Weaving 11/11
Story: Weaving
Author: wmr
wendymr
Sequel to: Broken Threads (Series: Tapestry)
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler; Team Torchwood and other characters in minor roles
Rated: PG13
Disclaimer: None of them are mine, and that's a good thing ;)
Spoilers: DW: S3 and VotD; TW: pretty much all of S2, though this is completely AU.
Summary: She's back, and it should be just as it was before, the three of them... but can you ever really go back?
As this story draws to a close, I want to reiterate my gratitude and appreciation to
dark_aegis and
kae_nine. You've helped in so many ways with the writing of this story, including the final chapter, and I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you both, so very much. This is a sequel to Broken Threads, as noted, and might not make a lot of sense without it.
Chapter 1: Transmission Complete l Chapter 2: Minefields l Chapter 3: Papering Over Cracks l Chapter 4: Secrets and Lies l Chapter 5: Mystery l Chapter 6: Plans and Schemes l Chapter 7: Home Truths l Chapter 8: Confrontations and Revelations l Chapter 9: Discovery l Chapter 10: Hard Choices
Chapter 11: Union and Reunion
“You’re sending me away?”
It’s the choke in her voice, as much as her words, that takes him aback. “No! Of course not! For a visit, that’s all! You miss Jackie, you said so. I thought you’d like to see her.”
“Oh.” She doesn’t sound completely convinced, and she’s moving closer to Jack, who’s standing and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Rose, of course I’m not sending you back. Apart from anything else, you can’t live there. You don’t belong.” He stands, moving closer to her and Jack.
“Right. That’s why.” Her gaze slides away from him.
Why does she think...? He rubs the back of his head, dismayed. Why would she imagine that’s the only reason he wouldn’t send her away? Why doesn’t she realise-
But of course she doesn’t realise that she belongs with him. With them. Because he’s gone out of his way not to show her that, hasn’t he? Keeping his distance, keeping secrets from her, not letting her see how he feels about her, excluding her from the close relationship he has with Jack.
And why? All because one day he’ll lose her.
Of course he will. He loses all of them, every one he’s ever loved and cared for. He’ll lose Jack one day, too - not because Jack will die, unless he finds a way to allow Jack to die, but because Jack’s not the forever-relationship type. And neither is he, really.
But what was it Jack said?
I don’t want to waste a second of whatever time we’ve got.
He surges forward, reaching for Rose, tugging her out of Jack’s arms and into his, and even as her lips part and she begins to speak, he’s kissing her.
Not the way he’s been kissing her for the past few days. Nothing like that. Kissing her the way he’s wanted to ever since she came back. No, ever since long before he lost her in the first place.
At first she’s passive, and he can taste her disbelief, but it’s only a couple of seconds before she kisses him back, lips parted under his, arms wound tightly around his neck and one hand fisted in his hair. She whimpers as he deepens the kiss, exploring and tasting her, and he presses her body closer still to his.
The sudden clatter of something hitting the floor, and then the sound of slow applause, finally makes him break the kiss. Still holding onto Rose, he raises his head. Jack’s clapping, a broad grin on his face. “About time,” he taunts with a wink.
“Yeah, yeah. Just because you were right for once, that doesn’t mean you get to be cocky, Captain.”
“Oh, I think it does.” Jack bends and, when he straightens, he’s holding a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Oh. So that’s what fell. Without a word, he takes them, folds them and puts them away.
“Doctor?”
“That’s me.” He grins down at Rose, tilting his head.
“So... want to tell me what that was about?”
“Oh, dear.” He shakes his head. “Now, I know you’re handicapped by being human, but you’re not that thick. What do you think?”
“I think...” she says, and her tongue’s peeking out the side of her mouth in that way that always used to drive him crazy. “I think you just snogged me in front of your boyfriend.”
Boyfriend? Not a description he’d use. Not for himself. No, absolutely not. And the wicked grin on Jack’s face makes clear that Jack’s going to take great pleasure in reminding him of it over and over. But... well, it’s only a word. Not important, not now.
He frees a hand and holds it out to Jack, bringing the two of them into his arms. “I think,” he says, just a little bit nervously - after all, he’s the one who told Jack he didn’t think Rose would go for this, “it’s time we asked how you feel about sharing?”
***
For the second time in less than ten minutes, her heart skips several beats. He really wants...? This, what she’s wanted ever since coming back and realising how things stood between him and Jack, is going to be hers? They’re going to be hers, both of them?
Yet he sounds uncertain. Because he’s not sure how she’s going to answer? Or because it’s not what he wants?
“Doctor.” She reaches up to touch his face. “This - it’s what you want?”
“Rose.” Yes, definite tension in his voice. “Just answer the question. Please.”
“But...” She can’t, not without knowing what he really wants.
“Rose.” Jack’s barely holding back laughter now. “He wants it, believe me. He’s been slowly going crazy ever since you came back. He’s just terrified you’re going to say no.” Jack leans over and kisses her, slowly, lingeringly. “You’re not, though, are you?”
“No.” She starts to smile, and finds she can’t stop. She’s going to spend the rest of her life with a grin as bright as the Aurora Borealis on her face.
“Good.” The Doctor lets go of the two of them, striding back over to the Rift manipulator. “Right, then, now that’s agreed, can we stop doing Sex and the City and get back to the important stuff?”
“Sex and the City’d be fine by me,” Jack quips, then winks at Rose. “He’s just embarrassed because he said he loves me and he’s hoping I won’t remember.”
The Doctor glances over. “Could’ve just been saying it for Hart’s benefit, you know.”
“But you weren’t.” Jack’s smile is completely confident.
The Doctor gives a long-suffering sigh. “Your team’s arriving. Hadn’t you better go and talk to them? Oh, and while you’re at it, you should get Ianto started on that replacement ID you promised Rose.”
“Right.” Jack nods, completely businesslike now. She falls into step beside him, heading back towards the main area.
“But...” The firmness in the Doctor’s voice makes her look back. “That retirement plan you were discussing? Don’t do anything without talking to me. That’s an order, by the way.”
She nods. Not difficult to promise him that, not now. Especially not if Jack’s right and he’s wanted this with her all along.
“Oh, and Rose?” Again, he makes her turn. “Jack might be right, though I’m not gonna tell him - he’ll be insufferable. But if he is... it applies to you too.” He gives her that special smile she knows he always reserved just for her.
Her heart leaps yet again at what he’s saying - the meaning’s completely clear, even if he won’t actually say the words. She doesn’t even have to think about her answer. Smiling back, she says, “Quite right too.”
He laughs and turns back to his task.
***
At last.
He’d actually come to the conclusion that the Doctor was never going to change his mind. He was wrong about that, not that he’s going to tell the Doctor. He’s having too much fun being right about other things.
Rose’s hand slips into his. “You all right?”
“Are you kidding?” He grins down at her. “The Doctor’s not the only one who’s wanted this since you came back.”
“I don’t mean that. I mean your... Hart.”
He flinches, and his hand tightens involuntarily around hers. Right. He’s been blocking that from his mind, pretty much. A long exhale buys him a couple of seconds. “I’m not sorry he’s dead.”
“Me neither, though I’m glad you didn’t have to kill him. But, Jack, your memories! All you went through, and it was just a stupid stunt to get your attention. Some way to show he loved you.”
“Yeah.” That’s a slap in the face he’s still recovering from. Not that he ever had any illusions where Hart was concerned, though he hadn’t guessed the guy had flipped quite that much. “But you know what?” Now that he’s thinking about it - now Rose is forcing him to - he’s starting to see things in a different light. “I didn’t do anything. I know that now.”
“What d’you mean?”
“Remember when I first met you? I said the Doctor was right not to trust me, cause I had no idea what I’d done. I didn’t do anything. I was framed.”
“Right.” She leans up and kisses him. “Could’ve told you that long ago, idiot. So could the Doctor.”
“Thanks.” The vote of confidence means a lot.
They’re out in the open area now. The team’s all huddled around Tosh’s computer; he sticks his fingers in his mouth and whistles. Instantly, all four of them whirl, Owen and Gwen with guns cocked and aimed.
“Useless,” he tells them as they lower their weapons. “Rose and I could have taken out all four of you before you even knew we were here.”
“Jack Harkness, you bloody bastard!” Gwen yells, running to hug him.
“See you’re doing so well without me, too,” he continues after hugging all of them - even Owen, who protests though not very convincingly. “Getting tricked by someone like Hart and almost getting killed? Not very clever.”
“Hardly our fault if you’ve got a psycho ex-boyfriend on the loose,” Owen growls.
He meets Owen’s gaze. “Thanks for what you did.” Rose is right; he’s not sure he could have pulled the trigger himself.
Owen shrugs. “Welcome. Time I made up for shooting you last year.”
“You did that long ago.” He ruffles Owen’s hair, ignoring the medic’s protests, then goes to speak to Ianto about Rose’s ID.
***
“You’re joking!” They’re back on the TARDIS at last, the three of them - Gwen insisted they all stay for pizza before leaving - and Jack’s explaining what he arranged for Rose in terms of documents. “You’re not getting ID as Rose Harkness?”
Rose bursts out laughing. “You shouldn’t let him wind you up, Doctor. Nah, too unusual, that name. You want a fake name, choose something people won’t remember too easily.” She hands him her new passport. “Rose Prentice. Mum’s maiden name.”
“I remember.” He glances at the main page. “Planning on going travelling without the TARDIS, then?” His tone is light, but he still wants to hear her answer.
“Just need an identity, that’s all. Ianto’s getting me a birth certificate too, and creating a bank account. Which reminds me-” She turns to Jack. “- ’m gonna pay you back when I can.”
Jack shrugs. “It’s only money. Told you, got far more than I need. And I still have to talk him into letting us do the Microsoft shares deal.” He winks.
“Sounds a bit too much like using time-travel for cheap tricks to me,” the Doctor says severely. “Now, isn’t it about time you both told me about this mysterious retirement plan of Rose’s?”
“No great mystery,” Rose says immediately, but he detects false bravado in her confident tone. “You two, you’re immortal, or near as damnit. I’m not. An’ that’s okay. Like I told Jack, I never want to be like Cassandra.”
He flinches at the reminder that he’ll lose her too soon - and then feels guilt that his immediate thought was for his own feelings. How must she be feeling at the knowledge that they’ll both outlive her by a very long way?
“Oh, Rose,” he murmurs, but she shakes her head, her expression resolute.
“ ‘S just the way it is, an’ we all know it. We know I can’t stay here for the rest of my life, either, no matter what I might’ve thought when I was younger and foolish, Doctor. I jus’ want to have something to fall back on when I have to leave. A job, or something to live on. I asked Jack to help.”
His first instinct’s to be hurt - she promised to stay, yet she’s planning to leave him, just as they all do. But one look at Jack’s expression makes him pause. She’s right. She can’t stay here for ever. She’ll get old - which, despite what he said to her once, he can cope with, or he hopes he can - and she won’t be able to keep up with him and Jack any more. She’ll need medical care - which he can provide, true, but she might need more than that. Like the company of people who won’t always remind her, by their very existence, of what she can’t do any more.
But that doesn’t mean it’s something she has to do on her own, or just with Jack’s help.
Wordlessly, he pulls her into his arms, pressing her head to his shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. “We’ll see to it together, when we need to. The three of us.”
Jack’s arms come around the two of them, holding them tight. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
***
They’re in the library, she and Jack sprawled on the sofa together, the Doctor draped over an armchair, when she remembers - she blames that completely unexpected, totally mind-blowing kiss for pushing it out of her mind. “Did you mean it, Doctor? Can you take me to see Mum?”
He lifts his head from where it’s lolling against the back of the armchair. “Do I say stuff I don’t mean? Course I can. Interdimensional stabiliser, TARDIS, genius like me - easy peasy. All done and ready to go.”
“Ready?” Her heart jumps. “What, like now?”
“Nah.” He shifts abruptly, moving his leg from where it was hooked over the arm of the chair so that he’s sitting normally. “Sleep first. Been a long day, hasn’t it?” His gaze meets hers, eyes dancing with merriment. “It’s gonna be fun seeing Jackie again. You don’t think she’ll slap me, do you? Or - oh, no, she’s not gonna snog me again?”
“Rose’s mum snogged you?” Jack explodes with laughter. “Wish I’d seen that!”
“I should’ve taken photos,” she says, grinning at the Doctor’s look of horror.
“Oh, no,” he protests. “Cruelty to Time Lords, that.” He bounds to his feet suddenly. “I’m going to bed before the two of you get any bright ideas about putting a video of me on YouTube.”
“Ooh, I like that idea.” Jack grins, pulling away from her and jumping to his feet as well.
“What, putting him on YouTube?” She laughs.
“That too.” Jack winks, moving to the Doctor’s side.
It’s a familiar scene, this: the two of them heading off to their bedroom together. She’s used to it now, and to telling herself that it doesn’t mean she’s any less welcome on the ship, or any less an equal member of their team. But now, with what happened earlier, and the Doctor asking if she’d be willing to share... well, what happens now?
She’s torn between waiting them out and forcing the issue by making a point of saying goodnight, as if she were going to her own room, her own bed, as usual. Jack catches her gaze then, his expression as unmistakeable as if he’s actually saying the words. What, you waiting for an engraved invitation?
Yes, actually, she’d tell him if he’d actually said it. It’s all very well him looking at her like that, but the Doctor’s the unpredictable one here, and she’s not going to assume she knows what he wants.
Then he’s cocking his head to one side, the Doctor, and catching her gaze. “Aren’t you coming?” Slowly, meaningfully, he extends his hand to her.
With a bright smile and a completely unexpected lump in her throat, she goes to him and lays her hand in his.
As their fingers knit around each other’s, Jack cheers.
***
In their bedroom, Jack strips to his briefs and drops down to lie on his side on the bed, the better to watch the other two. They’re so cute, just eyeing each other a little nervously, a little longingly. Of course, they’ve both been waiting for this for a very long time - since long before he came into their lives.
Just as he’s beginning to think that he needs to give the Doctor another nudge, Rose moves, reaching up to kiss him, and the Doctor meets her half-way. It’s another scorching kiss, even more so than the one in the Hub, and there’s part of him that feels he could watch the two of them all night.
When they - well, Rose - finally come up for air, the Doctor’s hair’s even more adorably rumpled than usual, and Rose herself is flushed and breathing heavily. That doesn’t stop her turning and beckoning to him. “What you doin’ all the way over there? Thought I was promised both of you?”
“You were.” He springs to his feet. “I was just enjoying the view.” He gives her a wicked appraisal. “I’d enjoy it more if you were wearing less, though. Goes for you, too, Doctor.”
“Oh, never mind me.” The Doctor leans forward and kisses him, hard. He tastes of Rose’s lipstick. “She’s the priority, don’t you think?”
Willingly, he helps the Doctor to undress Rose, and when she makes clear that she’s not going to be passive he helps her to undress the Doctor too. His rough palms stroke over creamy curves and sharp edges, human-warm skin and cool Time Lord flesh. It’s too tempting, a feast of sensation, and he bends to rasp his tongue over Rose’s newly-revealed nipple.
She writhes in the Doctor’s arms, making a mewl of pleasure in her throat - and then she’s grinning up at him. “Would’ve expected it to be the Doctor doin’ that. Always lickin’ things, he is.”
“And I will.” The Doctor’s voice is darkly sensual, a note he only hears when they’re in bed together, and his eyes are almost black. Rose’s shiver matches his own. This is going to be good.
Then they’re all on the bed, kisses and caresses and licks being shared equally between them, punctuated by murmurs and sighs of encouragement and, frequently, teasing and bursts of laughter. Until the Doctor moves over Rose and it all becomes very, very serious.
Jack lies on his side beside the two of them, Rose’s hand tight in his, and watches them find their rhythm, find each other, finally. They’ve waited so long for this, both of them - he’s waited too, but he’s had the Doctor to himself for these past weeks. He can give them this time together - and, anyway, it’s not as if he’s getting nothing out of this, watching them.
The choreography’s not perfect; their movements are awkward, new lovers becoming accustomed to one another. Grunts and murmurs of instruction, hands placed and moved, bodies shuffling until the most comfortable or pleasurable position is found, but raw emotion radiates from every touch, every gaze and every kiss.
Then, after their sighs of completion die away, two hands reach out for him and it’s his turn to take part in the imperfect dance, to slide home into her heat while cool hands stroke his back and lips leave open-mouthed kisses on his neck. His turn to show her how he likes to be touched, how to move her hips for him, how to squeeze just so, while she lets him know how hard, how fast, until finally she cries out and jerks and writhes beneath him, and he tells her he’s going to count how many times he can make her come in one night. How many times they’ll both make her come, the Doctor corrects, and he’s more than happy to agree.
Until, finally, sweaty and exhausted, they curl up in each other’s arms, ready for sleep, and he’s intensely grateful for three things. First, that at last it’s the three of them, not him and the Doctor with Rose left on the sidelines; second, for the absolute, beyond-doubt knowledge that he’s loved by them both, as he loves both of them; and finally, because if he should have a nightmare tonight it’s okay because there are no secrets any more.
***
He’s awake, and up, before them, of course. They look so peaceful, sleeping in each other’s arms in his bed - well, their bed, of course, all three of them now. He can’t resist reaching down and trailing fingertips over Jack’s hair, the curve of Rose’s shoulder. They’re his family now, in a way, he supposes.
Oh, nothing like the family he’s lost, the planet and people he once had. There’s still a constant silence in his head, where once there were so many voices. Whether or not he wanted to, he only ever had to reach out to feel the presence of another Time Lord. In those first bleak days after the War, he thought the silence would drive him insane. When, for a brief time, there was another voice again, he clung and clung almost beyond the point of sanity.
Now, it’s just him and the TARDIS, the only survivors, and it really is a simple, stark choice. Isolate himself, hold himself apart from every other race because they’re not his kind; or else open himself up to what he can have. It’s really not difficult. Jack and Rose - or whoever may come after them, as well as every other friend he has littered around the universe - can’t replace his people, but they’re his family nonetheless.
With a fond smile, he slips quietly from the room and heads to the console room to put the final touches to the dimensional stabiliser.
It’s hard to believe he’s done it, taken that step with Rose that he always held back from before. Oh, it helped that he’d already done it with Jack, of course, but with Rose there’s still the human, mortal factor. He’s going to lose her some day - and, in comparison to his life expectancy, it’ll feel like the blink of an eye, even if she doesn’t get killed on one of their trips-gone-wrong.
No, despite the promise she once made to him, he won’t have her for ever. But she’s here now; now, and for as long as they have her. He’ll just have to take some lessons from Jack on loving despite the certainty of loss.
The stabiliser’s all ready for the trip when, a couple of hours later, his two humans bound into the room, hands linked, and fall on him, demanding kisses. It’s quite a few minutes before he’s able to stand back, take Rose’s hand and ask, “Ready?”
She smiles, excitement glowing from her eyes. “Yeah.”
He moves his free hand to the controls. “Then... allons-y!”
***
Blue, sunny skies greet her as she pushes open the TARDIS door in the back garden of her dad’s London town house. She’s walking across the grass to the back door, the Doctor and Jack behind her, when the door flies open.
“It is you! I don’t bloody believe it! I heard this groanin’ noise, an’ I said to Pete, that’s the TARDIS! And he said no, can’t be, but I said... Rose! You’re here! Oh, I don’t-”
She interrupts her mum’s flow of words simply by throwing her arms around her. “Never believe the Doctor when he tells you something’s impossible, yeah?”
“Yeah, typical.” Her mum holds her tightly, so tightly she almost has to struggle for breath - and then suddenly she’s released and her mum’s hugging the Doctor. “You lovely, wonderful, absolute bastard! Come here!”
“Blimey, no need to strangle me!” the Doctor protests, but she notices - and she can see Jack does too - that he’s hugging her mum back and laughing.
Her dad’s there too, then, and she’s kept busy hugging him while Jack introduces himself to her mum, and then she’s swinging Martin around and kissing him as her dad shakes the Doctor’s hand and meets Jack. As she listens to Martin’s chatter, in the background she’s hearing talk about Torchwood and interdimensional stabilisers and the Void.
Later, in the house, over tea, she sits next to her mum and catches up on the month or so it seems she’s been away, while the Doctor and Jack, sitting together on the couch opposite, divide their attention between her dad and her mum. It feels so odd to be back - to see the house she lived in for three years and know that it’s not her home any more. That the life she once thought was over is beginning once again.
“How long you staying, then?” her mum asks. For a long moment there’s silence.
“Couple of days, I s’pose,” the Doctor answers eventually, turning to her with an encouraging smile. “Enough for you to see Mickey, and for Jack to see this universe’s Torchwood. Wouldn’t mind seeing that myself, I suppose.”
Her mum doesn’t say anything, but the hand in hers tenses.
“We can’t stay, Jackie.” There’s regret in the Doctor’s voice, but only for her mum, she knows. “Rose doesn’t belong in this universe. I was wrong. If she stayed, eventually she’d be pushed out into nothing.”
“What d’you mean?” her mum demands. “Pushed out?”
“There never was a Rose Tyler in this universe. That’s why there can’t be one now. It’s all about balance. You can’t introduce someone where there’s never been one of that person. I’m sorry.” He leans across and squeezes her mum’s hand that’s holding hers. “And,” he adds softly, “we need her too.”
Jack glances over, interrupting his conversation with her dad, and nods briefly, showing that he’s not been unaware of the conversation.
“We can visit,” the Doctor adds quickly. “Not often - even with the stabiliser, the walls would erode if we didn’t space trips out. Can’t have that. Every couple of years, I think.”
Her mum nods. “Better than nothing, I s’pose. Thought I’d never see her again after she went back to you.”
“You could come back.” Jack’s suggestion has everyone staring at him. “Well, why not?” he continues. “You’ve all got a place back there.”
“Except Martin,” she feels bound to point out. “And Jake, if Mickey wanted to come. Though he wouldn’t leave his gran.”
“Jake can’t come, unless there was a Jake Simmons in the other universe who died. Though we could find out,” the Doctor says. “But Martin could. He’s young still. I could sort something out so he’d be all right. After all, he’s the son you and Pete would have had if your first Pete hadn’t died.”
“We’re all dead over there! And if you think I’m risking my son with your hocus-pocus-” her mum begins, but Jack interrupts.
“If he says he can do it, he can. As for the rest of it, my Torchwood can fix that. Fake IDs, official records, the lot. Liquidate your assets, Pete. Turn them into precious metals - no assays or hallmarks - and I can help you sell them in our universe.”
Pete shrugs. “Worth thinking about, I suppose. Be interesting to see if I could make Vitex work a second time.”
“Or you could work for Torchwood. Cardiff’s down a member, and London’s still defunct since Canary Wharf. You’d come with excellent references.” Jack shrugs. “Up to you, and no need to make up your minds now. Like the Doctor said, we’ll be here a couple of days, and we’ll be back to visit if you don’t come this time.”
It’s a bit mind-boggling. She could have the best of both worlds: her family and the Doctor and Jack, all in one universe? The universes couldn’t possibly be that generous, could they?
The Doctor and Jack simultaneously catch her gaze, Jack with a sexy grin and a wink, and the Doctor with a rare lover-like smile. And she knows. It might not last - in fact, she knows it won’t - but just for now the universes are definitely being kind.
Payback, though, happens mere seconds later when her mum catches the way the two blokes are looking at her, and her eyes widen. “Are you... both of you...? Oh, my god, all of you...”
The instantly-guilty looks on both her lovers’ faces give the game away, and she knows things are about to get horribly complicated. But then life would be way too boring without complications, wouldn’t it?
“Run?” Jack suggests, only half-joking, and the three of them collapse into laughter.
- end
Author: wmr
wendymr
Sequel to: Broken Threads (Series: Tapestry)
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler; Team Torchwood and other characters in minor roles
Rated: PG13
Disclaimer: None of them are mine, and that's a good thing ;)
Spoilers: DW: S3 and VotD; TW: pretty much all of S2, though this is completely AU.
Summary: She's back, and it should be just as it was before, the three of them... but can you ever really go back?
As this story draws to a close, I want to reiterate my gratitude and appreciation to
dark_aegis and
kae_nine. You've helped in so many ways with the writing of this story, including the final chapter, and I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you both, so very much. This is a sequel to Broken Threads, as noted, and might not make a lot of sense without it.
Chapter 1: Transmission Complete l Chapter 2: Minefields l Chapter 3: Papering Over Cracks l Chapter 4: Secrets and Lies l Chapter 5: Mystery l Chapter 6: Plans and Schemes l Chapter 7: Home Truths l Chapter 8: Confrontations and Revelations l Chapter 9: Discovery l Chapter 10: Hard Choices
Chapter 11: Union and Reunion
“You’re sending me away?”
It’s the choke in her voice, as much as her words, that takes him aback. “No! Of course not! For a visit, that’s all! You miss Jackie, you said so. I thought you’d like to see her.”
“Oh.” She doesn’t sound completely convinced, and she’s moving closer to Jack, who’s standing and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Rose, of course I’m not sending you back. Apart from anything else, you can’t live there. You don’t belong.” He stands, moving closer to her and Jack.
“Right. That’s why.” Her gaze slides away from him.
Why does she think...? He rubs the back of his head, dismayed. Why would she imagine that’s the only reason he wouldn’t send her away? Why doesn’t she realise-
But of course she doesn’t realise that she belongs with him. With them. Because he’s gone out of his way not to show her that, hasn’t he? Keeping his distance, keeping secrets from her, not letting her see how he feels about her, excluding her from the close relationship he has with Jack.
And why? All because one day he’ll lose her.
Of course he will. He loses all of them, every one he’s ever loved and cared for. He’ll lose Jack one day, too - not because Jack will die, unless he finds a way to allow Jack to die, but because Jack’s not the forever-relationship type. And neither is he, really.
But what was it Jack said?
I don’t want to waste a second of whatever time we’ve got.
He surges forward, reaching for Rose, tugging her out of Jack’s arms and into his, and even as her lips part and she begins to speak, he’s kissing her.
Not the way he’s been kissing her for the past few days. Nothing like that. Kissing her the way he’s wanted to ever since she came back. No, ever since long before he lost her in the first place.
At first she’s passive, and he can taste her disbelief, but it’s only a couple of seconds before she kisses him back, lips parted under his, arms wound tightly around his neck and one hand fisted in his hair. She whimpers as he deepens the kiss, exploring and tasting her, and he presses her body closer still to his.
The sudden clatter of something hitting the floor, and then the sound of slow applause, finally makes him break the kiss. Still holding onto Rose, he raises his head. Jack’s clapping, a broad grin on his face. “About time,” he taunts with a wink.
“Yeah, yeah. Just because you were right for once, that doesn’t mean you get to be cocky, Captain.”
“Oh, I think it does.” Jack bends and, when he straightens, he’s holding a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Oh. So that’s what fell. Without a word, he takes them, folds them and puts them away.
“Doctor?”
“That’s me.” He grins down at Rose, tilting his head.
“So... want to tell me what that was about?”
“Oh, dear.” He shakes his head. “Now, I know you’re handicapped by being human, but you’re not that thick. What do you think?”
“I think...” she says, and her tongue’s peeking out the side of her mouth in that way that always used to drive him crazy. “I think you just snogged me in front of your boyfriend.”
Boyfriend? Not a description he’d use. Not for himself. No, absolutely not. And the wicked grin on Jack’s face makes clear that Jack’s going to take great pleasure in reminding him of it over and over. But... well, it’s only a word. Not important, not now.
He frees a hand and holds it out to Jack, bringing the two of them into his arms. “I think,” he says, just a little bit nervously - after all, he’s the one who told Jack he didn’t think Rose would go for this, “it’s time we asked how you feel about sharing?”
***
For the second time in less than ten minutes, her heart skips several beats. He really wants...? This, what she’s wanted ever since coming back and realising how things stood between him and Jack, is going to be hers? They’re going to be hers, both of them?
Yet he sounds uncertain. Because he’s not sure how she’s going to answer? Or because it’s not what he wants?
“Doctor.” She reaches up to touch his face. “This - it’s what you want?”
“Rose.” Yes, definite tension in his voice. “Just answer the question. Please.”
“But...” She can’t, not without knowing what he really wants.
“Rose.” Jack’s barely holding back laughter now. “He wants it, believe me. He’s been slowly going crazy ever since you came back. He’s just terrified you’re going to say no.” Jack leans over and kisses her, slowly, lingeringly. “You’re not, though, are you?”
“No.” She starts to smile, and finds she can’t stop. She’s going to spend the rest of her life with a grin as bright as the Aurora Borealis on her face.
“Good.” The Doctor lets go of the two of them, striding back over to the Rift manipulator. “Right, then, now that’s agreed, can we stop doing Sex and the City and get back to the important stuff?”
“Sex and the City’d be fine by me,” Jack quips, then winks at Rose. “He’s just embarrassed because he said he loves me and he’s hoping I won’t remember.”
The Doctor glances over. “Could’ve just been saying it for Hart’s benefit, you know.”
“But you weren’t.” Jack’s smile is completely confident.
The Doctor gives a long-suffering sigh. “Your team’s arriving. Hadn’t you better go and talk to them? Oh, and while you’re at it, you should get Ianto started on that replacement ID you promised Rose.”
“Right.” Jack nods, completely businesslike now. She falls into step beside him, heading back towards the main area.
“But...” The firmness in the Doctor’s voice makes her look back. “That retirement plan you were discussing? Don’t do anything without talking to me. That’s an order, by the way.”
She nods. Not difficult to promise him that, not now. Especially not if Jack’s right and he’s wanted this with her all along.
“Oh, and Rose?” Again, he makes her turn. “Jack might be right, though I’m not gonna tell him - he’ll be insufferable. But if he is... it applies to you too.” He gives her that special smile she knows he always reserved just for her.
Her heart leaps yet again at what he’s saying - the meaning’s completely clear, even if he won’t actually say the words. She doesn’t even have to think about her answer. Smiling back, she says, “Quite right too.”
He laughs and turns back to his task.
***
At last.
He’d actually come to the conclusion that the Doctor was never going to change his mind. He was wrong about that, not that he’s going to tell the Doctor. He’s having too much fun being right about other things.
Rose’s hand slips into his. “You all right?”
“Are you kidding?” He grins down at her. “The Doctor’s not the only one who’s wanted this since you came back.”
“I don’t mean that. I mean your... Hart.”
He flinches, and his hand tightens involuntarily around hers. Right. He’s been blocking that from his mind, pretty much. A long exhale buys him a couple of seconds. “I’m not sorry he’s dead.”
“Me neither, though I’m glad you didn’t have to kill him. But, Jack, your memories! All you went through, and it was just a stupid stunt to get your attention. Some way to show he loved you.”
“Yeah.” That’s a slap in the face he’s still recovering from. Not that he ever had any illusions where Hart was concerned, though he hadn’t guessed the guy had flipped quite that much. “But you know what?” Now that he’s thinking about it - now Rose is forcing him to - he’s starting to see things in a different light. “I didn’t do anything. I know that now.”
“What d’you mean?”
“Remember when I first met you? I said the Doctor was right not to trust me, cause I had no idea what I’d done. I didn’t do anything. I was framed.”
“Right.” She leans up and kisses him. “Could’ve told you that long ago, idiot. So could the Doctor.”
“Thanks.” The vote of confidence means a lot.
They’re out in the open area now. The team’s all huddled around Tosh’s computer; he sticks his fingers in his mouth and whistles. Instantly, all four of them whirl, Owen and Gwen with guns cocked and aimed.
“Useless,” he tells them as they lower their weapons. “Rose and I could have taken out all four of you before you even knew we were here.”
“Jack Harkness, you bloody bastard!” Gwen yells, running to hug him.
“See you’re doing so well without me, too,” he continues after hugging all of them - even Owen, who protests though not very convincingly. “Getting tricked by someone like Hart and almost getting killed? Not very clever.”
“Hardly our fault if you’ve got a psycho ex-boyfriend on the loose,” Owen growls.
He meets Owen’s gaze. “Thanks for what you did.” Rose is right; he’s not sure he could have pulled the trigger himself.
Owen shrugs. “Welcome. Time I made up for shooting you last year.”
“You did that long ago.” He ruffles Owen’s hair, ignoring the medic’s protests, then goes to speak to Ianto about Rose’s ID.
***
“You’re joking!” They’re back on the TARDIS at last, the three of them - Gwen insisted they all stay for pizza before leaving - and Jack’s explaining what he arranged for Rose in terms of documents. “You’re not getting ID as Rose Harkness?”
Rose bursts out laughing. “You shouldn’t let him wind you up, Doctor. Nah, too unusual, that name. You want a fake name, choose something people won’t remember too easily.” She hands him her new passport. “Rose Prentice. Mum’s maiden name.”
“I remember.” He glances at the main page. “Planning on going travelling without the TARDIS, then?” His tone is light, but he still wants to hear her answer.
“Just need an identity, that’s all. Ianto’s getting me a birth certificate too, and creating a bank account. Which reminds me-” She turns to Jack. “- ’m gonna pay you back when I can.”
Jack shrugs. “It’s only money. Told you, got far more than I need. And I still have to talk him into letting us do the Microsoft shares deal.” He winks.
“Sounds a bit too much like using time-travel for cheap tricks to me,” the Doctor says severely. “Now, isn’t it about time you both told me about this mysterious retirement plan of Rose’s?”
“No great mystery,” Rose says immediately, but he detects false bravado in her confident tone. “You two, you’re immortal, or near as damnit. I’m not. An’ that’s okay. Like I told Jack, I never want to be like Cassandra.”
He flinches at the reminder that he’ll lose her too soon - and then feels guilt that his immediate thought was for his own feelings. How must she be feeling at the knowledge that they’ll both outlive her by a very long way?
“Oh, Rose,” he murmurs, but she shakes her head, her expression resolute.
“ ‘S just the way it is, an’ we all know it. We know I can’t stay here for the rest of my life, either, no matter what I might’ve thought when I was younger and foolish, Doctor. I jus’ want to have something to fall back on when I have to leave. A job, or something to live on. I asked Jack to help.”
His first instinct’s to be hurt - she promised to stay, yet she’s planning to leave him, just as they all do. But one look at Jack’s expression makes him pause. She’s right. She can’t stay here for ever. She’ll get old - which, despite what he said to her once, he can cope with, or he hopes he can - and she won’t be able to keep up with him and Jack any more. She’ll need medical care - which he can provide, true, but she might need more than that. Like the company of people who won’t always remind her, by their very existence, of what she can’t do any more.
But that doesn’t mean it’s something she has to do on her own, or just with Jack’s help.
Wordlessly, he pulls her into his arms, pressing her head to his shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. “We’ll see to it together, when we need to. The three of us.”
Jack’s arms come around the two of them, holding them tight. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
***
They’re in the library, she and Jack sprawled on the sofa together, the Doctor draped over an armchair, when she remembers - she blames that completely unexpected, totally mind-blowing kiss for pushing it out of her mind. “Did you mean it, Doctor? Can you take me to see Mum?”
He lifts his head from where it’s lolling against the back of the armchair. “Do I say stuff I don’t mean? Course I can. Interdimensional stabiliser, TARDIS, genius like me - easy peasy. All done and ready to go.”
“Ready?” Her heart jumps. “What, like now?”
“Nah.” He shifts abruptly, moving his leg from where it was hooked over the arm of the chair so that he’s sitting normally. “Sleep first. Been a long day, hasn’t it?” His gaze meets hers, eyes dancing with merriment. “It’s gonna be fun seeing Jackie again. You don’t think she’ll slap me, do you? Or - oh, no, she’s not gonna snog me again?”
“Rose’s mum snogged you?” Jack explodes with laughter. “Wish I’d seen that!”
“I should’ve taken photos,” she says, grinning at the Doctor’s look of horror.
“Oh, no,” he protests. “Cruelty to Time Lords, that.” He bounds to his feet suddenly. “I’m going to bed before the two of you get any bright ideas about putting a video of me on YouTube.”
“Ooh, I like that idea.” Jack grins, pulling away from her and jumping to his feet as well.
“What, putting him on YouTube?” She laughs.
“That too.” Jack winks, moving to the Doctor’s side.
It’s a familiar scene, this: the two of them heading off to their bedroom together. She’s used to it now, and to telling herself that it doesn’t mean she’s any less welcome on the ship, or any less an equal member of their team. But now, with what happened earlier, and the Doctor asking if she’d be willing to share... well, what happens now?
She’s torn between waiting them out and forcing the issue by making a point of saying goodnight, as if she were going to her own room, her own bed, as usual. Jack catches her gaze then, his expression as unmistakeable as if he’s actually saying the words. What, you waiting for an engraved invitation?
Yes, actually, she’d tell him if he’d actually said it. It’s all very well him looking at her like that, but the Doctor’s the unpredictable one here, and she’s not going to assume she knows what he wants.
Then he’s cocking his head to one side, the Doctor, and catching her gaze. “Aren’t you coming?” Slowly, meaningfully, he extends his hand to her.
With a bright smile and a completely unexpected lump in her throat, she goes to him and lays her hand in his.
As their fingers knit around each other’s, Jack cheers.
***
In their bedroom, Jack strips to his briefs and drops down to lie on his side on the bed, the better to watch the other two. They’re so cute, just eyeing each other a little nervously, a little longingly. Of course, they’ve both been waiting for this for a very long time - since long before he came into their lives.
Just as he’s beginning to think that he needs to give the Doctor another nudge, Rose moves, reaching up to kiss him, and the Doctor meets her half-way. It’s another scorching kiss, even more so than the one in the Hub, and there’s part of him that feels he could watch the two of them all night.
When they - well, Rose - finally come up for air, the Doctor’s hair’s even more adorably rumpled than usual, and Rose herself is flushed and breathing heavily. That doesn’t stop her turning and beckoning to him. “What you doin’ all the way over there? Thought I was promised both of you?”
“You were.” He springs to his feet. “I was just enjoying the view.” He gives her a wicked appraisal. “I’d enjoy it more if you were wearing less, though. Goes for you, too, Doctor.”
“Oh, never mind me.” The Doctor leans forward and kisses him, hard. He tastes of Rose’s lipstick. “She’s the priority, don’t you think?”
Willingly, he helps the Doctor to undress Rose, and when she makes clear that she’s not going to be passive he helps her to undress the Doctor too. His rough palms stroke over creamy curves and sharp edges, human-warm skin and cool Time Lord flesh. It’s too tempting, a feast of sensation, and he bends to rasp his tongue over Rose’s newly-revealed nipple.
She writhes in the Doctor’s arms, making a mewl of pleasure in her throat - and then she’s grinning up at him. “Would’ve expected it to be the Doctor doin’ that. Always lickin’ things, he is.”
“And I will.” The Doctor’s voice is darkly sensual, a note he only hears when they’re in bed together, and his eyes are almost black. Rose’s shiver matches his own. This is going to be good.
Then they’re all on the bed, kisses and caresses and licks being shared equally between them, punctuated by murmurs and sighs of encouragement and, frequently, teasing and bursts of laughter. Until the Doctor moves over Rose and it all becomes very, very serious.
Jack lies on his side beside the two of them, Rose’s hand tight in his, and watches them find their rhythm, find each other, finally. They’ve waited so long for this, both of them - he’s waited too, but he’s had the Doctor to himself for these past weeks. He can give them this time together - and, anyway, it’s not as if he’s getting nothing out of this, watching them.
The choreography’s not perfect; their movements are awkward, new lovers becoming accustomed to one another. Grunts and murmurs of instruction, hands placed and moved, bodies shuffling until the most comfortable or pleasurable position is found, but raw emotion radiates from every touch, every gaze and every kiss.
Then, after their sighs of completion die away, two hands reach out for him and it’s his turn to take part in the imperfect dance, to slide home into her heat while cool hands stroke his back and lips leave open-mouthed kisses on his neck. His turn to show her how he likes to be touched, how to move her hips for him, how to squeeze just so, while she lets him know how hard, how fast, until finally she cries out and jerks and writhes beneath him, and he tells her he’s going to count how many times he can make her come in one night. How many times they’ll both make her come, the Doctor corrects, and he’s more than happy to agree.
Until, finally, sweaty and exhausted, they curl up in each other’s arms, ready for sleep, and he’s intensely grateful for three things. First, that at last it’s the three of them, not him and the Doctor with Rose left on the sidelines; second, for the absolute, beyond-doubt knowledge that he’s loved by them both, as he loves both of them; and finally, because if he should have a nightmare tonight it’s okay because there are no secrets any more.
***
He’s awake, and up, before them, of course. They look so peaceful, sleeping in each other’s arms in his bed - well, their bed, of course, all three of them now. He can’t resist reaching down and trailing fingertips over Jack’s hair, the curve of Rose’s shoulder. They’re his family now, in a way, he supposes.
Oh, nothing like the family he’s lost, the planet and people he once had. There’s still a constant silence in his head, where once there were so many voices. Whether or not he wanted to, he only ever had to reach out to feel the presence of another Time Lord. In those first bleak days after the War, he thought the silence would drive him insane. When, for a brief time, there was another voice again, he clung and clung almost beyond the point of sanity.
Now, it’s just him and the TARDIS, the only survivors, and it really is a simple, stark choice. Isolate himself, hold himself apart from every other race because they’re not his kind; or else open himself up to what he can have. It’s really not difficult. Jack and Rose - or whoever may come after them, as well as every other friend he has littered around the universe - can’t replace his people, but they’re his family nonetheless.
With a fond smile, he slips quietly from the room and heads to the console room to put the final touches to the dimensional stabiliser.
It’s hard to believe he’s done it, taken that step with Rose that he always held back from before. Oh, it helped that he’d already done it with Jack, of course, but with Rose there’s still the human, mortal factor. He’s going to lose her some day - and, in comparison to his life expectancy, it’ll feel like the blink of an eye, even if she doesn’t get killed on one of their trips-gone-wrong.
No, despite the promise she once made to him, he won’t have her for ever. But she’s here now; now, and for as long as they have her. He’ll just have to take some lessons from Jack on loving despite the certainty of loss.
The stabiliser’s all ready for the trip when, a couple of hours later, his two humans bound into the room, hands linked, and fall on him, demanding kisses. It’s quite a few minutes before he’s able to stand back, take Rose’s hand and ask, “Ready?”
She smiles, excitement glowing from her eyes. “Yeah.”
He moves his free hand to the controls. “Then... allons-y!”
***
Blue, sunny skies greet her as she pushes open the TARDIS door in the back garden of her dad’s London town house. She’s walking across the grass to the back door, the Doctor and Jack behind her, when the door flies open.
“It is you! I don’t bloody believe it! I heard this groanin’ noise, an’ I said to Pete, that’s the TARDIS! And he said no, can’t be, but I said... Rose! You’re here! Oh, I don’t-”
She interrupts her mum’s flow of words simply by throwing her arms around her. “Never believe the Doctor when he tells you something’s impossible, yeah?”
“Yeah, typical.” Her mum holds her tightly, so tightly she almost has to struggle for breath - and then suddenly she’s released and her mum’s hugging the Doctor. “You lovely, wonderful, absolute bastard! Come here!”
“Blimey, no need to strangle me!” the Doctor protests, but she notices - and she can see Jack does too - that he’s hugging her mum back and laughing.
Her dad’s there too, then, and she’s kept busy hugging him while Jack introduces himself to her mum, and then she’s swinging Martin around and kissing him as her dad shakes the Doctor’s hand and meets Jack. As she listens to Martin’s chatter, in the background she’s hearing talk about Torchwood and interdimensional stabilisers and the Void.
Later, in the house, over tea, she sits next to her mum and catches up on the month or so it seems she’s been away, while the Doctor and Jack, sitting together on the couch opposite, divide their attention between her dad and her mum. It feels so odd to be back - to see the house she lived in for three years and know that it’s not her home any more. That the life she once thought was over is beginning once again.
“How long you staying, then?” her mum asks. For a long moment there’s silence.
“Couple of days, I s’pose,” the Doctor answers eventually, turning to her with an encouraging smile. “Enough for you to see Mickey, and for Jack to see this universe’s Torchwood. Wouldn’t mind seeing that myself, I suppose.”
Her mum doesn’t say anything, but the hand in hers tenses.
“We can’t stay, Jackie.” There’s regret in the Doctor’s voice, but only for her mum, she knows. “Rose doesn’t belong in this universe. I was wrong. If she stayed, eventually she’d be pushed out into nothing.”
“What d’you mean?” her mum demands. “Pushed out?”
“There never was a Rose Tyler in this universe. That’s why there can’t be one now. It’s all about balance. You can’t introduce someone where there’s never been one of that person. I’m sorry.” He leans across and squeezes her mum’s hand that’s holding hers. “And,” he adds softly, “we need her too.”
Jack glances over, interrupting his conversation with her dad, and nods briefly, showing that he’s not been unaware of the conversation.
“We can visit,” the Doctor adds quickly. “Not often - even with the stabiliser, the walls would erode if we didn’t space trips out. Can’t have that. Every couple of years, I think.”
Her mum nods. “Better than nothing, I s’pose. Thought I’d never see her again after she went back to you.”
“You could come back.” Jack’s suggestion has everyone staring at him. “Well, why not?” he continues. “You’ve all got a place back there.”
“Except Martin,” she feels bound to point out. “And Jake, if Mickey wanted to come. Though he wouldn’t leave his gran.”
“Jake can’t come, unless there was a Jake Simmons in the other universe who died. Though we could find out,” the Doctor says. “But Martin could. He’s young still. I could sort something out so he’d be all right. After all, he’s the son you and Pete would have had if your first Pete hadn’t died.”
“We’re all dead over there! And if you think I’m risking my son with your hocus-pocus-” her mum begins, but Jack interrupts.
“If he says he can do it, he can. As for the rest of it, my Torchwood can fix that. Fake IDs, official records, the lot. Liquidate your assets, Pete. Turn them into precious metals - no assays or hallmarks - and I can help you sell them in our universe.”
Pete shrugs. “Worth thinking about, I suppose. Be interesting to see if I could make Vitex work a second time.”
“Or you could work for Torchwood. Cardiff’s down a member, and London’s still defunct since Canary Wharf. You’d come with excellent references.” Jack shrugs. “Up to you, and no need to make up your minds now. Like the Doctor said, we’ll be here a couple of days, and we’ll be back to visit if you don’t come this time.”
It’s a bit mind-boggling. She could have the best of both worlds: her family and the Doctor and Jack, all in one universe? The universes couldn’t possibly be that generous, could they?
The Doctor and Jack simultaneously catch her gaze, Jack with a sexy grin and a wink, and the Doctor with a rare lover-like smile. And she knows. It might not last - in fact, she knows it won’t - but just for now the universes are definitely being kind.
Payback, though, happens mere seconds later when her mum catches the way the two blokes are looking at her, and her eyes widen. “Are you... both of you...? Oh, my god, all of you...”
The instantly-guilty looks on both her lovers’ faces give the game away, and she knows things are about to get horribly complicated. But then life would be way too boring without complications, wouldn’t it?
“Run?” Jack suggests, only half-joking, and the three of them collapse into laughter.
- end