Thank you to everyone who's made it this far! We're finally getting some answers now, and after this chapter there will be more action. Hope you're still enjoying, leave a review if you are! :)

It had been six days since the TARDIS had last landed. Six days since it had last disappeared. Six days John Noble had married Rose Tyler in a marquee in the middle of St James Park and six days since that park had been partially destroyed. Six days since Rose had gone missing. Six whole days.

John hadn't slept properly since, which never used to be a problem back when he was a Time Lord. Now, it showed in the bags under his eyes. He hadn't showered in six days either – again, not normally an issue, but his new human body was suffering from the lack of care. The bottom half of his face was now decorated with stubble and his usually spiked hair was messier than ever, constantly strewn in all directions due to his nervous habit of running a shaky hand through it. The most he'd done in that six-day period was throw on clean clothes each day, though he was starting to run out considering he hadn't been washing the previous days attire. It wasn't that he wasn't capable of looking after himself without her, but what was the point? He needed to focus all of his attention on bringing her back.

He spent every waking hour – and most nights – at Torchwood. That was where Jackie and Pete found him on the sixth day too, both worried for their daughter but equally concerned about their son-in-law. As they entered the lab, he had large rubber tubing wrapped over his shoulders and his sonic screwdriver between his teeth. He was wearing his standard black jeans and a plain white t-shirt that was soaked with sweat, and his feet were bare. Behind him, the original dimension canon (a platform surrounding by six pillars) had been stripped and rewired to his liking – it was a lot less compact that the yellow buttons that Rose, Jackie and Mickey had used to return to the Prime Universe and definitely not as travel-friendly. John had deduced long ago that this was just the first prototype, probably the first one Rose had used in her tests, but it had eventually worked and they had used the blueprints to create a 'slimline' version. All that mattered now was that it worked to its original purpose and could be redesigned to fit John's new plans. Not to transport matter, but to retrieve it.

"Sweetheart?" Jackie approached him with a plastic bag in her hands which she offered to him when he turned. "I brought you some dinner. Have you even eaten today?"

"No time." John spat his screwdriver into his free hand as he responded, frowning at the bag and turning back to his work.

"Come on, love." His new mum encouraged.

"Honestly, Jackie, I'm fine." He attempted a smile, though it lacked soul. He glanced away from her and at Pete briefly. "Hi."

"Hey, John." Pete held a hand up in greeting. "What's the plan today, then?"

"Almost finished. Would've been finished yesterday had I realised that the quantum slip stream stabilizers were going to reroute the nanowave frequencies through the core, therefore melting any nearby rubber each time I tried to turn it on. Had to throw my shoes over there-" He nodded to the far corner of the lab where his Converse were scattered. "-and gather some new non-rubber tubing. As soon as this is fitted, we check for temporal anomalies. Look for one that matches the readings on the screwdriver and BAM – we hit go. Should bring the TARDIS right here."

Pete shook his head. "This canon only worked for twenty, thirty minutes tops."

"That's why I boosted the capacitors. See?"

"Huh."

"I have no idea what the hell you two are going on about," Jackie had her hands on her hips. "Does this mean I get my Rose back?"

John raised his eyebrows as he fitted the last tube into place. "I hope so."

"And once you hit that button, it'll check for anomalies or whatever?"

"Yes, all being well."

"How long will that take?"

"No idea." He shrugged. "As long as it takes."

"Enough time to have a bite to eat?" She presented him with the bag once more.

John sighed and took the gift gratefully, poking his head in to check the contents. "Ooh, jammy dodgers!"

He ripped open the mini pack and shoved both biscuits into his mouth at once, grinning as he chewed and pulling Jackie into a half hug. She smacked him playfully and pressed a kiss to his full cheek, which he immediately wiped away with the back of his hand, earning another smack. Although initially furrowing his brows at her, he swallowed his biscuits and gave his mother-in-law a soft smile. "Thank you."

"Well, you can't go around acting like a big daft alien no more." She pointed out. "Look after yourself for if Rose comes back."

"When." He corrected. "I just needed to get this right. I had to put my all into this."

"I know. 'Cos you're an idiot but you love her. That's why I'm not worried – she's either with you or she's with 'im and he'll be looking after her too, won't he?"

John pulled at his ear. "Yeah. Yeah, he will."

"You always bring her home to me." Jackie sniffed.

"Oi, John, come here." Pete had been looking over the canon's readout. John jogged over, retrieving his glasses from his pocket and perching them on his nose – they were actually prescription now, as this new human body had very quickly developed an astigmatism. Ironic, really, that he would now be forced to occasionally wear thick black frames that he was absolutely convinced made him look cleverer. Rose had once remarked that they made him look sexy. He blushed at the memory as his eyes flicked over the information on the screen.

"An anomaly." He agreed, poking the glass. "Pulsing at a rate of… 346.431.1… the numbers are a bit out but that's it, that's the TARDIS!" He whipped the glasses off and pulled the lever on the canon. The pillars surrounding the central podium began to fizzle to life; blue energy burst from their crests, shooting down to the platform. Jackie hid behind her hands from the brightness and Pete gripped her to him.

"Is it meant to do that?" Pete enquired, having to shout over the noise.

John turned to him with an infectious grin that could only belong to madman plastered across his face. He shrugged, eyes wide and sparkling. "I've no idea! Ha!"

Back on the TARDIS…

It had been thirty minutes since the TARDIS had last landed. Thirty minutes since it had disappeared again. Thirty minutes since Rose and John had been caught in a compromising position on their wedding night. Thirty minutes since she'd accidentally abandoned him and since the Doctor had sheepishly explained that they weren't in the Vortex at all, but trapped in a bubble that floated within the Void. A place she had repeatedly been told was unliveable. Rose was trying her hardest not to blame the Time Lord for this oversight, especially since they'd only recently reconciled from their fight, but it was difficult not to. How could he have not realised? He was supposed to be the cleverest man in the Universe. In all Universes. Wasn't he?

Truth was, she didn't really know him anymore. He was a completely different man now.

And yet, she still trusted him with her life.

He'd been busy at the console, or under the console, for the past few minutes. He was wearing round spectacles that Rose had inwardly decided were not as sexy as the ones her Doctor wore, and had removed his tweed jacket to expose his long sleeved shirt and bright red braces. She took in the sight of him from where she was perched on the jumpseat – the trousers that were just a little too short, the perfectly combed hair, the stupid little bowtie. It was like he was cosplaying as a nerd, but she didn't mind it. It was very Doctor. In fact, it suited his eccentric new personality pretty well. He seemed lighter than his predecessor. Child-like but with ancient air to him that only he could achieve. Though, since his discovery of where the TARDIS had been pulled to, he'd darkened into a familiar demeanour.

"It's gonna be alright." She ventured after a moment.

He paused and turned to her with a small smile. "Yes."

The Doctor went back to the console and she pursed her lips. "Been through worse. Back when I was testing the dimension canon, I could've ended up stuck in the Void loads of times. Or stuck in a random parallel world with no way home."

"Yes, about that." He whirled around to face her fully now. "That was incredibly reckless. And stupid."

"Worked, didn't it?"

"Not the point."

Rose scoffed. "You didn't seem that bothered when I found you. And I was pretty good at it, kept showing up just after the TARDIS did."

"Well, I didn't have time to scold you, there were Daleks everywhere!" He whined. Rose simply giggled, tongue poking between teeth. She could've sworn she saw him blush. He narrowed his eyes at her, though his mouth turned up at the corners. A thoughtful expression. "Hang on, how could you possibly know that you were 'jumping' in at the same spots as the TARDIS?"

"I checked the data after you… well, after you left." She looked down. "I was following you closely, I just didn't realise it."

"Or did the TARDIS sense you?" The Doctor questioned before ducking past her and underneath the grating to the hatches beneath the time rotor column. He lifted one and threw his head inside.

"What do you mean?" Rose frowned, following him. "What are you doing? Doctor?"

"Shush!"

"Don't shush-"

"Shush!"

She crossed her arms and pouted, waiting for him to resurface. When he finally did, he had a goofy grin on his face. Rose boggled at him. "What?"

"It's the TARDIS." He beamed. "You remember, way back on the Game Station, when you stared into her heart? I think she made a connection."

"All that stuff isn't in my head anymore, though." She winced. "Is it?"

"Oh no, definitely not." He reassured her. "But! The connection the TARDIS made won't ever go away. She sensed when you jumped each time, but her timings were out. Probably because time moves differently in your world. Then when she was pulled into the Void by whatever this parasite is, she panicked and looked for her nearest 'safe' connection."

"Me?"

"Well, her only other psychic connection is me, and I was already with her." The Doctor explained, moving closer to Rose. "Think about it. First, I landed in your bedroom. Then in your kitchen. The park where you were to be married. Your house, again! It was always you. I tried to drive her initially, which made the parasite more hostile, so the connection is getting shorter each time."

Rose was caught up in his enthusiasm that it almost seemed a shame to bring him down with another sad question. "But what does that mean now that I'm on board? She's not going to try to go back, is she?"

"I don't think so." The Doctor swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Surprisingly, Rose searched for his hand and squeezed it. "Not your fault."

"That makes a change." He sighed and plucked her other hand, holding them both to his mouth so that he could plant a kiss on each one, then leant his forehead against them and squeezed his eyes shut. "You were finally happy and I ruined it. I swear to you, I will get you home."

The TARDIS wheezed and the lights began to flash. The cloister bells rang out and the ground shifted beneath them, knocking them off balance. The Doctor launched himself back up to the console. As he scanned over the monitor, he let out a short laugh. "I should rephrase that – one of me is going to bring you home!"

"John?" Rose's heart skipped a beat.

The Doctor nodded. "It can only be him. Something powerful has tethered itself to the TARDIS and is now towing her through to Pete's World. Could it be anyone else?"

She smirked and sighed with relief. "Unlikely."

"Find something to hold onto Rose. This is going to be a bumpy ride!"