a/n: There will be one more chapter which I hope to post in a day or two, and then an epilogue which I plan on posting the next day.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

All successful entrepreneurs are storytellers. Either through necessity, innate ability or perhaps a little bit of both, they must become experts at communicating a vision of their products to their potential investors and customers if they want their businesses to survive.

As it turned out, Pete Tyler was particularly gifted at storytelling. And the same talent that had earned him millions selling Vitex was currently at work weaving the tale of his adventures with the Doctor at Number 10.

Due to the efforts of Owen and Martha, and more than a little help from the Doctor and his sonic, Jake was doing much better, so they were all seated around his bed in the Torchwood infirmary. So she'd be better able to monitor Jake's vitals without disturbing anyone, Martha sat at the head of the bed. Pete was opposite her and the members of the Cardiff branch were spread out along either side. Lisa was there too, sitting next to Ianto and clutching his hand tightly. At first she had been hesitant to join them, nervous about the reception she'd receive now that she remembered many of the things she had done both before she had been joined with the Kern and afterwards. Pete, however, had insisted. He was taking her computer work with Tosh, the same work that had effectively ended Brian Greene's presidency, as an indication that she wanted to make up for her role in the Kern mess, and he was willing to allow her greater freedom because of it.

Rose sat at the foot of the bed with an empty chair for the Doctor sitting next to hers. When he and Pete had gotten back to Torchwood Four, he had scanned her several times with his sonic as if to assure himself she truly was okay and not suffering any aftereffects of the Kern attack or the drug Collins had given her. Once he was certain she was alright, he then had taken off for other parts of the facility to tie up loose ends and had insisted that she remain in the infirmary until he returned. She had reluctantly agreed, if only because she hadn't wanted to argue with him in front of everyone else.

"So after Frobisher was sworn in," Pete said, "the Doctor figured out Margaret Blaine was one of them too, and he took off down the hall to look for her. I tried to catch up with him, but he was way too quick for me and I lost track of him. I looked all over and finally found him in the ballroom. There he was, his alien detector in his hand, scanning everyone in the place. Now just picture it, here we are at a formal reception for the heads of state of the European Alliance, everyone decked out in their finest, and here he is, wandering around in his black leather jacket and jeans waving this squealing, blinking box at people..."

"This way, Pete," the Doctor yelled over the noise of the party. He led the way through the crush and out of the room.

Once out in the hall he stopped short, and Pete, who had been struggling to keep up, plowed right into him. The Doctor didn't seem to notice. He was busy scanning the area with the alien detector, staring at the pattern of flashing lights on his display.

He abruptly turned left and started down the hall, then turned down several corridors and through a wide door which they immediately discovered was the entrance to the kitchen.

The Doctor shook his head.

"Such a cliché," the Doctor said over the voices of chefs and waiters, the hum of the burners on the wide cookers, and the sounds of clanking pots and pans. "Of course she would have gone through the kitchen."

He wound his way through the crowded, narrow room to a door on the far end which Pete thought undoubtedly led outside.

But it didn't. Instead it led to a large pantry. After a moment, they found the congresswoman crouching in the corner, trying to hide behind a shelf containing bags of assorted types of flour and rice.

As they approached her, the Doctor's mobile began to ring.

He tried to ignore it, but the ringing continued.

"This is why I don't want a mobile!" he exclaimed.

With a huff of exasperation, he pulled it out of his pocket.

"Hello," he said.

A woman's shrill voice came over the receiver.

"Aren't you done savin' the world yet?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and handed the phone to Pete. "It's for you," he said.

In the infirmary, the others burst out laughing.

"Turns out UNIT troops had shown up at the Doctor and Rose's house, Jackie, Tony and Gwen had hidden in the woods in the Doctor's new TARDIS, and Gwen was in labor. We tracked down General Bambera, and she told us that she had already had UNIT withdraw. After I told Jacks that, she rang off. I don't know what happened after that."

"I got a call from Mum a little bit ago," Rose said. "She ran back and got the SUV, and then she and Tony took Gwen to A & E. Rhys met them there right after that, but as far as I know she hasn't had the baby yet."

"Incredible," Jake said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm kidnapped for one day, and I miss out on all the fun." He paused a moment. "By the way, Rose, I've been meaning to ask you, what's with the hair?"

Her hand flew up to touch it. "Oh, I had forgotten about that," she said. "We were trying to sneak across the border, and I needed to look different."

"So it was for a disguise?" he asked. "Huh. And here I just figured ginger hair was one of the Doctor's kinks."

As everyone laughed, Rose winked at him. "I didn't say it wasn't."

As she was speaking the Doctor walked in, and at seeing him everyone laughed harder.

He sat down in the empty chair next to Rose and gave her a puzzled look. He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear.

"I think I missed the joke."

She took his hand and squeezed it. "Tell you later," she promised.

"Getting back to Jackie," Pete said. "She and Tony are going to stay in Cardiff for a bit. Oh, they won't be staying with the two of you," he added at the stricken look on the Doctor's face. "I'll have them stay at the flat you two were living in when you first got there. When the UNIT troops searched the mansion, they left a bit of a mess. Curtains were ripped, furniture was broken, parts of the walls and ceilings were ripped out in some of the rooms… I don't want Jacks and Tony to see it like that. I'll have them come back once the repairs are finished. I'll have to stay here to get Torchwood back into shape and supervise the repairs. And deal with the rest of this mess with the Kern."

"I managed to get the Kern out of Harrison, Margaret and the guard from the archives," the Doctor said when he was finished.

"Are they alright?" Lisa asked quietly.

The Doctor shook his head. "No," he said. "Telepathically, they weren't as strong as you are. Joining crushed them mentally, and they'll need to be in a care facility, possibly for the rest of their lives."

"We moved Sean Callahan to one a few weeks ago," Pete told him. "We'll put them in the same one."

"We'll also have to locate everyone else that was joined," the Doctor said, addressing Lisa. "The unbonded Kern told me that seven of them had died, but they lied to me. We need to account for every single one, otherwise this could happen all over again."

"I'm remembering more and more," Lisa said. "There were only twenty-four to begin with. And I know the names of a couple of others who were with the GBF who Harrison had mentioned he wanted to be hosts."

"There were nineteen in the battery when I was attacked," Rose interjected.

The Doctor looked sharply at her, an expression that was quickly replaced with worry for her. "Are you certain? Are you absolutely certain there were nineteen?"

She nodded. "I could hear them all individually in my mind. There were nineteen."

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "That should be all of them then. Nineteen plus the one in the computer that died and the ones in Collins, Keeling, Margaret and the guard from Archives. I don't know what his name is."

Rose could tell it was bothering him that he didn't know the guard's name.

"Phil," she told him, rubbing her thumb across the back of his in a comforting manner. "His name is Phil Peterson."

"So John Frobisher is president now," Jake said after a moment, interrupting the somber mood.

"Yeah." Pete chuckled. "Who would have thought? Greene had only chosen him because he knew he would be a pushover and not stand up to him on policy making. No one ever expected him to be president. But he probably won't be president long. Since Greene's election was so recent, there are a lot of members of Congress clamoring for a new election. If they get it, Harriet Jones will be a shoe in. No one will vote for anyone associated with the Greene administration, not after everything that has happened. Although I have to say one thing for Frobisher. One of the first things he did was lift the curfews and shut down the checkpoints. He also rescinded the warrants out on all of us."

"Thank God someone thought to do that," Owen said. Rose noticed he was sitting suspiciously close to Toshiko, and for once had gone several hours without making a crude or insulting remark. Perhaps their earlier flirting had affected him, she thought.

"Maybe the country will get back to normal soon," Ianto said.

Owen snorted. "Let's hope it gets better than that."

The sound of Toshiko's phone chiming interrupted him. She pulled it out of her pocket and read the text. "It's from Rhys," she said. "Gwen had her baby. It's a little girl. They're naming her Anwen."

Rose half expected the Doctor to jump in and say something about the etymology of the name, followed perhaps by a short, or long, lecture on famous Anwens in history, but he didn't. Instead he sat back and listened as the others began to share their own experiences of the past weeks, an unreadable expression on his face, and Rose resolved again to talk to him once they got back home.

Jake turned and faced Martha, who had begun checking his vitals again. "So, Doc, when do you think I'll be able to get out of this bed and get back to Glasgow?"

"Torchwood Two blew up, Jake," Pete said before she could reply.

Jake stared at him in shock.

"In fact," Rose said, "for a while we thought you were caught in the explosion. They discovered a body and we thought it was yours."

"It wasn't Audrey, was it?" Jake worried.

"Audrey was the one who told the police it might be you," Ianto said. "But since it wasn't, we don't know who it was."

Jake anxiously ran a hand through his short-cropped hair. "Oh, God, I hope it wasn't Martin."

"Who's Martin?" Rose asked.

"Martin Douglas, the only other staff member up there," Jake said. "I sent him out to check on some suspicious lights, what, couple of days ago? He shouldn't have been back yet, but maybe he got back early." He slammed fist onto the bed. "Damn!"

"This is all my fault," Lisa said hollowly. "If I hadn't linked with the Kern first, none of this would have happened. So many people have died, and it's all my fault."

"No one blames you," Ianto said.

"If they don't, they should," she told him. "I cooperated with them. I helped them. And I hurt you, Rose," she continued, turning towards her. "And I'm so sorry."

"When you agreed to join them, you made a mistake," Rose said. "A big one. But I felt what it was like to have the Kern inside my head. You wouldn't have been able to say no, not even if you wanted to. In fact, you were lucky to have survived."

"Lisa, listen to me," the Doctor said quietly but firmly, in a tone that broached no argument. "This wasn't your fault. In a way it wasn't even the Kern's. They had lost their planet, and they were just trying to do what they could to survive. They were acting on instinct; they didn't understand that they couldn't form a real joining with humans without crushing them, that they really couldn't survive here."

"And if they hadn't lost their planet, they wouldn't even have come here," Rose added.

And as the others fell silent, thinking about all the people who had lost their lives, the Doctor sat back and crossed his arms in front of his chest, a haunted expression on his face.

~oOo~

Pete made arrangements for a car and driver to bring them home. He had made the same offer to the others, but Ianto had elected to stay behind with Lisa while she made the transition back to a normal life. Owen, to everyone's shock, had offered to drive Ianto's sister's minivan back to her and, what was less of a surprise, Toshiko had decided to go with him.

Rose's stepfather had insisted they all leave the mop up of the rest of the Kern situation with him, including rounding up the rest of the members of the GBF and finding the people who had kidnapped Jake. Since all the Kern had been accounted for, the Doctor had readily agreed, wanting Rose to be home as soon as possible. Rose hadn't objected either, being too tired to muster a protest.

They arrived at the farmhouse just as the sun was rising. Despite having slept in the car, they were still exhausted when they arrived. Once in the house, they immediately climbed the stairs to their bedroom, barely noticing that the damage that had occurred at the mansion hadn't happened in their own home.

They fell into bed, only taking the time to strip down to their t-shirts and underpants. Rose hadn't even bothered to remove her tee in order to take off her bra, instead taking it off a way most girls quickly learn how to do once they begin wearing them, by unfastening it under her shirt and working it off through her sleeves. It was a testament to how tired the Doctor was that he didn't even object to not being able to see her without her top.

Hours later, Rose awoke to find the Doctor gone and his side of the bed cold. She twisted to look at the clock on her bedside table. Half nine. Only a little over four hours since they had gotten home.

It distantly occurred to her that with Ianto gone again and Gwen in hospital with a new baby, Torchwood Three was down to three staff members, and Owen and Toshiko were probably not even back from London yet. She ought to head in to work.

But no. Just… no. Cardiff could just sod off for a couple of days.

She rolled over to lay on her back, wondering if she should try to get back to sleep. But the Doctor was already up, and she was wide awake. Might as well get up herself even if she wasn't going in to work.

When she got out of bed and walked to the en suite, she noticed how stiff her muscles were. Undoubtedly because of sleeping in a car for hours. And probably because of landing on the floor after protecting herself from the Kern attack.

She took a long, hot shower to clean up and loosen her muscles, trying not to think of the sight of Frank Collins lying dead on the floor. He hadn't been the first person she had killed, and as part of Torchwood undoubtedly wouldn't be the last, but she had known him. He had been a friend of the family. But he had been joined, and the Doctor had implied that Frank was all but dead when they had been tied up.

But still. He was dead. And she had killed him.

Later, clean and dressed, she headed downstairs. The house was quiet. A note from her mother lay on the center of the kitchen table.

Took Tony into town to do some shopping and get settled in the flat.

Don't forget—you need to do some shopping, too. You don't have any food in the house.

Ring me when you read this.

She snorted. Like that was going to happen. It took forever to get her mother off the phone. She'd talk to her later.

She made some tea and filled up two mugs. Then she went in search of the Doctor. She didn't have to look long. He was sitting on the back stoop, back hunched over, elbows on knees, chin resting on his hands. He had showered and shaved and changed into his blue suit from the TARDIS, his default when something was bothering him. As she handed him one of the mugs and sat down beside him, she noticed he had circles under his eyes, and she wondered just how much he had actually slept.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, sipping their tea.

"We need to go over to the Hub," he said eventually, breaking the silence.

"Why?" she asked. Now that the mystery was solved and the problems in the country had been sorted for the time being, she realized she had really been hoping for a little down time with him today.

"I want to examine you again."

"You did that last night," she protested.

He put down his mug and turned to face her.

"Rose, you almost died last night," he said soberly. "You collapsed. Your heartbeat was erratic and you had stopped breathing. That alone is enough of a reason to examine you, but you were able to use the artron energy in your system to ward off a Kern attack. Somehow your body learned how to control it. And recently, because you weren't able to do that when I first got here. I need to figure out how and why, and Owen's got some specialized equipment in the Hub that Torchwood Four doesn't have and that I don't have here."

"You don't need to examine me for that," she said.

"Yes I do," he insisted. "Not only that, when I scanned you last night, your artron level was extremely low. You have no idea how dangerous that is for you. Your body has developed a dependence on the artron, and such a huge drop all at once could be dangerous for you. You're alright now, but if it happened again before your body adjusted to the new level, it could kill you."

Her conversation with Martha crossed her mind. She hadn't intended to talk to him about this quite yet, unexpectedly and before breakfast, but now was as good a time as any she supposed. She took a deep breath.

"I'll be fine," she said. "I know how to control it. I taught myself how."

"You did?" he asked in disbelief. "How? Why?"

"By giving it to the TARDIS," she said.

He stared at her for a moment, puzzled, and then his jaw dropped as what she said registered.

"You did what?" he demanded.

"I gave it to the TARDIS," she said again. At the look of shock on his face, she continued. "I know you told me not to, but I wanted her to grow faster. She responded so well the first time I gave her energy that I decided to keep on doing it."

"Rose," he sputtered, "I can't believe you did that! That was so stupid! I told you it was a risk. Are you so anxious to travel again that you would put your life at risk?"

"No," she said calmly. "But I didn't do it for me. I did it for you."

"What?"

"I did it so you could travel sooner," she explained. "There's been something wrong for weeks, and I know how hard being grounded has been for you. I was very careful not to let her take too much at any one time, and I got good at being able to control it. If we hadn't had to face the Kern, I would have been fine. "

Running his hands through his hair, he stared at her in horror.

"You risked your life so that I could travel sooner?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"Oh, Rose," he said, shaking his head. "I am not worth risking your life for, and particularly not like this." He dragged his hands over his face. "You've done this time and again, so many times I've lost count. And that's not even including when you used the dimension cannon. I am not worth it."

"Yes, you are."

He scoffed. "If you only knew…. If you had any idea…." He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head into his hands.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Rose, this business with the Kern, it was my fault," he told her. "If they hadn't come here, no one would have died."

"Doctor, we talked about this last night with Lisa," Rose said. "They wouldn't have come if they hadn't lost their planet."

"And that's why it's my fault," he said. "They wouldn't have lost their planet if it weren't for me."