"Come back home tonight Rose," Jackie tried to encourage her.
"No Mum, I'm not leaving him," Rose insisted.
"I promise someone will call," Sammi tried to assure her. "You need a change of scenery Rose. We'll have to keep John asleep while we figure this thing out or we can contact The Doctor. If you go home, come back in the morning and Jake might have had some luck identifying some of those frequencies."
"It makes sense," Jackie tried to tell her. "Tony misses ya and I don't really wanna let him stay with his nanny tonight but if you're staying, then so am I."
"Mum, ya don't have to," Rose told her, knowing what Jackie was like.
"Well tough. So, what's it gonna be?" Jackie called Rose's bluff.
Rose saw Sammi was smirking.
"You two are ganging up on me," Rose leaned back on the chair.
"It's for your own good Rose," Sammi reminded her. "You'll make yourself ill as well, it won't do John any good either. Jake will call if they get a response from any frequencies they try. Now, get out of here before I have you escorted out, Agent Tyler," she laughed.
"Sure you shouldn't be on Jake's security team?" Rose huffed as she got up.
"I don't want to see you until tomorrow morning," Sammi grinned at getting her own way at last. "I have plenty of work to do, like finding the right mixture to give to John that won't make him any worse."
"Are ya concentrating on that then?" Rose asked as Jackie tried to lead her past John.
"We've all got our parts to play Rose," Sammi replied. "We won't leave anything untried, trust me. I would give anything right now for Jake to scream the place down that he's made contact but until then, we all keep working. You're not on your own with this Rose, everyone's behind you."
"Have ya put out an appeal?" Jackie asked, out of the blue.
"For what Mum?" Rose replied. "He doesn't need a transplant, does he Sammi?"
"No Mrs Tyler, sorry, it doesn't work like that, John's is a rather unique situation, with him only being half Human," Sammi tried to explain.
"I just wondered?" Jackie looked put out. "Come on Rose, I'll call Pete to get us a car to take us home."
Jackie hadn't thought it would be that easy to prise Rose away from John's side but her daughter was tired and unlike that Christmas when The Doctor had woken up after regenerating, his twin was going to do no such thing, unless a miracle took place.
Jake was upstairs, going through the frequencies John had identified, one by one and from different angles. If they all failed, they were going back to the first ones and try other ways of broadcasting them through the tiniest gap that they were desperately hoping wouldn't attract any unwanted attention.
Then, if there was any indication they had found who they wanted, Rose would either go through when they risked expanding the gap in The Void they'd been working on around the clock or Rose would give the word it was safe to let the Tardis come through, providing it would now work in this universe.
It would maybe get through but there was no guarantee it would get back and it would be no good to John without power. Pete had made provisions for that though. Large cables were being hooked up to provide enough power to run labs inside the ship and hopefully, The Doctor would be able to somehow save John.
Rose was just about to leave when she stopped and got her phone out.
"Jake, listen. If ya can't contact The Doctor, try contacting Mickey," she suggested, the idea coming to her suddenly.
"Rose, do ya know what the chances of that will be?" Jake replied. "Less than finding The Doctor."
"It was just an idea Jake," Rose defended herself.
"It's okay, we're all on edge," Jake replied as more cables and large generators were brought into the already over-crowded cannon room. "Look, I'll talk to Pete, about risking sending teams over to find Mickey if there's no sign of The Doctor. They can split up and look for Mickey, he might have some idea where he is."
"We can't risk anything getting through Jake," she reminded him.
"Don't worry, the risks will be small," he tried to assure her. "Go home and get some rest, that's an order, before I throw you out."
"What did ya mean by that?" Jackie wanted to know. "Ya can't let those Cybermen back."
"I'm the last one who wants them back Mum," Rose reminded Jackie. "Like Jake said, they have to locate the gap first and they'll be floating around the void, it'll take them a while to communicate with each other."
"So how will you get through?" Sammi was curious.
"Jake said something about a passageway, well sort of. We'll be going in a straight line, being guided rather than finding our own way," Rose tried to explain.
"It's a good thing it wasn't explained to me then," Jackie told them. "Come on Rose, let's go home, Pete should have that car waiting. If you're staying tomorrow night, so am I."
"Mum, Tony needs ya more than I do. I'll be fine," she insisted.
"There is only room for Rose, we weren't expecting anyone else Mrs Tyler," Sammi told Jackie. "Why don't you stay at home overnight for your son and just spend the days here with Rose?"
Rose didn't think anyone else would get away with it but Sammi had a way about her. Once they were home, Rose went for a rest before she faced her little brother and the family meal. When Pete got home, he asked how Rose was.
"I've never seen her like this Pete," Jackie admitted to him as he fussed over Tony. "Even the first time The Doctor regenerated on us. Seeing him lying there then is nothing like seeing him now."
"I know Jaks, the main things is, she's not alone. Sammi suggested you just spend the days with her from now on, someone will be with her overnight anyway," Pete told her.
"I feel like I should be with her all the time Pete," Jackie replied.
"We all do," Pete assured her as Rose entered. "Feeling better love?" he asked her.
"A bit I suppose? Did Jake tell ya about maybe tryin' to contact Mickey?" Rose asked him as she sat down.
"It may be possible, I told Jake to get someone onto it but maybe he's moved on?" Pete wondered.
"Dad, it can't have been that long?" Rose disagreed.
"Did ya see the way he went off, after that Martha?" Jackie reminded her.
"Yeah Mum but he wouldn't just stop having anything to do with The Doctor, would he?" Rose replied.
"Well with you going off with his twin, he wouldn't think ya'd be coming back, would he?" Jackie told her.
"It's only been a few months for us Dad, maybe The Doctor thought something may go wrong?" Rose wondered.
"He may have had no reason to," Pete hated to tell her. "Mickey may have an open mind though and may still have some of the 'void stuff' you were all on about."
Rose was back in John's room the next morning, persuading her mother to join her the day after as she wanted to catch up with what had been going on while she'd been gone.
"He's still holding on," Sammi smiled in sympathy. "He's no worse. Sorry, I wish I had something else to tell you. Call Jake and see if he has any news for you."
Rose was about to when Jake called her.
"Rose, what was that you said about the Medusa Cascade?"
"John said he was there when he found out the Daleks had stolen the Earth, he said everything seeps into it, from all dimensions even though the Timelords aren't there to control it any more. He said it was like an intersection for time travel at one time. I just thought maybe he'd gone there after taking Donna home. He said it was sad but Donna wouldn't be able to cope with a Timelord brain, his twin would have to remove all her memories of them."
"Yeah, that does sound a bit sad," Jake had to admit. "Can ya remember anything else? What did he receive the message from?"
"A mobile but it just rang, he followed the signal," Rose told him. "I was with Donna's family, we were all trying to dial the number. We could see Martha, Sarah-Jane, the other Torchwood and Harriet Jones but they all had webcams except us. Geez, the number's still in the phone I had with me," she suddenly realised. "Is it with the rest of my stuff?"
"Yeah, it won't have been touched, it's your mission equipment and you've not officially given up yet," Jake grinned to himself. "I'll have it brought here."
"I'll be right up," Rose sounded excited.
Rose grabbed hold of a surprised Sammi and gave her a hug.
"If this works, I'll be back with The Doctor. Sammi, keep John alive for me, please?"
"Rose, you know I will, now go and get his twin, we'll do everything we can. This is really positive, the best news we could have hoped for," Sammi told her.
"Well, we still have to hope he has that mobile phone and that it works through the void," Rose replied. "Can't see that being a problem though, if every universe seeps into the cascade."
"You'd better hope it does," Sammi laughed.
Jake had ordered Rose's standard mission equipment to be brought to the cannon room and had called Pete.
"Has she only just realised?" Pete wanted to know.
"You know what she's been like Pete," Jake told him. "We were concentrating on getting a signal through frequencies, we just forgot what she said about the cascade."
"Yeah, a lot's been going on, last night wasn't easy for her to leave John," Pete admitted. "I'm on my way."
Pete arrived outside the cannon room a minute before Rose and seeing the lift indicator, waited for her.
"This is what we wanted Rose," he told her.
"I should have thought about it sooner Dad," Rose admitted.
"Rose, he may not have been around anyway, he could have been hiding away somewhere," Pete replied. "Let me or Jake make the call eh?"
Rose had to agree as they entered the room and her equipment was laid on a table. It had been switched on, having been adapted to work in any universe and any network it picked up. Rose went into the call history and found the last number dialled and knowing it was the right one with the number of times it had been tried. She handed the phone to Jake.
"Well, here goes then?" Jake grinned as he put his finger on the green button and it began to dial and praying he didn't get an out of service tone.
Everyone had been told what was going on and had gone quiet. Rose was crossing her fingers, Pete had his arm around her shoulder in case the call didn't connect and Jake was holding his breath and willing the call to connect, resisting putting it on the speaker.
It had been a few weeks now since The Doctor had taken Rose and Jackie back to their new home and he'd left his twin or clone, whatever the other him was with Rose. She had deserved some closure, having been left on that same beach before and he'd run out of time to tell her how he felt about her.
Now, this new him could tell her what she wanted to hear and stay with her because no matter how much he himself wanted to stay with her, it wasn't possible. He was bound to do something stupid and regenerate again and he could be another grouch, like he was when he was in his sixth regeneration.
He'd left poor Donna with her family and had gone off to reflect on the recent events that had led to another one of him growing out of his spare hand. At least it wasn't a forced creation, like Jenny, who he thought about all the time. Now, he just wanted to gather his thoughts and had drifted around near where he'd last been with Donna - the Medusa Cascade.
He jumped suddenly when the phone Martha had left on the centre console suddenly rang. Had she left something behind she wanted or did she want to tell him she'd stopped pining after him and gone after Mickey the idiot?
"Best answer it or she'll just keep calling it," he told himself as he went around the other side. "Unless it's a wrong number? No, is it? Only over six billion people now have the number I suppose? How do you go about changing it? Can't call the Universal Roaming Network," he laughed to himself.
Jake was hoping Rose hadn't been mistaken about the number.
"Are ya sure this is right?" he dared ask her.
"When did I have time to call anyone else on it Jake?" she almost snapped at him. "Sorry. Keep tryin' will ya?"
"If it cuts off, I'll dial it again," he promised, knowing John's chances were growing slimmer by the minute and this was wasting time.
The Doctor picked the phone up and was about to flip it open. What if it was some crank trying their luck? Then he thought no, who else had universal roaming except when Jack was running all the telephone exchanges through the rift? He would have surely disconnected all the cables by now? Maybe Martha had passed the number onto Jack for some reason? This was doing no good.
Jake was about to give up and re-dial when the ringing on the other end was replaced by silence. Had The Doctor hung up?
"Hello?" Jake asked cautiously, in case Martha had actually taken the phone back now the emergency was over?
No, she'd probably want to still keep tabs on him, he smiled to himself as he waited for a reply.
Then it suddenly dawned on The Doctor that Wilfred might have stored the number and was calling about Donna but the accent sounded more northern but not the same as his own old one that had made Rose laugh. It then hit him as he slapped his forehead.
"Jake, is that you?" he almost laughed.
"Doctor! Am I glad to hear your voice," Jake also laughed, trying to stop Rose taking the phone from him by turning away and Pete trying to keep hold of her arms and hissing a 'wait' to her.
"Jakey-boy! Is Rose there? Is she okay? How is she? Is she still with my twin?" The Doctor fired questions at him.
"Whoa, slow down Doctor," Jake told him, trying to put the phone on the speaker but Pete shaking his head to stop Rose taking over, she was far too emotional at present. "Rose is fine but it's your twin," he tried to tell him.
The Doctor was about to say something when there was a beeping noise and they were disconnected.
"No!" The Doctor shouted at the phone, the display showing just a blank screen.
Jake was trying to call the number again but only got the busy signal.
"How can it be busy?" Rose almost cried.
"Calm down Rose, we'll get him back," Pete tried to assure her.
"When Dad?" Rose let him lead her to a chair by the window.
"Jake, get onto communications, try and boost the signal," Pete told him.
"It's going through the gap we made," Jake reminded Pete. "I need your permission to keep it open longer."
"Ya mean it just closed?" Rose looked up at Pete.
"You know we can only keep it open for random lengths of time Rose, to stop anyone locating it and trying to get through. It was the only way the board would agree to us trying to contact The Doctor to try and save John. We all thought you were both here to stay," Pete reminded her.
"How long before it opens again?" Rose sounded defeated.
"It's not on a timer Rose. Last time, we were in communication with all of you but then he ended up bringing you back," Pete told her. "The timer was a safety precaution while we came up with something else. It could open any time and stay open anything from five minutes to five hours, it's computer controlled."
"Your work Jake?" Rose turned to her friend, who was still holding the phone.
"Rose, they wouldn't agree otherwise," he reminded her again. "At least The Doctor's been alerted, he may be looking for a way through," Jake suggested.
"Then everyone must be ready," Pete replied. "Power cables are in place, how's everything else?" he turned to the head of the cannon project.
"Sir, everything's still working but if the gap in the void is being controlled, anyone using it has to be ready at a moment's noticed," Pete was told. "If they're ready to come back just as it closes though?"
"A fail-safe was added," Jake revealed. "If the computer receives a legitimate signal, it won't close until they arrive back."
"Well I don't fancy being lost in the void, thanks," Rose shivered at the thought. "Once bitten and all that. If it opens, I'm going."
"Did we get a location?" Pete asked the cannon operator. "Where was the Tardis?"
"Where is was predicted Sir, the Medusa Cascade but we won't know if it's moved or not," Pete was told.
"Jake, the minute the void opens again, call that number and get a fix on it," Pete told him. "Warn The Doctor Rose is coming through, tell him not to move under any circumstances."
"Yeah, got it Boss," Jake grinned.
"I'm off down to see John, then I'll get ready," Rose told them. "Why didn't I think of this before Dad?"
"Rose, don't be so hard on yourself. You weren't thinking straight," he assured her. "He could have been anywhere."
Pete went down to the basement with her, to explain to Sammi and Owen what they had planned while Rose went to John.
"You just hold on," Rose was telling him. "Don't you dare give up on me now, do ya hear? You're too stubborn to give up."
She leaned her head on his shoulder, then kissed his cheek.
"I'm gonna bring him back with me, even if the Tardis objects, she can try all she wants but if he tells her it's to save you, she might just try her best. I love you John."
"Rose, why don't you get some rest before you go?" Sammi insisted as she returned. "It's very brave of you to go back to get his twin."
"What else am I supposed to do Sammi?" Rose asked her.
"Send Jake?" Sammi tried to cheer Rose up. "Go lie down at least? We have to be ready to take John to the cannon room the moment we're told you've brought The Doctor with you. We don't want any delays. A lot of people are working very hard to make sure it all goes smoothly."
"We won't know how to thank everyone enough for what they're doing," Rose admitted.
"Just seeing him well again will be enough," Sammi smiled. "Don't go making me cry as well," she noticed the sad look in Rose's eyes.
She leaned over and put her arm around Rose.
"I wish I could wake him up for you, so you can tell him," Sammi then told her.
"I know Sammi, thanks. I think I'll just sit beside him and close my eyes for a while then," Rose gave in.
Rose sat down and Sammi sent another nurse in as Sally was having some time off but had said Rose wasn't to be disturbed unless Jake called. Owen and Pete had finished their discussion, Owen saying they would fully co-operate should The Doctor get through successfully and the Tardis could be powered.
"So, he'll have everything he needs in the ship's medical bay?" Owen had asked.
"From what John told me before he got seriously ill," Pete assured him. "He may want to work on his own and only call for assistance if things don't go right."
"He'll have all the assistance he needs although I expect he'll have his own ways of doing things," Owen replied. "So, Rose insisted on going to get him?"
"She won't even let Jake go," Pete laughed. "We're all worried about her. I wish that phone call would have lasted long enough so we didn't have to send her. We had to put safeguards in place though."
"So, if the Doctor tries to get through on his own?" Owen wondered.
"Unless he times it right or sends the right signal," Pete told him. "We didn't tell Rose everything, that even if the gap is only tiny, we can't risk making it bigger for any fake signals."
"Such as?" Owen wondered.
"Someone or something imitating an agent's signal, if any have gone through – or the Tardis," Pete replied.
