Only one more chapter (an epilogue) left! Keep an eye out for more Eleven/Rose fics in the future, I've got a few things in the works right now. Thanks so much to everyone who is favoriting/following/reviewing on this.

-Nicole

Rose settled herself on one of the observation tables in the med bay, her legs dangling over the side of it. She watched as the Doctor worked, following his gentle orders and helping him however she could. Still, she saw the tension building in his shoulders, even through the thick material of his tweed jacket, and the uncomfortable clench of his jaw. He was dead quiet, starting a blood sample analysis, when she spoke.

"Relax, Doctor," she said. She kept her voice soft, and saw his shoulders settle just a bit. He turned around to look at her.

"I'm sorry," he said, sounding tired. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I am," she said. "Or I will be, in any case. Anything that's wrong, you can fix it. I know you can."

"You have too much faith in me," he said warily, rubbing his face with his hands.

"That's what love is," Rose reminded him, and the simple statement made him stop in his tracks. "You believe in me, don't you?"

"Yes," he whispered. "More than anything."

"So let me believe in you, you daft alien," she said. A tiny smile crossed his face and he nodded.

"Okay," he agreed. She watched him thoughtfully as he went back to work, blowing up an image on the computer monitor. Rose's brow furrowed.

"Is that my DNA?" she asked, recognizing the double-helix structure. She shifted off of the observation table, her bare feet hitting the floor with a tiny slap. The Doctor slipped on a pair of glasses and squinted at the picture. She smirked.

"Still pretending you need glasses, I see," she teased, leaning on the back of the chair that he sat in. Her hands rested on his shoulders, kneading at his still-tense muscles.

"I stole the glasses from Amy. Don't tell her," he said sheepishly, and she laughed. They fell quiet again as the Doctor concentrated on the image before him, occasionally tapping on the screen to enlarge some of the text.

"I think you were right," he said finally, "about the remnants of the vortex."

The Doctor pointed at the image, his finger tracing an odd, unfamiliar third strand that circled around the double helix. It was thin and golden, like a piece of wire, weaving itself in and out of the twisting ladder.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"When you absorbed the time vortex, it left these Huon particles in your system," he said quietly. "They're part of you now. Essentially, this strand of energy is what makes you the Bad Wolf."

She felt his shoulders tense again beneath her touch, and she stroked a hand through his hair in an effort to calm him.

"I don't think we need to be afraid of Bad Wolf, Doctor," Rose said.

"Bad Wolf nearly killed you, Rose," he said, turning around in his spinning chair. He took his glasses off and shoved them in his jacket pocket as he stood up in front of her.

"Bad Wolf helped to bring me back to you," she reminded him. "Didn't she? The TARDIS would never have been able to bring me home if it wasn't for Bad Wolf."

"And that in and of itself was incredibly dangerous," he said, moments away from snapping. "You were in a coma, Rose."

She was saved from answering him when they were distracted by the creaking of the door behind them. It opened slowly, and an unfamiliar ginger woman stepped through the doorway. Rory stood just behind her, his hand at the small of her back. Rose put together the pieces and smiled.

"You must be Amy," she said.

"Hello," Amy said, looking a bit awkward. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, now," Rose said. The Doctor made a sound of protest, and she turned to look at him. "I told you, stop worrying."

"A coma, Rose. You could have died."

"But I didn't, did I?"

"No," the Doctor said. "Thank god."

"Thank the Bad Wolf," Rose countered, crossing her arms.

Amy watched the exchange curiously - the Doctor was on guard, as he bickered with Rose, but still, he was more open than she had ever seen him before.

"Come on in," Rose told Amy and Rory. "Please, sit. Don't mind the Doctor. Apparently he's a bit high strung this time around."

"I'm always high strung when it comes to you," the Doctor grumbled, turning back to his work.

"Suppose I can't argue with that," Rose said.

Rory stepped past Amy, taking her hand and dragging her into the room to meet Rose. He was rather surprised when she reached out to hug him, and then Amy.

"Nice to see you again, Rose," said Rory.

"You're looking better," Amy said.

"Thank you," Rose said. "Sorry for all the trouble these last few days. And the Doctor told me how you helped him take care of me - so really, I owe you one. Especially if he's been acting like this the whole time."

Rory ignored the Doctor's indignant "Oi!" and smiled proudly.

"It was nothing," he said. "I'm a nurse, it's my job."

"A nurse? That's brilliant," said Rose. "How'd you end up with him, then?"

She pointed at the Doctor, who was still concentrating on the computer monitor. He answered on Rory's behalf as he typed commands, starting a new scan.

"I crash landed in Amy's garden."

"You crashed the TARDIS?" Rose asked incredulously. "Blimey, I know your driving is bad, but really."

"Yeah. And then he disappeared again, and didn't come back until twelve years later," Any said, raising and eyebrow at the Doctor. Rose laughed.

"Oh, some things never change. First time he brought me back home to visit my mum, it was a whole year later. Everyone thought my boyfriend had murdered me."

"You're kidding!"

"I wish I was."

"Why do you have to get along so splendidly with everyone?" the Doctor asked Rose.

"It's easy, when you have a mutual alien friend who's an awful driver with a time and space ship."

"That crash wasn't even my fault!" the Doctor protested, turning around his chair to fully join in the conversation. "I had just regenerated. I always get a bit of driver's amnesia."

"How many times have you changed? Since you last saw me?" Rose asked, her hand settling itself in his hair. She stroked her fingers through the dark strands in a repetitive, comforting motion, and he leaned into her touch.

"Only the once."

"You mean - you had just changed your face, right before I met you? Way back when I was a kid?" Amy asked.

"Yes," the Doctor said. "It was a powerful one, too. Damaged the TARDIS. She had to redesign the whole console room. I held it off, too long."

"You can do that?" Rory asked. "Like...delay it?"

"Only for so long. I had a few people to say goodbye to," the Doctor said. He looked at Rose. "I went back to see you, one last time. Everyone else, too. Made my rounds."

"And you haven't seen them since, have you?" Rose guessed. The Doctor shook his head.

"I..." he began, sounding sheepish, but Rose cut him off.

"It's okay, love," she said. "I understand."

"I do keep up tabs on them, though," the Doctor said. "Jack is still at Torchwood. Donna is married, has her own family now. Martha and Mickey got married."

"You're kidding," Rose gasped. "Oh, that's brilliant. I'm so happy for them."

"I didn't know you had...friends, Doctor," Amy cut in. The Doctor smiled just a bit.

"Thanks, Pond," he said sarcastically.

"Oh, you know what I meant, you idiot," she said, rolling her eyes fondly.

"You traveled with all those people?" Rory asked.

A beep from the monitor stole the Doctor's attention again, and he turned to look at the results of the completed scan. His jaw went slack.

"What is it?" Rose asked him immediately, worried by his wide eyes and the way he'd stopped to hold his breath.

"Oh, are you doing scans on Rose?" Rory asked, peering over the Doctor's shoulder beside Rose. Neither of them could read the information, displayed in the Doctor's native language on the screen.

"Rose Tyler," the Doctor whispered, and then he let out a disbelieving laugh. He stood up and grabbed her by the waist, picking her up and swinging her in a circle. She let out a sound of surprise when he set her on her feet and ducked his head down to capture her lips with his own.

Amy and Rory stepped back, giving them space. Amy's eyes watered as she watched them. she had never seen the Doctor act that way before - so open about his emotions, exploding at the seams with happiness.

When the two finally pulled apart from each other, Rose was the first to speak.

"Not that I'm complaining," she said breathlessly, "but what was that for?"

The Doctor beamed, pulling her with him to the screen. He pointed at a specific bunch of interlocking circles. Amy and Rory approached them from behind, standing close and listening attentively.

"See this, here?"

"Yeah," Rose said. "What's it mean?"

"I did two scans, on top of that DNA analysis we discussed before," said the Doctor. "Species identification brought up no results. But this, Rose Tyler, is your anticipated lifespan."

"You mean - how long she's going to live? You can tell that about a person, just from a blood sample?" Rory asked.

"Not the way you're thinking. It offers an estimate. You're both human, so the machine would use that information to tell me that your expected lifespan, without accidents or illnesses, should last about eighty years, on average."

"I'm guessing my expected lifespan is more than eighty years," Rose said, and the Doctor nodded. Amy caught the way his eyes brightened.

"Hand on - so Rose isn't human?" Amy asked. "What planet are you from? I just assumed..."

"Rose was born on Earth," the Doctor said. "The system couldn't identify her species. She was born human, but now she's something more. Something in-between."

"In-between what?"

"In-between human and TARDIS," the Doctor said. "That's my best guess. Because as the program points out here - " He pointed to another line of circles. "Rose's lifespan matches that of the TARDIS."

"There's something linking me to the TARDIS," Rose said softly. "Because I looked into the time vortex."

"She forged a connection with you, or you forged a connection with her. Either way, your lifeline is tied to hers, now," the Doctor said. "And because I'm her pilot, her lifeline is tied to mine."

The room fell silent as the information sank in. Rose stared at the Doctor with wide eyes.

"We're both tied to the TARDIS," she said. "Which means..."

"We're tied to each other, too," the Doctor finished, a giddy smile forming on his face. Rose's eyes watered.

"So Rose - she's going to live just as long as you?" Amy asked, trying to keep up. The Doctor nodded, his smile widening.

"I get to stay forever," Rose whispered.

"The Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS," said the Doctor. "As it should be."

/

That night, Amy was surprised to hear a knock on her bedroom door. She exchanged a glance with Rory before she shifted off of the mattress to go answer it. She heard him place his book on the nightstand and move to join her, his feet padding on the soft carpet.

When Amy opened the door, Rose stood on the other side of it, looking flushed and happy. She was freshly showered, the ends of her hair dampening her nightshirt.

"Oh, hi," Amy said, a bit caught off guard. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, no," Rose said quickly. "Sorry. I'm not here to bother you for long. The Doctor just hopped in the shower, really quickly - and I realized, I never properly thanked either of you."

"Thanked us?" Rory asked. Amy's brow furrowed at Rose's grateful nod, and was startled when the blonde woman pulled her into a tight hug.

"For making sure he wasn't alone," Rose said. "Keeping him company all this time. I know how exhausting that can be, but you never gave up on him. He needs people like you, you help him see the bright side of things. And it's note easy to do, I know from experience."

Amy felt rather emotional as she reached to return Rose's embrace.

"I'm so glad you're back," she said. "I never even realized how sad he was without you here. The last few days he's been happier than I've ever seen him."

"Rose?"

They were both startled by the Doctor's loud call down the corridor.

"I'm talking to Amy," Rose called back, and Amy took the opportunity to wipe the wetness from her cheeks before anyone could see it.

The Doctor rounded the corner wearing a pair of striped pajamas, his damp hair sticking up everywhere, and Amy bit back a laugh. He smiled when his eyes fell on the two girls.

"I was wondering where you'd gone off too," he said. "You've been awake for less than two days now and you're already breaking rule number one."

"Rule number one?" Rory asked.

"Don't wander off," Rose and the Doctor chorused.

"Right," said Amy, smirking when Rose rolled her eyes. "We'll be off to bed, then. See you in the morning, yeah?"

"Bright and early Ponds! We're back to adventuring, tomorrow!"

Amy watched them walk away. Rory hugged her from behind, looking over her shoulder. The Doctor reached out for Rose's hand.

"I think things on the TARDIS just got a lot more interesting," she mused.

"Let's go to bed, Amy," Rory said softly, tugging her backward into their room.

The door shut with a quiet click behind them.