When There's No Trust

Chapter Rating: K

A.N: Sorry, but... this is just slightly shorter than the other chapters. Thank you for all the reviews very much.


Chapter III - Truth and Lies

"I'm sorry."

The whispered words echoed slightly in such a small confinement. But even repeated throughout the cell, they would earn no answer.

"I didn't think…" he continued. "I was only trying to protect us all. How was I to know we'd end up here?"

The Doctor was on his knees next to Mickey and Rose, where they sat on the damp floor. They were both silent though, and Rose wasn't even looking at him. Mickey on the other hand, was watching the Doctor intently; looking on at him in hard anger and annoyance. They clearly both blamed him. Rose was perched under Mickey's arm as they leaned against the cell wall, her head against his chest, and staring at the ground. Unlike Mickey, she didn't look angry, her face appeared void of all emotion.

"Don't think much, do you?"

It hurt more because it came from Rose, not Mickey, and was in a voice that was flat and dead.

He stared at her impassive face for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said, very quietly, for the twelfth time in ten minutes.

Neither Mickey nor Rose gave any sign that they had heard him, nor did they move. They stayed still where they were, in each other's arms, against the grimy prison cell wall. The dim light from the gas light above their heads set a short glow on the right side of their faces, paling Rose in particular in contrast with the dark brown wall they were leaning against. Their faces were hard and as still as the concrete behind them, like they had been carved, as one, from stone.

It made the Doctor feel lonelier than ever.

"Haven't you got the sonic screwdriver?" Mickey asked, but he wasn't looking in the Doctor's direction anymore, his eyes were fixed on the floor like Rose's, and his lips barely moved. His voice was stiff, and almost as blank as Rose's.

The Doctor hesitated; he had been hoping that question wouldn't come up. He sensed an oportunately here, just the three of them, no way out. And all they could do was talk. He'd already swore to himself he would find out what was wrong with Rose, and here it was... the perfect oportunatey. He wasn't about to let it go to waste. He'd get them out in time, for now though, there were other, seemingly more important things, which were pressed against his mind so hard it made him feel a dim ache brewing there.

"No," he lied quietly. "I think one of the soldiers must have taken it."

Mickey breathed heavily out through his nose, but said nothinng, as Rose's brow furred together just slightly, but she too gave no responce.

The Doctor fell back and sat beside Mickey, though not close enough to touch the boy. His back pressed against the wall, he took back his head so it touched the concrete and stared at the ceiling for a moment. He then closed his eyes slowly to decrease the pain he felt coming along in his head. "I just didn't want us all to end up dying on a battlefield, " he heard himself say, as he stared at the darkness at the back of his own eyelids, the blackness numbing him.

"Better to die in here, is it?" Rose's voice stung his ears.

His eyes shot open in sudden anger.

"I was trying to protect you!" he yelled, leaping up from the floor, he glared down at her as he stood.

Rose's head lifted from Mickey's chest, "Oh yeah, and a fine job you did of that! Now we're stuck in here with no way out!" Her stony mask of indifference had gone, her energy fuelled entirely through anger. "You were better off when you didn't bother!"

"Wha -? Didn't bother -?" the Doctor spluttered. His fists clenched in absolute outrage. "I always bother! I always try to protect you!"

Rose snorted. She turned to an uncomfortable Mickey, whose eyes were on the Doctor's feet. "Look Mickey, more lies."

"Lies?" The Doctor shook his head incredulously, feeling his jaw clench, "Just what the hell is going on inside your head Rose Tyler? Because I have never lied to you!"

"Liar!" she shouted. She untwined herself from Mickey's arms, letting go of their stoney illusion, and stood up to face the Doctor.

"When have I ever lied to you?!" The Doctor waved his hands in anger, his eyes becoming dangerously blacker by the second.

"You don't know?" Rose was laughing disbelievingly.

"No!" he yelled in angry annoyance.

"Don't pay much attention then, do you?" she spat.

"So enlighten me." He stared at her, furious.

"You said you wouldn't leave me!" she shouted.

There was a long silence, as the echo of her shout vibrated around the room.

The only other sound was the dripping of water from some pipes not far from their cell.

Mickey was staring at the Doctor in shock, waiting for his reaction.

Rose was also staring at the Doctor, both shocked at her own outburst, and angry all the more.

The Doctor was staring at Rose. "What?" he whispered. All anger seemed to have disaperated from him, leaving his eyes wide and confused.

Rose swallowed hard, a visible lump falling down her throat. Her lip quivered, and she shook her head, trying to gather her bearings. She took a deep breath and blinked several times.

"I asked you if you were just goin' to leave me behind, like you did to Sarah-Jane," she looked at him, eyes shining with tears she was determined not to let fall, "You said no, Doctor," her voice cracked on the last two words. "'Not you'. They're your words." She swallowed the lump in her throat again. A lone tear streaked down her left cheek, black from her heavy eye makeup, but she wiped it quickly without thought, before continuing, "You left us Doctor… less than twenty four hours later. You left us… believin' you'd never be able to come back. You left me behind when you said you wouldn't."

The Doctor face crumpled, as he realised how true what she was saying really was. "I was…" he struggled. "I never meant…" His shoulders slumped; eyes now turned a misty brown. "There was no time," he finally whispered.

Rose took a deep breath. "But it's not just that…" she shook her head, "I don't know you anymore Doctor. I thought I did… in your old self," she swallowed hard, her brow furred. She closed her eyes, and when they pricked back open all evidence of tears behind them had gone, they had hardened under the thoughts on her mind, "I don't though, not anymore."

"Rose…" he whispered.

She shook her head again. "Never mind know you though... I'm not even sure I like you anymore, Doctor. Sometimes, it's so hard to like you when you..." she trailed off, shaking her head and staring at him, begging him to understand.

The Doctor's face was one of shock, and utter desolation as he stared helplessly at her.

"I don't know if…" she breathed in heavily through her nose, jaw gritted together in grim determination. "I don't know if I can do this anymore. I don't know if I can travel with you anymore… everything's just changed so much. Too much."

One of the Doctor's hearts dropped down to his feet, as the other came up and choked his throat. He felt utterly helpess, utterly alone, and so overcome by guilt, so miserable it made his eyes sting.

For several long minutes the Doctor and Rose just stared at one another. Mickey was still sat, forgotten at the base of the wall, eyeing them both with deep regret.

Rose finally broke their tied gaze. Looking away from the Doctor, to something over his shoulder, she stared at a place behind him for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she spoke, her tone suddenly becoming formal, businesslike, and as flat as it was before their argument; "There's a large crack over there, in that wall. I reckon it's a weak point in the buildin'. The building work looks a bit shabby if you ask me. If we hit it hard enough, I think it'll break. Don't you think Mickey?"

Mickey stood up immediately, and went over to the wall Rose was indicating. "She's right," he announced. "If we put enough force here, it should budge, I think." He was bent over by the wall, his fingers tracing the rough building work carefully. "The walls don't look like they've been very well built, do they? We could break this easy and get outa here."

The Doctor barely heard him.

He was still staring at Rose, his mouth open in shock, in disbelief and horror, as she walked around him, out of his eyesight, towards Mickey.

The Doctor stared at the empty spot where she had just been stood, and tried to imagine her always gone.

It was right then, that one by one, he felt his hearts break.

--Preview--

Chapter IV - A Little Trust

He led them deeper, not uttering a word, and simply impatient to find the Tardis. Mickey bit his lip, whereas Rose's face remained straight and resigned. Mickey increased his speed slightly, so he was marching beside the Timelord. "Isn't this a bit dangerous? Walkin' through here?" he asked innocently.

"Not if you stay close," the Doctor replied, his voice and face not giving off any sign of emotion. "If you can bare that of course."