Rose was getting frustrated. The Doctor was being rather infuriating lately, and she didn't know why. For starters, there was that crazy emphasis on saving this French woman. He'd even ridden a horse through a one-way time window to rescue the tramp. The fool had managed to get back, but still. It seemed that he'd been back to his normal self when they'd gone to Pete's World, but they'd lost Mickey. All the craziness was rocketing around in Rose's skull, and it was starting to cause a throbbing headache, centered right behind her eyes. She'd gone to the kitchen to find some real, British tea, and was confronted with a tragedy. All the tea was gone. She stuck her head out into the corridor, and filled her lungs with air. "DOCTOR!"
The echo of her shriek reverberated up and down the corridors, and she knew the TARDIS was looking out for her little pink human. She waited, staring at the empty jar that used to hold tea leaves. In the almost interminable wait, the throbbing in her temples grew worse and worse, until it was all Rose could hear. Finally, the Doctor poked his head into the kitchen, his normal crazy grin on his face. "Hey, something wrong?"
Rose almost started laughing maniacally, but reconsidered it right before the emotions bubbled over. She clamped down on her reactions, and just shook her head. "Among other things, we don't have any tea."
The Doctor's grin slowly melted of his face, and he actually stepped into the room. "What?"
"We're out of tea. Look, if you don't believe me."
He walked over to her side, and peered down into the jar. The look that crossed his face upon finding in empty was priceless. It was as though the jar had just insulted his TARDIS, and Rose had to contain her laughter. Then she remembered she was angry with the Doctor, and his next words didn't do anything to help either her irritation or her headache. "This isn't good. We're on Mars, and something in the TARDIS is wonky. We'll have to stay here for at least a day until we get it fixed."
That seemed to be the turning point for Rose, and she turned to him with a rather put out expression on her face. "For such a superior species, you sure have a limited brain capacity."
His expression of complete confusion might once have given her pause, but here, today, nothing could stop her. "Why would you say that? It's just some tea, we've gone without before."
"But it's not just the tea. This is just the latest in a long string of things that you've done. First was that stupid French hussy that you rode in for, like some stupid knight in shining armor."
"I hope you're not saying what I'm thinking you're saying." The Doctor's expression was growing rapidly more ominous.
Rose laughed, and continued to spit out the poison that had been coursing through her head. "No, I'm not saying you should just walk away from people in danger. I'd have to kill you to stop you from doing that. And as tempting as that is right now, I'm not going to. But you've got to think of the people left behind. What would happen to Mickey and I if you'd gotten trapped in that Time Window/Mirror thing?"
The Doctor couldn't meet her eyes at that point, and just kinda mumbled something involving telepathy and "knew I could get back."
Rose, upon hearing that, nearly exploded. Her next words poured forth in a torrent of shrieks, something that would do Jackie Tyler proud. "No, you didn't! You had no bloody clue that you could get back, and you had no bloody clue what was going on in Pete's world either. And guess what, now Mickey's stuck there, trying to clean up the mess you left! That's all you do, leave broken worlds and broken people who need you more than anything, and go off gallivanting around for the next big person to save."
She pushed him out of the way, and stormed into her room, smashing the door into it's frame. She collapsed on her bed, and burst into tears.
The Doctor still standing in the kitchen, in almost the same position as Rose had left him. Her words were ringing in his ears still, not leaving, not quieting, ever louder, ever present. "All you do is leave broken worlds and broken people who need you more than anything…" He always knew that he was running, never looking back, always trying to outdistance his past, and now it had caught up with him. Rose was hurting, he knew that. Part of him wanted to run to her, do anything in his power to make it up, but he knew that would only push them closer. That was the entire problem, he decided. Rose was getting close, too close, because, as much as she tried to be different, she'd end up like all the others; she'd leave him, either by dying, by aging, or just deciding to trade this chaotic life for a new one. His situation was made worse by the fact that he really needed to sleep. Time Lords, and Gallifreyans in general, didn't need as much sleep as humans, and he was at the upper end of his species, it still had been several days with absolutely no sleep. He started to head to his room when his legs just decided here was a good enough spot to rest, and he collapsed, oblivious to the world.
The Doctor was dreaming, he knew that much. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been handcuffed to a chair by his previous regeneration and a woman in a raggedy dress who didn't say who she was. It seemed his other regeneration knew her from somewhere, and well, but he couldn't recall ever meeting her. He jerked at the handcuffs, but still couldn't do anything to get free.
"Look, are we all just going to sit around here, with you guys staring at me like some creepy vultures until I wake up?"
His ninth form walked up to stand in front of him, with that infuriating cheeky grin on his face. "See, that's the thing. You won't wake up, not until we let you. And we've got a lot to talk about."
The woman entered the picture now, and her expression of amusement had been corrupted into one of rage. "You really have no idea how much she's hurting do you? No idea how damaged she really is."
Ten was confused, and made it known. "I know something's not right, but damaged and hurting? Rose?"
Nine was back, and glaring this time. "Yes, damaged and hurting. I'll admit, part of that is my fault. I didn't tell her about the regeneration, but you didn't help. She didn't trust you, you know. You really should have explained immediately, instead of business as usual. But apparently getting hair means you lose all of your emotional capacity."
Ten tried to respond, but the mysterious woman cut him off. "Here, let's give you the news right from the horse's mouth." Rose's voice suddenly echoed around the room that he found himself in.
"Why is he doing this? I thought... I thought he actually cared about me... Then he changed. Now, he just throws Mickey at me like some consolation prize, and goes gallivanting off with some French... thing. Why? What does she have that I don't? And Mickey, he just abandons in some alternate universe, with no way to get back. I know Mickey wanted to stay, but the Doctor just left... Is that what he's going to do to me? Just leave and never come back?"
The voice stopped, and left Ten considerably paler. "Why would she ever think I would leave?"
Nine's voice held no trace of anything other than burning rage, the kind that made armies flee, and worlds crumble. "Because that's all you ever have shown her. You know how she feels, and you know how I felt. You still feel it. But you're a fool. You're not even a coward."
Ten glanced at the ground. "What do I do?"
The woman answered this time. "Go to her. Apologize, on your knees. Pray that she forgives you, then show her that you won't leave. Don't leave her in suspense, tell her how you feel. Trust me, she feels the same."
She met Ten's quizzical gaze with an even one of her own. "How do you know?" Ten's voice was soft, almost hopeful.
She just smiled, and responded even quieter as the room faded away. "Because I know everything, my clever little thief."
When the Doctor awoke, the first thing he felt was the pain in his face from being pressed against the floor for an extended period of time. The second was a manic wave of energy that swept him up on carried him towards Rose's room. He only had one thought: he had to fix this! When he reached the ?door, cold doubt seized his insides and twisted them around his spine. Then Rose's voice came back to him, and he heard the doubt and fear in her voice. He had to fix this! He knocked on the door, and waited. A few minutes later, he saw it open a crack, and he took this as an indication that he should start talking. "Rose, can I talk to you? Properly, not through some closed door?"
The door opens wider, and he sees Rose, clad in a loose T-shirt and sweatpants, blearily blinking at him. It was obvious that she barely slept, haunted by the demons of the night. Then, he drops, landing painfully on his kneecaps. Words are pouring forth from his lips. "Rose, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot, and I really don't deserve to even know you. I should have explained why I was different, I should have worried about you, I should have tried to help Mickey, I should have done so much..."
Rose looked down at him, and said nothing. He continued kneeling, feeling his soul slowly dying from the crushing guilt. Then, she spoke.
"Yes, you should have done a great deal. And you didn't. But, so have the rest of us. You, at least, had the spine to acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness. So, Doctor, I forgive you."
He sprang up, and wrapped her in his arms. "I'll never leave you, I promise. You once told me that you thought you were special, and you are. In so, so many ways. You... well, you're... incredibly important to me..."
Rose grinned her signature grin, with her tongue tucked between her teeth. "Am I now?"
He glared down at her, and then broke into a grin of his own. "Have you ever seen a Martian sunrise?"
Rose appeared to think about it, then shook her head. "No, I can't say that I have."
"Dame Rose, would you allow me the great honor of escorting you to the console room to view a magnificent sunrise?"
"Why, Sir Doctor, that would be most amenable to me."
They spent the walk to console room laughing, joking, and even flirting a little. It seemed like things were back to normal, and possibly even better. The sunrise was spectacular, painting the sky in vibrant hues that weren't seen in Earth's skies. As Rose watched it in amazement, the Doctor watched Rose with wonder. As they stood, her head on his shoulder, for once in his life, the Doctor felt like he could stop running.
A/N: Just a small challenge for a friend of mine. She knows who she is. Drop a review off if you liked it.