Chapter 8

Rose sat in the spacious kitchen of the Tyler estate with an untouched and long-cooled cup of tea in front of her. Three days had passed since the Doctor left, and Rose was beginning to worry. No, she'd begun to worry yesterday; now she was nearing a panic. The Doctor said he'd be gone just a couple days in Cardiff to work on some secret project with Tosh, but he should have returned to London by now. She tried calling the mobile he now reluctantly carried, but it went straight to voicemail like it wasn't on.

"Still no word from him?" Jackie asked as she set a fresh mug of tea down on the small, informal table in the middle of her state-of-the-art kitchen.

Rose just shook her head in response.

Jackie pulled out a chair to sit next to her daughter. "What's he doing in Cardiff anyway?"

Rose took a sip of her own tea and grimaced at the cold liquid. "Something to do with the Rift. He didn't say."

"And he's not there?"

Rose turned her mobile over in her hand, willing it to tell her something. "I tried the Hub. They said he wasn't, but maybe I should try again. I'll ring Tosh."

"I'm sure he's all right, sweetheart," Jackie said patting her hand. She was trying to be reassuring but was entirely unconvincing.

Rose suddenly felt defensive and pulled her hand away. "He didn't leave, if that's what you're thinking."

"I didn't say that!" Jackie exclaimed. "I thought you said things were better between you two."

"They were. They are," Rose amended, dropping her mobile to the table and letting her head fall to rest on her hand. Things had been wonderful the past couple weeks. They'd even gone on a few proper dates—ones that didn't involve running or mortal peril. By the second one, Rose had actually dared to wear heels for the first time in ages, and the Doctor had been momentarily perplexed as to why Rose was suddenly taller than usual.

"You've never been one to sit around and wait," Jackie told her as she snagged a biscuit from the untouched plate on the table. "Especially not when it comes to him."

Rose knew her mum was right. After being stranded in this world, she could have just given up, but she hadn't. Instead, she spent four years working with Torchwood to find a way back to him, and now here she was just moping about the kitchen.

Rose jumped up and kissed Jackie on the cheek. "Thanks, mum!"

"Wait! Where are you going?" Jackie called as Rose was halfway out the door.

"Cardiff!"

Zeppelins in Pete's World were fast and efficient but cost only as much as the train in Rose's original world. The float from London to Cardiff was only an hour and a half, and less than thirty minutes after disembarking, Rose reached Mermaid Quay and the entrance to Torchwood Three. It was getting late, lights were dimmed and most of the employees had gone home, but she'd been there enough times over the years that navigating the facility was second nature. Only a few people were still in the hub, and Rose wasn't surprised to find Toshiko Sato among them.

"Hey Tosh."

The dark-haired woman looked up from her computer with surprise. "Rose! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for the Doctor." When Tosh didn't offer any information, she continued. "He was here, wasn't he?"

Tosh's face fell and she pushed her chair away from her computer screens. "He didn't come home yet?"

"Home from where?"

"I have to show you," Tosh said, standing from her desk. Rose followed her down to the storeroom, now far less dusty since Tosh was checking on the coral every day. Rose looked at the filing cabinets and discarded machinery, not sure what she was supposed to see.

"Do you know what this is?" Tosh guided her to the cleanest spot in the room where a bronze piece of coral the size of a melon lay in a large pan of viscous liquid surrounded by modern electronics and a number of items Rose couldn't identify.

"Is that the TARDIS coral? It's so much bigger. That's what he's been coming here for?" And why hadn't he told her about it?

Tosh nodded. "The Doctor said it would take at least twenty years to mature, even with the energy of the Rift and all this equipment that even I don't quite understand."

"So where is he?" Rose found her worry increasing the more the pieces fell into place.

"I had an idea," Tosh said, looking slightly guilty. "I modified the dimension canon to send him forward in time to when the TARDIS is fully grown. He was going to get it and come right back. When he didn't come here, I assumed he went straight to London."

"But it might be London six months from now." Rose considered her options for a moment. "How close can you get me to wherever...whenever you sent him?"

"Within a couple hours."

"Then get it ready. I just need to grab a few things."

"But what if you arrive after he leaves?" Tosh asked before Rose could disappear out of the room.

Rose stopped in the doorway and gave the other woman a pointed look. "Then you'll need to find him and tell him to come get me."