The fire was out by the time they reached Torchwood. There was only the smoke and the strong smell of burnt rubber and plastic still lingering, as well as the hordes of emergency workers still swarming over the site. The Doctor, Rose and Donna stayed back, out of the way, but even from there they could see the lab and most of the building was a total loss. The Doctor stood a little away from Rose and Donna, his shoulders slumped, his mind racing. Gone, all of it, gone. He had been so close, and now he'd have to start all over again, with nothing. It was too much. He turned toward Rose and Donna. "Gone. It's all gone."

Rose and Donna both stepped forward to embrace him. He felt their arms around him, offering solace. Donna suddenly pulled away. "The backup disk - I still have it!" She patted her coat pocket.

He shook his head. "It's all the research, but without the equipment, the tech, it's nearly useless."

Her face fell, but she still looked determined. "We'll think of something." She turned as a figure approached them. "Well, look who's here," she said, her hands on her hips.

Pete Tyler slowed as he approached them. "You did this," the Doctor said accusingly, stepping toward Pete.

Rose put herself between him and Pete. "Just wait, see what he has to say," she said, looking expectantly at Pete.

Pete held up his hands. "Just hear me out for a minute. I know what it looks like, but it wasn't me. We don't have much time, but it's not safe for you here." He looked at the Doctor. "There are people who want to keep you here, with us, because your knowledge is too valuable to lose. I need you to come with me, then it will make sense."

"What do you mean it's not safe?" Rose asked.

"They were willing to destroy all of this - you think they'd stop at hurting any one of you?" Pete said. "Please, just come with me. Then it will all be clear."

"Donna, what do you think?" the Doctor asked. He trusted her judgment more than anyone. He could see her thinking, considering.

"I think we should see what he has to say," she said, "so long as well all stay together."

He looked at Rose. She said, "Together, yeah."

Together. He nodded at Pete. "Alright, show us what you've got."

Pete looked relieved. "There's a car waiting for us just up the street, but we have to hurry."

***

They walked into the warehouse, and Donna gasped. The warehouse was enormous, larger than an airplane hangar, and filled with workbenches and all of the equipment that had been in the lab at Torchwood. She spared only a moment to take those details in, because sitting to one side was unmistakably a spaceship. It hulked there, black and shiny and alien. The Doctor took a few steps toward it, then turned back. "A ship. You have a ship."

Pete nodded. "Yes."

The Doctor looked back at it. "You have a Rexellian exploration ship, and you never said."

Pete nodded. "Well, we didn't know what it was. And it doesn't fly, yet. We think your propulsion system will work with it, with a few adjustments. That's what the lab is for. I want you to get it flying."

"So you can use it? No way," the Doctor said, firmly.

"No, so you can use it," Pete corrected him. "That's why I had everything moved here, in secret. So you could finish it and get away before they find out."

"And who is 'they'?" Donna asked, finding her voice at last.

Pete looked over at her. "Other people in government. Not just Torchwood. They think the Doctor is dangerous but useful, and they want to keep him here."

"Why are you helping him?" Rose asked.

"He doesn't belong here, any more than you do," Pete said. He looked back at the Doctor. "It's not safe for any of you to go home, so you'll have to sleep here. There are some offices on that side that we put some cots in so you can sleep. The place will be guarded to keep others out, not to keep you in, but it's safer if you stay until you get it working."

"What about Mum?" Rose asked.

"I'll tell her that you're safe. She'll understand." He turned to go. "I'll check in to see if you need anything. Good luck."

***
The Doctor was inspecting the inside of the ship when Rose found him. "So, it looks like things just got a lot easier for you," she said.

"That's one way to look at it. Or they got a lot more complicated," he said. "Still, it's a good ship, designed for long voyages, so we'll be comfortable."

"And who's we?"

"You and me and Donna, of course," he said. He hadn't actually talked to her about this yet, had kept putting it off because he was afraid she would say no.

"Just like old times," she said, without smiling. "Sort of, anyway."

"That's what I was thinking, anyway." New old times, anyway.

"It's not the TARDIS," she said.

"No, it's not. And I'm not quite the Doctor, either." He felt the absence of the TARDIS every day, like a missing limb.

"No, you're not," she said. "This was never what I expected."

"Nor me," he said.

"I waited for him. Spent so much time trying to find him."

"I know," he said. "He loved you."

She closed her eyes. "But you don't?"

"I didn't say that. You loved him, though," he said. "But you don't love me."

"I didn't say that, either," she said. "It's hard, because you look like him, sound like him, but aren't him."

"I can't be him. I don't know who I am, but I'm different. I'm a Timelord with a human lifespan. I shouldn't even be here."

"You think I don't know that? That I don't know how trapped and lost you must feel? I felt all that the first time --" she broke off.

"I don't know what you expect of me," he said, finally.

"I don't know, either. I think I should figure that out before I decide whether to go with you," she said, tears in her eyes.

He nodded. He couldn't speak around the lump in his throat.

"I'll just be--" she said. "I'll just be in my room." And she was gone. He stared sightlessly around the empty ship.

***

Donna knocked gently on the door to the office Rose was using as her sleeping quarters. Rose turned a tear-streaked face to her. "Oh, Rose, what is it?" Donna said, moving quickly to sit down next to her.

"It's all wrong," Rose said. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"Like what?"

"Are you going to go with him?" Rose asked.

Donna was surprised by the change in topic. "Well, I haven't decided yet. It's mad, going off in a spaceship to who knows where. But, yes, I probably will. It would be such an adventure. Will you go?"

Rose shook her head. "He's not who I thought he was. He's not my Doctor, he's different."

Donna put her arm around Rose. "Yes, I imagine he is different. I didn't know the other Doctor, so I can't compare."

"I waited so long, worked so hard to get him back." Rose wiped her hand over her eyes. "He's never coming back."

Donna squeezed her shoulders. "No, he's not."

Rose sobbed. "It's so unfair."

"Yes, it is," Donna agreed. "The question is, what are you going to do about it? Stay here and wait for your Doctor, or try for a different future." She hugged her again, then stood up. "You know what to do." She closed the door softly behind her, and went to find the Doctor. She found him still on the ship.

"You made Rose cry," she said, accusingly. He turned to her, and she thought she could see evidence of tears on his face as well. "Oi, you two. If it's going to be like this all the time, I'll just stay here."

"Don't say that."

"Sorry," she said. "What happened?"

"This isn't what I expected."

"Life hardly ever is. What exactly, though."

He looked at her with such intensity. "He - the other Doctor - loved Rose."

"Yes, and she loved him," Donna said.

"He loved Donna, too. He thought Rose was gone, lost forever. And he let himself fall for her, the other Donna."

Donna nodded. She had guessed as much. "I'm not her. And you aren't him."

"Yeah."

"That's alright, though, isn't it? Can we be just us, best mates, and see what the future holds? For you, for me, and for Rose?"

He smiled. "What would I do without you?"

"Hopefully you won't have to find out," she said. "So, you and me and Rose, travelling across the universe."

He shook his head. "I really don't think she's going to go with us," he said.

"Hmmm, we'll see about that."

"No, I really don't think she will. I can't be what she wants me to be."

"You underestimate her. She's adjusting, just as you are. Happy endings only happen in fairy stories. The rest of us are stuck with real life."

"You are so wise," he said, with a grin.

"Don't you forget it," she answered. "Now, about this ship. Give me the quick tour so I can start drawing up a list of what we need while you get the motor running."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, with a salute. "This is the galley, and in here are the quarters and the storeroom. This is all of the scientific equipment."

***
The Doctor looked up from the instrument panel into the expectant faces of Rose and Donna. "It's working," he said, a grin spreading across his face.

"We can leave?" Donna asked.

"Yes, we can," he replied.

"I'll call Pete," Donna said, dashing out.

He turned to Rose, taking her hand. "Well?"

"You've got Donna. Maybe you don't need me," she said.

"That's not true. We make a great team, the three of us," he said.

"I'll miss little Tony," she said.

His smile faded. "Yeah. We can come visit."

"Sure."

"So, will you come?"

"We'll be starting over, you know."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"No expectations. A fresh start."

"Yeah." He held his breath, hardly dared to hope.

"Alright then," she said, squeezing his hand.

Donna appeared in the doorway. "So, all of us, ready to go?"

He looked at Rose, who finally smiled. "Yeah, all of us, together," she said.

He hugged them both. "Off into the universe! Allons-y!"