It took a few seconds for Victoria's mind to reboot and comprehend what was happening.

The first thing she recognized was the Doctor's hands that were grasping her face gently but firmly. His hands were hard in some places, probably callouses from tinkering with the TARDIS a lot. But they were also soft, something she never noticed before, despite the countless times he'd held her hand.

The next thing she noticed was the fact that his eyes were shut tightly. His face was tense, a small frown forming between his eyes. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why he would be tense though.

The third thing that Victoria saw was Rose, standing a small distance behind the Doctor. Her mouth was agape, but there was an underlying smile. Her eyebrows were raised, her eyes full of shock, and just a smidge of happiness.

It was after that she realized what was fully happening. The Doctor pulled away from her slowly, but he stayed close enough that he could rest his forehead on Victoria's.

Wait, he just kissed her, she realized slowly.

Not just a small peck or a friendly, happy kiss. No, this was one full of desperation and sadness and happiness, and dare she say love?

By the time everything seemed to have caught up with Victoria, the Doctor had opened his eyes and was staring at her, waiting for her response.

"I… Uh. W-Wow," she stuttered, being overrun by shock. She glanced over to Rose, who quickly realized that her friend was struggling to comprehend what was happening.

She walked over to the pair and gently removed the Doctor's hands from Victoria's shoulders, having moved them there when he moved back.

"Why don't we do this in a more…" Rose trailed off, looking around them. "Private place."

"What were you thinking?" she whispered harshly, watching as Victoria stumbled into the Tardis. "You can't just spring that on her, Doctor."

Rose raced after Victoria, leaving the Doctor to stand awkwardly outside by himself.

- Page Break -

Victoria wasn't really sure how she got there but she somehow ended up in the library with Rose handing her a blanket and a cup of peppermint tea.

"Are you still havin' a mental breakdown?" Rose asked, blowing on her tea while she stared at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Did what I think just happen actually happen?" she asked hesitantly, not fully sure what just happened was real.

"Yup," Rose nodded, figuring sugarcoating it wouldn't help the girl process.

"So… the Doctor really kissed me then."

Rose nodded, and Victoria could see her hiding a smile behind her cup of tea.

"He really likes you, you know. It wasn't like it was a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"But Rosie, what if he likes the idea of me, not the actual me?" she asked hesitantly, thinking about the pocket watch that was sitting on her bedside table.

"What do you mean? Is there something you haven't told me?" Victoria looked up and stared at her for a moment. Her words weren't malicious, she wasn't upset. She was just worried for her friend.

"When we dropped you off to spend time with your mom, the Doctor and I went to see my dad," she started, taking a deep breath before continuing. "We went to this amazing beach, just listening to the sound of the waves, just having a relaxing day. You would have loved it."

"That's not the point, Victoria. You're stalling," Rose interrupted, giving her a look and she sighed.

"But my dad wanted to talk to us about something. And he gave me this pocket watch," she explained. "Turns out, the Doctor knew exactly what it was. It's uh…" Victoria paused, unsure if she was trying to stall or find her words.

"Okay, Time Lords have this ability, when they're in trouble, they can change their biology by putting all of their Time Lord essence into a watch."

"So what you're telling me is that... you're a Time Lord?"

"Not yet, anyway. I still have to open it. But when I open it, I become whoever was trapped inside. Who I am now is only a small part of whatever Time Lord is in that watch. And that's my problem, I don't want to stop being me."

"You'll still be you won't you? Just, a bigger person…" Rose tried to say, making Victoria laugh.

"Don't give me that look. You said it yourself, you are a part of that person. You're not losing that part of you, Victoria Jones will always be a part of you, even when you've changed. It's all up to you to decide how the change affects you."

Victoria just stared at her as she talked, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She couldn't help but think about how lucky she was to have Rose Tyler in her life.

She opened her mouth, prepared to thank her when a sob burst out of her. Rose rushed forward and grabbed ahold of her friend, rocking her gently as she cried.

She just had to remind herself that Victoria Harkness would always be a part of who she was.

- Page Break -

It took Victoria ten minutes before she was able to compose herself, and by then she figured it was as good a time to talk to the Doctor. Her conversation with Rose had reassured her, which she was eternally grateful for.

After downing the rest of her tea, she touched one of the walls in the hallway and silently asked where she could find the Doctor. She watched in awe (it'd never get old) as the hallway in front of her shifted, the doors rearranging themselves to make finding him easier.

After whispering a thank you to the TARDIS, Victoria walked towards the room right in front of her and pushed open the door.

She looked around and was grateful it was somewhere she already had been to, the workshop.

"Doctor?" she called out hesitantly, looking around for him.

She heard a mumble coming from her left, and then a very loud thud, and rush of curses.

She hurried over to the source of the noise to see the Doctor lying underneath a pile of boxes. "Doctor!" she exclaimed, moving quickly to move the boxes off of him.

"Ah, thank you," he said, rubbing his head, probably having hit his head in the process of knocking over boxes.

"Are you okay?" Victoria asked, reaching forward to check his head when he leaned back. She couldn't help but wince at his distance.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Just dandy."

"I wanted to apologize for earlier," he told her after an awkward silence filled the air. "I shouldn't have done that, it was a spur of the moment thing and I-" she cut him off.

She had moved closer to him as he was rambling, and she put her hands on his shoulders before gently kissing him.

She smiled lightly, enjoying the fact that he was doing the same thing she had done earlier. When she pulled away, the Doctor just looked at her in surprise.

"Did you do it because you know I could be a Time Lord?" she asked him, looking in his eyes as she waited for him to answer. This was probably the most important question of them all, it would make or break their relationship.

"I think I've liked you since I met you. You were smart, beautiful, adventurous, not that you aren't now. But you also could hold your own in a conversation about aliens and history, something none of my other companions could do, at least not like you. You're also so trustworthy," he told her, cupping her cheek gently. "I barely knew you, but I wanted to tell you about everything, and it scared me.

And then Rose found out about all that, and the way she reacted made me mad. But then she realized I loved you before I realized it myself. And that scared me. She saw how happy we made each other, and gave up her hope for me to help get you and me together.

And when Jack gave you the pocket watch, I felt hope. I loved you, and it gave me hope that I could love you forever, that I wouldn't have to watch you wither and die."

Victoria couldn't help the tears that were rolling down her face by the time he finished talking. She could hear, no, feel the love he had for her.

"I… I love you, but I don't think I can do this. Not yet anyway. Who knows how much longer I have as Victoria Harkness Jones. And once I open my watch, I want to figure myself out before I jump into a relationship." she explained, sliding her right hand down his shoulder to grab ahold of his hand. "That's all I need. Time"

He smiled slightly, though it was wavering, fighting a frown. "How lucky is it that we have all the time in the world."

She couldn't help but laugh at his joke. That was one of the things she loved about him, his humor.

They continued to stare at each other, their smiles slowly shrinking.

"Would you mind taking me to go see my dad again? I think some father-daughter time is in order."

"Sure. Why don't you get changed though, I'm sure you want to get out of that dress," he looked at her dirtied dress and she nodded slightly. "I'll meet you in the control room."

- Page Break -

It didn't take long for Victoria to find a comfortable outfit to wear. She grabbed a pair of jeans; a red, white, and blue striped ribbed shirt; a black leather jacket, and a pair of black converse.

She quickly pulled half of her hair back with a braid while walked down the hall towards the console room.

As she walked in, she was greeted by Rose sitting in the console seat and the Doctor rushing around the console.

"Rosie! What do you think?" Victoria called out, and the blonde whipped around to look at her.

"Uh," she hesitated, looking at the Doctor for a second before looking back at her. "It looks really nice."

Looking up for the first time since she'd arrived in the room, the Doctor glanced at Victoria and her outfit before he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"It looks nice, Vie," he told her and she smiled. "Thanks."

"So, when and where," the Doctor asked, not saying his name since Rose was in the room.

"A couple of weeks after last time if possible. And the same place as before."

All he did was nod before setting the coordinates and beginning the flight. "I'll just call one of you when I'm ready to come home, alright?" Victoria told them, and Rose smiled lightly while nodding. "Gotcha."

Once the TARDIS came to a stop, she grabbed her bag filled with a couple of days worth of clothes and moved forward to hug both of them. "Don't worry, both of you. It'll only be a few days. I promise."

Once they both nodded, she walked out onto a cobbled road. Ahead of her was her dad's apartment, so she turned around and waved at the Tardis, knowing the Doctor was watching.

As soon as her hand went down, the Tardis began dematerializing.

"Dad! I came back to visit for a few days, I hope you don't' mind!" she called out, and soon after she heard a pair of footsteps approach me.

"What did the Doctor do this time?" her dad asked as he came up and hugged her, spinning her around.

"Well…" she scratched her cheek nervously. "We were going to go see Elvis, but instead ended up the day of the Queen's coronation in 1953. After Rose and I got our faces stolen, the DOctor may or may not have kissed me…" she trailed.

"Wait, he kissed you? Finally!"

"What do you mean by 'Finally!', Dad? Have you just been waiting for this to happen? And aren't you going to ask if I'm okay?"

"Are you okay?" he asked with a smile, but she could tell it was genuine.

"Yes," they said at the same time, making them both laugh.

"Great," she said, rolling her eyes jokingly.

As she wandered into the kitchen to grab a drink, she heard her dad compose himself. "Are you okay, Dad?"

"So today's the day, huh?"

"What does that mean?" Victoria asked, sipping at a capris sun that he kept stocked in his fridge, all while he nodded down to her outfit.

"I remember this outfit. It's the first time I ever met you, way back before you were born. And today's the day it's happening."

"What's happening?" she looked at him curiously.

"When you met me then, you told me that you just wanted to catch up with me, your dear old dad. I was confused, of course, I was, I never had children, how could you know me. So, I'm going to tell you something that you can't tell anyone else. It's important that you keep this to yourself as I don't know who else might be out for me. And take this," he said, handing her an envelope with his name on the front that he'd just found in his desk.

"What do you have to tell me?" she furrowed her brows as he leaned towards her. "Javic Piotr Thane. That's my true name, and my younger brother's name was Gray."

"You have a brother?" she asked, though she couldn't help but feel like she already knew this.

"You'll meet him soon enough," he sighed, reaching around her to give her another capris.

"So where am I going?" she asked, draining the pouch offered to her.

"The blitz. It's when the Doctor, Rose, and I meet you for the first time."

She shook her head, only partially surprised that she was dealing with this.

"Do you have your vortex manipulator?" he asked, and she groaned, picturing it sitting on her dressing table.

He pulled out a drawer and handed her his, and she immediately slipped it onto her wrist, also placing the letter he gave her in her pocket. She grimaced as she thought about the cheap, crappy travel she was about to experience.

"What're the coordinates and date?" she asked, and her dad reached over and put the data into the device.

"Good luck, Sweetheart. Be safe," he told her, and she smiled gently, tilting her head in slight confusion.

"It won't take long, will it?" she asked him, and he held his hand out and wavered it. "You shouldn't have any trouble getting back at least.

With a small, fake groan, she grinned at him before slamming her hand on the device on her arm. She was swept up through the time vortex as she landed in 1941.

When she fell unceremoniously onto the cold, metal grating of a ship, she heard the sound of a gun power-up against her temple.

"Oh shit."