Chapter 12

Doctor's diary.

Entry Date: Sunday, 5th August, 2018.

'Four years ago, Rose said 'I do', and there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about the supreme sacrifice that my original self made so that Rose could have a fantastic life. I see it as my duty to honour that sacrifice by doing everything in my power to make her happy.'

'We have spent the weekend at the tree house here on Paradise, but Rose is feeling fat and pregnant (in that order apparently). So, I decided to try and make her feel sexy and pregnant. A fourth wedding anniversary is flowers or fruit, so I lay her on a rose petal covered bed and covered her in sliced banana, which I proceeded to nibble off her. (Am I supposed to write this kind of thing in a diary? It sounds a bit personal and private, even for a diary)'

'Friday evening, Jack invited us to dinner at his flat. Unknown to us, he had an ulterior motive, the sly old devil….'

Rose's diary.

Entry Date: Sunday, 5th August, 2018.

'I'm fat! I know I'm five months pregnant, but I'm fat. I think I've had too many Christmas puddings. John says that I'm sexy when I'm pregnant, something to do with the hormones apparently. I just think I'm fat.'

'He did something really sweet to make me feel sexy though. He covered the bed with rose petals for me to lie on and then sliced some bananas. Well, let's just say he enjoyed eating bananas, and I enjoyed licking chocolate sauce afterwards.'

'Oh, and Jack! What a dark horse he is….'

Torchwood One, London.

Friday 3rd August 2018.

Jack followed John out of the locker room as they headed for the morning briefing in the Special Operations Unit. Rose was just coming out of the female locker room with Gwen and Julia.

"Hey, John, Rose, wait up," he called.

They both turned to look at him. "Whassup?" Rose said.

Jack handed her a card. "Happy anniversary on Sunday," he said with a grin.

"Oh thank you," Rose said, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek.

"Have you got any plans for this evening?" he asked.

"Nothing special. It's my turn to cook," John said.

"Oh, well, let me invite you both to dinner and I'll cook Italian."

John and Rose looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, okay. I'll ask Mum to baby-sit EJ," Rose said.

"You'll do no such thing," Jack replied. "Bring him along; he can have meatballs and spaghetti."

Rose laughed. "You haven't seen Eyulf eat spaghetti, have you? You get to clean up the mess."

Jack grinned. "It's a deal. I can hardly wait. 19.00 okay for you," he said using Torchwood style 24 hour clock.

Rose playfully rolled her eyes. "Seven o'clock will be fine."

'Bing-bong'. John pressed the button on the bell to Jack's flat.

"Coming," they heard him call from inside, and a few seconds later the door opened on a Jack Harkness with pecs, a six pack, and a fig leaf to spare Rose's blushes.

EJ pointed at his novelty apron and giggled. "Unca Jack, you're funny."

"Well, thank you for noticing," he said with a grin, inviting them in with a sweep of his arm. John handed over a bottle of wine, and Rose gave him a peck on the cheek. Jack ruffled EJ's hair as he went past.

"Make yourselves comfortable in the lounge, I'm nearly done in the kitchen," he told them.

"It smells delicious," Rose said as she sat down and took EJ's Teeny Tikes Tablet out of her bag to keep him amused.

"It's my own recipe spag bol for us and some meatballs for Eyulf," he called from the kitchen as he opened the wine and poured.

"Yay. Meatballs," EJ enthused.

"What are you drinking Rose?"

"I'll have an orange juice and lemonade please."

Jack brought the drinks through to the lounge and handed them out. "House red for John, a Henry for Rose and an Apple Vitex for Eyulf.

"Cheers." They all took a sip of their drinks when the door bell 'bing-bonged' again.

"Oh. I'll just get that," Jack said with a mysterious smirk. John and Rose looked at each other, wondering who else had been invited. They heard the exchange of greetings and then a handsome looking man was ushered into the room by Jack.

"Rex, I'd like you to meet my very best friends, John, Rose and their son Eyulf."

John stood first and shook Rex's hand. "Hello there. How're you doing?"

"It's so nice to meet you both. Jack talks about you all the time."

Rose had risen from the couch and Rex kissed both her cheeks in that continental fashion. "Does he?" Rose said with a smile, turning to Jack. "He hasn't talked about you at all."

"And this evening, I hope to correct that oversight," Jack said, handing Rex a glass of wine. "Have a seat at the table and I'll bring the food through in a minute."

"So, how did you meet Jack?" Rose asked as they took their seats at the dining table, John helping EJ onto his seat that Jack had boosted up with cushions.

"At the time I was Attaché to the British Embassy in Cairo," he started.

"Oh my God, it's you!" Rose giggled. "Gwen told me Jack had pulled with his flirting." She was tying a bib around EJ's neck in preparation for his messy meal.

"Rosie!" Jack said in a hurt tone. "Pulled with my flirting? That is so crude. Rex succumbed to my considerable charms," he said as he brought through large bowls of spaghetti and mince in a Bolognese sauce. He went back to the kitchen to fetch EJ's plate which had spaghetti cut into manageable lengths, and meatballs on top.

"He does have considerable charm," Rex said with a smile. "He tells me he's known you a long time. Has he always been such an outrageous flirt?"

Rose snorted a laugh as Jack sat at the table. "Oh yeah. He picked me up when we first met," she said as she started spooning the spaghetti onto her plate. "But let's hear about you. You must have been their liaison in Cairo on the Pyramid mission?"

"Yes, I drove them to the hotel and met them in the bar. Jack and Gwen were so comfortable with each other; they were like a married couple. Gwen went to bed early, and we hit the casino, and just like a wife, she even told him not to be too late going to bed," he laughed at the memory.

"One thing led to another," Jack said. "And we ended up in my room." Everyone had helped themselves to spaghetti and the mince, and started eating.

Rex continued the story. "The next day I had a call from the embassy to say that Jack and Gwen had been arrested and needed a diplomatic liaison. The desk sergeant told me it was just routine statements before they were released."

"I feel responsible for what happened next," Jack said. "I told the interviewing officer that our Torchwood gear needed guarding because our other teams had come under attack. Rex volunteered to go to the desk sergeant to ask him to put a guard on the ruby."

"What happened?" John asked.

"When I was at the reception, a bomb went off. I thought that the building had been struck by lightning or something. All I remember was a bright flash and a boom, and then I woke up in hospital."

"Oh no. Where you badly hurt?" Rose asked.

"I got off quite lightly compared to some of the officers there. The desk that the bomb was under splintered and it hit me in the chest. Broken ribs and a punctured lung, apparently I had a table leg sticking out of my chest."

"They took him to theatre to remove it. I waited as long as I could at the hospital until I got word that he had come through the surgery and would be okay," Jack said. "The officer that interviewed me then blue lighted me across town to the airport so I could join Gwen on the airship home."

"I woke up surrounded by flowers. I thought I was in a funeral parlour," Rex laughed. "The nurse said a tall, dark and very handsome man had left them for me. She said he was really reluctant to leave, but it was a matter of global security. The note with the flowers just had a number and the message 'call me'."

"I didn't hear from Rex for a long time after that, and to be honest, I didn't expect to ever hear from him again after what had happened. I mean we're dangerous people to know," Jack said looking at John and Rose.

Rex reached over and squeezed Jack's hand in support. "I was flown back to Britain where I underwent therapy to get me back to normal life again. I requested a transfer back to the Foreign office, which was approved and got myself a flat. Then I phoned Jack to say hello."

"Mmmmm. That was delicious Jack," Rose said as they finished their meal.

"It's an old Italian recipe, if you know what I mean," Jack said with a wink, referring to his days as a Time Agent. "Ready for dessert anyone?" He stood and took the plates through to the kitchen.

"So, how did you meet Jack?" Rex asked.

"Ah, that's a bit complicated," John said, looking at Rose and smiling. "Jack? Am I right in assuming that you've run a background check on your friend here?"

Jack came back from the kitchen with dishes of banoffee pie with ice cream. "Yeah. As soon as we got back from Hawaii I asked Internal Security to run a check." Rex raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Rose patted his hand. "Don't worry Rex, everyone gets a background check."

"He's already signed the Official Secrets Act for the Foreign Office, and his past is clean and green," Jack said with a smile.

"Can I just say Rose that I've met many rich and famous women, and you are a refreshing change. You're not the 'IT girl' daughter of a millionaire that I was expecting," Rex said.

"What? You sayin' I'm common?" Rose said with a straight face.

Rex looked horrified. "Oh no, no, nothing of the sort. I meant that you seem so down to earth and…. normal."

Rose snorted a laugh as she took a spoonful of dessert. "I'm only teasin' Rex. I get that from my Mum. Actually you would be right. I was born and raised on a housing estate in Peckham, and until I met the Doctor, I worked as a shop assistant in Henrick's…. Jack, this banoffee is gorgeous."

"Jack. Before we open up to Rex, I've got to know. Are you two an item?" John asked.

"Wha? Johnnn!" Rose said, not believing what he'd just asked.

"Sorry, I had to ask, and the look on your faces told me all I needed to know. I'll tell you what, after dessert, let's pour some more drinks, get comfortable in the living room, and we'll tell you an unbelievable tale that is all true."

They scraped their dishes clean, poured some more wine and headed for the living room. EJ had another bottle of Vitex and Rose used the wet wipes to clean his face. They sat on the comfy furniture, Rose sat EJ on her lap and switched on his Teeny Tikes Tablet.

"First, of all Rex, none of us here, oh, except for EJ, come from this universe," John started.

"What?" Rex said, his face a picture of amazement.

"I said it was complicated. There are parallel universes, parallel lives. We used to live in one of them until I split in two and circumstances conspired to bring us here," John told him.

"Whoa! Time out here," Rex said forming a 'T' with his hands. "Split in two?"

"You'll have to excuse him," Rose said with a laugh. "His mouth tends to run away with him. Now, to understand how we met Jack, you need to know a little bit about us." She pointed her finger between John and herself.

"You remember I said that I worked at Henrick's? Well, the store was taken over by alien dummies called Autons, and I was about to be killed when the Doctor grabbed my hand and said 'run'."

"The Doctor?" Rex asked with a puzzled expression.

"Er, that's sort of me," John said. It seemed the puzzled expression on Rex's face was going to be a permanent fixture for the evening.

"So, shortly after he got me out of the building, he blew it up. Bang goes my employment, literally. And then he said something really stupid to an impressionable 19 year old Earth girl."

"What?" Rex asked eagerly, caught up in the story. "What did he say?"

"All mysterious like, he says 'I'm the Doctor. Now forget me an' go home', tryin' to be all Northern 'n' hard." Rose snorted a laugh. "He might as well have put up a neon sign and handed out business cards. I found him on the conspiracy websites, and that, as they say was that."

"And that was when you met Jack?" Rex asked hopefully.

"Oh no, that was much later," John said. "We had lots of travelling and adventures before we met Jack. I mean we saw the end of the world."

"Zombies in Cardiff," Rose added.

"Oh yeah, the Gelth. I met Charles Dickens in that adventure."

"What? THE Charl….?"

"Ooh, then there was the spaceship that crashed in the Thames. We were on the roof after my Mum gave him a right slap," Rose laughed. John rubbed his cheek. Yep, he could still feel it.

"Oh yeah. The Slitheen from…."

"Hang on, let me. Raxacoricofallapatorius. YES!" She punched the air in triumph.

"Oh, then you nearly died when we received that distress call from Dalek Khan in van Statten's vault."

"Is that when you met Jack?" Rex asked hopefully.

"No. That's when we met Adam," Rose replied.

"Adam…? Who the hell is Adam?" Jack asked.

"He was a pretty boy who worked for van Statten. The Doctor was jealous of him," Rose said with a mischievous smile.

"I was not!" John protested.

"Was too! You wanted me all to yourself in the TARDIS, and you know it. Don't try to deny it." John opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. "Then we ended up on Satellite Five."

"And Jack was there!?" Rex said.

"Welllll. Not the first time," John said. "This was the year 200,000, and Jagrafess was there. It was 200,100 when we ended up there with Jack. This first time, Adam nearly destroyed the time lines so I dumped him back home."

"200,000? Time lines?" Rex was struggling to keep up.

"I remember you payin' me one of your rare compliments. You said you only take the best, and you'd got me," Rose said with a proud smile.

"Yeah, and then you nearly proved me wrong when we went to see your Dad."

"Er, quickly skipping over that bit, we ended up in London during the blitz," Rose said.

"Ah! This is where I come in. I first met Rose when she was hanging from a blimp," Jack said.

"He literally swept me off my feet," Rose said with a giggle.

"My God, you're all stark raving bonkers!" Rex said in disbelief.

"Hey, it gets weirder," Rose said with a laugh. They told him about the gas mask people, and Margaret the Slitheen who turned into an egg which they returned to…. John and Jack pointed at Rose.

"Raxacoricofallapatorius," she said with a grin.

They laughed at their memories of 14th century Japan and then the mood became quite sombre when they told the story of the return to Satellite Five and Bad Wolf.

John told how he sent Rose away to protect her, and how she came back to save them. Jack told of his coming back to life, never to die again, and John explained how he regenerated his body to survive.

"You have got to be kidding me," Rex breathed in disbelief.

"Do you remember the Cybermen attacks of 2007?" John asked him.

"Yes, of course."

"Well, that was the first time we came to this universe. Rose and her old friend Mickey Smith helped me defeat the Cybermen at Battersea."

"That was you? Everyone thought it was Torchwood," Rex said.

"And do you remember when the Cybermen disappeared? They came to our universe, and once again I had Rose and Mickey to help me fight them. Only this time Rose got pulled into this universe and I thought I'd lost her for good." Rose reached over and held John's hand.

"That must have been awful for you," Rex said sympathetically.

"It was the worst three years of my life," Rose said, tears stinging her eyes at the memory. "But I never gave up. I remember the Doctor saying that there was one emotion he really liked."

"Which one?" Rex asked quietly, his voice full of emotion.

"Hope. I never gave up hope. And then the walls of the universe started to weaken and Torchwood found a way to jump through the cracks. Do you remember when the stars began to go out? Well, that was the universe starting to fade away. I jumped back to my universe and found the Doctor."

"You keep mentioning this 'Doctor', who is he?" Rex asked.

"Well, that's the weirdest bit of all," John said. "It's where that story ends, and our story begins."

"You're lookin' at him," Rose said, her voice full of emotion, conviction and…. Pride, yes she was proud to say her husband was the Doctor. "As the Doctor fought the Daleks, who were destroying the universe, there was a kind of accident, and he was sort of split into two."

Rex gave up at this point. "Right. Okay. So, there's a copy of you in another universe."

"Wellllll. No. I'm the copy in this universe. The original me is in another universe."

Rex laughed. "Hah. Of course. Silly me. Bloody hell Jack…. What have you gotten me into?"

"Actually Rex, you're not going to believe this," Jack started.

"Oh, you've spotted a trend have you?" Rex said sarcastically.

"But I'm a copy of an original as well," Jack continued with an embarrassed smile.

Rex's emotions were like a delicate flower that had been plucked from a bush and placed carefully on the floor, and then trampled on by the metallic feet of an army of Cybermen.

Rose understood what it was like to find out there was an exact copy of someone you loved, although Rex never had, and never would meet the original Jack. She reached out and held Rex's hand. "Welcome to our wonderful world of weirdness. It's a bit of a roller coaster ride, but damn is it worth it."