"What do we do?" Rose asked. He had to have some sort of plan, especially since he been through this before.

"Nothing."

She looked up at him in confusion. "What?"

"Nothing." He met her gaze with raised eyebrows. "Absolutely, positively, nothing. We blend in, do as we're told, and don't…" He broke out into a grin, his dismal mood seeming to be completely gone. "…get into trouble."

Rose rolled her eyes. "That's a change, isn't it?"

"This is a very delicate situation, Rose. If they find out that Jackie's a fake, they'll kill us. We need to find the real Queen before they suspect anything. The Commander in Chief is already going to cause trouble, I can tell. We'll all keep together."

"And what's gonna happen to us when we find the real Queen and they know my mum was a fake?"

"Let's hope the Queen will be so grateful that we saved her that she'll pardon us. If not…well, I'm still working on that one."

Rose stared at the elevator doors, worry starting to creep back into her mind. Having her family involved with her adventures with the Doctor was something she had always feared. She didn't mind imminent danger at every turn, but when it was her family being threatened…that was different.

Leaning her head on the Doctor's shoulder, Rose sighed. The Doctor pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"I'll keep them safe," he mumbled into her hair. He pressed her hand. "I promise."

Rose smiled, knowing that he would keep his promise no matter what. "I love you, Doctor."

He chuckled, then murmured, "Quite right, too."

Rose shook her head. The words pulled her mind back to that dreaded beach on the worst day of her life. They reminded her of that mad man who was traveling across the stars in a universe she would never see again. And though she would never admit it to herself, she knew she still missed him. And she probably always would.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Rose, you know I was only-"

"Yeah, I know." Rose pulled away from him to look him in the eye. "But you're not him, so don't say it." She rested her free hand on his cheek. "You're my Doctor."

The elevator doors opened with a ding, making Rose jump. The Doctor sighed and pulled her out the doors and onto landing platform they had just been on not long ago. On the opposite side from the elevator, right next to the Vespiform ship, was the TARDIS, right where they had left it.

They walked straight to the TARDIS, still holding hands, though Rose could sense that the Doctor's mood had changed again. He sighed again as he pushed open the blue doors, sounding relieved to be back in his ship. He led Rose straight to the console and released her hand, burying his hands in his trench coat pockets. His eyes bored into hers, hard and troubled.

"This was what I was afraid of." His brow knitted together in concentration. "I just- I can't-" He groaned in frustration. "I'm not good enough for you, Rose," he finally confessed, coming a step closer to her. "I don't know how to do this." He motioned in between them, his eyes wide and earnest.

Rose was stunned for a moment. He had never told her any of this, but by the desperation in his eyes she knew it must have been torturing him. "Doctor…" She reached out and grabbed his arm.

"I've never been a boyfriend before, certainly not a human's boyfriend, and I-"

Rose knew he wouldn't listen to her until she had his full attention, so she bounced up on her toes and kissed him. The Doctor stood frozen until she pulled away. "But-"

She kissed him again, this time feeling him relax against her and wrap an arm around her waist. "Doctor," Rose said, only pulling away an inch.

"Hm?" he hummed, his gaze softer.

Rose threaded her fingers through his hair and smiled. "Just because you said one thing doesn't mean you've failed as a boyfriend. You can't be perfect."

He matched her smile. "I can try."

"You're perfect enough for me." Rose hugged him. "I don't want you to be human; I want you to be you."

The Doctor held her tight for a few more seconds before pulling away, his hands still on her waist.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"A bit." He pulled her close to him again and met her lips with his. "But I'm still not convinced I'll ever deserve you, Rose Tyler," he murmured as he pulled away.

Rose chuckled, reflecting on how often she thought the same thing about him. "Well I don't think I could ever deserve you either, so I guess we're even."

The Doctor smiled at her, but there was a sadness in his eyes.

"What?"

"I wish I could stay here with you and not have to worry about anything else." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the single hair left behind by the kidnappers. "But I know I can't." He turned to the console and placed the hair on a little silver square among the controls.

"Maybe after this is over, we can take a day off. Just…have a day for ourselves."

He turned to her with one eyebrow raised. "Is that a promise?"

Rose smiled wide. "You bet."

The Doctor grinned and focused his attention back on the console. He glanced up at the screen, his eyes narrowing at the strings of Gallifreyan symbols popping up. Suddenly he gripped the screen with both his hands, bringing his face inches from it. "It can't be," he whispered, his lips hardly moving.

"What is it?" Rose gripped his shoulders from behind and looked at the screen, though she couldn't even begin to understand what the readings were.

The Doctor snatched the hair from the console and looked between it and the console screen. "The hair. It's from a female…" He swallowed hard. "Half time lord, half human." He spun on his toes to face Rose, a grin on his face as he stared at the single strand of hair. "There's someone else like me."