Epilogue

93 years later…

The TARDIS hovered over a tiny rip in dimensions in a little known section of the Medusa Cascade. The rip itself was only 2 ½ meters high and a little over one wide. In the vastness of space it was a less than the size of an atom, but it was perfect for the needs of the TARDIS and her three occupants.

Inside the control room, Capt. Jack Harkness glanced over at the two small frail bodies, curled together on a sofa that had been mounted to the deck some ten years ago, when a fall from a bad landing had pitched the Doctor off his chair and broken his hip. Granted he was roughly 110 years old when it happened, and the TARDIS was so apologetic after it occurred. Still I am just as glad, she put that sofa there. It's comfortable enough for all three of us to sleep on if we can't make it back to our room for some reason. Jack ran his hand through his now completely silver hair. He caught a glimpse of his reflection on a glass surface. Still don't look too shabby, Jack, if you do say so yourself. Though I will never again pass for thirty-five… more like seventy. He glanced over again at the Doctor and Rose, who smiled back to him in amusement.

"Are you lamenting the loss of your youthful appearance again?" the Doctor teased.

Jack plastered an innocent look across his face, "Who me? I would never be that vain."

Rose burst out laughing while the Doctor glared.

"Ok, maaaaaybe I was thinking that I aged rather gracefully, but do you disagree?" Jack held his grin as he walked over and knelt down in front of them, before leaning in to kiss each one softly.

"No," Rose laughed, "You will always be the same dashing Captain who caught me as I slid down your tractor beam," she paused and let the innuendo sink in, which caused Jack to grin wider.

"You fell into my arms and I fell into your lives." Jack said with sudden solemnity. He adjusted their hands so that the ones wearing their wedding rings were entwined. "I will never regret that. Just like I will never regret my aging a bit faster than I would have otherwise, because it kept both of you with me until we could find this place."

You can thank ME for both of those things, my Captain.

The Doctor laughed, "Knew our ol' girl wasn't going to be able to keep her mouth shut for much longer."

Jack turned and swept a bow toward the center console, no less graceful even if he was still on his knees. "I do thank you, My Sweet TARDIS. I can't thank you enough for finding a way to funnel some of my endless years into them. Truly, I don't care that I aged physically because of it. It kept them alive and with me, and that's all that mattered."

"For a while it also helped keep the questions at bay," Rose giggled. "At least now you look like you could be our son, rather than our grandson. I can't tell you how many shocked looks I get, when I tell people that you are my husband and not my child. If you still looked thirty-something, we would have to be fending off a whole lot more species who wanted to 'save you' from the lecherous old couple."

"Says the woman who we recently had to rescue from the cult that wanted to worship you as their Mother goddess," Jack riposted. "I saw the intentions in their minds and they had little to do with honoring your wisdom and far more to do with honoring your body."

"Jack, I am one hundred and twenty years old-"

"Who doesn't look a day over eighty-five," the Doctor interjected with a smirk.

"-and I could have used a bit of pampering after the last session of the Council of the Shadow Proclamation."

"The Doctor and I pamper you plenty, love, and you know it." Jack winked before turning to the Doctor. "And you – were you just going to sit there and watch them take her?"

"Of course not," the Doctor replied. "I had a plan all set to go. The distraction was in place all I needed to do was send the signal with my trusty sonic screwdriver and we could have run out of there."

"More like walked briskly. We haven't been able to run in years," Rose countered with a grin, before turning serious. She pulled their entwined fingers up to her lips and paced a kiss on the backs of their palms. "All joking aside, Jack, are you sure you want to do this? There is no going back once we start. I have no regrets on the life I have lived with both of you. It was brilliant. I am happy and I am satisfied to die in peace."

Jack let the honesty flood his eyes and heart, since he knew she could read his emotions, before saying fiercely, "I have no regrets either. I love you both beyond all time and reason. I am not going to lose you now, because of some stupid frailties of the human body."

"Jack, you will no longer HAVE a body if this works," the Doctor cautioned, "weeeeelll... at least not a body in the way you do now. No more physical intimacy."

"I may not have a human-shaped body anymore after this, but I will have both of you forever in my mind. That is far more important to me." He stood up and pulled them both into his arms before whispering, "I can handle eternity if I have you with me."

The rift is starting to shrink. It is time. My Captain, my Doctor, my Wolf... A panel on the center console lifted, spilling golden light into the control area.

All three looked at the light and then looked at each other. Without a word, Rose leaned over to kiss both Jack and the Doctor for the last time, her lips firm despite their age. The three met together in a kiss that burned brighter than the stars outside. Their love, passion, and all the years of shared laughter, tears, joy, pain, despair, hope, and unshakable faith in each other rode the wave of that single kiss. It was eternal and all too short. When their lips finally broke apart, they continued to hold each other for a moment more.

"I will love you both – across time, space, and for all eternity…" Rose started.

"Where you both go, I will follow – across time, space and for all eternity…" Jack continued.

"The three of us are bound, by love's choice, by fate, by time itself. We will be together across time, space, and for all eternity," the Doctor finished.

Without another word, the three of them linked hands and walked into the golden glow at the heart of the TARDIS.

I will protect you across time, space, and for all eternity.

Jack's mind slowly regained consciousness. The Heart of the TARDIS had consumed them immediately when they stepped into its glow. There was no pain, however, just the unconditional love from the ship to the ones she chose. Even as he could feel his body warping and twisting under the uncontrolled forces of the Time Vortex, the love and the energy presence he could still identify as the Doctor and Rose and the fierce devotion of the ship sustained him. I am here… are they?

This is brilliant. The Doctor part of his mind replied filled with curiosity, glee, and sheer joy.

It worked perfectly. The Rose part of his mind agreed – fierce, happy, and containing almost as much glee as the Doctor part.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief and wiggled his fingers. No… not fingers… they are almost like…

Tentacles! The Doctor part of his mind supplied with glee.

Tentacles?! The Jack part of the mind unit answered then groaned when the Rose part supplied an image to go with it. OK- I knew that not having a body would be weird, but why didn't you tell me that all I would be… sorry WE would be… is one gigantic floating head?

Spoilers! The Rose and Doctor part said simultaneously and the Jack part could feel their laughter.

You did once tell me that you were called the 'Face' of Boe, if I remember correctly. The Doctor part smirked.

The rift is closing. We must go now or remain trapped in this universe. What do you wish, my Partners?

Weeeelll… there is an awful lot we still need to do back in the other Universe. The Doctor part answered.

It's going to be so much fun watching ourselves on our journey. The Rose part added.

Dearest Ship, Take us Home. The Jack part said with a smile.

********** Author's Note **********

I wanted to give a huge shout out to supernena25, royslady51, nortega, DragonRose4, and Eyrion for the continued reviews that kept me going, made me laugh, gave me some interesting ideas, and expressed abject horror at the thought of this story coming to an end.

This story - Parallel Worlds: Joined Lives is ending, but I am having WAY too much fun writing the Doctor, Rose, and Jack to end the Parallel Worlds Universe with it. I still have too many stories to tell, including the ones hinted at in this story. After all - Jack and Rose still owe a bet to the Doctor, the three of them still need to tell Jackie about their relationship, a certain BDSM on the TARDIS conversation, and there is a marriage ceremony to get through. I also have a story idea about our favorite ship and the frustration she felt at trying to get our clueless heroes together. All these (and more?) will be written as individual short stories under the Parallel Worlds name. So, my awesome fans - this may be AN end, but it is not THE end. I would also welcome any suggestions for plot topics that you may want to see (including more smutty tales - ALL the smut!). =D

Above all - THANK YOU. Every email I recieved saying that someone had favorited the story or wrote a review on it made my day a bit brighter and spurred me on to write more. I wouldn't have gotten this far without all of you amazing fangirls (like me!) and fanboys eager to consume MORE MORE MORE!

Light, Love, Laughter and the TARDIS!
~Shay