Ok, so I decided to put up the final chapter in two parts, because it was way too long, and this is easier for me. Here's the first part.
Chapter 6: One Friend Is Lost, An Old Friend Found
Within a few hours, the Doctor had looked through the entire shoebox twice, and had grown bored of waiting around in his room. He crept up to the door and poked his head outside, and hearing Martha's steady breathing next door, slid open the door and sneaked out. He tip-toed along the corridor with the faint sense that the TARDIS was laughing at him, and was sat at his desk in the hub within the next few minutes. Sighing, and relaxed, he picked up the book he had been dragged away from, and began to read. After a few paragraphs, the doctor realised that this was not what he had been reading before. He frowned, picking up the book to inspect it. No, it had definitely turned over about three pages from where the Doctor had left it, face down, on the table. He spun around, getting the feeling someone was watching him. Smiling slightly, he sighed. There was no one there. He was just being paranoid, thank goodness.
He turned back to the book and was about to flick the page back when he heard the squeaking of a chair behind him. He spun around again.
"You don't want to do that." Toshiko suggested, looking around the side of the computer screen at the Doctor. She sat back upright and the Doctor walked over to where she was sat at the computer.
"I found something in that book of yours." she answered to the Doctor's unasked question. "It was about collecting and storing power. So I looked it up in UNIT's files - you were right, they really lack security there - and found… this. The chair works fine, it just needs more power to be able to work across dimensions so big." She tapped a button and a website appeared on the screen. Adjusting the screen so he could read the writing, the Doctor slid on his glasses with anticipation. Upon reading the page, he looked at Toshiko.
"And could we do this?" he asked her, doubtful. She nodded slowly.
"I think so… yeah, I don't see why not." She smiled, and the Doctor's face lit up.
"But, that's brilliant!" he cried, jumping on the spot. "One hundred percent fantastic!" He kissed Toshiko on the forehead with joy, lifting her up off the ground in the process, and ran back to the desk to pick up the book.
"Amazing! Completely brilliant!" he laughed madly and grinned with so much energy, he began to wonder whether he actually had fallen asleep after all. Toshiko grinned amusedly in return, and, in a state of dazed bliss, the Doctor threw the book on the computer desk almost carelessly.
"Right, what have we got to -"
"What's going on?" Martha cut him off cautiously, approaching the two. "I thought you said you were going to rest?" she raised her eyebrows to the Doctor, but he laughed and bounded over to her.
"Oh, but it's all good now!" he cried, spinning her around with glee. "It's going to be fine, Martha! Everything's going back to how it should be!" Martha smiled with faked happiness for the Doctor, and feigned laughter as he spun her around in the middle of the room. A lump rose in her throat as he released her and jumped back down to the computer. She walked over to the pair slowly, her faked smile fading away into a sad frown.
She'd never thought to ask what would happen to her if the Doctor got Rose back. She sat down on a stool subconsciously, just registering the voices of the Doctor and Toshiko in the background. He wouldn't want her around when he got Rose back, and she guessed that Rose wouldn't be too pleased with her staying either. But she didn't want to get kicked out. No, she still had her dignity. She'd tell the Doctor she was going to leave; after all, this was supposed to be her one last trip. Now she just needed to find the right moment to tell him.
- - - - - - -
The 'right moment' didn't seem to want to be found; all morning, as the Torchwood team filtered in one after the other, the Doctor grew excessively happier, and Martha couldn't bring herself to do it. Seeing him like this, it reminded her of his expressions in the box of photos, in his room, and she loved seeing him so happy, even if it was because of Rose.
There was no researching or reading today, except for reading out instructions to Toshiko and the Doctor about how to make the energy capsule, which took almost the entire day to complete. This was mostly due to how complicated it was, but also because of the Doctor being so ecstatic with cheerfulness that he could barely work for an hour without losing concentration.
The Doctor and Toshiko worked away at the device for the whole morning, barely talking, other than when they stopped for a break. Owen was in charge of reading out the instructions to them, a job which Toshiko nearly stripped him of when he read the wrong line, causing them to spend forty minutes attaching a screw that they then had to spend twenty minutes removing. Ianto would occasionally bring over some coffee, which was soon forbidden near the working area, after a near explosion when the tiniest drop dripped onto a bare wire. Gwen preoccupied herself with something on the computer, often wandering over to see how they were getting on, and Jack and Martha wandered around the workbench or watched from the side, as the Doctor and Toshiko worked away endlessly.
Jack seemed to have brightened up as well at the good news; in fact, everyone seemed to be a lot happier now that the Doctor's spirits were back up, and even Martha managed to laugh along with Jack's crazy stories and Owen's strangely comical, albeit very rude, alien jokes.
The newly formed pair of the Doctor and Toshiko toiled away in the hub for hours, fiddling with screws, attaching pieces of metal and soldering wire to the minuscule machine, that would soon be holding enough power to allow the Doctor to reach an alternate dimension. After they stopped for a brief lunch, the Doctor had calmed down slightly, which made the progress in the afternoon a little faster, and the team had finished by nightfall.
When at last, the capsule was completed, the Doctor bounded around the room with such energy that Jack burst into laughter as he rushed around the room, shaking everyone's hand and thanking them for their help. Even when Owen frowned at him sceptically, saying "We don't even know if it'll work yet!", the Doctor wasn't fazed. He simply grinned insanely at him, and replied with a jubilant "Oh, but can't you just feel it? Everything is going to be fine!"
- - - - - - -
"So, what's the plan now?" Jack asked, as everyone took their seats around the huge table in the main office. Boxes of Chinese food were passed around the desk as everyone turned to the Doctor.
"Well," he began, leaning across the table so he could see everyone. "Now that we've got the power capsule, I'll link it to the chair, and that way I'll be able to fully transport myself there and back. It means that I'll literally be in another place; I'll be physically disconnected from the chair; the only way I can get back is telepathically."
Gwen frowned. "Well, isn't that dangerous?" she asked, and the Doctor breathed out slowly.
"Yeah. It is. But I trained myself to do it when I used it before, as an image, so it should be fine."
"Should?" Martha asked worriedly.
"Well, there is a small chance that I could be stuck there -"
"What?" Martha interrupted, dumbstruck.
"A very small chance. An extremely tiny, little chance." the Doctor clarified, though not sounding completely certain.
Martha, though not convinced, didn't reply, and listened to the rest of the Doctor's theory.
"So, I'll transport myself to the parallel world, find Rose, and use…" the Doctor fiddled around in his pockets, the entire room hanging onto his every word, and at last, his hand re-emerged, clasping a large metal disc with a slightly unclean look to it. It was hanging on a long piece of string and there was a yellow circle in the middle of the disc. "…this." he finished, presenting the object to the group with pride. Everyone moved in to examine the item, but Ianto frowned and leaned back.
"But that's…" he began, squinting in confusion. "I've heard of them." he clarified. "At Torchwood One, in London, after the Battle of Canary Wharf. People were talking about those things."
"You worked for Torchwood One?" the Doctor asked coldly.
"Well, yeah. But I had nothing to do with the Cybermen. Or the Daleks." Ianto insisted. The Doctor stared at him for a second, then turned back to the object.
"Although I can use the chair to get back telepathically, Rose isn't linked to it. Now that we've got enough power for me to become an actual being in her universe, I'll give her this, and by making physical and telepathical contact, wherever the gap in the void that I'm getting through happens to be, Rose will be able to use, to come back with me."
"And, sorry, what's this void thing?" Owen asked, examining the metal button.
"Well, the two universes, this one and Rose's, are separated by the void. It's nothing; there's nothing out there. Some people call it hell. And at Torchwood One, they were opening the void; allowing the Cybermen to pass through from the parallel world, and allowing the Daleks to appear out of the void. When the chair is in use, a sort of, hole is created, in the void. It's only temporary, and it's so small that it doesn't have an affect on time itself, but if I can form a telepathic link with both the chair and with Rose, she can get back here when I transport back."
"And since when are you telepathic?" Owen asked, doubting the theory.
"Since always." the Doctor replied shortly.
"And we've definitely got enough power for you to become a physical being there?" Gwen asked, making sure the plan would work. The Doctor and Toshiko nodded.
"Definitely." Toshiko confirmed. "As long as we can link it to the chair, the power can be used however we need to."
Seeing that there were no more questions, Jack stood up at the end of the table. "Right, well then I think that's pretty much it." he informed the group. "I think we should all get a good night's sleep, ready for tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day, and I think you two are especially wiped out after all that work." he inclined his head towards Toshiko and the Doctor; although Toshiko looked pretty much exhausted, the Doctor was still smiling as madly as he had done all day.
As everyone slid their chairs under the table and filed out of the room, the Doctor waited until it was almost empty and touched Toshiko's arm gently, and she turned to look at him.
"Thank you." he said simply, and Toshiko's smiled happily. The Doctor's face broke into a grateful smile in return, and Toshiko felt that, with that one smile, each hour of sleep lost was completely worth it. When he walked out of the office last, Martha was waiting for him outside the door.
"Doctor, I've been thinking," she began, and the Doctor frowned. "I'm going home." The Doctor raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"Right…" he said, and she swallowed.
"When you've got Rose back, I mean. I'll help you, but I don't think I should hang around afterwards, and this was just supposed to be one trip and then home anyway, so I guess I'd be going home afterwards anyway, but I just -"
"Martha." the Doctor interrupted. "It's fine. I understand. And thank you; for everything." He pulled Martha into a hug, and she tried to be happy for him, promising herself that this wasn't the end.
- - - - - - -
The Doctor checked his watch for the fifth time that minute and sighed in frustration. He could be out there right now, getting back Rose, but oh no, these stupid humans needed more sleep. He sighed in annoyance and checked his watch yet again. It read 5:52 am. Jack said that they would meet at the hub at seven. The Doctor frowned. There was no way he'd be able to lie there doing nothing for another hour. Sighing for one last time, he pushed himself up off the bed and walked out the door quietly.
Careful not to wake Martha, he crept past her bedroom silently and only breathed when he was sure she could no longer hear him. He climbed the staircase leisurely up one floor and stopped at a dimly lit hallway holding two doors. He breathed out slowly and walked towards the door at the far end of the corridor. He past the first room and smiled in recognition of his old bedroom, but did not alter his path, and carried on to the second door. A sign hung from the handle, like his own bedroom door did, downstairs, except this door was pink, and the sign read "Rose". Pushing the door ajar slightly, he walked in as softly as a mouse, not wanting to disturb the contents of the room. Nothing had changed since Rose was last in the room; when he had lost her, he had sworn never to change it, and as a result, this corridor had become unused and abandoned.
He pushed the door closed behind him and walked over to her bed gently, avoiding the clothes that were scattered over the floor messily. He inched around the room with care, examining all the little things around the place that made it Rose's: the messy-yet-cosy feel, and how everything appeared to be placed precisely in the right place, though it still managed to look like a bomb had just gone off. A Polaroid picture, covered in fingerprints and smudges where it had been handled so often, was lying on her desk, of the Doctor and Rose, smiling happily together.
"I'm coming to get you, my beloved Rose."
What seemed like moments later, he heard his name being called out distantly. His head snapped around immediately, and he headed out the door to the direction of the voice. He shut the door carefully and ran down the hall and staircase urgently. Jack and Martha were in the console room, and both their heads turned as the Doctor entered the room beaming.
"What time is it?" he asked, almost breathlessly.
"7:15." Jack replied, and the Doctor smiled. "Everyone's already here, we thought you'd gotten lost." he added, grinning, but the Doctor wasn't listening. He bounded over to the pair and led them outside joyfully. Grinning insanely, he rushed over to the Torchwood team, who had congregated outside the TARDIS. His dazed expression set off everyone smiling, except Owen, it seemed, who didn't seem to care much about the project.
"Here we go." Jack said simply, but the effect it caused was tremendous. The entire room seemed to light up with anticipation, and after a second of silence, the Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS and allowed everyone through. He went in last, after a good luck smile from Martha, and taking her hand, he ran around to the front of the group, leading them up the stairs to the room. As the Torchwood team ascended the stairs for the second time, there was once again silence, penetrated only by the TARDIS' excited vibrations rattling throughout the machine with joy that only the Doctor seemed able of sharing.
The Doctor took a deep breath as he pushed down the handle of the door and threw it open. His energetic air seemed to have vanished suddenly, leaving him feeling nervous and uneasy. Switching on the almost useless light, everyone gathered around the chair in a semi-circle. The light, though dim, seemed to give off a warm, comforting glow, and seemed to hover in just the right place to cause a dull spotlight to fall on the chair.
"I guess this is it." the Doctor whispered, almost inaudibly. "Oh, that," He pointed out the small monitor to the side of the chair. "Is a heart monitor. The plugs will track me even once I've left the chair, and so this will still show my vitals, just in case."
"But surely, once you travel to the other universe, you won't be connected anymore?" Torchiko frowned.
The Doctor shook his head. "It's... complicated." he said impatiently. "Don't worry, it'l be fine." Gwen inched forwards and held out her hand to the Doctor.
"This… this is for you." she said slowly, holding out a small earpiece. "I thought you should have a way to communicate with us, and Owen suggested one of these." the Doctor saw that she was holding out a mobile phone earpiece. "We asked Toshiko to look it up, and she said she might be able to make it work, so we got Ianto to buy one off the internet. Don't know if it'll work, but…" she faded off, placing the earpiece in the Doctor's hand. He examined it under the dim light, and smiled gratefully.
"Thank you." he said, to Gwen, Owen, Ianto and Toshiko. "How does it work?" he added softly.
"It's been manipulated to make it compatible with the chair." Toshiko informed him, as she walked over to the side of the chair and picked up a small radio microphone attached to the arm rest.
"This is for us to talk to you with, and that earpiece means that you can, effectively, channel your speech through the void to reach us, by pressing on the earpiece gently whilst talking - It's touch sensitive. Martha connected it to the chair for us." she added at the Doctor's slightly quizzical look.
"This… this is brilliant. Thank you." the Doctor breathed steadily, preparing himself as he lowered himself into the chair. Martha walked to his side immediately, attaching wires to his head, chest and hands, as the Torchwood group watched in silence.
"Ready?" she asked, when all the wires were attached. The Doctor inserted the earpiece into his ear and smiled reassuringly. "Ready." he replied simply.
Toshiko rushed to the side of the machine behind the chair and fiddled with the wires for a few seconds. She reappeared holding the energy capsule, and smiled at the Doctor.
"Ready." she added, and Gwen took her place by the radio.
"Ready." She repeated the words. Ianto crossed his fingers discreetly, and Martha backed away from the machine slowly.
"Oh!" the Doctor said suddenly, and reached inside his pocket and pulled out a pair of 3D Glasses. "You'll need these." he held them out to Martha, who frowned. "Put them on." he explained. "If you see anything strange, like little multicoloured dots appearing around the chair, I want you to pull me back. That's void… stuff, background radiation, and it means something's gone wrong. No exceptions; even if I've just said I've found her, you need to pull me back."
"And… how do we do that?" Owen asked.
"This lever." the Doctor pointed to a red lever on the arm rest of the chair. "Martha knows what to do." Martha nodded.
"Right." the Doctor said firmly. "I'm ready."
"Ready." Toshiko and Gwen repeated.
"Ready." Martha added, slipping the 3D Glasses on.
"Then let's go." the Doctor ordered, and, holding her breath, Toshiko pulled down the lever on the capsule controls.
"Full power activated." she informed the group.
"Wish me luck." the Doctor told everyone, and with that, he closed his eyes, and faded away into nothing, with the cables dropping slowly to the ground.
- - - - - - -
The Doctor groaned as he rolled over onto his side, getting a mouthful of grit as he did so. He reached out to the side of a bin and his hand made contact. He grinned; he wasn't an image! Pushing himself up onto his feet with force, he clutched his head in his hands as pain seared through his mind. He looked around agitatedly at his surroundings and found that he was in the middle of a large estate, and with a quick, longing glance up at the sky, he saw that it was filled with zeppelins. The sun was in the sky, and it looked about midday.
All around him, he could see flats and blocks of offices and apartments, and he prayed that he was in London. He had imagined the Powell Estate, as he didn't know where else to begin is search, and from what he could see, that was where he had ended up. Just to be sure, however, he ignored the stabbing pain in his mind and blundered over to a woman who had just walked round the corner.
"Excuse me!" he stepped in front of the lady and she stopped abruptly. "Is this the Powell Estate?" The lady looked surprised, and nodded slowly.
"You alright?" she asked, grabbing his arm, since he looked as if he was about to collapse.
"Yeah, yeah, just a migraine. It'll pass." the Doctor insisted. "Thanks. Look, I know this is going to sound weird, but could you tell me the date?"
The lady frowned, but the Doctor needed to be sure, as he had once turned up ten years before he and Rose were due to appear there for the first time.
"It's the twentieth of January." she replied cautiously. "You sure you're alright?"
The Doctor nodded quickly, the effects of the migraine wearing off slightly. "What year?"
The woman laughed. "One hell of a night, was it? 2008, love!" she smiled, and walked off past the Doctor, now that he was obviously fine.
The Doctor rubbed his forehead irately and walked quickly towards the woman, touching her arm gently.
"Can you tell me where I am?" he asked her urgently.
"You're on the Powell Estate." she stated slowly, as if talking to a child.
She paused as he let out a sigh of relief, then continued to walk past him.
"Think…" the Doctor told himself quietly. "Where would Rose be?"
He remembered that she worked for Torchwood. She said…
'The Torchwood on this planet's open for business. Think I know a thing or two about aliens.'
Torchwood One. Set up in London. The Torchwood Tower at Canary Wharf.
"Taxi!" he called to a passing taxi driver, who ignored him. Whistling loudly, he ran over to the road, and the taxi pulled over a few metres down the curb. The doctor ran up to it and jumped in, yelling out "Canary Wharf!" as he fiddled around in his pockets for any kinds of money.
"Please be there, please be there…" he pleaded to himself. He pulled out a fistful of banknotes from his inside pocket and sighed with relief. Glancing around agitatedly, he looked around for signs of the Torchwood Tower.
The journey seemed to be taking an age, with the Doctor complaining quietly about how much easier things were with the TARDIS. Suddenly a voice sounded in his ear and he almost jumped out of his skin.
"Hello? Doctor, can you hear me?" came Martha's loud but muffled voice through the earpiece.
"Ow, yeah, do you mind not yelling though?" he muttered, so the taxi driver wouldn't hear, as he reached up and touched the earpiece softly. Thankfully, he made no response, but the Doctor turned away, just to be sure.
"I ended up at the Powell Estate, but she wouldn't be living there on this planet. I'm on my way to Torchwood One, in London."
"But… wasn't that destroyed?" Martha asked over the background noise.
"No. On our Earth, it was shut down, but here, it's still running. She said she worked here, last time I spoke to her."
"Wait, what? I thought you'd never found her before?"
"I haven't. But, before I met you, there was one tiny little gap in the void, and I used that to speak to her. It closed up after two minutes though."
"Oh." Martha said simply, registering this information. "Okay, well, everything seems fine here; keep us updated if anything happens down your end."
"Okay." the Doctor replied firmly, and glanced outside to check where he was.
When he finally arrived at the Torchwood Tower, the Doctor thrust the money into the driver's hands and jumped out, not caring if it was too much or too little. The driver obviously thought it was fine, as he drove off almost immediately, and left the Doctor standing on the curb in front of the Tower.
"I'm here." he said quietly, touching the earpiece, but no one replied, and the Doctor made his way up to the tower, praying and pleading to anyone above that Rose would be there.
- - - - - - -
The room was in silence. Toshiko was checking on the energy capsule, occasionally reporting that they had enough energy, and Gwen and Martha had switched stations, with Gwen monitoring the levels of "void stuff" and Martha holding the radio speaker up to her face, ready for any communication from the Doctor. Owen was slumped up against a wall, with Ianto sat on the floor behind him, and Jack was leaning against another wall, staring at the ceiling.
"Jack?" Owen suddenly asked, making Ianto jump slightly. "How come those three get to do everything?"
The three girls turned to face him simultaneously.
"Because no one else here knows how to rewire or reboot an energy capsule in moments of crisis." Toshiko answered first.
"And because I know how to work the chair and what the Doctor will be talking about." added Martha.
"And because… well, just because." Gwen added lamely, and Owen smirked.
"Fine." Owen put his hands up defeatedly, and there was a moment of silence, before,
"How long is this going to take though?" Owen asked, and there were sighs and groans throughout the room.
"We don't know. If you're going to moan the entire time -" Martha began.
"Alright! I'll shut it." Owen interrupted, and slid down the wall to sit on the floor with Ianto.
- - - - - - -
Looking around edgily, the Doctor zapped the door with the sonic screwdriver and crept in secretly. Glancing around for any security, he spotted one guard standing in front of the only door, a little way down the corridor. He started walking towards the armed man, his mind working furiously, and as he reached the guard, he held out his psychic paper confidently and said "Health and safety, mind if I go on through?"
The man stared at the paper for a few seconds with no expression, then moved aside to let the Doctor through. As he stepped forward, the man grabbed his arm and pushed him up against a wall.
"Nice try." he smirked, holding the Doctor up against the wall. "All Torchwood staff have psychic training, basic level at least."
The Doctor closed his eyes, silently cursing himself for being so naïve. The guard was talking on his radio to the higher authorities, informing them about the intruder. He got a reply, and led the Doctor down the corridor and round the corner, with his gun pointing at his back.
The Doctor was led through many corridors and staircases, almost all of which were empty, until the two reached a large metal door with a fingerprint sensor by the side.
He reached up and pressed his finger against the sensor, and the door slid open with a low grinding noise.
A tall, broad shouldered man stood behind a desk a few metres from the door, also carrying a gun. He looked up with interest as the two people walked in, and the guard released the Doctor's arm, pushing him forwards with the gun. He walked forwards slowly with no expression on his face, and the man walked round the desk to speak to him.
"So. Psychic paper?" he asked, clearly amused. "Mind if I ask your name?"
"The Doctor." the Doctor replied, still with no expression. The man's face changed completely, his brow furrowed into a frown and his shoulders dropped. He said no more, but turned and walked away from the Doctor to a small office with glass walls, in the corner of the room. The inside of the office was obscured by plants and filing cabinets, but the Doctor could make out a figure walking around the desk. The man knocked on the door once, and it was opened by the unknown figure inside. Quiet words were exchanged, and the figure retreated into the room. A moment later, the door opened and the figure began walking towards the Doctor quickly. The Doctor smiled at instant recognition of the man, who stopped metres before him to ensure he was seeing the truth.
"Doctor?" he asked quietly, and the Doctor nodded.
"Pete." he acknowledged, and the man's face broke into a smile.
"Nice to see you again." the Doctor moved forward to shake Pete's hand, and Pete laughed disbelievingly.
"But - you said…" he said as he took the Doctor's hand. "You said there was no way back."
The Doctor hung his head. "Yeah. But I found one! A way back, I mean." He smiled, but Pete didn't reciprocate it.
"You broke her heart." he said simply, and the Doctor felt tears form in his eyes.
"Speaking of whom…" he began softly, prompting Pete.
"I've just called her up. She doesn't know you're here, I just said I needed her for something. She should be a few minutes, mind."
"You're still with Jackie?" the Doctor asked after a pause.
"Yep." he replied, smiling slightly now.
"I heard about the baby." the Doctor was now smiling too, and Pete replied with a nod and a grin.
The two men waited quietly for a second before the door at the very end of the room burst open and Jackie walked through.
"Pete?" she called, oblivious to the Doctor standing in front of the man. "Pete? You ready to go?" She rushed over to Pete, still not noticing the Doctor, until Pete chuckled and inclined his head towards him. Jackie turned her head, then did a double-take as she recognised the man.
"You!" she cried, walking over to the Doctor, who flinched as Jackie's hand raised into the air. Jackie didn't slap him, for which the Doctor was thankful, but instead froze on the spot before raising her hands over her mouth in shock. "But… it's you!" she repeated, lowering her hands, and the Doctor smiled.
"Yes it is." he replied with mild amusement, and with no warning, Jackie pulled him into an unsuspected hug, causing him to almost topple over at the sheer surprise of the event. When the Doctor was finally released, Jackie took a step back to regain her composure, before she inevitably lifted her hand and slapped the Doctor's cheek, frowning.
"Five and a half hours, she waited on that beach!" she began to rant, her outburst of joy being cast aside. "Five and a half hours, crying, and saying you'd come back for her!" The Doctor hung his head and Jackie stopped speaking immediately, though the Doctor kept facing the floor, needing a moment to recover. Her reason for silencing became clear to everyone but the Doctor. The doors had swung open again. And a second figure had entered the room.
Who is it?! Actually, if you don't know that already, you must have skipped about 5 chapters. Review please! I'm halfway through writing chapter 7, so it should be up sometime this week or next weekend. (And it actually is the last chapter this time.) Sorry that the actual meeting wasn't in this chapter, but it's coming up.