Home Sweet Home

[Rose Tyler]

Rose had been happy. Things had definitely not turned out the way she'd thought they would, far from it, but then again, they'd also turned out exactly the way she'd hoped that they would. She'd gotten to fall in lov with an amazing man, and she'd married him. She had her family in her best friend, and she had her mom, dad, and even Mickey. She was happy, and everyone was safe. Well, as safe as people were when they knew the things they knew, and dd the things that they did. But when was it fun for things to be perfectly safe? So it was perfect.

Not only was she with him, but they had been given a TARDIS, almost like a wedding present. She could travel the stars with The Doctor, just like she had always know she was meant to do. She'd always told herself that she would be withhim forever, and spend the rest of her like going all over the universe with him. She had been truely happy for years, but those years came to an end all too soon. Not even a decade had gone by, before things suddenly went so very wrong. There hadn't been any time to stop it, before it was already too late.

Rose and The Doctor were always doing something dangerous, and sometimes they both forgot that he was human, and mortal. Rose knew from experience that not al alien species were friendly, and some of them had no reason for having so much hate for others. Too soon, she discovered the mistade they had both made when The Doctor was poisoned. The poison attacked fast, and it got worse too fast for a cure to be found. After three days of agony and paisn, and torture, her Doctor was gone. Rose burried him, and didn't speak a word to anyone for almost a week.

When she walked out of her mother and father's house, and back into her TARDIS, she never said goodbye to them, or any of her friends. She left a note. It explained why she couldn't stay, and had to leave that world. That universe, in fact. The Doctor had shared some secrets with her on his Death Bed, secrets about their TARDIS, which was now her. He told her that there was a way to get back home, and when she couldn't sit in her old room any longer, she took off. With the loud sounds of the TARDIS as her only audible goodbye, Rose was gone.

It took a lot of working with the levers and buttons of the TARDIS, but after a lot of work, she managed to find herself going through the walls of the universes, without causing any harm to come to either side. Rose only had one place come to min of where she shoud land, and that place was Torchwood. Over the past few years, The Doctor had taught her how to operate The TARDIS, and since his death, it was like the ship was helping her out, too, whispering the secrets of it's workings to her, tring to comfort her in her time of need.

After an amount of time that she couldn't have begun to guess, the ship came to crashing stop. She looked at the monitors, and the coordinates told her that she was where she wanted to be. Rose didn't know what she would say, or do. Everything had felt so numb and meaningless since The Doctor's death. Pushing herself away from the controls, Rose walked slowly to the door that would lead to the outside world. Grasping the handel, Rose gently pushed the door open, and looked out at the dark room she found herself in. It must have been the basement.

[Jack Harkness]

Jack leaned back in his chair, his hands there out in front of him and he was looking at some paperwork on his desk. It was from a case that his team had handled a few weeks back. He brought his hands up to his face and scrubbed them up and down several times viciously. Jack yawned and let his head hang back, groaning softly. His eyelids closed over his striking blue eyes as he remembered the good days. Or, rather, the days without paper reports about everything they had done. Those were the good times, running here, never stopping, saving everyone, bonding… and, changing. And he’d changed in a big way. There wasn’t much to DO around the Hub at the moment other than catalogue the items. The Rift had been pretty quiet as of late, just the odd Weevil dropping in. Jack had sent the team home early (even Ianto because the man looked like he needed a good nights sleep).

And suddenly the alarms went off in the Hub. Jack leapt to his feet in shock. What the hell was going on?! Those were the “holy hell! Something is in the Hub!” alarms. Jack dashed from his office, drawing his Webley gun from his pocket and dashing down to the basement where the scanner’s told him the item was located. As he charged down through the level’s his mind raced as he tried to figure out wait could be and cursed his luck when he didn’t come out with anything. Jack finished his rush down the stairs and opened the door into the basement with a loud bang. He advanced slowly

“Who’s there?” Jack called into the silence of the Hub’s basement. There was the sound of a door opening and Jack came around a corner with his gun held in hand. Then it fell numb and his arms lowered suddenly. His blue eyes widened in shock. His mouth parted and he whispered a name breathlessly. “Rose…” she looked so lost, so… heartbroken. “Rose?” he asked in question, holstering his gun and slowly advancing towards her like he would a wild and injured animal who might lash out at him.

His pretty blue eyes were locked on her, and then they shifted to the machine behind her. It reminded him of the Tardis… but it wasn’t the one he was used to seeing. He’d have to ask her about it. “Rose?” he asked one more time, still not quite sure she was there. “What happened love?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. After having lived so long he knew what that look meant. That heartbroken, soul-sick look.

[Rose Tyler]

Rose took a careful step out of the TARDIS,and into the room she had landed it, her eyes slowly looking around, but not really taking anything in. It was darkish, with a bit of light letting her see, there were things down there, but she didn't care to find out exactly what was in this box or that one. Maybe it was storage, paper work, alien technology, it could have been anything, really. But she didn't have the energy to care or be curious about it. It was Torchwood, and she had worked in one of those places long enough to know that the possibilities were endless, and she would only find out by looking.

Whatever was in there, it didn't matter. None of it mattered, and she didn't take the time to realize how aweful that simple and basic thought was. Rose had been doing a lot of thinking in the past week, and her thoughts had ben revolving around the same thoughts of loss and pain, and how unfair it all was. She'd stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling, and when she wasn't staring out into space, she was crying. The blonde had barely gotten any sleep, and any she managed to get was unrestful, and fille with dreams that made her jerk herself away, and leave her shaken.

She probably looked like a mess. She was wearing a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt with a baggy sweater over it. Her hair was a bit messy from the difficult travel she'd taken, and she wasn't wearinhg make-up. The crying and lack of sleep was obvious in her eyes, and she couldn't have cared less about her appearence. It was only when she heard footsteps of someone coming around the corner that she looked up, and her eyes truely focused on anything in the room. The first thing she took in was the sight of a gun, pointed right at her head. It wasn't the first time that had happened, of course.

Her eyes moved from the barrel of the gun, to the hand holding it, and up the arm. The trail eventually took her to the face that she had been expecting to find, belonigng to Captain Jack Harkness. Clearly, he hadn't expected to see her standing there. How could he have? She heard him whisper her name, before he put his gun away. Rose dropped her eyes, hearing him speak, this time questioning her. As he moved forward, continuing to speak, she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was concerned. His voice was soft, gentle, and it made her heart ache.

"Jack..."

Her voice cracked when she responded to him. She hadn't sad a word in a week, but it was more that just simple weakness. She couldn't hold back her tears, and as they started to fall, her voice gave out on her. He had come close enough to her, that it only took a small step on her part to close the distance between them, and collapse against him, sobbing. Her grip on his was very light, yet, she left her full weight lean against his strong body, letting him be the one to hold her up, and knowing that he wouldn't let her fall. Knowing it subconciously, at least, she couldn't bring herself to actually think anything so logical and thought out.

[Jack Harkness]

It had been forever since he’d last seen Rose. And she’d been smiling. Briefly Jack remembered that moment. She had been being left behind once more… back in her parallel universe, with the Meta-Crisis Doctor. Jack remembered it clearly. That cheerful smile on her face, those bright, intelligent eyes filled with excitement… where had that gone? Staring at Rose now he knew something devastating had happened to her. The light was gone from her eyes, her hair was a mess… and she looked like she hadn’t changed her clothes in a few days, that and she wasn’t smelling so nicely anymore. Jack stared at her with shock and fear, had she come to warn him of some terrible fate that had befallen her planet.

Wait, speaking of that version of the Doctor, where was he? Jack looked behind Rose and at the supposed TARDIS to wait for the Doctor to come out. Then he looked at Rose again, her look, “Oh no…” Jack said softly. Something had happened, and he could tell that whatever it was, someone had died. And judging by the lack of another Doctor there… he suspected just who had died. He looked sympathetically at Rose then, poor thing looked like she’d been crying her eyes out, and her heart as well. Jack made a low sound in his throat – shared pain. He knew how she felt. Had known, would know again.

The way she said his name made him think that she hadn’t spoken to anyone in more than a few days. His brow furrowed together and wanted to do something for his good friend. He wasn’t that far off from her now, only a few steps from her and she could be in his arms – and suddenly she collapsed against him. Not really expecting it, Jack had to brace himself. He readjusted quickly and wrapped his arms around Rose, allowed her to sob against his chest as he held her. Poor thing, he placed his hand on the back of her head and rubbed it gently trying to be as soothing as he could. He didn’t say anything, just let her cry on him.

And his mind raced still. Rose, what had happened? And since that Doctor had really been human… he wasn’t going to regenerate back to another form. Jack held Rose tighter as he felt how loose her grip was. He wasn’t dropping her. Ever. She was way to important to him – and that was the truth. Still not saying anything, he felt his own eyes tear up in shared pain. The memories of past lovers, true loves… it took his breath away and Jack felt himself cry as well, he squeezed his eyes shut and held Rose. And even though he knew he shouldn’t have… he took savage joy that she had come back to him.

Not that she really had anyone else in this dimension that she knew.

[Rose Tyler]

Rose's tears continued to fall, letting Jack support her, and hold her against him. There would have been no way for her to describe the agony she'd felt, even if she had the desire to try. There were no words strong enough for the loss she'd taken at The M-C Doctor's death... her husband's death. They had been talking about so many things that they woul ddo in the future. They had been thinking about children, and families, and the kind of life the'd always reamed of, though rarely got the chance to think about in their pasts. Now, all of those dreams were gone.

Everything she had fought for was gone, and for the first few days after her Doctor was put into the ground, she hadn't known what to do with herself. She hadn't been able to imagin ever going anywhere again. She felt like she woudl never smile or laugh ever again. Her mother and father and Mickey, or even her little sister, none of them had been able to give any real comfort to her. She'd only managed to do anything, when she'd put all of the clues together, and managed to get herself back to the world that she had been shoved out of, twice.

Rose didn't have a chance at controlling her sobs, but she didn't have a reason to try. Jack was one of the only people that she had left that she truely and completely trusted. She had no reason to feel self-concious around him, or ashamed of her weakness. He had seen her at her best, and now he saw her at her worst, but she knew that he wouldn't hold it against her. She felt less alone, somehow, feeling his hand strong through her hair, taking some comfort in the warmth of his body. After a while, the tears slowed, and she tried to talk again.

"He's gone. I couldn't stop it... He was in pain, and getting weaker, and all I could do was watch him die."

Her voice was shakey, and she hadn't spoken that many words combined since her love had taken in his last breath. But she was forming sentences, which was a good thing. Her hand was still holding into his jacket, and her head rested against his chest, not ready to move away from him just yet. She had never felt so lost, or so abandoned. Even when The Doctor had sent her away for the first time, there had alwas been a fight in her. Now, she felt confused, and like she didn't know what to do with herself. All she had was the urge to be back here, with the people who made things make sense for her. Who could really understand.

[Jack Harkness]

While Jack knew that he’d see his lovely Rose Tyler once more. He hadn’t expected to see her quite like this. This was… heartbreaking. And all Jack could do was cradle her against his chest and mourn with her. He wondered what sort of life she had been leading – and bittersweetly he wondered if the M-C Doctor had come to. Was it heroic? Pathetic? Fun—no. Not funny. It had obviously not been, here was Rose, sobbing her heart out and here was Jack, wondering what sort of end the man had come to. Low. Jack held Rose a little tighter in his grip and sighed, struggling to get his own hitched breath and tears under control.

Rose probably needed someone stable, a support, and crying himself over his own past wasn’t going to help her. Instead Jack rocked slowly – it had always been something that had soothed him when he was in a state of confusion and hurt. He felt Rose’s body shake with the force of her tears he his heart sank, there was nothing he could do for her. No magic cure to take away the pain. Not even dying helped – if that was any hint as to how rational Jack had been sometimes when his dearly loved had died. And the fall just wasn’t ever as painful as the vacant gape loosing someone left on the soul.

Once again, and unwillingly, Jack was swept up in the memories of some of his past loves. How they had met their ends, when Jack had to leave them—often shattering their hearts. It hurt him that he could never die with any of them, never grow old with any of them – children was a maybe. But none so far, and it probably wasn’t from a lack of trying. Maybe it had something to do with his body now that it couldn’t die. Not like any of his lovers since he’d died had been pregnant. By him, anyway. With a vicious mental shake Jack refocused himself, angry that he wasn’t good at showing or helping someone through grief.

He wondered how much longer Rose would cry though, there was only so much water in the human body, and after a while… it was a real drain on the senses. Jack found himself making soothing, nonsensical noises to her. As if he were calming an animal… but Rose wasn’t an animal. No, she was something far more important that that. She was his friend, his good friend. His most trusted friend, an unchanging friend. She meant the world to him and he’d damn the world in this moment if it meant making her happy. Okay… no, I probably wouldn’t… but it’s a heroic thought, Jack thought somberly.

He looked down at her as he felt the tears lessen. His spine went ramrod stiff as he listened to her sum up what had happened – in her broken, mourning way. Jack let out a shaky breath. Suffered? She had watched him die…? Had no one been there with her! Jack’s heart was sudden aflame with anger, but then it deflated. There had probably been nothing that they could have done. But… Jack was surprised, it wasn’t like he’d know the M-C Doctor that well. And the real Doctor hadn’t been that keen on him… but… it hurt as if Jack had known the M-C Doctor, had loved him fully like Rose obviously had. He didn’t say anything to her at this point, just held her closer to him and closed his eyes tightly.

The old Rose was gone, Jack Harkness knew that by now. And this new Rose was fragile, confused – and hurting so badly. Jack held her to his chest, “There are no words I can say that will change anything,” he said at last, his own voice cracking in grief, “or any magic words to make it better Rose.” He told her honestly. He’d always been honest with her… well, after he’d gotten to know her anyways. He could never lie to her, “And you probably won’t ever get over it, the pain never goes away. Trust me, I know,” Jack voice broke and he had to swallow several times before he had to go one, “But I’m going to help you through this. I promise.”

[Rose Tyler]

It took several mintes, but when Rose was able to stop crying, she focused what little energy she had left to trying to support herself. Still keeping close to the 51st century man, Rose leaned away enough to be supporting herself on her own two feet, but her hands remained where they were on him. Rose had been strong for so long, and she'd lived through so much. So much more than most humans ever even dreamed about. Even those who worked with the different Torchwoods, they still only seemed to get a taste of what she and Jack had seen in the universe. Andnow she couldn't seem to find any of that strength in her. It was too soon.

Jack's words were the truth, things she knew to be true, and she knew that there wasn't anything she could do about the past. She'd spent most of her life helping other people and saving their lives, but she hadn't been able to help and save the people that truely needed it. She'd saved Jack, but she'd learned that even that had gone wrong. She still felt guilty about what she had put him through, and that he would have to continue to go through it until... well, forever, as far as anyone coudl tell. She couldn't fix him, and she knew it was her fault that he would have to live like that. She couldn't save him, or her husband. What else had she gotten wrong?

"I missed you, so much. Every single day... I could't stay there, alone."

She couldn't think of anything else to say. SHe couldn't talk about The Doctor, not in details. It hurt too much to even think about, let alone speak out loud. But she had truely missed him with all of her heart. She couldn't go another second in that other world. Yes, her family was there, and she would always miss her mom and her little sister, and she didn't know if she would ever see them again. But every child had to move away from their families, and she couldn't spend her life with them, clinging to death. She needed to find where she belonged.

Rose finally lifted her eyes to meet his. She'd almost been afraid to do that before, worried what she might see, or what he might see in hers. She was relieved when she saw real understanding. The kind that her mom and dad and Mickey could never have begun to try and give her. THey would never know what she knew and what she had lost, and she hoped they never would. It hurt too much, but Jack knew, and she could almost find sactuary in that. She wasn't alone here, and that was what she really needed at that moment.

[Jack Harkness]

Jack held Rose as she kept on crying into his chest. He wasn’t keen on letting her go, but when she tried to support herself, he let her – but kept his arms around her if she needed his assistance. Jack felt her hands holding onto him and he tightened his grip a fraction more. The things they had seen, the strength each of them had displayed towards the strangeness. Jack had to admit that Rose had been exposed to more than he was. After all, he was from the future – and therefore was used to more. Plus he’d travelled around the universe and time before. It had been his job. He didn’t mind supporting her right now, since she was so strong the rest of the time. In fact, he felt privileged to see her this way.

Jack thought about his life. His long life – and how long it was going to be. There was a sudden horrifying thought that occurred to Jack. He would outlive Rose. His eyes closed and his heart sank. Up until that moment he hadn’t ever thought about how long he would live, it really hadn’t mattered. Now… it sent a stab of pain through his chest. He winced and held Rose a little tighter again. He didn’t blame her for what had happened to him, it was both a curse and a blessing. But right now, looking at it from the prospective of living longer than Rose… it was the worst curse that could have ever had been granted upon him. Living knowing that Rose wasn’t… it hurt him more deeply that he’d thought possible.

Jack tilted his head down and looked down at Rose as she spoke once more. Her voice seemed to be coming back to her now and he rubbed the back of her head slowly. His throat tightened, “Oh Rose, you can’t imagine how much I’ve missed you.” Jack told her, he stared down at the top of her head and smiled sadly. He just held her as they once more lapsed into silence. He didn’t feel the need to talk, just to hold her and understand her feelings. It was easy for someone to say, ‘I understand.’, and another thing to actually mean it and know what that means. Jack knew. Oh, he knew so well. He didn’t need to say anything, the best thing was to be there when they needed you, and be quiet when they were thinking.

Jack looked down thoughtfully when Rose suddenly looked up at him and met his eyes. His heart broke all over again just looking at her eyes. He smiled sadly down at her and brushed a lock of hair out of her face as he watched her. She hurt so badly… if he could have given her something to take away the pain in her eyes and heart – he could have without second thought. Having her look up at him with those sad, sad, heartbroken eyes… He leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. “Oh Rose,” he said heartbrokenly.

[Rose Tyler]

It meant a lot to her, knowing that he share her feelings. Her feelings of loss, and of having missed her as much as she'd missed him. Her family had wanted to be there for her, she knew how hard they tried, and loved them for it. They probably tried much longer than anyone else would have, and they never gave up. But it wasn't enough. Maybe that was selfish of her, but it just hadn't been enough for them to try, she'd needed to be back here. She knew she never belonged in that other world, the way the others belonged there.

It was her father's world, it was where he was meant to be. And her mom, she fit in there perfectly, too. She'd gotten a second chance at a life with her husband, Pete, and there he was a very successful man. It was perfect for her, and her new child. She just couldn't stay with them, but they had lives there together, and she knew they would be happy without here there with them. Here, there was no way to be sure, but maybe there was hope, or at least, a chance for it. At least she had people here that she could talk to. She could find The Doctor here... the real one.

Rose's eyes closed for a moment when Jack leaned down to place a kiss on her forhead, and it made her think like she might have made the right choice, coming back to her home planet. In her mind, there hadn't been any other option, but even when there's only one, it could still be wrong. But this one felt more right than anything else she'd done recently. At least, as right as anything could feel at a time like this. Rose might have let herself hold onto Jackeven longer, but the wieght of everything was starting to affect her, and it was hard to ingore the exhastion an longer.

"I'm sorry... I havn't slept in a few days..."

She hadn't eaten either, now that she thought of it. Jack was grounding her, in some ways, and it was making her start to think a little more clearly. She knew the way she was behaving was natural for people in her condition, and with all she'd been through to love, and to help people, she had every right to be like that. But she knew that her moments of weakness couldn't last forever. She couldn't break down and just give up, the wa she wanted to. She desperately wanted to, but The Doctor's voice kept in her head. "Live". It was all he wanted, and she couldn't give up now.. h was out there, somewhere.

[Jack Harkness]

Jack felt her start to detach from him. He didn’t hold her, but was ready to grab her if she needed him to do so. He nodded his head and smiled sadly at her, “I can tell, I’ve got a place you can rest if you’d like.” His eyes became a little hallowed as he looked at her, “And maybe some food afterwards. One step at a time.” He told her softly. He knew Rose would go on, no matter how much it hurt, she would go on. Because that’s the sort of person the Doctor had taught her to be. And Jack was proud of that. Rose was the sort of person that all people should try to be, doing the best to the best of your abilities.

He looked down at her and brushed around lock of hair from her face. Poor thing looked exhausted. It took all of Jack’s willpower to not just pick up Rose and carry her upstairs and lay her down on the couch in his office, give her a blanket and the quiet company he knew she probably still wanted.

The Captain held himself back, but he knew that Rose could collapse – and that was terrible. He started to direct her towards the stairs that would take them upstairs. “If it’s not to rangy for you, you can sleep on the couch,” he gave her a small smile, “but it’s all the way upstairs.” He looked at her, clearly not thinking that she could make her way up the stairs – they were quite narrow. And Jack didn’t particularly think that Rose could make it upstairs.

“And… if it’s not to humiliating, I can carry you.” He said it carefully, not wanting to bring the fact that Rose was so weak and rub it in her face. He rubbed her shoulder gently in support and (for himself) a sign of protecting her.

[Rose Tyler]

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

His offer of a place to rest didn't come a moment too soon. She hadn't felt like she could got the longest time. Nothing had been in the right place, everything had been so wrong and so much had been left undone. She had felt like there wasn't time to sleep, and whenever she managed to get in a short nap, she always woke up a few minutes later with a nightmare. But at that moment, she was too tired to worry about those haunting dreams, and with Jack there... there was a bit more peace in her mind. It was only a small start, but it was something.

As for food, she couldn't imagine eating just yet. Her body needed it, that was just the facts of life, you needed food to survive. But she didn't feel any hunger pains. Her body was too numb to feel hunger. She would have said that to her old friend, but she had a feeling that he would tell her what she already knew, that she needed food. Jacki had been the same way. She kept bringing trays of food up to Rose's room, tons of stuff that she kept trying to get her to eat. Rose had nibbled here and there, but she hadn't eaten nearly enough. She didn't tell Jack that, though.

The blonde shook her head, giveing him a small half smile at his little joke about the couch. The couch was perfectly fine. She'd slept in far worse places than on a couch. And after not sleeping, she could have slept on the floor, and still felt like she was sleeping on a bed in a five star hotel. Rose didn't care enough about it to start feeling picky. Just as long as she was here, and Jack was there. She looked over towards the stairs that Jack was leading her to, and moved to them, following his direction, and staying close to him. Not like there was much room to move too far away from him, if she'd wanted to.

"It's alright... I'm okay."

She was far from okay, but it was just an explression. She was physically weak at that moment, and she would probabl fall asleep as soon as her head hit something soft, but she wasn't ready to be carried. She wanted to walk, until she fell down, and her legs refused to hold her up any longer. She took as firm a grip on the railing of the stairs as she could managed, and used it to her her legs pull her up the stairs. It wasn't as difficult as she'd thought it might be. And she knew Jack was right behind her, incase she actually did fall. Still, she managed to get all the way up the stairs without a problem.

She let herself be le all the way through the hub, until she reached the door that lead into Jack's office. On the way there, she had the chance to look around at Jack's Torchwood, but she didn't take advantage of it. Her eyes did a quick scan, but she didn't have the presence of mind to really take it all in. She was more focused on him beside her, thinking about him, and about The Doctor... both of them. When they were both inside Jack's office, Rose looke from the desk to the couch, then back at Jack. It seemed like he was here all by himself.

"Thank you, Jack. I knew you'd be here for me."

[Jack Harkness]

Jack smiled. He was glad that she agreed, but he was fairly certain that she was going to pass out any second now. And he was glad that he didn’t have to convince her to get some rest. It was obviously harder for Jack since he didn’t sleep. But he had some paperwork upstairs that he could easily get started on while she slept nearby. Jack started to lead her to the stairs and then up them. He’d been sure that she’d reject him; her spirit was still too proud to let that happen. And she wouldn’t want to burden him. Though, in this case, Jack was sure that it absolutely wasn’t a burden. “Right this way then,” he told her softly, helping her the entire way, reading to catch her.

He could tell that she hadn’t eaten much in the past few days. But Jack also knew about that. The numbness, the pain – the wasting away. He’d try and get her some soup or something to get some food into her, but he’d not force her. The body had an incredible ability to tell itself when it needed food. And if it didn’t, Jack would make her eat if he had to. He wasn’t going to loose her to grief. As they moved up the stairs, the Captain watched her back, and then his eyes drifted down to her bottom. Despite the sad situation, Jack couldn’t help but take a few (okay, more than a few) quick looks at her bottom. It was still excellent.

As they got up to the Hub, the Captain looked around then and steered her towards his office. As she looked around his office, Jack vanished for a few seconds to grab her a warm blanket. He draped it over her shoulders and wrapped it around her gently. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently steered her towards the couch. “Sleep Rose,” he told her gently, and then he sat down next to the couch on the ground next to it. He looked at her with affectionate eyes, “I would always help you Rose,” he told her. He settled back against the front of the couch. Luckily the ground wasn’t terribly uncomfortable.

He tilted his head back, but didn’t close his eyes and didn’t sleep. He was thinking. His thoughts moved something along the line of, he’d have to find the Doctor and tell the man. But how did he tell the guy that his clone… thing, was dead and that Rose was back in their world with her own TARDIS? Jack rubbed his face gently with his hands and looked at Rose, he gave her a soft, loving smile.

[Rose Tyler]

She let Jack wrap her in the blanket, which was soft and warm, and sat down on the couch. He was acting ver protective and caring, and it was really sweet of him. He'd done so much for herin his life. Even at Bad Wolf bay, when he'd declared how she was worth dying for, before running off to battle. He'd lived up to his words and died thatnight, only to be brought back perminantly. Sometimes Rose wondered if she'd done him a favor or not that night, but she couldn't help but be glad that he was alive. She just hoped he didn't suffer as much as she worried he did.

She didn't have any room to argue with the captain, and she settled herself down on his couch. It was really comfortable, and she easly let her head rest against the armrest of the couch, pulling the blanket tightly around her. She might have been a bit more uncomfortable with Jack leaving the room, but she felt a little guilty with him sitting there on the floor like that. Rose had her eyes closed, but after a couple of minutes they opened again, and she lifted herself up onto her elbow, looking down at him. He was so sweet, but he didn't have to sit that way all night.

"Jack, there's plenty of room on the couch. You don't need to sit on the floor, like that."

Rose adjusted the way she had been laying down, moving her legs to fold up, giving him the entire other end of the couch to sit on with enough room, to be comfortable. She knew that he wouldn't feel annoyed about doing things for her, but she felt the same, and wasn't going to start taking advantage of him. She needed him to be comfy, in order for her to relax enough to try and shut down her mind. Rose's hazel eyes didn't leave Jack's form until he was off the hard floor that she didn't want him to be on all night, and feel sore tomorrow.

"Do you sleep much?"

[Jack Harkness]

Jack smiled as she settled herself down on the couch. He looked back down at the floor and waited for her to fall asleep. Instead she started to talk to him. He looked back up at her and then smiled warmly. “It’s comfortable, but if you insist.” He smiled and got up to his feet. He crawled into the couch with her and smiled. Jack laid his head against the back of the couch and groaned softly. He was exhausted for no real good reason. But he turned his head and looked over at Rose. It raised a certain amount of pleasure that he had Rose soon to be sleeping on his couch.

The Captain looked over at her and smiled. Then he adjusted himself so that he was stretched out vertically. He looked over at Rose. He leaned his head back and was lost in memories. His current attachment; Ianto Jones. That boy did his best to please Jack, coffee, dry cleaning… cleaning in general. A smile crossed Jack’s lips as he thought about his little tea-boy. And then, for no reason, Jack’s mind went to his brother Gray. Who was out of the freezer, but still really hadn’t forgiven Jack. And it was his fault. Jack let out a soft sigh of air. Life was just, complicated sometimes.

He looked over at her when she spoke to him once more He shook his head slowly. “No, I don’t usually sleep. Too many memories, and I don’t seem to need it.” He smiled and rubbed her leg through the blanket affectionately, “But I can rest. But you, Rose, need to sleep.” He told her truthfully. “So go to sleep.”

And Jack kept watching her with gentle eyes.

[Rose Tyler]

The blonde woman, not as young as she used to be, watched contentedly as Jack moved to set himself up on the couch. She felt a lot better knowing that he wasn't putting himself out, justto make her comfortable. Maybe he didn't need the sleep like she did, and maybe he was fine to be sitting on the floor, but that didn't matter to her. She cared too much about him, and was already having too many bad thoughts floatin around her mind, to let him stay on the floor. It was better that he was next to her.

Her attemptat a conversation about his habits was cut short when he reminded her that she needed to get her rest. She was trying to put it off and stay awake, wary about closing her eyes and letting sleep come. She was worried about what dreams she might have, and she didn't want to put herself back into the meories of sitting by The Doctor's bed, listening to his voice get weaker, as his grip on her hand did the same. His skin got more and more pale, and his eyes showed more pain that she'd ever thought to see him in.

She didn't want to have dreams like that, and wake up with her fists clutching the blanket that wrapped around her. But when he rubbed her leg comfortingly, she felt a little better, especially with him right there beside her. If there was ever a good situation for her to find some rest, this was going to be one of the best ways. Nodding at his "suggestion", which she knew was closer to a friendly command, Rose lay her head back down and closed her eyes again. This time she forced them to stay closed until she couldn't fight back the exhaustion any longer, and within minutes, she was out.