**IMPORTANT** This story takes place immediately after the "Children in Need" mini-episode "Time Crash" which also starred the 10th Doctor. If you haven't seen it yet, you can find it here on YouTube: watch?v=YXpHuRYjPJw

Also, the dates surrounding the first Cardiff visit have been played with, but that's okay since we all know that time is just a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff, anyway! ;)

Chapter 1: TARDIS Trouble

Rose could feel that something was different with this jump while she was still in transition. The jump seemed to take longer than normal and she could feel the energy shifting oddly around her, almost as if it was trying to pull her into two different directions at once. She felt a sudden shift (as if a decision had been made) and then she materialized in the console room. However, she soon realized with amazement that she wasn't looking at the clean, white lines and roundels of her past Doctors' TARDIS, but at the organic coral struts, metal grating, and greenish lighting of her future Doctors' preferred desktop theme. What was going on here? Did she jump forward too far? Or did he start favoring this console pattern way before she started traveling with him?

She felt the TARDIS vibrating strangely under her feet, but her attention was drawn away from that by the man dancing frantically around the console. He was pulling levers, pushing buttons, and doing what sounded suspiciously like swearing in Gallifreyan. He had not noticed her, yet, so she took a moment to study him. He wasn't one of her future Doctors, (so not Nine or Ten) but he might possibly be further out than that. Somehow, she didn't think so, though - mainly since the TARDIS was directing her jumps. Therefore, she felt like she was probably still on track and that this Doctor was still the Fifth one! He looked younger than the previous four Doctors, though, with his blond hair and smooth face. Plus, he was definitely what her leather clad Doctor would call a "Pretty Boy." He was certainly nice to look at, but she had to shake her head a little bit at his choice of outfit, though. What was it with her younger Doctors and their fashion sense? This one was wearing cricket whites with striped trousers, a long coat, and a sprig of what appeared to be celery pinned to his lapel. Why, Doctor, Why? She asked silently still shaking her head in amazement, but then accidently laughed out loud in spite of herself. The Doctor at the console froze at the sound, paused from his frantic circling of the console, and looked warily in her direction. She watched as he blinked once, twice, and then a third time while he regained his memories of her. Then a truly beatific smile crossed his face as he said her name in surprise. It was a sight to behold and she felt her own heartbeat speed up in response.

"Rose!"

"Hello, Doctor!" She said warmly, meeting his eyes, and wearing a smile that matched his.

Just then the TARDIS gave a jerk and flung Rose to the floor. Then the ship tilted sideways and the Doctor was barely able to stay upright, but he managed to work his way over to Rose and helped her gently off of the grating anyway. He gave her the briefest of hugs before he guided her to the console and told her to hold this lever while pushing that button while he went to the other side to do the same thing – all while muttering about "Belgium - again!" The TARDIS gradually righted herself, but the vibrations coming up through the floor grating still felt off – they were way too strong. It felt as if the ship was having a hard time controlling herself.

"Doctor, what is going on?" Rose asked confused and a little frightened – not for herself, but for her friend, the TARDIS.

"Let go of the lever, but keep pushing the button." The Doctor instructed her while he moved over to the station next to her and pushed another series of buttons. He then went on to explain. "We accidently collided with another version of the TARDIS earlier, and they merged. The Future Doctor and I only managed to get them separated again by spontaneously creating a black hole and a supernova. Fortunately, my personal time differential straightened out and put me back to normal, but my Old Girl doesn't have enough power left to regulate the thermo buffer, so she can't stabilize – that's why she is still wearing this console theme. She needs to rest and recharge, but I don't know how far she can go in this state.

"Cardiff!" Rose said suddenly.

"Cardiff? Why would I want to go to Wales?" asked the Doctor curiously.

"You can recharge at the Rift! Don't you remember?" The Doctor continued to look at her oddly. He remembered that she had been the Director of Torchwood in Cardiff in her other universe, but…

"Here, let me refresh that memory." Rose gathered the specific thoughts of the Rift properties, as well as memories of her past (his future) visit with Jack, and all of her memories of other visitors using the Rift to harness the energy. Then using her free hand, reached over, and thought {Is this okay?} before touching his temple after his nod of agreement. He shivered a little at the feel of her touch, but then smiled at the information that she sent him.

"Rose, you are brilliant!" He reached over to give her a smacking kiss on the forehead (His eyes momentarily flicked down to her lips, though). He continued on, however, "We can land her on the Rift, recharge, and that should provide enough energy to stabilize those buffers. When should we land, though? We don't want to run into your past self and another one of my future selves! There has been quite enough of that for one day! That is what started all of this mess!"

Wouldn't that be something? Rose thought to herself. Aloud, she said, "I don't really know. Let me see, I first met you in March of 2005. You brought me home a year late (she paused here to punch him on the arm where he uttered a loud "Ouch" and proceeded to rub the sore spot reflectively) when we met Blon the Slitheen the first time – so that would be around March 2006. It was at least six months after that (but not Christmas yet) when she was mayor of Cardiff, so I would say anytime after the start of 2007. How does that sound?"

"Very precise! Thank you, Rose. I'll just set it for anytime after New Years 2007, and we will let the TARDIS take us where we need to be – especially since you don't seem to think much of my driving skills." He rubbed his arm again, but Rose just laughed.

The TARDIS pitched sideways again then, sending both the human and the Time Lord sprawling. Rose ended up landing right on top of the Doctor, face to face, in quite an intimate position. They just stared at each other, embarrassed, for a minute before the Doctor tentatively reached up to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and away from her face. {Rose…} He thought, but didn't know what else to say. She just smiled and thought back, {I think she did that on purpose!} All three of them shared a mental chuckle. Even though the TARDIS was obviously in distress, she was still happy to see her Thief and her Wolf together and she was able to send that thought to both of them before shuddering violently again. The Doctor sighed, knowing that this was obviously not the right time for this and realized that Rose had come to the same conclusion when she gave him a quick kiss on his nose, rolled off of him, and pulled herself up with the help of the railing. He did the same and made his way back to the console. He checked his instruments worriedly.

"She is trying to materialize out of the vortex, probably at Cardiff, but something seems to be holding her back – something with the transtemporal shielding, I think." He said. "It is like there is still a piece of the other TARDIS here, but that can't be. They separated and left. I don't understand!"

"Transtemporal…" Rose muttered to herself, "across time." Suddenly a thought came to her. "Doctor!" she said loudly to get his attention over the violent shuddering, "You said that your TARDIS merged with a Future Doctor's one that had this console theme, right? What did he look like?"

"Oh!" He said, seeing what she was getting at. "He was a tall, skinny idiot in a suit and trainers… He was your Future Doctor, wasn't he?" He suddenly recalled her shared memories of that version of Future Him and unhappily noted the tears that sprang automatically to her eyes as she nodded.

Rose thought about it sadly. Her lost Doctor had been right here just a short time ago – right here in this very space! She had missed him by only a few minutes in linear time. Her future doctor, her future TARDIS… understanding suddenly flashed in her eyes. "Bollocks! It's me! I am the problem! I'm the piece of the other TARDIS that is still here. Bad Wolf, remember?"

The Doctor nodded suddenly. That made perfect sense. However, that would mean that the TARDIS couldn't stabilize while Rose was on board. He would have to drop her off somewhere, fly into the vortex to stabilize, and then come back to pick her up. He didn't have enough power to get anywhere else, though. It would have to be Cardiff. He just had to give the old girl enough of a boost to push through the barrier long enough to materialize there and let Rose disembark. It wasn't a great plan, and he hated to do that to Rose (especially since he had just gotten her back!), but it was the only plan that he had. He had to do something fast to stabilize the TARDIS before she shook herself apart!

He told Rose this, and she agreed that it was a decent plan. She was relieved that it would just be Cardiff and not some distant planet somewhere. It would be easier to handle – if the Doctor wasn't able to return immediately. He assured her that he would be back as soon as he could, but she knew from firsthand experience that things didn't always work out that way.

"Now for the extra power," he exclaimed as he opened up the bottom of the console and sent just a little of his own time essence into the power cells. He would be tired for a little while, but that should do the trick! "Can you do it now, Old Girl?" He asked his ship. The TARDIS was still shaking, but sent them both a hesitant affirmative.

The TARDIS started pitching again as she labored to push through the Vortex to materialize. The Doctor jumped out from under the console as quickly as he could between his fatigue and the erratic movements of his ship. He grabbed Rose's hand and looked at her apologetically. "I'm so sorry," he started. "I wouldn't do this if I could think of another way. I will get back as…"

His words were cut off when Rose pressed her lips against his for a quick kiss. {Just get out of here and then back as soon as you can… and don't take a year this time! OK? I am going to jump out as soon as she materializes.}

He just nodded, a bit stunned for a moment by the feel of her lips on his. As soon as his brain started working again, he pulled her in for a hug and blamed his unsteadiness on his ship while he murmured in her ear, "Brave heart, Rose. I promise that I will be back soon."