Rose looked at the dark blue door of her house with expectant eyes.
"We're finally home," she said with a sigh of relief. She kept insisting that she was fine, but the Doctor knew that the flight from Athens had taken a toll on her. He draped an arm around her waist, surreptitiously supporting her.
"Want to go in?" he asked.
Rose tilted her head to one side.
"It feels like so long since we were here. I want to take it all in."
The Doctor frowned. It wasn't exactly good for Rose to be standing outside in the cold, with soft flakes falling around them and their breath coming out in puffs. He let her stand there for a minute longer, and the dug the keys out of his pocket.
"Come on, you can admire from inside. Our house has an inside too, remember?"
Rose rolled her eyes.
"Yes, thank you for that."
But she didn't argue when the Doctor gently shepherded her through the open door into the hallway. Leaving Rose to take off her coat, the Doctor went back to the car and began unloading their luggage. Jammed in the back seat of the car was Rose's wheelchair. The Doctor shot it a smug look. Rose had decided that she had had quite enough of being an invalid, and didn't need it any more.
After all, the gunshot wound had healed nicely, and unless she did something to start the internal bleeding again, she should be totally fine. The Doctor didn't have any medical degrees attached to his title, but he had seen enough wounds on enough companions over the years that he knew how long they took to heal. The month in Greece had done her good. She had even managed to get a bit of a tan.
The Doctor returned to the house, loaded down with luggage, to find Rose in the living room, looking contemplatively at the Christmas tree. They had just left it after the disastrous Christmas Eve party, and it hadn't been taken down yet.
"Rose?" he asked, slipping his arms around her from behind.
Rose smiled, and leaned back.
"Hey."
"What're you thinking about?" the Doctor asked.
Rose didn't take her eyes off the brightly lit tree, with the presents still sitting under it.
"I was thinking that we missed Christmas," she replied.
The Doctor winced. He hadn't missed Christmas. He had just been in a hospital room, holding onto his unconscious wife's hand and hoping against hope that she would open her eyes again.
"I forgot," he said softly. "You love Christmas."
Rose nodded, a smile hovering on her lips.
"And I missed it this year. You think anyone would be mad if we made it up?"
"A make up Christmas?" the Doctor asked, turning Rose in his arms so that he could look at her.
She smiled.
"Sure. You know, invite my family over and open presents and eat turkey."
The Doctor could see the pleading in her eyes. She really wanted this. He felt a smile break over his face.
"Of course we can have Christmas!" he said. "But only if there's no adventures this time round. No shootings, or alien invasions, or brides coming out of nowhere, or ghosts and famous literary figures. Deal?"
Rose laughed.
"Deal."
-------
"Oh come on, that ref has got to be blind!" Pete yelled at the TV.
From the doorway to the kitchen, Rose smirked.
"Does he always do that?" she asked.
"Yes," Jackie replied, drying her hands on a towel. The mountain of dishes was only just finished. Jackie had offered her private chef and housekeeping staff for the occasion, but Rose had refused. It was more like old times, when there was just Rose and Mum, and they had to do everything themselves.
"Who's winning?" Rose asked the Doctor.
From his vantage point on the floor, the Doctor shrugged, and rolled the ball back to Tony. Tony squealed in delight as he caught it, and rolled it back.
"How'm I supposed to keep up with a football match? I always get the rules confused with Lucidian hopball, which is strikingly similar. In fact…" his speech was cut off by Tony's ball, which bounced straight into his face.
Rose chuckled.
"Try not to let my two year old brother beat you up, Doctor."
The Doctor scowled at her.
Jackie gently touched Rose's arm to get her attention.
"That was a great turkey, Rose."
"I'm just lucky ours was still in the freezer," Rose replied. "And after all, you brought everything else."
"The advantages of having a chef who has connections," Jackie said, smiling. She draped her arm around her daughter's shoulders, and pulled her in for a sideways hug. "I'm glad you're ok, Sweetheart. You certainly gave us a scare back there."
"I guess I ruined Christmas for you," said Rose with a grimace. "Sorry about that."
"As if that's what I care about," Jackie replied.
Rose leaned her head on Jackie's shoulder for a moment, smiling as she watched the ball being tolled back and forth between the Doctor and Tony. Tony bounced the ball enthusiastically, then let out a huge yawn.
Jackie checked her watch and then frowned.
"Actually, it's almost time for Tony to take his nap. Is it ok if I put him in the spare bedroom?"
Rose nodded.
"Sure, Mum."
Jackie scooped Tony up in one arm, despite his protests.
"Time for a little nap, Tony, sweet," she told him.
Tony protested loudly, but Jackie ignored his cries as she walked him up the stairs.
The Doctor got off the floor in one swift movement, brushing off his trousers.
"Well that was fun," he commented.
Rose smiled.
"You'd make a good father, Doctor."
The Doctor's smile was slightly wistful.
"It's a role I almost forgot how to play," he came to stand beside Rose, sliding into the place so recently occupied by Jackie, and pulling Rose into his arms.
"Merry Christmas, Rose," he whispered against her hair.
"I told you nothing weird would happen this time," Rose said.
The Doctor laughed, and she felt the vibrations in his chest.
He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his hand, palm up, so that Rose could see the gold-wrapped box there.
"But… you already gave me a present," Rose said, surprised.
The Doctor grinned.
"I know. This one is special. Open it."
Rose freed her arms from around him, and took the box, curiously shaking it.
The Doctor smirked.
"You going to open it, or just look at it?" he asked.
The wrapping paper was on the floor in a second.
"Open it," she replied.
Inside was a long, flat black box. Rose opened it, and gasped.
"Oh Doctor," she whispered.
Inside, was a delicately linked silver chain. At the end was an ordinary looking key.
"My TARDIS key," Rose said. "I was looking everywhere for it, and you took it!"
The Doctor grinned.
"Guilty as charged. I wanted to make sure the chain fit it perfectly. No more wearing it on a bit of dirty ribbon any more."
Rose picked up the key.
"There's something written on it," she studied the tiny letters engraved into the side of the key. "Wherever you are, I'm home," she read.
The Doctor smiled.
"Very true."
Rose slipped the key over her head, and smiled.
"It's perfect, Doctor. So perfect."
"So you don't forget the old girl. Or me," he said.
Rose smiled.
"As if I could forget you, with you being a constant menace all the time."
The Doctor grinned and pulled her closer. Rose snuggled into his chest, with a sigh of contentment.
"This is what Christmas should be like," she mumbled.
------
"Rose! You're back!"
Lily was the first one to react when Rose walked into her office. After a moment of stunned silence, the redhead had leaped up and given her a huge hug.
"Hi Lily," Rose said, laughing at her teammate's enthusiasm.
"We thought you were going to live in Greece or something," Andy said, a hint of laughter in his deep voice.
"Feeling better?" Marks asked, crossing his arms and leaning on the edge of a desk. He didn't come over to see her. Rose mentally scowled. Trust Marks to ruin the moment with his sourness.
"Yes, I'm much better. Fully healed, I would say," Rose replied.
"I'll be the judge of that," the Doctor said behind her. "I'm the doctor, after all."
Rose wrinkled her nose at the pun.
"You're not a medical doctor, I don't have to listen to you," she reminded him without turning around.
The Doctor just laughed.
"How was it?" Lily interrupted. "Tell me everything!"
"Let the poor girl catch her breath," Marks said, still standing back from the rest of them.
He was acting kind of strangely. Rose shot him a wary look.
"You're right, Richard. Sorry, Rose," Lily said, stepping back to give Rose some space.
"Don't be silly, Lil. You can crowd me any time you want," Rose replied, draping her arm around the small woman's shoulders.
"We've got a lot to fill you in on," Andy said, sitting at his own desk.
Rose turned to the Doctor, who was still standing in the doorway.
"You're hovering," she reminded him.
"I just want to make sure…."
"Stop hovering, Doctor," Rose interrupted. "Everything's going to be fine."
He nodded.
"Try not to get shot again, ok?"
"Mmmm," Rose replied noncommittally. She reached up on her tip toes for his kiss, and he pecked her lips, raising one hand to brush her hair back.
"See you after work," he murmured.
"Bye," Rose agreed. Then, she turned back to her office, and settled herself in her desk chair.
"Ahhhhhh," she sighed. "It's good to be back."
"Don't get too comfortable," Marks said, smirking. "We've got a lot of work to do on the shuttle today."
"Shuttle?" Rose asked, her interested perking up.
Andy grinned widely.
"Like I said, you missed a lot," he said.
------
The Doctor took the elevator down to the R&D department, hands thrust in his pockets, whistling the third act of the most famous Archetian opera. Of course it involved notes that human ears couldn't hear, but he skipped over those. Stepping out of the elevator, he looked around with a smile of satisfaction.
Everything was just as he had left it. Minus the Christmas decorations, of course, but then it was almost February. It would have been perverse to leave the decorations up that long. As he walked by, he waved to people.
"Hey Sal," he called to a tall girl with wildly frizzy brown hair.
"John! How is Rose?" she asked, smiling at him.
"A lot better. She's back to work today."
"That's good," Sally said. "We were all really worried about her. I guess you'll be joining Max to work on the shuttle?"
"Shuttle?" the Doctor asked, a little confused.
Sally put a hand over her mouth.
"Oh I forgot! You weren't here for that. I guess Maxie will fill you in." Something behind her beeped. "That's my bat signal!"
The Doctor waved.
"Later, Sally."
"Bye," she said absently, already busy with something else.
The Doctor shook his head, amused. Sally was a nice girl, but very scatterbrained. That's probably where she got all her best ideas – she was searching in that head of hers for something else.
The Doctor travelled the familiar path to his own little spot in all this chaos. Max was at his desk, his head bent over schematics. He didn't look up when the Doctor walked into the cubicle.
"Just put them over there," Max said, indicating with his finger to the Doctor's desk. "And try not to touch anything."
"Is that any way to greet your partner?" the Doctor asked.
Max's head shot up in a way that was almost cartoonish.
"John! You're back!"
"So I am. How observant of you."
"How's Rose? How was Greece?" Max asked, scrambling to get out of the reclining armchair that he had instead of a desk chair.
"Rose is much better thank you. Although I've been hard pressed to make her rest the last couple of days. Greece was nice. Very sunny."
Max came to stand beside the Doctor, punched him in the shoulder affectionately.
"Missed you, you know. Well, missed your incessant chatter about totally weird stuff, anyways," Max said.
The Doctor grinned.
"Missed you too, Maxie. What have you been up to?"
A spark to excitement kindled itself in Max's eyes.
"You haven't seen the shuttle."
"What is this shuttle that everyone keeps talking about?" the Doctor demanded.
Max's face was animated.
"Ah, mate, you missed it. This huge alien space shuttle crash landed. And we hauled it outside the city to study it."
"Stripping it for parts?" the Doctor asked.
"Nah. It works."
The Doctor's eyebrows came together.
"I know!" Max enthused. "It was on autopilot when it crashed, and we've been fixing it up. You wanna see?"
The Doctor grinned.
"Of course!"
------
"A real space ship?" Rose asked, amused.
"You make it sound like it's a flying saucer," Andy said, laughing.
"It's actually really aerodynamic. Long, with segments, all silver and shiny," Lily said from the back of the car.
"Shiny is your criteria for cool?" Rose asked.
Lily sniffed.
"Wait till you see it."
Rose peered out the window expectantly.
"Are we there yet?"
"No," said Marks, rolling his eyes.
Rose leaned back in her seat, and was quiet for a moment.
"Are we there yet?"
"No," said Marks and Andy together.
"So tell me more about it," Rose said, after a moment of smug silence.
"Max has been working on it for the last couple of weeks, but we're all involved. The engine is like nothing I've ever seen. It's so far advanced from us that it's going to take us years to reverse engineer any of it."
"I thought you said that you weren't going to take it apart."
Lily made a face.
"Max is making us copy everything and put it back."
"It's long and thin, in segments," Andy said. "We figure that each segment has its own function, and that for each we're going to need to reverse engineer all the parts if we want to copy and understand it."
The black SUV turned off onto a gravel road, and the sound of the stones under the tired made it too loud to talk.
After another half hour of driving, they pulled into an opening where a lot of other cars were, and a large white government issue tent.
"Talk about conspiracy theories," Rose commented, hopping out of the car.
Flashing their identification cards, Rose and her team walked into the tent. Looming in front as soon as they entered was a long, snakelike space ship.
Rose shoved her hands in her pockets and whistled appreciatively.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," said a voice behind her.
Rose turned, and grinned at the Doctor.
"What do you say, Correllian Space Worm?"
The Doctor shrugged.
"With a few major modifications. Engine is reworked, as far as I can tell. And rather expertly I might add."
Rose nodded, smiling at Max as he walked past her.
"Hey girl. You here too?"
"Hey Maxie," Rose replied. "Showing John the engine?"
The Doctor nodded.
"They took the whole thing apart. Nice work by the way, Max."
Max shrugged, looking pleased with himself.
"It wasn't bad, for having you gone. Did the best that I could."
"So, what do you think?" Andy asked, strolling passed them into a section of the ship. He turned Rose, a question in his eyes.
"Very cool," Rose said, examining the interior of the ship.
"Yeah it's awesome," Max said. "I'm pretty confident that we can get it up and running in a few months. Have our own Federation."
The Doctor scoffed, still outside the door examining the outside of the ship.
"The idea of a Federation is full of holes."
Max made a face.
"Hater."
The Doctor grinned, and walked away from the entrance way.
"Pretty solid bulkheads," he commented, his voice muffled.
Rose wandered to the window, and peeked out, watching the Doctor examine the sides of the ship.
"You really think that we can get this ship up and running? Like a fleet?"
Andy shrugged.
"I don't see why not. This is just the beginning."
"Federation. Told ya," Max commented.
Rose rolled her eyes.
The Doctor strolled to the door.
"It looks pretty solid to me. I think with a little bit of tinkering this thing is going to fly."
He stepped inside the ship, his posture casual and teasing.
It changed to alert and defensive immediately as an alarm sounded, and the heavy bulkhead door behind him slid closed.
"What's happening?" Rose demanded.
Underneath their feet, there was a low rumble, and the floor started shaking.
Max looked around wildly.
"The av thrusters are starting. We're going into burn out."
"What does that mean?" Andy demanded.
Rose stared around the small space, her eyes wide. She knew exactly what it meant.
"It means we're taking off."
Author's Note: So I thought I knew what I was going to do with this story, and then I totally changed my mind. Which is why this is so late. Also, I was busy reading the entire Twilight series. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Did I like it? Some parts more than others. Am I going to be a crazed Edward-squeeing fangirl? Probably not.
Anyways. For those of you who have been asking how much longer I plan on writing this story, these are going to be the last three chapters. I have a story arch planned for them, and then an epilogue to the story. I hope that's agreeable to everybody.