"You're not what she needs right now, sorry Martha," Pete told her. "John left a twin behind in the other universe and told Rose that the Martha Jones there had tried to take his mind off Rose when he lost her. Needless to say, it didn't end well by all accounts."
"I see then?" Martha swallowed. "She could have just told me."
"She tried," Jake reminded her. "I'll go knock on the door. Are you calling Jackie?" he asked Pete.
"I'll try and get her home first," Pete replied.
"I don't think she'll want to leave," Owen told him. "John can go home when I determine Rose can care for him but he'll need checking every day, it's not a good idea to bring him here every day."
"What's the alternative?" Pete wanted to know.
"Confining him to a private hospital with a resident doctor I can trust and either myself or Martha visiting John at least once a day," Owen replied.
"Can't you keep him here?" Pete asked Owen.
"Well I suppose we could but we don't have any other resident patients, we'd have to get something ready," Owen told him.
"Then do it, anything you need," Pete agreed as Jake went off to find Rose.
Rose was trying to dry her eyes, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Why him?" she asked herself. "I can't lose him again." Then she heard a knock on the door. "Go away Jake," she told him, recognising his knock.
"Come on Rose, ya can go see him now," Jake assumed since Owen hadn't said otherwise. "He'll need ya now."
Rose unlocked the door and Jake held his arms out.
"I know it's upsetting Rose," he told her. "He'll have the best care and he may be able to go home for now."
"Yeah but what when he gets worse Jake?" Rose asked him. "What if they can't cure him?"
"Need ya ask?" Jake wanted to know. "We'll stop at nothing Rose, ya know that and John may have come up with a way of getting back."
"He'll be too ill to go, won't he?" Rose asked him. "Ya mean I'll go? Forget it Jake, what if I can't get back?"
"Ya forget who you're going for," he joked. "The Doctor won't let that get in the way to save his twin."
"What?" Rose was confused.
"Sorry, let Pete explain but maybe dry ya face first?" Jake suggested.
"It makes sense," Rose had to agree when Pete told her what John had said. "Can I see him?"
"Sure," Owen agreed. "I can get him ready to go home but he'll not be able to go out, he needs to rest and coming here every day won't help, he needs to save his energy."
Rose nodded and went through the door to see John propped up on the couch.
"Am I causing trouble?" he tried to smile.
"That's your middle name," Rose reminded him.
"Better than jeopardy friendly," he joked, patting the side of the couch. "Rose, I am going to fight this love."
"I know ya will but dad said something about finding your twin?" Rose replied.
"With a bit more work, I would have been able to get through, without alerting the Daleks or the Cybermen. I won't be able to go with you but maybe Jake could go with you?"
"John, it's risky, what if we can't get back?" she asked him.
"He'll make sure you do, get Owen to explain exactly what it is," John replied. "Sorry love, I don't think he'll let me home tonight."
"Then I'm staying here," Rose told him.
"Just for a while?" he asked, taking her hand.
"No, you plum, I'll get someone to bring some stuff for me, until ya can go home," Rose replied.
Two days later, John was being taken back home but Rose was already thinking about the alternatives and she didn't like them.
"Rose, it would make things easier for you if you get someone in to look after me," John tried to persuade her.
"No way. I went looking for you, I should be the one to look after ya," Rose argued as she looked up from the morning paper, which was still concentrating on the two missing girls. "I wonder how the search is going for those girls?" she asked him.
"If I had the Tardis, they'd have been found by now," John replied.
"Show-off," Rose smiled, kissing his cheek. "Where's that ambulance got to, I thought it would have been here by now?"
"Maybe you should ask Owen?" John suggested. "You should offer to help find those girls," he added.
"Dad won't let us get involved, unless they ask for us to," Rose reminded him. "He'd go nuts if I suggested it while you're ill anyway. I'll go check on the transport."
John picked up the paper from the side table and followed the report on the next page, had Rose noticed the detective in charge could be another twin of his? She'd not mentioned it so maybe not, he thought.
In Sandbrook, Tess and Alec were still at war with each other and the chief was getting tired of it.
"Sort yourselves out," they were ordered. "I don't want to take either of you off this case but I will, if I have to. Understand?"
"Maybe we'd be best partnered with someone else?" Tess suggested.
"You mean with Dave Harris?" Alec snapped back.
"What about Harris?" the chief wanted to know. "I say who partners with who. What's your objection Alec?"
"He would object," Tess replied. "He's jealous."
"Of what?" the chief asked. "Well?" he turned to Alec. "Fine, Tess you stay where you are for now, don't make me regret it."
"Why did you have to bring that up?" Tess asked when they got out of the chief's office.
"I had every right to," Alec told her. "Concentrate on the job Tess. I'm going to get a warrant to dig up the Gillespie's back garden, I don't trust them."
"Alec, have you any idea what it will do to Cate?" Tess was shocked.
"We're running out of time Tess, you know the longer it takes, the worse it could be?" he reminded her. "Go talk to her again."
"Why me?" she wanted to know.
"I have to apply to dig up their garden," Alec replied.
"That's wrong Alec," Tess warned him.
"Well do you have any better ideas?" Alec asked, losing patience with her.
"Well be it on your head Alec, you're in charge," Tess reminded him.
He watched her walk off, daring her to pick Dave Harris to work with, that would just confirm his suspicions there was something going on. Had he got past caring though? When he thought about it, there was only Daisy holding them together, wasn't there?
He went to the break room and got himself some coffee, picking up a newspaper and seeing Rose on the front page, saying she was stepping back from being a top Torchwood agent for personal reasons and would be working behind the scenes. When John had become ill, Pete thought it best to keep it to a minimum but since Rose was always making a name for herself, it needed some kind of explanation.
Alec put the paper down, thinking nothing else about it, he had enough problems of his own. He thought it was a shame Torchwood didn't have a missing persons department except for those who had vanished into thin air in front of witnesses or had appeared from nowhere. He didn't think his case qualified.
Maybe if Rose Tyler wasn't stepping back, she might have had some sympathy for the families.
The next day, the news got out that the youngest girl had been found in a nearby river and the media were all over it, Alec heading a press conference, watched carefully by one Karen White, who had made friends with the Gillespies and was determined to get justice for them at any cost.
Rose missed it because she was with John, who had been settled in their room and a nurse was going to call in every day to monitor him. As time went on, it became obvious John was going to need around the clock care and the final touches were being put to the newly converted medical bay complete with room for Rose and all the equipment necessary plus a small kitchen for making drinks and a microwave, though meals would be sent down from the cafeteria.
Rose began packing what they were going to need, since John insisted on wearing his favourite t-shirts and joggers and sat on top of the duvet most of the time.
"It's gonna be better all round," Rose had decided. "We can't have people coming in and out all day."
"Yeah, Steve on the door will be getting tired of it," John agreed. "When do we leave love?"
"As soon as Owen arranges it. John, we're coming back ya know? When ya get well," Rose insisted.
"I know love. How are they getting on with my project?" he asked as he messed with the air tube in his nose, oxygen tanks another thing that had been delivered though he'd tried to do without it during the day. "I was watching the news this morning, about that case in Sandbrook. Rose, if I had been well, we could have gone there to help."
"John, don't worry about it," Rose reminded him. "We can't do anything and besides, we've not been asked. Who's that detective in charge?"
"Hardy, I think," John replied as he lay back, feeling weak again.
He dare not tell Rose that he was getting even more tired. He suspected she knew though.
"Well I don't have time to watch the news," Rose replied. deciding what to take since she wouldn't be going anywhere fancy. "What's going on?"
"They have someone in custody and waiting for a trial date," John replied, trying not to struggle.
"What ya doing with the air tube in?" Rose then asked him.
"I want to walk downstairs on my own," he replied.
"Tough guy," Rose smiled at him.
He managed a smile back and let her get on with packing, wishing they were going away on holiday and not to a specially converted unit just for his benefit. The final arrangements were being put into place to transfer John to the new unit next to the medical bay and Martha was being warned not to cause any trouble with Rose.
"Owen, I resent that," Martha had told him. "What do you take me for?"
"Really? After you and Rose the last time they were here?" he reminded her. "I hope you learned from that?"
"You mean not to cross her or you?" Martha replied.
"Both," Owen warned her. "Rose doesn't need it and neither do I, we have a job to do, to fight whatever is wrong with John with every possible thing we can think of and come up with anything new. The tech labs are working flat out."
"I don't want anything to happen to him," Martha replied.
"Just remember that," Owen told her. "We don't want Rose or Pete to hold us responsible if anything does. I'm off to check out what's happening over that new device John came up with, see if there's any news."
"It's all secret isn't it?" Martha asked.
"Not to the head of medical," Owen grinned as he went off.
He called for Jake to meet him and met up in what was known as the cannon room. John had adapted the principal of the devices they'd already used and a way found to measure different timelines, so they wouldn't get the wrong era if they made any attempts to cross over, providing it was established they had the right universe.
A lot had happened since John had been ill, the brightest minds in the world had all been sworn to secrecy and were paid well to keep developing it. Pete thought it a shame that John might never see it working but he prayed that Rose would believe it could work to get the help John needed.
Everything was concentrated on getting to the right year after Rose had been to the other universe the last time and she got there when The Doctor still looked like John. Failing that, they would have to settle to just after he'd regenerated, in case he refused to help or just offered his sympathy and Rose came back on her own.
They also had to prepare for the Tardis coming through based on what John had told them of how he'd got back the last time the time machine had been here. They had to be ready immediately to stop the Tardis from dying on them so The Doctor could leave, with or without John, if he needed to go back to the other universe. They had not ruled out that was what was wrong with him – that he couldn't survive in this universe because the Timelords had never been here.
Maybe the other Doctor hadn't known, he wouldn't have sent John here to die, unless he trusted Torchwood could save him? Pete knew Rose would go with them and may not be able to return if John had to stay behind.
Owen and Jake were given an update that tests were going on sending a volunteer to the right era and retrieving them, since Jake had discovered all other universes were being locked off if anything didn't look right.
"That's good news then," Owen admitted as they left. "So Rose has been giving her input as to what the differences are?"
"Yeah, at least it gave her something positive to do," Jake replied. "She's the only one who knows plus we're also looking out for any signs of Mickey. Then when she crosses over at least he'll be on her side."
"Good idea, she might need him if we can't detect The Doctor anywhere," Owen agreed.
"Yeah, if The Doctor's not on the planet, she'll need somewhere safe to stay," Jake told him. "They may even be able to move her like they did the last time though back then, it was that Dalek that was helping. We're on our own this time around."
"Well as long as she doesn't have to contend with them again," Owen laughed. "How can you be sure they won't detect anything?"
"John's already thought of that," Jake grinned. "That's what he was working late on but it may have contributed to him getting worse."
"Does Rose know?" Owen asked as they went to get coffee.
"I doubt it," Jake replied. I'm not gonna tell her, are you?"
Owen put his hands up.
"Not me," he laughed.
Owen went back to medical and Jake went to talk to Pete over the latest developments.
"Rose isn't going to want to go off without some assurances," Pete reminded Jake. "That The Doctor won't be affected like his twin, if something here is causing John's illness."
"But John felt ill when he arrived," Jake pointed out. "So it can't be that."
"Maybe it's with him being half Timelord?" Pete wondered.
"Can't see that either," Jake disagreed. "It has to be something else?"
"Well maybe if he hadn't said he was fine until he wasn't, we might have been able to stop whatever it was," Pete reminded him.
"He was tryin' to hide it from Rose," Jake told him.
"Yeah and look where it got him?" Pete asked. "When will they be here? I'll make arrangements for their apartment to be watched and a cleaner go in once a week. I don't want Rose worrying."
"That's the last thing she needs," Jake agreed. "What do ya think of that case down in Sandbrook then? It says they have someone and waiting for a court date."
"Well if nothing goes wrong, I see no reason why the person can't be convicted," Pete replied, putting the news on the screen.
"Best hope no-one screws up then?" Jake laughed.
"Best hope Rose doesn't find out who the lead detective looks like," Pete joked.
Rose and John arrived at the new medical unit prepared for John and were settling in just as Tess and Alec Hardy were being called to what they thought was all the proof they needed to get Lee Ashworth convicted for killing Pippa Gillespie and dumping her in the river, though it had been established how she'd died but not if she'd been left in the woods and the river had broken its banks.
"We play this by the book," Alec was telling those involved, noticing now how close Tess and Dave Harris were standing near each other.
He wondered why they now bothered keeping it quiet. Everyone had known for sure before he had, which had forced him to move out and get a small flat, since Daisy wasn't interested in staying over. Tess had complained about losing all her housing allowance because Alec had taken half of it and he'd told her to cut back on various private tuition for Daisy including dance lessons that she'd never been interested in and it had all been Tess's idea.
"You don't have to remind us," Tess told him, Dave now standing with his hands on top of his car that he and Tess had arrived in.
He wondered why they'd arrived together, were they planning something afterwards? He shook his head and told the uniformed officers to get the car lot manager who he had called to say to keep the car Ashworth had sold whilst out on bail. Ashworth had been questioned over it.
"It's non of your business Hardy," Lee had told him as Lee refused to let Alec in. "Who told you I'd sold it, it had better not have been Claire. Where is she anyway? When you see her, tell her to come back."
"I have no idea where Claire is," Alec had replied. "Why would I?"
"You'd better not have been talking her into testifying against me," Lee had warned him.
Alec had known where Claire was, she'd been staying with a friend since her husband had been arrested, for fear he'd get out and go after her. Plus she hadn't been able to face Cate Gillespie after what had happened. Claire was playing both sides though. She had something on the girl's father, now she needed something on Lee.
Then, Tess had been careless and let her know they were going to search Lee's car he'd just sold and she knew where he'd have taken it so now, she was watching from a vantage point as everyone arrived, noticing Tess and Alec had arrived separately. Had they split up, she smiled at the thought.
Tess had gone easy on her but Alec hadn't. He'd been constantly pressuring her to testify against Lee and now was the perfect time to get a hold on Lee. If the police found anything in that car belonging to Pippa, she had him.
A necklace belonging to the young girl had been found in the back seat and put into an evidence bag and sealed by Alec.
"I have to go get my car," Tess told him, reaching out for the evidence bag. "I'll take it back."
"Come on Hardy, I'll make sure it gets there," Dave assured him.
Going against his better judgement, Alec finally agreed. Could he trust them not to stop off somewhere on the way back?
"Come on Tess," Dave was saying to her as they set off. "One drink, he won't know."
No-one had noticed Claire had got into a taxi and was following them down the road.
"Just drive," Claire had told the driver.
"Where do you want dropping?" he asked a few minutes later, hoping she'd made her mind up.
She saw the car Tess and Dave were in pull into a pub car park so she told the driver to stop outside the pub. Then she went around the corner and saw the car under the canopy, Dave getting out first and standing in front of the car. Then Tess joined him and Claire noticed Tess put her arm around Dave and pull him into a kiss and throwing her hair back.
Claire wondered if Alec knew about them but she was here for a purpose, to see if there was anything incriminating in the plastic bag Tess had been given.