A/N: This is a little delayed as far as current events for Doctor Who are concerned but yes it is a reunion fanfic. The full cast of characters appears, Martha, Jack, and yes Rose. This thing is a monster, easily the longest thing I have ever written, and my first fanfiction (okay I do have one other but I have run out of inspiration on the thing so this is my first finished one) so I will take what ever form of encouragement/corrections that people care to throw my way. Any typos or grammatical errors are entirely my own fault, and I hope that they don't detract from the story. Thank you for sticking with me through this ridiculously long A/N and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

Chapter One:

The phone rang, normally this wouldn't be a big event, but in the cavernous halls of the TARDIS it was akin to an extinction event for the dinosaurs. The Doctor sat up, forgetting that he was underneath a console. His head connected with the console rather forcibly and for the next moment or so the sound of Gallifreyian curses mixed with the sound of the phone.

The Doctor inhaled, preparing to call for his latest companion to get it when he realized the echoing silence that surrounded him was due to his solitude. Releasing another string of curses he looked around for the source of the call. The perky tune was emanating from the pocket of his overcoat. The joyful energetic tune clashed horribly with his current mood. After Martha, he had run through a string of bad and worst companions, one had even had the audacity to ask him to stop a football team from losing their game in 1996, something about it stopping their descent into obscurity. Football. He almost snarled at the memory. It was with a certain amount of spitefulness that he pulled the phone out of his pocket. The glowing panel showed a grinning picture and the name of phone's previous owner. He couldn't help but smile, Martha had never failed to cheer him up even after he lost – No he mustn't think of her. His good mood was quashed as he opened the line.

"Doctor, finally. I almost thought you'd lost my phone," her cheerful voice didn't quite sound accusatory, "Fancy a trip to good ol' Earth?"

Without waiting for his response she forged ahead, "UNIT has picked up some odd readings from our scanners, they have defied every expert we have thrown at them and they're getting stronger. They're coming from the middle of nowhere but better safe then sorry, right?" Her voice became hesitant, "Doctor, I think you might want to see these, they think it might be a rift of some sort, like the one in Cardiff."

Looking about the empty TARDIS, he made up his mind, "Okay, let me just set the temporal coordinates. What time?"

"Time? Oh yeah, right. October 21st, 2008 should do it," Her voice picked up her usual cheerfulness, "See you tomorrow then."

Click

The sound of the phone hanging up echoed around the empty ship. Grinning, the Doctor pocketed the now silent phone. It would be good to have a purpose again, for too long he had wandered from planet to planet with a string of companions, a visit to Earth and UNIT, just like the good old days.

With something like his old energy the Doctor sprang around the console, using every appendage he had to get the old time ship out of a temporal orbit and to the designated coordinates.

OOOOOOOO

The scrape of a key in a lock and the opening of the TARDIS door found the Doctor spread eagle on the control panel. His foot struggled to keep one lever pressed while he desperately sought to hold down twenty different buttons with his hands. Martha's laughter brought the Time Lord back to his senses. "Still can't fly the thing can you?" came her humor filled greeting. "Well you made it safely, though it's barely the 21st, more like the 22nd as of…" she glanced down at her watch, "…now."

The Doctor looked past her to the open door, woods dark with night was all he could see through the narrow opening. Looking back at Martha he smiled, "Sorry about that, the old girl has been a bit touchy of late, it was a hard trip." He indicated his uncomfortable position with a twitch of his head. "But I think it's now safe to-" He was cut off by a flashing red button on the consol by his head.

A string of untranslated words floated past Martha's ear and she stifled laughter as the Doctor was forced to press the offending button with his nose. "As I said, still can't fly the thing." She waited as the Doctor disentangled himself from the controls. With a big grin the Doctor swept her up into a bone-crunching hug. Releasing her he stared down at his old companion, "It 's good to see you Martha."

"The same to you Doctor." Martha returned the grin.

He grabbed his overcoat from the railing and bounced over to the door, "So what's the rift that you called me about, something that no one could figure out? I always did love a challenge."

"Come with me," She led the Doctor out of the TARDIS and into the darkened woods, "The sensors that picked it up were initially meant to detect alien ships approaching our solar system. UNIT snagged them from Torchwood and now we use them to monitor our own planet for suspicious activity. It's something we started after," she paused, "well after Canary Wharf." She looked sideways at the Doctor's shrouded figure for a reaction but he merely nodded for her to continue, "The rift readings, for lack of a better term, were coming from a complex in the middle of these woods. So we packed up a team and decided to investigate. It's more Torchwoods purview but after their track record with rifts…," she faded into silence, letting their shared knowledge speak itself.

"I understand, but how did you, a doctor, get thrown into dealing with a rift?" he enquired as they moved farther into the woods.

"Oh, that. I'm here incase anyone gets hurt, as tends to happen with this sort of thing and to provide a general expertise, due to my ahh…travels." As she finished speaking they entered a well lit clearing. Industrial strength lights were strung from the trees and the tents in the center of the clearing thrummed with activity. Uniformed men ran from tent to tent and the hum of a generator could be heard in the background.

She led the Doctor to the biggest tent. Two uniform soldiers stood outside and when Martha approached they snapped to attention. The Doctor shot her a questioning look and she shrugged and muttered underneath her breath, "I came very well recommended." He felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips; he knew he had done the right thing. She pulled the canvas flap aside and they entered its well lighted interior.

A table surrounded by camp chairs dominated the interior, several men in uniforms sat around the head of the table. A familiar American lilt reached the Doctor's ears and Captain Jack Harkness ceased speaking and turned to look at the tent's newest occupant.

Martha spoke as silence fell, "This is the specialist that I was talking about Major Brock, Doctor John Smith. He is the leading expert in this kind of thing. Doctor, this is Major Andrew Brock, Captain James Diamond, and Captain Anthony Montgomery." She gestured to the three military men sitting at the head of the table. Major Brock was a tall lean man with a head of graying hair; the Captains looked as though they were twins, burly men with brown hair. Though, Captain Diamond had a twinkle of humor in his eyes that his compatriot lacked. Martha continued with a half smile playing on her face, "And this is our advisor from Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness."

Jack winked, and then turned back to his previous discussion, "As I was saying, we simply can't barge in there, who knows what is generating this energy source. For all we know it could explode the moment we walk in there."

Captain Montgomery snorted, "As far as we can tell there is nothing of danger in that complex. I think you are just being too cautious, trying make up for the fiasco you caused last time one of you Torchwood fellows fooled with a rift."

The Doctor watched as Jack stiffened, the Captain had struck a nerve, it was with a quiet voice that he responded, "Sir, I would like to remind you that I am the head of Torchwood Three, those who perpetrated that nightmare were of Torchwood One. We had nothing to do with the Battle of Canary Wharf."

Montgomery looked unconvinced, but before he could continue Major Brock intervened, "Silence gentlemen, let's hear what Doctor Smith has to say on our mysterious readings before we go any further. Doctors please have a seat."

Martha took the seat next to Jack and the Doctor sat gingerly next to a fuming Captain Montgomery. "I only know what Doctor Jones told me over the phone."

Brock shot Martha an accusing look. "It was over a secure line Major, I made sure of it," Martha responded. Pacified he motioned for the Doctor to continue.

"From what you were able to make out the energy readings coming from the complex seem to be indicating a rift in the area. If I confirm this, UNIT will go in and attempt to close the rift. Correct?"

"Correct Doctor, UNIT is here to provide the muscle this operation might need, but our specialists are frankly stumped. They are currently working on trying to determine the source of these energy readings and its location but as far as they tell me they don't think they will succeed." Brock's gravelly voice droned to a halt as one of the aforementioned scientists burst into the tent.

The man had a look of someone who had coffee in his veins instead of blood. Without even pausing for breath or acknowledgement he started to speak to the Major, ignoring everyone else in the room, "Major, we need to move now, the energy readings have jumped to through the roof. Rift or not, if it continues to grow at this rate this entire area is in danger of going up like a bonfire." He paused for the Major's reaction but it was the Doctor responded the quickest.

The Doctor spoke, thinking fast., "Let me see the readings, just to confirm," heedless of military protocol he turned to the Major, "get your men ready, if this is a rift and it isn't stopped then we can not only say goodbye to this area but the entire universe and the next one over as well."

Major Brock nodded and looked at the Doctor, he seemed to look past Doctor John Smith and see the Time Lord underneath, "As you say, Doctor." He then strode from the tent issuing orders as he went.

The Doctor jumped to his feet, the Time Lord equivalent of adrenaline coursing through his system, it felt good to be saving the universe again. Martha and Jack followed him as he ran from the tent after the retreating scientist and military officers.

The man ducked inside another, smaller tent, the hum of the generator indicated that this was the source of power for the camp. The Doctor ducked inside followed by the others. Banks of monitors whirred and clanked, analyzing the new data coming in. A shrill alarm beeped as a line, black on white, spiked. A team comprised of the scientist and three others hovered over the shrilling monitor. The lead scientist turned to the Doctor, "I'm Sam Levern by the way, and this is the data we can't make heads or tails of." He nodded at a print out adorning the center desk. "Currently the energy has tripled from the levels of this afternoon. The only matching pattern we can find indicates it's a rift, but what in God's name is a rift doing out in a facility like this is beyond me."

The Doctor rifled through the pages, taking all the data in at a rapid rate, "You're right, it does look like a rift but…oohh what is this?" he flipped to the next sheet, engrossed in its contents, with a snap he shut the folder. "May I take this?" He held the folder of data. Sam nodded tiredly.

The Doctor dashed from the tent, jerking his head for Martha and Jack to follow him. He led them to a secluded corner among the tents.

"Martha, how much weight will your suggestions have with that Major?" He asked.

"A lot, but he would be more willing to listen to you. He's one of the people who know who you really are, the Brigadier General told a select group, and he was one of them. The others just believe you are a specialist but the Major knows otherwise."

"Ahh, so that would explain that look. Anyway, I need you to tell him that he needs to pull his troops out of here and abandon the area. Tell him to make up whatever he needs to but to get UNIT out of here."

"Why?" Jack spoke up, "Won't the extra man power be helpful if there is a rift to shut down?"

"Yes and no, but if I am right, then no. I have seen this kind of thing before. This is no natural rift being exploited, as was the case in London, someone has made this rift. A brilliant but very stupid person and I think I know who it is and if I am right. Well, the extra people would only be in danger. So can you get them out of here?"

"Y-es," Martha hesitantly responded.

"Good, then after they're gone we can head towards the complex," the Doctor paused and an unidentifiable expression flashed briefly across his face, "unless you two don't want to come?"

"No," Jack and Martha said in unison, they flashed a glance at each other and Jack continued, "We'll come."

His grinned flashed and his expression softened, "I missed you two." He then breathed deeply and ran a hand through his messy hair, "Well down to business, stopping a megalomaniac who can end the universe with a push of a button."

F/N: Encouragements/corrections/reviews? Thanks again!