Domestics and Divisions

No, it has not been three months since I last updated. Put that silly idea out of your heads right now blushes. Uh, sorry about that. Uni just took over but I've finished for the summer now so I should get this story finished. Feel free to bombard me with messages demanding updates if I don't post regularly…

A little recap: the Doctor and Rose have been arguing a lot recently. Rose wants to get married and have a baby. She finally plucks up the courage to tell the Doctor this. As usual, his mouth opens before his brain operates and he crushes her. They have a massive argument but after a thorough talking to from Matt, Kirsty (who is pregnant and engaged) and Lauren, Rose makes up with the Doctor only to be cruelly ripped from his side moments later via Doomsday. In the meantime, Jack is 'killed' fighting Abaddon. Thinking they're both lost to him, the Doctor flies off into space, broken. Three years later, in the parallel world, Rose has given birth to the Doctor's baby of whom neither had any idea about. Jonny is almost three years old when one day at Torchwood, Gwen Cooper suddenly appears, having been sucked through the Void. After a bit of talking, Rose realises they both know Jack (who is really alive), they use the object to get back through to Rose's proper world. She is reunited with Jack but realises she's left her son behind. Jack goes back with her and she says goodbye to her family for now before operating the gadget to come back home. And that's where we left off last time. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me.

Part Twelve: New Beginnings

Rose and Jack slammed back onto the Plaza outside of the Millennium Centre, blinking slightly in the bright sunshine. As they got their breath back, Jonny gave a couple of small whimpers.

"You OK, champ?" Jack asked him, ruffling his hair.

The little boy peered out nervously from his mother's neck, sticking his thumb firmly in his mouth. Rose kissed his forehead.

"I think he has Time Lord senses," she told Jack, "He probably feels the difference between the worlds, as he's never been here before. Well- not outside of the womb."

Jack nodded. "It's understandable."

Rose smiled weakly as they made their way back into the Hub, where Gwen, Owen, Ianto and Tosh were overjoyed to see them again, safe and well. The females instantly cooed over Jonny, and after introductions had been made, they started playing with him. His giggles soon echoed around the cavernous room.

Rose, Jack and Ianto went and sat down at the table overlooking the Hub. Rose kept a close eye on her son but she knew that Gwen especially would take care of him and not let him wander. In the meantime, it was time for them to discuss their future.

"Where are we going to live?" she wondered out loud,

"You can both live with me, if you want," Jack offered, wanting to keep his previously lost friend close to him, "I've got a spare room off my room,"

"Thanks," Rose nodded gratefully, missing the almost annoyed glance that Ianto threw at Jack.

Jack apparently missed it as well since he said, "No problem, honey."

Rose smiled at him, having missed being called that. "I'm going to need to go shopping soon," she frowned after a moment, "I've only got what I packed in that bag and that was only bare essentials. God knows where I'm gonna get enough money from." She sighed. "Its times like this that I wish I still had the Doctor's unlimited credit card,"

"No, but I've got the next best thing. I'm giving you access to Torchwood's unlimited bank funds," Jack smirked, "Don't ask how it works. Highly illegal."

Rose giggled. "Trust you. Thanks, Jack,"

"No worries," the ex-Time Agent said easily, "You could get Gwen or Tosh to go with you later unless you really want me to come with you…" He made a face, clearly demonstrating his opinion of that. He'd experienced too many shopping trips with Rose. Even the Doctor hadn't been able to face them; no matter how much he loved Rose.

"I'll do that," she grinned "If Mr. Boss-man says they can have the afternoon off…"

"Mr. Boss-man?" Jack scrunched his nose up, "Have you been talking to Jonny too much?"

She stuck her tongue out at him.

He laughed. "Anyway, you can join the team if you want to. I know you've got more than enough experience."

Rose smiled. "I'd like that," she nodded, "Be good to fight alongside you again. But please tell me you get more aliens than my Torchwood did? Half the time, I was filling out bloody paperwork!"

"No, we get quite a lot being right on the rift," Jack replied, "And that reminds me, Ianto, update on the Weevils?"

"Weevils?" Rose interrupted before the Welshman had a chance to reply.

Jack smirked. "I'll show you later."

Rose nodded with a smile before listening to Ianto.

"They seem to have gone underground again," he reported, "We've been tracking their usual hunting grounds but no sign of them. They've just disappeared again,"

"Weird," Jack mused, "Their appearances seem to be developing into some sort of pattern. How long since the last outing?"

Ianto frowned and consulted his notes. "About six months. Give or take a week. And I'm willing to bet that it was six months before that that they last appeared."

Jack nodded seriously. "I wonder what's causing it…?"

Ianto shrugged. "I'll look into it, Jack,"

"Cheers, Yan," he replied with a smile, "We'll have a team meeting later about it."

Ianto nodded and excused himself. Jack let out a sigh, leaning back in his seat and stretching his arms. Rose watched him happily.

Suddenly, Jack's 'phone buzzed on the table. He picked it up and smiled, showing his perfect white teeth. "It's Matt," he remarked.

Rose gasped, shooting over to him as he answered.

"Hey Jack," she heard distantly,

"Matt!" the ex-time agent replied happily, put the speaker on so Rose could hear, "How you doing?"

"I'm fine," he replied, "You sound happy!"

"I am," Jack grinned widely, "You'll never guess who's turned up?"

"Not the Doctor!" Matt breathed,

"Nope." Jack said, "Even better."

Rose could imagine Matt's face right about now.

"Rose…?"

"Hey Matt," she giggled down the mobile,

"Oh my God!"

Both Jack and Rose burst out laughing at their friend's response.

"How…? What…? Why…? Are you…? Oh my God! I can't… How?" Matt stuttered,

"It's a long story," Rose answered, "But basically one of Jack's team- do you know Gwen? - fell through the rift after messing with this device that fell out of the rift. She appeared in the Torchwood that I was working at in the parallel world; we talked, discovered we both knew Jack and figured out how to use the device and I got back and found Jack again. I'll tell you the whole story when I see you,"

"When? How soon?" Matt asked eagerly, having only understood about half of Rose's explanation. Despite him and the two girls knowing things about aliens and time travel that the TARDIS trio had told them, they still didn't understand the finer details.

"ASAP," Rose replied, "Uh, how about the day after tomorrow? That'll give me time to sort myself out,"

"OK," Matt replied joyfully, "Oh God, Rose. I've missed you so much,"

"I've missed you too," she said, "I can't wait to see you,"

"Yeah, same. We've got five years to catch up on. A lot's happened, Rose,"

"Tell me about it!" Rose half-laughed, glancing down where Jonny was still playing with Gwen and Tosh, "D'you want to tell Kirsty and Lauren? I've still got my mobile but I don't know if their numbers have changed…"

"Kirsty's has but Lauren's is still the same," Matt nodded, "I think. Anyway, yeah. I'm meeting up with them in a couple of hours for our weekly get together,"

"OK, cool," Rose replied. She quickly made arrangements with her old friend before passing Jack his mobile back and leaning back in her chair with a contented smile. She was so happy to be back in contact with Matt.

A couple of hours later, Rose, Tosh and Gwen stepped blinking into the sunshine, ready to shop 'til they dropped. Jonny was spending some time with his new godfather. He hated shopping with Rose as much as Jack did.

"Where's good to shop in Cardiff then?" Rose asked her new friends,

"St. David's shopping centre is my favourite," Gwen told her, "We'll go there first. It has everything in it. Clothes shops, shoe shops, toy shops and a great smoothie bar,"

"Sounds perfect," Rose smiled, "How did you join Torchwood then?" she questioned, as they jumped into the SUV with Tosh at the wheel. Gwen sat next to her and Rose was in the back, looking around in interest.

Gwen laughed. "I was a member of the police before, and one night at a crime scene, I saw these guys doing something I shouldn't have seen. I got curious and followed them everywhere,"

"Yeah," Tosh smirked, "She gave us such a headache! She even disguised herself as a pizza carrier to gain access to the Hub!"

"You didn't!" Rose giggled,

"I did," Gwen confirmed proudly, "Suzie, who was the leader back then, then gave in and told me everything, but then she drugged me with Retcon and I forgot everything about them…"

"Retcon?" Rose asked suddenly,

"It's a drug which makes you…" Tosh began,

"I know what it is!" Rose said sharply. She sighed as her new friends flinched. "Sorry, I just have bad memories of it. I was drugged about five years ago before I was thrown into the parallel world, and I forgot everything about the Doctor and Jack."

Gwen bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

Rose waved it off. "Remembered luckily," she smiled weakly, "What's your story, Tosh?"

"Oh, I worked with the government in London as a scientist," she explained, "I was ordered to examine the alien that was discovered in the wreckage of the spaceship- do you remember, the one that crashed into the Thames, just before when Downing Street was blown up?"

Rose grinned. "Oh, I remember alright," she laughed, "I was inside Downing Street when it blew up!"

Tosh nearly crashed into the car in front of her. "What!?" she and Gwen chorused in shock.

The blonde woman let out a giggle. "Me, the Doctor and Harriet Jones were trapped inside the Board Room. It's a miracle we survived to be honest."

Her friends shook their head in wonder. They both knew they wanted to hear more of this story.

"Anyway," Tosh continued, "This alien, which turned out to be a pig that had been modified, according to this random bloke who called himself the…" She trailed off. "Rose, what's the Doctor look like?"

She smiled lovingly. "Tall, slim, gorgeous brown eyes, spiky hair that just begs out to be ruffled, just gorgeous… Why?"

Tosh shook her head. "Oh, don't worry. Just this guy called himself the Doctor and I just wondered if it was him…"

Rose frowned. "He looked different back then- before he regenerated,"

"Before he what?" Gwen asked in interest,

"Regenerated," she explained quickly, "Means he can change his entire body to look like a different man when his current body has to die for whatever reason. It's just something Time Lords can do. Anyway, Tosh, what did he look like?"

"Erm…" She frowned, struggling to remember, "Tall, closely cropped hair, black jacket… Oh, he had a northern accent as well,"

"Oh my God!" Rose beamed, "You met him! That's the Doctor. That took place a couple of days after I met him. That's so weird!"

"Yes," Tosh agreed, with a smile, "I just remember him because he was the one person I met during that day who seemed to know what was going on,"

"Yeah," Rose said with a laugh, "He gives that impression an awful lot."

Tosh giggled. "Anyway, the next day after everything had happened, Suzie turned up out of the blue, said she needed a scientist and she'd been monitoring me and me offered either a dose of Retcon or a job here. Course she didn't quite phrase it like that but that was the general idea. And here I am,"

"Cool," Rose nodded.

The two Torchwood members exchanged a glance before Gwen said, "So, what's the deal with Jack? He never tells us anything but he can do some pretty weird stuff. He can't die for starters,"

"He can still do that?" Rose asked in shock, "Oh God. I need to find the Doctor and fast. He might be able to help."

Gwen nodded. "He told me once that if he found a certain type of Doctor, then it might get sorted." She shrugged. "I've got to admit it though; it is kind of useful,"

"Yeah," Tosh agreed, "But why can he do that, Rose? Who is he?"

Rose hesitated. "I think if Jack hasn't told you, then I shouldn't either, as he obviously wants to keep it a secret."

Gwen nodded in acceptance. "Fair enough."

Rose smiled as Tosh pulled into a parking spot. "We're here," she announced, "Let's go shopping!"

The three girls had a fabulous time shopping, buying all sorts of odds and ends. They bumped into a suspicious looking Rhys at the shopping centre, much to Gwen's surprise. Her boyfriend was supposed to be at work. All the same, she introduced him to Rose, describing her as a 'new work mate, who's just arrived in Cardiff.' They then left Rhys and arrived back at the Hub, laden down with bags, much to Jack's amusement. The team had Chinese together before everyone except Jack and Rose left for the night.

"He's dead to the world," Jack said softly, as he carried a sleeping Jonny into his new room. Rose looked up and smiled from where she was finishing making her son's bed.

"Want to tuck him in?" she suggested.

Jack nodded and grinned, placing his godson into the small bed. "Sweet dreams, champ," he whispered, ruffling the boy's hair.

Rose looked on, smiling happily before yawning,

"Tired?" Jack asked her.

She nodded. "I think I'll head to bed. It's gone ten,"

"OK. Sweet dreams, honey." He kissed her cheek and hugged her tightly. She stayed in his arms for a little while, relishing being close to him again before slipping off to Jack's room where they'd mutually agreed she would sleep. In the mean time, Jack went back up to his office in the Hub.

Some time later, he was reading some reports on recent Weevil activity when he heard muffled sobbing. At first he thought it was Jonny but quickly realised they sounded too feminine and familiar. Jack quickly crossed over his office and slipped down the fireman's pole into his bedroom.

"Rose?" he said softly, moving to the lump in his bed.

She rolled over to face him, showing her tearstained face and quivering lip. "I miss him so much, Jack," she whispered.

He lay down next to her and gave her a cuddle. "Me too," he admitted.

Rose nodded. "I've always missed him but I've been alright the past year. I thought I was… well, not getting over him exactly but… y'know, coping alright. But now, being back in this world, it's just bringing it all back up and I feel so lonely inside and scared. I know I've got you but I so want him as well!" She began sobbing again, nestling into Jack's chest. He stroked her hair reassuringly, waiting for her to calm down.

"We can't do anything but wait, honey," he told her sadly, "I've tried ringing the TARDIS numerous times but it never connects. All we can do is hope he comes back to refuel someday soon,"

"But what if he never picks this year?" Rose whispered, "What if he stays away from Cardiff because it's too painful because of the memories?"

Jack shrugged. He'd had similar thoughts before. "We just have to hope," he whispered, "That's all we can do."

Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received.