WHEN COMPANIONS MEET

Chapter Seven

Needless to say, Jackie wasn't thrilled to see the TARDIS parked in her garden but she allowed everyone to come in and get their things, albeit with a frosty demeanor. The Doctor kept his distance from her and concentrated on helping Rose pack. Jonathon appeared at the door to her room briefly, carrying the coral which was now about the size of a small boulder.

"That's amazing," The Doctor said, running his hand over the bumpy surface of the coral. "Donna was right."

"Yeah, that's why I hope we can cure her," Jonathon said wistfully. "Perhaps Sylvia will let us since she's friends with both me and Rose."

"You're welcome to try, mate," the Doctor said to him. "But she might not let you since Donna will want to travel with one of us once she gets her memories back."

"And I'm sure the same scenario will happen to Donna," Jonathon said. "Sylvia will be whinging and telling her to get out because she can't stand that she has a life of her own."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Jackie said as she appeared in the doorway and folded her arms over her chest. "You do realize Rose that he changed his appearance again," Jackie said, gesturing to the Doctor. "So that's three bodies in about 6 years. Which means he keeps dying which means you might die as well but unlike him, you can't regenerate."

"I traveled with him for two years and survived," Rose said. "I fought all sorts of things and came out of it without a scratch. And your argument is silly since I now work for Torchwood and face danger anyway. So what's your point?"

"I'm just telling you one more time to be careful around him before you land up dead," Jackie said. "There. I've said all I'm gonna say. Doctor, I release you from your promise to look after her since I don't want her to come back here any longer. Good luck."

Jackie left the doorway while Jonathon glared at her. The Doctor picked up a suitcase and backpack and told them he would put them in the TARDIS. Jonathon watched him go before he walked over to Rose and put his hand on her back.

"So did you and he…have an intimate moment?" he said softly.

"Yes. Does that upset you?" Rose said, turning to look at him.

"No, since I'm the one that suggested it in the first place," Jonathon said. "Besides, I decided that being jealous of myself is silly and counterproductive. I know your heart, Rose, and I know it lies with both of us. If we're going to do this, why fight about it and make you choose between us. Especially since we are technically the same man. You love me, don't you?"

"You know I do," Rose said.

"And you love him?"

Rose nodded.

"And you'll love us both until the day you die?"

Rose nodded.

"So why fight it? I could plop you down, enter your mind and remove him but that would mean I would have to remove memories of myself in the process. So we're linked, the three of us. And as for Jackie, we don't need her permission to watch over you."

He leaned in and kissed Rose's lips. Rose sighed and returned it. While they were doing that, the Doctor came back to the room. He stopped when he saw them snogging and watched for a moment from the doorway. Jonathon sensed he was watching and broke away from Rose.

"Don't mind me, go ahead," the Doctor said. "Although, be sure to finish before the power cells in my TARDIS are depleted. Otherwise, you'll have to stay with Jackie forever more."

"In that case…where's your bags?" Jonathon said, dashing to a duffle bag while Rose laughed hysterically.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

After the packing was done and all the bags and the coral were inside the TARDIS, the Doctor, Jonathon, Rory and Amy stood outside it, watching while Rose stood on the veranda and spoke to her family for the last time. From their vantage point the goodbye looked amicable. Mainly Rose spent time hugging Tony who was bawling and begging her not to go. Finally, Rose hugged them all for the last time and headed towards the TARDIS. Tony wailed louder and ran after her, ignoring her mother's commands to stay with her. Rose smiled when Tony ran up to her, his face wet with tears. She took him by the hand and led him over to the TARDIS. Jonathon knelt down and scooped up the five year old boy into his arms and held him tightly.

"Don't go," Tony said, hugging him tight.

"I have to go," Jonathon said. "But I'll think of you each and every day, yeah? You be a good boy and mind your parents."

Tony sniffed and looked over at the Doctor.

"Howdy," the Doctor said, leaning in.

Tony grinned and hid his face on Jonathon's shoulder.

"Hey! I wasn't done looking at ya," the Doctor said while Tony giggled.

Tony peeked at him for a moment and then buried his face in Jonathon's shoulder. A muffled "No!" came from him when Jackie called for him to come back to her. The Doctor tapped Tony on the shoulder. He peeked at him and giggled when he put his head back on Jonathon's shoulder.

"Clone mind meld," the Doctor said to Jonathon.

They both closed their eyes before both of them walked towards Jackie with Tony in tow. Tony looked up and looked where he was going and Jonathon laughed when he tried to wiggle out of his arms.

"Sorry, Tonester, I share a mind with him," Jonathon said as they stepped up onto the veranda.

"Come on, let him go," Jackie said, taking hold of Tony and pulling him away from Jonathon.

"No!" Tony wailed as she took him and set him down on the ground.

"Hey! Hey!" the Doctor said, leaning down.

Tony sniffed and looked at him. The Doctor grinned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small crystal.

"For you," he said, handing it to Tony.

"What is it?" Tony said, looking at it.

The Doctor whistled a tune and a light from within the crystal began to glow. Tony stared at it in fascination and tried to whistle in imitation of the Doctor. He scrunched up his face when he couldn't do it.

"You can have this and you can learn to whistle so it'll light up for you," the Doctor said. "Would you like that?"

Tony nodded and hugged him. The Doctor beamed and hugged him back. Reluctantly, the two men said their final goodbyes to him and Jackie and Pete held Tony back while they walked back to the TARDIS.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"I'm glad we don't have to do that every day," Rory said when they crossed back over the void into their own universe. "That vibration is hellish."

"Try doing it with a dimension cannon," Rose said.

They had retreated to the living room to wait out the crossing while the Doctor stayed behind in the console room. When the TARDIS quieted down, they walked up to the front again. By the time they got there, the TARDIS had landed and powered down and the Doctor was peeking out the front door.

"Here we are, Leadworth," the Doctor said to his friends as they came down the front steps. "Ponds, would you lend them the key to your house?"

Rory reached into his pocket and gave Rose the keys. Amy raised her eyebrow when she noticed the key to his car was on the key ring. She pointed it out and Rory shrugged.

"They'll need a way to find work and get somewhere," Rory said. "I trust them."

"Just making sure you knew it was there," Amy said.

They stepped outside and Rose let out a low whistle when she saw the house and car.

"I like it," she said.

"I like the car," Jonathon said, pointing to it.

"The Doctor gave you this?" Rose said to the Ponds while they walked to the front door of the house.

"Yup," Amy said.

"Funny, you never got me a house and a car," Rose said to the Doctor.

"Tell it to my clone, he's the previous version of me," the Doctor said as Rose unlocked the front door.

"So…why no house and car then?" Rose said to Jonathon as she opened the door.

"I gave you a house and a car, it was called the TARDIS. Isn't that house and car enough?" Jonathon said while the Ponds snickered.

"But they got an extra house and car," Rose teased before looking around the interior of the house. "And it's a nice house and car, where's mine?"

"I'll get you a house and car when we find jobs," Jonathon teased back while he put his hand on her small of her back.

"So…it's satisfactory then?" the Doctor said.

"Very satisfactory," Rose said, nodding.

"Well, hold on a tick then. Rory, Amy, come with me. We'll be back in a few minutes," the Doctor said.

He left the house with his companions and shut the door behind them.

"We're all alone now," Jonathon said, waggling his eyebrows. "No Jackie, no Pete, no Tony. Just us."

He was about to lean in for a kiss when the door suddenly swung open. Rose turned and watched in astonishment as the three of them came back inside carrying sackloads of groceries.

"I'm guessing from your startled reaction that it was less than a few minutes," the Doctor said. "Sorry. We thought we'd do some shopping and get necessities for you so you can enjoy the house. You can sort through and find out what you need to get but this will hold you for tonight."

Rose thanked him and they followed them to the kitchen where the Doctor, Amy and Rory set the sacks on the kitchen counter.

"We included some other essentials like soap, shampoo, washing powder, that sort of thing," the Doctor said. "Do you still have your mobile with uni roaming on it?"

"Yes," Rose said.

"Good, can I have it for a mo. I want to give you all three of our numbers then," the Doctor said. "Amy, Rory, can one of you program the numbers into the mobile?"

Rory took it and the Doctor took out the mobile that Martha gave him and read him the number. Rory entered it and programmed in her and Amy's numbers before handing it back to Rose.

"Want you to ring us when that baby comes because I want to be there for the birth," the Doctor said, pointing to her belly. "Also, update us on things. Leadworth might be dull but then again, Prisoner Zero was here so who knows. So if some Dalek shows up or some other nasty…"

"We'll ring you," Rose said. "But is that just for Leadworth or anywhere in the world?"

"Well…don't ring me over every little thing. Just major things like alien invasions or some madman wanting to start world war three, that sort of thing," the Doctor said. "And keep me informed about Donna if you decide to help her. I'll see if I can also think of a solution and we'll compare notes on that."

"You got it," Jonathon said.

"Well, I s'pose this is farewell for the moment," the Doctor said. "It's a good thing the Ponds were curious enough to visit you and now you're here and we'll pop in from time to time and visit. Yeah?"

"Yeah," Rose said.

She kissed the Doctor and hugged Amy and Rory. Jonathon hugged everyone and wished them luck. The Doctor smiled at them both and everyone bid them goodbye. Rose and Jonathon walked with them to the front door and put their arms around each other, watching while the Doctor and the Ponds got back inside the TARDIS and left Leadworth.

THE END.

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