CHAPTER 3: Connections

"No, no wait…let me guess" Rose giggles before taking another large mouthful of her dessert and pausing to chew over the murder mystery which, despite his exhaustion, the Doctor tells with a style and enthusiasm to rival Agatha Christie herself. In her mind's eye she can see the giant wasp, a 20s garden party and flapper dresses as clearly and vividly as if she had been there herself.

The Doctor pushes his empty plates aside, having demolished the best part of three-quarters of the hotel menu, which had prompted Rose to ask if, like his ship, his stomach was also bigger on the inside. Crossed legged on one of the single beds and with his elbows on his knees he leans towards Rose who is sat directly opposite him, crossed-legged, on the same bed. "Go on Lewis, tell me what it is you can deduce?", he says in a low voice filled with challenge.

"Well it wasn't Lady Eddison but she has a big secret that has something to do with it, right? I mean it was the two closest people to her that were killed by the wasp. What was it called again?"

"What…oh uh…a Vespiform", the Doctor replies nearly missing the question distracted by the way the nightlight is falling on her face and hair, still wet from the shower she had taken not long after they had arrived in the room.

"Okay", she continues with her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. "Oh, that room…the one where she recovered from Malaria, was she hiding someone in it, like a family member, alien, secret lover…. ooooh I know, I know, the husband was secretly a Vespiform and found out about an affair or something. No…No otherwise he would have killed her not his son. And then there's also the thief, don't tell me it was Agatha. It wasn't, was it, Doctor?

"Nope!" he says popping the P.

"Right think, so she was quarantined with Malaria…Can I have another clue?"

"Come here then", replies the Doctor rolling his eyes.

"Why, what's the clue?"

"I'm going give you a telepathic clue by projecting an image in your mind, think of it as virtual reality, plus it evens out the playing field if you can see what I saw", he teases.

"You can still do that, the walking through the mind thing?"

"Of course I can, Timelord brain remember"

"I just thought – okay ready", Rose says crawling on the bed towards him. He places his middle and index fingers on her temples and she instinctively closes her eyes. All of a sudden visions of people the Doctor had described swirl in her visual cortex along with a glowing necklace, a teddy bear in a dusty room and a scrap of paper with the word 'Maid..' written on it. The images swirl and fade as if spinning down an ethereal plughole as the Doctor withdraws his hands from her face. Her temples tingle with the memory of where his hands had been, the effect of him on her body screaming out to be noticed and vying for her mental attention.

The Doctor sits eyes narrowed staring at her expectantly, a wave of relief flooding through his body that he is at least still telepathic. His sense of timelines and telepathy were beginning to return and he is confident that after a good 6 hours sleep they will be restored to their full capacity. He can't imagine a life without them, they are as much a part of him as his sight or hearing and necessary for him to be able to grow and operate a new TARDIS.

Meanwhile, Rose sits chewing her bottom lip deep in thought. "The necklace", she finally says with her deep caramel eyes meeting the Doctor's. "It's tied up with whatever she brought back from India and the alien I know it; I'm right aren't I?!".

"Oh Miss Tyler, what did I do without you?", grins the Doctor before launching into explanations of firestones, illegitimate alien children, thieves, a car-chase, death and the final act of mercy. As he finishes telling the story of Agatha Christie's disappearance, he clears their dishes from the bed and bounces around the room. 'Still physically incapable of sitting still', Rose notes as she listens to the tale, hanging on his every word. He eventually settles himself on the bed against the headboard and Rose leans into him, she is just about to ask about Lady Eddison, for whom she feels the sorriest - the poor woman lost both of her children. Suddenly the Doctor yawns loudly in her ear. She turns around in surprise realising the late hour.

"Time for your forty winks I think", she says tapping his nose affectionately.

"You're probably right, I don't think I've ever felt so tired". For a moment they both sit silently neither wanting to move when Rose suddenly jumps up and begins moving the furniture, lifting the bedside table and walking it across the room, then pulling the other single bed towards the other. The Doctor, quietly pleased, gets up and goes to help her. Unable to meet his eyes she can feel them burning into the side of her face which is getting steadily warmer. Once the beds are pressed together she steels a glance at him, seeing a knowing smirk on his face she replies, "Shut-up and get into bed".

The Doctor is knelt on a doorstep with an unconscious Donna in his arms, staring up at her Grandfather, pleading for his help. Then he is stood over her watching her sleep. After what could have been seconds or hours he is suddenly on a sofa before Sylvia and Wilfred who stare in horror as he explains how he has removed Donna's memories to save her and stop her mind burning up. He swallows the lump in his throat. 'And for one shining moment she was the most important woman in the whole of creation'. Sylvia's mouth moves as she responds, a steely look of hatred on her face, but no noise comes with it. An icy sensation comes over the Doctor, as if his veins have frozen, the air surrounding them moving in slow motion and for a moment the Doctor is sure he can see a grey figure in the mirror across the room. He blinks and it is gone, replaced by the feeling of being watched. That uncomfortable sensation that raises your heartbeats and prickles the flesh…a waiting…a watching. Then as soon as it had come, it has passed and he is left on the doorstep in the rain and the blackness with Wilf's figure fading out of view. 'They've all got someone else', is the thought that closes in around him while the familiar feeling of loneliness presses heavily on his shoulders. He turns to open the TARDIS door which should have been behind him, instead, there is only darkness and the sound of wings behind him.

He sits bolt upright, staring into the darkness that is slowly becoming a dim light, according to his time-sense, which is, as expected, now much clearer, it is 7 am. This isn't his universe or his body – 'It was just a dream'. He turns to see a terrified expression and deep hazel eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay, you were having a nightmare". She strokes the wild hair that evidences his restless tossing and turning. In the relief of seeing her, real and here before him, in addition to the sudden freedom from the loneliness he had carried as his Timelord self in the dream just moments before, he places his hands on her face and kisses her passionately, weaving his other hand into the back of her hair. Rose moans deep in the back of her throat, all ability to reason or consider the situation lost in the scent of him, the taste, his hair, his tongue. His hands wander to her hip and the small of her back, tentatively grazing her breast before heading up her pyjama blouse. Intoxicated by her own hormones she grabs his hair, his shoulders, drowning in a deep and frantic need to be closer to him. She moves to straddle his waist when all of a sudden the Doctor breaks the kiss. Breathing heavily, he turns to sit on the edge of the bed facing away from her. He thinks about everything and nothing, scrabbling to hold onto the little control that isn't senselessly overcome by the cocktail of male human hormones pulsing through his veins. This is not a sensation that he will ever get used to, now understanding the biology of teenage human boys on a far too practical level. "I'm sorry, I… er..I'm just not used to feeling so...well human". He turned to her "how do you deal with all these hormones? It's like a sickness".

Realising the problem Rose chuckles internally, she rolls onto her side propping up her head with her hand and replies "Badly", smiling with her tongue caught in her teeth. The Doctor throws back his head like a melodramatic teenager, the clear view of her cleavage and tongue between her teeth doing nothing to help abate his erection. "You're right though, we should probably take it slow, my Mother is in the next room after all" Rose adds the frustration in her voice almost tangible. The mention of Jackie and idea of her hearing that is more than a sufficient replacement for a cold shower, 'so that's how you deal with these hormones' he shudders. "Can we agree that you never mention your mother when we're in bed together again?" his says with a look of disgust. Rose giggles, "Yeah probably for the best...so I take it that means you'll be giving into your hormones", she replies the frustration transforming into hopeful promise. The Doctor wiggles his eyebrows and climbs back into bed putting his arm around her as she snuggles in to lay on his chest.

"How are you feeling?", she asks tentatively now becoming more serious.

"Much better, I think I can see the timelines again and my time sense feels back to normal –well as normal as it's going to in this body, and my telepathic senses don't seem to be too weakened".

"Just how telepathic are you?".

"Well, I can't hear what your thinking, if that's what you're getting at. I can sense what you're feeling a lot of the time. But your thoughts are safe don't worry, well unless there's physical contact and you grant me access to your mind. I wouldn't do it without permission, that's extremely rude and illegal in at least seven galaxies in our home universe, so you don't have to wor…"

"I wasn't worried" she replies quietly, "I just wondered how much it works both ways, like last night you showed me those memories from the 1920s, do you have to concentrate to do that or could you do it like accidentally".

"What makes you ask that?", though the Doctor has already guessed at the answer to his question.

"It's just when you were dreaming, I could see some things that weren't my thoughts, Wilf and Donna… and I felt things, things he was feeling. He was so…so alone", her voice breaks with emotion.

"Rose…I'm so sorry, I think our minds are somehow still connected – me and the other him I mean. Though I don't understand how when the walls of reality are sealed, or at least they should be. But…NO … wait was it, no it wasn't a pure memory it seemed corrupted somehow…the mirror…" he trails off in thought before adding "your mind must be well, ehem.."

"What Doctor?"

"Relationships among my people can be more than just physical or emotional, they often involve a form of psychic bond…I wasn't sure if I would still be y'know this psychic in this form and I didn't have a chance to explain..."

"Oh," is all Rose can say as she turns over this new information in her mind. "It was a memory, but how, hang on you said corrupted"… she is interrupted by a knock at the door and the arrival of a staff member bearing breakfast. She curses and is about to quiz him further when her Mother also appears in the doorway. "C'mon you two we have a zeppelin to catch unless you were planning on traveling in ya PJs?", exclaims Jackie deciding not to comment on the rearrangement of the furniture but very relieved to see they are at least both still wearing the bed-clothes provided by the hotel.

Within the hour they are back down in the hotel lobby where half a dozen people in beautiful designer suits are coming and going and chatting frantically on their phones. Rose eyes the Doctor speculatively who is now back in his blue suit from the previous day just as she is back in her burgundy tee and blue leather jacket, which although it had all been cleaned and pressed by the hotel services, was looking a little worse for wear she had to admit. The Doctor spots her looking him up and down. "Take a picture it'll last longer", 'ooh that was rude and very Donna-ish' he realises immediately, 'have to try and train myself out of that before it becomes a habit', he feels a pang of sadness for his former companion.

"Sorry" smiles Rose a bit embarrassed at being caught staring, "I just noticed your blue suit properly…we match", she inspects her own attire which is identical in colour to the burgundy t-shirt and blue jacket he is wearing.

"I know, is that outfit new?", asks the Doctor. Rose tilts her head bemused, 'was the Doctor trying to make human small talk?' "No, I've been wearing it for quite a while, its kind of like my uniform for the dimension jumping, I just liked it, can probably get rid of it now", she adds with a hint of sadness. "Why do you ask, I presume yours is, did you not have another brown one? Not like you to expand your wardrobe or is it a new human thing?". Her tone is light-hearted but the Doctor can see that it doesn't reach her eyes, the memory of his other self in brown flashes before his eyes and he can taste the worry radiating from her. He reaches out and takes her hand in his giving it a squeeze. Nope, I actually wore this a lot even as a timelord, fancied a change after"… he trails off at the memory of losing her. She squeezes his hand back and nods.

"Kinda cringey though wearing matching clothes, even if it is by accident", says Rose.

"Weeeeellll that's the thing," says the Doctor pulling on his right ear, "maybe it wasn't by accident". As he grips her hand Rose can feel a familiar presence at the edges of her mind, it is an odd but amazing sensation, like she has a part of herself that had previously been missing without her realising. "Oh", she grins and stares into the starlight which still fills his gaze, human or Timelord. "So we were connected still all that time, even when…"

"It shouldn't have been possible, the walls were sealed but…", he shrugs. "When have you ever let a little thing like impossible stop you, some of the details must have kept bleeding through".

"So am I connected to just you or both of you you?", Rose mumbles looking at her feet.

"He is me and I am him…well at least in terms of our mind and soul, so for all psychic purposes", says the Doctor defiantly, self-doubt stirring a feeling almost akin to jealousy, of his other self.

'I know that I just feel … well you know how when were separated it was like a part of me was missing and if you're right about this connection then maybe it really was. Well for him – you, the other you that is still missing. I can't stand the idea of him…you, any version of you feeling that way. He doesn't even have Donna anymore", her words tumble along with the pent up thoughts and emotion that have been held back by the flood barrier of adrenaline since the beach. The lump rises in her throat and tears pool in her eyes, the Doctor gets up and comes to sit on the sofa next to her. He pulls her into a hug.

"I know and he will feel that, he always will … to an extent but very soon he'll be another man which will make it easier, and then there's…". An image of Professor River Song flashes in the Doctor's mind, the memory of her voice as she spoke his name makes his skin prickle with goose-bumps.

"He's going to change soon", says Rose the words sounding hollow and bereft.

"I've, I mean we've been running from it, but it's coming", the Doctor can see Rose is overwhelmed with this information and suddenly thinks better of mentioning the Professor, reluctant want to add jealousy to the battlefield of emotions currently warring for precedence.

Rose suddenly gathers herself, sniffs and sits up straight, "Well since he gave it up for us to be happy we best make the most of it". The Doctor mirrors her and smilea. Her optimism always had been infectious. It is then that they both turn towards the unmissable sound that is Jaqueline Tyler, the blonde heading towards them, a couple of bags from the hotel gift shop in hand. "Oi, you two get over here and give me a hand with these, had to get something for your Dad and Tony! May have to remortgage the summer house though, the prices in there were bleedin' extortionate... Ooh crikey, the car will be here any minute. Doctor go hand in the keys and meet us outside, Rose I need your opinion on these".

"Yes Maam," says the Doctor giving a mock salute. But Jackie doesn't hear having already launched into talking at Rose, giving her a detailed description of the gifts and her reasoning in selecting them, as they head out of the front of the hotel.

The Doctor joins them outside just as their car is pulling up. Long, sleek and black it would have looked conspicuous anywhere else but outside a hotel such as this, other than perhaps a red-carpet premier or maybe the home of a government official. His mind flashes back to 2006 and the car which transported him and Rose to Downing Street as it was being taken over by Slitheen, even though he has regenerated technically twice since then, he doesn't know which of them has changed the most. He feels so much like his 9th self, so young and full of fire, though he can feel all the things he had in his 10th incarnation, he sees them as if through a tinted lense, the view of those memories coloured by his human emotion and the small but growing number of memories and experiences that are now unique to him. Rose on the other hand has matured into herself, still herself just more-so – more determined, more independent, even more intuitive (though he hadn't thought it possible) and more knowledgeable…just more. He notices as she climbs into the car that she seems more at home with affluence, not even making a comment about the swanky nature of their transport. This leads the Doctor to another line of thought which he is surprised hasn't come to his attention before now.

"I've not asked, where do you live now? I've not even thought about where I'll live… I mean I didn't presume", he trails off as she turns to stare at him as if he has just dribbled on his shirt so to speak.

"It depends really", she says seriously.

"On what", he says incredulously thinking she means about him living with her.

"No, where I live depends on where I'm working", she giggles. "If I'm in London I stay with Mum and Dad more for convenience than anything else and to spend time with Tony".

"Why are you not usually in London?", says the Doctor confused.

She turns her body around and edges across the back seat three inches closer to the Doctor, her eyes alight with enthusiasm. "You know how in our universe there's that weak spot on the Rift in Cardiff, well we have one here too it's just not in Cardiff its in Sheffield. Apparently, Torchwood had always had a small team there to deal with the things that came through it but it was under a lot more government control, until just after I arrived there was a coalition with the 'realist party'. Mostly a lot of far-right nutters and alien hoax conspiracy theorists to be honest, but it helped Dad take it back out of Government control, so now me and my team run it and sort out the stuff that comes through it. I spend most of my time there so I suppose I, well until your new TARDIS is ready, we, live in Sheffield. Plus, the base being under the Uni was convenient and the rift energy boosted the dimension cannon. Basically what Jack was doing, minus the dimension cannon. I was chatting to him yesterday, we even have some of the same people in our teams, how odd is that. Even weirder that I'm this universes version of him…sort of". Her eyebrows knit together as she muses on this.

The Doctor's chest flutters a little at the 'we'. "Ha, Rose Tyler saving Yorkshire from aliens", he says in a mock Yorkshire accent. Rose rolls her eyes as Jackie joins the conversation, "more like working herself to death to build dimension cannons and occasionally risking her life in her spare time, I'd hate her living so far away if the alternative wasn't keeping herself cooped up in the mansion". Rose looks down guiltily after glaring in her mother's direction. "I suppose you prefer that I just let the world end then", she snaps.

"Don't give me that, you know I'm proud of you, I would just prefer that it wasn't so dangerous for you especially since his Lordship hasn't been here", she motions her head in the Doctor's direction. The Doctor feels guilt and panic as his mind races through the potentially life-threatening scenarios that she must have faced without him. He then snaps his head round a horrible thought occurring to him. "Wait you were using the rift to boost the Dimension hopper, Rose that's so dangerous. I mean void travel without an anti-matter infused ship is dangerous enough but unprotected exposure to rift energies and potential time travel can be deadly without the right shields and tech. I want to see exactly what you were using when we get back".

"Why, deadly in what way, how!", Jackie exclaims.

"I'm fine, look still here", sighs Rose.

The Doctor pulls out a sonic screwdriver from his top pocket and quickly scans Rose, immensely thankful that his Timelord self had given him his spare. "Hmmmm, as I expected some cell decay but no mutation beyond that from standard rift or void exposure, still want to check you over properly when we get back", he looks her up and down, his deep brown eyes filled with doubt and concern.

Jackie having seemed to calm down marginally looks the Doctor square in the eyes, reflecting his worry, "but if anything's wrong you'll be able to reverse it right?".

"I'm FINE", Rose protests.

"Then you'll let me show that to your mother", says the Doctor in a tone of voice which signals that this is not up for discussion. "Plus, once we're back in the TARDIS I need you in peak condition – can't have you calling in sick", he winks in a thinly-veilled attempt to flirt away the animosity.

Rose still sulking "You don't employ me", she says with a hint of a smile.

The Doctor thankful for the lack of escalation and for the fact that the appearance of the Zeppelin-port on their next left, replies: "it's a good job, I probably couldn't afford you".