What would happen if it turned out Rose's presence in the parallel world caused a misbalance?

(No Martha or Jones family in this one)

Chapter 11: Last of the Time Lords

The Doctor crossed into Rose's ensuite bathroom and grinned. The sink and the bath were filled up with water. The TARDIS had thought ahead. He'd discarded his jacket and now he rolled up his sleeve and tested the water. Lukewarm. That was even better. That was his girl, caring for Rose as much as she cared for him.

XXX

Rose breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the cool water on her burning skin. She could hear the Doctor's double heartbeat in her ear.

'Feel better?' he murmured.

She nodded slightly, unable to do much more. She heard the door slide open. Someone walked in.

'How is she?'

Jack. That was Jack. She forced her eyes open and looked up at him. He looked the same as ever, except a little different. Probably had work done.

'Ask her yourself,' the Doctor told him.

Jack crouched down. 'Hey, Rosie.'

'Hey,' she mumbled.

'How are you doing?' Jack asked.

'Still alive.'

'How are you doing getting that paradox machine down?' the Doctor asked him.

'It's off,' Jack told him. 'When the Master figures out something's wrong and comes here, Dani's going to demonstrate the effectiveness of the barrier by throwing parts of the paradox machine into it really fast. But she doesn't want the Master to know it's completely off.'

'I think I know why,' the Doctor said.

XXX

Dani stood outside the doors to the TARDIS and behind the Impenetrable Barrier with her arms folded across her chest. She watched as Saxon led some soldiers and Toclafane in. She smirked.

'Stop,' the Master said.

They all did.

'What for, sir?' one of the soldiers asked. 'She's unarmed.'

'She doesn't need to have a gun to be armed,' the Master said. 'And whenever she smirks like that, it means she's got something up her sleeve.'

'You're uncharacteristically clever today,' Dani remarked. 'But you couldn't stop us getting in.'

'How did you get in?' the Master asked. 'I had guards all over the place.'

'We used your own Archangel system against you,' Dani answered. 'Shifted their perception so they didn't notice us right under their noses. It was easy to get in. And see this green thing here? Do you know what that does?'

'Why don't you show me?' the Master asked.

Dani grinned and ran in. She grabbed parts of the paradox machine and threw them out the TARDIS at a high speed. They hit the barrier and, upon contact, disintegrated. They fell to dust. Dani walked out and snickered at the shocked looks of the Master and the humans.

'The Impenetrable Barrier,' Dani said. 'The harder you hit it, the more likely you are to die. And, as for going slow…' She knocked on it and it sounded like she was knocking on wood. '…it's like walking into a wall. You don't come in and we don't go out. The barrier doesn't come down until we're good and ready. Goodbye.'

She walked back in, closing the door behind her.

XXX

Dani walked into the room the night of the third day and saw the Doctor and Rose were curled up on the bed, sound asleep. Dani studied Rose. She'd never seen her up close. She was soft-featured, innocence was painted over her face and she looked so fragile, but Dani knew the woman the Doctor fell in love with would have all the strength of time and space. There was no way she was as fragile as she looked. Dani smiled. Carly came up behind her.

'Having a good sticky-nose?' she asked.

'They're gonna be okay, yeah?' Dani asked.

'Yeah,' Carly said. 'The two most powerful beings in the universe. The Oncoming Storm and the Bad Wolf. Always together. Always and forever. They balance each other and they humble each other. They support each other and they love each other.'

'When will she be completely converted?' Dani asked.

'Tomorrow morning.'

'Good.'

They looked and saw the Doctor's eyes on them.

XXX

Rose opened her eyes. The pain was gone. She had a double heartbeat in her ear. She also opened her eyes.

'Morning, sleeping beauty,' the Doctor murmured against her hair. 'How do you feel?'

'Better,' she said. 'The pain's gone.'

She leaned up and looked down at him. He grinned at her. She loved that look and she'd forgotten how much she loved the look of his smile. There was a bang on the door and the smile fell away. He glanced at the door before returning his attention to her, seeming to just remember that they had other things to deal with before they could relax.

'Do you know what's going on?' he asked.

'Carly told me on the way here,' Rose agreed.

The Doctor looked sombre. 'Jack thinks that we should just kill him. Dani and Carly are keeping their opinions to themselves. I don't think Dani knows what to do. She's keeping her lips so tight, they're turning white.'

'You can't kill him, though,' Rose murmured in understanding. 'He's the only other member of your species alive. And he used to be your friend.'

The Doctor nodded. Rose thought about it for a second before she came up with an idea.

'Carly told me about the Fob Watch,' she said.

Uh oh. How much did she tell her?

'Yeah?' he asked.

'Yeah,' she murmured. 'So, I'm thinking that you can't lock him up. He just always escapes, doesn't he?'

The Doctor sat up. 'Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?' There was that familiar glimmer in his eye.

'What do you think?' Rose responded.

'I think you're brilliant.' The Doctor kissed her, simply because he could.

She smiled against his lips.

XXX

The Doctor and Rose walked out and into the TARDIS kitchen where Jack, Dani and Carly were. They all looked up as they came in, except Carly who probably didn't need to look. Jack got up and came over and gave Rose a hug.

'You feel better, Rosie?' he asked.

'Much,' Rose said.

Then he stepped back and Dani came forward. She stopped right before she got to them. Not in nervousness, clearly, but habitually. She was probably just used to stopping before she got to someone.

'Hi, I'm Dani,' she said. 'You're Rose, right?'

'Yeah,' Rose agreed. 'And Carly's told me about you.'

'I know.' Dani nodded. 'She told me about what she told you. Do you know that I'd actually seen you before you met the Doctor…properly. And I wasn't allowed to come over and say "hello" because of the stupid timelines. I actually first saw you about three months before you met the Doctor for the first time.'

Rose chuckled. 'Yeah, that is annoying.'

'So, Carly told me what the plan is,' Dani said. 'I got the stuff in the console room.'

'I didn't hear her say anything.' Jack lifted his head.

'I didn't say it out loud.' Carly chuckled to herself.

'So what are we doing?' Jack asked.

XXX

The Doctor walked, strode confidently actually, into the room with Dani and Jack flanking him. They immediately had the guns of the SWAT team on them. But they never faltered. Not for one second. They only stopped at the foot of the staircase the Master stood atop.

'So the Doctor has shown himself,' the Master said.

'The paradox machine is dismantled and the shields are up,' the Doctor told him. 'I have an immortal ex-Time Agent on one side and one of the Presans on my other side. Any artillery you lob at me will come to no use. It will either be knocked away or taken by one of my companions.'

The Master smirked. He pulled out his sonic laser quickly and fired it. But it hit a green barrier that spontaneously appeared. The Doctor crossed his arms across his chest and gave the Master an exasperated look.

'I know all about your plan, Master,' he said. 'Age me into an old defenceless man by using the perfected and reversed notes of Lazarus. Then attack the world with the Toclafane, who are mutated humans from the end of the universe.'

The Master began to look worried. 'How did you know that?'

'Fascinating people out there,' the Doctor remarked. 'Take the Sovereignty of Reality. A group of interdimensional humans that gain the greatest power out there, one at a time. It goes on a succession basis every time the century turns. Always humans. With three levels of consciousness, the ability to travel through dimensional walls without causing damage to the walls, all advanced mental capabilities including telepathy and telekinesis. Oh, and the ability to conjure up the Impenetrable Barrier.'

The Master got it immediately. 'Is that why sonic interference wasn't working? Because there wasn't a machine generating that?'

'That's right.' The Doctor grinned.

What the Master and his wife hadn't noticed was two young women on the platform with them. The girls moved as the Doctor and the Master spoke and the Master began to understand that he was outmatched. The blonde girl slipped behind the Master and winked at the Doctor before she tapped the Master on the shoulder with a look that would make almost anyone think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. He spun around and was slapped so hard that he dropped the sonic laser and tumbled down the stairs. The brunette pulled a gun on Lucy.

'If you work for the Saxon,' she barked out at the soldiers, 'get in a group in the corner or his wife gets it.'

'She'll do it too,' Dani agreed.

All the guards and soldiers hurried to do what they were told. The brunette pulled out another gun so she had both Lucy and the Master's men under the trigger. She kept a look on her face so that they knew she would shoot too. The Master was on the floor, rubbing his cheek. He was looking up at the blonde. The blonde that'd slapped him came down and over to the Doctor.

'I'd do that again just for the look on his face,' she said.

'I'd have you do it again just for the look on his face.' The Doctor nodded with a gleeful grin.

Then he kissed her, deeply. She grinned when he pulled away.

'Oh, you have a wife too?' the Master asked in distaste.

'Nah,' the Doctor said, wrapping his arm around the blonde. 'I haven't married her. Yet. Master, this is Rose Tyler.'

The Master's eyes bugged. He looked over the girl. She wasn't what he was expecting. He expected her to be more…tough. She should've look a lot harder than she did. She looked fragile, actually. How did they Doctor fall for her? Then again, she had flattened him onto his tush by sneaking up on him. That left one simple question.

'I heard you say she was trapped on a parallel universe!' he insisted. 'How did she get back here?'

'A little something called the Bad Wolf,' the Doctor answered. 'Oh, and Carly, up there, helped. She's the latest member or the Sovereignty of Reality. The Sovereign of the 21st Century.'

'Look down on the Earth, Master,' Carly told him.

A series of holograms appeared. They showed various streets over this Earth being patrolled by aliens—should they look human or not—who had weapons and force fields. They couldn't be touched at all.

'Who are they?' the Master asked.

'They are my Foundation,' Dani answered.

'What Foundation?' the Master asked.

'The Kaias Foundation,' Dani said. 'About 300,000 of the people on Earth are actually aliens. A good majority of these aliens come to live here but cannot fit in with the humans easily. They're too different. So if they're willing to be protectors, I'm willing to take them on. They're patrolling the entire Earth, Master.' She smirked. 'Just because I'm a primitive doesn't mean I'm without my resources.'

XXX

The Doctor staggered to his feet as soon as the teleport landed them. He turned and saw the Master standing before the launch field. The Master spread his arms.

'Now it ends, Doctor!' he called. 'Now it ends!'

Alarms blared as the rockets prepared for takeoff.

'We've got control of the Valiant,' the Doctor told him. 'You can't launch.'

'Oh, but I've got this.' The Master held up a control. 'Black hole converter inside every ship. If I can't have this world, Doctor, then neither can you. We shall stand upon this Earth together as it burns!'

'Weapon after weapon after weapon,' the Doctor said, approaching him. 'All you do is talk and talk and talk. But over all these years, and all these disasters, I've always had the greatest secret of them all. I know you. Explode those ships, you kill yourself. That's the one thing you could never do.' The Doctor held his hand out. 'Give that to me.'

The Master hesitated. Then he slapped the remote into the Doctor's palm. But suddenly the whole ground shook and they both fell and the Master tried to snatch it back. The two Time Lords grappled on the ground for the remote. Then the Doctor managed to hit the teleport and they were transported back onto the Valiant, where Dani, Rose and the rest of them waited.

XXX

The entire Valiant lurched and everything and everyone went flying everywhere. Rose suddenly found herself in the safety and security of the Doctor's arms. They grinned at each other.

'Everyone get down!' the Doctor ordered. 'Time is reversing!'

They all hit the ground. The Doctor held Rose and they both laughed at the thrill of it all. Then they both leaned in and kissed. Rose felt like she could never get enough of this. Even the eternity they knew was ahead of them wasn't enough. They would have completely lost themselves in it if Jack hadn't been interrupted them.

'Aw!' Jack called over the noise. 'Sweet! How come I never get any of that?'

They broke the kiss and both grinned at their old friend. Dani sniggered at them. She seemed to be enjoying this as much as Jack was. The Doctor and Rose simultaneously decided to pick on him the way he was picking on them.

'Buy us a drink first!' the Doctor called.

'You're such hard work!' Jack called back.

'But worth it!' Rose laughed.

Everything slowed to a stop. They all climbed to their feet and the Doctor ran over to check.

'The paradox is broken!' he called. 'We've reverted back. One year and one day, two minutes past eight in the morning.' He ran over and turned on the radio.

'This is UNIT central,' the man said. 'What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated.'

'See?' the Doctor murmured. 'Just after the president was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror, it never was.'

'And the spheres?' Rose asked, coming over to him.

'Trapped at the end of the universe,' the Doctor assured her, wrapping his arm around her.

'Why can we remember it?' Jack asked.

'We're at the eye of the storm,' the Doctor explained. 'The only one's who'll ever know.'

The Master groaned as he pushed himself up. The Doctor, Rose, Dani, Jack and Carly went over and stood in front of the Master. He looked up at them. They weren't going to let him escape and he clearly knew it.

'Remember the old punishment, Master?' the Doctor asked. 'The punishment for falling in love with a non-Gallifreyan and acting on that?'

'The non-Gallifreyan would be executed,' the Master said. 'The Gallifreyan would be made to think they were a member of that species and live out that lifespan, oblivious to who they really were. But the law no longer exists, Doctor. Would you enforce it?'

'I'm guilty of loving a human, myself.' The Doctor affectionately gazed down at Rose. 'But no prison would hold you and I wouldn't be able to trust you on the TARDIS. It goes against my conscience and everything I stand for to kill you, so that leaves me with just one option.'

The Master understood. He shook his head but Dani grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. He could struggle all he wanted. Dani was physically one of the strongest people in the universe.

London, England, 1772

Harold Saxon pulled his coat tighter around him as he trudged through the streets. He was an accountant and was returning home from the office. His wife and children were waiting for him. He never noticed the small blue box sitting in the shadows or the four people—two men and two women—who watched him with such looks on their faces that would fill his mind with questions. And suspicion.

Cardiff, Wales, 2007

'So, is he stuck like that for the rest of his human lifespan?' Rose asked.

'And then he'll die of old age,' the Doctor said.

'Unless he gets his hands on that Fob Watch again and opens it as only he can,' Dani added. 'Which, knowing out luck, could happen sooner or later.'

'Back to work,' Jack said, ducking under the rails.

'I really don't mind, though,' the Doctor told him. 'Come with me.'

'Had plenty of time to think that past year,' Jack responded. 'The year that never was.' He looked at the memorial centre. 'And I kept thinking about that team of mine.' He looked back at the Doctor. 'Like you said, Doctor. Responsibility.'

'Defending the Earth.' The Doctor nodded. 'Can't argue with that.'

Then he pulled out his sonic and started deactivating Jack's vortex manipulator.

'Hey, I need that!' Jack complained.

'I can't have you walking round with a time-travelling teleport,' the Doctor told him sternly. 'You could go anywhere. Twice. Second time to apologise.'

'And what about me?' Jack asked. 'Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?'

'Eventually, yes,' Dani said.

The Doctor gave her a look. She knew something.

'Nothing I can do,' the Doctor told him. 'You're an impossible thing, Jack.'

The Doctor could tell Jack wanted to ask Rose, but he knew better. So Jack just laughed.

'Been called that before,' he said. Jack started to leave but then paused and turned around. He saluted. 'Sir.'

The Doctor flicked him a two-fingered salute.

'Ma'am,' Jack said to Rose.

It was Rose's turn to flick a two-fingered salute.

'Other ma'am.' Jack winked.

Dani also flicked a two-fingered salute. Jack went to leave again. Then he turned around again. 'But I keep wondering. What about ageing? Cause I can't die, but I keep getting older, the odd little grey hair, you know. What happens if I live for a million years?'

Dani threw her head back and laughed quietly. Clearly she had an image in her head.

'I really don't know.' The Doctor tried not to laugh.

Jack chuckled. 'Okay, vanity, sorry. Yeah. Can't help it. Used to be a poster boy! When I was a kid, living in the Boeshane Peninsula. Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. The Face of Boe, they called me.'

The Doctor froze as the pieces fell into place.

'I'll see you.' Jack turned and ran off.

'No,' the Doctor murmured, unable to believe Jack would end up like that.

'You're kidding me,' Rose murmured, catching the Doctor's arm.

'No,' the Doctor repeated. 'Definitely not. No.'

'Oh, yeah!' Dani laughed.

'No!' the Doctor repeated.

Then he and Rose burst out laughing simultaneously.

London, England, 2007

'You're going back to the Foundation, then?' the Doctor asked.

'Yeah,' Dani said. 'Doctor, I went with you because you needed somebody there to keep you sane. I mean, I knew that I was supposed to go with you then and there. I go by all the rules you taught me and everything you taught me to believe in but when it comes to a situation like that, I don't give a damn about the Web of Time.' She paused. 'You took care of me when no one else would. You're the closest thing I have to a dad. Do you really think I could let you go off on your own when you're in the condition you were in?'

The Doctor smiled.

'But you don't need me anymore,' Dani told him. 'You've got her. And forever.'

Gold Coast, Australia, 2007

Lucy Saxon stared out at the horizon. She'd been assured that there was a low chance that the Master would return and they'd brought her to this place to live out her life from scratch. To Australia. Down Under. Whatever you wanted to call it. She was here because she'd been vouched for.

Lucy remembered Rose. The Doctor loved her and she knew it. It was clear to anyone with eyes that Rose Tyler was absolutely the Doctor's world. He would have done anything for her and he made sure she was as optimistic as she could be. He probably had done more for her than any man had ever done for a woman. He had in Lucy's eyes. And Rose was too good for her own good.

In fact, it was Rose who had given her this. She said Lucy had been corrupted. Rose said that she deserved a second chance. So, upon the Doctor's orders, the Kaias Foundation had made her an Australian citizen on the Gold Coast and had her moved down here, where people didn't know who she was. And all because Rose Tyler had taken pity on her. She'd felt sorry for her.

Rose had sympathised with Lucy. The main difference between herself and Rose was that Rose had chosen the right Time Lord to love. So…she'd become an optimistic woman. Lucy had chosen the wrong Time Lord to love. And the Master had made Lucy a pessimistic woman. The Doctor, Rose and the Kaias Foundation had given Lucy as second chance.

XXX

They had barely gotten into the vortex, and Rose was heading back to wash up, when the TARDIS started shaking violently. Rose ambled back into the control room.

'What's going on?' Rose asked.

'Not sure.' The Doctor scrambled over the console, 'Oh! It's like we're colliding with something we shouldn't be.'

Suddenly there was another guy in the control room. He looked about 20 years older than the Doctor. Still…there was something familiar about him. The Doctor bumped into him.

'Excuse me,' the Doctor said.

'So sorry,' the guy said.

Then they realised the other was there.

'What?' the Doctor exclaimed.

'What?' the guy exclaimed.

They got face-to-face. 'What?'

'Who are you?' the guy asked.

Rose stared, but after a moment, the Doctor grinned broadly. 'Oh…' He seemed to remember something. 'Brilliant! I mean, totally wrong, big emergency, universe goes wrong in five minutes, but…brilliant!'

The guy didn't look impressed. 'I'm the Doctor. Who are you?'

Oh, I get it. Rose thought.

'Yes, you are.' Her Doctor was having a bit too much fun with this. 'You are the Doctor.'

'Yes, I am,' the other Doctor said. 'I'm the Doctor.'

'Oh.' Her Doctor laughed. 'Good for you, Doctor.' He was having fun with this so she stood back and watched the show. 'Good for brilliant old you.'

'Is there something wrong with you?' the other Doctor asked.

'Ooo!' her Doctor exclaimed. 'There it goes, the frowny face. I remember that one. Mind you, bit saggier than it ought to be. Hair's a bit greyer.' He rubbed his younger, Rose assumed, self's cheeks and then rubbed the hair. Then he wandered around the console. 'That's cause of me, though,' he said as his other self checked his cheeks. 'Two of us together's shorted out the time differential. It should all snap back into place when we get you home. Be able to close that coat again.' He closed his younger self's coat and stepped back. 'But never mind that. Look at you! The hat, the coat, the crickety-cricket stuff, the stick of celery…yeah. Brave choice, celery. But fair play to you, not a lot of men can carry off a decorative vegetable.'

'Shut up!' the younger Doctor who looked older ordered, taking off his hat. 'There is something very wrong with my TARDIS and I've got to do something about it very, very quickly—'

'Oh, you couldn't even understand yourself!' Rose couldn't keep silent any longer.

Both Doctors turned to her. One in surprise and the other in affection.

'What are you talking about?' the other Doctor asked.

'Oh, the back of our head!' her Doctor suddenly exclaimed.

'What?' the other Doctor asked, not turning around.

'Sorry, sorry.' Her Doctor apologised. 'It's not something you see everyday, is it? The back of your own head. Mind you, I can see why you wear a hat. I don't want to seem vain, but could you keep that on?'

He turned around. 'What have you done to my TARDIS? You changed the desktop theme, haven't you?'

'There's a desktop theme?' Rose asked.

'Yeah,' her Doctor told her.

'What's this one?' the other Doctor said. 'Coral? It's worse than the leopard skin.' He put on the glasses.

'Oh!' her Doctor exclaimed. 'And out they come, the brainy specs! You don't even need them. You just think they make you look a bit clever.'

The other Doctor stared at him in shock. Suddenly the alarm started blaring and the other Doctor pulled off his brainy specs. 'That's an alert. Level Five. Indicating a temporal collision. It's like two TARDISes have merged, but…there's definitely only one TARDIS present.'

'That's generally the meaning of the word "merged",' Rose remarked wryly.

He ignored her. 'It's like two time zones at war in the Heart of the TARDIS. That's a paradox. It could blow a hole in the space-time continuum the size of…' Her Doctor pushed the screen in front of his past self. '…well, actually, the exact size of Belgium. That's a bit undramatic, isn't it? Belgium?'

Her Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver. He held it out. 'Need this?'

'No, I'm fine,' he said.

'Oh, no, of course.' Her Doctor tucked the sonic away again. 'Went mostly hands-free, didn't you? Like "hey, I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe using a kettle and some string. And look at me. I'm wearing a vegetable".'

'Who are you?' the other Doctor asked.

'Take a look,' her Doctor told him.

He stared at him. 'Oh. Oh, no.'

'Oh, yes,' he said.

'You're…oh, no, you're…'

'Here it comes, yeah. Yeah, I am.'

'A fan.'

'Yeah—what?' Her Doctor looked after him.

'Oh, my God!' Rose groaned. 'How thick are you? And I'm talking to you, celery-stick.'

'What?' He turned to her.

'See?' her Doctor said. 'The human gets it.'

Rose stood up and went over to the other Doctor.

'Let me give you the facts,' she said. 'There is a paradox happening. Two TARDISes have merged. They have become one. He knows stuff about you that you don't tell anyone, yeah? Add onto the fact of all our comments and…?'

He stood there and thought about it. 'What are you saying?'

She stared at him pointedly. Suddenly a very loud bell rang. The younger-older-looking Doctor pulled the glasses off.

'The cloister bell,' he murmured.

'Yeah,' her Doctor said. 'Right on time. That's my cue.'

The older-looking Doctor shot around the console. 'In less than a minute, we're going to create a black hole strong enough to swallow the entire universe!'

'Yeah,' her Doctor said. 'That's my fault actually. I was rebuilding the TARDIS, forgot to put the shields back up. Your TARDIS and my TARDIS—well the same TARDIS at different points in it's own time stream collided, and there you go, end of the universe, butterfingers. But don't worry, I know exactly how this all works out. Watch. Venting the thermo-buffer. Roaring the Helmic Regulator! And just to finish off, let's fry those Ziton crystals.'

'You'll blow up the TARDIS,' his former self insisted.

'Only way out,' her Doctor responded.

'Who told you that?' the old Doctor asked.

'You told me that.' He hit the lever.

There was an explosion. Rose fell back onto her behind.

'Supernova and black hole at the exact same instant,' the former Doctor murmured.

'Explosion cancels out implosion,' her Doctor said.

'Matter remains constant,' the older-looking Doctor finished.

'Brilliant.'

'Far too brilliant,' the old Doctor agreed. 'I've never met anyone who could fly the TARDIS like that.'

'Sorry, mate, you still haven't.' Her Doctor turned away and came over and helped her up. 'You all right?'

'Not bad,' she said. 'Been better.'

'You didn't have time to work all that out,' the old Doctor said. 'Even I couldn't do it.'

'I didn't work it out.' Her Doctor turned back to his former self. 'I didn't have to.'

'You remembered.' He realised it.

'Finally,' she muttered. 'He gets it.'

XXX

'Where are you now?' the Doctor asked his former self. 'Nyssa and Tegan? Cybermen and Mara and Time Lords in funny hats and the Master? Oh, he just showed up again. Same as ever.' He darted around the console.

'Oh, no,' his fifth form remarked. 'Really? Does he still have that rubbish beard?'

'No,' the Doctor answered. 'No beard this time. Well, a wife.'

'Oh.' The fifth Doctor started to vanish. 'I seem to be off. What can I say? Thank you, Doctor.'

'Thank you,' he responded.

'I'm very welcome,' the fifth form said as he vanished.

XXX

Rose walked into the TARDIS after the thing with the Titanic.

'Busy day,' she remarked.

'Hmm.' The Doctor agreed as he launched them into the Time Vortex. 'Do you want to go to bed?'

Rose smiled and crossed over to him. She pressed her body up close to his and slowly undid the buttons of his jacket. He groaned quietly. She could feel his response pressed into her thigh. She ran her hands up his arms and hooked them around his neck.

'Only if you join me,' she whispered in his ear before nipping his earlobe.

'Incorrigible woman.' He growled.

I'm sorry. I had to do the Time Crash special in here.