A/N: Well, I know it's been forever and a day since I posted anything in this story, but I've gotten a recent dose of inspiration so I thought I'd get something up while I'm thinking about it. Again, I love all of you who still favorite and follow even though I haven't posted in forever. Gives me enough of a mental boost to keep trying.

Anyway, this is part one of … three original chapters where Jessica has a little adventure on her own. After these, however, it's on to "Father's Day." Can't wait to do that one and show you what would happen with Jessica involved.

Any reviews would be helpful and might make me pump these out faster.

MY OWN LITTLE ADVENTURE

PART ONE

I prided myself on being an extremely patient person. With the Doctor, I had to be. So I gave the two of them some space, even though I wanted to get them to talk sooner rather than later. Time and space would make it easier to cool down and to talk again without arguing.

At least, that had been my original idea.

I hadn't thought it would dragon on for two days. Two days! We didn't go anywhere for a distraction that might prove more effective in getting them to talk. All I managed to get from them when I did talk to them consisted only of grunts (from the Doctor) and short "don't bother me" type answers (Rose had mastered them). When I reached out to sense their emotions, they were so frosty that I almost got brain freeze just from standing near them.

And they didn't look like they were in any hurry to change that.

Two days with no one but the TARDIS to talk to. While I could feel her emotions as different from my own, they still felt like one-sided conversations. No words but my own and a very strong sense of her growing impatience. She never stopped rumbling around me, growing louder all the time. The Doctor, as usual, didn't seem to notice. Rose didn't even listen to the TARDIS' sounds in the first place so that didn't surprise me. They kept sulking like kids, too stubborn to even consider that they were wrong.

Our patience grew shorter and shorter.

The night of day two, however, proved to be the breaking point. For both of us.

The lights in the console room flickered when I emerged from the TARDIS infirmary, massaging an aching hand. Another of the Doctor's horrific nightmares had him gripping my hand so hard, I'd felt something crack. Nothing the TARDIS couldn't fix, but it still ached horribly. "You and me both, girl," I mumbled as I perched on the couch. My over-sized shirt and baggy sweatpants pooled around me. Perhaps pajamas weren't the best clothes to be running around the ship with, but I didn't care anymore. "If you have any ideas puhlease let me know, cause I have none."

Instead of silence like I expected, the whole room plunged into darkness save for the glowing central column. A presence grew so strong in the corner of my mind, I grunted, pressing my hands to my head. Without a doubt, I knew that the TARDIS was doing more than sending me her emotions. It burned like a thousand suns in the corner of my mind. Just that fragment of herself had me trembling, but I didn't feel afraid. She wouldn't give me anything I couldn't handle.

"Okay, gorgeous, you've got my attention," I groaned, standing up and looking around. "What do you want…."

"…me to do?" I finished, but I no longer stood where I had been. My hand pulled back on a lever without my control, sending the whole ship into convulsions. For a second, I couldn't get my body to work and I fell onto the floor. The couch stood on the other side of the room and I didn't remember walking over or touching anything. Running my hand through my shaggy mess of hair, I knew with instinct that there could be only one solution:

The TARDIS had taken away my memory of whatever we did.

Strangely, I didn't mind the blank spot in my memory. The sense I got from the TARDIS bordered on preening, she felt that satisfied with what we'd done. Well, if it got the Doctor and Rose talking again, I didn't see the need to complain about her tampering.

"What the hell did you touch?" Unfortunately the Doctor didn't seem to be in the best mood as he came storming out. It didn't seem to matter that I'd just spent several hours trying to calm him down. The storm on his face undid all of my work. He shrugged his jacket on as he stalked around the console. "What did you do to the TARDIS?"

I huffed, annoyed that he didn't offer to help me up, but I couldn't really blame him. I'd messed with his "baby" after all. "Me? Why do you think I had anything to do with this?" Shaking my head, I gathered myself to stand up.

"Simple! You're the only one in the room, now tell me what you did!"

"I'd love to, Doctor, but I can't…ow." A white-hot poker jabbed into my head, sending me back onto my knees. I clenched my teeth, but white spots kept appearing in in my sight even with my eyes closed. "Ow, thanks a lot, TARDIS," I mumbled as the pain started fading. Not fast enough for my liking, though.

At once, I felt the Doctor's hands grip my shoulders. Concern bleeding from him in great amounts whether he was aware of it or not. "Jessica? What's wrong?" that tone had done a complete one-eighty from where it had been. That whole other side of the Doctor that lay beneath the mask of tough, crusty spikes.

With my blush starting to make its blotchy appearance, I managed to get back on my feet with his help. "Oh, just something from the TARDIS, I think. Probably keeping me from remembering what she had me do." I tried to wave that concern aside, but the frown on the Doctor's face turned out to be just as stubborn as he was. "It's going away now, don't worry."

The Doctor went pale and I didn't imagine it. His grip on my arms tightened almost painfully. "What are…the TARDIS was in your mind? Are you sure?"

I snorted. "Pretty darn. Hard to mistake a bright light in your head that would put the sun to shame." When the Doctor went quiet for a longer time, I frowned, trying to read what flashed in front of his eyes. "She didn't hurt me, Doctor. Not more than I can handle, anyway. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything." The Doctor ran a hand over his head and paced away, as if having trouble processing the fact. "The TARDIS shouldn't be able to just…you'd burn up. You'd…." He kept pacing, the stress coming off of him making me tense up.

I couldn't just let him worry himself into a fit. Striding over, I rested a hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Doctor, stop. I might have a bit of a headache later, but other than that, she didn't hurt me."

"But, why?"

Perfect. "That I can answer for you. You and Rose are both acting like children. We're sick and tired of you being so stubborn. It's not good for either of you."

"Jessica…."

"No, Doctor, you listen for once." I fought to reign in my frustration in order to keep a tone that the Doctor would hear. "You're her friend. Yes, she made a mistake, a big one, but you can't just shut her out like that. I'm not asking for you to forgive her, per se. That's none of my business, but just talk to her. Please?" When the Doctor's eyes met mine, I managed to hold that gaze.

The Doctor's jaw clenched and unclenched as we stood there. His eyes drifted away, that stubbornness already creeping in again.

"Please, Doctor," I pleaded, pulling my hand away but remaining close. "The TARDIS misses you. And so do I."

It took so much effort to not touch him in a reassuring way as he stood there looking so lost and forlorn. My emotions screamed at me to do something. Just as loudly, my common sense demanded that any such action would completely ruin the purpose. I hated "tough love."

Eventually he sighed, looking utterly defeated for once, but in a way that I knew would be good for him in the long run. Even if he didn't know it yet. He ran a hand over his head yet again. "Fine, then can we drop it? This isn't what I had planned for the day. Not by a long shot."

Now I let myself grin like an idiot and launched myself at him. I gave him a pouncing bear hug before he could defend himself. "We'll do more than drop it," I murmured into his ear, letting him feel the strength of my emotions towards him. All but one anyway. "Thank you, Doctor. This will be easier than you think, I promise."

Instead of an awkward pat on the back like expected, the Doctor's arms rested lightly around me. Still very stiff and awkward, though, but it was without a doubt an actual hug. "Sure, you say that now and I get smacked in the face later. If I do, it's your fault." That seemed to be the end of his willingness to contact. While he did let go rather quickly, he didn't back away either.

I snorted, trying to cover an almost Rose-like giggle. Letting him go felt like tearing Band-Aids off my arms. "So you're not…."

"Not what? Angry that you messed with the TARDIS?" The Doctor's stupid, relieving grin lit up his face. "Nah. When the old girl wants something, no one can get in her way. Not even as you as fantastic as you are."

My blush returned with a vengeance. Why did he have to look at me like that? It just made it harder to ignore my own feelings and keep them from him. Scrambling to keep my cool, I nudged him with my elbow as I walked by. "Not as fantastic as that. I'm just little old human me." My body betrayed me, though and I gave into the urge to wink.

I winked. At the Doctor. What in the name of time and space was going on with me?

"Oi! Where are you off to?" The Doctor protested, a mockingly suspicious frown not quite hiding the smile pulling on his lips. "If you're going to cause trouble again…."

"I'm not!" Came an indignant yelp that felt almost real. I pivoted, walking backwards with a dramatic expression and a hand over my heart. "Honestly, Doctor, I try and help you and all you think of is me getting into trouble? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Simple; you hang around me too much. I tend to wear off on people."

And you have no humility whatsoever," came as an all too easy counter attack. I paused short of the doorway, though and went serious for a moment. "I'm going to get Rose from wherever we put her. Shouldn't take long at all once she knows you're going to talk, at least."

The Doctor made a face like a petulant child, but nodded regardless. "Can't believe I let you talk me into this. Why do I keep you around?"

I opened my mouth for some smart alek retort, but the TARDIS rocked again. My feet flew out from under me and I fell backwards into the hallway.

Only to see the entrance to the console room vanish. Only a solid wall remained.