This is last chapter in Part One. Really am struggling with my writing at the moment, I'm not sure why. I think being in the coldest room in the house while I write doesn't exactly help and also lack of inspiration and a general laziness. Plus I'm already spending too long sitting at the computer and giving myself headaches writing about random stuff. Though today I managed to use my knowledge of Doctor Who to understand a lecture which was nice, seeing as I didn't attend said lecture. Very good work.

There are extracts in this chappie from World War 3 and The Christmas Invasion (I think).

Rose couldn't believe that less than twelve hours after seeing one of her children disappear into another dimension, she had to wave the other one goodbye as well. He'd been the first one to speak after the Doctor had related his plan to the whole group, when everyone else was still digesting the information. Jon stood up almost instantly.

"I'm coming."

They'd all turned to look at him and then at Rose, who'd felt her stomach knot as soon as he spoke. Resisting the urge to scream at him, she tried to collect her thoughts.

"Jon, I really don't think that would be a good idea-"

"I'm going."

She faced her son, and saw that familiar stubbornness on his face. God, he was his father's son alright, always right, never listening to anybody else. With a rush of horror, Rose realized that actually he was his mother's son. It wasn't like she'd ever paused to think about Jackie's feelings before she ran off with the Doctor on yet another wild adventure.

Rose could hear Jackie still talking. She pushed a few more clothes into her rucksack and reached for another handful.

"I was wondering whether he drinks or not." Jackie came in the door.

"Yeah, he does." Rose knew she was being a bit off-hand with her mum. She was only trying to be nice, trying to welcome the Doctor into the family. Like any normal mother with any normal friend of her normal daughter. Only this was very far from normal.

When Jackie spoke again, her voice nearly broke Rose's heart. "Don't go sweetheart." Rose turned to look at her, taking in her mother, cup of tea in hand. She loved her, even though she could murder her sometimes, she hated to see her upset. But this wasn't about her mum anymore. "Please don't go."

Rose hesitated, before reaching for more clothes.

Jon spoke again without waiting for a response from his mum. "I'll go and pack a bag." He left the room.

Rose looked at the Doctor, setting her jaw firmly. "He's not going. Tell him he can't go."

The Doctor pulled a face. "Rose, it's not really my place…"

"You're his father, of course it's your place!" Rose snapped. To think she'd yearned for his parental involvement for years. If this was how he reacted to a minor strop of Jon's, she didn't dare think about how he'd handle Janie… Just the thought of her daughter made her more sure than ever that she wasn't letting her son out of her sight. "He can't go with you."

"It might be good for him." Jack unexpectedly spoke up. Rose swiveled her gaze round to him. "He might be a help."

Rose stood up and glared at her friendly coldly. "I've already lost one child this week. I'm not losing another."

She headed upstairs after her son. He was in his room, already reaching into drawers and burying the contents into the rucksack he'd had for his sixteenth birthday, when he was into hiking with some friends of his. He still was. He'd always said he wanted to go traveling. Rose didn't know why she hadn't seen this coming a long time ago.

"You can't stop me, Mum." Jon took her by surprise. With his back to her, he couldn't possibly have seen her lingering at the doorway. He'd always had a sort of sixth sense with that kind of thing though, knowing when people were in the room without seeing them. Maybe that was the Time Lord part of him, she didn't know.

Rose moved round and sat down on the bed next to his already bulging rucksack. For something to do, she took out a t shirt and refolded it neatly. "Jon, I don't want a fight," she said gently and reasonably. "I just… you don't know how dangerous it can be with him. The Doctor, I mean."

Jon looked at her. "But you went with him. Didn't you?"

Rose had to nod.

"I bet Gran and Granddad didn't want you to, did they?"

Rose shook her head. Probably safer to explain about Pete another time.

"But you still went."

"It was different!"

"How was it different?" Jon demanded. "How is it any different, Mum? I want to help find Janie. Last night… last night I was rubbish-"

"That's not true!"

"Yeah it is! But now I can help!" Jon was more impassioned than Rose had ever seen him before. "Mum, if they go through and find Janie, she'll be all alone. She won't know anyone. But if I go… there'll be me." He looked at her imploringly. "So I have to go."

Rose looked at her son. She remembered all the reasons she'd given over the years as to why she always went back to the Doctor, why she never wanted to leave him.

"There's just so much out there. So much to see… I've got to."

"Mum… if you saw it out there… you'd never stay home."

They were such selfish excuses, she realized now. All about wanting to see more, do more, be more than she was back on earth. She hated her eighteen-year-old self at that moment. Jon didn't want that, he'd never wanted more than who he was. Sure, he wanted to go traveling, but he'd always come back. She knew she could rely on him to call from every destination, to send postcards and keep her up to date. All he wanted was to help his sister, the annoying sister that he'd had to patiently put up with for eighteen years.

She sighed and then forced a smile. "Well, if you're going, you better learn how to pack properly, hadn't you? You won't get anything in if you don't fold your stuff up properly. Trust me, I can pack."

Jon smiled at her. "I was thinking… maybe I should take some stuff for Janie too…"

A proper smile came to Rose's face. "That would be a good idea," she said softly. Then, impulsively, she kissed her son on the cheek.

"Mum!" he said in mock-disgust, but then he turned round and gave her a hug. "Love you, Mum."

"Love you too, sweetheart."

"Hurry up, Jack, bring your bags out!" Gwen chastised him as the ex-Time Agent sauntered out of the house to the already pretty packed SUV. Gwen couldn't help a smile spreading across her face when she saw him, though she knew it was entirely inappropriate. "Not like you to be so late!" She turned back to pushing her own suitcase in further, trying not to dislodge the delicate equipment Tosh had stowed in the back.

Jack swallowed hard before speaking. "I'm not coming."

All four members of the Torchwood team turned to look at him.

"What?" Tosh voiced their thoughts.

"I'm not coming back with you." Jack forced laughter. "There's no need to look so shocked, I'm not dying or anything."

"But… why?" Ianto frowned.

"I just thought I'd stay here, tidy up after ourselves a bit." Jack shrugged. "No big deal. I've spoken to the Doctor, it's all sorted."

Gwen took a step towards him. "But… we need you," she said.

"No you don't!" Jack laughed. "You're all fine without me around. Owen, you're in charge, okay? Well, listen to the Doctor, but apart from that-"

"Sorry, I don't get this." Owen interrupted. "You're staying here, whilst we go back home and fight the good fight on your behalf? Have I missed something? Did I black out?"

"I just think that, under the circumstances, someone should stay here and-"

"And what?" Gwen raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to say what she instinctively knew what the reasoning behind all this. The reasoning behind everything that had happened ever since they'd come to this godforsaken place.

Jack met her eyes. "You've got Jon."

"Oh, come on, Jack, he's a nice kid, but he's crap with a gun!" Owen protested. "You don't need to stay."

"I do! I-"

"It's cause of her, isn't it?" Gwen finally gave voice to her fears. "Rose. You're staying because of her."

Jack at least had the good grace to look away. "She needs someone to stay with her."

"She's got her parents, that Mickey bloke." Owen frowned suddenly. "By the way, who is he?"

"She's just lost both her kids," Jack continued, turning his eyes back to Gwen. He was begging her with them, asking her to understand, and yet telling her nothing. "I can't just abandon her." He broke his gaze with Gwen. "Right, you're all ready then?" He leaned across Owen and reached into the glove compartment, pulling out the leather wallet containing all manner of CDs. "I'll keep this."

"Oh, now, hold on!" Owen exclaimed. "Telling us you're staying here so you can do whatever it is you do with Rose is one thing. But taking the CDs!"

"You'll have better things to do than listen to CDs," Jack warned him. "Now you better get going if you're going to make it to Cardiff before night. See ya." He turned and walked away. But Gwen couldn't leave it like that.

"Jack." She ran down the path after him. He turned to look at her. "When did you decide this? You didn't even mention it to me? After last night?"

Jack glanced over his shoulder awkwardly as Rose came out of the house. "Gwen, don't," he said heavily and wearily.

Gwen stared at him. "Jack… what are we supposed to do without you? What am I…" She didn't finish her sentence.

Jack sighed. "I'm sorry."

Gwen nodded. She looked over his shoulder at Rose. "Look after him, yeah?" she said in a much louder voice, forcing some jollity into it. "Make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble!"

"I'll try." Rose nodded. "Safe trip."

"Yeah." Gwen nodded again and returned her gaze to Jack's eyes. "Bye then."

"Bye."

Later that evening, Rose and Jack stood again, out on the scrub ground to the west of London. They stood back as the familiar whooshing sound started up and the grass blew around as the TARDIS vanished before their eyes. They both stood, looking at where it had been for a few seconds before turning to each other.

"Just you and me now, kid."

"Yeah."

End of Part One