"Rose!"
Panicked, the Doctor took off after her. He didn't even glance behind him to see if Jack would follow. Right now, all that mattered was Rose Tyler.
He tried to keep up with her, but she was quick and knew how to escape. It didn't take long for him to lose sight of her.
But it didn't stop him from looking.
He would never stop searching if it came down to her. He knew that he would follow the stubborn, strange girl to the ends of the universe. His devotion to the human scared him, and he wanted to run away from it. But how could he run away when Rose already had?
He didn't know if he had given up or just run in circles, but he found himself back at the cafe a little while later. Jack was talking politely to an employee.
The Doctor felt a surge of anger come through him, and he was glad when Jack sent the waitress away. Quickly, he stormed up to Jack and snarled under his breath, "Why didn't you follow her?"
Jack stood up calmly and stared him in the eyes. "There wasn't any need," Jack said easily. The Doctor's fists clenched and he squeezed his eyes shut.
"It's Rose Tyler," he said in a low voice, almost deadly. "There is always a need. You already didn't follow her once. But to make the same mistake again?"
Jack sighed. "Doc, you aren't seeing the bigger picture here. I know where to find her."
The Doctor's demeanor quickly softened. "You do?" He asked eagerly.
Jack was surprised at the quick change in the Doctor's mood. "She's really got you wrapped around her finger, hasn't she?" Jack said, almost teasing. The Doctor scoffed.
"Jack," he snapped. "Focus!"
Jack shrugged slightly. "Listen, Doc. Rose is in Cardiff. There aren't a lot of places she can go. Rose isn't one for familiar places, either. But she still would want to go somewhere she knows, especially if she was upset. So think. What's a place that is unfamiliar yet familiar all the same?"
The Doctor ran his fingers angrily through his hair. "I've known her for less than three weeks, Jack! How am I supposed to know what's familiar to her?"
"You've been with her for almost three weeks," Jack said easily. He watched the alien intently, wondering when the realization would make its way through his thick skull.
The Doctor glared at Jack, irritated by his answers. "I swear, Jack, if you don't tell me…"
"Doc," Jack said impatiently. "Think about it. You've been with her for three weeks. Things become familiar to a person after three weeks. Unless, of course, said person has spent three weeks in an alien spaceship that constantly rearranges itself just for the hell of it and has millions of unknown rooms."
The Doctor stared blankly at the captain until he finally realized what Jack was saying. "She went to the TARDIS!" He yelled, momentarily pleased with himself, before whipping around. Jack smiled smugly, but the satisfied look on his face quickly deteriorated when the Doctor slowly turned back to him.
In the alien's eyes, Jack saw something he had been positive he would never see again. Darkness-violent rage -was looming beneath the surface. "Doctor…" Jack warned, cautious.
"And let this be clear, Jack Harkness," the Doctor began coldly. "If I ever learn of you abandoning Rose again- or failing to follow after her -there will be consequences. She's Rose Tyler, and she is brilliant. You've hurt her once, you didn't follow. She ran again, you let her. Don't make the mistake a third time. I'm not a man of second chances. But I am giving you a third."
Jack watched as the Doctor turned again, proceeding to the door. The air of fury still surrounded him, and Jack shook his head in awe.
He was surprised that the Doctor hadn't realized that the only times he had met Jack where in his previous incarnation. Jack supposed it was because he was so subdued with Rose. Even at three weeks, it was evident that he cared for the human. Jack sat back down at the booth, picking at the remaining chips. He wondered when the Doctor would realize that piece of information.
Jack wondered if the Time Lord would realize that their timelines had just become tangled- and that Jack had been from their future. A future he wished he hadn't seen, hadn't known about. A future that would come, all too soon, for the Doctor and his companion.
It only took him seconds to locate the TARDIS, and he hastily opened the door and stepped inside. He opened his mouth to call his name before he realized that it probably wasn't his smartest idea.
"Rose?" He said tentatively. It was a low call, a noise that barely escaped his mouth. He didn't want to risk Rose wanting to hide, and the ship taking her side. He wanted to find her, and make sure she was alright. "Rose."
He walked quietly through the corridor, silently begging his ship to help him find her. Whether it was complying or not, the halls kept changing, until finally, he found the right door. He pressed his cheek against the door, scarcely breathing. It hadn't even been eight hours since he had last been in the exact same place. Her room was quiet, and the lack of sound unnerved him. The Doctor swallowed, and then slowly raised his hand to knock.
Before he could, he heard Rose's quiet voice, "Come in."
He wasn't sure why he had expected her to be crying- perhaps it was because she had ran. But, despite his expectations, Rose sat cross-legged on her bed, staring calmly at the Doctor.
He stepped further inside the room, leaning against the door-frame as he breathed in and out. It was a futile attempt to calm himself down. "What…" he began, before pinching the bridge of his nose in chagrin. The Doctor took another deep breath before beginning again. "Right. Okay. How'd..."
Rose stared at him, still holding a calm mask with her expression. It frustrated him beyond relief. She was obviously upset- otherwise she wouldn't have ran away -but her expression begged to differ. Finally, the Doctor settled on a question that he didn't care what the answer was.
"How'd you get in the TARDIS?"
Rose smiled slightly, rolling her eyes. "She let me in," Rose said easily. "Just wanted to be here...and then she opened the door."
The Doctor felt himself losing his control. "What the hell was that?" He burst out. "I thought you were slipping into psychogenic shock! Why were you running? What good did that do? Why did you run?! Was it something Jack said? Or something I said? Rassilon, Rose, what the hell happened back there? Do you even know how worried…"
She waited for him to continue, but the sentence seemed to remain strangled in his throat. "What, Doctor?" She asked.
The Doctor stared at her, shifting his weight from one foot to another before reaching down and grabbing her hand. With one quick motion, he pulled her up and then crushed her to his chest. Rose gasped, surprised, and the Doctor wrapped his arms tightly around her. After a moment of hesitation, Rose returned the hug.
"Are you okay?" He whispered into her hair. Rose laughed breathlessly.
"M'fine," she assured him. "Just...I haven't seen Jack in ages and the last time I saw him was...it was, um..."
He ran his fingers through her hair. The Doctor was dying to know what the end of her sentence was. He wanted to figure out the mystery of Rose Tyler more than anything in the world. There were so many things, so many unanswered questions she presented, and he knew the answers to none. It wasn't as if he was an open book himself- it was quite obvious that he didn't want to reveal his past as well. But his...dedication…to this human who was all pink and yellow was strong. He was terrified by it, of course. The fear and concern and...devotion he had for her were enough to make him want to run.
But it was like she knew. She knew of his urge to flee, so she'd slip her hand into his and grin at him cheekily and they would run together.
Yes, he wanted to know who Rose was and what she was hiding. But it was clear that she wouldn't say unless he did. And, of course, there was the fact that she had only been with him for less than three weeks. Why should she trust you? was the single question that haunted the Doctor's mind most recently.
"Shh," he said finally, resting his chin on top of her head. "You don't need to tell me."
"But-" Rose began helplessly. Her charade of serenity was quickly diminishing, and she clung tighter to the man who had become so familiar.
"Eventually," he promised. "Eventually, you can tell me. But you're not ready...and that's...that's okay."
"Thank you," she breathed, sounding relieved. She swallowed, and buried her face in his neck, taking a slow and shuddering breath. He clung to her tighter, closing his eyes as he tried to calm his racing hearts.
They stayed like that for a while, comforting without words and only with warmth. After what could have been an eternity, Rose shifted, and the Doctor loosened his grip. "You worried about me?"
He smiled sheepishly. "Rose Tyler, jeopardy friendly and prone to danger. Have I no reason to worry?"
"Oi, you love it!" She laughed, moving enough to hit his arm. Rose moved out of his embrace fully after that, beaming at him cheekily.
Quite right, he thought contently. The thought brought a small smile onto his face, and slowly, it turned into a grin. "Right! Well, we should go. Future or past, Rose? We've got it all in our reach."
Rose opened her mouth, prepared with an answer, but she surprised herself by changing her mind. "Actually I...I want to say goodbye to Jack. I didn't say goodbye to him last time, and...I have this, um...this habit of just disappearing. And it's something that I...want to change. D'you think we could just...say goodbye?"
The Doctor sighed dramatically. "If we have to," he grumbled, teasing, and then he reached for her hand.
"I'm telling you, it's got the best banana cupcakes you've ever tasted!"
"Oh, and you've tasted all the cupcakes in the galaxy?" She rolled her eyes and slipped her hand into his again, and he continued to lead her down the street and back to the cafe.
"Have you?" the Doctor retorted. "I can honestly say that I've tasted a lot more banana-flavored cake pastries than you!"
"Don't be so sure," Rose replied, giggling slightly. "I wanted to be a chef when I was a kid, yeah? I started experimenting from day one and one of the only things I had were bananas. Bananas and pears, actually."
"God, pears?" he said, wrinkling his nose. "I can see why you went with bananas. Excellent source of potassium, did you know?"
He pushed open the door to the cafe, and Rose instinctively searched for her old friend. "Doctor," she said quietly. He stopped rambling and peered down at her. "Jack's gone."
The Doctor looked up, surveying the cafe as well. "That he is," the Doctor said in a low voice. "He just...left."
"Guess it's too late to say goodbye," Rose said, shrugging. She tugged on his hand but he didn't move. "Doctor?"
"Third time," he murmured lowly. The Doctor cleared his throat and looked back at Rose, smiling wildly. "Alright, then. No time for goodbyes. So how about it? Back to the TARDIS, all of time and space in our grasp?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Rose said, jumping a bit. He grinned.
"Oh, that reminds me," he muttered, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a single key on a shining silver chain, and slipped it into Rose's hand.
"A key," she stated flatly.
"Yep!" he said, popping the last consonant. "A key to the TARDIS!"
Rose's eyebrows arched, and she stared at it in shock. "Are you serious?" she asked, incredulous.
"For permanent residents only," he said, smug. Rose grinned, and slipped the key into her pocket. She threw her arms around the Doctor.
"Oh, but I love it!" Rose said happily. "Thank you, Doctor."
He smiled against her hair, spinning her slightly before putting her back down on the ground. "Well! Off we go?"
"To the stars," Rose agreed.
A/N: Quick update! Hope you enjoyed it. Anyway, I've made a goal to update at least every Saturday! My life has been taken over. What can I say?
So, review. Follow. Favorite. Drop a PM. Tell your friends. Whatever makes you happy. (Or, more accurately...makes me happy) (;
All my love from the TARDIS,
Kat x