Weeee! Last chapter of my first ever fanfic! Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed! I'd love any additional feedback, good or bad!

I have the sequel outlined, and plan to start writing it soon. In the meantime, I'll post some other shorter stories I have finished. Thanks again for reading! And a huge thanks to my Beta Banrion!

The Doctor laughed as Gwen threw a chunk of pineapple at Jack when the Captain tried to knick a slice of pizza off her plate. "Oi! The box is right over there! Get your own slice!" Gwen scolded him.

"Yes, but you are within grabbing distance while the box would require getting out of this very comfortable chair. And don't think I didn't notice you eyeing my seat, Tosh," he shot a knowing look at the girl perched on the arm of the easy chair Owen was currently occupying. Tosh threw a slice of mushroom at him in retaliation and the room erupted in another round of laughter.

They were settled in the TARDIS library, which the Old Girl had been kind enough to expand and furnish to accommodate a much larger group than usual. The Doctor looked around the room at his friends and then down at the woman cuddled against his chest on their usual loveseat. The unfamiliar feeling of contentment washed over him as he joined in their shared laughter.

It had now been two days since Rose had properly woken up, and Jack, Donna, and Martha had roped him into having a celebratory pizza dinner before the two of them set out for Pete's World. The rest of the gang would stay here, all of them having too strong of ties to this universe to risk getting stuck in a different one. The risk was small, of course. Infinitesimal, really. But the Doctor had held his tongue with that reassurance, rather happy to spend a few weeks just him and Rose. Well, just him and Rose and her family. Blimey, this would be interesting. He rather wished he had held off on their plans, having some time that would really be just the two of them. But as he stole another glance at his favorite human, he saw the anguish simmering just beneath the surface in her gaze, though outwardly she was gwaffing at the Torchwood team's antics. He remembered why he was initially in such a hurry to rush into the next adventure, even if that next adventure involved an awful lot of domestics. Rose needed the distraction, and in her condition, spending time with her family was the only thing he could think of. He hoped it would help hold her demons at bay like she did for his. There was too much there that neither of them were in any state to confront.

He was torn from his musings when Rose cursed as a large splash of tea sloshed out of her mug. His hand shot out and steadied the mug just before her shaking hand would have emptied the rest of the contents all over the both of them. He'd forgotten that she probably wasn't up to lifting something so heavy yet. And Rasssilon knows she'd never ask for help. Tea steadied, he tried his best to help her hold the cup to her lips for a sip without acting like she needed the help. After a few gulps she nodded at him and he set the mug back on the coffee table in front of them.

"You must think I'm pretty pathetic," she said wrinkling her nose in that adorable way she had.

"Pathetic? You? Never, Rose Tyler. I could think of billions of other adjectives to describe you, beautiful, cheeky, brilliant…but never, ever pathetic," he assured her with a soft smile.

He would have expected her to roll her eyes and come back with a witty retort, but she just smiled tiredly and turned her attention to Jack and Tosh who were now wrestling for the coveted lounge chair. The Doctor dropped a kiss to the top of her head and ran a hand over the smooth skin of her arm. The Doctor had taken most of the bandages off earlier that day, initially scared of what he may find underneath. His worry was unfounded as hardly a scar was left on her beautiful skin. More importantly, the dermal regenerator had erased all evidence of the cruel message that had been carved onto her arms. He hoped that Rose would never have to know about that. He didn't think she had remembered so far. She hadn't said anything about it…but then again, she hadn't said much about their captivity in the last couple of days.

His caressing hand wandered down to her wrist where a hard plastic brace was stabilizing her bones as they knitted together. There was another covering her left leg and pelvis all the way up to just above her hips. That one she had been quite vocal about. He knew from experience that having such a large area of the body immobilized was uncomfortable and slightly claustrophobic. He thanked Rassilon that she would only need such an extensive getup for another day or two. After that, a shorter cast and some creative bracing would suffice. He was torn between wanting to play it absolutely safe in how long to leave these protective items in place and wanting to rush to remove them so Rose was more comfortable. In the end, Martha had stepped in to make the final decision of how long the casts would need to stay in place, bless her.

In the first chaotic hours in the TARDIS infirmary, he had managed to set and heal Rose's ribs before the TARDIS had let him know that her body had been tinkered with enough by shutting off the dermal and skeletal regenerators. The problem with even advanced medical technology was that it required resources and energy from the patient. And humans could only give so much. That was part of the reason Rose had slept so much after each torture session. Nothing, not even miraculous healing powers came without a price.

"Quit brooding," Rose's teasing voice brought him back once again.

"I wasn't…" he began, but her knowing look caused him to click his mouth shut instead of finishing that sentence. Instead he eyed her empty pizza plate, "Six slices. I think that's a record Rose Tyler! I never thought someone could regain an appetite so quickly, but then again, perhaps I underestimate your love of food."

Rose laughed and he couldn't help but beam at the beautiful sound, "Yeah it's probably that. If I wasn't stuffed to the gills already I'd be scolding your friends in their waste of perfectly good pizza toppings."

"They went to a good cause!" Gwen laughed having overheard the conversation through the continued scuffle over the chair.

"Hmmmm," Rose mused, "S'pose so. By the way, you lot know that the TARDIS would provide another chair if you asked nicely, right?"

"I don't think we all have the same relationship as you have with the ship, Rosie" Jack grunted now that Gwen, Ianto, and Tosh were teaming up to drag him out of the chair.

"Besides, this is much more fun," Tosh laughed.

"How you lot managed to get a thing done is beyond me," the Doctor said as he observed Jack's team continuing to romp like puppies.

"Oi! We've saved the world plenty of times, not to mention the whole universe once or twice!" Gwen argued once she had caught her breath from dethroning Jack. Said immortal was sitting on the floor where they had dumped him, pouting at his team's mutiny.

"Oh, don't you worry, Doctor. We can be right dull just like you'd expect from a clandestine government agency," Tosh assured him.

"Speak for yourself!" Gwen laughed.

"No, it's true. In fact, I think it's your people we have to blame for any tomfoolery around here. Donna and Martha both really know how to have a good time! They're a terrible influence!" Tosh responded from her newly won seat.

"Yeah, that's why we're sitting here eating pizza like dignified citizens while you lot are having food fights and wrestling matches." Donna snorted.

The room dissolved into laughter once again, and the Doctor couldn't help but join in.

It was good to be home. It was good to be surrounded by friends. It was good to have the woman he loved shaking with genuine laughter against his chest. It was good that they would be running together through the stars again in no time.

It was good. For however brief the moment lasted, life was good.