"Come on Doc," Jack whined as they approached the long line of people waiting for a hospital themed haunted house. Jack told him how he used to visit these things all the time while growing up in America and convinced John it would be fun. John wasn't easily frightened and he didn't see what could be so fun about walking around in the dark as people in costume leapt out at you.

Reluctantly, John followed to stand behind Jack in the que and stared around the crowd that mostly consisted of teenagers. Crossing his arms, he glared at Jack, "I don't know why I agreed to this."

Jack grinned, "don't tell me the Doctor is scared." Jack started calling him the Doctor, or Doc for short, years before when he found out that John was studying to be a doctor.

"Not easily scared, me," John replied, "I just don't see the point."

"To have fun," Jack said enthusiastically, "you're all done with books and studying, it's time to let loose. Besides, you lost the bet and it's time you pay up."

John's eyebrows drew up, "and I'm guessing choosing a hospital full of crazed killer doctors is some sort of joke on my profession."

Jack smiled, "see, you are paying attention," and he noticed John's eyeroll. "You know Doc…"

"Quit calling me Doc," John warned him, but he knew Jack would never listen.

"We could leave," Jack suggested, "this is plan B, we could always go with my original plan."

"I don't do blind dates," John retorted, "spending an evening with a complete stranger while trying to find ways to entertain her is not my idea of a good time."

"You're no fun," Jack pouted playfully, "besides, how else are you going to meet someone? You're all work and no play."

John shook his head, "let's just get this over with, then you can stop hounding me."

"Spoil sport," Jack teased.


A few people ahead of Jack and John stood Rose with her friend Mickey, waiting in line, just the same, and Rose chewed her nail nervously.

"Will you stop that," Mickey said as he eased Rose's hand from her face, "we aren't even there yet and you're already scared."

"Sorry Mickey," Rose mumbled, "it's just that hospitals creep me out, you know that."

Mickey grinned, "why do you think I chose this one, it'll be that much more fun watching you get scared."

"I can't believe I agreed to this," Rose groaned, then she noticed they were getting closer. "I wish Martha didn't have to work tonight, then she would be the one standing here instead of me." She noticed him laughing and she slapped his arm, "this isn't funny."

"I'm sorry," Mickey chuckled, "it's just that you are usually the bravest one out of our lot, I've never seen you like this."

"I just hate hospitals," Rose complained, "…and doctors. Take those two things and add a bunch of monsters, then you have my worst nightmare." Rose looked back at the building, decorated to resemble an old, abandoned hospital and she cringed again.


Jack and John reached the front of the line and got ushered inside, along with about a dozen others. They were led into what looked to be a decrepit hospital lobby and John sighed, telling himself to just shut up and get this over with so he could go home and be alone. Several of the teenage girls were already shrieking in the empty room where everyone waited for who know what and John wished he brought ear plugs.

"Wow, look at it in here," Jack exclaimed, "they really put in the effort to bring this place to life, no pun intended."

"Yeah…right," John rolled his eyes and gazed around the room, feeling as if he were chaperoning and school trip. Most of the crowd couldn't be older than fifteen and John was feeling a bit out of place. Then his eyes landed on the blonde at the opposite side of the room and all the air drained from his lungs.

Unlike Jack, John didn't have much of a wandering eye, he blamed it on too many studies. Jack called it being picky. Whatever the reason, there was something intriguing about this girl. Although at the moment, she looked to be positively terrified. The idiot next to her, possibly her boyfriend, seemed to find it amusing.

"Pffft, idiot," John grumbled as he noticed this.

"What was that," Jack asked him.

John quickly turned back to Jack, forgetting where he was, then shook his head, "nothin', just thinking out-loud."

"You aren't getting cold feet on me, are you," Jack asked playfully, "I could've sworn I just startled you."

John was about to argue back when eerie music filled the room and some young brunette in a fairly revealing nurse's costume covered in blood entered the room.

"Woohoo," Jack whooped and nudged John in the ribs, "told you this would be fun."

John shook his head and turned his attention back on the blonde who was still being teased by that same idiot. He barely noticed the bloody nurse's story about escape patients and mad doctors, it was all rubbish anyway. Then a push from behind told John to start walking.

Looking beside him, he noticed a pimple faced boy where Jack once stood. John looked around him and Jack was nowhere in sight. "Fantastic," John muttered in annoyance and assumed one of two things. Either Jack abandoned him in hopes that leaving him on his own would make him feel scared, or Jack abandoned him to find that nurse before she disappeared. His money was on the latter.

With no other options, John followed the herd through the doors into a dimly lit hallway with medical equipment littering the floors and blood on the walls. Actors in goreified make-up and hospital gowns leapt out from all angles, frightening some, but soon learned their efforts were useless on the leather clad bloke.

John looked around again, hoping Jack would re-emerge because he felt ridiculous being alone amongst so many kids. Unfortunately, Jack was still missing and John gave up his search and began walking faster, hoping he could find a quick exit to leave since Jack abandoned him so soon.

Suddenly the door people were walking through closed, leaving half of the group behind and the room went black. The hall filled with screams as terrified kids moved about trying to find their way through the darkness when a second door opened, leading the group in a different direction than the first. If he couldn't find Jack before, he definitely wasn't going to find him now.

John groaned and rubbed his hand across the freshly buzzed hair on his head as he swore to himself that when he did find Jack, he was going to put him on the next flight back to America.

The next room they entered appeared to be a poorly replicated morgue and John chuckled at all the flaws in the décor, even if nobody else seemed to notice. Before him, an actor leapt from the ceiling and John was slightly impressed for once, even he didn't see that coming. He took a step forward and was pulled back forcefully, his arm almost getting pulled out of its socket, and John wondered if Jack was toying with him.

John looked over and noticed it was the blonde girl he had seen earlier; her face was buried in his shoulder and she clung to him tightly. She had one hand over her ear, hoping to block out the noises around her, and she was not looking up. He wasn't sure if she knew who she was clinging to, but the idiot she was with had apparently abandoned her as well, probably to scare her more than she already was.

Rather than peel her off and leave her to her own defenses, John chose to be her guardian for the time being. He might be stuck in this ridiculous maze, but at least the companionship was better than what he arrived with. Even if she wasn't aware of it.


(Five minutes prior)

This was as bad as Rose imagined it would be. No…it was worse. She knew it wasn't real and she knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't help being scared. She always had a fear of going to the doctor, ever since she was five and she hit her face on a table, needing stitches. She also hated hospitals because that's where the doctors were, plus there was that time she visited a sick friend and that smell etched itself in her memory.

Now here she was, stuck in a virtual nightmare with people leaping out at her just to make it all that more frightening.

What's worse was that Mickey added to her fear by sneaking behind her to scare her while purposefully staying out of reach. She lost sight of him for a brief moment and some psychotic looking doctor leapt in front of her causing her to reel back several feet. He stepped closer, grinning like a mad man and a shriek from a girl beside her diverted his attention to her instead.

Rose took the opportunity to hurry past him, leaving the other girl behind as bait, and she set off to find Mickey and smack him over the head. Suddenly the room went dark and Rose panicked along with several others and she wasn't sure where to go. She called out for Mickey, but everyone's screams drowned her out.

The lights came back on and everyone preceded forward, so Rose followed the crowd. She continued looking for Mickey, but it was still too dark to see more than just an arms-length in front of her and with the dark leather jacket Martha bought him, he would be practically invisible.

She pushed through a small group of people and was hurrying forward when a man leapt down from above and Rose shrieked. She jumped to the side and felt a leather clad arm and clung on for dear life, believing she found Mickey. He wasn't shaking her off, thankfully, and she squeezed her eyes shut while covering one ear and hoped this would soon be over.

Following along, Rose refused to open her eyes and she tightened her grip around the arm, reminding herself to ask Mickey when he decided to start working out.

The sounds were muffled around her since she kept her free hand over one ear and with her face buried in the leather, she wasn't sure if they were almost through or not. Taking a chance, Rose lifted her head and peeked an eye open which was the worst moment to do so. As soon as she looked, simulated lightening flickered before her and a small boy in a gas mask stood before her, pointing right at her.

"What the hell is that thing doing in a hospital," Rose screamed loudly. John laughed harder than he ever remembered laughing before and watched her bury her face in his arm again.

As much as John was hating this place at the beginning, he was now enjoying himself immensely. The girl gripping his arm, however, was not and John almost felt guilty for laughing. Almost.

They drew near the exit and now John was disappointed that it was all over so quickly. He wasn't sure what this girl was going to do once they were outside, but he hoped it wasn't to go run back to the idiot who left her behind half way through.

The muffled screams and banging stopped and Rose felt a breeze blow through her hair and she prayed they were finally done and outside. Still afraid to look, Rose asked, "is it over?"

"It appears so, yeah," John replied.

That was not Mickey's voice, Rose quickly realized and opened her eyes. A short distance ahead of her, Rose saw Mickey waiting and chuckling at her. She then looked up at the owner of the arm she had just been clinging to for quite some time and she met a pair of gorgeous blue eyes.

He smiled down at her and Rose felt her cheeks get warm, despite the cool air. Not only had she been clinging to a stranger this whole time, he was a handsome stranger. Although his nose and ears may have been a bit on the large size, overall, he was gorgeous.

Rose's jaw slightly quivered as she tried to find words, any words, to say to this man who didn't seem to be pushing her away, but nothing came out. Then a chainsaw sounded behind her and some wild creature came running out in her direction.

Rose screamed and leapt, actually leapt, right into this stranger's arms and he caught her midair, turning away from the chainsaw wielding maniac and holding her in a tight, protective, embrace.

The chainsaw man disappeared back inside and the stranger lowered her to the ground, chuckling at her and she could feel the vibration rumbling from his chest as he did. One arm remained around her waist and she pressed herself into his side, her own arm slung around him as she sought out his protection.

"No fair Doc," Jack said as he approached John and patted him on the back, "you walk in with me and walk out with a beautiful blonde while I walk out empty handed."

"Shut it Harkness," John retorted, "you're the one who ditched me back there."

Mickey followed behind Jack, still laughing at Rose, "oh, I can't wait to tell Martha about this one…"

Rose covered her eyes, "Mickey, when I tell Martha how you left me behind in there, you'll be lucky if she talks to you for a week."

"You know she can't stay mad at me," Mickey smirked, "besides, I got pictures." Mickey held up his phone with a series of photos of her exiting with her face buried in the arm of a stranger.

Rose made a strangled cry and leaned further into John.

John couldn't figure out why, but his hand suddenly began rubbing her back soothingly.

"So, Doc," Jack spoke delightfully, "are you gonna keep her?"

John's hand fell limp and Rose shamefully stepped away. "Dammit," he cursed himself in his mind.

"Sorry," Rose muttered, "I thought you were my friend, it was dark and…wait," Rose stopped and looked from John to Jack then back to John again, "did he call you Doc?"

John was about to answer when Jack interrupted, "yeah I did, he's The Doctor," he wiggled his eyebrows playfully, "I call him Doc for short."

Rose's brows drew together in confusion, "The Doctor?"

John would usually want to slap Jack in the back of the head by now, but hearing her say it was the most pleasant thing he ever heard. He broke into a goofy grin and gave her a playful wave, "hello."

Mickey leaned close to Rose's ear, "are you still terrified of Doctors now…OUCH!" Mickey yelped loudly as her heel came down on his foot.

John watched Mickey limp away and chuckled, then he turned his attention back to Rose, "what's your name?"

"Rose," she sputtered, still feeling like she was in some sort of dream…or was it a nightmare? Her eyes absentmindedly drifted down his body and quickly snapped back up to his face. This was a dream, definitely a dream.

A slow smile spread across her face and she was about to ask him if his name really was Doctor when his friend stepped in front of him and waved, "…and I'm Jack."

John shoved Jack aside and Rose could tell that this was typical of their friendship and she began to laugh as her smile lit up her whole face.

"We were jus…" John trailed off as he noticed how her tongue appeared in her smile and it was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen. He has never seen a smile like that and he couldn't pull his eyes away from her mouth, fearing he would miss it if she did it again. He swallowed, "we were…"

Jack felt like Christmas came early. In the three years he had known John, he often tried setting him up with various women, plus a couple of men just to be sure, but John showed no interest. Now he was watching his closest friend, who was also the smartest man he ever knew, stuttering like an idiot because of this girl.

Then she blushed, Jack noticed. Not only was John completely smitten with this girl, she seemed to be just as besotted as he was. This was very promising indeed, he thought.

Before John could remember whatever it was he was trying to say, he forgot he said anything to begin with, the chainsaw started back up. He saw Rose's smile fade and part of him wanted to smash that chainsaw to bits for taking that smile away from him, but instead he chose to get them out of there and quickly.

He took Rose's hand and told her, "run," before taking off and leading her far away, with Mickey and Jack on their heels.

When they got to a safe distance, John came to a stop but didn't release her hand. Now he was grinning like a loon and didn't care who noticed.

Rose laughed, still catching her breath, "thanks for that, I think I've had enough scares for one night."

"Yeah, except we ran the wrong way," Mickey complained, "the car is on the other side."

John looked up, forgetting he was even there, "then go on and run back to it." He didn't mean to sound rude, but whoever this guy was, he had to go.

"Sorry," Rose told him, "this is my mate, Mickey."

John nodded in his direction and looked back at Rose, "now that you're done with all that nonsense back there, are you done for the night?"

"I don't know," Rose hesitated, "I only came out tonight because Mickey already had the tickets and his girlfriend couldn't go…" In her head she started berating herself and told herself to stop talking. Was he trying to ask her out? It's been so long, Rose wasn't even sure when a man was interested in her. Let alone a man as handsome as he was.

"You said you had to be home early and work on your project," Mickey added.

Rose's eyes shot daggers at her friend, "there's still time. Besides, I only told you that so you wouldn't drag me to the pub to catch the end of the match."

Mickey frowned, "well, I wasn't going to," he grumbled. "Besides, I have plans of my own so I can't be out late either."

Rose stared down at her feet and chewed on her lip, trying to figure out what to do then glanced up at John hoping he would have the answer.

Ignoring Mickey and Jack, John stared at Rose and his thumb began stroking her knuckles. He shrugged lazily, "you could go home, work on your project, and maybe watch a little tele or you can go with me and see where the night takes us."

Rose smiled, "are you asking me on a date, Doctor?"

Jack enjoyed how Rose immediately took to calling him Doctor and how John was in no way trying to correct her.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, John answered, "trying to, yeah. I'm sorta rubbish at it, sorry." Swallowing thickly, he pressed on, "what do you think?"

Rose turned to look at Mickey, who was watching over her like an older brother, then she looked at John and giggled, "ok, yeah."

John' eyes widened in surprise, there was no way this girl just agreed to go on a date with him. He looked to Jack for confirmation and he was beaming at him proudly. John grinned massively, "fantastic."

"Ok, wait," Mickey cut in and dragged Rose aside, breaking her contact with John. "You just met him twenty minutes ago, I can't just let you go off with him."

"How's it any different than Martha going out with you the day you stopped on the side of the road to help her change her tire?" Rose understood why Mickey was weary, but she didn't feel threatened.

"Fine," Mickey grumbled, "but you better call to check in."

Rose hugged him and squeezed tightly, "I will, I promise."

Mickey let go and took a step backward, "…and if you're mum asks, I had nothing to do with this…" he glared at John then turned and walked off, shaking his head disapprovingly in the process.

"Yeah, I guess I'll get going too," Jack called over to John, "don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That's a very short list," John quipped and stepped closer to Rose. He held his hand out to her, "looks like it's just you and me."

Rose took his hand happily, "yep."

"Good," he laced his fingers with hers and they walked away together.