Between Universes

_{Brick Lane, London}

Mickey instinctively jumped in front of his wife as he caught a flash of light in the corner of his eye. Martha reached out to smooth her hand over his shoulder and down his arm to calm him, gently holding onto him and watching as he stared down the road. He was looking away from the market, towards the corner of the building that the flash had protruded from, waiting for something to emerge. “Did you see that? That flash of light?”

“No. What do you think it is?”

“I don’t—” He turned to face her. “It’s Rose.”

“What, with her Dimension Cannon?”

“Yeah, at least I think so.” He looked back down the street just as the blonde came into view, wandering past the building and staring at something in her hand. “And there she is.”

“Then she hasn’t met me yet.” He shook his head. “So I should stay here, but you go and talk to her, make sure she’s alright. It’s not just the Universe or the Doctor that needs her safe. I need her to make that thing work so I meet you.”

He cupped her cheek, pulling her into a soft, lingering kiss, grinning and then touching his lips back to hers. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He quickly looked away from her and down the street, finding Rose stood watching them and keeping her distance to let him make his way across to her. “Rose, are you alright?”

She nodded, looking over his shoulder and leaning slightly to make it obvious she was looking past him. “Who’s that then?”

He couldn’t help grinning, glancing back to see Martha watching them with a smile, before looking away and stepping a little further along the stall she was browsing. “My wife.”

She beamed. “Congratulations, you look really happy.”

The man nodded. “Well she’s my soul mate.” The corner of his mouth curled upwards. “And we’ve got a little one on the way.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, two months. No one else knows yet, not even her family.”

She pulled him into a hug for a second. “Aww, Mick! You’re gonna be a great dad!”

“You think? ‘Cause I’m actually terrified that I won’t be.”

She frowned slightly, gently placing her hand on his upper arm. “You’re not your dad, you’re the opposite, you’re much better than that. You’re amazing.”

He smiled. “That’s what she says, sometimes I think she’s more excited to see me as a dad than to be a mum herself.”

“Because she loves you, and I don’t blame her.”

“For loving me or wanting to see me as a dad?”

“Both!”

He gazed at her for a few seconds, still smiling as his vision blurred, tears filling his eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She rubbed his arm. “What are the tears for?”

“Because if it wasn’t for you…” He reached towards her to poke the piece of the Dimension Cannon she held. “If it wasn’t for you and your Dimension Cannon, then I would never have met her.”

“Well you are definitely welcome.”

He beamed, then suddenly looked down as he shoved his hand in his pocket. “Almost forgot. I want you to have this.”

She held her hand out to take the object from him, small and metallic with circular components that reminded her very much of Gallifreyan. “What is it?”

“There’s not time. Just don’t lose it, and when everything’s sorted, you know with the stars, give it to the Doctor, he’ll know what it is and what to do with it.”

“Okay.” She slipped it into a pocket of her jacket, zipping up the compartment to keep it safe. “So I do find him then?”

“Of course you do! Just like I never doubted, and your parents said, and just like you believed.”

She smiled with relief. “How long?”

“Soon. A few days, you’re honestly almost there.”

“Thanks.”

He swept her into a hug, giving her a squeeze. “It’s good to see you. But go on, get going, go and find him. He’s desperate to see you.”

“Oh don’t, you’ll make me cry.”

“Sorry.” He laughed slightly as he shook his head. “It’s true. Oh and if you see my wife before then, look after her for me, yeah?” She nodded. “Alright, goodbye, Rose. I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye.” She watched as he stepped back so he was a safe distance for when she made the jump back to the parallel universe, and in the distance Martha was slowly approaching them. “Oh and I never said, congratulations on the baby.”

He smiled, watching as she faded away.




_{The Ruins of New York City, The Year That Never Was}

Martha flinched as a bright light flashed in front of her, instinctively turning her head away for a second to protect her eyes. When she looked back in front of her, a blonde woman stood in the spot where the light had appeared, seemingly too distracted by what she was putting in her pocket to have noticed her.

“Hello?”

Rose looked up at her, eyes wide in surprise. “Hello.” A wave of recognition hit her and she exhaled with a laugh. “I’ve seen you before.”

“I’m sorry? I don’t know who you are.”

“And I don’t know who you are. But I know who you will be.” She smiled. “You see, I’ve got this mate, a good mate, my best mate for so long, I’ve known him all my life. And he’s wonderful, just brilliant. And he doesn’t know it yet but he’s dying to meet you.”

“I…”

“Anyway, my point is, that you’re nearly there now, almost done, and you’re gonna make it. I know it’s tough, but it will be worth it. And you will be so happy.”

“Who are you?”

Two quiet beeps sounded, she looked down for a split second and put her hand in her jacket pocket, bringing out a small silver device. “I’ve got to go. Here, take these.” She rummaged in her left pocket, producing a couple of nutrition bars and a small water bottle, walking closer to hand them to her. “Good luck.” She stepped back, pressed the button on her piece of the Dimension Cannon, and disappeared in a flash of light.




_{The Tyler Mansion, London, Pete’s World}

The Doctor stopped in his tracks as something on Rose’s desk caught his eye. He reached for the bronze coloured object that sat in the centre at the back, weighing it in his hand. He turned the device between his fingers, following the curve of the circular pieces it consisted of. “Rose, where did you get this?”

She turned to face him, taking a couple of seconds to see what was in his hand. “Oh, when I was jumping universes, with the Dimension Cannon, I met Mickey, but a Mickey that I knew was from my future, because I saw him with a partner. He was married to Martha.”

He grinned. “Really?!”

“Yeah! Baby on the way too! Honestly, they were so in love, beautiful. Didn’t you see them catch each other’s eye in the TARDIS?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and I want to hear all about that in a second, but tell me about this.” He held the object up between his forefinger and thumb.

“Mickey gave it to me, said to keep it safe and once we’d stopped the darkness I should give it to you. He said you’d know what it was and what to do with it. So what is it?”

“Remember when we first came to this universe, and I told you that when the Time Lords were still alive, travel between universes was easy, but now impossible?” He couldn’t help smiling as he reached up to cup her cheek. “Well obviously not so impossible but still.” She nodded. “Well I told Mickey that too, and this, this tiny little thing, is Time Lord technology, part of what they used to travel across the void. And I think if we’re really lucky, if I’m right about what he was doing when he gave you this, maybe we can use it.”

She kept her gaze on him, listening intently. “How exactly?”

“This isn’t the whole of the part, there’s another piece, almost symmetrical to this one, and when the Time Lords travelled between universes they needed a means to communicate across them. I think this is part of that, the part that allowed those signals to cross the void, the essential part. What if Mickey has the other half?”

Her eyes were wide open, a smile touching her lips. “And what if we can use it to communicate with him and Martha?”

“Exactly. Now I’m not sure if we’ll need to wait for the TARDIS to grow, we might be able to use some of the stuff at Torchwood to set it up, at least at first, a sort of prototype.”

“Alright.” She beamed. “Let’s give it a go tomorrow, yeah?”

He nodded, leaning slightly closer. “Now what were you saying about Martha and Mickey?”




The Doctor reached into Rose’s lap for her hand, running his fingers along hers to make her uncurl them enough that his could slip into the gaps between them. The forefinger on his right hand hovered over the enter key. “You ready?”

She nodded, consciously holding his hand tighter as she stared at the computer screen. “Ready. Fingers crossed it works this time, yeah?”

He couldn’t help noticing that she was highly nervous, her brow creased as she refused to look away from the blank window of the uninitiated video call. “Yeah.” He hit the button, keeping his eyes fixed on her as the program rang. He swapped the hand that was holding hers, wrapping his arm around her to gently stroke her hair.

A minute passed, he squeezed Rose’s hand as she began to look disappointed at the lack of response. “It’s reaching them, I promise you it’s reaching them.”

She leant into his side, carefully bringing her head to rest on his shoulder. “I just want to be able to see him again, and I would really like the chance to get to know Martha properly too.”

“And you will.” He moved his hand to rest on her waist, giving her a squeeze. “We’ll keep trying.” His palm drifted across her back, sweeping upwards so he could brush her hair back from her face. He gently touched his thumb to the corner of her eye for a second, taking the damp away. “I promise it’s right there just waiting for them to pick it up.”

She suddenly sat up straight, the ringing ceasing, and in the corner of his eye the Doctor saw the screen lighten from its former blackness. She grinned, eyes wide, bringing a smile to his face too. “Rose! Doctor!” He turned his head to view the video call, and was greeted with a beaming Martha.

“Martha!” Rose took a second to let the moment sink in, a video call between universes.

“So glad to see you got it working! Hang on a second.” The couple watched as she got up from her seat and walked out the side of the frame. In a few seconds she returned, a hand slipping from hers as she reclaimed her seat, and on the left side of the screen, only the legs of her husband were visible.

“Mickey, it’s us!” The blonde managed to smile even wider, overwhelmed with joy as she saw him immediately react to her voice, turning on the spot and trying to move the chair at his wife’s side with his feet.

“Rose? I knew it! I knew it would work!” Martha moved the chair back to help him and he took a seat.

Rose’s gaze was instantly drawn to the bundle in his arms, a beautiful, tiny, wide-eyed baby. The Doctor grinned, leaning towards Rose as if it would give him a better view of the infant. “Oh, you are just beautiful!” Mickey peered down at his child, chuckling with sheer joy as Martha gazed at her family in awe.

Rose’s eyes sparkled with tears, lips curled upwards as she soaked in the sight of them. “So who’s this little one?”