Chapter Twenty: Even The Best Fall Down Sometimes

The Doctor turned pleading eyes to them, Jack understood what he was asking for. Silently he guided Martha and Timothy outside, leaving the two of them alone.

"Rose…"

"Don't call me that." He sat next to her. He gently touched Rose's hand and watch at the same time. Immediately flashed went through his mind of their wedding – placing their palms together sharing their essence, Rose holding Tala tightly, when he saw the next image he understood perfectly. "Oh Joan." He whispered softly, obeying her wishes not to call her Rose. "Is that what this is all about?"

"If I go back I can't have another child. If I stay like this I can."

"How do you…"

"The dreams I had, I knew about it, that there's nothing that can be done…"

"Yet." He cut in. "There's nothing that can be done yet." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Love, there's a high chance you can't have children as a human either. If you stay like this then you'll die and I'll live on. I can't bear that Joan."

"I don't want to hurt you Theta." She whispered, unaware of her use of his nickname. He smiled slightly.

"You shouldn't have remembered so much." He whispered, resting his forehead against hers. "That's why you accepted the truth straight away."

"Nearly every night I had dreams and the worst thing was they made so much sense." He gently stroked her cheek.

"Oh Joan." He pulled her closer. "What do you want Joan, deep down?" She looked into his eyes and laughed, she pressed their palms together, gently stoking his bruised jaw.

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The Family turned as they heard the door open. They were surprised to see the Doctor and Rose. Rose elbowed him slightly, knocking him off balance causing him to hit a few buttons.

"Just stop the bombardment. That's all I'm asking. I'll do anything you want, just stop.

"Say please." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Please." Rose asked. Jenny sniffed. "Time Lord," She sniffed Rose. "Still human."

"I was human when we travelled, I can be human again." She told them bravely. Drawing attention away from the Doctor who flicked a few buttons.

"She chooses to remain an idiot!" Baines laughed. She tossed him the watch.

"At last." He pushed Rose back, she fell to the floor, the Doctor growled at the action. "Don't think that saved your life. Family of Mine, now we shall have the lives of a Time Lord." The family took a deep breath. "It's empty!"

"It's gone." Rose gasped dramatically. She looked at the Doctor and they laughed, before turning a menacing glare towards the Family.

"Oh, I think the explanation might be you've been fooled by a simple olfactory misdirection—little bit like ventriloquism of the nose. It's an elementary trick in certain parts of the galaxy. But it has got to be said I don't like the looks of that hydroconometre. It seems to be indicating you've got energy feedback all the way through the retrostabilisers feeding back into the primary heat converter—ah 'Cause if there's one thing you shouldn't have done, you shouldn't have let me press all those buttons. But, in fairness, I will give you one word of advice—Run." The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and together they ran out of the ship

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The Doctor stormed back into the TARDIS, the Family in tow. Rose looked absolutely furious.

"I have spent almost three months apart from my daughter because of you. Don't think for a minute I don't remember what you did especially threatening my daughter!" She stayed relatively calm speaking. Rose stepped forward only to stop as Theta placed a hand on her arm. The Doctor stepped in front of her.

"Rose lets get changed, we'll talk about what we want to do with them." Rose sighed slightly. "Come with me," He ordered of the Family, they followed him down the corridors. "Inside." He ordered. The Family walked inside He closed the door and Rose watched as it sealed itself, ultimately disappearing, creating a holding cell in the TARDIS. Rose latched onto the Doctor's arm.

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The pair walked into their room. Immediately Rose pulled out some jeans and a t-shirt looking for comfort, the Doctor pulled out almost the same but pulled a jumper out as well.

"I've never been in a suit so uncomfortable!" He quickly dressed; he as just about to pull on his t-shirt when her turned back to Rose he discovered she'd made no effort to change. "Rose?" He asked softly. She didn't turn to face him, but he saw in the mirror she was fighting back her tears. He sat next to her and pulled her to him, she rested her head on his chest.

"Your t-shirt isn't very soft." She didn't open her eyes until he laughed. "Oh." He gently kissed her forehead.

"Love, are you okay?" He knew the answer.

"A bit of a headache. I didn't realise how much I missed Tala." She felt rather than saw him nod. She pulled away to stand up. She tugged at her sash.

"Do you want some help?" He asked, before she went any further.

"Please." She turned so her back as to him. He carefully undid the laces on the back of the dress, Rose stepped out of it. He moved to her bodice, he felt her visibly relax when he reached halfway of undoing the laces. He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder. Rose pulled out of his grasp stepping out of the bodice moving to dress.

He pulled on his blue t-shirt. Rose sighed as the comfortable clothes fitted her perfectly. Theta walked behind her and pulled the clip from her tousled hair.

"What do you want to do with them?" He asked her softly.

"Is there a way to release them?" He raised an eyebrow at her; she sat down clumsily. He sat down and reached for her hand, gently stroking the back with his thumb. "I mean, can they be removed from their bodies? They told Jack their hosts were dead but…"

"I'm not sure, maybe if they haven't been compressed too far…" He looked at her. "Are you sure that's what you want me to do?"

"Yes." He studied her; she squeezed his hand letting him know what she wanted.

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Rose and the Doctor slowly walked along the corridor to the control room as they entered they found Jack and Martha in there also changed. Jack looked at them.

"On behalf of me and Martha I'd like to say…" He paused dramatically, handing them their rings. "If you ever do that again you're on your own!" Rose smirked slightly. "No offence Rose but you have no idea what you've done to us." Martha snorted slightly.

"With Mr Bump here, and you having that locket we've been run off our feet." Martha told her.

"I wasn't that bad." The Doctor protested.

"Lets see…one bump to the head, a sprained wrist, a weak ankle, a bloody nose and a cut to the back of the head." Martha dictated.

"Thank God you weren't human when you met!" Jack laughed.

His laughter was cut short as Rose let out a scream and collapsed to the floor clutching her head tightly. The Doctor quickly bent down to her level, lifting her up slightly.

"What's wrong?" She opened her eyes, the strain making her eyes water.

"It hurts."

"What hurts Rose?" He looked at her.

"My head, it's killing me." He touched her head gently, seeing into her mind. He felt her calm after a few moments. He pulled back slightly, leaving her mind.

"Why didn't you say?" He whispered, "How long have you been able to?"

"Since just after I opened my watch?" He gently pushed her hair behind her ear.

"What's wrong Doc?"

"Nothing to worry about." He told them. "It'll just take a while to adjust."

"Adjust to what?" Martha and Jack asked at the same time.

"Seeing all of time and space." He told them as a matter of fact. "The change caused discomfort, Rose had only been able to see it once with the Time Vortex, she now has something I'd never wish on her."

"Theta, this isn't your fault," She winced slightly as the throb came forward.

"The discomfort should vanish in a little while." He sat back on his heels. "When a Time Lord is born they're born with the ability to see all of Time and Space, everything that is, was, could and could never be. I think when the fob watch was opened it awoke Rose's mind fully to what it means to be Time Lord. You said it yourself Rose you thought your mind was growing."

"I was joking."

"But underneath that was some truth." He stood up slowly, pulling her up with him. "I'll teach you how to block out most of it, it won't work for all of it but it'll help." She nodded; he softly kissed her.

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Jack and the Doctor returned to the room carrying a box with four globes inside. He dropped it unceremoniously on the table.

"Are they all okay?" Rose asked softly, not wanting to raise her voice too much.

"Pretty much, a little shaken if that." He sat down. "Tala okay?"

"Sleeping." Rose leaned forward. "The first time I actually get to play with her for nearly three months and she falls asleep on me." Jack sat down next to Martha. Reaching behind to grab his cup of tea.

"I said they'd contracted 'frinigitis linkumitis'." Jack explained.

"What's that?" Martha asked, completely stumped.

"Dunno it sounded good." Martha laughed.

"We'll drop them off in a little while." Theta turned to Rose. "How are you feeling?"

"Still hurts," He winced in sympathy. "And a little annoying."

"You'll get used to it." She stood up slowly.

"I don't think I've ever loved jeans this much." He smiled, knowing what she meant. "I swear I'm never wearing a corset again."

"What about my bow tie! It looked awful!"

"I can see how agonising a bow tie is compared to a corset." She muttered.

"I heard that!" Rose gently swatted him on the head. She took a step forward and reeled from the intensity of what she saw. Jack managed to catch her before she fell completely to the floor.

"I think you'd better lie down." Martha told her strictly. Rose nodded. "And by that I mean in the med bay." Rose groaned.

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As soon as they had taken Mr Clarke, Baines, Jenny and the young girl back. Jack and the Doctor walked back to the infirmary, before they'd even got halfway their they were pushed to one side as Rose ran past them, Martha hot on her heels.

"Come back Rose!" Martha yelled as loud as she could.

"In a minute!" Was the yell back. Jack and Theta looked at each other, groaned and took off after them. They managed to catch up with Rose as she entered the control room, rummaging through Jack's coat that he was wearing earlier. She let out a triumphant cry as she grabbed her phone. She looked at it disappointedly. "Oh."

"Rose?" Jack asked.

"I thought it was ringing." Rose told them, confused. "I could've sworn it was ringing." The Doctor took the phone of her,

"Are you absolutely positive?" He asked,

"Yeah, but there's no missed call." As if it heard her it began to ring. He passed it back to her.

"Hello mum…what's wrong…no we're not doing anything…but…oh…I didn't realise…we'll be right there…at where…oh…St Matthew's Hall…sure we'll be there…" As she hung up Jack and the Doctor shared the same look – fear. Martha ignored them.

"Are you saying that you heard this phone ringing?" She asked.

"I felt it was ringing, it did ring."

"Rose we didn't hear it." Rose looked to the Doctor, hurt that no one believed her.

"Its okay Martha, I know what it is." He nodded confirming what Rose was saying. He wrapped an arm around her waist. "That's how it works." He looked deliberately at Rose. "You knew that the phone was going to ring but you didn't know who it was, what they were going to say or anything." He pulled Rose to him. "What did your mother want?" Jack made frantic gestures to say he didn't want to know.

"Oh the usual…you know…she needs help setting up for my 2nd cousin's baptism party…nothing really."

"On a Saturday?" He gave her a sceptical look.

"She said she wants to set up the tables and chairs ready for the Sunday." He rolled his eyes. "It could be worse, it could've been Tala's baptism." He shuddered.

"Don't remind me."

"Why don't you and Martha help your mother and Jack and me, we'll fix…" Rose silenced him with a glare, she saw him visibly gulp. "No, no you're right we should…" He reached behind Rose and touched the controls. They had a slightly bumpier ride than usual – the TARDIS not used to staying put for a while.

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Rose and Martha blocked in Jack and the Doctor so they couldn't escape as they stood in front of Jackie's flat door. Martha smirked as she saw Jack twitch and the Doctor rocking on his feet. Rose took great pleasure in reaching between them and knocking on the door. Almost instantly the door was swung open. Jack and Theta jumped to their respective sides and let Rose be enveloped in a hug, followed by Martha.

"Where's my beautiful granddaughter?" Jackie asked.

"Here Mum," Rose gestured the pushchair. Jackie reached down and lifted Tala up. "She grows more beautiful every time I see her, pity she looks like him though." Martha let out a sly smile at the comment.

"Nice to see you too Jackie." Theta muttered. Jackie turned round and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Rose laughed as his eyes widened. He swiped at his lips furiously trying to get Jackie off them. "You said we had to help…"

"Oh yes, come in all of you." As they crossed the threshold Jack knew something was up. "Have you fed her sweetheart?"

"Yes Mum."

"Doctor could you help me lift this box?" Jackie pulled him into the kitchen. "Is everything okay between you and Rose now?" She asked.

"Yup," He grinned. Jackie pulled him into a hug and for once he didn't resist. "Thank you." He whispered sincerely.

"It's a mother's job to look after her son." She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Which box did you want me to…" He wheezed as a heavy box was shoved into his arms. "Obviously this one. Blimey, Jackie what's in here?"

"Decorations." She told him as they emerged from the kitchen. "Okay we're set,"

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Martha was the first one to step out of the TARDIS, followed by Jack – who'd been given the honour of carrying the heavy box – and Jackie, bringing up the rear was Rose and the Doctor carrying Tala.

"Ow, Tala, ow, ow." The group stopped to look at the Doctor. "Tala let go!"

"Daddy." She continued what she was doing.

"Rose a little help here." He pleaded; Rose crossed her arms.

"You're her father."

"What as her first word?" Jackie suddenly asked; the plight of the Doctor ignored. Jack watched as the Doctor paled.

"Are you sure you want to know Jackie?"

"Yes, please tell me it wasn't 'daddy'." She begged.

"Not quite…" Martha replied, catching on quickly. "Her first word was…TARDIS."

"That man and his blooming ship!" Jackie cried.

"'That man with his blooming ship' would like some help! If you don't mind!" Theta told them. "OW!" He cried again. Rose laughed and stepped closer.

"Come on Tala, let go." Rose took Tala's fist. "Give daddy his hair back." Tala let go. Rose reached up and pressed a kiss to the injured locks of hair. As she pulled away he caught her mouth with his, giving her a sweet kiss. She laughed as he pulled away with a yelp. She reached up and uncurled Tala's fist again.

"She has to know that hurts."

"You can't help it if you've got great hair." She giggled at his smug look. "Tala's probably inherited it."

"Come on you two, we're getting cold out here." Jackie cried. Rose rolled her eyes. Jackie walked over to the narrow set of doors and unlocked them.

Martha held open one door and Jackie the other for them to get through. The trio followed the married couple through.

"Jackie where do you want us to go.

"Through there." Jackie pointed.

'Fantastic' was the one word the couple mumbled unenthusiastically to the two, very domestic, shouted words headed their direction.

"HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!"

TBC

A/N: Does anyone want there to be a sequel set in season 4?