~oOo~

"You are asking an awful lot of favours and not giving me any answers, Jack," Clara sighed into the phone. "I need something more than a 'trust me.' You don't exactly have the most stellar reputation."

"Look, I know it's a lot to ask, and I will debrief you fully at the end of the assignment. Until then I just need to make sure you continue to report anything suspicious to me. You know, alien encounters, weird energy readings, space ships landing, the usual," he said on the other end of the line.

"I don't work for you, Jack, and besides, you could just call Rose. I'm sure she would be very helpful in passing you information." Leaning over, Clara grabbed the file with the latest printouts from Pinnacle's lawyer. She was ready to get off the phone with Jack and away from her triple agent job and just get back to the one that she was doing as a double agent. "Unless you don't want her to know that you're spying on her."

There was silence on the other end of the line. Oh, that was telling. Jack was hardly ever quiet. "That's it, isn't it? You don't want her to know that you're asking me to do this behind her back?"

"Your job, Private Oswald, is to spy on Pinnacle and your boss has ordered to assist me when needed," Jack replied curtly.

She wondered how many favours he had had to cash in to get her superior officer to agree to this. UNIT and Jack's Torchwood had a delicate relationship. Both tended to see the other as a necessary evil. "Fine, I will let you know if I see anything out of the ordinary." After I've thoroughly investigated myself, she added to herself. "Gotta run." She shut off her mobile before Jack had a chance to respond.

In the grand scheme of things, this was a cushy assignment for her. Monitor the technology coming out of Pinnacle, then pass the names of promising scientists and potentially dangerous or useful inventions on to her superiors. They even let her keep both of her paychecks. She was only in her late 20s and had built a nest egg big enough that she could retire tomorrow if she wanted to.

When Rose had shown up though, things changed. It wasn't that she didn't like Rose, far from it. She liked to think of Rose as a good friend, even if Clara had to lie to her about her true identity. The secrets were the problem. Ten days before Rose arrived, Clara's commanding officer had called and told her that Rose had known ties to the Doctor. Although how Rose was connected to the alien, like most everything else about him, was on a need to know basis.

Implicit orders were also given that Rose was not to be informed of UNIT's presence here. They were still a bit sore over Rose's refusal to work for them. Clara was also told to expect to be contacted by Captain Harkness and to assist him when needed. Jack's reputation preceded him. It was reported that he singlehandily took down Yvonne Hartman and her corrupted branch of Torchwood. Clara had doubts that he'd done it by himself however.

"Clara," Rose called from outside the brunette's office door. "I'm gonna head out for the evening. You should too, yeah? Been working too hard lately."

"I'm just going to reply to the attorney on the Redfern matter. It seems Dr Redfern has also filed a complaint, saying that 'Pinnacle has now created a hostile work environment'. He hasn't even begun to see me hostile yet," Clara huffed.

Chuckling, Rose replied, "Well, don't get to hostile. I may need you to take over for me in a few months, and I don't want you to be fired in the meantime."

"You're leaving?" This was most definitely a shock.

Sighing, Rose tilted her head to the side. "Well, we haven't talked about it yet, but John is only here until he finishes his book. After that, he'll probably go back to traveling."

"And you're just going to go with him? Drop everything and leave?"

Rose shrugged a shoulder. "Like I said, we haven't talked about it, but if he asks, I'll go." The blonde gave her assistant a small smile. "He makes me happy."

"You look happy," Clara agreed. "Happier than you have been since I met you." Rose's smile grew, and it was infectious. "I want us to have drinks soon so we can discuss the possibility of you leaving me. Now get out of here and go see that man who makes you so happy."

"Night, Clara," Rose said before disappearing down the hall.

Groaning, Clara briefly wondered if Rose deciding to leave everything in her life for someone she'd only known for two months was something suspicious that she should call Jack about. Deciding against it, she quickly typed up a reply to the lawyer and left for the night. It might be a good time to review some of the files that she'd been sent on Rose and Jack. Maybe she could call in a favour and pull one on the Doctor too. Something was telling her that he might be important in all of this.

~oOo~

John rolled over, reaching for Rose only to find himself alone in the bed. Since the night of the snowstorm, he had only returned to his flat to get more clothes. Clothes that had subsequently found their way into a drawer of his very own in her bureau or were hanging in her closet or strewn all over her bedroom floor.

Spending the night in Rose's bed also had another benefit: his dreams had changed. There used to be a haunted quality to them. The Doctor was burdened with pain, loss and guilt. Now he dreamed of the Doctor having Rose by his side once more. The two of them spent their days running through the stars and their nights wrapped up in each other. It was everything that the Doctor had always wanted, but he had been too much of a coward to push to the next level.

Sometimes he was infinitely glad that he wasn't the Doctor. Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, he stood up and headed to the en suite to take care of usual morning business. Christmas music drifted from downstairs so he knew Rose must not have woken too long before he did. He quickly showered and threw on jeans and a jumper. He ran a hand down his scruffy face and then through his hair, making it stick up in every direction.

Making his way downstairs, he heard Rose singing along with Santa Baby. The sound of her voice was beautiful and seductive. She was standing at the stove with her back to him, her hips swaying in time with the music. As quietly as he could, he snuck up behind her. When his arms wrapped around her waist she leaned into him. "Happy Christmas," he whispered before placing a kiss on her neck.

"Happy Christmas to you too," she purred before turning to face him. Rising up on her tiptoes, she kissed him softly. "I'm making breakfast. Cinnamon rolls. While they're baking I figured we could exchange presents, if you wanted to of course."

"I'd rather unwrap you." He nibbled his way down her neck, and she whimpered. Smirking against her skin, he sucked hard. It would leave a mark, and he was glad for it. There was no way to hide his love of marking her or being marked by her.

Rose's finger nails bit into his biceps, and she pushed him away. "Later, I promise. Right now, I'm famished from all the unwrapping we did last night." She kissed his nose. "And all the tying up too." Walking away towards the Christmas tree that they had put up in front of the wall of windows, there was no mistaking the extra swagger that she had in her steps. She was trying to kill him and on Christmas to boot. Could someone die from sexual frustration? Probably not, and she wouldn't keep him frustrated for long. She hadn't, not since that first night, only a few weeks ago now. "Come on, love," she called, sitting down on a cushion on the floor. "Are you going to stand over there, or are you going to come join me? Remember I've got prezzies."

"But it's so warm in here, and there's food," he teased, grabbing the cup of tea that she'd left out for him.

"Fine, I'll just open all these all by myself." Rose grabbed a package and started to rip off the paper.

He crossed the room in a heartbeat. "No fair starting without me." Dropping to the floor, he pulled her close to him. "At least you didn't try to open one from me. I want to watch you open them."

"Nope, this one's from Mum," she declared before she finished opening it. "Oh look, a gorgeous new jumper." Rose held up a scratchy, blue monstrosity embroidered with a large reindeer with what appeared to be a blinking red nose.

"That is lovely," John replied, dropping a kiss on her temple. "I think you should wear that for the rest of the day."

"Shut up." She bumped his shoulder with hers. "I think she sent you one as well. There was another lumpy package in the box for you too. If I have to wear it, so should you."

Barely repressing a shudder, he took the jumper from her hands and threw it over his shoulder. "I don't think so."

"That's what I thought." For a few minutes, Rose unwrapped some of the other gifts that had been sent to her from across the pond: chocolates and a scarf from Mickey and Martha and homemade ornaments from their children.

Sophie had sent her a pair of silver hoop earrings and a hand drawn card. She hadn't known that the girl she had helped raise for the past few years had even sent a present this year. Guilt rolled over her in waves. On the two occasions that she had talked to the girl since her breakup with Liam, Sophie had seemed sad. The young girl was the true victim of the break up. Rose had to leave the room. Tears stinging in her eyes, she ducked into the downstairs loo.

She had sent Sophie a few first edition copies of a book series that she loved, as well as a necklace with a blue sapphire to match her eyes. Hopefully, she would be able to keep her promise to Liam and Sophie and stay a part of the young girl's life. That was going to be one of the very few deal breakers that she would have for the Doctor. No matter how uncomfortable it was for him, she would want to keep in touch with Sophie. She might never get to have a child of her own, and she refused to give up on the little girl she loved so much.

After taking about twenty minutes to compose herself, Rose came back into the main room. John was in the kitchen, putting cinnamon rolls onto plates for them. When he heard her, he turned around and smiled. "I know you said that you're hungry so I figured that I would finish up breakfast. Did you want to eat before we exchange our gifts?"

"That'd be great." She grinned, thankful he didn't press her about what had just happened. Taking the plates over and setting them down on the dining room table, he pulled the chair out and sat down. Sauntering over, Rose decided not to sit in a chair but instead she perched herself in his lap.

She had no idea how long that they sat there munching on breakfast and listening to Christmas music playing in the background. One of his arms was curled around her waist, his fingers absentmindedly drawing circles on her hipbone. It was more familiar than sexual, at least not at the moment. If he moved his hand a few centimetres, it would completely change his intent. She had to suppress a laugh at this. My, how times had changed in only a few short weeks, and they would change again, just over a week from now. The Doctor's time as John Smith was almost over.

When John had finished his breakfast, he shifted Rose so that he could pick her up. "Put me down, you daft man." She swatted at his shoulder, and he pretended to almost drop her. With a scream of surprise, she grabbed onto him tighter.

He deposited her on the same cushion they had shared before. After placing a kiss on the top of her head, he grabbed a few packages and sat down next to her. "Happy Christmas, Rose Tyler," he said softly, handing her a flat rectangular package. "Now, I didn't have much time or interest in shopping so a couple of them are handmade. But I hope you like them."

"I'm sure I'll love them," Rose replied, ripping off the paper. Inside was a framed sketch that John had drawn of her. Obviously it had been drawn from memory, from when they were making snowmen on her front lawn after the snow storm. He'd captured her in a moment of laughter. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"You're beautiful."

Rose blushed and ducked her head, letting her hair fall in front of her face. "Here," she said lunging for the only two boxes left under the tree. Handing him the larger of the two packages, she told him, "Open this one first."

With abandon he ripped off the paper to find a pair of brand new black Converse. "Oh, I love these," he blurted out, kissing her sloppily. "I can wear them with my tuxedo when I take you out for New Year's. My feet will be much more comfortable in these than yours will in those heels you wear when we go out."

Rose rolled her eyes, thinking that his first thought about what to wear his new shoes with was very Doctorish. "I'll have you know that my legs look amazing in heels."

"That they do, and your bum looks smashing as well. It's a shame you choose to cover up with yards of fabric." His hand stroked said leg through the fabric of her pyjamas.

"It's winter," she protested. "I promise in summer the skirts are much shorter."

"I can't wait." With a quick squeeze of her thigh, just above her knee, he turned his attention back to the remaining gifts in front of him. For a moment he hesitated in deciding which one of the two to give her first. "This one," he finally declared, handing her what first appeared to be a jewellery box.

Rose wondered if John had spent hours picking out the perfect little bauble for her. Purposefully, she took an exceedingly long time to open it, enjoying watching him squirm. When she finally extricated the box from its wrapping and removed the lid, she was shocked. Inside was a simple USB thumb drive. With a furrowed brow she turned to him; obviously she didn't understand what it meant.

"It's umm…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's my book, first draft of course. It hasn't even been sent to my publisher yet because I wanted you to read it first." By now he was tugging on his ear. "I didn't know how to give it to you. I mean, I could send it to your tablet; I know you like to read on that sometimes. Or I could have printed it, but it would have been bulky. Or maybe I could even read it to you. That seems like something that we'd both like. My voice soothing you while we're curled up next to the fire."

Smiling, Rose cut him off with a quick kiss. "Thank you, love. I can't wait to read it, or for you to read it to me."

"I think the story will really speak to you and show you how I feel about you." Gently he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "About how much I love you."

For a moment, Rose's mind returned to when they first met, when her Doctor in his leather jacket had taken her hand and talked about feeling the turn of the Earth. She could feel it now. Staring into this man's eyes, she could almost feel the turn of the Universe.

After a minute or two, Rose had to look away because it was too much, too intense. Grabbing the last gift that she had for him, she handed it over. "I hope that you like it."

Once again in his exuberant style, John ripped the wrapping paper off and added it to the pile they had going on the floor. "It's a scrapbook," she explained. Inside of it she had put little mementos of their time together: a take-away menu from their favourite burger place, a piece of evergreen from a tree at their favourite scenic spot, a lipstick smudged napkin from the French restaurant he'd taken her on their first real date, along with several pictures of them together. The Doctor never looked back, always forward, but this time she wanted him to have something to remember this part of their lives by.

"It's a little sentimental, I know," she explained. "Since we've only been, well, us, for about a month."

His long fingers delicately turned the pages of the book. "This is extraordinary, and you've even left blank pages at the end. So we can fill it up together, yes?"

"If you want," she answered. Her cheeks were tinged pink.

Setting down the scrapbook, he picked up the last thing that he had for Rose. "Open it," he told her, pressing the card into her hand.

Rose slipped her finger under the seam and unsealed it. Inside was a fairly normal yet festive holiday card. Tucked within that was a plane ticket, to Belize.

"I only came here to write a book." John took her hands, still holding the ticket, in his. "Stay for a little while and move on. Story of my life really, and that's fine. Then I met you, and it felt like my life turned upside down. I know this is fast and that we've only known each other a matter of weeks, but I don't want to be without you. So I want you to come with me when I go back to traveling. Or if you don't want to, I could stay here with you. I just… I can't imagine, don't want to imagine, a time where you and I aren't together."

John Smith couldn't yet give her the stars. Wouldn't be able to until the watch was opened and he remembered everything that he was. But right here in this moment, he was offering Rose everything that he could, to spend his life traveling with her. This time she wasn't going to make him ask twice.

"Yes," she exclaimed. "Whenever, wherever you go, I want to come with you."

"Brilliant," John breathed, pulling her onto his lap. "I love you." Those words flowed so freely from John. In a way she knew that from the Time Lord they never would.

"Love you too," she whispered before kissing him. His hands immediately slipped under the hem of her jumper. Their time together here as just John and Rose, simple humans leading simple lives, was quickly fading. Soon they would be the Doctor and Rose, a Time Lord and a companion (well, hopefully much more than a companion) traveling all of time and space. Even if the Doctor backpedalled on the more physical aspects of their relationship, right now she could show John just how much she loved him. Then, when he need to, the Doctor could remember.

~oOo~

"Y'all are sickly sweet. You know that, right?" Clara chuckled in the deepest southern accent she could manage at the moment before she downed the rest of her drink. Tomorrow night was New Year's Eve, but the three friends had decided to have a private party tonight before the big company one tomorrow. John wrapped his arm tighter around Rose's shoulder, and the blonde leaned into him, humming contentedly. "I mean it's cute and I'm happy for you and all, but the two of you need to get a room or something."

John opened his mouth to say something, but Clara cut him off. "And don't say that you already have a room. You need to use it." She couldn't help but smile at her two friends. They were so happy, but she was so confused. There were so many questions that were unanswered, and she didn't want to scare Rose by asking her.

After going through the files that UNIT had sent her, she made a shocking discovery. John Smith was identical to the Doctor. Or at least to one of his faces; UNIT knew of several but doubted they had them all. But John didn't act anything like the reports in the file indicated that he should. It was almost as if, if he was the Doctor he didn't know it. Then there had been the way that Rose had taken to him immediately.

So either he was some sort of doppelganger, or he was suffering from memory loss. When she'd asked Jack about the coincidences, he'd told her to drop it and to under no circumstances mention it to Rose. If she were in Vegas, or even Cripple Creek for that matter, she'd be placing a bet on amnesia. Her instincts warned her that there might be trouble, and even if she wasn't being given the whole story, it was her duty to protect others, including the Doctor.

Beside her, Rose yawned. "I think it's time to pack it in," Rose said, checking her watch. "It's nearly midnight."

"Your coach gonna turn into a pumpkin?" Clara teased.

"Yep, and my coachman here will turn back into a horse," Rose returned, grinning. "And I'm sure a horse in a pub is worse than a bull in a china shop."

"Especially a horse like him. As many accidents as he's had since he's gotten here," Clara giggled.

With a snort, John stood up and helped Rose with her coat. "He's standing right here, you know." When Rose was done, he grabbed Clara's and helped hers too.

"I know. That's the fun of it." Clara loved to torment him. "Thank you." She leaned over to Rose and whispered. "You make the best choices in boyfriends. Both of them are so polite, fist fights and arrests aside."

"I can give you Liam's number if you want," Rose said, smiling. Clara simply nodded, not wanting Rose to know that she and Liam had shared an email or two since he left.

"You know I can actually hear you," John snarked, throwing a few bills down on the table. "And I like to think that Rose's current choice of a boyfriend is the best." He leaned over and whispered in Clara's ear. "Though I do think that since you preferred the other one's physique, maybe you should take Rose up on her offer. He's quite available right now."

Clara elbowed him in the ribs and started walking towards the door. "You know it's not polite to gloat."

Catching up to her, Rose looped her arm through Clara's. The blonde was just a tiny bit tipsy; they both were. John, however, was still sober, saying that he'd save his drinking for New Year's Eve tomorrow, and Rose could play designated driver. "Do you need a lift home?" Rose asked when they stepped outside.

It was only a four or five block walk. Clara could easily do it, had done on her way here, but the temperature had dropped and she easily accepted the offer of a ride. The trio was almost to the John's SUV when something large and green streaked across the sky.

"Did you see that?" Clara exclaimed, her eyes locked onto the descent pattern. It appeared to have come down outside of town, on the way to the mines.

Beside her Rose stiffened. "Yeah, I did. Might be trouble." The last few words were almost inaudible.

Unlocking the car, John just shook his head. "Beautiful, just beautiful, but nothing more than a meteorite."

"Never seen a green meteorite before," Clara argued.

John helped Rose into the car and opened the door for Clara. "Just different compounds burning up in the atmosphere, nothing to worry about."

Not convinced, Clara scooted into the backseat. John carried the whole of the conversation himself on the short drive. Looking over at Rose, Clara knew that she wasn't the only one that didn't believe that was a normal meteorite. When they arrived at her house, Clara thanked them for the ride and a fun evening and slipped out. Her mind was racing as she went inside. No longer feeling the effects of the alcohol, she immediately grabbed her laptop.

There was nothing on the radar of UNIT's spy satellites that would explain things. With a frustrated grunt, she slammed her computer shut and darted across the room for her keys. She needed to see if that thing had come down somewhere. Momentarily she thought about calling Jack. He'd asked her to keep an eye on things, and this might be something he would want to know about.

Hopping into her car, she headed in the direction she had seen the thing in the sky heading. If she saw anything, she'd call Jack. She wouldn't want to cry wolf if this was nothing. When she reached the fields outside the mines, she slowed down. It was dark, the only light coming from a small house nearby and the tiniest sliver of moon.

Pulling off to the side of the road, she grabbed a torch and went off to investigate. It was quiet, no sounds of engines or smell of fire. Clara slowly swung her torch from side to side, looking for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing there.

Maybe it was just a weird atmospheric phenomenon after all. She headed back to her car and drove home, still trying to fight that niggling feeling that she was getting. Maybe a good night's sleep was all she needed.

Had she arrived just a few minutes later, she would have seen enough to call in the cavalry. A young man in his late teens stepped out of the lone house on the edge of the field. He'd heard something earlier and went to see what was going on. Not twenty feet outside his back door he ran into something very solid yet completely invisible. Feeling his way around it, he found a door. Curiosity got the better of him and he stepped inside. Within minutes, that young man with a bright future ceased to exist.