in order for me to continue. I also have rusty fingers and brain from not writing for a few weeks, so it's nowhere near my finest submission. In time I will rip this one apart and fix it up.

I honestly didn't know how to properly finish this one ... All I really wanted was to play about with the three of them, a bit ... sigh. Sorry if it's anticlimactic. I'll run with the Moffat curse on this one - Start off out the gate running, and fall apart at the end! HA!

Thanks for reading ... it's appreciated.

~~oooOOOooo~~

The scanners at the wall beeped a synchronized series of computer bleeps and chimes. The sound had the Doctor immediately straighten up to a stand. His suddenly focused and determined expression belying the embarrassed posture of only a second ago.

"Looks like the tests are complete, Rose Tyler," he said with a waggle in his brow and a curl in his tongue. "Let's see if your Torchwood medics know what they're talking about, shall we?"

Rose let her eyes flick up as Donna approached the gurney. Without thinking about it, she shuffled to one side and petted the mattress in a silent invitation for the fiery redhead to take a seat next to her.

"Don't mind if I do," Donna chipped with a wide smile as she turned her back to the gurney and used the pull of her arms to haul herself up onto the bed beside Rose. She let out a long groan as she strained for lift. "I'm getting' old."

The Doctor let out a sharp and singular laugh at that from across the room.

Donna moaned a sound of annoyance when the Doctor followed up his laugh by citing his own age in comparison to hers. "By Human standards, Spaceman," she hollered in response followed by a roll of her eyes. "I'm fast approaching middle-age."

"For your time period, perhaps," he mumbled in response as he analysed the data on both the monitor and printouts. "Give it a few centuries and the life expectancy of humans increases exponentially." He glanced at the papers in his hand and sniffed. "By their standards in comparison to yours, you're in your mid-teens."

"Which isn't an age I ever want to revisit," Rose said with a moan and a roll in her eyes.

Donna lifted a brow and looked her over with a critical eye. "You're only a week out of it, aren't you?"

Rose answered with little more than a facetious: "Oh. Ha. Ha."

"Now. Dumbo over there," Donna continued with a slide of her eyes toward the Doctor. "Is, what, a toddler by his people's standards."

"Teenager," the Doctor corrected distractedly. He then blinked his eyes slowly closed and lifted his head to the ceiling in consideration of the correction. In short time he opened his eyes again and lowered his gaze to the monitor. "Well. Then again. I'm in my tenth incarnation, so that would put me closer to the other side of middle-aged." He looked back down at the papers in his hand and shrugged. "Age-wise, however. Teenager. Definitely a teen."

"It'd be nice if I could disagree with that." She looked to Rose with a waggle in her brow. "The Doctor: Teenaged hellion flitting across the universe, one emo mood swing at a time."

"And not a single pimple," Rose remarked jealously.

"Well no," Donna agreed. "At least not on his face." She raked her eyes up and down the pinstriped form across the room and huffed out a breath. "Who knows about the rest of him? Always covered up in fifty layers of clothing. Can't get a look-in on the body of a Time Lord to even tell."

"Are you suggesting you want to see me in all my Time Lord glory, Donna?" he queried carefully as he turned from the monitor and leaned back up against the counter.

"Hold on, what?"

"Well," he drawled with a wince on one side of his face as he folded his arms across his chest and crossed his legs at the ankle. "You were going on about me being fully covered at all times as though it's a disappointment."

Donna's eyes shot wide, but her brows tightened together in a grimace. "Oh. I think we are in the midst of a serious misunderstanding here."

The absolute disgust in her voice gave the Doctor smile. Oh, he was going to run with this. "But you seemed so curious," he remarked gently as he flicked the bottom button of his blazer and gave her a wink. "About what I'm hiding here underneath my suit."

Donna's eyes shot wide. "Oh. Don't you dare."

"…and it would be very remiss of me," he continued as he popped through another button and shifted as though to let the blazer fall from his shoulders. "To not…"

"No!" Donna cried urgently. She lifted her forearm to cover both her eyes. "For the love of every deity across the entire universe, don't show me any part of your skinny self."

"But…"

"But nothing, you bloody plonker," she growled. "For all I know you probably glow or something under that suit, and I don't want to be blinded."

"He doesn't glow," Rose offered with amusement. She then licked a heavy and lazy stroke of her tongue through the space in between her teeth and lips. She released her tongue with a slap. "Okay. Not really. Not unless you count the glow of really white pasty skin that's never seen sunlight."

Donna pursed her lips and lowered her voice in a rather conspiratorial manner. "That bad, huh?"

"It's like staring at the sun," Rose answered back with a smirk and wink toward the Doctor. She waved her hand in front of her eyes. "I'm sure I did permanent retinal damage."

Donna nodded knowingly. "I could believe it."

"Yeah?"

"Well yeah. Look at him." She gestured toward the Doctor, who may have slumped in defeat, but was obviously amused. "Skinny little alien streak of absolutely nothing. What could you even see in that?"

"Oh," Rose sang with a smile. "I dunno."

"If you tell me it's because he has a great sense of humour, or that it's because he's got brains or something like that…"

The Doctor chuckled low. "Are you saying you think I'm smart and funny, then, Donna?"

Her smile brightened. "Of course I am."

"Why thank you. I'm very…"

"Smart arse and funny looking," she concluded cheekily.

The Doctor merely rolled his eyes in response and shook his head. "Anyway. Moving on…"

"Which is something you've never done." She looked to Rose with urging in her eyes. "Which is precisely why you need to set aside your concerns about this River woman and come back to travelling with us on the TARDIS." She thumbed toward the Doctor. "He pines for you, ya know. Pines and cries and…"

"I do not cry, thank you," he shot in with a derisive snort. "Time Lords don't cry."

"The moment I met you you had a tear-streaked face," Donna countered swiftly.

"I'd just said goodbye to her," the Doctor countered sadly. "I may have suffered a slight lapse in my otherwise immaculate hold on my emotions…"

"And then you didn't stop talking about her, did you? Her name was Rose," she recited with a break in her voice. "My friend. She's gone. I lost her." She gave him a look of warning. "And don't let me get into the whole draining of the Thames and you standing under the rush of water like you were ready to go thing."

Donna paused to let the Doctor comment, and then let out a sigh when all he did was swallow thickly. She looked back to Rose. "His hearts were shattered." She inhaled a deep breath and released it shortly. "Still are to some degree. If you let him leave you now, there'll be nothing left of him to take over to the other side of the wall."

Rose sniffed. Her voice was barely a whisper. "This is emotional blackmail."

"Okay then," Donna said softly. "Then how about you? How much of you will be left if you let him leave you here?"

Rose's eyes were fixed on the man that stood less than ten feet away from her in a slouch both despondent and defeated at the possibility presented. When she answered, it was on a voice so quiet it was barely audible. She held out her hand to him. "There's been nothing left of me since he said goodbye to me on Bad Wolf Bay."

The Doctor immediately rocketed himself forward to take her hand in his and press her palm in between his two hearts. His eyes reddened with remembrance of his own as he lifted his hand to cup her cheek. "No more Goodbyes," he sighed sadly. "Please, Rose. I'm so tired of always having to say goodbye."

"Well in that case…" Rose laughed softly, despite the tear that spilled out over her cheek and then his thumb. "Hello."

"Hi," he answered back with an equal break in his voice to hers.

She leaned into his hand and looked into his eyes with longing. Slowly, her lips stretched into a smile. "How would you fancy having a repeat passenger on board the old girl?"

He stroked his thumb along her cheek and nodded a light bob of his head. "I'd love it."

"Me too," she said with her face brightening.

"So?" He took a hopeful breath. "So you'll come back with me, then?"

"Yeah," she breathed hoarsely. "I'll come."

He moved quickly to thrust his arms forward to circle around her hips. He snatched her off the table and up against his chest, spinning a single twirl in place. Rose had her head thrown backward and her face fractured with a smile of thrill that released a squealing sound of joy that perfectly accented the happy giggle sound that was dancing in the back of the Doctor's throat.

Donna leaned backward onto her arms and looked upon the two of them with a misty eyes and a gentle smile. "Good for you, my skinny alien-boy," she sang softly. "It's about time the universe gave you something back. God only knows you've spent your entire existence giving everything to keeping her safe."

"Don't jinx it, Donna," he warned gently as he let Rose's feet touch and then find purchase on the ground.

Donna rolled her eyes as she leaned forward and allowed herself to slide off the gurney. "The Universe isn't going to explode because you've found yourself a little happiness."

He rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand, and clutched tightly at Rose's hand with the other. "There are days it feels like it wants to do just that."

Rose stepped away from him to head toward the counter, where the monitor still showed her test results. She look coyly down her shoulder at him as she pulled at his hand for release. "Well, perhaps we should fight the will of the universe together."

He grinned as he let their hands part and watched as she moved to the monitor. "Looks like you're already doing a very good job of that all by yourself."

Rose let out a short laugh at that. "Oh, I don't think I did it all on my own," she petted the wall behind the monitor. "I think I may have had a little help with that."

"Ahh yes," he managed breathily through an open mouth. "Interference by TARDIS." He looked to the ceiling. "I'm not sure whether to thank you or be mad at you for that, old girl." He let out a light huff. "Playing about with vortex energies and genetic matrices is very naughty indeed." He pressed his lips together and scrunched up his nose, ignoring the wide-eyed look from Rose. "It goes against all the laws of time and nature, you know."

Rose lightly cleared her throat. "You don't sound happy that I'm…"

He quickly held up his hand. "I didn't say that," he assured her. "I'm quite thrilled, I'll have you know, that we'll be able to share a forever that is far more compatible than it was before my TARDIS applied her own special brand of jiggery pokery on you…"

"Can I interrupt to point out how very wrong that sounded," Donna offered with a grin.

The Doctor's face darkened slightly. "As I was saying…"

"Donna's right," Rose agreed with a wide grin as she skipped along the floor to stand at Donna's side. "I get that it probably sounded way better in your head, but – and not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with that kind of thing – but TARDISes jiggery poking her passengers does sound like rather inappropriate behaviour."

"That's because it is," he shot back incredulously. "This old girl should not be poking about and tinkering with my companions."

Both girls spit out laughter that could only be described as two young teenagers giggling over a rude joke.

The Doctor winced in confusion. "What?"

Rose and Donna seemed to calm. They then looked toward each other and immediately burst into another fit of laughter, which further confused the Doctor who could only splutter another one four-letter word question.

He looked horribly confused and perhaps even slightly put out by their amusement. "All I said was that the TARDIS shouldn't be mucking about and tinkering with-" he cut himself off abruptly when the laughter two giggle-pusses wailed even louder. "Really? This again, Rose?"

"I'm sorry," she spluttered with a real honest attempt to stop herself.

"Oh, I'm not," Donna cut in with a sniff. "And you best be telling your interfering tinkering ship that she best not be doing any of that jiggery poking thing with…" she paused as Rose snorted an exhale through her nose in an attempt to stop the laughter from escaping. "Oh hell."

The hammer fell, and so did the expression on the Doctor's face. His cadence was in a state of forced neutrality, which indicated to all that he was a shade off completely annoyed with the both of them. The flatness in his tone didn't change that opinion.

"Humans," he muttered dryly as he walked to the counter and snatched off his small pile of papers. He made a show of putting them together and tapping them on the counter to straighten out the pages. "It always comes down to one thing with you lot, doesn't it?" He huffed. "Never mind that it is an essential biological imperative for yours and any species that practice sexual reproduction." He then spun and stabbed a finger in the air to point at them both. "Or the sheer, ethereal beauty of the act in being able to flawlessly express love between two people. Oh. Ohhhhhh, but you humans have to make fun and jokes out of it. Don't you?"

That silenced both women immediately. They looked upon the aggrieved Time Lord with wide eyes and guilty expressions.

"Love," he continued along a growl of annoyance. "And the making of it is not a subject to be scoffed at and mocked." He snapped a look at them – hard and steeled. "And while it would be very easy of me to simply laugh off and accept the notion that humankind doesn't express love and devotion toward each other by sexual means; I have to point to the fact that it is reverently written about in the greatest tales told throughout the history of this planet."

"Did those classic tales also indicate that that action is also used for a quick and messy shag that is oftentimes so clumsy it has to be laughed at," Donna ventured warily. "Or that it's often written in such an airy-fairy manner that the only imperative is to actually snicker at it like an embarrassed pre-teen because if you don't you'll probably throw up and never shag again?"

"I don't know that he's ever read Mills & Boon, Donna," Rose interrupted after a swallow as she climbed up onto the mattress beside Donna. "The Doctor's more of a Shakespeare kind've guy."

"Oh," Donna moaned loudly with discovery. "And that's so much better…."

Rose turned to face Donna fully. She sat with her legs folded together and looked to Donna with bright eyes and an excited and slightly hunched seat. "Have you ever read a Shakespearean love scene?"

Donna leaned forward in a mirror of Rose's position. "Once or twice. Back sat school where it was forced on us."

"Forced is about accurate," Rose groused. She then tilted her head to one side in a fascinated and curious manner. "Do you reckon they actually spoke like that back then?"

Donna shrugged. "If it was written, then, yeah. I'd say so." She folded her arms across her chest and slouched to one side as a crease of consideration furrowed her brow. "Writing styles do tend to reflect the language of the times."

Rose's eyes widened. "Then do you reckon the blokes used those wordy lines back in those days to pick up women?" Her eyes flicked to Donna. "And do you think it actually worked?"

"We should find out," Donna replied with wide and eager eyes that sifted quickly toward the Doctor. "I say next stop, London, late sixteenth century. What'ya think?"

He screwed up his nose before he dared answer that question. His mind replayed the memories of his last visit to that time period; of witches and death and threats to cut off his head. "Been there. Quite recently in fact." He shook his head and scratched at his sideburn in obvious discomfort. "Not real keen in heading back there anytime soon, ta."

Rose had to laugh. "Which means you managed to upset someone. So. Who did you tick off, then?"

The Doctor cleared his throat and tugged on his ear. "Well. If the order to cut off my head was any indication, then it was quite possibly the Queen, herself. Her mortal enemy, she called me." His discomfort shifted to curious contemplation. "And the fact that I don't ever recall having met good old Queen Bess means that it was a slight caused by a future incarnation of myself." He couldn't help but grin and waggle his brows at the two women. "I'm almost tempted to head back and ask around. What'dya say? Want to head back in time and see what we did to upset the old girl?"

Donna stared at the Doctor with pinched eyes. "How have you determined that it was more than just you who upset her? How did me and Rose get pulled into it?"

His smile was genuine. "Because," he began gently. "The two of you are going to be with me forever, and if the future me is the one who upset her, then the two of you have to be involved in some way."

"He's got a point," Rose offered with a look to Donna.

Donna wasn't quite focussed on that. Instead she lifted her chin and looked down her nose at the papers that the Doctor had discarded on the counter. "You said we were going to be with you forever. The two of us. Me and Rose."

"I did." The Doctor nodded slowly and then angled his head to one side in question. "You're not planning to leave me, are you?"

She looked aghast at the suggestion. "Why would you think that?"

"Well," he answered thickly. "With Rose being back with us and all. I hope that you don't feel like you're intruding or any such rubbish."

Donna released a sharp laugh. "Me? Intruding?"

"Well a polite individual may…."

"And we both well know that Donna Noble and Polite don't belong in the same paragraph," she shot back with a wink and a smile. "Not even the same novel. Opposite ends of the library even."

Rose had to laugh. "Rude and ginger! Oh, Doctor, you must fume with jealousy over that."

He gave an indignant sniff and shrugged as his hands found their way into his trouser pockets. "Nope. Time Lords don't get jealous."

"Gee," Rose murmured. "Do Time Lords have any feelings?"

"You know we do," he answered softly. "Well. At least this one does."

"Yeah?"

He nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Blimey. This is what happens when you spend too much time hanging about with you humans. You've made me all soft and human-y."

"More Human than Human, you are." Donna said with a soft smile. She looked toward the Doctor, who looked uncharacteristically shy with his admission. With a huff and a smile she held her hand out to him. "Oh come here you big Dumbo."

Her eyes flicked to Rose. "You too, Rose. We're calling in a group hug right now."

That offer made Rose chuckle and shake her head. She wriggled her fingers toward the Doctor and tipped her ear toward Donna. "Well come on, then, Doctor. Let's all cuddle."

"Rather not, ta," he quipped indignantly. He circled his finger in the air in a gesture toward Donna. "I know her better than you do, Rose. She's up to no good, that one."

"How is a hug being up to no good?"

"I'm not quite sure," he answered cautiously, his eyes pinched with suspicion. "Which is what worries me."

"You're an idiot."

"No," he argued firmly. "I'm clever. Very clever." He squeaked slightly when he was approached at either side by both women and found himself the meat in their sandwich, but quickly relaxed against them both. He pressed his lips against Donna's head and exhaled a breath of appreciation against her hair. "Thank you, Donna."

"For what?" she asked him quietly.

"For being my common sense," he admitted as his arm tightened around Rose and he tugged her closer to his side. He blinked thankfully toward his best friend. "For showing me how to make it back home."

She peeled away from him. "You always knew how to get there," she replied with a shrug. "I just gave you the push you needed to take that first step toward it."

The Doctor looked down into Rose's beaming face and exhaled reverently as he traced the very tip of his finger along the bridge of her nose and down over her pursed lips. "Time for next steps, then. And considering we have a very long forever ahead of us, Rose Tyler, we've got all the steps in the world to take together, yeah?"

"That you do," Donna breathed softly. She quickly cleared her throat and shook herself. "So don't go cocking it up, Spaceman!" She paused to chuckle. "Then again…."

The Doctor slumped, moaned and dropped his arms. Rose broke into laughter.

"Really," he barked. "Donna, does your mother know you think like this?"

"Do you want to ask her?"

The Doctor's eyes widened with the thought. He winced as though in pain and shook his head. "By Rassilon no." He shuddered and motioned a couple of retches, then shook himself free of the thought.

"So," Rose queried in an attempt to change the subject. "Where to, then?"

The Doctor's eyes immediately brightened and a wide grin broke across his face. He clapped his hands together and then wrung them together. "Where to? Good question, Rose Tyler. Always with the clever questions, you."

"Shame the answers aren't as clever," Donna groused playfully.

The Doctor pointed in Donna's direction and snapped his fingers. "I think we just might take our Donna Noble up on her earlier suggestion of finding out just which chat up lines the men of the late seventeenth century use to pick up women."

"And while we're at it, look into just why Queen Bess is hating on you right now?" Rose ventured playfully.

"Oh," he crooned as he walked toward Donna and squeezed her in a side-hug. "There you are. What did I tell you? Look at my Rose Tyler being all brilliant again."

Donna rolled her eyes. "Hardly brilliant deducing," she muttered dryly. "You'd already expressed your desire to find out…"

"You want to find out just as much as I do," he purred cheekily. "Admit it."

"Because running away from the queen's archers is my idea of a thrilling adventure." She groused in a very insincere manner.

"You know it is," he cheered. "Well come on, my girls of TARDIS. Let's go find some trouble in Elizabethan England. Allons-y!"