Epilogue

Rose stumbled as she was unceremoniously deposited back into Pete's universe, the Doctor's confused and heartbroken expression seared on her retina. The older Doctor's assurances that he'd definitely remember her exit took on new meaning as she realised she'd faded away mid-conversation. Ideally she would have preferred to go on her own terms, but perhaps it was for the best that Bad Wolf seemed to have provided her with an appropriately enigmatic conclusion to her time in her old universe.

Her musings were interrupted by a sudden flat line tone, reminding her of her surroundings. Unsurprisingly, she'd been returned to the Dimension Cannon room. But for the first time since she'd returned from a jump, there were no technicians in sight to greet her. Normally at least Tosh would have been around to check her back in, but she was nowhere to be found. In fact, the whole room looked suspiciously uninhabited. It was simply Rose, and the monitors. The latter of which was responsible for the persistent, and rather irritating tone filling the room.

'Alright, alright,' Rose mumbled aloud, turning her attention to the monitors. 'What's your problem?'

She'd barely touched the mouse on the designated control computer when the monitors went dead, the room plunging into blissful silence.

'What the...'

The program had stopped. The system that had been tirelessly running algorithms for the better part of three years had finally given in. Rose knew it could mean only one thing: the walls between universes had closed. Permanently.

And that was okay, because her life was here now.

Glancing out the window of the forty-sixth floor she realised belatedly that it was clearly the middle of the night – not mid morning as it had been when she'd left Las Vegas. Which went some way to explaining why she'd found herself alone. Torchwood only employed a skeleton staff overnight.

Now that she had a vague idea of the time though, Rose began to wonder what the date was. How long had passed in this universe since she'd left the Doctor? Had he noticed her disappearance? She'd been gone five and a half weeks her time, but it seemed too much to hope that perhaps only several hours had passed from his perspective.

God, she hoped it'd only been a few hours for him. Because right now all she wanted to do was find her daft idiot, snog him senseless, and apologise for everything she'd said since he'd arrived in this universe. Preferably in that order, although she suspected the talking part was going to have to come first. She owed him an explanation, after all.

Realising that she wanted nothing more than to find the Doctor, Rose dumped the redundant yellow disc on a side table and left the Cannon room without a second thought. She'd ask Tosh to dismantle the Cannon in the morning she decided, as she took the lift down to the lobby and exited the building. Las Vegas had clearly spoilt her for London weather though because she was totally unprepared for the below zero temperatures that met her as she stepped outside.

Pulling her grossly inadequate blue leather jacket close, Rose hurried off in the direction of her flat. Not for the first time she was grateful she'd had the foresight to purchase an apartment so close to Torchwood Tower. Somehow summer had become winter whilst she'd been away, and if she wasn't mistaken there was a bloody Christmas tree set up in the courtyard.

The odds of arriving home unmissed had suddenly slimmed significantly.

'Hello, Rose.'

The familiar voice stopped her short, and it took her several moments to realise it had come from behind her. She turned around, ever so slowly.

It was him.

He was sitting on one of the numerous unoccupied courtesy benches that littered the area, dressed very much for the weather in an unfamiliar overcoat with an accompanying earflap beanie – one Rose was certain had to have been purchased for him by her mother. He'd clearly been waiting for her, but in her haste to get home to him she'd walked right past him.

Hesitantly, she closed the distance between them, unable to take her eyes off him as she drank in his appearance. It was silly, because she'd been with him not twenty minutes ago, but for some reason she felt like she hadn't seen him in years.

He stood as she approached, pulling the daft beanie from his head in favour of running his hand nervously through his hair – making it stick up every which way of course. The dark-navy, thigh length, military-esque jacket he was wearing tugged at her memory, an odd sense of déjà vu she couldn't place.

What was he doing here?

The fact that he didn't look in the least bit surprised to have found her outside Torchwood Tower in the early hours of the morning, was confusing. She didn't dwell on the thought for long though because there was something really off about the way he was standing. He was too still, his posture unfamiliar. Then she saw it, the incongruous plastic splint encompassing his left foot.

He was wearing a moon boot.

'Oh my God,' Rose exclaimed, all hesitation gone as she closed the distance between them. 'Are you okay? What happened?'

He frowned briefly, momentarily lost to the conversation before he realised she was talking about his injury. Clearly he'd had the boot for some time.

'Oh, right. Err...I fell off a ladder,' he admitted sheepishly, his hand rubbing nervously at the back of his neck.

Rose gaped, really looking at him now. This was not the confused and frustrated man she remembered leaving behind. He'd obviously come into his own whilst she'd been away, was much more at ease with the permanency and limits of his new life than he had been before she'd left. He'd been struggling to adjust then, still new to the idea of humanity. It pained her to think she'd clearly missed out on so much.

'How long?' she asked resignedly, dreading the answer now.

He swallowed, and his gaze darted away for a second.

'Five and a half months.'

Rose mouthed his answer in silent disbelief.

'Half a year!?' she uttered in horror.

The Christmas tree had been a foreboding omen, but hearing him confirm that she truly had been gone for much longer than she'd been expecting, was crushing.

'I don't know what to say,' she murmured, stricken.

'You don't need to say anything,' he reassured her. 'I'm just glad you're back.'

His relief was so obvious that Rose simply threw her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. She wasn't sure which of them needed the hug more, but there was no denying it was long overdue. The explanations and the talking, that could all wait. For now, they both simply revelled in the feeling of being together again.

'I'm sorry,' she mumbled eventually, still pressed against the warmth of his chest, unable to hold back the apology that she owed him.

There was a beat of silence, and then he spoke.

'So am I.'

Rose didn't need that from him. She'd forgiven him long ago for the stupid arguments they'd had those first few days in Pete's universe. She suspected he needed to say it for his own sake though, so she silently accepted it.

They stood together a moment longer before Rose realised she was shivering. He must have felt it too because before she could stop him, he'd pulled his earflap beanie out from his pocket and enthusiastically applied it to her own head.

'There!' he said proudly. 'Best way to keep warm, Rose Tyler.'

She scowled good-naturedly at him, making a point of adjusting the beanie so that she could at least see properly.

'Come on,' he laughed. 'Let's get you home.'

Holding out his hand, much as he had done that first Christmas, he wiggled his fingers enticingly as he waited for her to take it. She smiled, entwining their fingers as she came to stand beside him. He glanced down once at their hands, unable to hide his own smile, before pulling her off in the direction of her flat.

Rose waited until they were on the high street before bumping her shoulder good-naturedly against his own.

'So go on then,' she teased, 'how come you were on a ladder? Has mum got you doing all her odd jobs now?'

He scoffed automatically, but Rose could tell he was hesitant to elaborate. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, letting him know he didn't have to answer if he didn't want to. He smiled gratefully, but her gesture seemed to give him the push he needed.

'About that...' he said slowly, sounding more than a little nervous. 'There are a few things you should probably know straight up.'

'Okay...'

He glanced at her before his gaze flickered away again, focusing on his feet as they walked.

'I have a job.'

Rose let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, relief flooding through her. The way he'd been talking it up she'd thought the world must have been ending.

'Really?' she answered, genuinely interested. 'Whereabouts?'

'I'm a lecturer at Exeter University.'

'Good for you!' Rose congratulated him, before frowning suddenly. 'Bit far out though, isn't it? Do you teach an online course or something?'

He shook his head.

'That's the other big thing,' he admitted sheepishly.

Rose had absolutely no idea what he meant with his cryptic answer, so she simply waited for him to elaborate.

'I bought a house.'

Rose stopped dead in the middle of the footpath, pulling him to a stop with her.

'Seriously!?' she asked incredulously, her voice jumping an octave higher without her approval.

'Well...yeah,' he said lamely, his free hand drifting tellingly towards the back of his neck.

He'd clearly expected anger, but her odd reaction had thrown him and suddenly he was rambling.

'I didn't really think about it,' he confessed. 'I needed somewhere to start growing the TARDIS, and obviously your flat wasn't really the right size – you've got to admit the place is tiny, Rose – and the TARDIS runs on rift energy so London was out of the question. No rifts to be found in suburbia. And then of course there was the issue of what the neighbours would think if we started growing our own TARDIS in the backyard of our semi-detached. Plus once your mother knew I was thinking about it,' he continued dramatically, 'she was unrelenting. Until Pete suggested –'

Rose grabbed him by the collar, pulled him down to her and kissed him – hard. Much like she had on Bad Wolf Bay.

He was mercifully silent after that, and they spent several minutes reacquainting themselves in a way that would quite probably have been right up Peter Vincent's alley. When they finally broke apart, Rose was pleased to note the Doctor looked suitably dishevelled. The way he was looking at her too, she had no doubt that she also looked as though she'd been recently, and thoroughly snogged – which she had been.

'You're not mad then?' he preened, looking immensely pleased with himself.

Rose couldn't help but laugh at his ridiculous display.

'Doctor,' she said earnestly. 'I am so proud of you.'

If possible, his smile grew even larger.

'I love you, Rose Tyler,' he declared emphatically.

Her own answering smile spread across her features.

'Quite right, too,' she murmured contentedly.

o0o

As Donna made her third circuit of the TARDIS console her gaze alighted upon yet another curious instrument she hadn't spotted on her two previous inspections. This one was a curiously curved lever that looked like it needed to be twisted in a bizarre zigzag configuration when being used. She wondered what it did.

Which brought her right back to the question that had been bothering her for the past half an hour. Was he going to take her with him?

The Doctor didn't strike her as the sort of man who asked twice. He wouldn't risk being turned down again, and she'd definitely done a very thorough job of turning him down the first time. Something she'd now come to regret entirely. She'd had a taste for his world, and much to her dismay she'd found it had been impossible to forget. That little escapade with the Racnoss had sparked a fire within her, a desire to see what was out there in the universe, and to experience it. And it was just Donna's luck that those very sparks he'd started over a year ago had only been well and truly fuelled by the past few months in Las Vegas. Now she was left with an inferno that she had absolutely no idea how to put out, and one she was terrified she was going to have to.

'Maybe I should just kidnap you?' she muttered idly, glancing towards the TARDIS console.

Since Peter had opened the fob watch, the healing process the TARDIS had initiated with Rose's assistance several weeks ago, had accelerated exponentially. She was well and truly restored to her former glory now. The TARDIS had also apparently forgiven her errant Time Lord as well, welcoming him back home with such affection, that even Donna – still a novice to TARDIS travel – had picked up on the vibe between the pair of them.

'She might let you, if you ask her nicely enough.'

Donna whirled around to find herself face to face with the Doctor. How he'd slipped inside without making a noise she'd never know, but she was embarrassed to think he'd heard her ridiculous musings. He looked amused though so she relaxed again.

'All done then?' she asked politely as he moved towards the monitor.

'Yep.'

He spared her the briefest of glances as he pulled his glasses from his pocket before turning back to whatever he was looking at on the monitor.

He'd been like this ever since he'd woken up; distracted, rude, and unforthcoming. Donna wanted to call him out on it, but the problem was she knew exactly why he was upset. Plus she was terrified she'd simply give in and tell him about Rose if she did actually confront him. If only to see him smile again.

Donna had known the instant Rose had returned to her own universe. She'd been lounging on the sofa reading a trashy, but strangely compelling, romance novel when he'd rushed out of Rose's room. He'd looked a right sight in his rumpled pyjamas, hair sticking up all over the place as he'd stumbled past her with barely a sidelong glance. It didn't take a genius to work out where he was going, and sure enough she'd found him in Peter's penthouse minutes later.

He was clearly searching for some tangible evidence of Rose's presence in his life, but she knew he wouldn't find anything. Rose had been meticulous, and knowing the stakes of this particular deception, Donna too had done her own whip around to ensure no wayward belongs had been mistakenly left behind. Anything that belonged to Rose had gone home with her; stashed away in an old backpack of Donna's she'd leant her friend that morning.

It was only once he'd scoured every inch of the penthouse that he'd finally turned to Donna.

'She was here, Donna, wasn't she?' he'd asked.

He'd sounded so unsure, and it had nearly broken her heart to give him the answer she'd known for a very long time was the one that had to be given.

'Who, Doctor?'

It was eerie how quickly his features had gone blank after that. All those hopeful emotions, locked away in an instant. He'd offered to take her home by TARDIS then, if she'd like. Save her the flight, he'd said. She'd agreed immediately, of course. There was no way she was letting him and that blue box of his out of sight. With a promise to find her again in half an hour – so you can pack, Donna – he'd left.

Naturally, she'd already been packed, but then he'd been unconscious all morning so she could hardly blame him for not knowing. She'd packed at the same time as Martha, almost as soon as they'd returned to Hard Rock actually. Martha had already left, off to catch a flight to New York. It turned out UNIT had wanted her to liaise with their New York office, now that the crisis with the Doctor had been resolved. Donna suspected Martha had also left early because she was still looking for space from the Doctor. Although Rose and Martha had become firm friends, Donna suspected Martha's heart was still mending. Avoiding the Doctor until she was ready, certain that her feelings were entirely within her own control, was probably the best thing Martha could do for herself right now, Donna thought. And so it had been with a heavy heart that she'd parted with not one friend, but two within the space of as many hours.

So instead of packing, Donna had used the time to phone her Gramps. Informing him that she expected she'd be home very soon. Unsurprisingly, the conversation had dissolved into a debriefing session, her Gramps eager to know every detail, and before Donna knew it, the half hour had passed and the Doctor was knocking on her door.

He'd very obligingly carried her suitcases down to the TARDIS for her before popping out to "drop something off with Charley". She suspected it was his penthouse key card, but she wasn't entirely sure. Whatever it had been, she hoped it was something the boy enjoyed. After all, he'd been instrumental in saving all their lives.

Now, several minutes had passed since the Doctor had returned, but he was still staring at the monitor. She suspected he'd long since stopped seeing whatever it was that he'd pulled up on the screens, clearly lost in thought. He reminded her of Peter.

He'd been lost in the beginning.

It was strange, but she missed Peter. There was no denying that at times he'd truly driven her mad. What with his rampant disregard for propriety, and his frankly appalling gutter-mouth. He'd never censored himself around Donna though, never tried to hide who he was from the world. Unlike the Doctor, he hadn't been afraid of appearing vulnerable. And it saddened Donna that the Doctor thought he had to lock those wonderful, terrible, emotions of his away. That he hid them from her. What were best mates for, if not for sharing those burdens that threatened to overwhelm oneself? Donna vowed, then and there, to be that best mate for him.

Just as soon as she'd booked her spot on board the TARDIS.

Coming to stand beside him, she reached out and placed her own hand on top of his. A small gesture of solidarity, even if he didn't know that she too mourned the loss of Rose.

'You alright?' she asked gently.

Her words startled him from his stupor, and he glanced towards their overlapping hands. He didn't immediately pull away though, and Donna counted that as a victory.

'I'm always alright.'

The words were too forced, the lie obvious. But just this once Donna let it slip by. His grief was still raw. It wouldn't do him any good to push right now. His smile was almost genuine as he finally pulled away, darting across to another section of the console, pushing buttons and pulling levers all the while.

'Now then,' he announced. 'Chiswick, April 15th, 2008, is it?'

Donna pretended to consider the co-ordinates, following him around the console as she did.

'Actually, I was thinking London might be a good place to start.'

'Really?'

He sounded genuinely surprised, and he stopped mid-twist of that strange curved lever she'd spotted earlier on.

'Definitely,' Donna confirmed, warming to her topic. 'Turns out Gramps has been keeping an ear to the ground for me whilst I've been over here. See, I was trying to find you again before I got your job offer. Spent all this time on the internet, I did, looking up all the stuff I thought you might be connected with. UFOs, crop circles, disappearing bees. All of it.'

'What do you mean, disappearing bees?' the Doctor interrupted incredulously.

'I don't know,' Donna huffed, 'that was ages ago. Anyway, the important thing is that Gramps has kept up with it while I've been away. So, you and me, we're going to Adipose Industries,' she finished proudly.

He was staring at the floor.

'Doctor?'

Finally, he raised his gaze to meet hers.

'Donna, are you sure?'

The "are you sure you want to travel with me?" went unsaid, but Donna heard it. This was the crux of the matter for him, whether or not she understood the risk of travelling with him, but in all honesty, she'd made her decision a long time ago.

'Course I'm sure, Spaceman,' she answered immediately, her tone deceptively flippant despite the weighty topic. 'Now let's go. You might have been paying me to work for you, but you owe me at least one spa planet for all that time I had to spend with that lawyer!'

He was silent, his expression inscrutable. Donna wondered if she'd overstepped the mark.

'It doesn't have to be a spa planet,' she said lamely. 'I don't even know if those exist. Do they exist? Are there whole planets devoted to spas?'

She trailed off, unnerved by his continued silence. He looked so serious.

'Donna?' he said suddenly.

'Yeah?'

'Thanks for looking after me.'

His gratitude was so earnest that all she could do was nod silently, even if she felt it was superfluous. After all, Peter had been her friend.

'Right then,' he said, suddenly cheerful as he returned his attention to piloting the TARDIS. 'Where did you say we're going?'

'Adipose Industries.'

He nodded, dancing around the console with renewed vigour, practically humming with excitement as he entered the new co-ordinates.

'Earth, Central London, April 15th, 2008.'

He glanced towards her once more; his eyes alight with anticipation now as he pulled the final lever down, launching them into the Vortex.

'Allons-y, Donna Noble!'

~ Fin ~

A/N: As I was writing this story, I found myself wanting to know how 10.5 got to this point in the epilogue. So, if you're interested, there's a six chapter companion piece to this story that I'll begin posting tonight. It's entitled "Five and a Half Months". Once again, thank you for reading!