14th of February, 2008
Cardiff, UK, Earth, Solar system
The Doctor and Jack were sitting in a pub, drinking beer and sharing stories. They were talking about the time they spent together travelling —the two of them and Rose-, and told each other about the adventures they've had since their parting.
Jack was talking about the century he spent waiting for the Doctor, his travels and the wars he fought. Then he moved to the topic of his job at Torchwood. He knew that his friend wasn't completely comfortable with the branch knowing about him, so he coloured the stories a little. Made the team look better, left out the embarassing mistakes. Like Suzie. He talked about the sex-gas, the weevils, the countrycide, the opening of the Rift and Abbaddon. Of course he left out the very big mistakes too —like Owen opening the Rift, the team shooting him, the whole team opening the Rift again... But what the Doctor didn't know, didn't hurt him.
The Doctor was talking about Donna first, and made it sound like he met her right after losing Rose, not fifteen years later. He proudly bragged that he dried the Thames, and that the Christmas-star was his work too. He told Jack about his first meeting with Martha and the Judoon, Shakespeare and the Family and the angels. Like Jack, he left out parts too. He didn't want to alert the human next to him that he'll probably end up being a giant, wrinkled head in a jar.
"And how did your team react when you waltzed back into the hub after months of absence?" asked the Doctor.
"You mean after I waltzed back after one and a half years of absence?" asked back Jack, then when the Doctor didn't catch on, he added, "They remember. Everything."
"Ouch," came the reply, followed by the question, "how?"
"One of the devices in my office has created some kind of protective bubble. The time wasn't reversed in the hub."
The Doctor couldn't decide if he should wince or laugh at Jack's bad luck. After a moment he chose the latter.
"Just laugh. I'll want to see your face when you meet them for the first time," he muttered. While he told the team about the Doctor, they've never met him. "Gwen will slap you for dragging me to the end of the universe and not bringing me back in time; Ianto will simply spit into your tea. Or put aspirin into it."
"You're kidding, right?" asked the Doctor. He still hadn't recovered from Jackie's last slap, and it was almost seventeen years ago. Of course there was another slapping mother after her, but the fact that Martha's mother smacked him never bothered him much. He didn't like the woman, while he's always had a tiny bit of affection towards Rose's mother.
"Yes," replied Jack, and the Doctor sighed in relief. "Ianto'd never spit into your tea."
The Doctor didn't have a witty comeback to that, so he just changed the topic.
"How is Martha doing on the team?" he asked, and didn't miss Jack's grimace that he tried cover up with a forced smile. It didn't fool the Doctor. "Is she that bad?"
"She's not bad. Well, not really," he stopped, trying to collect his thoughts. "She would be a good agent, but travelling with you has spoiled her."
"What do you mean? You travelled with me too. Do you feel spoiled?"
"It's different. She joined us right after leaving you. I had a whole century to re-accomodate to the slow-path."
"The slow path?"
"With you she visited new and interesting places. She had adventures every day, they came to her. She got used to them."
"Ah," was all the Doctor said, understanding what Jack was talking about.
"Yes. She's impatient with her job. She wants to work everyday. It's not a bad thing, but she doesn't really understand that while a calm day is boring to her, it's very good for the planet."
"Did you try to talk to her about it?"
"Not yet, but I'll have to. The others are getting annoyed with her. Especially this week. She was unbearable," he sighed, then explained, "It was a slow week. Again. She spent it with giving 'advices'. Again." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "She's sure she knows aliens better than the others. She insist on dealing with them. Half the times I have to go in and save her from the pissed off paxians."
"Paxians? The race dedicated to love and peace?"
"Yeah," replied Jack, then an idea came to him. "Why don't you come and talk to her? She might even listen to you."
"No, thanks," declined the Doctor.
"Why? Are you really of Gwen slapping you?" teased Jack.
"No. Look at the calendar!" he answered, then continued when Jack —despite checking the date- didn't make the connection. "It's the 14th of February. Valentine's day. The day of the lovers."
"Ah," said Jack "so did she summon her courage and told you, or you just caught on?" he smirked.
"Yeah. A nice love confession, with a big dose of blame."
"Blame?"
"For not noticing," answered the alien, and something in his tone caught Jack attention.
"I always wondered if you were that slow, or just simply ignored the signs. Or both." The Doctor glared at him. "But now I realize that you're a very good actor." He laughed. "The whole thing with the perception filters was an attempt to blow her off, right?"
"Maybe," grunted the Doctor, and Jack didn't bother to hide his amusement.
"So, I guess you don't want to turn up today. She might think it's your way to make your feelings towards her clear," he concluded, then asked, "Anyways did the stupid-act work on Rose?"
The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. He really didn't want to answer that question.
"No need to be shy, Doc. Out with the truth!"
"It worked, until our last month together," he answered, and again, there was something in his tone. Jack caught on quickly, and decided not to press further.
For a minute there was an uncomfortable silence between them, but it was broken by the sound of Jack's phone. While neither of them said it aloud, they were relieved, and were thankful for the distraction. Jack searched his pocket for the phone, and when he found it, picked it up.
"It's Jack." he spoke into it, "Whoa, slow down, Tosh, and tell me again what happened!" The Doctor, who didn't bother to pretend that he wasn't eavesdropping, was immediately on alert, when he saw Jack's expression darkening. "Are you sure?...Ok...Keep him locked up. I'll be back in ten minute."
"What happened?" asked the Doctor, right after his companion finished his call.
"They captured an alien. He has two hearts," answered Jack.
"The Master," voiced the Doctor the same thing that was on Jack's mind. "Let's go back!"
It didn't take ten whole minutes to get back to the hub, and they didn't even had a car or a Tardis. They were running all the way, earning surprised and angry looks from the people who were forced to jump out of their way. They both were used to running, but now they pushed even harder, reaching their limits. They weren't even tired when they arrived, their hate seemed to keep them going.
So seven minutes after the phone call, the two men burst through the hub's doors. They immediately noticed the damaged state of the room. Papers were scattered everywhere, a parts of a broken computer at the stairs, and Gwen's desk was shattered.
"What the hell happened here?" bellowed Jack.
"The bloke wasn't keen on coming with us," informed him Owen, coming out of the infirmary, his head bandaged.
"I understand that. But why does the place look like Hiroshima after the nuke?"
"He cooperated, up until the doors closed behind us. Then he got out of the cuffs, knocked out Ianto and threw me on Gwen's desk. Then Tosh tasered him."
"Where is he now?"
"In a cell. Jones and Gwen are trying to interrogate him."
"And this all happened in the last..."
"...thirty minutes. We didn't call you, just after I ran some tests. They showed a couple of non human features, and a DNA I've never seen in my whole life."
"Can I take a look at it?" spoke up the Doctor for the first time since he entered.
Owen looked at Jack, seeking permission. When Jack nodded, he gave the files he was holding to the Doctor.
"He's not the Master," he announced after a minute.
"We already know that," replied Owen, causing the newcomers to look at him, interested.
"How come?"
"I mentioned that I've never seen a genetic make-up like his. Because he is human, only not."
"Huh?"
Jack looked at the Doctor for explanation. "I was going to say that too. The Master is from one of the eldest gallifreyan families. A pureblood if you like. This guy is a human, with dominant Time Lord genes."
"English, please."
"The structure of the prisoner's DNA is a human double helix, but the genes aren't," said the Doctor then continued, "Probably that's the reason I couldn't sense him."
Right after he said that, Tosh walked in, looking amused. She walked to her desk, sat down in her chair. She spun around to face them, then she announced.
"This guy is definetly not the Master."
"We know, we saw the result of the tests," said Jack.
"Well, I would've been able to tell you that without the tests too," she answered.
"Yes? And how?"
"The guy down in the cells doesn't look, talk, move or gesticulate like that monster."
"He could've regenerated," challenged the Doctor.
"I know. But our boy has no clue about last year," she answered, "we made Jones test that. The boy didn't recognise her; I was monitoring his vitals during the confrontation."
"He didn't react at all? And boy?"
"The only thing he showed was irritation. But after two minutes he started to ignore her," she said with a sly grin, then added, "And boy, because he's about twenty-three. But look for yourself."
"He can be much older, you never know with Time Lords. Look at me, I'm 903," commented the Doctor, but was ignored.
Toshiko typed something on her computer. In the next minute the picture appeared on the main monitor, showing them what was happening in the cells. A young man with dark brown hair, in his early twenties was sitting on the floor in the middle of the cell.
"He's quite a nice guy. Rambles a little too much. When Martha ordered him to talk, he launched into a speech about humans' obsession with chips, then managed to lure Gwen into a conversation about her high school, boyfriend, favourite colour and movies."
"Sounds like somebody I know," commented Jack.
"Ssshhh. They're talking again," hushed them the computer genius, then turned up the sound.
The first thing they saw and heard was Martha snapping at the prisoner. "I asked you a question, Master. Answer, now!"
"She doesn't know about the results of the tests yet," commented Owen. "What are you talking about?" asked back Martha, irritated and confused. "Well, if I'm the master that makes you the sub, right? And in that case I'm the one that's doing the whole ordering thing," he stated like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Is that an order?" asked the boy, looking up. Everybody could see that he was a step away from laughing. He found the situation hilarious. "Because if it is, you've mistaken your role, Love," he added with a grin.
Back at the computers the Torchwood team snorted simultaneously.
"Now, look you prick. I repeat. I asked you a question. Ans..." She was cut off by the smiling alien again. "You didn't." "I didn't what," snapped Martha again, quickly losing her temper. "You didn't ask anything. You just told me to talk. What I did. Ask Gwen over there if you can't remember," he nodded towards the other woman, who was silently laughing at the scene. "We were talking about her life and favourites and..." "Oh, shut up," yelled Martha at him, then stormed out of the room. Gwen quietly followed, leaving the amused alien behind.
A minute later they were with the others who were watching the show on the monitor. Martha pulled up short when she caught sight of the Doctor.
"Doctor," she breathed, then launched herself into his arms.
"Hello," the alien answered, then disengaged himself from the woman.
"You're here. Why? Is there any particular reason you chose this day?" she asked, with hope filled eyes.
"I was with Jack when Tosh called him. I came to meet the prisoner," he answered while edging away from Martha.
"I got the test results," spoke up Owen, and tried to hand her the files.
"Yeah, the guy is a Time Lord," cut him off Tosh, because he could tell that the prisoner wasn't the Master. She enjoyed Martha's suffering, served her well after the last week.
"And he's still a prat. But this time, I'll be the master, and when I'm done with him, he'll wish he's never regenerated," vowed Martha.
"Maybe you shouldn't do that, Martha," tried to hold her back the Doctor. He enjoyed the show earlier too, but didn't want to embarass the woman. "I mean, he regenerated, as you said. He's not the same person anymore."
"I understand, that you want to spare him, last Time Lords and all, but you can't forget what he did to you. We have to make him pay." And with that, she went back to the prisoner.
"I think she's trying to impress you, Doc," said Jack.
"With revenging me?" asked back the Doctor, clearly not understanding the workings of the female mind.
"Yeah," chorused the whole team.
"That's nice," he commented absentmindedly, then he changed the topic. "Shouldn't we tell her about the prisoner not being the Master? For the boy's sake? She might hurt him,"he asked.
"Ah, don't worry about him. I spent the last forty minutes with him. I give Martha another five minutes before she storms out again," answered Gwen, then glanced at the monitor. "Maybe I should get back. He talks to me without rude comments."
"Do that," answered Jack, and Gwen walked off, almost bumping into Ianto, who was coming out of the infirmary. "Are you ok?" he asked, voice filled with affection, while checking Ianto over.
"I'm fine, sir," came the reply. "Martha's still with the prisoner?" changed the topic the 'teaboy', aware of the smirking faces of their co-workers.
"Yes. She just went back for another round." He turned back to the Doctor. "Don't you want to go and talk to him?"
"Yeah, but firstly I want to know who he is, and I don't think he'd tell me if I just strode in demanding answers," he replied.
A moment later Martha appeared on the screen of the monitor, looking determined. As the women entered the cell again, the prisoner looked up, and the now familiar grin appeared on his face. "Back so soon?" he drawled, "Missed me already?" "Dream on. I came back to give you another chance to speak." "About what?" he asked innocently. "About your intentions towards the humans and the planet." "I should have intentions?" he asked. Martha's presence and attempts clearly amused him. "And towards the whole planet? And here I thought I'd just have to be your master. Are the others like you? Because if they are, I won't do the job. One is enough of you," he mused aloud. Martha ignored the last part of his monologue, "Answer my question, you sorry excuse of a Time Lord!" "So now I'm your Lord too?" he asked, his tone laced with innuendo. Then he suddenly changed the topic. "Can I get a glass of water? Or should I just order you?" he asked. At this point Martha got totally fed up, so she moved to slap the insufferable man. But instead of letting her, he easily caught her arm, and twisted it. "Sweetheart. I'm really not into these kind of things. At least, not before you buy me a drink. Or get me a glass of water," he said, then released her. Gwen pulled out her gun, when he attacked Martha, but after her release she lowered it. "Ok. So I guess, you're not the Master." "Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "Then who are you? What's your name?"
"Alex" he answered without a break, then turned to Martha. "And before you make a fuss, I have to remind you, you've never asked my name."
Before Gwen could ask another question, Jack and the others —minus the Doctor- burst into the room, pointing their gun at Alex.
"Hands in the air, then step away from her!" ordered Jack, and this time Alex didn't make any comments. He turned to Martha and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. My arm hurts, but I'll survive," she answered.
Alex felt the need to defend himself, so he spoke up, though quietly, "Oh, please. I barely touched you."
Jack looked back on the young man before him, and noticed that he seemed uncomfortable under his gaze. That mildly surprised him, given his previous behavior. He focused on the boy's face and body language, and saw that his cocky confidence evaporated in the past minute, so he actually looked like a twenty years old boy rather than a homicide-loving crazy Time Lord.
"Okay, playtime is over, kiddies. Martha, he's not the Master. We ran a DNA test, we're sure. So calm down."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she demanded.
"Because we thought it might be a good example for you," said Tosh. "You're not infallible, so don't act like you were."
Martha was embarassed, she didn't speak a word, just nodded to show she understood. Jack turned back to Alex.
"So, who are you, and what are you doing in Cardiff?"
"Alex. Accident," came the muttered reply.
"Care to elaborate?"
"My name is Alexander, and me being here is an accident," he said like he was talking to a retarded two years old. "I was meant to be in 2108."
"That's a century away," noted Jack, ignoring the boy's tone.
"I blame the designated driver. He can't land in the right time to save his life. Or mine."
"Sounds like somebody I know," Jack muttered for the second time that day, but know he was almost sure that the boy was talking about the Doctor. "Are you here alone?" he asked. When he came in first and saw the damage, it occured to him, that if the prisoner wanted to escape, he wouldn't have come in with Ianto and Owen. But he did; it sounded like a diversion. He wanted his partner to escape while he was struggling.
He smiled knowingly when Alex looked uncomfortable again. "My sister was with me," he admitted, and Jack was surprised again. He didn't think Alex'd just give him this information. But then he realized that if the boy was with the —future- Doctor, he might know Jack too.
"Where is she now?"
"I told her to run to the waterfall, sit down and wait for me. We should meet up there with our driver later. I'm sure she's still there."
"What does she look like?"
"Short girl, hair in plaits, she's wearing a pink jacket and has a teddy bear with her." He noticed the weird looks, so he added, "What? She's four."
Jack nodded towards Ianto, who immediately went out to retrieve the girl. He stopped for a moment when Alex shouted after him, "Her name is Serena."
"Why did you sent her away? We wouldn't have harmed her," asked Gwen.
"How should have I known that? I remember, that Ms. Jones here came up to me, and punched me without a reason."
"Our special cameras showed that you have two hearts. We thought that you're someone else. "Sorry," apologized Tosh.
A moment later the doors opened and a little pink figure blurred between them, then attached herself to Alex's leg. Then she looked up, and noticed someone her brother didn't.
"Daddy," she shouted happily, and ran to the Doctor, who caught her when she jumped into his arms. It was like a reflex.
Everybody in the room was shocked. The Torchwood agents simply didn't understand the situation. Martha was jealous, because the siblings looked nothing like her. That meant that she couldn't manage to catch the Doctor's attention. Jack was shocked. While he suspected that Alex knew the Doctor, it didn't occure to him that he might be the boy's father. He just couldn't imagine the Doctor being a father. It sounded too domestic.
Alex recovered first from his shock, and immediately blew up on his father.
"Hi, Dad. Nice of you to join us," he drawled. The Doctor tried to cut in, but Alex didn't let him interrupt, "Tell me something. Did you even checked the year before you dropped us off? You know, making sure you don't leave your kids in a wrong time, when Torchwood still likes to throw non-humans into cells? Huh?"
"I..," stammered the Doctor.
"Do you have any idea how lucky we were? What if you leave us just two years earlier? When shoot first, ask later was the rule? What if they caught Rena and hurt her?" he said in a harsh whisper. He calmed down a moment later and muttered an apology, "Sorry. Didn't mean to go off like this."
"It's okay," came the weak reply. The Doctor really didn't know what to say, and Rena was still in his arms. He put her down back on the ground. She didn't like the idea of standing, so she immediately climbed her brother again.
"I know you were eager to take Mum out on Valentine's day, since you've forgotten the last six, but please next time check that bloody date," he said, then added quietly, "This was so the last time I played babysitter."
"You say that every year at every anniversary," giggled Rena. Alex rolled his eyes.
"Don't I know that?" he said and kissed the top of her head.
Meanwhile Jack motioned to Gwen to take Serena away. He didn't want her to hear what he was about to say.
"Come on Sweetie. We're going to get you a nice cup of hot cocoa," said Gwen, and took Serena from Alex. She went with her without a fuss. After Jack's glare, the others followed them out.
Alex immediately caught on. "What was that about?" he asked.
"I have no idea who you are," blurted out the Doctor.
"Wh..," started to say Alex, but suddenly realization dawned on him. "You're from before us." The Doctor nodded. "Shit"
"Yeah," agreed the Doctor.
Something occured to Alex. "But how come you didn't realize it was me? You always recognize me."
"It's complicated. I should be able to feel your presence, but just after you were conceived, then recognize you from your birth."
"So somehow my timeline is connected to yours, that's why you don't feel my presence right now," he concluded.
"Yes. So because I haven't even met your mother, I still can't feel or recognize you," he explained.
Alex just looked at him and said. "You've had," then continued staring. He cocked his head to the right; he was in deep concentration. The Doctor could practically see the wheels turning in his head.
A moment later he straightened out, and produced his own version of his father's gigawatt grin.
"I figured it out!" he announced.
"You figured out what?" asked Jack, rejoining the conversation.
"The whole situation." Alex grinned again. "Dad didn't make a mistake. He left us here on purpose. Actually, it's brilliant," he exclaimed.
"What's brilliant? You lost me."
"Us being here is a time loop. A near paradox."
"I still don't understand," quipped Jack.
The Doctor didn't have the same problem. "He left you here, so you meet me, so in the right time I'll drop my version of you here too to meet the present version of myself."
"Yup," agreed Alex.
"That sounds pointless," commented Jack.
"It isn't. You don't know everything," explained Alex, then turned to the Doctor. "You don't feel me right now,"he stated, and his father nodded. "Now, what you don't know is, that I already exist."
"That's impossible," said the Doctor, then added, "How?"
Alex grinned again. "Did you really believe that the universe was so cruel that it'd let grandma pop out more little Jackies?"
The Doctor's jaw hit the floor. "Rose. Your mother is Rose," he whispered.
"So, I guess the whole 'she didn't fell for my act' covered a little more than you told me," commented Jack.
"Yeah," answered the Doctor absentmindedly. He was too busy staring at Alex. His son. He was trying to find Rose's features on him. It wasn't hard, if you already knew about her being the mother. If you didn't know, the similarities weren't noticeable —Alex didn't exactly look like either of them. He was the mix of his parents.
Alex knew what he was thinking, so he said, "I'm a mix of both of you. But f it makes you feel better, Sam looks like you, and Rena is a carbon copy of Mum."
"I can't believe I missed that," said the Doctor.
"Yeah. But we should get back on track. You have to get to the parallel world."
"How? The gaps are sealed. I'll destroy two worlds if I try to open the void without...," he trailed off, then grinned, "...without another Time Lord. And you're already there. Now I just have to pinpoint you."
Alex nodded, "And I can help you with that. You didn't feel me when Mum was still here, 'cause I'm not exactly a Time Lord. So you have to learn to recognize my psychic energy before you try to cross the void,..."
"...and I can learn it from you," finished his son's sentence the Doctor. Then he place his hands on Alex's temple and asked, "Are you ready?"
Alex nodded. The whole procedure was over in a minute. After the Doctor released the boy, he immediately started to feel the presence in the back of his mind. It felt fantastic. He couldn't wait to get to Pete's world and reunite with Rose and their child.
"I think my job is done here," announced Alex. He looked at the watch on Jack's wrist, and said, "It's two fifty-four in the afternoon."
The Doctor wanted to ask why he said those words, but his attempt was cut off by the sound of a materializing Tardis. They all looked in the direction of the sound, and soon saw another Doctor emerge from the blue box. He was still in his tenth form, but looked much younger than the younger one. The lights in his eyes caused the drastic change, thought Jack. The future version was truly happy.
"Hello, everybody," greeted them the newcomer.
"That's my cue. I'm gonna fetch Rena," said Alex, and his father nodded.
Jack spoke up, "The kitchen is...," but was cut off.
"I'm sure the others were spying on us through the cameras. So I think they will be nice enough to bring her down to the computers," said Alex, then walked off.
"I never thought that I'd ever say that, but domesticity is good," announced the future Doctor, looking at his departing son. Then he turned to his younger self. "What are you waiting for? Say goodbye and cross the void!"
"I will do that. But I'm sure you already know what I want to ask," the younger answered.
"Yes, she's here, and yes, you can see her."
In the same moment the door of the Tardis opened again, and a still peroxide blonde Rose Tyler stepped out. She looked around, then said, "Hey."
Without a word, Jack scooped her up, and hugged her tightly. He kissed her forehead, then set her down and directed her to the present Doctor.
He didn't know what to say, so he settled for a soft "Hello," which Rose repeated. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you" he whispered.
"I know. But I'll be with you in a couple of hours," she answered.
He pulled back, looked into her eyes, and said, "Rose...I lo...," but Rose interrupted him.
"Not to me," then she handed him a sheet of paper. "There are the coordinates of the beach, the time, everything you have to know," she said. She kissed him lightly, then she walked over to her Doctor —or husband, by the rings on their hand.
In the meantime Alex and Serena arrived back too, and quietly entered the Tardis, followed by Rose, then all of them turned back and said goodbye. After they disappeared, something occured to the Doctor. Rose still looked like she did the last time he saw her. If he didn't know better, he'd have mistaken her for Alex's sister.
"How old is Alex? And Rose, she...," he didn't know how to ask the question.
Fortunately his future self knew what he wanted to ask. "The vortex somehow tied Rose to the Tardis. They live and die together."
"If I'm careful enough, the Tardis only dies when I'm gone," grinned the younger.
"Yup. Oh, and Alex is seventy-eight," came the answer for the Doctor's first question. "And I'm afraid, this was really the last time I managed to lure him into babysitting."
Then the older Doctor smiled at his younger self and Jack again, then went after his family.
Before he disappeared, Alex appeared again with the usual grin on his face. "Aunty Jack, please tell Uncle Ianto that I'm sorry for hitting him," he said before shutting the door.
Moments later the Tardis dematerialized, right before Jack muttered a quiet 'Aunty?', sounding offended.
As soon as the ship disappeared, the Doctor dashed out of the cell, and ran to his Tardis. He quickly said goodbye, then took off, followed by the Torchwood team's amused glances. Jack walked over to them, and watched his friend's departure. He couldn't blame the bloke —alien- for his rushed exit, he would've done the same. He glanced over at Martha, and saw her crying silently. He steered her away from the others, he had to talk to her. But not before sending a dirty grin in Ianto's way.
The Doctor was in a hurry. He was running around the control panel, pulling levers, pushing buttons while concentrating on his son's life sign. The crossing of the void was surprisingly easy.
He checked the notes he got from future Rose, and set the coordinates. Moments later all the shaking stopped; the Tardis's landed.
He ran out, only to find himself on an empty beach. He was scared, what if he landed in a wrong place, or time or both. He was about to go back into the Tardis to re-check the notes, when he heard the voice. Jackie Tyler's voice, as she tried to calm her sobbing daughter.
He quickly climbed over the rocks that were in his way. He looked around and noticed the embracing women. Jackie noticed him too, along with Mickey and Pete. Rose remained oblivious. When Jackie didn't shout at him, the Doctor broke into a run; he wanted to get to Rose.
When he was only three feet away, Jackie gently disengaged herself from her daughter, then gently turned her in the Doctor's direction.
For a minute Rose stood frozen; she didn't move, just stared at him, like she expected him to vanish like a ghost again. The Doctor crossed the remaining distance between them, and waited for her to make the first move. She soon lifted her hand, and cupped his face.
"You're real," she whispered, then in a stronger voice she said, "You're here."
"I am. And I'm not going anywhere without you, ever again."
"Good," she half sobbed. "How did you get here? You said it's impossible."
"It's a long story. It involved our brilliant and slightly rude eldest son too," he answered, and brushed his hand over her slightly swelled abdomen. Rose's eyes widened.
"I'm so sorry. You said you couldn't get back, and I didn't want you to know about him, but never meet him."
"It's okay," he soothed her.
Then he cupped her cheek and said, "I think I owe you a confession," he said, then kissed her. After the kiss he looked into her eyes and said, "Rose Tyler. I love you."
"Quite right too," she answered, smiling.
Then he scooped her up into his arms and spun her around.
"I love you too. Let's go home," she said, an went off to say goodbye to her other family.
Jackie cried, but between the sobs she managed to threaten the Doctor. The two men just told him to take care of her.
Three hours later, while they were floating in the vortex in the right universe, the Doctor was watching his soon-to-be wife sleeping peacefully in their bed. Her right hand was resting on her 'baby bump', the left was tucked under her chin. She looked adorable.
The Doctor couldn't resist the urge; he took off his trainers and climbed into the bed next to Rose. He spooned up behind her, took the hand that was resting on her belly and entwined their fingers.
As Rose snuggled closer to him, he couldn't help but agree with his future self.
It was good to be domestic.