It took a few seconds for my mind to reboot and to comprehend what was happening.

The first thing I recognized were the Doctor's hands that were grasping my 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 I never noticed before, despite the countless times he'd hold my hand.

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

The third thing that I 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 I realized what was fully happening. The Doctor pulled away from me slowly, but he stayed close enough that he could rest his forehead on mine.

Wait, he just kissed me.

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

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

"I… Uh. W-Wow," I stuttered, being overrun by shock. I looked back over to Rose, and I think she realized I had short circuited.

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

"Why don't we do this in a more…" Rose trailed off, looking around us. "Private setting." I nodded slightly, and just kind of walked back into the TARDIS, vaguely hearing Rose whisper something harshly to the Doctor.

I'm really sure how I got there, but I somehow ended up in the library with Rose handing me a blanket and a cup of jasmine tea.

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

"What… What just happened?" I asked hesitantly, not fully sure what just happened was real.

"Well, what do you think just happened?"

"Uh. We, me and you, woke up on the floor of Magpie's store. We went looking for the Doctor and found ourselves in a crowd full of people, them probably having lost their faces too. I saw the Doctor, who looked really sad, kind of anxious and angry, and then he noticed me too and his light up with a smile. He ran towards us, and then he… Then he kissed me."

Rose nodded, and I 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 me because of what I could be, not because of who I am now?" I asked quietly.

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

"When we dropped you off to spend time with your mom, the Doctor and I went to see my dad," I 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 me a look and I sighed.

"But my dad wanted to talk to us about something. And he gave me this pocket watch," I told her, picking up the watch that was sitting on the coffee table in front of me. "Turns out, the Doctor knew exactly what it was. It's uh…" I paused, trying to explain the process.

"Listen, 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."

I silently handed Rose my watch, watching as she turned it off and processed what I was telling her.

"So you're telling me that you're a Time Lord too?"

"Not yet, anyway. I still have to open it. But when I open it, I become a new person. 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."

Rose stayed quiet for a second, looking between me and the watch. "Well don't let it stop you from being you."

I started at her in shock, not expecting her words.

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

I just stared at her as she talked, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I had to be one of the luckiest girls in the galaxy, having Rose Tyler there by my side helping me.

I opened my mouth, prepared to thank her when I couldn't stop the sob from burst out of me. Rose rushed forward and grabbed ahold of me, rocking me gently as I cried.

She was right. I wouldn't be losing Victoria as long as I didn't let myself lose her.

It took me ten minutes before I was able to compose myself, and by then I was ready to talk to the Doctor. My conversation with Rose had reassured me about lots of things, and I was grateful for that.

After downing the rest of my tea, I touched one of the walls in the hallway and silently asked where I could find the Doctor. I watched as the hallway in front of me shifted, the doors rearranging themselves to make finding him easier. After whispering a thank you to the TARDIS, I walked towards the room right in front of me and pushed open the door.

I looked around, and quickly figured out that it was the workshop that we had built Sarah Jane a new K-9.

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

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

I hurried over to the source of the noise to see the Doctor lying underneath a pile of boxes. "Doctor!" I called out, 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?" I asked, reaching forward to check his head when he leaned back. I couldn't help but wince at his distance.

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

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

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

I smiled lightly, enjoying the fact that he was doing the same thing I did earlier. When I pulled away, the Doctor just looked at me in surprise.

"Did you do it because you know I could be a Time Lord?" I asked him, looking in his eyes as I waited for him to answer.

"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 me, running his thumb over my lips 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 I 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."

I couldn't help the tears that were rolling down my face by the time he finished talking.

"I… I love you, but I can't be with you. Not yet anyways. 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." I explained, sliding my right hand down his shoulder to grab ahold of his hand. "That's all I need. Time"

He smiled a watery smile and nodded. "How lucky is it that we have all the time in the world."

I couldn't help but laugh at his joke. We continued to stare at each other, our 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 my dirtied dress, and I nodded slightly. "I'll meet you in the control room."

It didn't take long for me to find a comfortable outfit to wear. I grabbed a pair of jeans; a red, white, and blue striped ribbed shirt; a black leather jacket, and navy blue converse. I quickly pulled half of my hair up into a knot as I walked down the hall towards the console room.

As I walked in, I saw Rose sitting in the console seat and the Doctor rushing around the console.

"Rosie! What do you think?" I called out, and she whipped around to look at me. "Uh," she said for a second, looking at the Doctor for a second before looking back at me. "It looks really nice."

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

"It looks nice, Vie," he told me and I smiled. "Thanks."

"So, when are we going to see him," the Doctor asked, not saying his name since Rose was in the room. From what I could tell, even though she brought him back to life at the Game Station, she doesn't actually remember doing it, so she has no clue he's alive.

"A couple of weeks after last time if you don't mind."

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?" I told them, and Rose smiled lightly while nodding. "Gotcha."

Once the TARDIS came to a stop, I grabbed my bag filled with a couple 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, I walked out and into Torchwood. I turned around and waved at the TARDIS, knowing the Doctor was watching. As soon as my hand went down, the TARDIS began dematerializing.

"Dad! Father! I came back to visit for a few days!" I called out, and soon after I heard a few pair of footsteps approach me.

"This is a surprise, Sweetheart. What did the Doctor do this time?" Jack asked as he came up and hugged me. I waited for everyone else to hug me and welcome me back before telling him.

"Well, after you gave me my pocket watch, the Doctor wanted to take me on a trip to see Elvis. Long story short, I got my face stolen, and then the Doctor kissed me once I got it back."

"I'm sorry, you lost your face?" Ianto asked at the same time Jack was asking: "Wait, he kissed you? Finally!"

"Father, I'm fine. See?" I said, spinning around for him. "And what do you mean by 'Finally!', Dad? Have you just been waiting for this to happen?"

"Yes."

"Great," I said, rolling my eyes jokingly.

My dads both smiled at me, but Jack lost his smile as he looked me over.

"So today's the day, huh?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, and he nodded down to my 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?" I looked between him and all the others around, and all but him shrugged.

"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 giving you this, to prove you know me," he said, wandering off to find something.

It didn't take him long to find whatever he was looking for. As he handed it to me, I realized it was a medal. Upon closer inspection, it was from World War II.

"The blitz," I murmured, turning it around in my hand.

"This is when the Doctor and Rose first meet me, isn't it?" I asked, looking up at him, but his face was guarded, determined not to give away anymore.

I sighed while putting the medal in my pocket and pulling out my vortex manipulator. Wow, I haven't used this in ages. It feels so foreign, having spent so much time using the TARDIS.

"What're the coordinates and date?" I asked, and Jack took the device gently and entered in the information.

"Goodluck, Sweetheart. Be safe," he told me, and I smiled, tilting my head in slight confusion.

"It won't take long will it? I'll be back before you know it," I told him, and he nodded. "You shouldn't have any trouble getting back."

I grinned at him before slamming my hand on the device on my arm. I was swept up through time as I was directed to London during the second World War. It didn't take long to get there, but when I did, I immediately heard the sound of a gun cock near my head.

"Oh, fuck."