The Doctor looked up from the console and noticed that Rose and Mickey were nowhere to be seen. Mickey had been traveling with them at least a month and although he would occasionally scream like a little girl (in the Doctor's opinion anyway) the Doctor had to admit that he wasn't totally useless. The Doctor frowned. They were gone for quite a while and he was started to get bored. He figured that he go looking for them, at least go looking for Rose. She would appreciate where he was planning to take them next so he started walking down the long corridors of the TARDIS.
The Doctor wasn't gone long when he heard whispers just down the way. He shouldn't eaves drop on a private conversation, but something in Rose's tone and in Mickey's made him stop. They were just around the bend of another corridor and although they were speaking in low tones, the Doctor could still hear what they were saying.
"How much longer until you keep this up Rose?" Mickey was asking. "You're not the kind to just shut love out. I know you!"
"We've gone through this before, Mickey," Rose snapped back. "I don't want to hurt you…"
"But you're willing to hurt yourself chasing after him!" Mickey persisted. "Listen, both you and I know what he's capable of, but you're dreaming if you think that he could see you as anything more than his traveling companion."
"I'm not just his traveling companion!" Rose cried.
The Doctor had to grin and thought to himself, 'Good for you Rose. 'Course you're just not anybody. Maybe I need to remind Mickey why he's an idiot.'
"Then what are you?" Mickey asked. "His best friend? You know you can't be his girlfriend so you're willing to settle for less?"
"Why you so interested?" Rose asked sounding frustrated. "What do you care?"
"You deserve better! How about love? Maybe not a husband but at least a bloke you can have a relationship with!" Mickey exclaimed. "And don't look at me like I've said the stupidest thing in the galaxy!"
The Doctor rolled up his eyes as he leaned against the walls of the TARDIS. 'Why do humans make things just so darn complicated?' he inwardly thought. He thought Rose was happy the way they were, wasn't she?
"Rose, don't you remember the last time we were together?" Mickey asked, his voice dropping in tone, almost coaxing.
"It was Christmas," Rose replied. "We went shopping, it was just after the Doctor's regeneration."
"There you go again," Mickey said in an exasperated sigh. "Always the Doctor! I mean before that. In my flat, just you and me."
"That was a life time ago Mickey," Rose reminded him.
"Why do you act as though it never happened?" Mickey asked. "I know we can never go back to the way things were, but I remember that girl. You can't live without love, without someone loving you, Rose. My God, you're a woman! You have needs."
"There are things more important in the world," Rose insisted, her voice almost sounding unconvincing.
The Doctor frowned. He should really back away and go back to the console. Humans always mucked things up with sex. Things always seem to head back into that general direction. Not that the Doctor minded sex. He was, after all, nine hundred years old and had indulged in carnal pleasures various times in his past lives. The Doctor wasn't averse to taking up the pursuit again, but he hesitated because in the end, he knew, sex with someone close to him complicated matters. It would mean exposing himself once again to loss, to the empty feeling of loosing someone close to him. He couldn't go through that again. He wouldn't.
As he was about to silently walk away, he heard Mickey say, "Even though you cling to this thing you have with the Doctor, at least I know that there is a part of you he will never know."
Something tore inside the Doctor. At that very moment he felt the urge to open up the door of the TARDIS and hurl Mickey out. His insides boiled trying not to think about how well Mickey knew Rose. She was, after all, much more than what Mickey insinuated. The Doctor had seen Rose's passion for life shine in her very being, she thrived on challenges and had surpassed even his own expectations. There were times when he had wondered if Rose was just as passionate privately, but he refused to let his thoughts lead him there. Letting himself think those kinds of thoughts were just beneath him as a Time Lord. So why was he feeling as though he wanted to choke the life out of Mickey and then prove just how well he could also get to know Rose.
'I really must stop socializing with human apes,' the Doctor inwardly thought. 'I can't possibly be jealous of Mickey Smith. I must really be out of sorts, crazy even to feel this way.' The Doctor forced himself to walk away and head back to the main console of the TARDIS, trying to suppress the jealous beast inside.
Tell me what you think! Have written this when I was sorta bored. Have almost finshed the rest, so please tell me if it's worth posting...