Chapter Thirty-Four

Powell Estate,

Wednesday, January 31st 2007

Drew French swallowed back his annoyance at the traffic that was unusually congested even for the middle of the week, his up-to-date military software informing him there was an accident up ahead. Aware there was nothing he could do to speed the ride along, he touched the tip of his tongue to his top lip and twitched the heating, forcing his attention on anything that wasn't the half-naked woman in the backseat of his car. He lasted twenty-two seconds – seven more than the previous time – before his eyes slipped to the rearview mirror. The breath eased from him in a slow exhale and his mouth turned dry at the swathe of smooth skin that was on display. She was beautiful. And not beautiful in a way that most women were with their smiles and laughter and bright intelligence, but rather beautiful in a soul-deep way that made him want to be around her.

Brown eyes met his in the mirror.

Embarrassment spiked through him, foot slipping from the break, the car jerking as he stalled it again. Fire burned through his cheeks, forehead nearly pressed against the wheel, his hand shaking as he turned the key in the ignition and applied the handbrake so his foot didn't betray him again.

"Sorry, ma'am," Drew said, mortified.

"Stop callin' me ma'am," Rose Tyler said, fresh jumper held against her chest, uncertain whether she liked Drew's attention or not. "I'm not a ma'am, I'm the opposite of a ma'am. I'm a –"

"Sir?"

The uncertainty fell away, and she grinned. "You're a cheeky sod, you know that, right?"

"I've been told once or twice," Drew admitted, risking a glance back as she covered her nakedness with a cable knit jumper. Swallowed in an attempt to return moisture to his mouth, he focused his attention on the road and off the faded reflection of her in the windscreen. "If I'm not supposed to call you ma'am, what should I call you?"

"My name?" Rose pulled her hair free of her collar and scooped it up into a ponytail, ignoring the throbbing ache where she irritated her newly acquired bruises. "I know you UNIT types are big on rank but I don't have one, so Rose is fine."

"Rose," he repeated, enjoying the sound of it in her mouth when he had only ever called her it in his head. "Okay."

"See." Her head popped between the front seats, hand resting on the back of his seat, fingers close to his neck, and he stared determinedly ahead. "The world didn't fall apart because you called me by my name."

"I don't know, ma'am, the night's still young."

Her laughter was warm and intoxicating and it made him want to hear it again and again. An invitation to dinner sat on the tip of his tongue, shyness and fear stopping him from offering it.

She was Rose Tyler.

The likelihood of her being interested in a UNIT officer was slim to none, not when he had read the reports of what people got up to when they travelled with the Doctor – the things they saw, the people they met. Rose associated with kings, queens, pharaohs, and emperors, and Drew doubted she would find much interesting about a third-year UNIT officer who was working his way through the departments on rotation and kind of knew her sister. Given the complex nature of Zoe's life, Drew was surprised when she remembered his name at their book club every month and responded to his text messages when he dropped into the group chat what book they were reading that month. He didn't think for a second she had ever spoken about him with Rose and, if she had, what would she have said: he's a good driver?

No.

Drew rather get through his day without losing his dignity or gaining a memory that would soft broil him to sleep for the next twenty years when she inevitably rejected him.

"Did you have a good day, Rose?" He asked, only to grimace. As far as conversation starters went, he knew he had better, and he was relieved when the traffic started moving as it gave him an excuse to pretend he had said nothing. His mouth, on the other hand, had different ideas. "With everything?"

"Yeah, it wasn't bad," Rose said, scooting down onto the seat to change her trousers and add more torment to his mind. "More excitin' than I thought, y'know? The Doctor's told me some stuff about workin' for you lot in the seventies an' it all sounded really borin', but it wasn't that bad, not really. Although, I can see why he'd hate it with all that paperwork."

Drew swallowed. "Did you actually fill out any paperwork?"

"Nope," she said, sounding pleased with herself. "I've got Zoe's birthday dinner to get to an' people seem to not want to annoy her. Don't know why that is. I've been annoyin' her for years. It's fun."

He cleared his throat. "Well, we aren't related to her."

"Lucky you," Rose said, managing to twist herself into her jeans with a bit of effort. "What time is it?"

"6.47, ma'am."

"Drew."

"Sorry. Rose."

Drew wet his lips at the roll of her eyes. Perhaps his brother was right and he did need to get out a little more if he was finding twenty minutes alone in the car with Rose Tyler difficult to manage. It wasn't as though he had a lot of free time on his hands though as UNIT kept him busy and dating at work was frowned upon if not outright forbidden. They were technically a military organisation at the end of the day with the required reporting structure, yet it was also understood that it was difficult finding someone with the same life experiences who would understand if one day he was in London driving VIPs and then the next fighting aliens in Lima.

He had tried dating a few of the scientific personnel – a doctor, a biologist, an engineer –, only for those relationships to fizzle out after a few months after he found it too complicated to manage the relationship at work.

Rose Tyler though was different, like no one he had ever met before, which was saying a lot considering the type of people he did meet through UNIT. Feeling the urge to look back once more, he fought it for as long as he was able – twenty-five seconds that time –, fresh embarrassment swept through him when he found her fully dress and watching him in the rearview mirror.

She wasn't at all like her sister.

Drew liked Zoe Tyler. He thought she was smart and extremely attractive with a wicked sense of humour as well, but there was always a tired edge clinging to her that he knew was down to the fact she had been working hard to save the Doctor and their friend Jack, their book club an excuse to relax for a few hours without the weight of everything on her shoulders. However, if he was honest with himself, she frightened him a little because someone who was willing to throw themselves into a four-year rescue mission with no hope of actual success and then actually achieve what she had set out to do was – in his mind – more than a little mad.

And not necessarily the good mad either.

Rose, though, was warm and friendly and had a fantastic laugh and beautiful smile that had made his stomach twist right from the first when he had met her three days ago on the corner of the Powell estate.

Through the grapevine of various informants they had planted around the estate in shops, pubs, and neighbouring flats – ostensibly to keep Jackie Tyler safe when her daughters weren't there, though really everyone knew it was a typical surveillance mission on the Doctor –, UNIT had heard the Doctor was in town. His return had come at an excellent time as there was a particularly thorny thread of energy readings the team under Dr Taylor were having trouble pinpoint and clarifying.

Not actually expecting him to come, Colonel Mace had hoped for Zoe Tyler or Jack Harkness, whose profile at UNIT had risen after the report from the Christmas Invasion had been disseminated to the various departments. No one had known what to expect when Rose Tyler turned up in his place and told them that the Doctor and Zoe were arguing and Jack wasn't able to walk; since she was bored, she had decided to go in her sister's place. Mace had been minded to send her away, a quick word from the Brigadier stopping him in his tracks and encouraging him to give Rose unfettered access to UNIT and to let her take charge.

Drew considered that it had worked out for the best since she was the one to solve the issue with the energy readings with zero violence and a charm that he found infectious.

"I'm goin' to be late," Rose said, climbing through the partition to sit in the passenger's seat, every cell in his body coming alive when she brushed against him. "After all the grief I give the Doctor about bein' on time, I'm goin' to be late. D'you have any idea how insufferable he's goin' to be when I rock up late?"

Drew's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. "Very?"

"Very." She drew the seatbelt across her and looked out the window, knee bouncing as London inched by. "Although, this is all his fault. If he an' Zoe weren't havin' a barney he could've done this – or her – but no. The two of them have been at odds for days an' barely even speak to each other, which is super weird because normally the two of them are joined at them hip an' neither of them are sayin' what's goin' on."

"Sounds difficult," he said.

Rose glanced at him. "D'you have a sister?"

"Two and a brother."

"God, I think I'd go mad with that many siblings," she said with a small laugh. "Zoe's enough for me, y'know? She wasn't too bad when we were little but after everythin' –" she sighed, tiredness creeping in around the edges of her eyes and mouth. "I just wish she'd bloody tell me what the Doctor did this time. When they argue, it's like we all have to suffer an' I hate it."

Drew risked a glance at her, enjoying her profile as she fiddled with the radio. "Perhaps it's private."

"Private," she snorted and shot him a look that made him flush. "There's no such thing as privacy on the TARDIS. We know everyone's business whether we want to or not. For a ship with infinite space, there's actually nowhere to hide. Sometimes I think..." she shook her head. "Never mind, it's stupid."

"No, go on," he urged. "You think what?"

"I'm tellin' you, it's stupid."

"It's probably not," Drew said, merging into another lane of traffic and changing gear as the pace started to increase. "You don't strike me as a stupid person."

A light blush climbed to her cheeks. "You this sweet to all the people you drive?"

"Oh, yeah, the generals love it," he said, a burst of bravery making him grin at her. "I'm bucking for a promotion, so a little sweet talk here, flattery there, you know how it is."

Rose's eyes sparkled. "Clever."

"Thank you," Drew said, pleased with himself. "But you haven't finished your thought. I promise, I won't find it stupid or laugh."

"All right, but I'm holdin' you to that," she warned him. "You break your promise and I'll – I don't know – stick the Doctor on you or somethin'."

"I promise."

"Okay." Rose stretched her legs out in front of her, toes tapping beneath the edge of the footwell, and she looped her hands over her stomach. "Okay. Okay."

"Okay?"

"Stop it," she laughed, pride sweeping through him at making her laugh again. "So, the thing is, when Zoe an' the Doctor argue, it's like they're in their own world. The two of them have always been close, always, but lately it feels like something's different. I keep thinkin'..." her face set into a frown as he turned off the main street by the McDonald's and onto the estate, slowly passing the TARDIS that he tried his best not to gawk at. "I keep thinkin' that there's somethin' else goin' on there. The way they are together sometimes. The laughin' an' the jokes an' the way his mood shifts with hers, I don't know, it's weird. It's like how Mickey was with me."

"Mickey?"

"My ex," she said, frowning out the window. "It's stupid, isn't it? The thought of Zoe an' the Doctor? I'm bein' stupid."

"I don't know," Drew mused, pulling the car to a stop outside the doors of Bucknall House where it was clear a drug deal was taking place. "I've never met the Doctor but Zoe strikes me as requiring a certain type of person to date. I don't think just anyone would be able to keep up with her. I mean, her wife was the uncrowned queen of France after all."

"Yeah, an' that's another thing." Rose turned to him, seatbelt pulling across her chest, his hand applying the handbrake and cutting the engine. The sudden silence made him acutely aware of his heartbeat. "Zoe's not over Reinette. She's still mournin' her an' everythin'. I can't see her jumpin' into a relationship so soon after that."

"Didn't Reinette die four or five years ago in Zoe's timeline?"

She froze as though the thought had never occurred to her. "Yeah, I think you're right."

"Are you okay?" The look on her face was difficult to read, her lips parted as she thought. "Rose?"

"No, no," Rose said, shaking her head and laughing, though Drew felt it sounded a little forced, not like the light warmth that he had heard for the last three days. "Zoe an' the Doctor? Absolutely not. No, it's too stupid for words. They're mates, best mates, but that's it. God, I'm bein' so stupid an' I'm draggin' you into it. You shouldn't be humourin' me."

His lips twitched. "What should I be doing instead then?"

"Lettin' me out," she said, unbuckling herself. "I'm definitely goin' to be late now what with you keepin' me chattin' about stupid stuff."

Drew didn't want her to go. "Is it really that stupid, Zoe and the Doctor?"

"Course it is." Rose opened the door and slid out, reaching into the back to grab her bag of clothes. "Zoe's way too sensible to even think about it with him an' the Doctor doesn't date. Could you even imagine what that'd looks like? Nah, I'm readin' too much into it an' I should know better. People think me an' Jack are together all the time an' we're just mates. Ignore me, I'm an idiot."

"You're not," he said, earnestness making him foolish. "You're brilliant."

Her eyes rolled. "An' you're too sweet. See you around, Drew."

The door shut and she grinned at him through the tinted window before dashing off into the building, startling Maurice the drug dealer who dropped the bag of cocaine he was selling, and making her way up the stairs; he watched her take the stairs two at a time, ponytail bouncing, before she disappeared from view. Slowly, he exhaled and let his forehead drop to the steering wheel, cursing himself for not gathering the courage to ask for her number.

"Idiot," Drew muttered. "You're a fucking idiot."

Up on the walkway outside the flat, Rose paused and smoothed her appearance down, catching her breath. It was rare that she wasn't the one waiting for someone else to arrive, and she grinned to herself, thinking it did the others good to wait every now and then, before digging her key out of her bag and unlocking the front door. The smell of freshly baked cake, wine, and fish and chips mingled together to form the perfect feeling of home; she shut the door behind her, kicking off her shoes and throwing her bag into her old bedroom before rushing through the hallway and into the living room where the Doctor pointedly looked at the clock.

"I'm here, I'm not late!" Rose neatly hopped over K9 who was spending the week with the Doctor due to some technical problems that had come about after eating a microwave – Sarah Jane wasn't sure how or why K9 had done that but she called the Doctor two days after their return in a panic – and dropped down next to Zoe on the sofa. "Ha! That's how it's done, Doctor."

The Doctor looked at her from over the top of his ginger beer. "It's 7.02, you're two minutes late."

"Your watch is wrong," she said.

"Not using a watch, using this." He tapped the side of his head. "You're two minutes late."

She scoffed, refusing to look at the clock to check if he was right or not. "Then your head's wrong, I'm on time."

"My head's wrong?" The Doctor repeated, caught between a laugh and offence. "I'll have you know, young lady –"

"Boo," Jack said from the side, balling up a paper towel and launching it at the Doctor, only to watch it fall apart en-route. "Don't young lady her. It's weird and reminds us all of how old you are."

Mickey lifted his beer bottle to his mouth and took a swig before pointing at the Doctor. "You're older than the University of Paris."

The Doctor stared. "I'm what now?"

"An' a cannon," he said. "You're older than a cannon, mate."

"Are you drunk?" Zoe asked. "How many of those have you had?"

"No idea," Mickey said with a shrug. "Don't think they're human though."

"Let me –" Jack caught hold of Mickey's wrist and angled the bottle towards him. "Oh, yeah, this is definitely not human. Alcohol content's a little higher than normal. You're going to want to soak it up with some food."

"Luckily, we have fish and chips," the Doctor said, setting his drink down to slide to the floor where he began unpacking the sweaty bag of food that had been waiting for Rose's arrival to be distributed. "That should do the trick, Mickety-Mick. Hopefully it's still warm even though Rose was late."

"I was on time," Rose said, taking a glass of wine from Jackie. "I know you're not used to seein' what punctuality looks like, but this is it."

Jackie laughed. "You tell him, love."

"How was it today anyway?" Zoe asked, setting her glass of wine down as she took her dinner from the Doctor, meeting his eye when he passed it to her, a press of guilt weighing against her chest before she looked away. "Have you figured it out yet, or do you need to go back again?"

"Nope." Rose shoved three chips into her mouth and chewed. "All taken care of. For half a minute, I thought we were dealin' with the Daleks." The Doctor fumbled his fish and chips, dropping the package onto the table, eyes wide. "Relax, obviously we weren't or I'd have called in a panic. But, there were these weird energy readings that reminded me of Van Statten's bunker, so that's why I thought Daleks an' then I thought, no, wait, geniuses instead. Turned out some kids had got their hands on alien tech – no idea how – an' were tryin' to create this portal thing to God knows where."

"A portal?" The Doctor asked. "What kind of portal?"

"The glowing kind."

"Helpful, thank you."

Rose rolled her eyes and dug her phone out, wiping the grease off her fingers and onto her jeans. She opened up her camera and accessed the most recent photos.

"Here," she said, holding it out to him. "Figured you'd want to have a look, nosy bugger that you are."

The Doctor spared her a look before removing his glasses from his jacket packet and sliding them onto the bridge of his nose, dunking a chip in his curry sauce. From the sofa, Zoe watched him discreetly, missing him. Their argument was stretching into day five and every time they tried to find a way to end it, they ended up snapping at each other and falling right back into it. She hated the tension between them, hated how the others had picked up on it and were looking more closely at them, and she hated not spending time with him that didn't devolve into heated words and hurt feelings.

It was her birthday – two days late but still her birthday – and she wanted to spend it with him. She had woken up that morning determined to fix everything and spend the day with him ambling around London with the morning spent in the British museum followed by lunch in a pub and the afternoon spent exploring the nooks and crannies that tourists didn't see; she hadn't been able to extend the offer before they ended up in another fight when she found him neck deep in scans of Jack's brain.

The problem, she considered as she broke off a piece of fish and dunked it in her sauce, was that she was in the wrong.

She wasn't oblivious to the flaws in her character, years of therapy making them perfectly clear to her, and she had known that keeping the truth about Zoe Heriot from the Doctor was never the best idea, but she had done it anyway. Yet, even though she was certain of her wrongness and the hurt she had caused him, she also believed that he was being too cavalier with Jack's mind and approaching the return of his memories too quickly.

Every time she opened her mouth to apologise, she ruined it by launching into a lecture on responsibility, angering him anew and leaving her feeling like a frustrated idiot.

"This looks like a artron portal," the Doctor said. "How the hell did kids get this up and running?"

"Confiscated some tech," Rose said. "No idea what it does but it's in my bag. Thought you'd want to have a poke at it."

"UNIT just let you take the technology?" Jack asked. "That's generous of them."

"They didn't so much let me take it as I kind of took it," she said, offering them a grin when they looked at her, surprised. "I didn't steal it, but I told them the Doctor wouldn't like this knockin' about so...I took it. They didn't really complain. I think they're a little in awe of the Doctor, which is weird. You should hear Malcolm Taylor talk about him."

Zoe nearly choked on her food. "You met Malcolm?"

"He's properly mad, isn't he?" Rose laughed. "Kept talkin' about you though as if you're best mates."

"I did get a birthday card from him actually," she said, nodding towards the top of the TV where cards from those on the estate and a few others – Harriet Jones, the Lethbridge-Stewarts, and, bewilderingly, Harry Saxon – sat. "He's not too bad, he's just...a lot."

Rose nod. "Yup."

"So it's over?" Jackie asked. "You don't have to go back?"

"Don't have to go back," she confirmed. "I'm here until we leave. I can help with the party now. What' s there left to do?"

"Nothing," Jack said. "Zoe's taken care of it."

"Zoe?" She repeated, incredulously. "Zoe planned a party?"

"Zoe's sitting right here," she said with a roll of her eyes. "And Zoe can plan a party because you know why? Zoe's not an idiot. Besides, it wasn't planning so much as tweaking and doing a few final details. I'm happy to take the credit though." Her face lit up. "Do you know we've got a dessert table now? I found this bakery that's doing this huge table of desserts for us, it's going to be fancy and great."

"An' a lot of money," Jackie complained. "I told you –"

"I know, I know," Zoe said. "But, look at it this way, the Doctor's paying."

The Doctor looked up from the photos and blinked. "I am."

"You are."

He caught sight of the expression on her face and nodded quickly. "I am. I am paying, happy to. Money means nothing to me so we might as well spend it on desserts. Are there any –?"

"There will be banana-based desserts, yes." Zoe enjoyed the small smile of delight on his face. "I'm not likely to forget them."

"Sounds like I haven't missed much then," Rose said, pleased at that. "Unless I have. What's been happenin' round here? Anythin' excitin'?"

"Jack stood up for ten seconds earlier," Mickey said, pride seeping through his voice as he rested his hand on the top of Jack's head, fingers playing with his hair. "An' it didn't hurt too much, did it?"

"It wasn't that bad," Jack agreed. "I still won't be dancing on Friday but I might be able to walk by the end of the month."

The Doctor handed Rose's phone back. "You'll definitely be able to walk by the end of the month, no doubt about that. It's a really good sign that you were able to stand today. Tomorrow, we're going to try for a little longer."

Rose smiled, delighted at Jack's success. "Congrats. Baby steps."

"Literal baby steps right now," he said, leaning into Mickey. "But I've got my ear back –"

"You just need to stop fiddlin' with it," Mickey told him, pulling his hand from the lobe. "I catch him tuggin' on it all the time."

"I just want to make sure it's not going to fall off!"

"It might if you keep pullin' at it."

"Have you considered a spray bottle?" Zoe asked, miming it with her fingers. "Like how you train dogs or children not to pee on the furniture. Every time he goes for his ear, you squirt him with some water."

"Let's not do that," Jack said slowly. "And maybe let's not leave Zoe unattended with children in the future."

Rose grinned. "Okay, so Jack's standin' again, which is great. Anythin' else?"

Jackie poured herself another glass of wine. "The Doctor an' Zoe had a whispered row in the kitchen when they thought we couldn't hear them. Made makin' lunch a bit difficult."

"Mum," Zoe hissed, embarrassed.

Colour bloomed across the Doctor's face. "Jackie!"

"Oh, what?" She demanded, turning frustrated eyes onto them. "If you two would get your heads out of your asses, then we wouldn't have to pretend there's nothin' wrong, would we? You've been fightin' for days. I thought you might put a pin in it for Zoe's birthday but, here we are."

Zoe rubbed a hand over her face. "We're not fighting."

"Feels like fighting," the Doctor said into his beer, shrugging when she threw him a filthy look that picked at the sore spot inside of him where their argument lay. "Fine. Sorry. Truce. It is your birthday after all."

"My birthday was two days ago," she muttered.

His eyes fluttered shut with annoyance. "Zoe –"

"Both of you shut up," Mickey said from his space next to Jack. "God, you're both annoyin' when you're like this. Are we celebratin' Zoe's birthday or not? Because there are presents to unwrap."

"We're celebrating," Jack said, hand resting Mickey's thigh, looking at the Doctor and Zoe in turn, daring them to say otherwise. "I don't know where the presents are though. Jackie, you put them somewhere, didn't you?"

"Yeah, out of reach of Zoe," she said, getting to her feet. "This child has been able to guess a present at twenty feet. Only way to keep things a surprise was to hide them."

Zoe grinned. "Not a surprise if it's always books."

Jackie unearthed the presents from on top of the fridge and dropped them into her daughter's lap, bending over her to press a kiss to the top of her head, remembering the day that she had brought her home from the hospital. Zoe had been a week overdue and making her feel uncomfortable and bloated but hopeful that she would arrive on her birthday, thinking it would have been the best present she ever received, only for her waters to break in the early hours of January 31st and for her daughter to make an appearance before breakfast. Despite the fact she was late in arriving, she was a small baby with a bald head and dark skin that slowly lightened as she got older, and Jackie found it difficult to believe it had been eighteen years since that day, harder still to believe that Zoe was now thirty.

Rose shifted, turning so that she was facing her sister, legs crossed beneath her. She plucked a heavily wrapped present from the pile and held it out to her. "Here, open mine first."

Zoe gave it a testing squeeze. "Feels like a book."

"Hmm, I wonder what it could be since you stood next to me in a bookshop an' said that one," she said with a roll of her eyes. Zoe stuck her tongue out at her and attacked the present through the copious amount of sellotape Rose had used, cooing in delight at the reveal of the exact book she had wanted. "Don't know why you don't just read the one in the library."

"I like having my own copies of important books," Zoe said, kissing her cheek. "Thank you, Rosie."

Sensibly and based off a lifetime's experience of gifting presents to Zoe, Jackie and Mickey had also gone down the book route. While the books were on the TARDIS, she liked having her own small library in the office she had made her own and a small part of her mind that she tried to ignore due to the ache the thoughts left behind reminded her that she wouldn't always be on the TARDIS. When the day came for her to move out, when she and the Doctor decided that it was time, she wanted to bring her books with her as well. Part of her suspected that was why the Doctor had chosen not to give her a book, instead wrapping something hard in silver paper that she brought to her ear and –

"Don't," he warned before she shook it. "It's delicate."

"Delicate?" Lifting an eyebrow, she lowered it back to her lap and looked at it cautiously, too used to picking up something he had set down only for it to singe her fingers. "It's not going to blow up, is it?"

"Shouldn't do."

"Not filling me with confidence but okay." Carefully, she slid a finger under the Doctor's elaborate wrapping – he enjoyed going all out with ribbons and name cards – and revealed a wooden box. Her fingers passed over the Gallifreyan word engraved on the front, tracing the pattern as she tried to remember what it meant. She looked to him. "Baby flowers?"

His mouth twitched. "Close. Seeds."

"Seeds, of course," Zoe said, opening the lid to reveal four small vials of seeds labelled in a neat, Gallifreyan hand. "What is –? I don't understand."

"When the war started, the Agricultural Council worried about the damage that might be done to the planet because of the increase in industry," the Doctor explained. "We were environmentally friendly but that's because we staggered production. Having to build weapons and ships at a quick pace meant that we skipped a few of the protective stages and they worried we'd damage the planet, so they sent seeds to each TARDIS just in case anything happened. These are four of the most common flowers on Gallifrey, the ones I miss the most. I used to have them in my garden by the river and they'd bloom every winter. I didn't realise I was missing them until..." he cleared his throat. "Anyway, I thought you might like to put them in your garden, if you wanted. You don't have to but I thought it might be nice."

Zoe swallowed against the emotion that made a home for itself in her throat. "I can plant them in my garden. I'd love to plant them."

His eyes flicked to hers. "Yeah?"

"Of course," she said, curling her fingers around the edges of the box. "Doctor, thank you. But are you sure? If this is all that remain of these flowers, then –"

"No one I trust more with them," he interrupted, gifting her a small smile. Gently, she closed the lid and held the box against her chest, the gap between them feeling narrower than it had. "Go on then. Open Jack's. He's been secretive about it. Wouldn't tell any of us what it is, and I really want to know."

"Not one of you can keep a secret," Jack said, archly. "It's why I didn't tell any of you."

"Ooo, a super secret birthday surprise," Zoe said, feeling the package. "Well, judging by the sharp edges I'm feeling, I'm ruling out a book, which is a brave choice. Aunt Caroline once bought me a make-up kit and never made that mistake twice."

"You looked like a clown." The memory swept back to Rose and made her laugh. "Mum, do we have that picture somewhere? The one with Zoe all made up like she was?"

"I've got them tucked away," Jackie said, smiling even though the memory soured her mood. Her sister had never approved of Jackie having a biracial baby and had made no effort at learning how to do black hair or black make-up, not realising through deliberate ignorance that the make-up that worked for white skin didn't work for black skin. "An' you don't need make up, darlin', you're pretty as is."

"Rose on the other hand – ow!"

"You deserved it," Rose said. "Now open Jack's present. I want to know what it is."

Zoe shook her head, amused, and unwrapped Jack's present. It was the first time she was receiving a present from him and was curious about what he thought to get her. She was never normally one for gifts, liking neither to give or receive them, and she tended to badger her family members for the things they wanted rather than expend the energy attempting to think of things they would like, but Jack hadn't spoken to her once about it. If she were him, she would have gone for a book, and so the back of a picture frame piqued her curiosity. Casting him an interested look, she turned the frame over and –

"Oh god."

The foundation on which she had rebuilt her life after Reinette's death shook beneath her, and a sob ripped out of her throat.

Rose jerked in surprise, legs snapping out as panic and surprise sweeping across her face; Jackie sloshed wine over herself when she jumped at the first sob; and Mickey slipped from the arm of Jack's chair that he was perched on, falling to the floor and covering himself in beer. Only Jack remained calm, watching Zoe with a steady look of soft understanding as her shoulders heaved and body curled in on itself. The Doctor rose to his feet, stepped across the table, and sat next to her before anyone thought to move, drawing her into his arms.

"What did you do?" He demanded of Jack, Zoe's fingers clawing at his shirt, attempting to ground herself. "What the hell did you do?"

"She's okay," Jack said, calmly. "I thought it'd be a bit of a shock. Once it wears off, she'll be okay."

"What's a bit of a shock?" Jackie asked, drying her hand on her shirt and sliding to her knees in front of her daughter. "Sweetheart, what is it? What's wrong?"

Zoe opened her mouth to try and speak but another sob pushed its way out, her forehead rubbing against the Doctor's chest as she tried to control herself. The emotional upheaval after so long had unmoored her, and all she was able to do was dig at the picture frame that was pressed face down in her lap. Reaching out, Jackie pried the picture out of Zoe's hands with great difficulty and turned it over, looking at the blonde woman framed within.

"I don't get it," she said, showing the picture to Rose who shrugged, confused and worried. "Who is she?"

"Show me," the Doctor said.

Jackie turned the picture to him, and his breath caught in his throat. He found himself staring at a face he thought he would never see again, and he looked to Jack and then back to the picture where Reinette Poisson smiled out of the frame.

"Jack," he breathed, stunned. "How in the hell did you manage this?"

"Roxx, she helped me," Jack said, reaching for Mickey's hand and tangling their fingers together, worried he had made the wrong decision when Zoe kept crying. He had never seen her cry before and it was unnerving. "I've been thinking about it since Christmas when Zoe said she didn't have a picture. So, I contacted someone through Roxx who knew someone who knew someone and they were able to find a way through the Time Bubble around her life without altering anything and got me this."

"That was dangerous," the Doctor said, eyes drifting back to Reinette's face and then to Zoe in his arms. "But well worth it. Not having a picture weighed on her."

"I didn't mean to –" Jack stared at Zoe, worry appearing on his face. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, she just needs to cry it out," he said, smoothing a hand over the back of her head. "But she'll love it. Once she finishes crying, she'll tell you just how much she loves it too."

"Who is she?" Jackie demanded.

"Reinette," the Doctor said. "That's Reinette."

"Reinette?" Rose surged forwards and grasped the picture frame between her hands and stared, drinking in the face of her sister's wife with a hunger that took her by surprise. "Oh, she was so pretty. Zoe, your wife was so pretty."

"I'd forgotten," Zoe choked, dragging the words from her and flinging them into the room, eyes locked on Reinette's face."God, I was starting to forget what she looked like. I couldn't remember. I'd try and try but I couldn't, and I thought I was going to lose her, and then –" she sobbed again, hands splayed over the Doctor's chest. "Thank you, thank you, Jack."

"You're welcome," he said, squeezing Mickey's hand. "I should've thought this through a little more though. I didn't think you'd cry."

She laughed, wet and filled with emotion. "What does it matter? Everyone here's seen me at my worst, a few tears don't matter."

"You okay?" The Doctor asked, quietly, bending his head over hers. "Do you want some water or something?"

The noise around Jackie fell away as she stared at the picture of Reinette, the daughter-in-law she had never known. She had tried to imagine what her daughter's wife had looked like – the Doctor's description of blonde and beautiful being not particularly helpful – and seeing a clear picture of Reinette made her seem more real. This was a woman that Zoe had lived with for six years, loved, and decided to marry; they had held hands and shared kisses and laughed together and fought together. The ache of never having met her – of never being able to share that part of Zoe's life – throbbed within her, and she wiped a tear from her eye.

"I've always wondered..." Jackie murmured, raising her eyes from Reinette's face to look at Zoe, sheltered within the Doctor's arms. "Oh, Zoe, sweetheart, she looks perfect."

"She was," Zoe said, face scrunching up again before she pulled herself away from the Doctor's chest, untangling herself from his arms and standing up. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I just need. I need a minute. Excuse me."

Stumbling over to Jack, she used Mickey as support to bend over and kiss him, murmuring her thanks and love against his forehead. Stepping away, she grabbed a bottle of unopened wine, clutched Reinette's picture to her chest, and left; the front door shut behind her, plunging the five of them into a silence that stretched until –

"Way to make the rest of us look bad," Mickey said.


The cold air hit Jackie in the first and made her shiver, tightening her coat around her and securing her scarf about her neck. It was nearly midnight and she wanted to be in bed, warmed through by the wine and good company, but Zoe hadn't come home yet and while Jackie knew that it was likely her daughter had disappeared into the TARDIS and was drowning her grief in a bottle of wine, she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep easily until she was certain she was okay. Hunching over against the cold, she hurried across the courtyard to where the TARDIS looked warm and inviting, glowing under the dark of the night. It was difficult for her to understand how people simply walked past it when it clearly drew the eye in a way that wasn't earthly.

"Hello," Jackie said awkwardly to the ship. "I don't have a key. Can I –?" Reaching out, she tried the door only to find it locked shut. "Right, yeah, this is stupid. Talkin' to a ship. The Doctor's turned me mad."

Turning around, she squinted around the courtyard on the off-chance that Zoe hadn't gone inside and skipped over her at first before darting back. She was sat facing the concrete basketball court that was mainly used as a football pitch, her hair exploding out around her, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Cursing her daughter's stupidity, Jackie hurried towards her and, the second she was close enough, dropped Zoe's coat around her shoulders.

"Put that on, you eejit," she chastised. "You're old enough to know better. You'll bloody freeze to death out here if you're not careful."

Zoe pulled a face, leaning heavily to one side as she forced her arms into her coat, an empty wine bottle falling over at her feet and rolling beneath the vandalised bench. Jackie watched her, concern growing as Zoe was a sociable drunk who was funny and charming who didn't easily give over to the maudlin.

"You don't need to check up on me," she said, words slowly falling from her. "I'm fine. Better than fine. I've got a picture of my wife. Didn't have that this morning. So I'm fine. Really, truly, properly fine."

"Say that word enough an' you might just mean it." Jackie picked up a half-empty bottle of wine, presumably bought from the off-licence judging by the label, and lifted it to her mouth, taking a sip. "This is a bad look for you, sweetheart. Drinkin' straight from the bottle an' in plain view of the neighbours? People are goin' to think I raised you badly."

Zoe gave a tired, drunk laugh and took the wine from her. "They won't say it to your face though."

"Not if they know what's good for them," she said, turning the bottle around with a small sigh. "Jack's gettin' worried you haven't come back. He thinks he's broken you."

"Not broken. Not even bruised. I just feel..." Zoe leaned her head back to look at the sky, searching for the stars amidst the light pollution. "There's this hole inside me, this horrible, gaping hole where Reinette lived and sometimes I forget it's there. Sometimes I can go hours and hours without thinking about her but then I'll see something and think, hey, she'd like this and I'm reminded all over again. And today, with the picture, I felt every inch of that hole and it hurts but not in a bad way. It's kind of a good hurt. Good bad, I think."

Jackie reached out and cupped the back of Zoe's head as she had done when she was a child she could still cradle in her arms. Slowly, she pulled her down to lie against her shoulder, and Zoe sniffed, curling into her. Between them, Reinette's picture rested in Zoe's lap, and Jackie took it from her and held it up, the light from the streetlamp throwing a sharp relief over the smudge marks already on the glass.

"She really was beautiful," Jackie said, quietly. "It's easy to see what caught your eye, an' that king of hers."

Zoe took another drink from the bottle. "How d'you know about Louis?"

"Might've read a book or two on her," she said with a shrug. "After you told me about her, thought I'd get to know my daughter-in-law best way I could. No mention of you in any of it though."

"There wouldn't be," Zoe said. "Black woman living off the kindness of the king? Nah, I'm a charity case as far as historians go. Besides, I tried my best to keep any permanent records of my stay there from popping up."

Jackie snorted. "Missed the boat with that paintin' of yours, didn't you?"

"Well, Reinette asked nicely and I liked making her happy," she said with a small grin. "Want some more wine?"

Jackie took the bottle and had a healthy swig. "How drunk are you?"

"Fairly drunk," she said. "Haven't tried standing up yet so I don't know. What are the others doing?"

"Jack went to bed about two hours ago," Jackie told her. "I think the pain was beginnin' to start, so the Doctor dosed him up an' Mickey took him off. Haven't seen either of them since. Rose showed the Doctor that weird thing of hers she took from UNIT an' fell asleep while he was pokin' an' proddin' it."

Zoe hummed. "And the Doctor? I haven't seen him come out yet."

"I've got him doing the washin' up," she admitted, and Zoe rolled her eyes. "Don't do that. He wanted to come an' find you but I figured with the way the two of you have been at each other's throats this week, it'd be best if he stayed away."

"You don't need to do that," Zoe said, fingers curled around the neck of the wine bottle. "We're actually capable of having a civil conversation, most of the time. Things are just..." she waved vaguely with her hand. "Difficult."

"Look, sweetheart, you know I don't like to stick my nose in –"

Zoe barked a laugh. "C'mon, Mum. Pull the other one. I actually know you."

"You're not too old for a clip around the ear," Jackie warned. "But, listen, you an' the Doctor are mates. It's obvious to anyone with eyes that the man worries about what you think of him. Whatever he's done, I'm sure it can't be so bad that the two of you are still arguin' a week later."

"That's the thing," Zoe said, annoyed on the Doctor's behalf at the assumption. "It's not what he's done. I'm the one who fucked up this time. I didn't tell him something important about a friend of his and every time I try to apologise, I get caught up in everything and we end up fighting. It's like I can't stop the words from coming out of my mouth."

"Is it unforgivable?" She asked. "This thing you did?"

"I don't think so," Zoe said, frowning. "Probably not. It's not like I killed someone, although I reckon he'd find a way to forgive me for that. He's very..." her hands gestured. "Kind."

"He's somethin', all right," Jackie replied. "You an' the Doctor'll work it out. Since you're the one who messed up, let him come to you. Sounds to me like you're askin' for forgiveness an' that's fine, but you shouldn't push. Let him come to you when he's ready an' then you can talk it over."

Scraping the sole of her shoe against the ground, she pulled a face. "I'm just supposed to wait?"

"You're supposed to wait," Jackie said. "It's not the end of the world."

"Feels like it," she grumbled, lifting the bottle to her mouth again. "What am I supposed to do while I'm waitin'?"

"Read a book, go see your friends, do anythin' except mope around like Eeyore." Jackie pulled the wine from her hand, ignoring the disappointed groan. "An' stop drinking straight from the bottle in public. It makes you look trashy."

"Please," she snorted. "If anything, I provide this estate some much needed class."

"Definitely time for bed," Jackie decided, standing and pulling a reluctant Zoe to her feet. "Come on, now. You need some water before you go to sleep. Flat or TARDIS?"

Zoe pressed a hand to her stomach, the alcohol hitting her and making the world turn into a blurred haze. "Where's the Doctor again?"

"Flat."

"TARDIS it is," she said.

"Chicken."

"Yup."


Two days later

The party was a rousing success even by Jackie's standards. So many people came that it had to spill out onto the street around, the music cranked up until the floors shook and the recreation centre was filled with the heat of bodies pressed together as they danced and laughed.

Jackie was in her element, making her way through the friends and family that had come to London to celebrate with her, feeling and looking beautiful in her black velvet dress that she had chosen from the TARDIS wardrobe. The crushed velvet felt smooth whenever she touched it and the whalebone corset made her feel slimmer and more elegant than she had in a long time. The Doctor had even styled her hair for her with deft practised fingers pulling and twisting it into a chignon, smoothing down the stray hairs and finding a glittering diamond hairnet that she thought was worth more than everything she owned; Zoe, fulfilling Jack's typical role, had also done her make up, and the woman in the mirror was someone she didn't recognise, startling whenever she caught sight of her reflection.

The prospect of turning forty had filled her with dread, the party an idea to distract herself from turning older, but now that her birthday had passed and the party in full swing, it wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be.

"Excuse me, coming through, don't mind me," Zoe said, weaving her way through the crowd with a bag held above her head. "Giorgi, you touch my ass, I'll break your fingers. Out the way, coming through – oh, hi, Mum."

Jackie frowned at the bag. "What's –?"

"Don't ask," she said. "Seriously, don't. The people here are disgusting and you really don't want to know." She twisted to avoid being bowled over by some children. "You might want to go rescue Jack though. Nana's got him."

"Bollocks," Jackie said. "Thanks, love."

It was the work of a few minutes to find Jack. Normally easy to locate being tall, handsome, and oozing with charm that surrounded him with people, he was unfortunately stuck in his wheelchair for the night and appeared to be trying to stay out of the way. Her heart ached for him. His abduction and subsequent torture had stolen something from him, and she wasn't used to him being quiet and reflective; she missed her gregarious friend who made her laugh with filthy jokes as she cooked. Finding him sitting next to Deirdre Prentice, her mother who was staying in the flat for the weekend instead of at her care home in Essex, the two of them in matching wheelchairs, made her think that perhaps they should have stayed on the TARDIS for longer.

Jack Harkness not dancing at a party was a strange and unwelcome sight that suggested there was something wrong with the universe.

"Jackie," he beamed up at her, a slight haze to his eyes indicating he had been given another dose of pain medication. "Your mum's great."

"Whatever she's tellin' you, don't believe it, I was an angel as a little girl," she said, resting her hand on his shoulder. "You two doin' okay? You need anythin'?"

"Don't be fussing, Jacqueline," Deirdre said, the heavy Essex of her accent reminding Jackie of her childhood. "Go and enjoy your party. Leave us invalids to it."

"You're not invalids," she said. "You're just not walkin' right now."

"Bah." The expression on Deirdre's face was sharply reminiscent of Zoe that Jackie felt wrong footed, her mother's hand patting Jack's arm. "We've got everything we need right here: alcohol, good company, and food."

Jack held up a plate heaped with food. "Zoe stopped by a while back. She wanted to make sure we got some desserts before they were all eaten. Look at how small they are. Do you think she knew they were that tiny because I don't think I've even seen her eat something this small before."

Zoe hadn't known, and Jackie had been gifted the sight of her youngest daughter standing in front of a table of tiny desserts with her hands on her hips and a baffled expression on her face.

"I'm sure she did," Jackie lied, smoothing her hand down the back of his head. "Where's Mickey?"

"I told him to go have fun." Jack examined a small crème brûlée before he popped it into his mouth, perfect white teeth crunching through the caramelised sugar. "He's hovering again. If you see him, make sure he has something to drink. He's less worried if he's drunk."

Deirdre sipped her brightly coloured drink through a straw. "Keep 'em drunk, that's what I tell my girls. Makes for an easier marriage."

"Mum," Jackie sighed. "What even is that? What are you drinkin'?"

"Don't know," she said, happily. "That tall skinny friend of the little ones made it for me."

Jack looked at her curiously. "Little ones?"

"She means Rose an' Zoe," Jackie said. "An' the Doctor made that for you?"

"He's a doctor, is he?" Deirdre drank deeper. "That's useful. Always good to have a doctor about."

"He's not that sort of doctor," Jack told her before glancing up at Jackie. "I'm sure Zoe's already caught sight of him. She'll pull him out from behind the bar. Go, enjoy yourself. It's your birthday. Don't worry about what the Doctor's up to."

"I spend most of my days worryin' about what that man's up to," Jackie grumbled, leaning over to kiss the top of his head. "Stay out of trouble. Mum, don't drink too much of that. There's probably way too much alcohol in it."

Deirdre waved her off, uninterested, and Jackie slipped away from them back into the crowd. She smiled and stopped to chat with the friends who grabbed her along the way before catching sight of the Doctor. Like Jack, he was easy to spot in a crowd, more so that evening as he reminded her of Clark Gabel with his grey waistcoat and dark cravat beneath a long-tailed coat. He had been wearing a hat but had evidently lost it to the four-year-old child who was holding court at his feet, hat slipping down over her face; Jackie smiled at the sight before snagging the Doctor by his ear.

His body buckled, head following the pain.

"Ow, hey, Jackie!"

"What did you give my mother?"

"Your what now?"

"My mother," she said, slowly and clearly, pulling his face level with hers. "You made her a drink. I swear, if it's some alien nonsense, I'll –"

"It was a Rainbow Paradise," the Doctor said, twisting in an attempt to ease the pain. "Grenadine, coconut rum, blue curacao, and pineapple juice. All perfectly, boringly human. Will you get off me now? I like this ear."

She released him.

He stood up and rubbed his ear, a sore expression on his face. "What was all that for? You've been really clear that I'm not to give the natives anything alien."

"First of all, stop callin' us natives." She ignored the grin that appeared, hating the way it made him look charming. "An', second of all, you kidnapped my daughter for a year."

The grin dropped, and he scowled. "Are you going to use that to win every argument?"

"Yeah, reckon so," Jackie said. "Anyway, Jack said to get Mickey a drink if we see him. Somethin' about him bein' less annoyin' when he's drunk."

"Liquor Mickey up, got it." The Doctor shifted from foot to foot, dressed elegantly from head to ankles, his feet clad in black converses that had made her sigh the first time she saw them. "May I go now, please?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded, watching him dash into the crowd like a child filled with too much sugar.

The Doctor sprinted away from Jackie, ear throbbing, only to find himself tripping over Ru whose hands made an appearance. Smiling widely and pivoting, he darted away from her and her wandering hands, wishing Zoe was at his side to help him keep his body unmolested from the determined characters on the estate; early 21st century Earth had a very loose and blurred understanding of what bodily autonomy and personal boundaries meant. Rose was also proving unhelpful as she was tearing up the dance floor with David Llewellyn who was an excellent dancer like New Year's Eve had suggested, his little girl Siobhan giggling in the corner with Shareen's younger siblings and a few of the Prentice cousins.

"You look like you'd rather be having tea with Davros right now."

The Doctor turned and an honest smile bloomed across his face at the sight of Sarah Jane. It had only been a few days since he last saw her, driving Bessie to pick K9 up so that he could deal with the microwave-related digestion issues, yet she was a welcome sight.

"Sarah Jane," he said, opening his arms. "You're here and you look fabulous. I told you that'd be a great colour on you."

"And you were right," Sarah Jane said, embracing him, nose pressed against his shoulder briefly before pulling back. "You look very handsome."

Delighted by the praise, he stepped back and spread his arms for her, letting her take him in as Zoe had yet to offer a compliment on his appearance, their argument making things awkward and stilted between them.

"Mickey said that this'd be acceptable," the Doctor said. "Apparently he's a big fan of films from this era. I haven't spent a lot of time in the Hollywood golden age. Should probably change that at some point. I could meet Marilyn."

"I think I'd want to meet John Wayne," she said, reaching out to fix his wonky cravat. "He was very handsome in his youth, and I used to watch all of his films."

"You did?"

"Sometimes it was the only thing on TV when I was younger." Tweaking his collar, she smoothed his appearance out. "Although, no matter who I meet, it'll never beat –"

"Florence Dixie," the Doctor said with her, grinning when she laughed. "I remember. It was the first time I'd ever seen you starstruck. I actually worried you were going to faint at one point. I was getting ready to be embarrassed for you."

She dug her fingers into his ribs. "I don't know why I ever missed you."

"The charm, the sense of humour, and the ability to make whatever drink you desire," he said, slipping out from under her fingers and offering his arm. "Shall we?"

The Doctor escorted her through the crowd, his general presence creating a smooth path for them to the bar that was heaving with people. Jumping the bar and ignoring the scandalised look from the bartender, he pulled out a glass and set to work on making Sarah Jane a drink, her eyes watching him; she had forgotten how much she enjoyed watching him work, whether it was tinkering in his lab or cooking a meal, he made everything into an art form despite how typically clumsy he was.

"Here." Setting the glass on a napkin, he slid it to her. "The closest I can get to a Dranan Surprise."

She poked at the ice. "What's the surprise?"

"Seaweed," he said. "But I don't have any seaweed so the surprise here is that there's no seaweed."

Sarah Jane laughed and sipped the lilac drink. "This is actually really nice."

"Despite appearances, I do know what I'm doing." The Doctor reached beneath the bar and popped the metal cap off a bottle of ice ginger beer, her eyebrows rising. "Sometimes, the easiest the way to deal with Jackie's friends is to be drunk."

"I didn't realise she was so popular."

"She has her finger in most pies around here," he said, leaning on the bar and ignoring anyone who approached to ask for a drink. "You need something doing then Jackie's the person to come to: contacts everywhere apparently. She thinks she doesn't do much but Priti was willing to throw down to keep her and Lorna safe when they needed it, so I reckon she does a lot more than she realises."

"Doctor, that almost sounded like you were complimenting my mother." Sarah Jane hid her laugh behind her glass when the Doctor jerked at the sound of Zoe's voice, the woman herself emerging from the crowd looking unfairly beautiful in a floor-length, red sequinned dress held up by thin straps. "Am I hearing things?"

"It was a semi-compliment, like a small nugget of one," he said, mopping up the spilt ginger beer. "Where the hell did you come from? Were you lurking?"

"Hardly." The roll of her eyes was devastating in how cutting it was, and Sarah Jane realised they were still arguing. "I thought you'd want to say hi to Harriet."

"Harriet? Harriet!"

Sarah Jane considered that she shouldn't be surprised that the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was attending Jackie Tyler's birthday party as the Doctor tended to make friends with all sorts on his travels, and he had mentioned that she might be in attendance. Her mind churned with conversation topics and ways to get the other woman to sit down for an interview with her; Harriet Jones was all any journalist wanted to talk to and Sarah Jane wanted the scoop, though she was too well-mannered to make it obvious.

The Doctor released the Prime Minister from an enthusiastic hug that lifted her from her feet, hands resting on her arms. "How long have you been here?"

"About twenty minutes," Harriet said, smiling into the large embrace. "Jackie saw me as soon as I came in and has already got me a little drunk. There's a free bar, you know."

"So the rumours go," he grinned. "Rassilon, it feels like an age since I last saw you. How are things? Zoe says you've been having a spot of bother with the Opposition?"

"Nothing I can't handle," she said, glancing to Zoe. "I know you fancy him but, honestly, Harold Saxon is a headache."

The Doctor's face soured, and Zoe looked to the ceiling. "I don't fancy him, I just think he's a bit of all right. Anyway, shut up. I want you to meet someone. Harriet Jones, this is Sarah Jane Smith. Sarah Jane, Harriet Jones."

Harriet shook her hand, eyes flicking over her, taking her measure. "Not the journalist?"

"One in the same," Sarah Jane smiled, shaking her hand. "A pleasure, Prime Minister."

"Harriet, please," she said. "How on earth do you know the Doctor?"

"Oh, we travelled together back in the day," the Doctor said, happily. "Sarah got me into all sorts of trouble."

"Pot, kettle, black," she said, flicking droplets of ginger beer at him. "Zoe told me you met him when Downing Street blew up?"

"It was quite the day."

"It always is when he's around," Zoe said, elbows propped on the bar as she faced the crowd, missing the way the Doctor's eyes swept over her exposed skin. "Fortunately, he wouldn't risk ruining Mum's day, not after the effort it took to get us here."

"Yes, how is Jack?" Harriet asked. "I've tried to look for him but he's a bit difficult to spot with all these people. I want to see him for myself and make sure that he really is okay."

"He is –" Zoe cast her eyes about the room. "I can't see. Even in these heels I'm not tall enough. Doctor?"

"He's with your grandmother," the Doctor said. "They seem to have hit it off. I don't know if I should be worried. Should I be worried? I already have three Tyler women in my life, I'm not sure I'd handle a fourth."

"That's my Nana Prentice, not Tyler, so you're in the clear," she said. "The Prentice lot are a bit more sensible than the Tyler lot. Mum's sort of the odd duck of the family. Aunt Caroline is all up her own ass with her supposedly fancy husband and successful kids. She loves rubbing it in Mum's face about how her kids went to university and Rose and I haven't."

"You graduated from MIT," Sarah Jane pointed out.

"I know that and Mum knows that but we can't exactly tell Aunt Caroline that," Zoe said with a graceful shrug. "Not that it matters. We only see her once a year if we're really unlucky. Nana's much nicer but still a bit of a snob. It's why she likes the Doctor and Jack so much but doesn't really have time for Mickey. She thinks a doctor and a military captain trump a mechanic any day of the week. It's why she didn't like my dad either – Pete, I mean. Thought Mum could do better than a snake oil salesman."

The Doctor laughed, and Zoe glared at him disapprovingly. "Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking of your dad actually. When I met him he had all these boxes in the flat filled with all sorts of stuff. I didn't get to have much of a chance to have a nose since Rose was annoying me and there was a massive paradox coming, but he was a little bit of a snake oil salesman."

"Do you mind not insulting the man who died so I could live?"

"I wasn't –"

She turned her back on him again and looked at Harriet. "But to answer your question, Jack's doing better. It was rough at the beginning but he's sleeping properly now. Our therapist prescribed him sleeping pills and I really think the solid eight hours is helping his mind heal. It's his knees that are taking a while."

"They're getting better though," the Doctor said, irritation settled in his chest at how easily he and Zoe misunderstood each other when they were arguing. "By the end of the month, I'm hoping he'll be walking. We're going to be taking it easy for a long time, and he's got his Vortex Manipulator on him at all times so he can jump away if needs be. Still, he's not fully there yet."

"The life you lead," Harriet sighed. "Sometimes I worry one of you won't come back and I'll get a phone call telling me something awful."

"It's not like this all the time," Zoe said, reaching to take her arm, tugging her against her side, resting her head on her shoulder. "Just this one horrible instance."

And Mondas, the Doctor thought.

Harriet rested her cheek against the top of Zoe's head, Sarah Jane watching them with a quiet curiosity, before the Prime Minister straightened up. "Now, what's this about you two fighting? Jackie mentioned it when I arrived."

"Oh, not you too," the Doctor said, annoyed. "Can't Zoe and I have a fight without everyone getting involved?"

Sarah Jane arched an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

"We're having an ongoing disagreement regarding the best way to approach recovering Jack's missing memories but don't tell Jack that," Zoe said, not looking at the Doctor as she gave a half truth. "No one knows that's the reason we're at odds and we don't want Jack to feel guilty about it."

Harriet and Sarah Jane exchanged a small, knowing look that was missed due to the Doctor and Zoe studiously ignoring each other.

"Our lips are sealed," Sarah Jane promised, not wanting to touch their relationship problems with a ten-foot pole. "Doctor, Harriet needs another drink."

The Doctor's eyes dropped to Harriet's empty hands and turned back to the bar to mix her a drink.

Harriet looped her arm with Zoe. "Mickey said that I should be careful of a few people here but then got swept off into the crowd. What did he mean by that?"

"Nothing to worry about," Zoe assured her. "I'll introduce you to everyone, no fret. I mentioned to Bev that you were coming so she's spread the news, and no one's going to be surprised to find the prime minister here but I do recommend avoiding Keith –"

"Who's Keith?"

"He's over there." She pointed to a short, broad man with slicked back hair and a bald patch who was talking to Deano. "He's a member of the BNP. Not an out and out racist but he always acts surprised when I can string two sentences together. He'll be after you to ban migration from countries where the skin colour matches mine."

Harriet eyed his form with a touch of distaste, and Sarah Jane's nose scrunched. "Why is he even here then?"

"He runs this centre," Zoe explained. "And he's one of those racists that you can actually have a civil conversation with if you avoid certain topics, which is the best you can hope for sometimes."

"Here we go, another Dranan Surprise without the seaweed." The Doctor's hand appeared between their shoulders with Harriet's drink. "Bottom's up, Harriet Jones."

Sarah Jane offered her glass. "Cheers."

Harriet smiled and clinked the rim of hers against the side of Sarah Jane's. "Cheers."

"Alistair and Doris are knocking about somewhere," Zoe continued. "So's David Llewellyn."

That name made Harriet start. "The scientist?"

Zoe shrugged, mouth curling. "Apparently he and Mum are friends now, and he's going through a divorce so she's sort of folded him into her sphere of concern, I don't really know."

"Right, well, it seems like a lively crowd," Harriet said. "As long as you don't blow any more buildings up then –"

"One, one building."

"Technically two when we consider Downing Street."

"You were at Downing Street," the Doctor reminded her. "Pretty sure that makes that one a team effort."

Zoe straightened up, excitement pushing her forwards. "Look, they're about to start the conga."

Sarah Jane looked around. "The what?"

"It's a Tyler family tradition," the Doctor said, smiling at his old friend, offering his hand. "No getting out of it, I'm afraid, and believe me, I've tried."

Zoe knocked her drink back and dragged Harriet to join the end of the conga.

"Did I ever tell you I accidentally introduced the conga to the French a few centuries early?" She asked over her shoulder. "Bit of an accident but I was trying to impress my wife."

Harriet rested her hands on Zoe's slender waist and laughed, the tension of the day fading from her, ready to enjoy the night.


"And now you do this –" the Doctor performed a complicated twisting movement, feet shaking in turn, hands twirling in the air before his hips swivelled. He stepped back into her personal space, hand on his back and the other snatching up her hand, easing her into the dance again. "And that's the Kantarian Frog March, a hit at every party."

Rose leaned into him, forehead pressed into his shoulder, breathless from laughter. She looked up into his face, his hair neatly styled in the fashion of the 1930s and her heart flipped over in her chest. He's so handsome she thought to herself, fingers curling against his shoulder where she was holding onto him as he turned her about the room, deftly avoiding bumping into anyone else while her hair flew around them, her hairdo long since dishevelled after dancing with him – he preferred a more energetic style of dancing than she was used to and hadn't fixed her hair properly to survive it. Zoe, on the other hand, had prepared and still looked put together despite David Llewellyn managing to turn her over his back with a laugh as they did the Lindy Hop.

"You're such a liar," Rose said when she managed to get her breath back, hiccuping as they swept past a sour-looking Trisha Delaney who was watching Mickey with angry, bitter eyes. "What even is a Kantarian frog?"

"Like an Earth frog but with more legs," the Doctor said, hopping. "And they can jump really high. I once went there with a friend and those frogs scared the shit out of me when they jumped up out of the pond and came towards me."

She laughed again. "I bet. You must hate the frogs in Zoe's garden."

"Julian, Margaret, Frank, Diana, and Paul, are you kidding?" He rattled off the names of Zoe's frogs that she was carefully cultivating with a mind of having them breed as she had an odd fascination with them. "I like them because they're nice normal Earth frogs."

"They glow in the dark."

"That's just cool." He tipped her back, hands easily supporting her, and Rose stared up at him and that familiar urge to kiss him swept through her before she was back on her feet and the music changed. "Another?"

Rose was about to enthusiastically agree when Alistair bustled up to them, looking handsome and dapper in his own black tails but topped with a top hat that the Doctor eyed with jealousy. Having only spent Christmas Day and the Doctor's regeneration with him, Rose already adored him. He was funny, smart, kind, and reminded her of her maternal grandfather whom she missed.

"Doctor, stop keeping all the beautiful women to yourself," Alistair chastised, holding his papery hand out to Rose. "I may not know whatever the hell that was you were just dancing but I can take you for a turn about the floor."

"Oh, yes, please." She put her hand in his and her tongue curled behind her teeth when she smiled at the Doctor. "Don't go gettin' into any trouble now."

He dragged his fingers across his hearts in a promise, reaching out to steal Alistair's hat with delight, disappearing into the crowd before Alistair could reclaim it back.

"That man likes his hats," Alistair sighed, clucking his tongue. "Shall we?"

"Absolutely." It was a more sedate dance but Rose appreciated it as she was beginning to get a little out of breath and would soon need to sit down or, at the very least, find something to drink. "You enjoyin' the party?"

"It's great fun," he enthused, face widening and crinkling beneath his white beard. "Been a while since Doris and I have got out like this. Normally it's just consulting for UNIT or visiting the kids, so we appreciate the invite."

"We're glad you could make it," Rose said honestly. "I think Mum likes seein' there are sensible people involved in this alien stuff. You know what she's like around the Doctor."

Alistair chuckled. "They do have an interesting friendship."

"Don't call it that around them," she warned him. "It'll freak them both out. They like to pretend they don't like each other even though they do. Somethin' about havin' reputations to maintain."

"Oh, the Doctor's always been like that," he said, turning her carefully under his arm before drawing her back to him. "Likes to pretend that he doesn't care about anyone else but really he cares more deeply than anyone else I've met."

"I reckon that's his two hearts," Rose nodded. "More love."

Alistair's face transformed into a soft, affectionate smile. "Quite right indeed, my dear. You know, I did want to dance with you for another reason than just dancing with one of the most beautiful women here."

Rose felt herself blushing. "Yeah?"

"I was speaking to Colonel Mace this morning," he told her. "And he was very impressed with your assistance a few days ago. He wanted me to extend an offer of employment to you." Rose stumbled, tripping over her feet in her surprise. His surprisingly strong hands kept her upright. "You're surprised."

"Course I'm surprised," she exclaimed before lowering her voice when people looked around. "What sort of job is it?"

"Field officer." Rose's head swam. "You'd need to spend about a month in training just to be familiarised with UNIT protocol but Colonel Mace believes that you'd be well suited to field work and leading your own team given the experience that you already have."

She blinked at him. "What experience?"

"Travelling with the Doctor," he said. "That makes you qualified for quite a bit, you know."

"It does?"

Alistair laughed. "Yes, it does."

"But I'm not qualified for anythin'," she said, standing in the middle of the dance floor and just staring at him. "I don't even have my A-Levels, an' my GCSEs aren't much."

"You're doing yourself a disservice, Rose," Alistair said, pausing with her, their bodies frozen in dance. "You're an exceptionally clever woman who understands what UNIT does better than most."

She shook her head. "You've got the wrong sister. Zoe's the clever one."

"There's no doubt that Zoe is intelligent but so are you," he said. "You were the one who recognised the signal. You were the one who defused the situation when guns were drawn. You have the experience and UNIT would like to make use of that experience."

"A job." The thought of a job – an actual job with a decent salary and interesting work, a career, not just folding clothes in Henrik's or frying chips at the chippie – made her go cold all over. Zoe was the one who was going to have the career, Rose was going to have odd jobs here and there. That was what she had always expected but now, suddenly, she had options and she didn't know what to do with it. "A proper job."

"You won't be travelling with the Doctor forever," Alistair said lightly, gentling his words, and though Rose had already accepted that fact, the reminder still stung. "When you're done and you're back home, give Colonel Mace a call and talk with him about working for UNIT. We need more people like you, leading with the values you've solidified with the Doctor. We can't run the risk of turning into a military operation: science and kindness must lead the way."

Rose swallowed, her mouth dry. "I – er – I'll think about it."

"I'll let Colonel Mace know that you've received the offer," he said, releasing her when the song ended. "But take your time. Don't rush anything. You've still got so much to see and do out in the universe first."

She laughed at that, feeling dazed and light-headed laugh. "I do."

Rose parted ways with Alistair and quickly hid from Shareen who was flushed through with alcohol and had that familiar expression on her face that told Rose she wanted to vent about her most recent boyfriend. Having got over the Essex accountant by getting under Hari from Morrison's, she had settled for fear of being alone. Rose didn't particularly like Hari but he was a nice enough bloke if one didn't mind the slightly radical politics. He had glommed onto Harriet and was peppering her with ill-informed policy ideas. Rose contemplated going to her rescue, but she and Sarah Jane seemed to be amused by Hari more than anything else, so she left them to it.

"Vodka an' coke, please," Rose said to the bartender. "Make it a double."

As the alcohol burned its way through her system, Rose tried to get a grip on herself. She had been offered a job, and not just any old job but an interesting one. Having spent three days at UNIT helping out, Rose was fascinated by them and what they did. She had initially been opposed to them due to the uniforms and the guns holstered at their side, the Doctor's distaste for all things military having sunk into her, but it was staffed with good, honest people who were excited by the work that they did and wanted to make a difference. Colonel Mace was a bit stiff though he had a dry sense of humour that made her laugh once she realised he was joking, and she liked the personnel she worked with – Drew French, Ross Jenkins, Erisa Magambo, even Dr Malcolm Taylor. The thought of working for them full time once she came back to Earth properly wasn't a bad thought. Perhaps if Jack stayed in the 21st century and he, Zoe, and Mickey joined as well, they could form their own team within UNIT then the only thing that would have changed would be the fact that the Doctor wasn't with them.

A career she thought to herself, staring into her empty glass, a smile beginning to pull at her lips.

"There you are," Jackie said, emerging suddenly, startling Rose from her thoughts. "I need help."

Rose turned to face her, brow creasing, pushing thoughts of Alistair's offer out of her mind. "What's wrong?"

"My bleedin' dress," she hissed, turning to one side and Rose saw that the slit that ran up Jackie's thigh was now running up her waist. "It's only gone an' torn."

"Where's Jack?" Rose lifted herself on to her tiptoes and peered through the crowd. "He's always got a sewin' kit on him."

"No idea, he an' Mickey have buggered off, haven't they?" The telltale signs of stress started to appear in Jackie's face. "This is just what I need, flashin' my bits for all an' sundry to see."

Rose set her empty glass down with a thunk, positioning herself so that she was at Jackie's side, concealing the tear from public view. "Come on, I know Zoe put some stuff in the supply room. I think Jack gave her a list of things to have to hand, you know what he's like."

"All right, hurry up though," Jackie said, grimacing as the material split further. "This goes any higher an' I'll traumatise the bloody Doctor."


"Shareen, Shareen!"

"All right, John," Shareen greeted, her dress tight and breasts spilling out over the top. She caught the straw of her drink between her mouth and sucked as her eyes flicked over him, eyebrows rising in approval. He knew he shouldn't have let Jack and Mickey choose his outfit. "What you needing?"

"I'm looking for Zoe," he said, experiencing warning him to keep his distance from her hands after a few too many drinks even if she still seemed relatively sober. "Have you seen her?"

"Zoe, Zoe who?" The Doctor rolled his eyes and she laughed. "Last I saw her she was with Little Dave. That was about five minutes ago. Fancy a turn about the floor? You can do that weird dance thing with me."

"Weird dance thing?" She mimicked hopping only to tip over, her shoes not made for jumping, and he caught her quickly. She fell against his chest, her hands beginning to wander. "You're firmer than you look."

"And you're on your way to drunk," he said, setting her upright. "Thanks for your help."

"Pleasure."

He angled his hip to avoid her hand, and he cast his eye around for Zoe. He was tired of arguing with her and wanted to spend some time with her at the party they had all been looking forward to but it was difficult to grab her when she was alone as she was either avoiding him or legitimately busy, it was hard to tell. He looked for Sarah Jane and found her talking with Harriet, the two of them getting along brilliantly, and he scanned and scanned before he caught sight of her dipping out of the room.

"There you are," he muttered, cutting through the crowd.

"...tell you?" He heard Zoe demand, an angry lilt to her voice that made him walk faster. "I said, no drugs. And what do I find you doing?"

"No harm no foul, eh, love?"

"Don't you love me," she snapped as he hurried around the corner to find her lecturing a large man who towered over her, making her look frail and easily breakable. "This is my mother's birthday party and the fucking prime minister is here. I'm not going to have you ruin either of those things because you want to make a quick tenner."

The man's tongue darted out and wet his lips, shifting until he was looming over her. "You keep flappin' that mouth of yours, Zoe Tyler, an' I'll show you a better way to use it."

"Shut your – Doctor!"

The Doctor slammed Maurice into the wall, his hand wrapped around his throat, plaster cast drifting down from the ceiling at the impact. "What did you just say to her?"

"Let him go," Zoe ordered.

"You ever speak to her like that again and it will be the last thing you do," the Doctor threatened, blood rushing through his ears, fingers tightening. "Understood?"

Maurice garbled a sound, and Zoe whacked his arm with the back of her hand.

"If you want him to respond, you might want to loosen your grip."

"A nod will suffice," he said, and Maurice nodded. The Doctor released him, watching in satisfaction as he slid down the wall, gasping. "Go. Go!"

Zoe stepped aside and watched him flee. Silence filled the space between them before she hitched her skirt up her calves and crouched down, fingers plucking a small baggy of cocaine from the floor.

"Well, that was a dramatic overreaction," she said, holding the drugs out to him. "Did you enjoy going all caveman there?"

The Doctor swiped the cocaine from her and put it in his pocket to deal with later. "He was threatening you. You heard what he said."

"Maurice talks an absolute load of shit and is someone I'm capable of handling myself, thanks," she said, tartly, shaking the bottom of her dress out to let it settle properly. "Where did you even come from? Are you lurking around corners or something?"

"I was looking for you," the Doctor said, ignoring the jibe. "And good job too since that man was three times your size."

"Bigger they are, easier they fall, Jack taught me that."

"You don't need to go picking a fight though," he pointed out, angry at her recklessness. "What were you thinking? The local drug dealer? Rassilon, Zoe, use your common sense. You don't need to fight everyone."

"You're absolutely right, why should I go looking for a fight when you're so happy to provide one," she snapped. "I thought we had a truce for tonight? We both agreed not to ruin Mum's night and here you are –"

"Here I am saving you from getting knocked about by someone who looks like they have giant's blood in them!"

"Giant's blood isn't a thing!"

The Doctor released a growl of frustration. "Why are you so annoying?"

"Part of my charm, I suppose," she said, words sharp. "But if you're just here to criticise then bugger off, I don't want it tonight."

She turned from him.

The sight of her bare shoulders and the graceful curve of her neck made his hand shoot out, fingers wrapping around her upper arm. Ignoring the way her eyes flashed at him over her shoulder, he pulled her around to face him, grip light enough and gentle enough that she was easily able to remove herself if she wanted. Relief flooded through him when, instead of pulling back, she let him turn her, tilting her chin up to glare at him.

"I actually came to try and solve this fight we're having," the Doctor said through gritted teeth. "I hate fighting with you and I miss you, so if you can get off your high horse for –"

"High horse!"

"For five minutes," he said loudly over the top of her. "Then maybe we don't have to fight any more."

Zoe's nostrils flared, jaw tight. "You do pick your moments, don't you?"

"You've been avoiding me," he pointed out.

"I've been giving you space," she said, pulling her arm free. "And I've been busy. With Rose off with UNIT and Jack sleeping every few hours, the final party planning fell to me and you know how much I hate that."

"Yeah, well, it's turned out pretty great," he said.

"I know, thank you."

"I like the dessert table," the Doctor told her, sensing a softening in her anger that he immediately took advantage of. "With the little banoffee pies, they're really nice."

Zoe pulled a face. "I'm not a huge fan of how tiny they are but people seem to like it."

"What's not to like?" He asked. "It's dessert, but miniature."

She started smiling before she caught herself and frowned at him. "Stop it. You're being charming and we're fighting. You can't be charming when we're fighting."

"Then can we stop fighting so I can be charming again?" He asked hopefully. "Because I'd really like to tell you how beautiful you look in that dress without running the risk of getting my head bitten off."

A muscle in her jaw twitched before she looked around. The corridor was empty and the sounds of the party were muffled by the closed doors. Taking his hand, she dragged him into a room that looked to be half-utility closet, half-storage room, and he caught a mop before it fell and she turned on the light, shutting the door on them. Zoe fumbled against the walls before she found the light switch, and he blinked when the room was flooded with the aggressive lighting that 21st century humans preferred.

"Why does it smell like feet in here?" The Doctor looked around and eased closer to Zoe at the sight of something oozing down the wall. "What is that?"

"No idea, just don't touch it."

"Can we maybe go somewhere else?" He asked. "Somewhere that doesn't have questionable bio matter sliding down the wall?"

"I've seen you lick all sorts of things," Zoe told him. "You can handle a slightly gross room for five minutes."

"All right," the Doctor said, reluctantly, looking down at her. "Why did you pull me in here? Normally I'd assume for adult-only things but since you haven't been sleeping in our room this last week –"

"You said you wanted to not be around me," she reminded him, hurt throbbing through her at the memory of those words. "So I was not being around you. Anyway, shut up, I need to talk first and then you can go, okay?"

Hands in his pockets to stop from touching her, he nodded.

"You were right, I was wrong." His eyebrows shot up his forehead at the admission. "I still think you're being too hasty with Jack and I'd like you to slow it down so we can explore more options, but you were right to be angry at me for not telling you about Zoe Heriot. I was managing your emotions. I didn't realise I was doing until you pointed it out – well, actually, it took a few days for me to realise you were right but I got there. I was treating you like you needed the truth to be cushioned, and that was really condescending of me. I'm sorry, Doctor, I am truly sorry for that."

The Doctor felt his body loosen, the tension of the last week draining from him. "Thank you."

"Okay, you need to speak now," Zoe said. "If you don't, I'm going to start running my mouth off and we'll argue again, so say something quickly."

Amusement flickered through him, wondering if she had practiced her apology in front of a mirror, and he gripped the cocaine in his pocket to keep his hands off her.

"Why did you feel the need to keep it from me?" The Doctor asked." I've been trying to work it out and I can't think of why you'd keep it from me."

"It's like I said, I thought it would hurt you," Zoe told him. "And I don't want to hurt you. I hate seeing you in pain and not being able to help."

His eyes softened. "I'm a big boy, I can handle it."

"Doesn't mean I don't want to try and take the some of the hurt from you," she said. "It's hard for me to see people I love in pain and not do anything to stop it. Yatta says..." she cleared her throat. "Yatta says that not being able to save Reinette has made me want to save everyone else. Don't know whether that's true or not, feels like a bit of an oversimplification, but I wasn't able to stop her hurting. Not that that's an excuse for treating you like you need to be managed. You're not Reinette, and I shouldn't be putting my issues with her death into our relationship."

"I know what losing Reinette did to you, I saw it every day for a year and I still see it in you now," the Doctor said, softly. "I get it, you know I do. I just...I need you to tell me these things, Zo. I don't want you to keep these things from me because you think it'll hurt me. I need you to trust me that I'll be okay."

"I know." The line of her throat moved as she swallowed. "And I'm going to try and do better with this. No excuses."

The Doctor's eyes flickered over her. "It's killing you not to say something about Jack's treatment right now, isn't it?"

"It's like this physical pain," she agreed, a laugh tumbling from her. "I don't know what's wrong me."

"You care," he said. "About Jack and me and, well, everyone. That's part of your charm."

"Remember that next time we fight, please?"

"Can we maybe not fight again for at least, I don't know, a year or two?" The Doctor asked. "I really hate it. Also, everyone knows when we fight and I definitely don't like that."

"We're friends with nosy people, that's the problem," Zoe said. "Oh, I should mention that Harriet knows about us. I told her earlier. Figured since we're telling the others soon then she should also know. She was a little...I don't want to say grossed out but I think she still sees us at the same people we were that day in Downing Street."

The Doctor stared at her. "You told Harriet."

"Yeah, course I did." Hesitation crept onto her face. "Are we not telling people now? I know we've been fighting but it's not like we've broken up, and she is my best friend, so I wanted her to hear it from me and not from –"

The Doctor stepped into her space and kissed her, stealing the words from her mouth. Her body gave one, small shiver before she was kissing him back, hands on his shoulders pulling him closer, sighing her relief into his mouth.

"Sorry," he apologised in a whisper. "That was rude of me, I interrupted you."

"No, no," she said, breathless. "That's fine. Kiss me whenever."

"You told Harriet," he said again. "You told your best friend about us. I'm now understanding why you mauled me after I told Sarah Jane. It's very arousing, isn't it?"

Zoe's laughter warmed his mouth, her hands framing his face. "God, I love you. I'm so in love with you it's ridiculous."

"Now that –" he kissed her again, slowly, hand on the small of her back. "Is something I'm never going to apologise for." The tip of his nose brushed hers. "And before we get distracted, I want to tell you that I'm going to slow down with Jack. We all want him to get answers but this is probably something we should do in tandem with Yatta as well to make sure that he's in the right place mentally to receive whatever those missing memories are. If he's right and he really did take them himself, I can't imagine they'll be easy to live with. We'll do our research, we'll talk to the right people, and we'll do this extremely carefully."

The look on her face made his hearts want to break out of his chest. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She swallowed. "That's...thank you."

"Look at us," the Doctor teased, fingers dancing across her back, finding the bare skin on display and placing feather-light touches up her spine. "Resolving our problems like healthy individuals. Yatta would be proud." She laughed, the sound smoothing a balm over the irritant of their argument. "I do have a question about human customs though."

"Oh?" Confusion creased her forehead. "Now?"

He nodded. "It's very important."

"Okay," she said. "Ask away."

"So," he began, splaying his hand across her back. "Is this the part where we have make-up sex?"

Her laughter was bright and beautiful, eyes creasing, her body tipping into him. The way her fingers dipped into his cravat and pulled it from his neck let him know that it was. After a week of not being allowed to touch her, his hands were clumsy and eager as he slipped the thin straps from her shoulders and placed his mouth there. The feel of his jacket being pushed from his shoulders made him roll them, helping ease the path, distracted by the taste and feel of Zoe's skin.

"I love this," Zoe said, words catching when his teeth scraped over her skin, her fingers working on the dark buttons of his waistcoat. "Waistcoats are a good look on you. A really, really good look."

"This is a good look on you," the Doctor replied, plucking at her dress, teeth scraping over her skin. "You look gorgeous. Do you have any idea how hard it's been to keep my hands off you tonight? All I've wanted to do is drag you away and do this."

A small sound of surprise left her throat when he gathered the skirt of her dress and pushed it up her thighs, lifting her onto a box of vodka bottles that wobbled precariously beneath her weight. Standing between her legs, the Doctor kissed her again, harder and more thoroughly than before as she pried open his waistcoat and pulled his shirt from his trousers. Resisting the urge to rip it open as he had to leave the closet wearing clothes or else be faced with awkward questions, Zoe kept her fingers steady even as the Doctor's kiss made her fumble.

"You should take me dancing somewhere I can wear this," she said when she was able to breathe again, one hand messing her carefully styled hair up while the other started sliding up her thigh. "This is a dress that needs to be danced in."

"This is a dress that needs to be on the floor," he corrected. "I'll settle for your underwear though."

She opened his shirt. "Wait for it."

"Zoe!" The scandalised tone made her laugh. "You're not wearing any underwear!"

"It would've ruined the line of the dress," she grinned, hauling him closer by his shirt's collar, kissing him, drawing the groan she loved to hear from his chest as his fingers started working between her thighs. "Take off your trousers."

His tongue swiped a path up her neck before sinking his teeth into the space beneath her jaw, making her twitch. "So impatient. Why rush a good thing?"

"It's been nearly two weeks," Zoe complained, taking matters into her own hands and working his belt open. "Two long, difficult weeks. I'm not exactly needing a whole lot of preparation right now, so trousers – off – now."

"Bossy," he said, tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth. "I love it."

The Doctor braced himself against the floor as she grabbed hold of a shelf to keep herself from toppling off the vodka bottles, sighing in relief and pleasure when he finally pushed his way into her. The stretch and the burn felt good after two weeks, the fingers on her free hand holding the back of his neck, his hot pants warming her skin. Conscious of the fact that they were in a public location with their friends and family nearby, the Doctor dropped his forehead to her shoulder and began making up for lost time. Later, when they were alone in their bedroom, he was going to spend hours picking her apart and drenching her in pleasure but, for now, time was of the essence and he was too keyed up to worry about more than sending them both over the edge.

"Doctor –" his name dripped from her mouth, pleasure burning up his spine, hand cupping her neck as he thrust harder, chasing that sound. "God, don't stop."

As if I could, he thought, breaths ragged in his chest, his universe focused entirely on her and the feel of her and the way she made him want to be better. Somewhere behind him, he dimly heard the door open, mouth pressed against her neck, feeling the way her heart raced against his lips; it was only the way that Zoe's body rippled with tension, a sharp panicked gasp filling his ear that had him shifting, automatically blocking the view of her body, before turning dark, heated eyes over his shoulder.

His stomach plummeted to his feet, nausea threatening to choke him as, eyes sharp as flint, Jackie reached around a pale and shocked Rose to shut the door with a damning click.

"Oh god," Zoe breathed, pale, hands trembling on him. "Oh god, no."