Chapter Nine
It was nearly midnight. The house was deathly quiet. Mickey had gone home and Martha was sleeping on the couch. The Doctor was sleeping with Rose in her bed. He had gone several days without sleep working on the void device and getting him and Martha over. With Rose snuggled up against him, he slipped easily into a contented sleep beside her.
As they snored softly, they were unaware when Jackie opened her bedroom door and she and Pete looked in on them.
"Are you sure you wanna let her go, Jacks?" Pete whispered to his wife. "You'll never see her again."
"I know that." Jackie whispered back. "But…look at her, Pete. Look at the two of them together. They belong with each other. I mean, today was the first time that Rose has laughed or smiled in months. I can't stand in the way of her happiness."
She edged into the room and tip toed to the bed. As Pete came up behind her, she stood by the side of the bed staring down at Rose. She smiled as she noticed the Doctor and Rose's fingers intertwined and the contented smile on the Doctor's face.
"He loves her, Pete. He wouldn't be here otherwise." She whispered to him. "He'll take care of my little Rose. He won't let anything happen to her."
"How do you know that, Jacks?" Pete whispered.
Jackie smiled.
"I just know in my heart that she'll be alright." She said.
She reached down and gently brushed a strand of Rose's hair away from her face. Rose snuffled softly in her sleep and Jackie watched as the Doctor pulled her body closer to his. She smiled when Rose let out a contented sigh and went back to dreaming.
"See." Jackie said to Pete. "Rose will be perfectly alright. 'Sides, Mickey's goin' with them and that Martha will be along as well. They'll all look after each other like a proper family."
She took Pete's hand.
"Come on; let's get out of here before they wake up. They're gonna be leavin' after breakfast and they need their rest." She said.
Pete nodded. He led Jackie out of the bedroom. She paused at the door.
"Sweet dreams, you two." She whispered, closing the door.
"Sweet dreams, Jackie." The Doctor muttered sleepily.
Smiling, he kissed Rose's head, and with a sigh fell back to sleep beside the love of his life.
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"Good morning." The Doctor said as he and Rose walked into the kitchen.
He smiled down at Martha.
"How was the couch?" he asked winking.
"Not bad, but I can't wait to get back to my own bed in the TARDIS." She replied.
"Ooo, that reminds me, since Rose is coming with us; she'll want her room back now.
So I'm afraid you'll have to move everything to another room."
Martha's jaw dropped. The Doctor gave her an evil grin.
"Just kidding." He said poking her shoulder.
He giggled as Martha eyed him.
"No, Rose is moving into my room. I don't have much in there and there's plenty of room for both of us." He said.
He smiled at her.
"I trust that will be okay with you." He said.
"More than alright with me." She replied.
She gave him a kiss on the lips and went to help Jackie with the breakfast while the Doctor sat down beside Martha.
"So is Mickey boy coming?"
"He is. He's saying goodbye to his grandmother and his friends before he comes over." Martha replied.
"So, is he rooming with you then?" The Doctor asked innocently.
"Nah, I think he wants his own room and frankly I would prefer it that way as well. I need my space." She said.
The Doctor shrugged. He smiled as Rose and Jackie began to put the breakfast in front of them.
"I'll eat later. Pete and I have to run down to the shop for somethin' so we'll be back shortly." Jackie replied.
They nodded. Jackie gave Rose a quick kiss on the cheek and walked out of the kitchen.
"Oh, before I forget, Rose. I have something special for you on the TARDIS that I want you to see." The Doctor said.
Martha frowned.
"You do?"
The Doctor nodded.
"It's something for Rose's eyes only though if you don't mind."
Martha shrugged.
"It's okay with me. I figured there were going to be private things between the two of you." She said.
"Well, just because I have Rose back doesn't mean I'm leaving you out of things or leaving Mickey out for that matter. It's just that some things will be between us so please don't get jealous of that."
"I won't." Martha replied. "I'm glad she's back. I love how happy you are now and besides it'll be nice to have another woman around the TARDIS that I can talk to."
"Yeah, we can talk about the Doctor and his quirks. I did that with his other companion, Sarah Jane, when we met her at this school. The two of us argued at first and tried to outdo each other and then we realized how stupid we were being and we had a laugh and started talking about all the odd things the Doctor does."
She giggled as she looked at him.
"That's what we were laughing about when you came in." she said.
The Doctor paused with a forkful of egg halfway up to his mouth.
"I see. So instead of doing what I asked, which was trying to get those processors cracked open so we could save the children, the school and the whole sodding world, you decided instead to compare notes on me."
"We didn't plan it that way. It just sort of happened."
"Uh huh, and what exactly are these "odd" things I do?" He said setting his fork down on his plate.
Rose grinned at Martha.
"Well, I'm sure you noticed that he has a habit of ramblin' on at 900 miles an hour about somethin' and when you don't get it, he looks at you like you're a retard." She said.
"Oh yeah, he does that all the time. Gets annoying, I must say." Martha replied.
"I cannot help it if you cannot keep up with my superior intelligence." The Doctor said incensed. "Most of the time when I'm "ramblin' on" I'm trying to explain something vital to you. It's your job to pay attention!"
"Did you ever walk in on him talking to the ceiling?" Martha said ignoring him.
"Yeah, he does. He talks to the TARDIS when he does that. The ship's alive, you know."
"Yeah, he said that. I didn't know he actually talked to it. I thought he was talking to an invisible version of you or something."
"No, I wasn't talking to an invisible version of Rose." The Doctor said rolling his eyes.
"He still strokes bits of the TARDIS with you? Cause he did that with me and Sarah Jane."
"Yeah, that's creepy. I have to leave the console room when he does that."
"There is nothing creepy about my stroking the TARDIS. She likes it."
"Who's this Sarah Jane, by the way? He never mentioned her. When did she travel with him?"
"God only knows."
"She traveled with me during my 3rd and 4th incarnations, does that answer your question?" the Doctor said annoyed.
"How many woman he had in that TARDIS?" Martha asked.
"Who knows? Proabably a ton of em. Probably kidnaps em all the time. For all I know, the Doctor is the pimp of the universe and he cons us into traveling with him, so we can prostitute ourselves on different planets and earn him cash."
"I do not!"
Rose leaned in towards Martha.
"Probably got a secret harem on board that TARDIS somewhere where he keeps all the woman until he needs him. Sarah Jane probably managed to escape, and he let her go so I wouldn't wise up. I'm sure as soon as we get onboard, we'll be thrown in with them."
"Yes, Rose, that's right. I came across the void to recapture you, because your big, bouncy breasts will reap an enormous profit for me on some distant planet somewhere."
"See, told ya! I have the boy figured out." Rose said, gesturing to him.
They giggled hysterically while the Doctor rolled his eyes, muttered to himself and picked his fork back up.
