As John bounced up and down in maniacal glee, the familiar and comforting deep blue of the TARDIS began to fade into existence – slow at first, gently easing into the world like a baby deer, then all at once ferocious and alarming, flashing aggressively until finally she was complete and stood before them. Jackie and Pete glanced at him and he nodded enthusiastically, grin so wide that it threatened to snap his bottom jaw clean off, eyes just as big and eyebrows practically at his hairline. "It worked!"
Before either of them could respond, the door to the beloved time machine creaked open just enough for a particularly cautious Rose Tyler to poke her head round. As she clocked where she was, her smile began to form, erupting into full blown ecstasy as her eyes landed on Johns. Instantly, she ripped the door further open and ran towards him, almost knocking him to the floor as they collided. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, lifted and spun her on the spot, laughing all the while. Then, when they pulled back, she pressed her lips to his with urgency, and he responded in kind. As they deepened the kiss into something a bit more indecent, Jackie cleared her throat. Rose looked at her mum apologetically and released John so that she could hug her instead.
Having been released, John looked up to see the Doctor stood awkwardly by the TARDIS doors, hands clasped together and feet poised in opposite directions. His stance looked as though he might jump into a sprint at any moment, and his face was just as distressed. John raised an eyebrow and smirked, knowing full well the reason for this discomfort from the Time Lord was once again witnessing his past-self loving Rose so freely and openly. This new human version found it almost embarrassing the he'd been so prudish about it, even if he understood the complicated thought process behind it.
"A whole bloody week!" Jackie was admonishing Rose now. "I thought you'd upped and left!"
"I wouldn't do that," Her daughter replied sternly. "I wouldn't ever just leave. Not now."
The Doctor cleared his throat at that admission and clapped loudly, gaining everyone's attention. He put on a brave face, so to speak, smiling broadly at Mrs Tyler and walking towards her, arms outstretched. "Jackie! Oh how I've missed your matter-of-fact mannerisms! Come here," He crushed her in a gorilla hug, rocking her back and forth before setting her down.
"Who-wha-" Jackie stuttered incoherently.
"That's the Doctor." Rose explained.
"But his face!"
"It changed again. Remember?"
As Jackie furrowed her brows, unconvinced, the Doctor had moved on to Pete, who's hand he was shaking almost violently with both his own, that stupid goofy smile still on his face. "Ahhh here he is, the big man, the top dog! Oof, I'm not saying that again. It's you, Pete!"
"Yeah, it's me." Pete looked thoroughly confused.
John scratched the back of his neck and scrunched his nose up. "Yeah, that's me. The Doctor, I mean. The other me. He can sort of- well, regenerate. Instead of dying, every cell in his body changes. A new man emerges."
"I'll say." Jackie replied. "He's completely different. Pleased to see me, for one."
John ignored that comment and rushed over to the dimension cannon controls. Rose ran after him, slipping her fingers easily in the back pocket of his jeans to which the Doctor puffed out his cheeks. He would never get used to seeing the two of them like this. John quickly pecked her temple as he read the readout screen, then groaned a little. He ran into the TARDIS, both Rose and the Doctor following behind him. He checked something on the diagnostics screen, then groaned louder. "Okay, right. Well. Do you want the bad news, or the really bad news?"
"What is it?" Rose asked at the same time as the Doctor, who had now come over to see for himself. They exchanged a look and John sighed.
"The TARDIS is still running her shields at full capacity for crew members." He pointed at the screen. The Doctor squinted and then rolled her eyes.
"And she's only extended them to fill the lab." He agreed with John. "I won't be able to leave Torchwood. What about Rose? Is she okay?"
"No." John placed both hands behind his head, eyes wild. "She's been upgraded to crew member. The shields won't let her leave either."
"But you can turn them off, right?" She asked, hopefully.
The Doctor eyed her, darkly, and shook his head. "I turn those shields off, that parasite will destroy her."
"Parasite?" John frowned, interest piqued.
The Doctor nodded. "That's what is attacking the TARDIS, what destroyed St James Park. A creature of the Void, I think it somehow pulled me in before I arrived here. The TARDIS then looked for the nearest safe connection – Rose. The only human in all of creation that looked into her heart and survived it. They're practically sisters. In any case, that thing out there keeps dragging me back to the Void to feed off the huon energy leaking from the damage it made."
"So, we just need to find a way to prevent it from being able to do that," John reasoned. "Must be a powerful pest to be able to puncture the shields even slightly. Formidable, even."
As the two began to surmise on the situation, Rose had backed out of the console room and toward the door the labs. Curiously, she opened the door and lifted her hand towards the empty hallway beyond. A strong force began to push back on her palm, so strong in fact that her whole body began to shake as she tried to fight back. Then, frustrated, she kicked it and cursed as her toes crunched with pain. Jackie was by her side within seconds. "What's going on?"
"I-I can't leave this room." Rose swallowed. "I'm stuck with the Doctor."
A few years ago, this would not have been a problem. It would have been exactly where she wanted to be, in fact. Being stuck with you, that's not so bad. She recalled clear as day how it would have been bittersweet to never see her family again yet be with that incredible man for the rest of her life. Travelling around the Universe, seeing unbelievable sights, with the man that she loved. Now it just felt like a sick joke. She fought back tears and Jackie embraced her.
"Now, now." She whispered soothingly into her daughter's ear. "John won't let that happen. He'll find a way. Bought the TARDIS back here, didn't he?"
"Yeah." Rose sniffed.
"Well, then."
"Love," Pete put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him with red eyes. "That man won't ever let you go, not again. You should have seen the state of him this past week. I'm mean, have you not looked at him, he's a mess!"
Rose hadn't actually taken the time to properly scan John's condition when they'd arrived back, but she took that time now as he exited the TARDIS with his lips pressed into a hard line. His hair was unwashed and unbrushed, looking to have taken on a life of its own. He was barefoot and covered in visible sweat, dark rings under both eyes. Guilt washed over her, especially as he spotted her tears and practically ran to barge Jackie and Pete out of the way, cupping both of her cheeks in his hands. He kissed her forehead before pulling her to his chest, rubbing circles into the small of her back whilst simultaneously stroking her hair. "I'm going to fix this."
"I know." She gasped between sobs, which had started to escape thick and fast at his touch. "I should never have gone on board. I'm so sorry."
"Not your fault." He whispered. "Never your fault."
"So, what's going on?" Pete ventured, sick of standing around in his own lab like a spare part.
"The TARDIS thinks she's protecting Rose by shielding her within this room." The Doctor had also stepped out now and was walking towards them. "Unfortunately, that's not the worst part."
Rose shot him a look, remembering that John had said that was bad news and even worse news. The Doctor caught her eye and something twinkled there. A promise? An apology? A request? She couldn't quite understand it anymore, not like she could with her Doctor. She continued to stare him down, awaiting an explanation.
"The worst part," He continued, unable to meet anyone else's gaze and instead studying the ground. His head bopped and his eyebrows moved up and down as he spoke. "Whilst this dimension cannon idea was just fine and yes it worked well enough… it won't work forever. Sooner or later, it will fail, and we - me and Rose – will be vulnerable to the creature again. Probably get pulled back to the Void almost immediately. Each time we defy this parasite, it becomes more determined. Annoyed, even. It may just go for the kill."
Rose registered his words slowly as the room erupted into chaos around her. Jackie was stabbing an accusing finger into the Doctor's chest, yelling profanities at him, whilst Pete talked over them both loudly, trying to understand the situation more. John also shouted over the fray, doing his best to defend his counterpart despite his own feelings on the matter, whilst the Doctor simply babbled about space-time differentials and dimension stabilisers. Rose whispered to herself but no one seemed to hear her. It wasn't until she shouted at the top of her lungs, stunning them all into a silence. "OI!"
They all turned to her.
"There's no use fighting about it, mum, so just shut up." She began. "It's not the Doctor's fault. He didn't mean to come here and he certainly didn't mean to get me stuck on the TARDIS, alright? So just lay off him."
"Yeah, but-"
"No, no buts." She sighed heavily. "Can we not spend whatever time I might have left here arguing about it?"
John held her hand and nodded once. The Doctor averted his gaze. Jackie looked pissed off but stopped jabbering on all the same. Pete was harder to read, folding his arms together and standing with his legs apart.
"Thank you." Rose breathed, then looked up at John. "How long have we got, roughly?"
He squeezed her hand. "Four hours."
"Well, then, best get to work."
Some time later, Jackie and Pete had gone to pick Tony up from school, whilst the other three stayed in the lab with their experiments. John had declared that he had an idea but would need to head over to a different branch briefly whilst he collected some gear, leaving the Doctor and Rose alone. It wasn't like either of them could go with him or in his place, but she was still a little upset that their reunion was cut off. Still, couldn't be helped, and she'd been tasked with keeping an eye on the anomaly monitor by the cannon's podium. The Doctor, meanwhile, had been running in and out of the TARDIS with various bits and pieces, and was currently in the process of building that 'sort-of-perception-filter-reversing-atron'. Whilst he used the sonic screwdriver or hammered away at the metal trinkets, he decided it as good a time as any to have a heart to heart.
"What kinds of adventures do Mr and Mrs Noble-Tyler get up to on Pete's World, then?" He ventured, not looking up from his work. When she didn't respond, he glanced to see her sceptical face, then continued to piece tiny wires together with a pair of tweezers. "I'm serious! I told you about some of my travels. I told you about Amy and Rory and River Song. You owe me a good story."
"Don't think anything I can divulge would compare," She laughed.
"Go on," He whined. "I want to know everything from the moment I left that beach."
The ease with which he said those words made her stomach lurch. This Doctor was much more comfortable with uncomfortable conversations and she would never get used to that. She remembered something that John had told her long ago, that the people and the experiences of the previous regeneration tended to shape the new one, and she wondered what could have possibly happened between Bad Wolf Bay 2.0 and his apparent radiation poisoning for him to have come out as child-like and slightly more open than before. Yet, so much more alien.
"It's like I said before," She crossed her arms against her chest and pouted. "Wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows in the beginning, but we learned how to fit together again and it just worked. We just… work."
"You said there were bad nights." The Doctor probed.
"Yeah, can't you imagine?" She bit her lip. "John felt like a spare part, no matter how many times I told him he wasn't. Then he panicked that he couldn't just run away to some random galaxy. Blamed himself for everything, got depressed and had to be medicated for a bit." At those words, the Doctor paused briefly before continuing to tinker. Rose also continued. "He didn't understand how I could love him without the promise of adventure and stars. I told him, that was never what I was in love with. I loved the man behind that life."
She sniffed. "Anyway, that was only for the first thirteen, maybe fourteen months. He did some therapy, I did too. One day, he just walked into the flat and starting going on about bananas. Grabbed my hand and pulled me into the streets, raving about banoffee pie and banana daiquiris and banana splits. We just had to go everywhere that sold anything of the sort. It was like… like you were back. And when we got back to the flat after, he told me he loved me and we just… we just were. I dunno."
"Living for you is easy living," The Doctor recited an old Earth song under his breath. "It's easy to live when you're in love."
"What was that?"
"Nothing." He blushed. "And what about Torchwood, what have you been up to?"
Rose shrugged. "We do some cadet training, occasional field mission. Never anything as intense as what we were used to. I think he likes that we're safe. He feels a bit vulnerable now, you know?"
"Hmm."
"Well, I did warn you. We're just two boring humans now, Doctor."
"I know."
Rose licked her lips. "What are you going to do when you get back?"
"Oh, err, not thought about it." The Doctor replied, absentmindedly. "Might live on a cloud for a bit. Victorian London sounds nice, doesn't it?"
Rose shook her head with a smile at that impossible man. Then, more seriously, she said, "Just make sure you find someone yeah? Don't be alone."
If he was going to answer, it was interrupted by the loud entrance of John, whose energetic 'ha' filled the room. He was carrying two dimension hoppers and swinging them around carelessly. "Step aside, the genius has entered the room!"
"I beg to differ!" The Doctor exclaimed, though he gestured towards his counterpart all the same. "What you got there?"
"Dimension hoppers," Rose took one from John and gently stroked the yellow button. "Remember? I used one of these to get back to you."
"I've modified them." John explained. "Put this round your neck, press the button, and you'll register to the TARDIS as 'protected'. I'm hoping she'll lower her defences enough to allow you out of her bubble."
The Doctor took the second one. "Why did you make me one?"
"Figured you might need it at some point." John ticked his head to one side. "Just make sure you've removed it before the TARDIS is due to leave, or else she may go without you. Now, let's test it out. Rose, put it on – yeah that's it. Now press the button."
"I don't know…" She hesitated.
John placed a warm hand on her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes, full of love and care. "I promise you won't jump."
Trusting her husband's words, she nodded and punched the button. Nothing appeared to happen, but John was overjoyed. "Ha! Right, now, let's see…" He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the lab doors, then pushed her through. She passed through where the barrier had been previously, then spun on the spot with a massive grin on her face.
John returned the look with one of his own. "Brilliant!"