Complicated

by The-Plot-Thinens

John Smith is a professor at a prestigious university and had what some would describe as the perfect life. Now with the perfect wife, his life seems complete. Though Mrs. Smith might have signed up for more than she bargained for when she had first considered John's age gap. Sort of a retelling of Doctor Who season 1 with complications. See it through it gets better, promise.

21. Chapter 21

Complicated

By the Plot Thinens

For Better or for Worse – Chapter 21

The path down to the morgue was cold. They had left the relative warmth of the upper part of the funeral parlor to ascend down into a catacomb-like looking chamber. No wonder they stored bodies down here, it was probably freezing cold in the summer too. Cold radiated from the stones on the wall and Rose was starting to seriously envy the Doctor's leather jacket. With the scarf no longer around her neck her shoulders and chest were chilly and she didn't think that the Doctor was in as compliant a mood to let her cling to his arm for warmth. In fact his stoic look and tightened chin was probably making her more nervous, especially for Gwyneth. They now where at the bottom of the stairs and Rose could already see the white sheets covering the chilled remains of some person departed. She could also see knives, saws, and every form of rusty looking implement possible to disembowel a human corpse. Despite having grown up on the Powell estate in a relatively dangerous area, Rose had only ever seen a person dead once before, Mickey's 'sweet' old grandmother. Tonight she had already seen two dead people and they had been moving around like movie monsters and if the plan were to go as followed, there would be more walking undead about. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stick around to see that but she proceeded for Gwyneth's moral support. Rose just hoped that if the dead did start walking around again that she didn't hang on the Doctor in fear. She was still mad at him and didn't want to her technically-still-her-husband knowing that she was frightened or give him the satisfaction of knowing that she needed his comfort.

"Urgh. Talk about Bleak House." Declared the Doctor as he surveyed the grim room. Rose watched the other three people with her look about the morgue for the weak point in the Rift, and that was when something hit her that didn't make sense about what they were doing.

"The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869." Stated Rose in confusion to the Doctor, pretty sure that something as significant as that would have made her school history books and would have easily been interesting enough to grab the attention of any and every underachieving student at her state run school.

If the Doctor had not heard the false idea of linear timelines so often from humans he might have thought that Rose's simplified logic of time progression was cute. But a green companion was always a liability and he needed Rose to understand just how fragile time and her very existence or the continued existence of anything as she remembered it truly was. It was very important that she understand the nature of time if she were to continue traveling with him. The last thing he needed was a companion with a laid back attitude of 'Because it already happened by the time I was born, it's going to happen the same way regardless of how much effort I put in. So why worry or try?' That thinking got people killed.

"Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing." Said the Doctor sternly and in all earnest as he stared his icy blue eyes right into Rose's hazels ones. The Doctor's cold and grim voice cut her to the bone and she believed him and feared the fragility of time. She also couldn't help but feel that he was warning her not to expect that her timeline's safety was granted when she traveled with him. And if she really wanted to go by his tone that she was never safe not even with him. Rose's thoughts were halted by Dickens making a comment about the room growing colder. Rose had to agree that she was feeling chilled to the bone, and even more so when she began to notice the creepy wafting of blue gas gathering under an arch in the morgue. After a sufficient amount of gaseous material exited the gas lines the same lead Gelth appeared before them. In a sad and hopeful voice the Gelth declared,

"You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him." Rose felt that the Gelth was getting ahead of itself, and she had not forgotten the potential risk being presented to Gwyneth. She had to have them assure Gwyneth's safety and demanded,

"Promise you won't hurt her." The Gelth seemed to ignore Rose's demand and merely continued to beg,

"Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth." The Doctor was nervous. He had ignored what Rose had said earlier about the using of human corpses, the survival of a dying race took priority in his mind. But he could not ignore the risk of harm that could befall humans and Gelth if one species got spooked by the other. The Gelth could not stay on Earth. Humanity was even less ready to deal with this sort of situation and might even attribute it to demons or devils or whatever they were called. Panicked humans were some of the most dangerous beings the Doctor had ever met. Coming to a proper solution that might help everyone in the long run he stated to the Gelth,

"I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?" He didn't want the Gelth to make the mistake that they could just start walking around and coexisting with the general population of Earth without an issue. As higher beings they might not be accustomed to the actions and thinking of lower beings. Although it would probably give Rose the willies, the Gelth inhabited corpses would have to travel with him in the TARDIS and find a suitable planet to start over.

"My angels. I can help them live." Trumpeted Gwyneth with joy of what she could do for these wayward spirits. The Gelth then, with much enthusiasm, instructed the Doctor as to where the weak point that they had been looking for was. Gwyneth let out a cry of delight as she was told that the weak point was under the arch. The girl went to step into place but was halted by Rose imploring her that she did not have to go through with this, but the servant girl's mind was set and she walked into place. With everything ready, the Gelth shouted out to the girl to establish the bridge and grant them freedom.

"Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!" Declared Gwyneth as she reached out to her angels.
"Bridgehead establishing." Cried out the Gelth as if it were ignoring the words of the girl helping them and merely focusing on the task at hand. Gwyneth ever the kind and caring being radiated her kindness to the Gelth, guiding them in.

"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!" Called out the girl to the Gelth. The Gelth declared that the bridge to Earth was made and blue gas began to pour from the servant girl's mouth. It was not a pleasant or normal looking sight to Rose's eyes and she was sure every other human in the chamber probably felt the same.

"She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend." Shouted the Gelth. Suddenly the mood in the room shifted from creepily benign to frightful and angry. The blue apparition of the group went from looking childlike and innocent to burning red with flames and sharp teeth to add to its menacing appearance. In a voice that now sounded like that of a demon the Gelth declared that it they were coming through in force. Any pretense of helplessness or friendliness was now dropped and the Gelth began to show their true nature to the growing ever nervous liberators. Seeing that obviously more than just a simple few were coming through the void Dickens announced in confusion,

"You said that you were few in number." As he said this more and more Gelth circled about the group, passing coldly through the living until finally settling inside nearby dead.

"A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses." Hissed the evil specter, reveling in its successful deceit. All about the morgue corpses began to move about and finally stand. Rose was now very frightened along with everyone else in the room. Especially the Doctor as he began to realize that he had made a terrible mistake in trusting the Gelth. Sneed had had more than enough of his share of walking corpses and began to make demands of his employee,

"Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you!" Sneed was so distracted and focused on the girl that he did not notice the old dead man creeping up behind him.

"Mister Sneed, get back!" warned Rose, but it was too late. Sneed was in the corpse's grasp and his neck was snapped like a chicken's. As soon as the man was dead another Gelth zoomed into his body's mouth and began to take control of the dead body. Sneed looked up at the living people with dead eyes that made them shake with fear.

This is what it was! This is what Rose's instincts had been telling her. It wasn't just morally wrong it was unwise for them to have trusted the Gelth. She knew for certain now that if the Doctor had not come to save her when he had, they would have snapped her neck just like Mister Sneed and she would have been among their ranks. They had been out for blood from the start. Why wait for people to die of natural causes when you could kill them and take over their bodies in literally just a snap? The Gelth in their new bodies now had the Doctor, Dickens and Rose surrounded and the Doctor very sheepishly declared,

"I think it's gone a little bit wrong."

"You think?!" retorted Rose barely able to squeak in out for lack of breath. She was so terrified that the effort from trying to breathe normally was making her dizzy. And as if the two were not scared enough the Sneed Gelth body shouted,

"I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come, march with us." Dickens screeched his terror and fearfully backed up avoiding the corpses and heading for the door and escape. Rose and the Doctor however were not as lucky and were finding themselves being backed against the gated wall towards the back of the chamber.

"We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead." Thundered the Gelth in grim satisfaction. The Doctor was very aware that he was no longer in control of the situation and desperately cried out to Gwyneth to stop what she was doing and send the Gelth back, but it was clear that she was not hearing him as all she said in reply was the mimicked orders of the lead Gelth to kill The Doctor and his two other remaining companions. No getting around it they were slated for death so that the Gelth could walk about in their corpses. The Gelth corpses were now right on top of the Time Lord and his bride and in a last effort to find sanctuary the Doctor pushed Rose into the tiny gated chamber before slamming the gate shut in front of them. Wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the corpses, Rose and the Doctor pressed themselves flush against the wall, as cold dead hands tried to reach through the bars for them.

"Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so…" Shouted Dickens to his friends, but he was not able to finish his sentence as he ran from the room to save his own life.

"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth." Demanded the Gelth of their prey stubbornly just out of reach behind metal. The Doctor was scared and upset for what was to come and with a rumbling voice shouted to the aliens,

"I trusted you. I pitied you!" But the Gelth had no sympathy for The Doctor all they cared for was conquest.

"We don't want your pity. We want this world and all its flesh." Full of righteous fury and indignation at the abuse of his trust and sympathies he hissed,

"Not while I'm alive." And with words that chilled every cell in the time travelers' bodies they hissed,

"Then live no more."

Rose and the Doctor continued to push themselves and twisted against the cold stony wall of the chamber trying desperately to hold onto their lives. Rose couldn't believe the situation she was in. It was impossible that she was being threatened by alien zombies that as soon as they broke down that gate would kill them and steal their corpses for the Gelth's evil mission of spreading death. Bad enough that she was going to die but how could she die in the past? Clinging to the hope that they would somehow get out of this alive and not understanding how they could do otherwise, Rose in a panicked voiced asked the Doctor,

"But I can't die. Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?" The Doctor looked into Rose's pleading eyes and saw the fear and desperation behind them. He gave her a look of pity for the reality she was about to face and whole heartedly apologized to her. Rose still in denial that this was the end tried to reason her way out of a sure death and asked the Doctor,

"But it's 1869. How can I die now?" She didn't understand and the Doctor in their last moment's owed her that much of an explanation and explained in a grim but sympathetic voice,

"Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you here." Rose wouldn't have him blaming himself for this. Sure they were technically still married, but that didn't mean that she was tethered t him. She didn't have to come with him when he finally asked for her to join him. She let out a sigh and looking forward at the enemy and feeling braver and more resolute than she might have been, said to the Doctor,

"It's not your fault. I wanted to come." The Doctor couldn't believe that this was the end for him either. He was the big impressive time lord who had seen it all. Never did he think it would end this way, he told Rose of how he had seen Troy fall, World War five and had even thrown boxes at the Boston Tea Party. All of these accomplishments and traveling, but now…
"Now I'm going to die in a dungeon… in Cardiff." Said the Doctor in disbelief. The last bit of his sentence lingering on his mouth like a bad taste. Oh if only dying were all they faced in their final moments.

"It's not just dying. We'll become one of them." Stated Rose as a terrible fact. The two looked at each other now. When one faced death suddenly things that seemed to be such great obstacles or barriers were tiny or none existent. The Doctor lost himself in Rose's eyes and being married to her seemed like the most wonderful gift he had ever stumbled on. And what a gift he had squandered, he had wasted so much time and now there was no time at all anymore. Memories of his time with her as John flashed in his mind and they were wonderful pieces of heaven to gaze on. He did not deserve her, even he felt that way as John, but in their last moments every part of him, not just the John part tucked away, wanted to pull her into his arms and never let go. He was overtaken with the unbridled urgency to kiss her senseless and even started to move towards her to initiate said kiss. However, before he could act first Rose pumped up on fear, adrenaline and the primitive urge to claim her mate that she had been denied for far too long, lunged at the Doctor and claimed his lips. Still mindful of the danger of moving closer to the gate she plastered herself up against him and she remained out of reach of zombie hands.

The kiss was fiery, possessive and held all the passion to be expected from a dying woman towards her lover. Rose wanted the universe as her witness that he was hers, even if he never had brought himself to admit the same to her he wanted him to know where she stood as far as her love for him went. The Doctor was so shocked by the nature of the kiss and its suddenness that he unfortunately was not able to act on it until it was almost over. It was amazing to the Doctor just how much she was saying to him with just a kiss, it was almost as good as if she were telepathic. This was a woman who without a doubt loved him absolutely, unashamedly, unreservedly, and to be honest it almost frightened him that someone who in all honesty didn't know him at all could feel that way towards him. If it were any other situation he probably would have had some cynical remark about not really knowing him or anything to brush off these feelings. But with his death near and it being so wonderful, warm and inviting a feeling, he silenced his brain and sought to live in this moment with his technically-still-his-wife. No sooner had he started to respond to the kiss and enjoy the bliss of her lips, he was robbed of his last bit of heaven. Rose pulled away from him with lightning fast reflexes and hugged her back to the wall again. Safe against the wall she gripped The Doctor's right hand with her left. Feeling empowered by her actions she announced to the Doctor,

"We'll go down fighting, yeah? Together?" The Doctor answered the affirmative, and squeezed his brave Rose's hand. She squeezed back and rubbed her thumb against his hand. If it had to end like this, then this was the way she wanted to end it, always holding his hand. She'd hold on until the dark veil of their quick and probably painful deaths spread over them. She would fulfill her vows to him, until death do us part, though grimly she wondered if that would extent to undead too, which they were soon to be. Despite the gravity of the situation a feeling of peace now fell over the Doctor and he again looked deep into Rose's eyes and said in the most profound earnest,

"I'm so glad I met you." Rose felt a relief that she had not felt in days, he did not regret crossing paths with her even though complications came with it. She couldn't hug or touch him anymore. The zombies were breaking some unfeeling bones to reach further past the bars of the gate and any movement away from the wall risked both of them getting grabbed. The kiss before had been risky enough, but her words could still touch him.

"Me too. I'm happy I met you. For better or for worse, Doctor."

"For better or for worse. I just wish that worse were under better circumstances right now." Stated the Doctor as he dodged yet another undead grabby hand.

"You and me both." Retorted Rose as she squeezed his hand again. Having reluctantly accepted a fate worse than death the two lovers were very surprised by the return of Charles Dickens, who they thought had fled the building and abandoned them.

"Doctor! Doctor! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!" Shouted the writer as he turned the knobs to the unlit gas lamps in the room. The Doctor couldn't believe his eyes. Had the man gone mad? Not only had he come back to his certain doom, he was trying to fill the room up with natural gas.

"What're you doing?" He asked, his large Time Lord brain not making the connection yet. Dickens's excited declared that they need to flood the place with gas and the Doctor finally got the idea and manically declared the writer's brilliant idea.

"What, so we choke to death instead? " Asked Rose perplexed and wondering if these two men had gone nutty.

"Am I correct, Doctor? These creatures are gaseous." Questioned Dickens as he covered his mouth with a rag to help filter the air going to his lungs.

"Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!" trumpeted the Doctor. Realizing that Dickens was both a threat and a potential new host for the Gelth, they began to lumber towards him. Dickens now remembering the dangerous reason he had fled this chamber in the first place expressed a very intense desire for his theory to be proven accurate before he was overtaken by the dead. The Doctor seeing that his friend was in danger and that the plan although brilliant might not be working fast enough, declared that there was plenty more gas and ripped the main gas line from the wall. As Dickens suspected this action promptly removed the Gelth from their stolen bodies and the poor dead humans collapsed to the floor once more still as the dead should be. Dickens threw his hands up in celebration and the Doctor and Rose safely emerged from behind the gate. The Doctor skipped the few feet to Gwyneth and pleaded,

"Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels." This seemed to snap the girl slightly out of her daze and questioned,

"Liars?" She couldn't believe it.

"Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!" Announced the Doctor to the pale looking girl. The Doctor did not think she looked well at all. Rose staggered from breathing in the foul and toxic air and coughed,

"I can't breathe." Eyes still focused on Gwyneth, the Doctor instructed Dickens to get Rose out of there, and Charles grabbed onto Rose's arm and tried to lead her out. Rose would not have this and stepped back effectively pulling herself free from the man and shouted,

"I'm not leaving her or you, Doctor!" Gwyneth wanted to help her new friends but she felt that the Gelth were too strong for her to stop anymore and relayed this to the Doctor. The Doctor knew the girl had the strength to stop the Gelth, she just needed encouragement and an incentive to push harder.

"Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift." The Doctor begged the girl. They were up against the wall metaphorically this time and if Gwyneth couldn't do something then this timeline and humanity was doomed. With serious eyes full of purpose the girl reached into her pocket,

"I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out." Ordered Gwyneth as she pulled the box of matches she always carried out of her pocket. Rose was horrified at what the girl was implying and begged her not to go through with it, there had to be another way. Gwyneth however was set on her decision and once more ordered the three people to leave. Rose tried to reach the girl she had grown fond of to take away the matches but the Doctor grabbed Rose by her shoulders and held her back.

"Rose, get out. Go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. And I'll be fine. Now go!" Demanded the Doctor shaking Rose shoulders a bit to not only grab her attention but to make her see reason. Rose reluctantly agreed to leave. She trusted the Doctor and that trust was the only thing that let her leave Gwyneth. Rose and Dickens raced up the staircase to the exit of the house and fresh air. Rose just prayed that both the Doctor and Gwyneth would be safe.

The servant girl held the box of matches and the Doctor got nervous for Gwyneth, he had lived for much longer and he had the most likely chance of surviving a gas explosion.

"Come on, leave, give that to me." Begged the Doctor as he tried to take the match box, and that was when he noticed that Gwyneth was not moving or acting like a living person at all. And she was becoming paler too. He reached for her neck to feel a pulse and much to his hearts' ache there was none. She was dead and getting colder than the human's normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees. The Doctor knew now that even if he were able to take him with her, he could not save her. He kissed the poor girl's forehead she had given so much and asked for nothing in return, and would now give even more.

"Thank you." Said the Doctor solemnly and he ran for the door to escape the inferno to come. The Doctor raced down the hallways of the funeral parlor, he didn't know how much time he had left before Gwyneth's corpse would somehow light the match. Finally reaching the front door that was left open he leaped into the air and cleared the door just as the house behind him erupted into a gaseous explosion. The Doctor went flying across the street and landed face first into the thin layer of snow on the ground. Fiery debris was all about and some landed on the Doctor setting a small part of his jacket unknowingly on fire. Rose seeing where he landed rushed over to him and threw snow on top of his jacket all the while shouting for him to roll around and put out the flames. Finally flame free the Doctor looked up to Rose guiltily, who questioningly looked at the Doctor and asked,

"She didn't make it." The Doctor felt horrible for letting not only Gwyneth down but also his promise to not leave Gwyneth while she was in danger. But if she were already dead she wasn't in danger anymore, that had passed and he was too late to help.

"I'm sorry. She closed the rift." Answered the Doctor sadly. Dickens looked over to the burning building and his heart sank.

"At such a cost. The poor child." Mourned the writer. Rose just stared at the Doctor in disbelief that he would not only leave a girl to die but lie to her that he would not. Rose had trusted him? The Doctor was hurt by Rose's accusatory stare and he needed her to understand that she had the idea all wrong. He couldn't stand her looking at him like that or even the ideas that his imagination were thinking up in his head of what she was thinking about him. And in a pleading voice he explained to Rose,

"I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes." That didn't make any sense to Rose and she asked the Doctor what he meant.

"I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch." Explained the Doctor as if he was on trial and his wife was his judge, jury and executioner. That was impossible what the Doctor was saying thought Rose it didn't make sense, but at the same time her instincts knew the Doctor wasn't lying to her. That didn't make it any less unbelievable though.

"But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?"

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor." Stated the writer sadly to his two companions. They didn't know how she did, but somehow Gwyneth had helped them even in death.

"She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know." Stated Rose grimly as she watched the house continue to burn. She was grateful to the girl but saddened by the loss of her life which was a waste. She, like so many others, would be yet another unsung hero. Cut down before her time. Pausing for a bit longer on the flaming house, the Doctor, Rose, and Dickens then began to walk away down the snowy streets of Cardiff.

Fresh snow began to fall from the sky around the TARDIS. The lantern on top and the blue box glowed with the same warm and inviting yellow-orange as the 'Police public call box' sign below it. But it was only a comfort to those who knew it was there and why. To Dickens it was just an oddly designed and color shed. Nothing special or of any great importance. The Doctor was very much looking forward to spending some time talking with his favorite writer without the threat of danger or kidnappers over his head. He just needed to slip into the TARDIS and grab every copy of Charles Dickens's books that he had on the TARDIS so that he could get them signed.

"Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long." Explained the Doctor, not wanting to get too involved in explanations about his 'shed' with the adventure now over. He just wanted what he felt was his deserved time to fan-boy with Dickens undisturbed. Rose finally having the time to appreciate the fact that she was conversing with the famous Charles Dickens, an honor and privilege that she was certain every English literature teacher she ever had would have fought each other tooth and nail for, decided that now was as good a time as any to chat him up while the Doctor did whatever it was he did. Maybe it wasn't late enough for them to all get a cuppa, it would certainly be an upper at this point. She also had to admit that she was interested in continuing to watch the Doctor and Mister Dickens play off each other. So in a very interested and hopeful voice she asked Dickens,

"What are you going to do now?" In a loud and jovial voice, that could rival Father Christmas, Charles announced,

"I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital." 'Darn it,' thought the Doctor. That meant that any chance of getting an autograph was out of the question if Dickens wanted to get back to London on time. Old Charlie would have to leave immediately for any chance of his plan to spend Christmas with his family to work. Though spending time with your family was indeed in the best thing to do on Christmas, thought the Doctor. And for some reason he couldn't help but rest his eyes on the blonde woman next to him, wearing a gold band on her right ring finger. The Doctor, realizing he was staring at Rose, focused his attentions back Dickens and declared that the writer had seemed to have cheer up quite a bit from how he was at the beginning of the night.

Dickens was a man transformed. Thanks to his serendipitous meeting with the Doctor the world was fresh and new to him again. He was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself, he was happy as an angel and as merry as a school boy. He spoke of his wonderment with this huge new world that had been tonight revealed to him and how inspired he was because of it. He thought that he knew everything and realized that he only was just beginning to learn anything.

"All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them." Sang Dickens to the Doctor and Rose. He was abuzz with the energy of a man easily the same age as Rose. Rose started to panic a little, she was worried that they might had changed history and if they did then what would that do specifically to her future. She was sure that she never heard of such a story by Dickens even with her limited knowledge of his works beyond 'A Christmas Carol'. So cautiously she asked the writer in hope to preserve her timeline.

"Do you think that's wise?" Dickens assumed that Rose was concerned about the panic or scrutiny that such a subject could create. There was no way possible for him to realized Rose's real fear of messing up history. To alleviate her fears, the author explained to the girl,

"I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth."

"Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic." Said the Doctor brushing off what the writer had said as if it were nothing to worry about or as if he didn't wish to dwell on the thought too long. The Time Lord seemed itching to leave and Rose wondered if the Doctor was at all concerned with changing the history of English literature.

"Bye, then, and thanks for saving us." Smiled Rose and in complete gratitude shook the man's hand firmly and kissed him on the cheek for good measure. If it wasn't for Dickens then they would be worse than dead. Rose wouldn't have the prospect of spending her future with the Doctor, because she wouldn't have had one if not for this ingenious Victorian man. Dickens clearly enjoyed the kiss but seemed surprised at receiving it at all. It was a very new aged thing to him, a kiss on the hand might have been expected but not on the cheek. The Doctor also seemed to be fine with the display of thanks so perhaps that was where her forward thinking could be attributed to, at least according to his Victorian mind. And she was indeed a lovely woman and if that sweet kiss on his cheek were any hint to her tenderness than the Doctor was indeed the luckiest man ever married to find a wife such as Rose. Flustered and beat red the writer declared,

"Oh, my dear. How modern. Doctor, if I might be so bold, you certainly chose quite the rare and lovely creature to be your bride."

"What? ..." Asked Rose confused as she turned her eyes to find the Doctor's. Had he really told Charles Dickens that she was his wife? Even if it were just for appearances, the possibility made her giddy with hope and excitement. He could have always just introduced her as a friend or… ward, which probably would have been an equally acceptable and believable relationship between the two of them in this time. The Doctor however much to her disappointment, merely straightened up awkwardly and cleared his voice sheepishly,

"As I said Charlie boy, places to go." Rose thought she saw the Doctor's big ears turn pink but it could have been the cold for all she knew. The Doctor began to walk in the direction of the blue box, but Dickens, confused stopped him and asked,

"Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?" Surely the Doctor didn't think that going inside a shed on a cold street was where they would part ways. How long did he plan to spend in that shed? He said he'd only be a minute. The Doctor just elusively implied to the shed and that he would see what he meant in a moment, after the Doctor went into the shed.

"Upon my soul, Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this. Who are you?" This was the question that he was hoping to avoid, he didn't have time to give a long explanation that the man although brilliant would most likely still have trouble believing even after all he saw tonight.

"Just a friend passing through." Was all the information that the Doctor would give the writer on that subject. Dickens could accept that the man would remain elusive in revealing his identity, but he seemed to know a great many of things as if he'd already seen it all happen before. Perhaps such a knowledgeable man could answer him the one question that all writers, no matter how famous, had always wanted to ask the winds of time.

"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, do they last?" The Doctor smiled his manic grin and answered quite happily in the affirmative. And almost afraid for the answer but still desperate to know, he inquired as to how long his books might last? This answer the Doctor was even happier to convey and smiled,

"Forever. Right. Shed. Come on, Rose." The Doctor opened the door to the 'shed' and began to ferry his companion inside. Dickens looking a bit humorously scandalized at the implication of the two alone in a tiny shed declared,

"In the box? Both of you? I understand that you two have been through a lot tonight, but surely there are warmer places for the two of you to happily reunite properly?"

"Down boy. See you." Snipped the Doctor still with a bit of humor in his voice as he and a blushing Rose disappeared into the TARDIS. Before Rose could see his flushed cheeks the Doctor rushed over to the Console to set the controls for the time vortex. Although the Doctor had seemed unconcerned to Rose on the subject of changing literature, she had to be one hundred percent certain that she had nothing to worry about as far as her time she was returning to was concerned.

"Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?" Asked Rose with concern etched on her face. The Doctor looked into the monitor on the console which revealed a video feed of a man standing outside the TARDIS in waiting in confusion. This man was Charles Dickens. The Doctor looked knowingly and a bit sad at the image of the man and declared to a concerned Rose,

"In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story." Rose looked upset and disappointed for the writer, who now discovering a zest for life again would be to soon taken from it.

"Oh, no. He was so nice." The Doctor had to alleviative Rose's melancholy. The Doctor didn't want his companion to be sad at the knowledge of a friend's soon coming death, not on Christmas. And it was indeed Christmas in 1869 again after all.

"But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise." Grinned the Doctor with a smile and energy that instantly pepped up Rose and eliminated the somber mood that had fallen over her.

The Tardis grinded and sang as it dematerializes in front of writer's eyes and he laughed in amazement of the 'antics' of his two amazing friends. Whoever they were they were extraordinary people and he wished them nothing but the best, and walked away. He never felt happier to be alive. He was reborn like Scrooge after being visited by the spirits and as a man wished him a Merry Christmas on the streets, he crowed back,

"Merry Christmas to you. God bless us, every one!"

Rose had sat on the jump seat to take a breath. With her flushed cheeks and slightly rumpled dress she was a vision of loveliness in the Doctor's TARDIS. Now that they were safely in the vortex, the Doctor took this moment to sit next to Rose, he had something he had to say to her and he wanted to be at eye level and equal footing with her.

"Look Rose, I'm sorry. You were suspicious from the start and we shouldn't have let Gwyneth step under that arch. And I was undermining your opinion for no other reason than my superior knowledge and biology over yours." Rose let out a huff and replied a bit miffed,

"Well I guess that's an apology…" she then remembered the more serious part of this conversation and went to comfort the Doctor.

"Gwyneth would have done it even if we tried to stop her. We all have to make our own choices, Doctor. And there will always be bad people out there who will take advantage of others' trust and kindness, even Time Lords' trust and kindness. You wanted to help those in need and I respect that, and I'm glad that you trust people. I just wish you would trust me a little like I trust you." Said Rose in Earnest.

"I do trust you Rose, you have already saved my life and that makes you worthy of trust to me. I will try harder so you can see that I trust you." Explained the Doctor, Rose looked into his eyes and smiled lovingly up at him. That was the first step, that was what she wanted, trust. She had his trust and he had hers. She felt overjoyed at the thought and she hadn't forgotten her promise to reward him for saving her from zombies earlier in that chapel. The remaining adrenaline in her system made her bolder and she figured that she could try for another kiss on the lips. But her gaze was causing the Doctor's ears to start to tint pink. Realizing this, the Doctor stood up quickly from the Jump seat, breaking the spell between the two of them and began to busy himself about the console. That had been very domestic and he had had met his quota for domestics today. Though the Time Lord probably wouldn't have yet admitted that if he had stay sitting there, he might have been the one to unknowingly claim the reward Rose was fixing to give him. Rose let out a sigh, and decided that that was her signal to go off to her technically-theirs-but-now-hers bedroom. She was feeling really drained and a bit dizzy from the adventure and a few hours of sleep would do her good. And expecting the Doctor, even after their near death experience, to want to spend time with her at least lying in the same bed with her was a bit too much to expect. He had let her kiss him as a last wish and that was enough for now.

"See you later Doctor, you know where I'll be if you need me." Stated Rose as she got up to leave, the Doctor waved his hand to Rose from behind the console and replied,

"And I'll be right here if you need to find me. By the time you're done with your human nap I should have the plasma coils hooked up and in sync with the time rotor. Sound a bit off, don't they? Well maybe you could hear it a little if you had the hearing of an earth kangaroo instead of a human. Funny critters kangaroos, big old ears that by coincidence are perfectly evolved for hearing plasma coil rotations, what are the odds, yeah?" Rose just laughed at him,

"Well with ears as big as yours, I imagine you don't miss much sounds anyway."

"Oi, rude. And I was going to say you hear pretty well for a…" The Doctor stopped himself, again he was belittling Rose based on her species again, he didn't want to keep doing that. He didn't want to keep reminding Rose of the distinctions between their species. The Time Lord fished his mind for compliments to give Rose that he wouldn't turn into back handed ones, but Rose cut in before he could pick the right one.

"For a human. Yeah I know, good night Doctor." Rose smiled weakly and left the console room. It was so funny to the Doctor, he had spent centuries around these humans and thought he knew everything about them, but this one little pink and yellow human had him stumped. Maybe one day he would figure her out.

Author's note: This was a super long chapter gang, and I hope it satisfied your Rose Doctor fix for the moment. The Doctor will have to face the wrath of his mother-in-law next in chapter 22, Aliens of London. In the next coming chapter it is okay if you want to light a match.