A/N: Look! I'm getting weekend chapters done.. how awesome is that?

Writing and watching true crime on ID Discovery channel is not a good combination. I swear they've put on the most gruesome stories today and it's making me shudder and seriously question humanity...

Oh well ... I guess I do that anyway sometimes...

I really hope you like today's offering.

Thank you for your wonderful comments. :) Love them!

~~ooOOOooo~~

The festivities and boisterous fun continued relentlessly throughout the day. There was more cheering and competition than Rose had ever seen, even at some of the soccer games that she'd snuck into in her teens. Even as the day continually grew hotter, and the sun shifted to blaze directly overhead the energy didn't wane one iota, especially as the carnival came to a close and the entire student body and their faculty members gathered to announce the champions of the day. There was more excitement and cheering at that moment than she'd seen all day.

And then, within the span of only fifteen minutes, the entire field cleared out completely, leaving only a handful of adults left to clean up the mess left behind.

Rose sat on a concrete seat in the middle of the small stadium area, and despite being seated in the shade, the heat was close to unbearable. She'd lifted the skirts of her blue dress up to sit over her knees and removed the top layer of fabric on her shoulders down to the tight spaghetti-strap blue camisole that she wore underneath. Beside her, laying on a bed of blue and yellow streamers and flags, using a wolf's belly as his pillow, young Mark napped peacefully. The wolf, herself, dozed quietly, in and out and listening to make sure that her small charge was safe and protected.

Rose had participated a little in the food stand throughout the day, and had made some friendly acquaintances as she handed out cups of water and wedges of sliced fruit to the sports day participants. It was fun, she had to admit, and part of her decided that if she got the opportunity to do so on Gallifrey, that she'd definitely sign up for the PTA at the academy once Mark started there.

Lord knows she would need something to do once Mark was at school. Being a stay at home certainly did have its rather boring moments…

…Although the Doctor had been hinting recently that they should try again for another child. Well, there really was no form of trying when it came to conception from the loins of a Time Lord, the result of the effort was guaranteed …So once the decision was made, which she was close to making…

"Penny for you thoughts," Martha commented with a smile as she took a seat beside her and handed over a can of Coke.

Rose took the beverage with a thankful smile. "Domestic thoughts," she admitted wit a shrug. "Nothing world-ending." She took a sip of the cold drink and then chuckled. "Although, when it involves the Doctor, who knows?"

"I hear that," Martha replied with a tip of her own can of coke in salute. "If you wish to tread in the footsteps of the Doctor, then make sure you come armed."

"I always do,' Jack purred in salaciously as he dropped down on to the concrete on the other side of rose to Martha. "Come that is. So what are we talking about that has piqued my interest so?"

"Not what you're thinking," Rose shot back with a smile and a shake of her head. "Although feel free to speculate if you like and offer us a riveting tale of how once upon a time you did that and ended up naked."

He laughed a throaty chuckle. "I'm sure I can answer to that challenge, Rosie."

"I bet you can." She sighed and wiped the can across her forehead, moaning as the cool condensation of the can kissed at her brow. "If I can ask a question, what year are we in?"

"1992," Jack answered. "Right before the cellphone and internet boom began."

Martha chuckled. "When people still talked to each other face to face, and there wasn't a selfie-taker in sight."

Rose snickered. "And teens could get up to all sorts of strife and mischief, and there wasn't any video evidence available for their parents to find out."

"Nor could it haunt them in ten years time when the internet sleuths decided to ruin them by bringing up evidence of the past," Martha agreed. She then sighed. "Oh what a time to be a teenager."

Rose looked up to the centre of the field, where the man known as John Smith was walking about with a large black garbage back, stopping awkwardly to pick up garbage. Her eyes remained on him, and on the pretty woman who picked up garbage with him, but she tilted her face toward Martha. "So. You say the Doctor is Human now?"

Jack choked on his Coke, spluttering in shock. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Martha leaned forward to look at him across Rose's chest. "The Doctor. He's turned himself Human."

"Why the Hell would he do that?" He frowned and looked ahead to the pasty white man in shorts ahead of them. It didn't take him any time at all to assess just which Human that might be. "And please don't tell me that he's Smith."

"Got it in one," Martha answered with a sigh. Her eyes trained onto the man ahead of them, which then had all three of them looking that way. "That man over there, the smarmy little lothario who managed to piss you off within an hour of arriving is, well, was the Doctor."

Jack rubbed at his chin, his eyes still on the man. "For him to turn himself Human – and I'd really like to get nsight on ust how he managed that miracle – then it must've been for a pretty big reason. HE might like travelling with you lot, but he's not exactly a fan of your inferior biology."

"I agree," Rose said gently. "Heard him complain about us apes more than once."

Martha leaned forward and cradled her hands between her knees. "He calls them the Family of Blood," she began. "A species of peoples who have short lifespans, and so chase around the universe looking for long-lived species to take their … I suppose .. life force to extend their own."

Jack winced. "Yeah. Heard of them before. Time Agency went after them a few times, but couldn't catch them. Once they've taken the essence of another species, they basically become untraceable until the stolen life energy begins to wear off." He finally looked to Martha. "If the Doctor was able to sense them, then they're desperate." His mouth then formed a tight O shape. "Oh, and if they got whiff of a Time Lord…"

"Which he thinks they did," Martha confirmed with a nod. "And once they've locked on to the scent of him, the Doctor says they won't give up until they find him."

"And rather than sortin' them out, and maybe sending them off to the Shadow Proclamation, he decided to turn Human?" Rose asked with a confused frown. "Seems a little extreme, even for him."

She shrugged. "I guess his intention is to just let them die off naturally so they can't go after anyone else. Probably doesn't trust the Shadow Proclamation to keep them contained well enough to make sure they die off and are no longer a threat."

Rose pursed her lips with contemplation. "So he's hidden himself as the last Time Lord…"

Jack looked to the sleeping child. "But right now, he's not the only one here." His eyes shifted to Rose. "Your son is Time Lord, Rose."

Rose chewed on her thumbnail and nodded. "Yes, and no. He's Gallifreyan, but not a Time Lord … at least not yet."

"Is there really a difference?"

"I don't know," she breathed out worriedly. "He doesn't have the regenerative powers like his father. His life is only long lived if he's actually on Gallifrey. Here on Earth, well, as far as I know he's just like the rest of us."

Jack leaned in to her. "Are you sure about that?"

"I really don't know," she admitted with a whine. "I don't."

"Then we need to make sure that your Doctor gets here and gets the two of you free of the danger as quickly as possible." He thumbed at his jaw. "He knows where you are, right?"

She shook her head. "He doesn't, I'm afraid." She let out a long breath. "We only left Gallifrey by accident. Mark was messing about in the TARDIS and somehow managed to activate her into flight mode. I didn't know how to stop it." She winced. "And once we got here, I didn't know how to get us back."

"Use the recall lever," he said plainly. "That would activate a return flight protocol and land you in the same temporal coordinates that you left."

Rose flicked her head to him. There was hope in her eyes. "That's right! You now how to pilot the TARDIS. You used to help the Doctor when you travelled with us." She finally smiled. "You can send me and Mark home to him, and before he'd even realise we were gone!"

She stood up and grabbed his hand. "Please, Jack. I-I'll take you to the TARDIS. I'm sure she'll he happy to see you."

"And say goodbye the moment I said hello?" he half whined. There was a smile on his face. "Be happy to help, Darling." He stood up and wiped sweated palms on bare legs. "Best do it now, rather than later, and before the Family can get their noses locked on our little Doctor."

"Thank you," she breathed out with relief. She quickly moved toward her sleeping child gently cooing him to waken. "Mark, baby. Time to get up and go home to Daddy."

The youngster stirred and yawned. He spoke to her in sleepy Gallifreyan that neither Martha or Jack could fully understand. They did hear the curious mention of the word "papa". Which made Martha sigh with happiness.

"He certainly loves his father, doesn't he?"

"Mark idolises him," she confirmed with a soft smile. "And the feeling between them is quite mutual. The Doctor is constantly in awe at his little boy and every one of his milestones."

"And you sound perfectly in love with them both," Martha noted.

"They're both my whole universe," she sighed. Her smile shifted to discomfort. "And call me pathetic if you will, but I actually ache when I'm this far away from him."

"No, that's not pathetic. That's the bond of a mated pair," Jack told her with a worried look. "The further apart you are, the more it hurts. And if you're feeling, Rose, he is as well." He looked pained. "And, shit. I kissed you! He would have felt that all the way back on Gallifrey. He must be in an absolute panic right now."

"B-but he can find us, right?" she asked him worriedly. "Tell me he can use that to find us."

"Yeah, but using the hot/cold method isn't quite as effective as you think it is." He held out his hand. "Take me to the TARDIS. Let's see what we can do about getting you home, or at the very least, letting him know where and when you are."

"Of course. It's not too far away, actually." She let him take her hand, and held her son's hand In the other. Beside them the wold yawned as she took protective position beside Mark. Martha followed beside the group.

"It's right through here," Rose said breathlessly, leading them through the gap in the fence and toward the small shed.

"Our TARDIS is in here," Martha noted with surprise.

Rose nodded. "We did see her," she said with a smile. "It was how I knew that it would be safe to go outside. No matter which Doctor was here, I knew he'd help us get back." Her smile fell to a frown. "Of course, we didn't expect the Doctor to have turned himself into a Human." Her sigh was on a high note. "My luck, of course."

"Jeopardy friendly, isn't that what he called you, Rosie?" Jack said with a chuckle. "Seems that you're still the official holder of that title." He stopped and gasped at the pair of Police Boxes along one wall. "Which one is which?"

Rose walked to her own TARDIS and pushed at the door, which opened with a creak. "This is our baby."

Jack stepped inside and let out a long and very appreciative purr. He expressed how he felt about her beauty under his breath as Martha stepped up to his side and sighed in reverence of her own.

"She's beautiful," Martha sighed. "I could see this every day and never tire of it."

"You've met before," Rose noted. "When you were with my husband?" At her nod, Rose gave her a small smile. "He's very proud of how she looks, and even though we have a beautiful home on Gallifrey, he still spends a lot of time in here just reading and hanging out."

"He misses travelling?" Martha asked.

Rose shook her head. "Not that he's ever mentioned, but I suspect that he does. He was domesticated pretty quickly and stopped travelling cold turkey."

Jack purred in her ear as he waked by to get to the console. "That's because you're worth giving it all up for."

She gave him a beaming grin. "I love you too."

His smile was wide as he looked up at her from the console. "Now what part of that was me telling you that I love you?"

"All of it," she answered with a youthful twist form side to side. "You love me. I know you do."

"I died for you," he murmured under his breath as he looked up at the monitor trying to get it to wake.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he muttered with a crease in his brow as the TARDIS monitors refused to light up. He pressed the series of keystrokes he knew should light up the console and the room around them. "What's wrong with her?"

Martha appeared at her side. "Is there a problem?"

He leaned down underneath the console and began to flip levers and toggle at switches. He cursed low and under his breath when he got nothing.

"Dead," he exclaimed with a huff as he stood up and rubbed at his head. 'She's completely non responsive."

Martha's face creased into a wince. "She's powered down," she said with disappointment. "Just like our TARDIS." She caught the swift movement of Jack's head, his eyes asking her to clarify. "The Doctor said that she had to go silent. The Family would be able to pick her up on the scanners if she had anything other than her life support systems running."

"Oh, shit," he responded with frustration.

"And I guess this TARDIS knows the danger."

Rose glared at the rotor column. "And you thought this was the safest place to land?" she barked incredulously. "I asked you to make sure we ended up somewhere safe, not where my baby was going to end up in danger without his dad to keep us safe." She flopped into a chair and dropped her face into her hands. "God, Rassilon, Omega and the Other!"

Mark weaved himself around her arms and pulled her hands from her face. He spoke in very gentle and supportive Gallifreyan that promised her they'd be okay because Papa was coming, so please don't get upset. Rose rubbed at his head and then pulled him in for a hug. She replied in their shared language and looked to Jack across his head.

"I need to keep him safe," she half-begged.

Jack was apologetic. He leaned his forearm on the console. "There's nothing I can do," he admitted. "If the Doctor put the TARDIS is down to life support only, then only the Doctor can bring her back to life."

"But he didn't do that with mine," she argued.

"His TARDIS is this TARDIS," he said with a shake in his head. "She's going to remember…"

"She's an earlier TARDIS than his," Rose argued. "This one. She's from an incarnation from that's earlier than who he is now."

Jack shot her a look of disbelief. "I'm sorry?" He looked at Martha and then back to Rose. "Earlier than..?" He threw his hands up. "You know what, never mind. Lives of Time Lords ..." He actually started to laugh, however. "No. The lives of the Doctor. I don't think the rest of his kind would get themselves into a mess like that. Hell, I don't think anyone would."

Rose held back a chuckle of her own. "Please don't laugh."

"Really hard not to," he admitted. He rubbed at the back of his neck and pressed his lips together as he looked to the dead console, wondering just what he could do to get this thing working again … it was going to take a minute, or maybe the week to sort out.

"I really don't know how to get her operational again," he said finally. His eyes shifted to her and her child. "Which means for the next little while you and Mark are stuck here." He beamed a grin. "But lucky for you, Martha and I are here to help out." He looked to Martha. "You will help, right?"

She nodded furiously. "Yes. Yes, of course." She looked to Rose. "I've met her Doctor, and I know how much he loves her. If anything happened to her…" She looked back to Jack. "Then I'd fear the fate of the entire universe."

"I would fear for it now," he agreed quietly.

"IT'll be okay," Rose assured him. "This Doctor, he's got a bit more control than the other two."

"They're usually the most dangerous," Jack admitted. "At least with a maniac, you know what to expect." He blew out a breath and walked toward Rose. He crouched down beside her. "You can stay with me for the next little while," he offered. "Until your Doctor gets here."

"I should stay here," she declined politely, taking a look around. "If he comes, this is where he'll look for us."

He shook his head. "You don't have a choice in the matter," he commended. "I'm not having the two of you staying here alone. I've got a 2 bedroom flat in the single person's quarters, you and Mark, you're staying with me." He flicked up a finger. "No arguments." He looked into Mark's eyes and gave him a wink. "So how about it, little Doctor, what about a few days with Uncle Jack?"

Mark blinked without comprehension. His expression was one of confusion and he looked up at his mother. He spoke curiously to his mother in quiet and suspicious tones. When she answered him back, he seemed to be satisfied. He shifted forward to move closer to Jack. "Un-cle Jack," he attempted slowly. "Hell-o."

Jack let out a laugh and petted the youngster on his head. "Well done! Your papa would be proud." He looked to Rose. "Go pack a bag from the wardrobe room, and I'll take you guys to my place. I promise you, if the Doctor shows up I'll make sure he finds you."

Rose nodded and lifted her boy off her knee to go pack them a bag. "I'll be right back."

"And while you're there," he called after her. "Can you find me a dress to wear to school on Monday?"

She disappeared into the corridor with a laugh. "I'll find you something fabulous," she called back.

~~oooOOOooo~~

They all arrived at Jack's flat with only a ten minute walk from the TARDIS. With night already fallen, Rose had assumed that the heat would have dissipates somewhat to provide a little bit of comfort. She had been rather sorely mistaken. It was still ridiculously warm out, but unlike the daytime heat, which burned down from above, the night heat seemed to rise from the ground at their feet.

"Relentless," she moaned as she heat of the concrete seemed to burn through the thin soles of her shoes. "Does it ever cool down here?"

Jack snickered. "Yeah, in June, I hear."

"What Month are we in?"

"March." Martha answered with a tug at her shirt collar.

She sighed. "Great."

Jack held her hand tightly. "You've been living on Gallifrey for a while now, I guess,"

She nodded. "About seven years now."

"I heard that it's warm up there." He looked around him. "Comparable to here."

"We live under the southern mountains," she said with a smile. "A little more temperate than here."

They walked the stairs up to the balcony to Jack's apartment, and stopped at some laughter from three doors down. Rose looked to the side and felt a shudder upon seeing Mr. Smith chuckling at a necking he was receiving from the pretty brunette from the sports field. She turned away, and then covered her son's eyes with the flat of her palm so that he didn't have to see it either.

"Really," she hissed out unpleasantly in Gallifreyan, unsure if this kind of behaviour was actually acceptable here in this town, but wanting to express her displeasure. "Inappropriate behaviour in public," she murmured as she followed behind the group into Jack's flat.

There was an apology to her disgusted remark from the man in question that came to her in far more fluent Gallifreyan than she was able to speak. She paused half in and half out of the doorway, having to lean backward to look toward the owner of the voice.

John Smith, looking more like the Doctor than he had all day, stood tall with his shoulders back, and hes feet slightly parted. The cape he still wore off his shoulders hung low and billowed around his ankles like his thick coat did on a windy day.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," he spoke in soft, but fierce Gallifreyan tones. "My Hearts, come home, I miss you. I miss you so much." He inhaled a deep draw and lifted his head. "Please forgive me."

Rose's head tilted and her breath escaped her quickly, she shifted her hand to push herself off the door.

"Oh John," the brunette called out with a slurred laugh and a drunken slap on his shoulder. "What're you saying now?"

His eyes cleared and he shook himself. He quickly spun to the woman and caught her as she stumbled and then hiccupped and covered her mouth as though holding back vomit. "Okay, Joan. Too much heat and alcohol are not a good combination for you, are they? I think it's off to bed for you, young lady."

He caught Rose's movement out of the corner of his eye as she shook her head sadly. He stared at the void she left behind in her wake and felt something shift inside his chest. Something about her felt so familiar to him, like she should hold such meaning to him.

But that made no sense.

He shook his head and refocused his attention on the woman retching at her doorway. His lip curled with disgust, but he pulled her up into his arms and carried he into her flat.

"John," she slurred. "Stay with me tonight?"

"Yeah," he drawled breathlessly. "Okay."