a/n: Many, many thanks to bittie752 for beta-reading and for putting the idea for one of these scenes into my mind. As is usual, I played with it after she looked at it, so all mistakes are mine.

Chapter Eight

Late Friday afternoon, Pete cornered the Doctor in the living room.

"Rose tells me you built a new sonic screwdriver," Pete said. "Can I see?" He sounded less like the head of a super-secret intelligence agency and more like a small child wanting to see another child's new toy.

The Doctor had spent most of the day, all that morning and most of the afternoon, putting the finishing touches on his new sonic and then programming it. It had more than a thousand settings. It was a far cry from what his old one had, the one that the full Time Lord Doctor had kept, but it was a start.

He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Pete. The other man turned it over and over in his hands as he examined it.

"What's its power source?" Pete asked curiously.

"Ahhh, now that would be telling," the Doctor responded, trying, and completely failing, to hide a smirk.

Pete raised one eyebrow at his answer as he continued to look at it. He ran a finger along one side, accidentally pressing a button. The screwdriver whirred, the tip lit up, and the glass door of a curio cabinet on the other side of the room exploded. The Doctor winced.

"Wow!" Pete exclaimed.

The Doctor grabbed it back. "Careful," he scolded.

"Sorry," Pete said apologetically. "You built that just using the materials from my workshop?" He was dumbstruck.

"Yes. Well, no, not just your workshop," the Doctor replied, correcting himself. He yanked on his left ear. "I may have found one or two other items here and there. Well, I say found, more… borrowed. Well, I say borrowed…"

"You mean stole. From Torchwood?" The director of the Torchwood Institute snorted.

The Doctor made a face. "Stole is such a hard, nasty little word. More like appropriated. Mind you, I had to make significant changes to them in order to make them work."

"You know, you didn't have to nick it," Pete told him. "Considering everything you've done for Torchwood over the last two weeks, I would have given it to you. All you had to do was ask."

The Doctor had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "Well, Pete..." he started, but then the other man interrupted him.

"Water under the bridge," Pete said, and then looked thoughtful. "Doctor, would it be possible for you to make another one of those?"

The Doctor thought about what it could mean to have even a simplified version of his sonic screwdriver in the hands of anyone at Torchwood. Based on the current condition of the curio cabinet, it wouldn't be pretty. "No," he said firmly.

"What if…"

"No."

"Pete, I thought I heard something break in here," Jackie said, walking into the room. She was wearing a pink, silk dressing gown, and her hair was wrapped up in a brightly colored bath towel. Her eyes widened when she saw the broken glass on the floor. "What on Earth?" She glared at the Doctor. "What did you do?"

"Oi!" he protested.

"Jacks, it wasn't the Doctor, it was me," Pete interjected quickly.

Jackie's eyes narrowed. "Maybe," she said disbelievingly, "but he was involved somehow, I just know it. I'll get someone in here to clean it up. Meanwhile, the two of you need to start getting ready. The party starts in less than two hours, and we have to be there early."

Pete Tyler, one of the richest and most powerful men on the planet, sighed the long suffering sigh of a hen-pecked husband.

"Jacks, we've got plenty of time," he told her. "I don't know about the Doctor here, but it'll only take me half an hour to shower, shave and get dressed."

At Pete's mention of the Doctor, Jackie turned to him. "And you," she said, shaking her finger at him, "you just remember you have to wear that tuxedo I bought you. And none of this 'it's bad luck' nonsense."

"I never said it was bad luck," he corrected. "I don't believe in luck, good or bad. Just that bad things happen when I wear one."

She shook her finger at him again. "You just put it on anyway. I'll expect you down here, dressed and ready to go, in one hour. And I don't know what you think you're doing with that hair of yours, but you make sure it looks nice, instead of how it usually looks."

"Oi!" he protested again. "It always looks nice. Better than nice, in fact."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I still say you should have let me cut your hair." She ignored him as he scowled at her. "One hour," she said over her shoulder as she walked out of the room. "And not a minute more."

The Doctor and Pete exchanged glances and sighed.

~oOo~

Later, when the Doctor entered his bedroom to get ready for the party, he noticed the door to the en suite was open and Rose was nowhere to be found. After a moment, he remembered Rose having said something about her mother helping her to get ready and he guessed that was where she was now. First pulling off his clothes and laying them on the bed, he headed to the bathroom.

After showering, he stood in front of the sink staring into the mirror, tilting his head this way and that, first running his tongue across his teeth and then looking to see if he had missed a spot shaving. No, but he came to the conclusion that as much as he hated to admit it, Jackie was right, at least about his hair. It was getting shaggy. Luckily it had started out fairly short, so it still wasn't unreasonably long, but it definitely needed something for the party.

He ran his hands through his hair, trying to fluff it a bit. He had hoped it would dry that way, all fluffed up, but no matter what he did it seemed so… floppy. He used to use hair wax occasionally while traveling in the TARDIS, but he didn't have anything like that here. Maybe Rose has something, he thought.

He opened one of the mirrored cabinets to look for some sort of hair product and spotted instead a small rectangular box with a prescription label on it. Rose is on medication? Why didn't she mention anything? He picked it up to examine it, and his eyes widened when he realized what it was. Birth control pills.

For a moment he stopped breathing, and if asked, he would have sworn his heart stopped for a second as well. Why did Rose have birth control pills? He reminded himself that she had told him she hadn't been involved with anyone and certainly not to the extent that she needed to be on the pill, and what she had done before they had been left here wasn't his business anyway. Tamping down a surge of jealousy and trying not to jump to conclusions about her life before she had found him again, he stared at the small package.

He blinked when he saw the date on the prescription label. The date the prescription was filled was only a week earlier. A week ago. And he had been in this universe for two and a half weeks. These pills weren't because she had been involved with someone else in the past, but because she intended to be involved with him in the future. He had been sure, particularly after his discussion with her last night, that that was the direction their relationship was headed, but to have conclusive proof in his hands that Rose had prepared for it a week ago…. A cocky grin spread across his face, one he was completely unable to wipe off while he finished getting ready.

He couldn't wait to get this party over with so that they could head for Cardiff.

~oOo~

Exactly one hour after Jackie had spoken to them, the Doctor and Pete stood at the window of Pete's study, looking out at the garden and waiting for the women in their lives.

The sun would not set for hours, and through the window the Doctor could see that the garden was a riot of color. There were flowers in every color of the rainbow in beds that lined the path that led around the edge of the garden and to the nearby woods. He knew the flowers were a fairly recent addition to the property. They had not been there the first time he and Rose had been to the mansion.

So much had changed since that first time they had walked across the garden, the Doctor thought. That first evening he and Rose had crashed a formal party for the parallel Jackie Tyler's birthday, posing as wait-staff. The evening had ended with Cybermen crashing through these very windows, and he, Rose and Pete escaping and ultimately being rescued in that very garden. He had worn a tuxedo that night, too.

Hopefully, in this body, wearing a tux wouldn't spell disaster as it had in previous bodies.

Remembering that night, it led him to think of Canary Wharf and losing Rose. He had found her again; well, actually, she had found him, and he was happier about that than he ever remembered being in any life. But something about Canary Wharf had always puzzled him, and now, standing next to Rose's stepfather, he finally had the opportunity to ask about it.

"Pete," he said, "I've always wondered about something, and perhaps you can answer it for me. During the battle of Canary Wharf, how did you know to catch Rose?"

Pete glanced in surprise at the Doctor, taken aback at the question that had come so unexpectedly. He was silent for a long time and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before answering.

"Doctor," he said quietly, "that was one of the most frightening experiences in our lives. Jackie, Mickey and I were standing in the lever room in our Torchwood building and Rose had gone back to you. Jackie was crying because she was certain she'd never see Rose again." His jaw tightened and he swallowed thickly. "All of a sudden, we could hear screaming, screaming like we had never heard before or since. Screaming so desperate that it crossed the Void, crossed universes." He turned to him, his voice choked with emotion. "We heard you scream. It shouldn't have been possible, but across the Void, in a completely different universe, we heard you screaming in terror. And somehow I knew what had happened. So I jumped and luckily I managed to catch her."

They both stood in silence, again remembering how close they had come to losing Rose in the Void for eternity.

"Thank you, Pete," the Doctor said eventually. His voice was low and full of repressed emotion. "I will never be able to thank you enough for that."

"No need to thank me, Doctor," Pete replied. "She's my daughter. I'd do anything for her."

And the Doctor was struck, and not for the first time, with what an extraordinary man Pete Tyler was. Either version he had known. The man who stood before him fought Cybermen and Daleks, helped save his planet, and saved Rose. And the other Pete, Rose's biological father, had given his life to fix a mistake Rose had made. That Pete Tyler had saved him and had also saved that version of Earth from Reapers. It was no wonder Rose was such an incredible person with a man like that for a father.

Using the excuse that he needed to check on Jackie, Pete left the room and the Doctor returned to looking out the window of the study. For just a moment he was back in the lever room, standing with his ear to the white wall, telepathically feeling her presence but not being able to get to her. He had stayed there until it faded, until he could no longer feel her there. He had lost so many people in the past and he always grieved, but losing her was like having part of his soul ripped from him. The only loss he had ever experienced that had been greater was losing Gallifrey.

He vigorously shook his head, trying to shake off the dark mood that had so quickly overtaken him. Canary Wharf was over, he reminded himself, and he needed to once and finally put it behind him. He had never quite managed to do it before the metacrisis, and he suspected that his other self wouldn't truly be able to put it behind him until he regenerated again. But he was here, with Rose, living the life he had never dreamed possible, living a life with her one day after another, the one adventure he had thought he could never have. Thinking of that was enough to lift his spirits, well, until he remembered the party they were supposed to attend that evening.

The Doctor sighed. He didn't need to look at a clock to know they'd be leaving for the Vitex party soon. A party he really, really he didn't want to go to. Restless, he tugged at his collar. He hated these black tie events. Regardless what planet you were on, they were all filled with boring people talking endlessly about boring things, invariably in uncomfortable clothing.

And he hated bow ties.

Just as he was thinking that dealing with a minor alien invasion would be preferable to attending the party, the sound of movement behind him distracted him from his thoughts.

"Well, what do you think?"

The Doctor turned and froze. Rose stood in the doorway, dressed in a full-length, strapless dark blue gown. It was embroidered with silver thread and crystals in swirling patterns that reminded the Doctor of stars in the night sky. Her hair had been pulled up into a chignon, tiny blonde curls intentionally escaping around her face and neck. A diamond and sapphire necklace hung around her neck and came to rest at the top of her cleavage, having the effect of drawing the eye there. As if he needed a necklace to draw his eye there. After a moment, he noticed that instead of the hoop earrings she usually wore, more diamonds and sapphires dangled from her ears. As she turned to show off the dress, the crystal beads on the gown glittered and the jewels at her throat and ears sparkled, reflecting the light in the room. He gaped at her.

"So what do you think?" Rose asked again nervously. She couldn't read the Doctor's expression. "What? Am I zipped up all the way? Do I have a price tag hanging somewhere?" She looked at her sides and back to check, but didn't see anything. She blanched. "Do I look… fat?"

Realizing his mouth still hung slightly open, he abruptly shut it and swallowed hard. Crossing the room and putting an arm around her bare shoulders, he pulled her into his side and gently planted a kiss on her temple.

"You. Look. Stunning," he said quietly. The delighted smile she gave him lit up her face and made her look all the more beautiful. Perhaps these black tie events weren't so bad after all.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She playfully poked him in the ribs. "By the way, I kinda like the bowtie."

Perhaps bowties weren't so bad either.

"Doesn't she look pretty?" Jackie asked, walking back into the room. She was also wearing a formal gown, hers in a mint green, but the Doctor wouldn't have noticed had she been wearing a dressing gown and bedroom slippers. Or a bin bag. "I did her hair myself. I used to do it all the time for everyone back home, and I still like to do it every once in a while. Keeps me in practice."

"Yes, she looks very pretty." Biggest understatement of the year. He still hadn't taken his eyes off Rose. He smiled at her. Then he took a deep breath and turned to Jackie. "And her hair looks very nice. Excellent job."

Jackie looked astounded at the unexpected compliment, and even Rose looked at him in surprise.

She took his arm and led him to the far side of the room. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, why?" he asked, puzzled.

"You just gave my mother a compliment," Rose said, chuckling. "That can only mean one of two things. Either you are sick, or the world is about to end."

~oOo~

The Vitex party was being held in a huge ballroom on the ground floor of the Vitex building in downtown London. The headquarters of the international company was a skyscraper that dominated the skyline and was located only a few short blocks from the bank of the Thames. Unlike many other corporately owned buildings in the area, the Vitex building only contained rooms dedicated to the exclusive use of the company; labs, meeting rooms, the ballroom and the offices of Vitex's management and staff. As the founder of Vitex as well as CEO and Chairman of the Board, Pete Tyler's office took up an entire floor near the top of the building. As he was also the Director of Torchwood, he rarely spent any time there anymore, spending more time in his Torchwood office than in his office at Vitex. Luckily, the company that produced the most successful vitamin-infused drinks on the planet was so well organized it ran like clockwork, even when he wasn't there in person.

Even so, Pete Tyler was a busy, busy man.

The annual Vitex party was a calculated event designed to convince shareholders that the business was still in good hands even with Pete's divided attention. The bigger and more impressive the party was, the more the shareholders were convinced that the company was doing well. And it didn't hurt that the company had been operating in the black for more than a decade. The greater the confidence in the company, and by extension Pete, the better the stocks did and the better the company bottom line.

With the President and a large number of celebrities scheduled to attend, as well as rumors of a new boyfriend for the Vitex heiress, the Vitex party was being treated in the press as the social event of the year and had brought out representatives of tabloids from all over the world. When the Tyler limo arrived at the building, a half an hour before the party officially was to begin, the Doctor got his first taste of fame. Oh, he had been well-known by aliens in their home universe, particularly by dangerous aliens, but he had never really experienced the fame of celebrity. Being the escort of one Rose Tyler was a whole new experience for him.

As the Doctor exited the limo and helped Rose to her feet as she followed him, he blinked as they were greeted by the near blinding flashes of more than a hundred cameras. Thankfully, the photographers were held back by velvet chords set up along the entrance to the building.

Jackie exited the limo right behind Rose. "Go on," she hissed, giving the Doctor a small push. Aware of the cameras, he tried not to glare at her. Pete got out of the limo and escorted Jackie into the building. Smiling at the Doctor, Rose took his arm and they followed her parents in.

Despite arriving early, the invited staff and most of the board members were already there, as were a number of people the Doctor recognized as from being from Torchwood. Among others, he recognized Frank Collins, who was both Torchwood 4's doctor and Pete's personal friend, and Todd Richards, Pete's administrative assistant, who seemed to be supervising the catering staff. To the Doctor's surprise Jake Simmonds, Pete Tyler's second-in-command at Torchwood, was there as well. As soon as Rose saw him, she crossed the room to him, a huge smile lighting up her face. The Doctor trailed behind.

"I thought you were still in America," she exclaimed, gathering Jake in a big hug.

"Finished up early," he said, grinning at her. "Grabbed my tux and came straight here." He kissed her on the cheek.

Jake then turned to him. "Doctor," he said, shaking his hand, "I heard you were here. Good to see you again."

"You, too," the Doctor responded, a forced smile on his face. He closed the space between Rose and himself and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "How was America?"

Instead of answering, Jake asked, "Where's your dad, Rose?"

"Not sure," she said, looking around. "He and Mum were here just a minute ago."

Jake looked around as well. "There he is, over by the bar. I've got to go; I need to talk to him right away. I'll catch you both later."

After he had left, Rose turned on the Doctor.

"What was all that about?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, not looking at her.

"You know exactly what I mean," she said pointedly. She raised one eyebrow. "You can't possibly be jealous of Jake."

"Of course not," he said, jaw tightening.

She tried to hide a smile. "You know, you have absolutely no reason to be jealous of anyone, Doctor. Particularly not Jake."

"Not that I'm admitting anything," the Doctor said, "because I'm not jealous, but why 'particularly not Jake'?"

"Because," she said, smiling mischievously, "he's much more likely to be interested in you than me."

~oOo~

Two hours later the annual Vitex party was in full swing; the ballroom was filled to capacity and the party threatened to spill out into the corridors, meeting rooms and lobby. The far end of the ballroom was set up for dancing and had an orchestra playing popular dance tunes, while the other end was filled with small, candlelit tables. The bar, the most crowded place in the whole party, was set off to one side.

The Doctor walked through the room, champagne glass in one hand, the other free to grab hors d'oeuvres off the trays of the passing wait-staff. Which he did every time someone passed with a tray. No matter what was on it. Rose had told him they weren't serving pears in any form so he thought he was safe.

Meanwhile, Pete and Jackie were mingling with the Vitex board members, high ranking politicians and other guests. For a moment, he was struck by the oddness of seeing the Jackie he knew interact and hold her own with some of the most powerful people of this world. When he had met her, he could never have imagined she'd come so far from her life on the Powell Estate. He was proud of her.

Although he'd never tell her that.

Meanwhile, Rose had wandered off somewhere. Looking for someone she wanted him to meet, she had said. He vaguely wondered who it could be.

It couldn't be Harriet Jones, he thought, as he knew she hadn't arrived yet. And Rose hadn't mentioned anyone she was particularly close to outside of her former, and future, coworkers in Cardiff. All of whom he'd met anyway.

Grabbing a handful of some sort of miniature crabmeat pastries off the tray of a passing waiter, he tossed one in his mouth and looked around. He recognized the parallel version of a famous movie star, whose name escaped him, from Rose's home world. Another familiar face, this one a blonde pop star, was surrounded by young men three deep. There were also the parallel versions of famous writers and musicians, actors and politicians, many of whom he had met in his original universe.

"Doctor?" Rose's voice came from behind him and he turned. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he realized who was with her.

A very petite, very pretty woman stood next to Rose. The full-length, one shoulder glittery red gown she was wearing set off her warm brown eyes and skin, and her hair was pulled up and fastened by a set of hair combs the same color as her dress. She smiled tentatively at him, and a huge grin swept across his face.

"Martha Jones!" he exclaimed in delight.

The parallel Martha glanced sideways at Rose. "Erm," she said helplessly.

"Oh, oh yes. Hello," the Doctor said, thrusting out his hand. "John Smith. And you must be… Martha Jones?"

"Yes," she said, shaking his hand. "I'm Rose's…"

Rose's eyes grew big, and she shook her head slightly at Martha. There was a time and a place to discuss exactly how and why she knew Martha, and this was neither the time nor the place. Thankfully the Doctor didn't notice her gesture, she thought. She hoped.

"She's Mum's doctor," Rose quickly interjected. "And Martha, this is my… my…" She looked at the Doctor, puzzled, not certain how she should refer to him. Boyfriend just didn't sound right in describing the Doctor.

To her surprise, his face broke out into another wide, open mouthed grin. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. "Yep, that about covers it," he said happily.

"What?" Rose asked in confusion.

"I'm yours," he said. "And you're mine."