Next chapter! Yayness. My thanks to all who reviewed. It makes my day to read them!

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Rose's eyes slowly opened. She was lying on the floor, in the Ghostwatch room. Rose, at least called it that, as there was no Ghostwatch here and never had been – but it was the only thing she could associate the function of the room with. After he left, after the closing of the breath, the Ghostwatch room had no real purpose – except to Rose. She would come here and lie next to the wall or sit against it, just remembering. After the depression and grief fell away, it became her space, the place where she could go to relax and get away from the world. The other Torchwood members who had been present on that day and survived didn't talk about what had happened as an unspoken rule, and 'Rose's Room' was left alone by almost all.

She suspected she had fallen asleep by accident – and had such a strange dream. About Stonehenge, and the Doctor, and the…Ardexians? She sat up, hissing in pain as her scratched arm began to hurt. She looked at the now bandaged wound, its presence taking a moment to click. But if it had been real, then…no, it couldn't…could it…? She scanned the room quickly. Behind a now deserted desk, hair as messy as ever, and watching her with bright, intelligent eyes, was the Doctor.

She stood, unsure of what to say or do. Maybe she was sick, a fever contracted from the infected scratches, and this was all a hallucination. Maybe this was still a dream. Maybe it was real…

"How do you feel?" he said it quietly, calmly, almost as if they hadn't been apart.

Rose took a moment to respond. "Um, yeah, fine, I think. Am I dreaming?"

He grinned. "Well, if I'm your dream, then you're pretty lucky!" His grin faded after a moment, and he stood.

Rose was still trying to make sense of things. "But how am I here? Wasn't I at Stonehenge?"

"You got scratched by an Ardexian," said the Doctor, pointing at her bandaged arm. "Ardexian venom puts the victim slowly to sleep. You've been asleep about five hours. It's evening, now."

Rose nodded. That was a simple enough explanation. "And…and you…you're…real?" It sounded stupid, but it mattered so much. So much.

The Doctor seemed to understand this, and didn't make any sarcastic or joking remarks; he merely nodded, his eyes never leaving her face. Consciously, Rose didn't know what to do, but soon found herself walking towards him. He moved out from behind the desk and began to move towards her too. They stopped, facing each other.

Rose was on the verge of tears, and tried to find her voice. "I…I can touch you this time? The world won't collapse or rip in half or anything?"

He nodded, the beginnings of tears in his own eyes. As Rose began to cry in earnest, she felt the familiar embrace of his arms around her, and cried harder. He was really here – this was no dream. Her Doctor. He was back.

When she felt her tears stopping, she pulled out of his arms to look at him. He looked exactly the same: there was no sign of regeneration or scars. Who knows how long it had been for him? She was sure it wasn't two years.

"Look at you. Rose Tyler. Torchwood agent extraordinaire and deadly alien fighting machine. It's good to see you're making yourself useful."

Rose smiled despite her tears. "I've missed you so much."

"And I you. It's weird travelling alone – I'd forgotten what it felt like. I've never felt so alone. Now…" he paused, looking down, trying to find the right words. "Now that Gallifrey is gone. You were my first companion since the…since it happened. It almost made it impossible to bear. Everywhere I went I was reminded of you."

Rose vaguely waved a hand around her. "I never thought a place I'd call home could feel so weird. I suppose Torchwood acts as sort-of compensation to travelling with you. It means I'm still fighting aliens and get to see extraordinary things. But there's no Doctor here, no TARDIS. That's its problem. You're missing. I just…I can't believe that you're back."

"Believe it. I'm solid, I'm real."

"Unlike the last time I saw you." She paused as memories of the day came back. The feeling of despair and loss as he vanished…the unsaid words that hung in the air.

"I'm so sorry about that. I thought I had more time. Strange, isn't it – I have all the time in the world, really, but when it came down to it I didn't have nearly enough." He gave her a small smile.

Not knowing if it was the right thing to say, Rose hesitantly asked, "What were you going to say? That day on the beach?"

"Can't you guess?" He bent down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. She looked up into his eyes, as he bent his head again, and kissed her properly. Rose closed her eyes, surrendering. It was pure and simple, yet full of passion. She felt light as air in his arms. It was perfect.

He had been a father once. It didn't matter. He was over one thousand years old, a time travelling alien from an extinct planet, the last of the Time Lords. None of it mattered. All that mattered was that they were together again.

When they broke apart, the Doctor leant his head on Rose's, adding softly. "I love you."

They stood together for a moment in silence, before the Doctor moved his head off hers.

"By the way – why did Mickey bring you here? Not to Torchwood, I mean, but to this room? It is the room I'm thinking of, I'm certain. The opposite to the Ghostwatch room."

Rose bit her lip. "Because after you closed the breach this was where I was. I stayed and I…hammered on the wall. I wanted to get back to you. Even after the beach, this was where I would come and cry." She moved away from the Doctor, walking over to the blank white wall and placing her hand on it. "It made me feel closer to you. I don't know why, but it always did. Most of the Torchwood staff know it as 'Rose's Room'. It's my place: I come here to relax."

"Right. So, time to catch up, I think." He lent against the wall, grinning at her as he slowly slid until he was sitting, back to the wall. "What's been happening with the great clan Tyler?"

Rose slid down next to him. "Well, Pete's now head of Torchwood, mum's his assistant – oh, don't look like that," she added, for the Doctor had raised his eyebrows, "Mickey and I work as field agents and we're still defending the Earth. You'd be surprised at mum now. She only works part time because of Dominic - my little brother. But she can tell the difference between a Slitheen and a Sycorax, understand half of what we say..."

The Doctor nodded, and Rose could see an 'I'll-believe-that-when-I-see-it' look in his eye. "I'm serious, she's getting real good now."

"Oh, yes, and I believe you."

Rose hit him on the shoulder. "Liar. You shouldn't be so mean. Anyway, we all live together in this big place of Pete's, it's really great."

"So you were at Stonehenge on Torchwood business, yes?"

"Yeah. Got a report that there was a lay-line energy increase, and the agent that had been sent out – Chris – had been lost from contact. Pete sent Mickey and I to find out what was up."

"Chris? Was he the guy with the flag through him?"

Rose nodded, and he pulled a face. "Ah. That was disgusting."

"So we got there, saw the Ardexians, fought…and you know the story from there."

"I do, riiight."

Rose turned to look at him. "So what have you been doing?"

"Oh, you know me. Going wherever I feel like. I was just around. By the way – I probably should've asked this earlier – how long has it been?"

Rose though for a moment. "Almost two years."

The Doctor appeared taken aback. "Really? It's only been about three months for me."

"Yeah, well, time's different in the TARDIS, right? Anyway, how are you here? You said I couldn't ever see you again. You're proving yourself wrong, you know."

"Where do I begin? Ah, ok. So the TARDIS lands on Earth – your original earth – and, as usual, there are reports of this massive ship out by Stonehenge, right? So I go to check it out, like I do, and I find this Ardexian scout cruiser, from one of their battle fleets. I mean, they're brilliant ships, those little cruisers! All sorts of fun things inside…all right, all right, don't look at me like that - I'm getting there. So they want to take over earth, no surprises there. That's all anyone wants to do with you lot. So, they make this portal thingie, form Stonehenge to their mother ship, but what do you know - it ends up here! Before that, though, I had been onboard their ship and programmed in the self-destruct code. It's fantastic how many ships have them. So, their ship's gone, only way to go is forward. Get confused, as this side isn't exactly what they were expecting. Right, so they meet you two, big fight, they die. The rest you know."

"But…that doesn't explain how you got here."

"I…went…through…the...portal..."

"Yes, and I was listening, Doctor. But you said the portal was meant to go to their mother ship or whatever?

"And so I did."

"So…" Rose waited for the Doctor to continue his explanation, but he didn't. He just sat next to her, looking at her expectantly. "So...why did the portal come out here, then?"

"Ah! Now she asks the right questions. The answer…I have no idea." He winked. "Theories, yes, proper answer, no."

"So what do you think?" Rose asked in exasperation. Even theory was better than nothing at all.

"Well, historically, Stonehenge has always had these weird energy signals. That's why so may people think it's mystic – there are all sorts of things running through there – lay lines, fault lines, spatial breaks and anything else you care to name. The fabric of space, and time, and reality had always had a weakness in that area. The only thing I can think of is that somehow the portal matrix fed so deeply into this energy that is reversed the magnetic polarity of the destination, hence causing a break in time space and reality that would not be realised until crossing had already happened."

"So, the particles of the matrix fed into the system and aligned themselves with similar ones unknowingly causing the reverse of the magnetic polarity, and also the ionic signature of the portal. It's a strong, but relatively simple bridge across the Void spanning two dimensions, but is still a rip – just one which won't fracture. The likelihood of it working as smoothly as it did is near none."

The Doctor looked surprised. "You have been doing your homework then." Rose grinned. "Yeah, that's Torchwood for you. You pick stuff up."

"The thing is, it's near impossible for that to happen. As far as I could test, the bridge was stable. It better be, the TARDIS is on the other side."

"Maybe Fortuna was smiling on us?"

The Doctor's face split into a grin. "Maybe she is. Ah, hello Mickey."

Mickey's face (which had appeared around the door) smiled. "I'm not interrupting or anything?"

"Nah," said Rose, getting up. "He was just explaining how he got here."

"Yeah, told me before." Mickey could see Rose's eyes glowing, and she was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet. The Doctor's completely unexpected return had really livened her, and Mickey could understand that. He was no Doctor, but he'd always be there for her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Said Rose, coming over to him, the Doctor following behind. Rose gave Mickey a hug. "Thanks for bringing me here."

"No worries. Now, your mum wants to see you. Pete too, I think."

"Oh, sure."

Rose led the way back to Pete's office. When she stepped inside, she was immediately set upon by Jackie, who grabbed her daughter in a tight hug.

"Oh! You could have died!"

"Mum, you say that every time. I'm fine, honest. A scratch or two. And look what the cat dragged in." She smiled at the Doctor, who had followed her into the office. Mickey was behind him, and closed the door.

"Yeah, I know! Can't believe it, eh?"

Pete, behind his desk, motioned for everyone to sit down. "What's the report?"

"Ardexians. Got a new one to add to the database. Make a special note of the venom on the claws."

"Will do. Now, situation report?"

Rose and Mickey looked at one another – business as usual. Mickey began. "Well, we got to Stonehenge around one thirty. No sign of Chris, or his equipment, no sign of anything. Stonehenge seemed to be all clear."

"The readouts from the equipment all seemed to be regular and approving what the usual scanners had picked up," Rose interjected. "So we made our way to the centre. Once there, a space between the archways glowed red and shadows were visible on the other side."

"We hid, saw them appear. Told them to state name of species and purpose. They did so. Ardexians, coming to conquer our planet. The usual. They fired first, and it turned into as fight. There were only five; they're all dead."

"What about the other side of the portal?" Pete wanted to know.

"Destroyed by our recent reappearing friend," grinned Mickey. "Self-destruct, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "Every ship's got one. Design flaw, in my opinion. Makes it easy to, well, destroy. Or, dissolve, in this case…"

Jackie, who hadn't said a word during the report, now spoke up. "What about the portal? Is it like last time?"

"Well, yeah. Remember the thing with the glass I showed Yvonne, Jackie? Like that, but without the other fractures. It's stable, but it's still a rip in time which will weaken over time if it isn't dealt with. I'll fix it from the other side."

Rose tried to hide her disappointment. "You...you're leaving already?" She was aware that everyone was watching her, but she met the Doctor's eyes with a level stare.

"Yeah. I've got a girl waiting, remember? She's big, and blue, and I'm the only one who knows how to push her buttons."

Rose laughed. "Oh yeah, of course. Where's she parked? Is she safe?"

"Safe as houses. I'd…better get going. The sooner that rip is dealt with, the easier it is to fix." Secretly he knew if he didn't go now, he wasn't ever going to leave her side. He couldn't put her through what he did last time. He had to fade away; now, quickly…you've already said it though. She knows you love her. Leaving will never be easy, not matter how quick it is…

He stood, everyone else following his lead. As he left, he gave Rose a meaningful look. It was her choice; it had been long ago when she came back. Fate had taken them apart, and her life was now different. She might be comfortable here. Who was he to assume she wanted to come with him now?

"Mum, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, sweetheart." Jackie held back while Mickey and Pete both left.

"Mum - "

Jackie shook her head and stopped Rose talking. "I know what you're gonna say. You made that decision long ago, you told me. It was ripped from you, and now the chance has been given back. I won't stop you, Rose. Just promise you'll be careful."

Rose's tears had stared during Jackie talking. "Oh, mum. I love you so much, thank you, thank you."

Jackie hugged her daughter. "He loves you, you know. I can see it when he looks at you. Go on – follow him, love him, live everyday for me – and Pete and Mickey."

"Okay. I can do that."

Jackie followed her daughter out of the office, reflecting on how much everything had changed. Life was so very different now – she'd never dreamed something like this would happen, not even when the Doctor came into their lives. A parallel earth, a parallel Torchwood – and Pete, of course. Jackie knew Rose wanted to go with the Doctor, but also knew she would never see her daughter again.

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Aw, poor Jacks. Anyway, review please, hope it's still okay!