"But that's impossible."
Martha bent down and picked up the receiver, "Apparently not." She held out the receiver for The Doctor again, "She's here, on the phone. I was just speaking to her."
The Doctor cautiously took the phone from her hand, and raised it to his ear, "Hello?"
Martha looked up at him, worriedly. What would this mean? If Rose could phone the TARDIS, would there be a way to pick her up? Just as Martha was getting settled with the life that The Doctor leads.
Rose's heart jumped as she heard his voice again, her breath quickened. "Hi,"
The Doctor was shocked, and his jaw dropped as soon as he heard her voice on the other line. He looked down at Martha again, as if for confirmation that it was happening.
Martha stifled a laugh, his face was a picture. "Told you so," She said quietly, and decided to leave them to it. She walked around the console, not keeping her eyes off the Doctor and then back through the doors. She needed to check her Myspace anyway.
The Doctor heard the swaying of the doors behind him, and knowing Martha had left, he could talk and see if this was really Rose on the other line.
"Rose?" She questioned.
"Yeah," She answered on the other side of the line.
"How is this happening?" The Doctor asked, "What are you using to call here? By all the rights of science the universe should have been ripped in half."
Rose's heart was beating fast, "My phone. The one you supered up. I don't know, it just got signal when I turned it on. I haven't done anything different."
The Doctor spun on his heels to look at the central console, "It must be the TARDIS then," He murmured and bent down to look at the monitor, "Where are we?" He asked, and placed the phone between his ear and his shoulder, using his hands to fish out his glasses. Putting them on, he screw his face up with confusion.
"Doctor…" Rose said on the other side of the line. Although incredibly happy to speak to him once more, he wasn't half annoying when he spoke technical babble.
"We are circling round a burnt supernova, which means there is more energy then usual in the atmosphere…but that can't be enough." He went on.
"Doctor," Rose repeated, a little more infuriated.
"There's something else." He said, playing with the buttons on the console.
"Doctor!" Rose almost shouted down the phone.
He stood upright immediately in shock, "Yes Rose?"
Rose, glad he got his attention, looked at her diary open at her desk, "Do you know what day it is for me?"
The Doctor was confused, "Could I take a guess?"
Rose rolled her eyes, "No, I hate guessing and any guessing games." She replied back, "Today is the tenth of July." Rose paused, "It's been a year since we said goodbye."
That stopped the Doctor. He went still and rigid. "A…a year?"
Rose nodded, "Yeah, a year."
There was a gap in the conversation.
"Happy Anniversary," Rose added, forcefully cheerfully, as an afterthought.
The Doctor had to swallow again, and he leant back on the TARDIS console, "Rose, I'm sorry."
Rose smiled, "Nah, don't be." She felt all her emotions converting to sympathy for The Doctor, "I've made a life of my own here now. I'm the boss of about sixty people here at Torchwood Tower. I have a set of loving parents, Mickey and my new little brother, Jack. What more could a average girl want."
The Doctor smiled, "Was that your idea, Jack?"
"Course." Rose replied, "And Martha is a nice girl." She commented, "I like her."
"Yeah, she's definitely something." The Doctor remarked about his latest companion.
"Doctor?" Rose inquired, and the Doctor listened up. "You know a year ago, at Bad Wolf Bay?"
"Yeah," The Doctor replied, knowing what was coming next.
Rose breathed, "You disappeared, right before you…right before -,"
The Doctor cut across her, "Right before I had a chance to say what I wanted."
His hearts were thumping hard now; he now had the chance to say what he most wanted to say.
Rose sat up in her chair, the phone pressed hard against her ear. The feeling of nervousness and anxiety overwhelming her. "And what were you going to say?"
The Doctor breathed deep, "That I love you." He finally got it out, after so many hours dwelling on the feeling; "My only regret about you and me travelling in the TARDIS together was not saying it earlier."
Rose smiled from ear to ear on the other side on the connection, "I love you too. You know that right?"
The Doctor felt a sense of relief, "I know,"
Rose jumped in, "And I wouldn't have missed the time we spent together for the world."
The Doctor let out a chuckle, "I know,"
Rose grinned, and so did The Doctor. It was if they knew and could sit there for hours upon end, smiling.
After a moment, the Doctor stood and looked at the console monitor once more. "But how are we talking? How are our phones connected?" The Doctor mused, "Is anything happening, the shaking walls? Ceilings falling down? The earth's crust cracking?"
Rose looked around, her office was quiet and still. She even peeked out the window, but just saw the busy Londoners walk past, their own problems and lives in their heads. "Nope, nothing like that."
"Right…" The Doctor replied, "So the world's aren't collapsing." He pondered over the monitor again, "Circling a supernova…circling a supernova…" He muttered, and then it dawned on him, realisation spreading across his face, "Oh that's it!"
"What?" Rose questioned, her eyes widening.
"You're phone, the date, where we are! It all makes perfect sense!" The Doctor recalled down the phone, "I don't see why I got it earlier."
"What, Doctor?" Rose asked again, "You always just say stuff that doesn't make sense!"
The Doctor sat down on his battered chair which he loved so much, "Don't you see, the phone is connected to the TARDIS, the TARDIS realised that it was a year ago in your time that we last saw each other so giving the phone signal and than picked the same star that I burnt up to say good bye, which leaves residual energy connected to your world, to circle!" The Doctor explained, "It's her, it's the TARDIS. She did this, not me or you."
"So this could happen again?" Rose asked eagerly.
The Doctor's expression changed, "Maybe not," He replied, somewhat sullenly, "It must take phenomenal energy to power this conversation. It might be every couple month months to 'recharge'," The Doctor sighed, "Even years."
Rose swallowed, "God it's like Pirates of the Caribbean, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom can only see each other once every ten years, or he'll die."
The Doctor laughed, "Trust you to bring in a bad film analogy."
"Oy!" Rose replied, "So when will be able to talk again?"
The Doctor paused, "I don't know, the TARDIS will tell us when it's time. And even then it could cut off at any-,"
The line went dead.
Rose sat bolt upright, "Doctor?" She called down the phone, "Doctor?" She repeated more frantically. She looked at the screen of the mobile. It said 'CALL ENDED'
The Doctor was not surprised that the line went. He stood up and placed the receiver back onto the console, a sullen look drawn on his face. He looked up at the central column the contained the Time Vortex and with his hand stroked it, "Thanks," He muttered.
The Doctor breathed slowly and pulled up the handbrake, allowing the TARDIS to fly around needlessly, and end up anywhere.
--END--