Bwahahahaaaa! Time Lord alert, indeed. I hope that I've gotten your attention, and that you're enjoying.

And don't judge too harshly at the end of this chapter. She has her reasons for saying what she does, and more will be explained in the next couple of chapters.

Chapter Three

"Who are you?" Rose blurted out. "What are you doing with the Tardis, and how did you get it to change?"

The woman paused, her smile fading just a bit as she lifted one arched brow. How does she know about the Tardis? she silently wondered. And what's this blether about it changing?

Outwardly, she looked Rose over. "This ship has been mine for a long time," she replied. Her tone was very smooth, genial even. Her green eyes seemed to miss nothing as they darted then over Pete and Mickey, who were eyeing her with the same suspicion that Rose did.

"What did you do with the Doctor, then?" Rose demanded, heat flashing in her eyes.

The Doctor… The other woman's eyes widened ever so slightly at that name, a name she had not heard in many, many years. But hadn't she sensed the presence of a Time Lord near this very spot? Wasn't it that, as well as the large fracture in time and space that she'd felt that had pulled her out of her self-imposed exile and brought her here? It seemed impossible. Briefly, she shook her head. Perhaps this young woman could shed some light on the situation.

"How do you know the Doctor?" she asked, her tone even. Inside, both her hearts were beating wildly. She was afraid to even hope.

"You answer my questions first," Rose retorted, setting her jaw stubbornly.

The woman hesitated, again glancing briefly at the two men that flanked the young woman. "It really will make things a lot easier," the older of the two men spoke up, "if you just answer her questions. Mickey and I," he added, nodding at the other man, "are almost as interested in the answers as she is."

Slowly, she nodded, relenting. "Alright, then," she replied, slowly. She hesitated for one more moment before she continued. "My name is Jenaria. Call me Jen," she added, punctuating the request with a smile. "I'm a Time Lord from Gallifrey—"

"That's impossible," Rose snapped, cutting her off. "The Doctor is the last of the Time Lords."

She knows quite a bit, then… Jen thought, eyeing her with increasing curiosity. "And I thought that I was the last of the Time Lords, so it appears that he and I were both mistaken." She paused, her expression thoughtful. "I know the Doctor, and very well. But I thought that he'd died at the Fall—"

"Fall of Arcadia," Rose interrupted, softly.

"Quite right," Jen replied, once again looking the woman over. "So how do you, an ordinary young woman from Earth, know so much about Time Lords, Tardises, and The Time War?"

Rose was beginning to soften towards the woman as it became more and more apparent that Jen was nearly as confused and suspicious as Rose herself. "My name is Rose," she replied. "Rose Tyler. For a long time I was the…traveling companion," she hesitated over the words. She and the Doctor had been more than traveling companions. So much more. "Of a Time Lord. The Doctor. We traveled about the galaxy and in time in his ship, the Tardis. I thought it was the only one, so I assumed…"

"A reasonable assumption," Jen replied, tapping her chin. "So the Doctor thinks that he's the last of the Time Lords as well?"

"He did," Rose replied, nodding.

Jen glanced at her sharply. "Did?"

Pain flickered through Rose's eyes and she glanced away. "We were separated," she began, softly.

By this time, Jen's expression was intensely alert. When Rose did not continue her story, she nodded and held out a hand to the other woman. "Tell me everything," she said, softly.

"Well," Jen said as Rose finished her story. The two of them had been holed up in Rose's office for hours, Jen curled up in an overstuffed armchair silently sipping on tea and nodding encouragingly as Rose spun the entire tale from beginning to heartbreaking end. "You have had quite the adventure."

"Adventure…" Rose mused, shifting her gaze out the window. "I suppose you could call it that."

She loves him… Jen thought. And who could blame her? She, too, had a love and affection in her heart for the Doctor. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair, for the first time truly allowing herself to stretch out with her senses and feel those sensations that she had cut off for so long. The smallest of smiles touched her lips. Yes, she could sense him. And likely he could sense her too. One green eye slid open and regarded Rose as Jen took another sip from her mug. Jen did love the Doctor, dearly. And it was out of that love that the next words slipped past her lips.

"You would go back to him if you could," she observed, calmly.

Without hesitation, Rose nodded. "I would," she replied. "He thought that I'd be upset or lonely being away from my mum, but…" she hesitated. "I feel so empty and incomplete now." She paused and looked up at Jen. "How do you know him?" she asked.

A fair question. "I've known him all my life," she replied, simply, as if that should answer all of Rose's questions.

A horrible thought crossed Rose's mind. "Are you… in love with him?" she asked, pain slicing through her even as she spoke the words.

Jen took another sip of tea and gave the question fair consideration. "Yes," she finally replied, "I suppose you could say that I am. Or I was, once upon a time." She smiled. "And I do still love him, dearly. And I've missed him terribly."

Chastised, Rose again looked out the window. The Doctor had mentioned his family in passing many times in their days together. He'd even once casually mentioned that he'd been a dad once, which boldly implied that he'd had a wife too. Could this strange woman be that wife?

The Time Lady grew quiet for several moments, her expression pensive. "Close your eyes," she finally said softly. "I want to see something."

Rose was surprised by the abrupt request, but without protest she obediently closed her eyes. She didn't move when she felt Jen's fingertips rest on her temples, but she inhaled sharply and shifted uncomfortably when she felt the sudden invasion into her mind.

"Relax," she heard Jen's voice say soothingly. "I only want to view your memories. I won't hurt you, I promise. And if there's something that you don't want me to see, just snap a door shut in front of it. I won't probe past it."

Gradually, Rose began to relax. She could almost mentally see the memories that Jen pressed through. At last, it seemed, the other woman found the memory that she was looking for. And the one that she settled on nearly took Rose's breath away…

The wind whipped around her as she stood on the still, silent beach, the chill of the air seeming to slice right through to the bone. Somehow, the cold, the wind, and the harshness of the sea had fit her mood as she had stood on that beach and said her final good-bye. "Am I ever gonna see you again?" she had managed to choke out, her tears threatening to overtake her.

The entire encounter had nearly been too much for her. She'd wanted to kiss him, hold him, and never, ever let go. And all she had for that one, final encounter was a brief, windswept conversation on a beach in Norway.

"You can't," the Doctor had replied softly, his regret evident in his dark eyes.

"Then what are you gonna do?" she asked. Speaking was becoming more and more difficult as remorse and grief became more overwhelming.

"Oh, I've got the Tardis," he responded, as much to convince himself as her. "Same old life, Last of the Time Lords."

"On your own?"

All he could do was nod.

Rose struggled with her tears and the words she wanted to speak for several moments. "I love you," she finally managed to say around a choked cry.

Try as he might, the Doctor had not been able to hide just how much her words had affected him. "Quite right, too," he murmured, his voice breaking ever so slightly.

"And I suppose…" he continued, huskily. Rose's heart nearly stopped. More than once in their time together he had nearly spoken the words she had longed to hear. "If it's my last chance to say it…" It was evident that he was wrestling with his own emotions. Even now, knowing that it was his last chance, he still stumbled and struggled over the words. "Rose Tyler –"

And then he faded to nothingness.

Jen sat for several minutes with her hands now in her lap as she replayed in her mind what she'd seen. She could tell by the expression in the other woman's eyes that reliving the memory had been painful for her, and she wanted to give Rose a moment to collect herself.

"Why—" Rose began, and then paused to clear her voice. "Why did you want to see that particular memory?" she finally managed to ask.

When Jen looked over at her, there was a troubled expression in the green depths. "I needed to see something for myself," she admitted. "And now that I have…" she hesitated. "I have some work to do," she began. "And it appears that you and I both have some thinking to do."

"Work? Thinking?" Rose was beginning to feel like an incompetent idiot.

"Work," was Jen's response. "I've got to figure out a way to get to him if he's in another timeline, as you say. It won't be easy."

Hope began to take root in Rose's heart. "But it's possible?"

"Quite," Jen smiled. "Before the fall of the Time Lords, we passed through timelines with relative ease. What he said was true; there is a great amount of risk now. But…" she paused, considering. "I don't think it's impossible. I just need to think on it a bit."

"And what should I be thinking about, then?" Rose asked.

Jen's expression softened. "You need to think this over and decide if you want to go with me," she replied, softly. "I know that your first instinct is to hop aboard and leave this minute, but think about it. I can tell you from experience that it's not easy to be permanently separated from your family," she added, gently. "However we end up pulling this off, Rose, it's going to be a one-time shot. There will be no coming back."

Rose's gaze never wavered. "I don't have to think about it," she responded. "I've been faced with this choice before, and I made my choice. It hasn't changed. If you can find a way to get back to him, then let's do it."

Exactly what I wanted to hear, Jen thought as a smile bloomed on her face. "Well you certainly have a lot of pluck," she replied. "I can see why he chose you."

Rose smiled ever so slightly. "And what do you need to think about?" she asked.

The gentle smile faded from Jen's face, and she restlessly rose and stepped over to the window. "I'm not sure that taking you with me is the right choice," she admitted, folding her arms over her chest.

Nothing else that she could have said would have neither stunned nor crushed Rose more. She sat, unmoving and gaping at the other woman's back for several long moments as she processed what Jen had just said. Finally she, too, rose and walked over to put a hand on Jen's shoulder. "I'm not sure what your reasons are," she began, softly, "but I will do absolutely anything to go with you." Her tone was soft, pleading, and the anguish that she felt was evident in her wide, hazel eyes.

Jen sighed, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I understand how you feel," she replied, softly. "And if I were in your shoes, I think I'd feel the same way. But Rose… You have to understand one important thing." Slowly, she turned to meet Rose's gaze. "This isn't just about you."