Well, this is it. The End. The END - noooooooooo!! Can I just say how much I have ADORED writing this story, have loved reading your lovely kind reviews. If you're still reading at this point, thank you so much for persevering, I never dreamed I would get to 36 chapters!
As for the chapter itself, I warn you there is an ENORMOUS amount of fluffy cuteness, it felt like the only way to end this oh-so-stressful story. And FYI, no, that didn't really happen at the Olympics, I just needed a mystery.
I want to dedicate this to Beth (Previously Cricket and Crumpets, now A Rose By Any Other Name - but she might have changed it by now as she does so often!), my faithful Beta and she who brings ABBA to my life. Thanks baby!
It would be lush if you could maybe leave me perhaps a teensy weensy review, even just to tell me it was a crap ending. Which I'm now worried it was. EEP! Let me know!
Thank you once again, and for the very last time:
Donna xxx
Chapter Thirty Six- Don't, Just Don't
"I swear to God it was around here somewhere..."
Rose giggled as the Doctor spun around, his face scrunched up in confusion.
"Doctor, weren't you just here, like, an hour ago?"
"Yeah, well, so were you!"
"I was running, as fast as it is possible to run, to grab on to the outside of our lovely blue home. I apologize if I didn't stop at the local information point and grab some leaflets!"
It was amazing how they'd fallen straight back into step, back into their old banter and teasing. Rose felt as if she'd never been away.
"I bet it's down 'ere." she guessed, and left the Doctor still peering all around him to walk down a little side street.
"How would you know?" he asked, catching up with her, slipping his hand around hers automatically as they walked.
"It's the years of bein' a tourist with my clueless mother. I can sniff out an information centre from a mile off."
"Well that's a bit ridiculous, Rose. I mean, yes, you..." he trailed off as they arrived outside the battered building, and she folded her arms in triumph.
"What d'you 'ave to say?" she asked him sternly, her eyebrows raised.
"I bet you had a map." was all he muttered as he stalked inside. She ran after him, a smile spreading across her face.
"Ianto!" the Doctor greeted the young man behind the desk cheerfully, "Lovely to see you again!"
"Er... yeah." Ianto said, a little cautiously. "Hello."
"And, sorry about before." the Doctor said. "You must have been a bit freaked out, but thanks for keeping Donna up here."
Ianto seemed to relax a little.
"Yeah, well, she seemed... nice."
A small smile was threatening to creep across his face.
"I am sorry about her. She... wasn't herself."
"I know. She apologized a lot. I mean, a lot. She wouldn't shut up about it, actually..."
The Doctor just laughed, as did Ianto. Rose wasn't really sure what they were on about, but he seemed nice enough.
"What did Donna do?" she asked, when the two of them were on their way down the stairs.
"With Ianto? Took a leaf out of Jack's book. You know, Jack's novel where flirting with anything that moves is pretty normal?"
She smirked, "Ah. That book. Quite a pair, those two, eh?"
"I'll say. Of course, that was when she couldn't remember him. Or you, or any of it."
"Oh. And... why exactly couldn't she remember?"
"That... is a long story. I'll explain it all later, but right now you've got to see this place."
She smiled to herself. Rose loved the way he said it so casually, and she knew that there would be a later. There was nothing that was going to split the two of them up now. She slipped her hand into his, and he squeezed back, giving her a tender look.
They entered the hub, a huge room filled with impressive devices and complicated computers that Rose would never understand. But where was Donna? Or Jack? Well, she knew a sure-fire way to find the Captain, at least.
"So this is the infamous Torchwood?" she asked, a little louder than necessary, a smile on her face, "It's a bit... different from Dad's. Smaller."
She grinned, and winked at the Doctor, then practically shouted the last part. "Definitely smaller. And nowhere near as advanced!"
It had the desired effect.
"You wanna watch it, Tyler." came the American drawl from behind her, and the two of them spun around to see the Captain, leaning against a desk, arms folded and with that grin on his face, "You're makin' me feel inferior over here."
"Oh, I'm sure your ego could do with bein' taken down a peg or two." she retorted, before pulling him into a hug, "Can't believe you're still on this planet, Jack!"
"You can talk!" he laughed. "A parallel universe, was it?"
"Can't get rid of her." the Doctor admitted, smiling and slipping an arm around her. "You know these women."
"Oh, stop it!" Rose punched him playfully on the arm. Jack led them up a flight of stairs, where there was a huge sign on the white brick wall saying Torchwood. Pretty impressive in Rose's books, but she wasn't really concentrating on the decor. No, because the area had two comfy sofas in it, and one of these sat Donna Noble, chatting to a dark-haired woman Rose remembered as Gwen.
As they entered, however, Donna abruptly stopped talking. She stood up almost nervously, and smiled at Rose. Neither of them were really sure what to say, until Rose couldn't bear it any longer and threw her arms around the redhead. And they were off. There were plenty of squeals, "I can't believe it's you"s, "I'm so glad you're alive"s and "What the hell even happened to you?"s.
The Doctor and Jack just watched in amazement as the pitch of their voices got higher and higher, unable to understand how such hysteria could be achieved.
"So, Doctor," Jack muttered, "What were you saying about women?"
The Doctor, a little bewildered, gestured at his noisy companions. "Enough said, I think. They sort of speak for themselves."
Donna and Rose either didn't hear or chose to ignore them, and carried on chattering away.
"I am so sorry you had to see me..."
"No, honestly, It's me who should be apologizing, throwing that tantrum..."
"It wasn't your fault..."
"It really wasn't yours, you weren't..."
They finally quietened to the Doctor and Jack's relief, both of whom were starting to develop serious headaches.
"Are we done, girls?" the Doctor asked cheekily, which received an "Oi!" from both women simultaneously.
"You two are getting pretty good at that synchronized thing." Jack commented, "But shall we save that for later?"
Rose grinned, unable to believe that this was real. That after everything she had been through in the last three years, she was back with the man she loved and her two best friends in the universe.
xXx
Gwen sat, unsure of what exactly to say, not really feeling it was her place. Those four had a connection, and she got the feeling they needed some time to talk alone before things could get back to normal. She got on incredibly well with Donna, and loved the effect the other woman had on Captain Jack. She was happy for Donna to join their team, and knew they would click, but right now they needed some privacy.
She stood up suddenly as they were chatting, and smiled at Jack.
"I'm just gonna head upstairs for a bit, you know, give you lot a bit o' privacy..."
"Gwen, you don't have to do tha-"
"No, no, I have to anyway!" she said hurriedly, "I, er... need... something."
She didn't want them to think she was uncomfortable, but her brain was being annoyingly slow. Say something! she urged herself as she started towards the door.
"Ianto!" she called, so they would all hear, "Yan, have you got that, er..."
Think. Think think think. "Have you got that... paperwork?"
Oh God.
"About the... um..." Bugger.
"Weevils!"
That would do, she decided as she ran up the stairs, glad that they could no longer hear her pathetic excuses.
xXx
"So." Jack said with a grin. "I guess everything worked out, then."
Rose looked up at the Doctor, "When was the last time that 'appened, eh?"
"Well, there was..." he thought for a moment. "The time when..."
He swallowed, "Uum..." God, had that ever happened before?
Donna giggled and raised her eyebrows. "Lost for words. That's another first, Doctor. It's not often the spaceman can't think of anything to say."
"Oi!" The Doctor warned, echoing Donna and Rose, "Watch it, Earth girl!"
"Oh, shut it, Zaphod."
The Doctor burst out laughing - on the inside, that was. Like Donna was ever going to hear him admit that she was clever. But she was... maybe no longer with all the technical stuff, but the banter had never been better. She was the only person he knew who could always, always, always be relied on for a witty comeback or a clever nickname.
"Ooh! That's a new one! Inventive, Donna, I'll give you that."
"Jeez," Jack whispered, "They're like five year olds."
Rose stifled a laugh as Donna was quick with a comeback for the Doctor.
"Which is more than can be said for you! Earth Girl, that's pathetic. I think you'll find you've used that one before, Doctor, and I think you've forgotten that I remember!"
"And thank God you do!" Jack said, putting an end to their playful bickering. He smiled, and slung an arm around her.
"'Cos, I gotta tell ya, life was a lot more boring without you here, Donna."
"Yep," she agreed, "Wasn't that great for me, either."
Her face straightened, "Seriously, though, Doctor. I can't thank you enough."
"You don't need to."
"No, but... I..."
She didn't know what to say, couldn't put into words how infinitely grateful she was to him. So instead, she just put her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.
After a second he was hugging back, no words passing between them but none needing to - they both understood what the other meant. When Donna's life had crumbled, she had met the Doctor, and he had been the one to sort it out. When she had been so lost, not known what she wanted to do with her life, he had found her again, and shown her just what she had been missing.
Likewise, Donna had done so much for him. When he had lost Rose he had been close to the edge, but she had been the one to pull him back up. She had been the one to stop him when he went too far, had been the one to bring laughter and light back into his life.
When she had met the man of her dreams, he had supported her. When he had lost the woman of his, she had been the shoulder for him to cry on. The Doctor knew just how much she meant to him, because for the month that he had thought her as good as dead, he hadn't wanted to live. And that, in his books, was the definition of a very best friend.
This was far too much for them to say out loud, but the two of them knew just how much they owed each other.
"You're gonna visit, right?" Jack asked, "I mean, I know you got a universe to see and all, but I reckon you've got about 40 years left of me and Donna first."
And although it was strange, Jack loved that fact. He loved that he would age, because it was finally something normal in his life, the something ordinary that he had always craved. And besides, there was no-one he would rather grow old with than her.
The Doctor and Rose nodded fervently.
"You'll be sick to death of us, most likely!" she said with a grin.
Jack opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off as his two teammates dashed into the room, having obviously just run all the way down the stairs.
"Captain!" Ianto called, dashing straight to a computer, "Donna!"
"UFO sightin'." Gwen explained, "Just over Cardigan Bay, over a hundred people 'ave rung the police. We 'aven't got a description as yet, but we're workin' on gettin' some CCTV up, we'll see what we can make of it. What d'you reckon?"
A huge grin spread over Jack's face, that look of pure joy at a new adventure beginning.
"I reckon, Donna, that your first mission just begun. What d'you say?"
"I say let's do what we do best." she said quietly, smiling, then immediately ran down and joined Ianto at the computer.
"Now I may not be so good with fancy tools, but code I can do!" she cried, typing frantically, "Years workin' as a temp in all sorts of dodgy offices weren't for nothing. Just checking to see if there've been any blips, disturbances in the rift around Cardigan lately..."
The Doctor and Rose exchanged a surprised glance as she continued, as did Ianto and Gwen. Jack just grinned, and looked prouder of her than he ever had before. He knew, like they all did in that moment, that Donna would be absolutely fine at Torchwood.
We're not gonna help 'em with the UFO?" Asked a surprised Rose as the Doctor opened the TARDIS doors.
"Naah." he replied, wrinkling his nose, "Torchwood deal with that stuff every day, they've got no need for us! Good team, they are, glad to know it's them who are protecting this little planet while we're out in the far reaches of the universe!"
Rose bit her lip, and leaned against the console. "So then... you an' me... we're good?"
The Doctor paused from fiddling with the controls to look her straight in the eye.
"Of course we are." he said softly.
"This is definitely what you want?"
"Rose, how could you even doubt that?"
He was close to a whisper now, looking at her so softly, with such passion. "This... this is all I've ever wanted. It's like you said... As long as the two of us are together, we can get through anything."
She gave a small smile, "I know."
It was all she had wanted as well, to be with this amazing, incredible man who she loved more than anything, and to have him love her back. And to know that they would never run out of time, that they could literally be together forever.
"So!" he cried, breaking their gaze and clapping his hands together. "Shall we pick up where we left off?"
"When d'you mean?" she asked with a grin, shaking her head slightly.
"Well, the last proper place we visited... was the Olympics, right?"
"I guess... yeah. Yeah, it would've been. God, that seems like a lifetime ago."
"Rose? Time machine."
"Of course." she laughed, "So, where to?"
He thought for a moment, "2012 it was, right? Well, seeing as that went a bit wrong and I do owe you some games... How about the other London Olympics?"
"Sounds good to me!"
In his element, he danced around the console, flipping switches, turning dials and pressing various buttons. She grinned, that was just so Doctor.
"Take your pick!" he said, "1908 or 1948?"
She exhaled, "God, I dunno. 1948?"
"Ah, that's my Rose!"
"What?" she asked, so happy, "What did I do?"
"You chose the mystery Olympics!"
His eyes sparkled as he said it, "A series of strange disappearances, spread throughout the 1948 games. One contestant from every single event pulled out at the last minute and nobody ever found out why. I mean, how could they, it's not as if anyone could go back and investigate..."
He raised an eyebrow, and Rose cottoned on.
"Doctor?" she teased, an echo of him, "Time machine."
He laughed, and immediately sprung to life. Trying desperately to remember what she knew about working the TARDIS, she helped him, and together they piloted her to the year 1948.
Rose headed straight down the ramp, but before she could open the door he put a hand on her shoulder. She turned, surprised, to see him looking suddenly serious.
"Rose, just before we go out there, before we start again," he said quietly, desperately, "I need to say it one last time, need to make sure you know that I am so, so sorry about-"
But he was cut off as she reached up and placed a finger against his lips to stop him.
"Don't." she said softly, gazing up into his deep brown eyes, "Just don't."
And so he didn't. Instead, he smiled, and leaned down to place a feather light kiss on her lips. With a wink, he took her hand, and they left the TARDIS together to start their next adventure, to see and do incredible and no doubt dangerous things. To witness death and darkness, but to do their very best to save it.
In other words, to do what they did best.
The End