She had caused his regeneration, she knew that but maybe he had some degree of control as to how he looked and thought if he became younger and more attractive she would now return his love for her. All she now wanted to do was make up for it and to finally tell him she had loved him since she first met him. She just hoped he would forgive her for not returning his love sooner. It never occurred to her for a minute that now he was only comforting her and when they got back they would go back to just being friends, he wouldn't do that to her, not now. She had allowed him to make love to her last night not out of comfort but because she wanted him to know what he meant to her, that and all her wildest fantasies about him had been realised.
She sat in a big comfortable chair facing the window, looking down at the city below and watching the Zeppelins float past. This world wasn't so different but she was beginning to realise the people were. Even the Mickey Smith of this world had been different but most of all, coming to terms that the Jackie Tyler of this world could be so cold and callous was the worse thing she could have found. Now she faced never getting back to her own mother and the Doctor had been right, she should never have gone there, now all she had was him and maybe a friend in Pete Tyler but he could never be her father. He would have to explain to this world's Jack why she had disappeared again.
The Doctor came back in and smiled at her.
"You okay Rose?" he asked as she got up to hug him.
He looked at her, he so wanted to kiss her again but didn't want to appear too intimate with her considering what she had been threatened with. He'd make this Jack pay for threatening to take her memories of him away when he had worked so hard to finally win her over after all this time, how he'd wanted her since the day he met her and now she was his, nothing was going to get in their way. He wondered if she thought he was only doing this to comfort her with being so far from home but he wasn't, he had fantasised about her for so long and now it was coming true. He'd got lucky when he had regenerated, it was like he had power over how he looked. He had heard rumours a Timelord could keep changing faces until they found one they wanted but had never believed it, he'd never tried it but had been pleasantly surprised when he'd looked in the mirror on Christmas Day. His love for Rose must have influenced him sub-consciously.
"Good news Rose, I think they might be able to help us. I've arranged for the Tardis to be brought to the lab they've given me and I'll get some power hooked up to give me some lighting and I might be able to work mostly inside but best of all, I might be able to re-configure the ship to work in this universe, temporarily, enough to get us out."
Rose smiled and put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, she didn't care if anyone was watching them. They were just about to kiss when the door opened and there stood Pete Tyler. He motioned for the man who was still watching the couple to leave the room. Rose wasn't sure what the man was still doing there, guarding them from outside interference or guarding Torchwood from them.
"So, Miss Rose Tyler, you placed a lot of faith in me earlier and I'm just a bit curious. You two must really want to get home badly. I'm sorry for the treatment you received, I had no idea they would act so quickly. Jack isn't too bad, he's just a bit keen. In case you're wondering, I've got my company back and I'm fairly well in here too but there's a lot going on I don't like, including some actions against shall we say outsiders, people from other worlds and other planets and I plan eventually to get that rectified. If he threatened you in any way, I'll get him removed, he's only temporarily in charge, the head of Torchwood was unfortunately killed by the Cybermen, he was at my party the other night which put Jack in charge until things can be sorted. I never got chance to talk to him about you, for which I'm truly sorry. They have methods I don't even know about."
"So, if you're part of Torchwood, then how come you didn't go to them the other night? How come you were contacting The Preachers with information?" asked Rose, now confused as to his position here.
"Torchwood can't be totally trusted yet, I suspected they might have been taken over by Lumic and I'm still not sure they didn't play a part in it. I think the technology Lumic used wasn't from this world."
The Doctor was thinking that Pete didn't quite know just how near he was from the truth. He didn't say anything though, he thought it best not to. Pete didn't need to know what had happened on another planet in another universe. "Right Pete, anyway, thanks for backing us up, we really appreciate it and we're really sorry it had to be that way. We were caught off-guard and didn't know what else to do. We would have waited for you to get things moving but we didn't exactly have a choice. We start tomorrow trying to replicate the power cell and I'm going to try to re-configure my ship to work in this universe."
"Well it might be a good idea to contact Jake and Mickey, let them know you're still here. I could use their help in getting Torchwood sorted out." He saw the look on their faces when he mentioned Mickey. "Is there something I should know, about the two of you? Is there something going on between you?"
Rose swore she went bright red. There was no point in denying anything but she left it to the Doctor to actually say something.
"Well maybe but that's not important. I don't think bringing Jake and Mickey back just for this is a good idea. There are Cybus factories to bring down, let them organise that."
He hoped he'd got out of it.
Pete got up. "Well alright for now Doctor but I am going to need them back if I've got any hope of getting Torchwood organised. I can't leave Jack in charge, he's more of a field agent, not very diplomatic. Getting him out though is going to take some doing, he's got a whole team behind him as you probably witnessed. Right, I'll be off then. You two got somewhere to stay tonight 'cos I've got my house fixed up, you can stay with me if you like. The house seems empty now."
"We have somewhere for tonight but if we don't get away tomorrow we might take you up on your offer. Thanks."
Pete shook hands with the pair of them. To Rose he said, "Rose, I would have been proud to have you as my daughter. When this is over, before you leave, I'd like to know more about where you came from, if that's alright." Rose nodded.
Pete left them and Rose sat back down in the chair, the Doctor sat on the desk just to her side and took her hand in his.
"We'll do it Rose, we'll get home I promise. No matter what it takes, I'll get you back to your mother even if she does slap me for us getting involved."
That made Rose smile, she was sure of him now, that this wasn't just for comfort if he was willing to face her mother his most feared enemy in the cosmos.
Before they left for the day, Rose went with him to the lab where the Tardis had been taken and power had been hooked up so he could work inside and a guard was put on the door with instructions no-one else may enter but he still unhooked the power and locked the Tardis door before they left. They got a ride back to their hotel and were told they would be picked up in the morning although Jack wanted to know why Rose wasn't staying with Pete Tyler. Rose explained they'd stayed at the hotel until she was sure she would be accepted by the Tylers but was moving the following day since the hotel had been paid in advance.
Back at their hotel, it was strange passing where the Tardis had been parked when they went out for dinner. They told the owner they would be leaving in the morning and Rose settled the bill with the money the Doctor got out of the cash machine. Hopefully he wouldn't have to get any more out, he was hoping Pete would look after things. Rose decided not to be as shy when they settled down for the night, teasing him as she got ready for bed, first unbuttoning his shirt and then kissing his bare chest as he lay on the bed waiting for her. They made love again, this time for longer, finding new ways to please each other. Rose was hardly believing this was actually happening to her and it had taken getting stranded on another world to get them together.
The next morning after breakfast, Rose gathered her things and they waited for the Torchwood car to pick them up. Rose called Pete and he said it was okay for them to stay with him if they hadn't got any closer to leaving. He made them promise if they got their ship working they would at least say goodbye. Once back in the Torchwood lab, Rose did what she could to help get the ship working again, fetching and carrying, the power cell was being analysed under close supervision and a solution was found to getting the Tardis to work in this universe by the end of the day. It would be ready to test the next day, the duplicate larger power cell that had been manufactured was charging up and hopefully, would be ready in the morning. The entire lab was put under guard again and they set off back to Pete's house but Rose got a shock when they arrived.
Mickey and Jake were waiting in one of the reception rooms as they walked in hand in hand, talking and they suddenly let go, Rose couldn't look at him, not now she and the Doctor were lovers.
"Rose, why didn't you call me, you should have said you were still here. Pete rang us, we came back as soon as we could, we were in France, got a Zeppelin back earlier. Have you fixed the Tardis yet? Can we help?"
Mickey looked at the pair of them as they looked awkwardly at each other.
It was the Doctor who spoke. "Mickey! Bit late but never mind. We should be able to get away tomorrow, everything's going well. Didn't want to bother you, you were busy liberating places from the Cybermen. Rose and I got into a hotel and now Pete invited us to stay. He wanted us to show him the Tardis and tell him about our universe."
"You stayed in a hotel? Together?" Mickey asked "You two are together now aren't you? Admit it, I saw the way you two hugged when we were going off to stop Lumic. Didn't take you long then, once I was out of the picture." Mickey huffed then crossed his arms. "You didn't reckon on getting stuck here though did you and you didn't think you'd have to face me again."
Just then Pete walked in and saw the awkwardness in the room. Jake was trying not to laugh, he had spotted the looks between Rose and the Doctor back in the van the other night and could have told Mickey there was something between the two of them, he recognised when people were in love.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Pete asked, looking from Rose to Mickey. "Oh, there's some history between you two, that's why you didn't want me to bring Mickey back. Sorry but I need him and Jake here, I'm going to try to get as many Torchwood people behind me as I can to take over. You'll just have to settle your differences but since you'll probably be leaving tomorrow, it shouldn't be that difficult. Anyone care to join me for dinner?"
They all followed Pete out of the room and since Mickey now knew, Rose made a point of holding the Doctor's hand again as they walked to the dining room.
She whispered to him, "My mum would love this place. Maybe one day she'll find a rich man and get married again and live in a place like this, don't you think?"
The Doctor squeezed her hand and whispered, "Yes, one day, she just might."
Dinner was a bit awkward, they spoke mostly about where the three of them had come from, there seemed no harm and Jake and Pete were fascinated. The Doctor figured Mickey would have told Pete anyway once he had come back. Mickey was still glaring at them although Rose couldn't understand why, she had already admitted he was no longer her boyfriend and Mickey seemed to have just wanted to be a friend. It was too late now, she was in love with the Doctor and nothing would change that.
Everyone made their excuses and Rose was shown to a room and Pete wanted the Doctor to stay in another room but they weren't having any of it, they insisted on being together so Pete just sighed and gave up. All Rose wanted was a proper bath since there was only a shower in the hotel so while she was getting ready, he ran the bath for her and poured some fragrance into the water and left her in peace. She was more relaxed when she came out, just wrapped in a bathrobe which she soon lost once she got into bed and they made love, he was kissing her all over, smelling the fragrance on her skin, telling her she was beautiful as she sat hovering over him and he ran his fingers on her skin. Afterwards as they lay together he asked if things were going to be different when they got back.
"Do you still want to carry on being together when we get back? You don't regret this do you Rose?" he asked as he pulled her down for another kiss. "I'll risk getting slapped by your mother because you are more than worth the feel of the back of her hand on my face. We did the right thing Rose, we waited until we thought Mickey had gone away, how were we to know Pete would call him back before we left?"
"I know but it didn't make it any easier, seeing his face when he realised but no, I don't regret anything, I wanted to be with you. I want to keep our relationship when we get back and I'll try to smooth things with my mother."
The next morning, they all piled into Pete's car and went to Torchwood, Mickey and Jake were anxious to see how things were progressing, Jake was fascinated with the interior as was Pete and now with extra help and the new larger power cell in place, the final adjustments were made. Fingers crossed, it would allow them to have enough power to get out and through the void, back to their own universe. Final checks were made and all but Rose and the Doctor stepped out and pulling all the levers then releasing the handbrake, the central column began to move, more like normal. If all went well, they would be able to test everything out, re-materialise and say their goodbyes then be off. Rose had fingers on both her hands crossed as she sat on the jumpseat.
More than two minutes passed, the central column was still moving, all power inside the ship was off except for dim lighting. He tried to land again and a few minutes later, the column stopped, he checked on the monitor, the three men were all still standing in the lab. Rose opened the door.
"We thought you weren't coming back, we've been waiting nearly an hour," said Pete. "We were just about to leave."
"Oh," said the Doctor, "Time must run differently here. That explains some of it, if this world is running ahead of ours, that's why we fell out of the time vortex, it's the difference." He ran around checking a few switches. "Did we actually vanish Mickey, this is important because we could de-materialise before but we never went anywhere. You're the only one that can answer that question."
"I think so yes, I couldn't detect any sign of the Tardis, I even stood in the place the Tardis had been standing in, you'd definitely gone."
"Great! It worked then. Right, we'd best be off then and if we don't see you again, Pete, we owe you, we couldn't have done it without your help and maybe one day, I'll be able to return the favour, now I know about the time differences, I can control it with a few adjustments. Jake, take care of yourself and keep fighting and help Pete sort this Torchwood out and watch out for that Jack. Mickey, I'm sorry you had to find out about Rose and I, it was already beginning to happen, neither of us could help it."
Rose said her goodbyes, gave Pete and Jake a hug, and said 'sorry' to Mickey who in the end wished them all the best. Then they stepped back inside the Tardis, fingers crossed again, the Doctor dashing around the control panel, making adjustments and Rose watching him, wishing she could help but her being there was all he needed, now he knew about the time difference, it made things easier to adapt to it. The central column was still going strong and ten minutes later, all the power came on, he checked the readings on the monitor and cried out 'yes' triumphantly, ran around to pick Rose up and spun her around, kissing her passionately.
"We're home Rose, we're back, we did it. I can tell we're in the right universe, it feels right, every star and planet is in the right place. Now let's head for your mother's place. Tell you what, let's give her a real surprise and land in her front room!" he laughed, kissing Rose again.
"She'll kill you if you do that," she laughed, kissing him back.
After what seemed like an age to Rose, they landed, right on target in Jackie's living room, he checked the screen again and there larger than life was one very annoyed Jackie Tyler with her arms folded and tapping her foot, waiting for them to emerge. "Well she can wait a while longer," Rose thought as she flung her arms around her lover and snogged him to death. They wouldn't have stopped apart from the knock on the door, well more like pounding and a cry of 'Rose, are you in there?' filtering through.
Rose ran down the ramp, saying she should tell her mother about them and he thought about it for a second, then tired of cowering from his feared nemesis, took hold of her hand.
"We'll tell her together but first, give her a hug and tell her about Mickey, eh love?"
Rose smiled when he called her 'love' as it made her feel like she truly was his girlfriend and after giving her mother a hug to rival her own, they told her about Mickey and how they had got stuck on a faraway world, Rose thinking 'parallel universe' might be a bit too much for her mother to believe, other worlds and planets she could cope with - just about.
Then instead of getting the slap he expected, they told Jackie they were now going out together properly and he promised her he would now take even more care of Rose than he had ever done before. He left Rose alone with her mother for a few hours while he moved the Tardis to the back of the estate and mended some overstrained parts of the console but he wasn't going to tell Rose he was taking out the parts that would allow them to go back to the other universe, he didn't want them to get stuck there again and never be able to get back. Now he knew how to do it though, it would be easy to do it again if the need ever arose but until then, he wanted nothing more than to go collect his Rose, take her to bed and call her his special girl because that was what she was to him, she made him feel young again, made him feel loved for the first time in too long but he knew in his hearts that they would pay the price one day for it but he was going to make the most of it while he could now there was no Mickey to distract him because that was the real reason for his hesitation.
Mickey might no longer have been her boyfriend but it never felt right, not like humans do, have a boyfriend or girlfriend and move on and still see their exes' around and think nothing off it, even getting new ones to make the ex feel jealous but that wasn't him. He hadn't planned to land on that other world but it had done him a favour in the long run, it had given him Rose at long last, the Rose he dreamt about, the Rose who now shared his bed and he made love to, the Rose he had wanted since the word 'run' and now he had her. Collecting Rose from her mother's flat, they walked hand in hand back to the Tardis, to his bedroom and he really did show her the stars.
The End!
Will continue in 'Return to Pete's World'