One

—NYS's DI Jones—

Rose was taking her lunch break when Professor John Smith came barreling through her door in a flurry of his long brown coat and slapped the daily paper down on the table in front of her, upsetting the spoonful of chili that was halfway from the bowl to her mouth, causing it to fall unceremoniously into her lap and across her white jeans.

'Rose have you seen the news!' he exuberantly asked, while she attempted to keep her temper at bay, slowly counting back from ten in her head. 'The Doctor has struck again!'

Casually wiping her jeans with a napkin and cursing the fact that she had decided to wear white, she pushed her bowl away from the edge of the table glancing daggers up at him expectantly. His eyes suddenly grew nervous as she flashed a tight, predatorial smile.

'And are you going to pay for my dry cleaning, John Smith?' she mused, her head cocked off to one side. His hazelnut eyes seemed to notice the brownish blob across her lap for the first time and he winced.

'Oops.'

'Yeah, oops.' she issued flatly.

He shuffled on his feet, eyes not quite meeting hers as he mumbled a small 'sorry.' With a sigh, she motioned toward the vacant metal chair across from her, watching him flounce into it with glee, the stain on her jeans forgotten to him immediately. Oh well, she hardly expected anything less of him. Instead, his finger punctuated the paper, poking the headline several times with excitement.

'What is it this time?' she asked, dabbing her pants with water. Well the good thing about white was there was always bleach. She mentally shrugged, forgetting the incident as well, sipping her coffee alternatively.

'A large sapphire called the heart of the ocean.' He told her and she rose a brow.

'Heart of the Ocean, like as in from that movie the Titanic?' He snorted and rolled his eyes.

'God, no. Nothing like that! And for the record that was a terrible movie!' he cried, his voice highly indignant. Rose merely hid a knowing grin behind her mug, her eyes falling to him pointedly.

'You just don't like it cuz it made you tear up at the end.' she stated matter a factly, relishing the pretty shade of red that tipped his ears and traveled down his neck. He coughed uncomfortable, clearly done with their current topic. Rose decided to be merciful, and glanced over at the paper curiously.

'Okay, so what's the heart of the ocean then?'

'A sapphire about the size of your fist.' he told her, holding up said bawled fist. Rose glanced up at him.

'Really?' she asked in amazement.

'Yep.' he grinned, punctuating his 'p' as was he custom when he was particularly thrilled about something.

Gazing down at the paper, she appraised the large jewel that stared back at her, but the black and white image distorted the clearness of it and she frowned, not gleaning much from the photo.

'Yea, the picture doesn't really do it justice at all.' he agreed with her unspoken train of thought as though he'd plucked the thoughts right off the top of her head.

One would probably consider this weird normally, but he'd been doing this for the five years she'd known him and she'd grown accustomed to it, chalking the oddity up to him just being his eclectic self.

'So what's it value?' He picked up the paper, whipping out his black specs as he went.

'Uh, lets see...' he began, searching through the black and white letters. Seconds later an 'ahha!' fell from his mouth triumphantly and he pointed to a small paragraph boldly written across the thin parchment. '4.6 million US dollars.' he answered.

Rose hummed, studying the article more closely. Without looking, she reached up, pulling the glasses from his face despite protests from him, and perched them on the bridge of her nose, magnifying the small print.

'NSY reports that the international thief known as 'the doctor' has stolen the high profile jewel known as the Heart of the Ocean, a large sapphire, whose net worth is 4.6 million US dollars.' she read. 'The police say they have no new leads at this time, but it was reported that DI Jones is strongly looking into the matter. The DI issued a live statement at a press conference this morning in Trafalgar Square stating that she would be bringing this thief to justice, whatever the cost. 'Men like this think that they can evade the law and that there will be no consequences for their actions. My team and I, we aim to prove him wrong, and to remind all criminals out there that justice, no matter what, always prevails.'..Rose snorted.

'What sort of bunk is that anyway?' John asked, picking the thought right out of her mind again and saying it before she managed. One of these days, she'd have to ask him how he did that. In the meantime, she took a closer look at the sapphire.

'Who is this DI Jones anyway, I haven't heard of her before.' Rose mentioned, observing every line of the gem and committing them to memory. John shrugged, reaching over to steal some of her coffee, earning a scowl from Rose.

He didn't drink coffee normally, didn't even hardly like the stuff. No, it was only hers. It was a game with him that he'd grown fond of over the years that they'd known each other...how many times could he steal Rose Tyler's favorite drink without getting slapped. Usually he made it to four...sometimes, if he was particularly lucky, five...and there had been that one time he'd actually managed to get away with it six times, which was totally unheard of. Risk taker, that one.

Rose smacked his hand away instantly, earning both a hiss of pain and a babyish pout. She didn't bother hiding her smugness while she sipped her coffee triumphantly. He made her spill chili on her white pants, effectively ruining them for the day...today, he didn't even get one.

'I'm not really sure, actually.' he admitted, returning to the current topic while he attempted to shake the sting from his right hand, her smirk grew. 'From what I understand, she's new to the NSY and to being a DI. But, beyond that,' he shook his head, 'I don't really know much about her, not even her first name.'

Rose pondered this, chewing on the inside of her lip thoughtfully. This DI Jones seemed to mean business and that could very well spell trouble for the doctor if she was as tenacious as she sounded in the article. It almost appeared that she had, in essence, declared war on crime all encompassing, starting with the Doctor.

Rose respected the law and authority, she did, but she and John had been working on solving the on going mystery of the doctor ever since they'd known each other, and before that, individually. There had been several times, more then she could count any more, that they'd gotten close. But the doctor was a ghost, evasive and knew exactly how to blend and disappear back into the woodwork without a trace...even when you knew what you were looking for.

Now this new Detective Inspector had stepped onto the scene, declaring that she would bring the thief to justice, and that was all well and good and everything, but she'd be damned if she was going to allow a rookie to steal their thunder and crack their case wide open. It just wasn't gonna happen.

Her musings were broken by the strong feeling of being watched and she glanced up to find John staring at her intensely with those fathomless chocolate eyes. Eyes that were so warm and familiar to her and yet, so very distant and guarded from her. John Smith, the ultimate walking enigma and one of the only mysteries in her life that remained unsolved.

'You don't like the idea of this new player.' he guessed, though it wasn't a guess as much as a statement, a fact and she snorted, shaking her head.

'Not particularly, no.' she mused, biting her lip, then sighed. 'I foresee her being a problem.' she told him and he nodded agreeably, for once not a trace of playful mischief on his handsome face. They were quiet a long moment before John finally spoke up, voice low and serious.

'We could always get Mickey's help to keep us off her radar and any evidence we may find.' he suggested and Rose flinched subconsciously, knowing that it would look bad.

Mickey might be a good friend, and gave them access numerous time to the crime scenes the doctor had created, but he was still a cop, and still a keeper of law and order. He was still an advocate of criminal justice If he believed that this new DI could make a difference, he wouldn't allow them to hinder her progress. And, if they pushed the issue, he'd probably kick them off the unofficial 'find the doctor' task force permanently. No, that was most definitely not the way to go about it.

'Or, we could just ask for her file and get to know our rival a bit better.' he added. Rose beamed up at him and nodded.

'That's brilliant.' she commented, standing in a stretch. 'Got plans tonight?' she asked, already knowing what his answer would be. He flashed her a charming, heart wrenching grin that melted her from the inside out and said,

'Oh wellll, you know, there's this pesky crime scene I really need to visit and all and welll, I don't think you'd be too interested in gallivanting about, searching for clues that may or may not be there to begin with and wellll...then there's the possibility of it being dusty and you might get dirty and...'he motioned toward her already ruined attire, his eyes glittering with playful mischief that she loved as he added...'welll we all know how much you love that...'

Rose flashed a deceitful grin as she strode up to him, her hips lightly swaying while she grabbed his blue and brown swirled tie from within the confines of his pinstriped jacket, effectively silencing him when she tugged him closer.

'John.' she whispered, her voice more husky and sensual then he'd ever heard it before and he swallowed deeply, beginning to sweat while he managed to squeak out a small, shaky,

'Yea?'

Her grin widened, and she straightened his tie. Her eyes darkened while they unconsciously slipped toward his lips and she whispered,

'Shut-up.'

Then she was gone, stepping away from him like she'd never been there to begin with and the momentary suspense was instantly broken. His eyes narrowed, watching her sultry image completely dissipate while she dissolved into a fit of giggles.

'Oi, that wasn't very funny...or nice' he commented dryly and her giggles escalated into full blown laughter, leaving her doubled her over and clutching at her sides.

She stayed that way for several seconds, with him scowling down at her before she cleared her throat, calming herself little by little until she had some semblance of a straight face plastered against her skin. Rose nodded seriously.

'You're right, it wasn't funny...it was hilarious'

Like flipping a switch she collapsed back into hysteria. John exhaled dramatically and turned toward the door, his long brown coat billowing out behind him in a cloud of fabric while Rose managed to pull herself back together again.

'NYS, 5:30 sharp, Rose Tyler.' he called over his shoulder. With a final giggle, though she still couldn't smother the wide grin, she called after him

'Oi professor! You forgot something!' he turned in time to see his black specs come sailing at him through the air. He caught them without even tracking their trajectory, his mouth painted in a smirk as he pointed a finger at her.

'You, don't be late!'

'No, that's your department.' she reminded, chuckling as he threw his head back in a scoff and disappeared out the revolving glass doors.

The moment his form was gone from her sight, her smile slipped and she sighed heavily, wondering what on earth had possessed her to tease him like that. In the near five years she'd known John, they had had a very specific kinship and they'd discovered that they fit together like cogs in clockwork. They were close, always had been, and sure, she cared about him...hell, she'd go as far to admit subconsciously that she out rightly loved him...however, that just wasn't what their relationship was about and never had been.

For as well as she knew that man, she didn't know him at all. It was a very contradictory idea because, she knew a lot about him as a person and individual. She knew what he liked and what he didn't, what his favorite movie, book, color, and foods were. But those things were all topical, shallow, trivial. Anything beyond that, well they were safely locked away behind the incredible wall he had erected between them.

It was a wall that separated him from her and it was a wall that he'd never let her breach, always hiding who he was from her. She didn't know his reasons, but whatever they were, he had made it abundantly clear, without a word, that he was keeping her at arm's length, keeping her distant, never anything more then a friend and business partner.

At times it was frustrating because she knew, knew that between the two of them, she wasn't the only one that felt the intensity of the spark they shared. They had chemistry, amazing, brilliant beautiful, chemistry and they...they could be so much more...but nothing had ever come of it...and after four years of waiting...Rose highly doubted anything ever would.

She'd thought she'd accepted this long ago. She'd always respected his privacy and aloofness as a part of him, even if she didn't always agree with it. But today, she'd pushed that envelope, and though it hadn't been intentional, she still felt rather guilty about the whole thing because, even when she knew nothing about his background, she did know him. He might have strutted out those doors, cool as a cucumber, but the truth was, he'd ran...ran from her...

Rose scrubbed her face irritably. Bloody idiot, her.