As the lights of London began to appear below them, Jackie came bustling into the room. "Alright you two, pilot says we should be landing in a few minutes!" She then started punching numbers on her mobile and left the room just as abruptly.

The remainder of their ride home had been spent mostly in silence, both of them too weary of any further discussion regarding the Time Lord. The Doctor had simply continued holding Rose in his arms as she closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep again. He knew she wasn't and she had a feeling he was aware of it, but keeping up the charade gave them both some time to retreat into the safety of their own minds for a while.

Upon their arrival, Jackie all but jumped off the zeppelin before it had properly docked. Pete was waiting for them. As the Doctor and Rose descended the stairs, he looked on in amusement as Rose's mother ran to her husband and nearly knocked him over. When she proceeded to snog Pete Tyler however, he had to look away, clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck.

Rose stood quietly, clutching his hand. When Pete managed to extricate himself from Jackie's grasp, he approached them, smiling warmly.

"Rose, sweetheart, I'm so glad you're back! " He hugged his daughter (for that is what she had become over the years) and then turned to face the man beside her.

"Well, I must say, it's good to see you again Doctor."

"Pete Tyler! Good to see you too! And thanks for the ride! That would have been a long walk…weeeell, swim…weeeell, walk and swim!"

Pete chuckled and looked up at his zeppelin. "Right. I'm afraid it must have been terribly boring compared to your TARDIS, but she gets the job done, if a little slowly."

"A little?! I could probably run faster than that thing flies!" interjected Jackie, coming up to where they stood, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "Well come on then, it's getting late and I want to get home to my little boy! You two can talk about your toys on the ride home, yeah?"

"Of course sweetheart," replied Pete already being hauled off by his wife. He turned back to the Doctor and Rose and rolled his eyes, good naturedly.

The car trip through London was spent listening to Jackie mostly. As she alternated between bombarding Pete with questions about Tony (Did he eat all his dinner? Had he had a bath before going to bed?) and telling him about "those bloody salt shakers," the Doctor and Rose sat silently in the back seat.

Feeling like he was back in the cab on the way to Bergen, the Doctor looked over at Rose, giving her hand a squeeze.

In response she turned away from the window she'd been looking out and scooted a bit closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Sensing his frustration, Rose looked up and gave him a small smile. "Thank you for worrying about me… I know I'm not the easiest person to put up with right now." She squeezed his hand in return and snuggled into him, hugging his arm.

Relaxing a bit, the Doctor rested his head against hers. "Nonsense, Rose Tyler."

Not too much later, the car pulled into Pete Tyler's estate. Unable to return to the home he had shared with his original Jackie, Pete purchased a new mansion in a different part of London. Jackie had been secretly relieved and so had Rose, as that house had held some unpleasant memories for her as well.

As they were walking in, the Doctor gave a low whistle as he took in his surroundings.

"Pete really has done quite well for himself, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Mum loves living in a mansion, she has taken to this new lifestyle quite well as you can imagine, " replied Rose, a smirk on her face as she glanced over at her mother, already disappearing down a hall towards Tony's room. Pete followed.

"What about you? Do you like it here? This is quite a change from the Powell Estates."

Rose had started walking down a different hallway, tugging him along.

"Yes, it is. I don't actually live here though. I mean, I stayed a while when we first arrived… couple of months. But then I got my own flat closer to Torchwood, it was easier that way."

They were in the kitchen now and Rose put on a kettle. "Would you hand me two mugs? They're in that cupboard, there."

The Doctor handed her the mugs and went off in search of biscuits. Rose glanced over her shoulder and smiled, knowing exactly what he was looking for. "They're in that one, over there Doctor." They had done this countless times on the TARDIS, usually after a particularly dangerous adventure. It helped Rose calm her mind and the Doctor quite enjoyed the routine, as domestic as it was.

A few minutes later they sat down, mugs steaming, and a platter of biscuits half gone already, thanks to him. He watched her blow on her tea for a bit before taking a sip. She closed her eyes, some of the tension in her shoulders seemingly gone already.

"So… Torchwood." He tried to keep his tone light.

Rose was no fool.

With a sigh, she put her mug down and fixed him with a look that warned him he should tread carefully. "Yes, Torchwood. I work there now. I have for a few years, actually. I had just started when we last spoke, on the beach."

"Yes, right… I remember."

"It's different here, you know. Pete is in charge now. "

The Doctor tried to keep his tone neutral. He didn't like the idea of Torchwood, regardless of who ran it, but he didn't want to anger Rose right now.

"So… what do you do?"

"I'm a field agent, mostly. I help Pete with some other things here and there, but I'm most valuable in the field. I've been able to help identify several species of aliens and technology we've come in contact with, so I go on a lot of missions, facilitate diplomacy and all that."

Pride filled him and quite unexpectedly his face broke into one of his mile wide grins. "Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth indeed."

That earned him one of his favorite smiles back, complete with tongue poke and all.

"I went back for my A-levels, you know. Then I decided to study physics at the Uni. Can you imagine? Me back in school! Mum was chuffed!"

"Not surprising in the least, I always said you were brilliant!"

Blushing a bit, Rose couldn't help smiling. She was quite proud of herself. Before meeting the Doctor, she would have been content working at the shop for who knows how long. She'd never have guessed she would have it in her but getting back to him had been a powerful motivator. She had even surprised herself with how she had excelled in her studies.

"Yeah well, it certainly was helpful working at Torchwood. Particularly when it came to building the dimension canon. We had to make quite a few changes to the original dimension jumpers."

"It still ripped the fabric of time, Rose… you could have died. The whole of reality-"

"I know Doctor, I know… but what did you expect me to do? Just sit and watch as the stars went out, knowing what that probably meant for Earth? We had to try. Besides… it meant a chance at finding you. I couldn't just let that go!"

Her eyes silently pleaded with him to drop it. Rose was so exhausted, she just couldn't handle having a row with him right now. She knew eventually they would have to hash this all out, but right now she just wanted to unwind a bit and go to bed.

Sensing this, he swallowed down his retort. The silence that followed became awkward and not trusting himself to not say something he would regret, the Doctor decided he needed to keep his gob otherwise occupied. He shoved a biscuit in his mouth. And then another. And another.

Draining the last of her tea, Rose cleared the table and said, "Well, I'm knackered… time for bed. Come on, let me show you to a guest room. I'm sure we can get some of Pete's jimjams to sleep in until we get you some of your own."

The Doctor got up and followed Rose out of the kitchen, up the grand staircase, and over into one of the side wings of the mansion. There was a door ajar, light spilling out into the hallway they had started down. Rose opened it and stepped inside, revealing a comfortable looking room, bed turned down and a pair of stripped pajamas folded neatly at the foot.

"Looks like mum already got things situated for you, "she said as she walked over to the ensuite, turning on the light. A moment later she came back out. "Right, you've got a toothbrush and some toiletries, towels and such. Tomorrow while we're out shopping we'll stop by the chemist and get you whatever else you need."

"Shopping?" The Doctor looked alarmed.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yes Doctor, shopping. You can't very well run around in that one suit forever, you need clothes! "

Affronted, the Doctor looked down at his suit and then back at Rose. "What's wrong with what I've got on now?"

"Well, aside from the fact that it will eventually start to stink and fall off of you?"

Taking out his sonic screwdriver (good thing he always kept a spare in this suit!) he flipped it in the air and as he caught it winked at Rose, "No need to worry! Have you forgotten Rose? Setting number eight hundred and three, self-cleaning, works on all fabrics! For shame, I thought you'd remember that since it saved that pink jumper of yours once. Covered in Uxtergalean slime, it was!"

Rose sighed, she had anticipated he might be difficult about this. "Yes Doctor, that's all good and well, but how many times did the TARDIS have to provide you with a new suit when you couldn't clean or repair it with the sonic?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply but then shut it. She was right. His other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of coral. He stood there, head down, silently staring at it as he gently turned it around and around in his palm.

Rose felt awful reminding him of things like that, but he had to be practical. Approaching him, she placed her hand on his forearm.

"Hey, it won't be so bad… I'm sure we can find you some similar suits. Besides, Donna said you'd be able to grow her quickly now, right? So this will only be a temporary thing until she's ready and can replicate your clothes!"

The Doctor looked up at her, uncertainty in his eyes. "It could be a while though, Rose… I'll need the right materials and equipment, a place for her to grow… it will be possible, but by no means easy." He looked out the window and sighed. "It may be some time yet before we're back out amongst the stars… I'm sorry."

Wrapping her arms around his waist, Rose rested her head on his chest and replied, "Its ok, we've got time, Doctor. Besides, I bet you will be able to find some of what you need at Torchwood. We'll make it work."

Tucking both his sonic and the coral back into his pockets, the Doctor returned Rose's embrace. They stood there quietly for a moment before he asked, "Where will you sleep tonight, Rose? I- I mean, where is your room?" He hoped she hadn't misconstrued his meaning. He knew neither of them was quite ready for that… not yet, anyway.

Grinning against his chest, Rose took a moment before replying.

"Right next door, actually. The ensuite connects both our rooms. I'm surprised mum didn't put you in a guest room clear across the mansion in the opposite wing! Guess there's no point, really, I'm sure she knows you'll be coming back with me to my flat."

The Doctor's mouth went dry.

"I- I am?"

She pulled away and looked up at him, uncertain herself now.

"Well… I- I mean, you don't have to. I just figured we'd... Or not, you can stay here if you like." Quickly she turned away and walked over to the window, her arms crossed, face hot. Why had she assumed?

The Doctor came up behind her and she felt his hands come to rest lightly on her waist.

"Rose, I wasn't sure you'd want me there… I didn't mean that I don't want to go," he said softly in her ear.

Unbidden, Rose's stomach fluttered.

She turned around and put her hand over his heart once more. Was it her imagination or was it really beating that fast? She still couldn't quite meet his gaze. "Right... Well, we better get some rest, it's been a long day…"

The Doctor pulled her in for a quick hug and brushed his lips along her temple. "Of course, goodnight Rose."

After retreating to her bedroom Rose sat on her bed, head in her hands. His was not the only heart that was pounding.