Notes: Okay, the last of the loose ends are tied up in this final chapter. (I actually wrote the Christmas bit in the middle of a heatwave!)
I have upped the rating as the bedroom scene in the TARDIS, although not explicit, is a bit racy. I think it shows their love for each other, trust of one another and their adventurous nature when it comes to having fun in the bedroom.
Chapter 9
"Commander, we have detected a temporal distortion on the surface, and a source of artron energy has just appeared," the science officer announced.
"Show me." On the main display screen, technical data was displayed about the distortion along with location information.
"Set a course for the planet. Put the ship in a stationary orbit above the energy source. Send out the standard contact message."
"I will obey," the helmsman said.
"I will obey," the communication officer said.
'BIOHAZARD! DO NOT ENTER! BY ORDER OF DIRECTOR P. TYLER', the sign on the door to John's lab read.
"Biohazard? John, what's happened? Is everything alright?" Rose asked, concerned that there had been an accident and that he may have been infected with some alien virus.
"Everything is fine," he smiled. "It's just to keep any nosey parkers from trying to go in and have a look."
John put the two carrier bags of groceries that they had bought from the supermarket into the serving hatch. They contained bananas, tea, sugar, cartons of milk, bread, cooked meats etc.
"That's new," Rose noticed. "I don't remember seeing that before."
A few seconds later she heard the inner hatch open.
"John, there's someone in there."
"I know…. it's me." Rose looked at him open mouthed.
"What do you mean it's you?"
"It's a bit complicated. C'mon, let's go to the restaurant and I'll try to explain."
They sat in the comfy chairs in the beverage area of the Torchwood restaurant with two teas on the low table. Rose had taken EJ out of the carry-sling and was cradling him in her arms.
"Do you remember when you said 'Well we haven't got a TARDIS anymore, we'll just have to take the slow road'?" Rose nodded.
"Well, Pete had said pretty much the same thing earlier and it got me thinking about the chunk of TARDIS that was growing in my lab at home. It won't be ready until the beginning of April, but I wanted you and EJ home now, today."
"Yeah, and here we are. So how'd ya do it? You said you couldn't accelerate it any more."
"That's right I couldn't, so it's still growing in my lab, right now."
"Hang on, isn't that going to cause a paradox if in April, you come back here and rescue me?"
John leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "You are so smart. I love you."
He continued. "I can't and couldn't risk that, so I had to isolate myself from this time line. I will stay in my lab until the TARDIS is ready, not interacting with anyone or anything. That means I can safely go back and rescue you without two realities trying to cancel each other out."
"Oh John, that's brilliant. But that means you are trapped in there for four months! That'll drive you stir crazy."
"You'd think so wouldn't you, but do you know what kept me going? The thought of seeing you two again and having you home for Christmas."
John was still in his blue 'Doctor' suit. She grabbed the lapels and pulled him into a snog. "Mmmmm, I love you so much. To think that you would put yourself through that for us."
"I looked forward to that even more," he breathed.
"So we just bring groceries and put them in the hatch, and you sweat it out until April. Am I allowed to give you little notes or anything?"
"You have to be careful, nothing that gives any information about events external to the lab. Declarations of undying love and how sexy you think I am are fine," he said with a grin. "I shall be keeping me updated on certain issues without jeopardizing the time line."
As they finished their cups of tea, the media screen above the service counters showed the words 'CODE RED', and a gentle bonging noise was coming from the ceiling speakers.
John's phone started playing the theme from the Godfather and he answered it quickly as Rose got EJ back into the sling in front of her.
"Pete, what's up?" Rose watched his face as he listened to her father telling him the situation. He didn't look too worried, more interested if anything.
"Okay, we're on our way up."
"What is it?" she asked him as they headed for the door.
"Saucer shaped craft heading for us from the moon, and we're being hailed."
"Okay, what have we got on the telescopes?" John asked as he walked into the Operations room.
The large HD screen showed a view of space and a saucer shaped craft.
Rose and Jack both gasped. "John, I know that ship," Rose said.
John nodded. "Yeah, so do I. Respond to their hail, let's see who we're dealing with."
The view of space faded and was replaced by the commander of the approaching ship.
"Dear God no!" Pete said with dread.
"We are Dalek, we will speak with the owner of the artron energy equipment," a screechy mechanical voice said. The sidelights of the oversized pepper pot flashed as it spoke; the single eyestalk looked directly at the camera.
"Not in this universe as well," Jack said.
"Have they broken down the walls of the universe again John," Rose asked.
"No, we'd have detected that. Let's not be too hasty here, don't forget we're in a different universe."
He looked up at the screen. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. What can I do for you?"
"We are explorers. We are curious. The technology is not compatible with this planets technology, explain!"
"You are correct, it is not of this world, and neither am I," John said. "I too am an explorer and curious. May I ask you if Davros was your creator?"
"You know of Davros?" the commander asked. "He instigated the Mark III Travel Machine program for the Kaleds; however he was declared clinically insane and was replaced by Keltos, who completed our development. We explore new worlds; we seek out new life and civilisations to share information."
'And boldly go where no one has gone before,' Rose thought to herself with a smile. What was it with this world and it's obsession with quoting Star Trek.
"Then you would have extensive star charts," John said hopefully.
"Affirmative. We will trade information with you."
"Yes!" John said. "Result." He smiled at Rose, his eyes sparkling. "We get up-to-date star charts for the TARDIS, brilliant."
"Can I come aboard your ship with my navigational computer and download the charts directly?"
"That will be acceptable, we will make preparations."
"John, is that safe? I mean, look, they're Daleks," Rose said with concern.
"Yeah, but they are not Davros's Daleks, they are not homicidal maniacs." John suddenly had a thought, if there were Daleks, then what if there were...
"Do your charts tell of a world called Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous?"
"In the early formation of the galaxy, Gallifrey was consumed by the Untempered Schism, an opening in the space/time continuum."
"Ah," John said, obviously disappointed. "That explains why there are no Time Lords around," he said to Rose. She took his hand and squeezed it, trying to give him some comfort.
"Ah well, things to do. I'll go and get my ship and I'll be right over."
John was a prisoner.
He was floating face down in an anti gravity field, his clothing removed and his wrists handcuffed behind his back. He was waiting for his captor to perform some unmentionable torture.
He felt her hands grip his buttocks, her nails digging in ever so gently as she eased her body underneath him and slid up the length of his body, kissing each bit as she went.
He struggled against the restraints, not to escape; he never wanted to escape from this gorgeous woman who was attending to his needs. No, he was struggling because it heightened the sensations he was now experiencing.
It was torture! He couldn't touch her, and she was teasing him by pulling away as he tried to kiss her. She was definitely in control.
Her fingers ran through his hair before making a fist and pulled his face forward into a sensual kiss. He groaned with pleasure as she wrapped her legs around his thighs and hugged his elbows tight into his body, straightening his arms and further restraining him.
They both gasped and cried out as ecstasy wracked their bodies and their linked minds. They just floated there above the bed in their room in the TARDIS, basking in the warm glow of post coital contentment.
His mind drifted back to last week and the visit to the Dalek ship. It had gone well and he had downloaded not only the coordinates of stars and planets, but information on species, societies, cultures, their technologies and their disposition.
The Daleks in this universe had been spared the madness and hatred of Davros, and the desire to rule supreme. Instead they desired to learn new things about their universe, and traded information between worlds, bringing them together into a galactic community.
He was brought out of his musings, when he tried to put his arms around Rose and realised they were still handcuffed behind him.
"You do realise," John breathed into her ear. "That I don't have any keys for these handcuffs."
Rose gave him that tongue in the teeth smile. "I'm sure a smart bloke like you could think of somethin'."
She leaned across and reached out to the bedside table and managed to reach the sonic screwdriver.
"Is it still set on 'unlock'?" she asked him.
"Yeah, should be." She reached her hand up and held the back of his head as she pulled him into another kiss. There was a whistling warbling and the handcuffs clicked open.
"Y'know when you stepped out of the TARDIS and kissed me, and you released me from these handcuffs?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I couldn't wait for you to put 'em back on me," she confided.
"Really? I thought you'd have been scared, what after all that you'd been through."
Rose had talked to her friend Alice Demaggio, the Torchwood counsellor, about her kidnap ordeal, particularly the paralysis bit.
"When you were on that airship, I could feel your terror when I joined minds with you," John told her.
"That was because I didn't know who they were, what they wanted or where they were taking me. I didn't know there were extraterrestrials involved, I thought it was because the family is rich. I thought they had paralysed me so that they could cut off fingers and send them with a ransom demand."
"Oh Rose," he said pulling her into a protective hug. "I had no idea. No wonder you were terrified."
"But then my shining knight found a way to contact and reassure me. You helped me to keep it together and get through it. And then you did the impossible, like you usually do and rescued me in a TARDIS of all things." She kissed his chest.
"So yeah, I'm fine with being your prisoner, because I love you, and trust you, and know that you would never do anythin' to hurt me."
"Well in that case Rose Tyler, my prisoner, put your hands behind your back," he told her, waggling his eyebrows.
Rose smiled at him and did as she was told. He kissed her gently on the lips as the handcuffs clicked firmly in place.
"Now then prisoner Tyler, you are charged with being stubborn," he said as he kissed her neck.
"Uh-huh," she breathed, slowly writhing her body under him.
"Being insubordinate." He nibbled her ear which made her groan.
"Uh-huh."
"And being far too clever for your own good. How do you plead?"
"Guilty as charged," she purred into his ear.
"Then I have no option than to pass judgement and administer punishment." He quickly tickled her in the ribs and she squealed with laughter. She tried to resist, but with her hands secured behind her she couldn't defend herself.
"Haven't the Shadow Proclamation got rules about torturin' prisoners?" she asked between fits of giggles.
"That they do! And I expect to feel the full weight of their justice when I've finished with you." He kissed her passionately and proceeded to show her how much he loved her (which was very much indeed, if the noises she made were anything to go by).
It was 07:00 Christmas morning, and Eyulf Smith was in his crib in the nursery, having a lie in. Rose's eyes slowly flickered open and she was looking into the sparkling brown eyes of her husband.
"Hello," he said, almost giggling.
"Hello." She smiled lovingly at him. He was so cute when he was excited.
"Merry Christmas," he said with another giggle.
"Merry Christmas love," Rose said as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Ooh, you're awake are ya? Merry Christmas to you both," Donna-the-house said.
"Thanks Donna," they said. "Merry Christmas."
John reached down his side of the bed and reached for a bag of presents for Rose.
"Oh thank you," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him.
"And here's yours," she said as she reached down her side of the bed.
"Thanks love." He returned the kiss.
Rose unwrapped her first present, which was 'To Mummy from EJ'. It was a silver locket that when opened, projected small holographic 'heads' of John and Eyulf.
The first present John opened was a gift box with a gift voucher for an adventure experience. He could pick from a number of different activities.
Rose had a similar voucher for a spa weekend where she could be pampered and treated like royalty. On the card, John had written that he and EJ would have a father son weekend while she was spoilt rotten.
'To Daddy from EJ', was a rectangular box. When he unwrapped it he had tears stinging his eyes. It was a police box filled with his favourite banana flavoured toffees.
Rose decided not to tell him about what happened after she bought it, she thought it might tarnish the gift.
Rose's next present was quite unusual and John had worked on it for months while he was in quarantine. It was a card with a kind of tattoo transfer on a plastic sheet.
The transfer was her name in Gallifreyan, and looked like a fancy, swirly tattoo.
"This looks interesting," she said to him, examining the pattern.
"Where would you like it?" he asked her, excited to show her how it worked. "You can take it off and put it on as many times as you like."
"On my hip for now then," she said with a saucy smile.
"Good choice." He positioned the plastic sheet at the top of her thigh and smoothed it down firmly. He then peeled the plastic sheet off.
"John, that looks so real. It's fantastic."
"In more ways than you imagine," he said mysteriously. "The tattoo is made up of millions of nanite circuits that link together to form a transponder."
"Nanites? Are they like the nanogenes on that Chula ship?"
"Yeah, similar. After you went missing and we were looking for you, I would have loved to have had a gadget that could have told me where you were. I thought about jewellery, but that could be taken off you like they took your phone."
He leaned over and kissed her thigh. "With this, who would think that a tattoo was a tracking device? It remains dormant until it receives a coded signal, or until you smack it three times in a row."
Rose took his face in her hands and gently and slowly kissed him on the lips.
"That is the sweetest, most thoughtful gift I have ever received. I love it, I feel so much safer already, and I'm only lyin' in bed. You must get Dad to produce these for the rest of the agents."
Just then, Eyulf Jackson Smith decided it was time to wake up and celebrate Christmas with his parents. They got out of bed, put on their dressing gowns and went into the nursery to fetch him.
After his breakfast, they started to open his presents. He didn't really know what was going on, but it was good fun ripping wrapping paper off the boxes.
He received lots of plastic toy cars, an airship, a boat and a train with circular track. His big present was an activity bouncing chair, where he could watch TV, press various buttons and knobs to make amusing noises, all while jumping up and down on the spot.
"Merry Christmas," Jackie said as Rose and John entered the lounge of Tyler mansion.
"Merry Christmas Mum. We've got some presents for you here." Rose handed her a large red carrier with Santa and reindeers on it as they kissed.
"Oh you shouldn't have sweetheart, but thank you very much. Your presents are under the tree. Let's have a cuddle then," she said as she held her hands out for her grandson.
Tony was on the floor playing with action figures from the latest blockbuster sci fi movie. After giving Jackie a peck on the cheek, John rummaged through the bags and found Tony's presents.
They were, a spaceship used by the main hero in the movie which his action figure could sit in and fire plastic missiles, and some of the robots that helped save the day.
The lounge room door opened and Jack Harkness breezed in.
"Merry Christmas guys, how's it going?" Everyone exchanged season's greetings before sitting down and exchanging gifts. Pete then popped back into the kitchen to keep an eye on the lunch.
The house staff were off for the week to enjoy the holiday with their own families and friends, but the cook had popped in yesterday to prepared the lunch for them, all he had to do was put a light under it.
Rose went to find her Dad, who was wearing a comedy apron which made him look like he was wearing stockings and suspenders. Rose gave a laugh at the sight of him.
"John's told you about his lab at Torchwood?"
Pete nodded. "Yeah, it's all a bit too weird for me," he told her with a smirk.
"Well, y'know when you serve up lunch, could you serve an extra place for Him?"
Pete knew what she meant and gave her a warm smile. "Of course sweetheart, it's the least I can do." He took some of the turkey and the vegetables and put them in a bowl.
"While you're here, how'd ya like to puree that for EJ? The blender's over there by the grill."
The table in the dining room had been laid with a festive tablecloth and Christmas crackers for each of the guests, and everyone helped to bring through the trays and bowls of hot food. EJ was sat in his high chair, playing with his colourful plastic spoon and using it like a drumstick.
They sat down and started passing around the vegetables, chatting and laughing and having a thoroughly enjoyable family Christmas. They pulled their crackers and put on the paper hats.
Rose looked at John and remembered the Christmas at her Mom's on the Powell estate, when he had first changed into his new body. John saw her looking at him with that faraway look in her eye and sensed what she was thinking.
He lifted his eyes towards the hat and looked back at her and gave her a smile and a wink.
John opened the serving hatch outside his lab and Rose placed the insulated bag inside. She put two envelopes on top and a paper party hat. John placed a can of beer and an envelope of his own on the bag and closed the hatch.
"Merry Christmas," Rose said quietly to the closed door. "This is so sad."
"No, no it isn't really," John told her. "Although those Christmas cards brought a tear to my eye. I was happy because it meant my plan had worked, you were safe and we got to enjoy Christmas together."
Rose gently stroked the door to his lab and then, hand in hand they walked away to return to the mansion and their family Christmas.
The inner hatch door clicked open.
The working space of his lab was quite messy, with bits of equipment, circuits and components spread over various work surfaces. The living space on the other hand was fairly tidy.
He had made the bed, cups and plates were washed and on the draining board, and the table was clear. The TV was on the movie channel playing 'It's A Wonderful Life', which John loved because of the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey-ness of it.
He took the insulated bag out of the hatch and placed it on the table, unzipping it and taking out a plate with a lid on it. It was his Christmas lunch and there was a plastic tub with some gravy.
"Mmmm, lovely."
He put it in the microwave to heat it up and then sat down to eat. He put on the paper hat with a smile, 'that'll be Rose's idea', he thought to himself. He found a glass and poured the can of beer. While he was eating he opened the first of the envelopes.
It was a Christmas card, 'To My Husband', it read. Inside he read the words that Rose had written.
'To my husband, my mirror man, my lover, my hero, my knight in shining armour, my magician who performs miracles. Thank you. I love you so much. Merry Christmas, love, Rose.'
He blinked back the tears, carried on eating and opened the smaller card.
'To Daddy, the best Daddy in the universe. I love you. Merry Christmas, love, EJ.' This time he wiped away a tear that had sneaked out and rolled down his cheek.
He finished his meal and heated the Christmas pudding with brandy sauce and opened the last envelope, which had his name on it written in Gallifreyan, it was a letter to himself. It contained careful information about his future that he needed to know that would keep the timeline safe and prevent any paradox from occurring.
'Hello Me,
It worked! (Well obviously as I'm writing this letter). There are a few things you need to be aware of.
1. When the TARDIS is ready, the first thing you should do his have a shower and brush your teeth because Rose will be up for a fantastic snog.
2. Rose will be handcuffed, so you'll need something to open them with.
3. Her handmaiden took an oath to protect EJ with her life, so he's safe. You can focus on the bridge crew, although Rose pretty much takes care of that. Make sure you watch, she is awesome and I am so proud of her.
4. We have some old friends turn up, you know, the ones with the irritating screechy voices. All I can say is 'don't panic!', this is an alternate universe.
5. It's started to snow Merry Christmas."
John finished his pudding and ate one of the mince pies. He raised his glass of beer in salute and thought about his friend Charles Dickens and his seminal work on Christmas.
"God bless us, every one," he quoted and drank a toast to his family.
The End.