As soon as the two hours had passed, the Doctor started to free himself from the chains. Jack may be smart, but of course he was not smarter than a Time Lord. Jack didn't take the Doctor's jacket away from him, which was very foolish. The Doctor could easily make a new sonic screwdriver with the stuff he had found in his pockets; the chains weren't even fast enough so he could even use his hands. His new sonic felt different than the original one, but he would take it back from Jack anyway as soon as he found him and Rose. Of course those two had been stupid enough not to let him out in the two hours. They were probably together right now, having a cup of tea before bedtime. And knowing Jack, he would not keep his hands off Rose. That thought didn't make the Doctor happy at all.

The Doctor first unlocked the chains so that he could walk, then he opened the bars as well. He would go looking for Jack and Rose first, the TARDIS couldn't go anywhere so she was safe. He could always come back for her. The most important thing right now was to find Jack and Rose, just to fulfil his promises.

As soon as he was out, he went looking for the staircase he had been brought down earlier. It's been two hours and five minutes exactly since Jack's last visit, and he still hadn't bothered to go and check on the Doctor. Maybe Jack was really convinced that his cells were so strong. True, the chains were very strong and he had left the Doctor without his sonic and his TARDIS, which made it slightly more difficult for him to break out, but still, he didn't take the Doctor serious enough.

The Doctor followed the stairs and ended in a hall, which he recognized from earlier. He walked down the hall, not making too much noise, until he heard voices coming from a room on his left. The doors were wide open and the Doctor could clearly see Jack and Rose sitting at the bar. They were turned with their backs towards the Doctor, so they couldn't see him.

'Shouldn't we check on him? Just to be sure?' Rose asked Jack.

'Would you please stop worrying? Nothing is going to happen to him or to you. You are safe here with me,' Jack soothed.

'I am so glad you wanted to help me, I don't know what I would do without you,' Rose smiled.

'I know that,' Jack grinned confidently, kissing Rose's cheek softly.

The Doctor clenched his fists while he was looking at the two. Jack had just kissed her on her cheek and she only smiled at him. What on earth were they thinking?

'Shouldn't we check on him? I mean, it has been two hours now,' Rose asked.

'No need, he can't possibly escape. Those chains are very strong, and he doesn't have anything or anyone to help him now,' Jack answered.

'Ahum,' the Doctor interrupted. 'I am sorry to disturb your conversation, but I am afraid you are not right at this point, Harkness.'

Both Jack and Rose turned around to see the Doctor standing in the door opening with his hands in his pockets.

'You can't be here,' Jack stated incredulous.

'And yet I am!' the Doctor smiled, though he didn't look friendly at all. 'You didn't come for me. Your two hours are over.'

'This must be some kind of trick, are you a projection?' Jack asked suspiciously, standing in front of Rose protectively. His body was a human shield to her.

'Nope. I am real. I'm sure you would like to know how I did this. It is easy actually, I've just made a new sonic device in order to escape from your little prison,' the Doctor sneered.

'I am not afraid of you,' Jack said firmly.

'But of course you are. Rose, come here,' the Doctor ordered.

'Don't listen to him, Rose. I can handle him, I will protect you from him,' Jack whispered to Rose.

'She doesn't need protection from me, I am the one who protects her. She is mine, Harkness! Rose, come here!' the Doctor repeated.

'What are you going to do?' Rose asked softly, not sure what she had to do now.

'Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am going to take you with me, to the TARDIS. And I am going to take Jack with us. Once we are in the TARDIS, I will decide what I am going to do with you, my dear.'

'You are not taking me with you. Don't think that I will give myself over to you, Doctor. I will fight you if I have to,' Jack said determined, taking a step forwards.

'Jack, I am under the impression that you still don't really get it. There is no way in stopping me. I am not going to have that discussion again with an ape like you. You better let Rose come to me so that I can deal with you.'

'No. You have to pass me first.'

'You are leaving me no choice, Harkness,' the Doctor growled and he took out his new sonic device, pointing it at Jack. Then he changed the setting and pressed the button. One yellow flash came out of it and Jack fell down on the floor.

'What have you done to him!' Rose yelled, rushing towards the immortal.

'I killed him,' the Doctor simply answered. 'This thing is a laser too. But not very powerful, though. I need my TARDIS to make it more effective. And he will come to life again anyway. He can't die, you know that.'

'That's not the point. You killed him. He is a friend!' Rose shouted.

'He stood in my way. Friends don't do that to you. As for you…' the Doctor said, slowly approaching Rose, who backed away instantly. 'You betrayed me. I trusted you and you tried to capture me. You didn't even try to help me out.'

'I know,' Rose said quietly, she tried to make her voice steady, but not successfully.

'Have you anything to say to me?' the Doctor asked smoothly.

'Wh-What do you mean?' Rose stammered.

'I want to know why you did this.'

'Because you scare me! I am scared, okay? I wanted to have you behind the bars because I was afraid you would hurt me or others! You are not yourself anymore!' Rose yelled.

The Doctor suddenly stopped in his tracks.

'You are scared of me? I've told you that I would never ever hurt you as long as you wouldn't do anything that I don't like. So you had no reason to be scared. Now you have caused yourself trouble, not I,' the Doctor said.

'You will leave me and Jack and everyone else alone, understood?' Rose said, her eyes looking frightened.

The Doctor suddenly lunged for her and grabbed her hair to yank her head back, exposing her throat.

'You have been difficult, you betrayed me, you wanted to keep me in prison and now you dare to tell me what to do?' he growled threateningly in her ear. 'Don't you even try. I am nobody's prisoner. I want you to make your excuses.'

'You said you loved me! You are the one who has been lying!' Rose cried.

'No, that was not a lie! I meant it, but you need to do as I say! Tell me who is in command,' he whispered.

Rose hesitated for a moment, but she finally decided not to give in this time. She wouldn't allow him to order her around anymore. She was just fed up with him and she knew that she was not going to get rid of him anyway. So she could just as well tell him what she thought.

'No, I am not going to tell you what you want to hear anymore. I thought that there was still something of the old you in you, but clearly I was wrong. And I am sick of hoping that I can still bring back some reason into you. You killed people, you threatened people and now you even killed Jack. He was a friend! He was my friend! And I hate you! Go on then, hurt me whatever you like, kill me if you want to, it won't make me love you and you know it. I refuse to pretend I am fine with everything you do. If you truly love me, you will do as I say from now on!' Rose snapped.

The Doctor looked at her in astonishment for a moment, but he quickly renewed himself.

'You don't mean that,' he stated, letting Rose go now.

'I meant every word and it is time for you to realize that,' Rose said angrily.

'So I presume that that means you are no longer scared of me?'

'No, I am still scared. I am terrified. But I just don't care anymore, I know that you won't let me go and I just refuse to go with you willingly. So do whatever you like to me or with me, I don't care. I won't love you. Never.'

'You did love me earlier,' the Doctor said, clenching his jaw.

'That was before you killed someone I love!' Rose shouted.

'You don't love him,' the Doctor said disgusted, pointing at the lifeless body of Jack. 'And by the way, I didn't really kill him, seeing that he will be recovered in about ten minutes.'

'He is my friend, and right now I love him more than I love you. So start acting like a normal person from now on or you might as well just kill me now,' Rose said firmly.

'Maybe Martha was right about you,' the Doctor said grimly. 'You can't be trusted. All humans are the same. As soon as they get the opportunity to break me, then you just take it. I was prepared to give you anything you could ever wish for, I was prepared to protect all those corrupt humans. You and Jack just showed me that humanity is not worth it. And I didn't expect that from you, Rose. I thought you were different. Clearly I was wrong. And maybe Martha is not the one who I should punish, maybe you are. How can I ever make clear to you that you can't just disobey me that easily? You know that there are consequences and you just refuse to realize that. I like your fire, but don't use it against me.'

The Doctor slowly approached Rose again, and she was just remaining her place, trying not to show any kind of fear.

'Go on then, punish me. You can't break me,' she said bravely.

'You know that I have more ways to break someone, don't you? I have no desire to harm you personally. Not physically. But I can make you clear that I am not someone to mess around with, I can still show you my power. That's what you want, isn't it?' the Doctor asked with a wicked smile, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder.

'Of course not!'

'Then why are you challenging me?'

'I am not challenging you, I am telling you the truth.'

'You know that you are quite attractive when you behave like this? So rebellious and determined. I could have kissed you if you wouldn't have made me this angry,' the Doctor said almost playfully.

'Good. Because I don't want you to kiss me,' Rose said stubbornly.

'And you are lying again!' the Doctor grinned. 'We are going to get my TARDIS right now and after that, I will give you a very good reason for not provoking me. Maybe you think you can just act brave and pretend that you can't be harmed anymore, but you are only fooling yourself.'

Then the Doctor took Rose's hand, more roughly than he usually did. After he had pointed his new sonic at Jack and made sure he couldn't move as soon as he woke up, he dragged Rose with him downstairs to go looking for the TARDIS. It didn't take him too much effort to find her and it felt good to be back with his ship again. Rose sat down in the captain's seat, not even asking if that was alright. But the Doctor didn't care at the moment. He materialized the TARDIS carefully around Jack, who was, indeed, already awake.

'Before you say something, I want to tell you to shut up. Don't say anything, I don't really feel like having a conversation with you,' the Doctor said, not looking at Jack.

'Oh, but I do. You just killed me!' Jack shouted. 'And I can't move! Why is that?'

'Because I don't want you to run off. I don't want you to stand in my way again, so I will keep you here, in the TARDIS, so you can't go anywhere,' the Doctor snapped, then he pulled another lever and the TARDIS moved again. With a gentle thud she landed somewhere.

'So where did you bring us now?' Jack questioned.

'I want to make something clear to Rose. Rose, come with me, now,' the Doctor ordered.

Rose didn't move, she wasn't going to make the Doctor's life easy right now.

'Rose… you are annoying me. Don't do that,' the Doctor warned.

'I've told you, I am not going to do as you say anymore,' Rose said.

'Oh, trust me. After you've seen what's coming next you will. Come on, I am done with your games, come with me now. It is not wise to push it any further right now.'

'You can't…' Rose began, but then the Doctor grabbed her neck roughly and he pushed her towards the door of the TARDIS. He ignored Jack's protests and threats and he opened the door.

'But… this is my house,' Rose said surprised.

The Doctor closed the door of the TARDIS Behind him and stepped into the living room of the Tyler's home, still holding Rose's neck firmly.

'That's right. You still don't know where this is going?' the Doctor asked, a cold smile appearing on his face. Rose knew that face, he was planning something she wasn't going to like. She shook her head.

'Then I will show you. JACKIE!' the Doctor shouted and Jackie appeared in the doorway that was leading to the kitchen. She immediately saw that the Doctor was holding Rose painfully and she dropped her cup of tea and lunged for the Doctor. Then she raised her hand and slapped him across the face with all her might.

'You will let her go this instant! You are hurting her!' Jackie shouted furiously.

The Doctor grimaced. In a quick movement he let go of Rose and instead he grabbed Jackie by her throat, forcing her against the wall. Jackie tried to yell something, but she found that she couldn't breathe well enough.

'Do you understand now, Rose?' the Time Lord growled.

Rose glared at the Doctor and then she tried to pull him off her mother, who looked as though she was choking.

'Stop it! You bastard!' Rose shouted, punching the Doctor over and over.

'Shall I just snap her neck? It would be so easy… She means nothing to me, she is unimportant, she is of no use to me personally. I can just get rid of her right here right now,' the Doctor snapped viciously, one hand now trailing to the back of Jackie's neck, giving Jackie shivers. 'The only one who can stop me from actually doing it, is you, Rose. You know what I want to hear.'

'Doctor, just…' Jackie managed to say, but the Doctor grabbed her jaw, squeezing it painfully.

'I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!' he roared.

That silenced Jackie, and Rose looked at the scene in front of her in horror. She hated to admit it, but the Doctor had won. He could break her by hurting her mother. And Rose didn't want her mother to end up dead because of her own stubbornness. She would rather stay with the Doctor as some kind of prisoner than letting her mother die with the knowledge that she could have stopped it.

'What do you want me to say?' Rose asked dispirited.

'Just tell me that I was right, that you have been acting foolish and that I am the one in control. Beg me for forgiveness, and do it convincingly, you know whose life is at stake,' the Time Lord growled.

'I was stupid, I know that! I shouldn't have done all this to you and I am sorry! You are in control and I will not try to stand in your way anymore, please, Doctor, let her go now!' Rose rattled in one breath.

'Not convinced yet,' the Doctor said, tightening his grip on Jackie's neck, making the woman shriek.

Rose's mind was working at full speed, and then she came with an idea that might help. She grabbed the Doctor's tie firmly and started to kiss him. The Doctor let go of Jackie and deepened the kiss, then softly wrapping his arms around Rose. Rose was surprised to feel how gently the Doctor was with her, he had been so furious only seconds ago. When the two broke apart, Jackie was on the ground, trying to regain her breath. Rose busted out in tears, from relief and from fear, she was desperate, not knowing what to do. She wanted to reach for her mother, to check on her, but then she found that the Doctor had his arms around her.

'Shh, nothing is going to happen now, you are both safe,' he soothed, wiping away Rose's tears gently. 'You have me to protect you, I am not leaving you. And I love you, Rose, never dare to forget that again. You saw what happens then.'

Rose only nodded and she quickly pushed the Doctor away from her, kneeling down next to her mother.

'I am so sorry, mom, I didn't mean to put you in danger. Are you alright?' Rose asked softly.

'Don't worry about me, just keep yourself safe. I mean it, don't do anything stupid. When I get my hands on that alien there…' Jackie whispered and Rose laughed at that. Her mother was still out for revenge even though she had just been almost killed.

'I heard that!' the Doctor interrupted, but he didn't sound angry anymore.

'You just keep her safe and don't you even think about touching her!' Jackie said firmly, sounding like the protective mother.

'Of course I will keep her safe. No one will ever get the chance to hurt her, they will have to face me first. And just some advice for you, Jackie Tyler, don't ever try to slap me again. It will be the last thing you'll ever do,' the Doctor said, but his voice sounded neutral. The threatening edge was gone.

Jackie didn't reply to that, but she did pull Rose in for a hug.

'Come on Rose, enough with the hugging, back in the TARDIS. There has been already enough timewasting, and believe me, I hate timewasting. It's time for action now,' the Doctor said, heading back for the TARDIS.

Without asking him what he was talking about, Rose said goodbye to her mom and she followed the Doctor to the TARDIS. Although she had the feeling that the 'action' the Doctor was talking about was not really promising anything good.