Why was he always late? Why couldn't he (for once) get his timing right? He even had a time machine for God's sake.

On the other side of the spectrum, The Doctor was running. Pelting his feet as hard as he could across the concrete, he raced towards the flat, rushing as fast he could to prevent being noticed. He bolted up the stairs and along the corridor, found the familiar door then burst in.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Jack yelled, gesturing towards his watch.

"Does it matter, I'm here now..."

It did matter. He broke the code, he broke the rules. He was always breaking rules but this time, he'd really done it. He surreptitiously scrubbed the ink off his right hand and sniffed. Jack was taking it all in.

"You said we weren't allowed to break any rules in case we get noticed. They were the rules! Your rules! We're already running across a very thin line, if we do one thing wrong, we could change the future-"

"I know. I know." The Doctor sighed, walking back over to the exposed corner and throwing himself down.

Jack looked to the floor and followed the Doctor's actions.

There was a faint chorus of 'Happy Birthday' as Jackie cuddled and played with Rose. Rose was squealing in delight. Around them were piles of new toys, clothes and wrapping paper followed by cardboard and "Happy 2nd birthday" cards as well as several family members and friends, some with their own children.

"She looks cute," Jack teased, keeping his eyes on the Doctor to see how he would respond. He was gazing at the floorboards, enjoying the noise that came from the flat below.

"Yeah," He muttered, smiling slightly as he looked through the floor watching a very sweet Rose smile and gurgle incoherently.

The Doctor didn't move an inch for the rest of the day. Jack had left the flat twice, eaten three times, walked around, tidied a little bit and even watched Rose too but the Doctor hadn't moved. This was the longest he'd ever stayed in one place and he just lay there, content with the evening, eyes unmoving from the spot.

Within about two more hours, the party congregation slowly began to fade away leaving the Tyler's alone. Jackie had put Rose to bed and left herself but the Doctor still didn't move.

"New record?" Jack laughed despite seeing the Doctor's face contort from woozy bliss to a deep fear.

"Jack," He whispered dangerously, beckoning him near. Jack crouched over him

"What?"

The Doctor jumped up and grabbed Jack by the front of his T-Shirt, pulled him towards the floor and pointed. His hands were shaking.

"What, what is it?" Jack said blankly, his ear close to the wood.

"I didn't hear them turn the oven off..."

"So?"

The Doctor growled. "How do you even live with those crappy hearing ducts of yours; The oven is still on, I know, and to make it worse, I swear I can smell smoke..."

As realisation hit, he jumped up and grabbed his forearms.

"No, you can't. They've got fire alarms, leave it to that. You might get recognised."

The Doctor didn't care. Rose was in danger. She wasn't the Rose who he was used to rescuing but he had to save her and Jackie. He had to save the both of them

"Humans don't recognise anything from their baby years," He argued, pacing impatiently, ready to jump through the door and rescue the day. His sanity was slowly sliding away as the drastic thought began to take a hold of his logic.

"I wasn't talking about Rose." Jack muttered.

"She's fast asleep, she won't wake up, I'll just be in and out, that's all. Just quickly. " He felt like adding 'I won't even pause' but he didn't want to keep lying. Jack restrained him as if pushing him to the ground to stop him from leaping off to save the day.

"You can't."

"I'm not going to sit here as watch them burn! Because, that will really change the future, won't it?!"

"They're not going to burn, they have fire alarms."

Sighing, The Doctor stopped pushing against Jack's restraining hands.

"You're right." He said simply. Jack lowered his hands and took a deep breath.

"See, it'll all be-DOCTOR, No!"

But it was too late; he had already barged through the door into the night and down the stairs as Jack tried to chase after him.

Shading his face with the coat, he checked to see if anyone was about before pulling out the Sonic screwdriver and carefully jumping inside.

He wanted to collapse. All the stuff; The familiar scent of cheap candles, the heating, the sounds of the washing machine and the T.V and the Ove-oh!

He crept towards the kitchen and diminished the flames away silently, turning off the oven and even fixing the fire alarms above his head which were actually broken. Jack snuck behind him.

"Right, it's fixed. They're safe let's go!"

The Doctor nodded, following him out the door but not before pausing and peeking around the corner.

"Doctor!" He hissed. "We have to leave. C'mon!"

But The Doctor was moving, only, not in the direction that Jack had wanted. He was stepping towards the room and watching over the tiny Rose as her chest rose and fell with every breath. He couldn't stop. His feet were moving without him commanding them to, his neck was straining to catch sight of her soft baby blonde hair as she curled her hands upwards; straining for attention.

"Doctor, No!" Jack put his hand on his shoulder, but the Doctor shook it off, still moving. "You can't. You know you can't..."

"You want to do something useful?" He said softly. "Go keep watch."

Jack begged him not to, but it was no use. He was in a trance, literally stuck under Rose's spell as he took slow soft steps towards her. HE was so entranced, so besotted by her that Jack couldn't, he just couldn't tear him away. This would be the last time he would ever be able to talk to Rose. To see her. And he couldn't take that moment. He just couldn't say a word. What was life without a little risk?

So with that, Jack stepped out of the bedroom and kept a ferocious eye on Jackie, ready to grab the Doctor and run at any stir. The Doctor was talking softly to Rose, who had awoken but was watching him silently.

"And you're going to save the day and me. You always save me." He'd whispered.

She pushed her baby claw towards him and he just didn't have the self control not to touch it with his own. But he continued, rolling circles into her palm in a calming manner with his index finger.

"You're going to battle werewolves. Well, werewolf. You're going to rescue so many people; you're going to rescue me. Did I already say that? Because it's true. You're going to be Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth."

"Doctor..." Jack whispered, watching as Rose looked sleepily at the Doctor as if taking in every line of his story. The Doctor watched her, his hair nearly falling in his forehead, grinning as she slowly drifted back into sleep.

"I'll meet you again. Just you wait. I'll have a different face and I'll be grumpy but it'll be me. That's what made me better Rose, you. You'll make me better. You always do."

Jack put his hand on the Doctor's arm and pulled gently. The Doctor nodded, hoping that Jack heard none of his conversation with Rose.

"Well. Happy Birthday, Rose..."

And with that, they left the flat, locked the door and walked back to the flat.