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.

36. Ch 36 - Doors in your head and Floor 500

Complicated

By the Plot Thinens

Chapter 36 - Doors in your head and Floor 500

The Doctor and Rose continued to hold hands as the lift sped up to the top floor and to the end of this little mystery. When the lift stopped and the doors opened the two were greeted by a dark, cold and foreboding environment. There was even snow and ice on the ground. Rose began to visibly shiver from the cold, starting to miss the heat downstairs. Her thin formfitting outfit she had worn that morning with the purpose of catching the Doctor's eye was not suited for such temperatures and she was wishing she had brought gloves and a hat.

"The walls are not made of gold." Stated the Doctor seeing the obvious danger that this atmosphere emitted. He scanned the room for anything obvious to investigate but then looked back at Rose. The Doctor watched Rose tremble not from fear or excitement but from the cold. Her poor human body had to shiver in order to keep her from freezing to death when his body just acclimated all but instantly to the cold. Shivering always made humans look so helpless, he wanted to wrap her up inside his jacket against him to keep her warm, but if this was a dangerous place then he needed to have full mobility. Also any affection shown towards Rose at this point could be used against him. He didn't want to risk her safety if he could help it. This was no place for Rose, he would have to send her back down and comeback for her later, well if all went well anyway.

"You should go back downstairs." Stated the Doctor. It wasn't an order, but definitely a strong suggestion. Rose was not having any of it and she certainly wasn't leaving her husband-friend person alone up here. She would do her best to watch his back as she knew he would watch hers. Trying to shake off the shivers she stated resolutely,

"Tough." Rose then started to march on ahead of him. The Doctor furrowed his brows as he was realizing that what he couldn't help at the moment was Rose's stubbornness to stay by him. She would not be sent back so he would have to do his best to watch after her instead, still they shouldn't linger long otherwise Rose could start getting hypothermia. Human's were so very fragile after all. The Doctor set out faster to find the source of the heat in this cold wasteland.

It didn't take long at all before the two simply turned a corner and found an extremely blond well dressed man standing behind a group of people at many terminals. He stood watching the monitors ahead with a quizzical look on his face and seemingly unknowing or uncaring that he had visitors. The group of people seemed equally indifferent and continued to quietly work. Apparently the man had spotted the Doctor and Rose because he turned his head slightly and addressed them,

"I started without you. This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you two, you don't exist. Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?" The man was amazed at these two's ability to not exist and wasn't ashamed to admit it obviously. Rose shivered again and looked at the people working, none of them were even dressed for the cold, weren't they freezing too? Rose then spotted Suki sitting among the much frozen looking people working at the console. They were ignoring everything and seemingly were unaware of what was going on around them. Worried, Rose ran to the pale looking girl who was staring ahead with dead eyes. Rose put her arms on the woman and Suki was cold as death it's self and Rose shook her to try to get Suki's attention.

"Suki. Suki! Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?" Rose cried out to the woman before turning a panicked eye to the icy looking man and demanded to know what the man had done to her. The Doctor looked at the poor woman sitting with her hands at the console and mournfully stated,

"I think she's dead." Rose looked at the woman's face horrified and then down to her arms which were clenched over a similar console that Rose had seen Suki working at earlier.

"She's working." Choked Rose in disbelief, even dead she was still working! It wasn't work until you died around here, it was work until you die and then work some more.

"They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets." Declared the Doctor in disgust at what such technology was doing to humanity even in death. The blond man seemed amused at this statement of the Doctor and declared,

"Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?" The man watched the Doctor trying to scrutinized where to categorize these two nonentities. This was the rarest of the rare occurrences to find not one but two people that did not exist. The man was anything but bored now, maybe a little frustrated that two people could live this long without notice. What efforts had to be devises to create such two people and if there could be two were there anymore? The Doctor nodded his head, he understood the situation another crazy person and he better get while the getting was good or else he'd be risking Rose's safety by staying any longer. He also had a human race to save and that could be done from warmer accommodations.

"It doesn't matter, because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on." Said the Doctor flippantly and turned around to exit. Rose went to follow the Doctor but found herself stopped by a cold icy hand with a death grip on her arm. Rose pulled against the dead woman's strength as horror began to creep into time traveler's veins chilling her more than any cold air could. At the same time the Doctor was finding himself being restrained by two zombie-like men who having left their seats at the console had him pinned to the spot he stood. 'Figured that wasn't going to work', thought the Doctor as the zombies anchored his arms to his back.

"Tell me who you are." Demanded the pasty man as he stared at the Doctor like the enigma he was. The Doctor was certainly not going to give such a person the pleasure of getting to know him better and stated,

"Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I." The Doctor then continued to struggle against the dead men's cold grasps. The Time Lord looked to Rose and saw that she too was in the grasp of the undead as zombie Suki held Rose at bay with a grip of surprising power for such a small woman.

"Well, perhaps my Editor-in-Chief can convince you otherwise." Smiled the Editor in glee knowing what was to come next and waiting very much to see the look of fear and powerlessness wash over these two brazen meddlers' faces.

"And who's that?" Asked the Doctor at his patience end.

"It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live." Smirked the icy man with a smile. Oh how he enjoyed being in on the joke and relished his power of distribution of the information he was about to give. A snarl and growl not of this world was heard and the man's attitude changed very quickly from power hungry maniac to groveling coward. He placed his finger to his ear as he appeared to listen for a translation of what said snarls meant. The Doctor assumed that the man had a nano translator build into his ear as the man hurriedly whimpered courteous apologies to the snarling voice and corrected his previous statement,

"It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client." The man then snapped his finger and pointed up to the ceiling. The Doctor and Rose looked up only to see a grotesque giant lumpy thing hanging from the ceiling. It had teeth like a monster's from a nightmare and they were serrated and very hungry looking.

"What is that?" Asked Rose losing all pretense of bravery at the sight of something so horrid. The Doctor in equal horror curled his lip and questioned in disbelief,

"You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" The well dressed man then explained that that 'thing' on the ceiling was in charge of the human race for almost a hundred years.

"Mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by it's broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe." 'Try saying that ten times fast' thought the Doctor aghast at how mucked up the human situation had become as the crazy man before him grinned that he called that monster by the nickname of 'Max'. Little did the Doctor and Rose know that one of their own group, their own companion that the two had picked up, Adam, was right now landing them all into even more trouble. But while one was seeking knowledge for greed and self gain another was seeking knowledge, without knowing it, for the good of all humanity.

Rose and the Doctor were standing with their wrist turned up toward the ceiling with heavy manacles holding up said wrist in front of them. They were very heavy and if they weren't being held up by a metal bar between them it was a sure bet that they would be even heavier. The two were side by side with his and hers cuffs, that were attached to some very unfriendly looking machinery behind them with wires that fed into the cuffs. The Doctor was very angry, he liked being slapped in manacles about as much as he liked food stuck in his teeth. He also did not like being at someone's mercy. He liked even less that Rose was now in the same danger as he was in. How dare this man chain up Rose like some sort of animal. Though to be honest as far as fashion accessories went Rose rocked manacles much better than he did. All joking aside they were in a lot of trouble. In a moment of bad timing the Doctor actually thought back to the last time he had been in handcuffs. It was under much different and far more pleasant circumstance than now. And those cuffs had been fuzzy, not metal and rough like these ones. A gag gift, from a dirty-minded friend of Rose's named Shareen as a wedding present, which turned out to be more fun than funny that night after their little reception. The Doctor's face reddened a bit as he thought back to that time. Rose had had been in considerably less danger then and in considerably less clothing. And so had he. This was not the time to be suddenly diving into John's favorite memories! The Doctor ran his brain in the other direction and focused on the still monologuing moron in front of him rather than thoughts of the chained blond next to him.

"…Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilize an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote." Lectured the icy looking man. Rose was getting it, the whole of humanity were just puppets to this grub like thing hanging down from the ceiling. A perfect cage that the humans didn't even know they were in.

"So all the people on Earth are like, slaves." She asked for clarity. 'Slave' was such a harsh word thought the Editor, he certainly didn't see it as slavery as much as he saw it as coordinated manipulation with a monetary advantage.

"Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?" Asked the man of his two captives. The Doctor answered 'yes' plainly, rolling his eyes at this pasty man who was wasting his time gloating.

"Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?" Asked the man, who referred to himself as the Editor, in mock disappointment. The Editor honestly had had hopes to 'wow' these two some more with how clever and much more interesting he was in comparison to these two mysterious people.

"Yes." Said the Doctor flatly again, he clearly was bored and irritated with the cowardly little man.

"You're no fun." Jeered the Editor, the Doctor and Rose didn't know it but they were both thinking the same thing, that this guy really need to get out more and socialize with people other than dead ones. The isolation probably made him even barmier. He probably loved it when on the odd occasion someone made it up here. It was like he was going out of his way to be all cartoon villainy.

"Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am." Threatened the Doctor as he looked to his chained hands.

"Oh, he's tough, isn't he?" Asked the Editor leaning over to Rose. 'Not as tough as me, if you get any closer with your death breath', thought Rose wanting to give one of those eerily blue eyes of the Editor a punch. The Doctor eyes were safe and inviting, promising protection. This Jack Frost wannabe in a suit's eyes just told a story of deception, fear and willingness to dispose of anything that threatened his personal safety.

"But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit." Inquired the Editor so rarely getting a chance to brag about how clever he thought he was for being in on the joke.

"You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed." Shouted Rose, not believing that humanity could be so compliant to not notice a conspiracy so big.

"From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it." Said the man as he balled his fist to crush an imaginary person for effect. The Editor then went on another monologue about how life was just going to carry on as it was for humanity and how humans were all just cattle to begin with, so really the Jagrafess hadn't changed a thing. The Editor was so distracted by his speech that he didn't even notice Cathica behind him hearing every revealing word he said. The Doctor and Rose however, did notice that somehow Cathica had found her way up to floor 500 and maybe there was a chance that she could help them. The Doctor was especially pleased with Cathica, she was thinking for herself and asking questions, and those questions had lead her here and now she was hearing the truth.

"What about you? You're not a Jagrabelly" Asked Rose stumbling over the unfamiliar word. To which the Doctor corrected, 'Jagrafess.'

"Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human." Declared Rose, not understanding why this man would backstab his own species in favor of the Jagrafess. The Editor looked at Rose as if she were as dumb as a brick and condescendingly answered,

"Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well." Rose gave the man an appraising glare, he obviously was a 'yes-man' and there was no way that this manicured suit could pull off a conspiracy of this magnitude all on his own. He must have had help.

"But you couldn't have done this all on your own." Declared Rose. The Editor now thinking that the blond hair must go all the way down to her brain replied in a business-like voice,

"No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to install himself." The Doctor looked up at the disgusting creature over head and considered how powerful but vulnerable he was. He was starting to try to work out a plan but he needed more information and for the Editor to not lose interest in talking to them. For the sake of keeping up the conversation the Doctor said,

"No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span?" The Editor answered 3,000 years, meaning that the Jagrafess could be in charge of the human race for centuries to come. Still it would need the right conditions and treatment to live that long…

"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system." Explained the Doctor, now fully understanding the purpose of the space station. 'Oh this man is clever.' Thought the Editor and wondered what other information this man knew.

"But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?" Asked the Editor very much wanting to know the answer to the two mysteries standing in front of him. He then snapped his fingers and energy surges whipped though the manacles. It was mind numbingly painful and Rose gritted her teeth in an attempt to block it out. She turned her head over to the Doctor who seemed to be recovering better than she was. Hopefully he would be able to get them out of his mess because she was sure at a loss for idea, and having energy surges through your head was not helping her think faster. It was certainly the weirdest feeling she had ever felt under the category of pain. It was as if it tuned into your pain receptors for the express purpose of torture. Almost like an electric shock but not quite, thoughts analyzing the pain just keep circulating in her head and nothing else as she tried to stay standing.

The Doctor as soon as the energy surge was done going through him looked over at Rose who was now breathing heavily and in pain from the surge. It was stinging to him but to a human it had to be excruciating! Rose steadied her footing, looking quite out of it and braced herself for the next surge. The Doctor couldn't take seeing Rose in pain and in such a desperate situation was racking his mind for a way to save Rose. If he could just convince this stupid man that they weren't worth any interest. He'd talked himself out of many life or death situations, surely he could do it again or at least save Rose.

"Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering." Bellowed the Doctor sounding desperate. The Editor was not convinces and simply demanded the two again to tell him who they were.

"I just said!" shouted the Doctor in pain from the energy surge that had just shot through his body again. The Editor was losing what little patience he had and demanded,

"Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly …" The Jagrafess growled and the pasty man stopped what he was saying to listen. After a moment the man opened his mouth as wide like a fish at the discovery made.

"Time Lord." Cheered the Editor after listening to the Jagrafess's information for a moment.

"What?" Asked the Doctor, sure he had heard wrong, there was no way this man could know that he was a Time Lord. The Editor finally got it. All the pieces were coming together and he had under his power the most powerful being in the universe.

"Oh, yes. The last of the Time Lords in his travelling machine. Oh, with his little human wife from long ago." Mocked the Editor in triumph as he brushed aside the hair over Rose's eye as if she were the time lord's little pet. Rose cringed at the man's cold touch, trying to turn away and The Doctor moved to protect Rose but found himself stopped by his manacles. He didn't know where the Editor was getting his information from, but if he got anymore then the two of them were sunk.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Shouted the Doctor in defense of their secret that was still keeping them alive. The Editor's eyes lit up as Max feed more information into his mind via the chip in his head and declared,

"Time travel." Those were words the Doctor did not want coming out of this man's mouth.

"Someone's been telling you lies." Defended the Doctor, but the icy man just snapped his fingers after saying,

"Young master Adam Mitchell?" Adam then appeared on one of the holo-monitors lying down on the broadcast chair in visible pain. Rose stared agape at the hole in Adam's head and realized that the man must have undergone the same procedure that Cathica had gone through to sport such a door in his head. The Doctor questioning the air in disbelief asked,

"What the hell's he done? What the hell's he gone and done? They're reading his mind. He's telling them everything." The Doctor was now reaching the depths of despair and was fast realizing that this situation couldn't get any worse for them. The Editor laughed in victory and simply announced,

"And through him, I know everything about you. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T. A. R. D. I. S. Tardis." So what if he knew about the TARDIS it wasn't like the Doctor was going to show them how to use it, they couldn't get into her, and in defiance shouted,

"Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first." The Editor knowing he had the upper hand just grinned and told the Doctor that he could die all he liked, but what did he need a Time Lord for when he had the key to the TARDIS. The two time travelers then watched in horror as the Rose's TARDIS key began to levitate out of Adam's pocket and into the air.

"This is why you don't pick up strays! I know trouble when I see it!" Accused the Doctor as he glared at Rose. All of time and space was in danger because Rose had to bring a pretty boy human along for a ride, thought the Doctor bitterly. Rose could practically taste fear and rage coming off the Doctor. And she couldn't say anything in her defense. She had been the one to insist on bringing Adam onboard the TARDIS in the first place. She had also given Adam the TARDIS key. What a great way to learn a hard lesson about time traveling with someone new to the group. If they lived she'd never hear the end of this. But most likely they were going to die soon, and horribly, and she was disappointed that her own actions, although well meant, had lead to her husband being, as an understatement, 'angry' with her in the end. Even as just a friend she was rubbish and she slumped against the bar attached to her manacles waiting for the 'end of her miserable life already'. She guessed that this was giving up, there was no escape for her or the Doctor now. The Editor was speaking again and Rose was terrified,

"Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing." 'What was the man suicidal as well as crazy?' thought Rose as she listened to the man ramble on. If humanity never develops then chances are he wouldn't even be born! Even she, a stupid ape chav from a council estate, could reason out that!

The Doctor's survival instincts were now kicking in and he was formulating a plan, perhaps Cathica who was still watching could do something, if not to save him than to save humanity and time from these mad beings. He began a speech formulated to speak to Cathica and prayed that she was clever enough to figure something out.

"And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold." Spat the Doctor knowing that if at least Cathica had heard the truth there was still hope for humanity and the universe. The Jagrafess then snarled at his captives and fortunately no one's eyes were on Cathica who then slinked away undetected. As she slipped away Cathica couldn't believe the size of the conspiracy they had stumbled on! She knew she had to do something. Not just to save her two friends, of a sort, but the entire human race from enslavement! Resolute that the lies would now end today she looked to see if a similar room could be found on this floor.

The Editor continued to gloat over his captives when suddenly an alarm at the computer terminal went off. Confused the Editor turned to the screen to investigate not possibly thinking that someone, an employee of all people like Cathica could be not only disconnecting Adam from the information feed, but herself from the safety as well. Allowing her to broadcast unfiltered for once in her life.

"Someone's disengaged the safety. Who's that?" Asked the Editor in disbelief as he called up a visual on the holo-monitor. The image came on screen and Cathica was now seen sitting on the broadcast chair and spreading information as fast as she could about the truth of humanities situation.

"It's Cathica." Declared Rose amazed. The Doctor looked on to the screen and the image of the human proving a credit to her lethargic species. Ecstatically the Doctor declared,

"And she's thinking. She's using what she knows."

"Terminate her access." Shouted the Editor to his zombie slaves as chaos seemed to erupt on the floor with a sudden environmental shift.

"Everything I told her about Satellite Five. The pipes, the filters, she's reversing it. Look at that." Said the Doctor excitedly as he motioned to the melting ice all about the, becoming less frigid, room. Gloatingly the Doctor stated the obvious that it was getting hot.

The Editor was only giving limited attention to the Doctor as he tried to do damage control and hissed at Suki's frozen corpse,

"I said, terminate. Burn out her mind." However before any order could be met the consoles exploded and the dead slaves to the system collapsed onto the floor. They would be of no more use to the Editor now as alarms began to sound again but this time throughout all of Satellite Five. People in levels below were in a panic as sparks flew and Adam especially was panicked, not knowing what was going on. He raced for the TARDIS hoping to save his own skin, but was finding pushing through the crowds getting very difficult. He was nowhere near the TARDIS.

Electrical malfunctions were now racing across the space station and as luck would have it managed to short out Rose's manacles, unlocking them. Not needing an invitation she threw off the dreaded restraints. The loud noises and sparks had Rose in a panic but the Doctor was calm, seeing what it was that Cathica was doing in order to save humanity.

"She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano." Stated the Doctor smiling. The Editor now was looking up to the ceiling imploring understanding and patience from his employer.

"Yes, I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea." Groveled the Editor to his boss. Now very afraid the icy man ran to the seat that Suki's body was occupying and push her aside to use her work station in a desperate attempt to control the already lost situation. The Jagrafess roared and snapped at the Doctor and Rose as the blond woman pulled the Doctor's Sonic device out of his pocket via his instructions.

"What do I do?" Asked Rose in a panicked voice as she tried to free her husband from his shackles. She had seen the Doctor use the Sonic many times but she wasn't sure if she could use it herself. Regardless she was not leaving him behind even if she had to drag the Doctor, shackles and all, out of that frozen room somehow.

"Flick the switch!" Instructed the Doctor to his wife also stressed at the overpowering urge that they should get away from this room very quickly and sooner than later. Rose obeyed his instructions and was now working at the locks like a pro. Now confident that they were both going to escape in time the Doctor then turned his attention to the Editor. The Doctor then explained in a lecturing voice,

"Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang. See you in the headlines!" Rose let out a sigh of relief as she finally managed to free the Doctor and the two took that moment to 'hightail it' out before the Jagrafess blew. Running quickly to aid Cathica all the couple heard was an eventual sickening meaty explosion off in the distance behind them.

Chucks of ice began to fall from the ceiling thanks to the sudden change in temperature and things were becoming very dangerous. They zig-zagged through the falling ice and it looked like they were past the worst of it. Rose had now gotten a bit more ahead of the Doctor in their run and that was when the Doctor spotted it. A huge icicle was falling right over where Rose was going to be in 5.5 seconds. Fear and a protective nature fired up into the Doctor and without thinking, he grabbed Rose by her collar and pulled her back toward him into his arms. The Doctor let out a gasp of relief when he saw the icicle fall harmlessly to the floor where Rose would have been. Rose on the other hand let out a gasp at suddenly being this close to the Doctor and from his own initiative. A moment later she noticed why he had pulled her to him, but for that brief moment she was high in the sky in his arms. She then got a hold of herself and stepping away from him said a polite thank you and went into the room that they thought Cathica was in. Rose could not do that to herself again, or she would only be in pain if she made anything else of the Doctor's actions than what they were. Platonic gestures of friendship.

The Doctor and Rose now both in the broadcast room ran to Cathica while dodging more ice, this room was full of falling debris and the Doctor knew he had to get Cathica to safety before chunks of ice from the ceiling fell on her. The Doctor snapped his fingers releasing the reporter from the information feed. Cathica looked up and was rewarded with the largest smile she had ever seen on the Doctor, he was so proud of the brave human. Rose and the Doctor helped her up and the three of them then got the hell off of floor 500.

It was now approaching dawn over the Earth and the people of the space station on level 139 were still trying to make order from the chaos. All about people were cleaning, moving things about and helping the injured down to medical. Everyone was moving with purpose say for a small group of people clearly just sitting together talking. The Doctor leaned forward toward Cathica on the other end of the table and explained in a calm voice,

"We're just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage." Cathica looked confused, then overwhelmed and then very nervous.

"You'll have to stay and explain it. No one's going to believe me." Declared the news reporter in a worried voice. Without any doubt in his voice the Doctor replied,

"Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. The human race should accelerate. All back to normal." Well he at least seemed confident enough, thought Cathica, but he wasn't the one sticking around to do clean up. Cathica then lifted her eyes to the nervous man loitering near the TARDIS and asked,

"What about your friend?"

"He's not my friend." Grumbled the Doctor not even looking at the man a few feet away from him or breaking eye contact with Cathica. Rose however looked at the scared man and found herself scared for him, she knew what the Doctor was capable of when angered and didn't want to see what punishment he had in mind for Adam. It was her fault that he was even there, she should be the one being punished not the poor dumb kid she invited along. She was an adult and she would take responsibility for her actions.

"Now, don't…" Said Rose to the Doctor, but he brushed right past her ignoring her. Adam now spotted the Doctor coming near and knew he had messed up royally. He could sense the cloud of anger brewing in the Doctor. He needed to think fast.

"I'm all right now. Much better. And I've got the key." Said Adam, sheepishly holding up the key for the Doctor. He didn't know how much the two had found out about his underhanded deeds which made him nervous. He knew the Doctor knew something about the door in his head and that the event earlier he had a hand in, but that was it. Not wanting to give away more than Adam had to the man announced,

"Look, it's. It all worked out for the best, didn't it? You know, it's not actually my fault, because you were in charge." Perhaps trying to pass off blame to someone else wasn't the man's best strategy and only angered the Doctor more. The Time Lord wanted this man out of his sight and to fix any damage Adam had caused as soon as possible. The Doctor grabbed the man roughly by the collar and dragged him back into the TARDIS with Rose quietly tagging behind. She was very worried about what the Doctor was going to do next to both of them.

Very soon the Doctor, Rose and Adam were landed at their next destination and the Doctor pushed Adam out of the TARDIS.

"It's my house. I'm home! Oh, my God, I'm home! Blimey. I thought you were going to chuck me out of an airlock." Sighed Adam, happy that he was back in a familiar and safe place.

"Is there something else you want to tell me?" Asked the Doctor, barely having the patience to deal with the dumb ape's crap.

"No. What do you mean?" Asked Adam playing dumb and not wanting to be found out any further. The Doctor then stormed over to the answering machine he saw next to the phone in the house's living room and picked it up.

"The archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message could've changed the world." Hissed the Doctor to the stupid greedy human. Rose's eyes widened. Until this point she had thought that Adam had just done something as stupid as trying out the futuristic technology on himself. Like how you might get a tattoo abroad on a whim. Granted a tattoo although permanent was not as big a deal as a flipping door in your head, but kids can be stupid. As if she were that much older to call him a kid, but a door in your head wouldn't do you any good in the past where the tech to utilize it isn't available yet. It might as well just be a strange thing to show off at the pub. Now however she realized the extent of how Adam had violated her trust and endangered the future.

Knowing he was caught Adam watched the Doctor then sonic his family's poor defenseless telephone answering machine and it exploded into useless pieces of melted plastic. Having preserved the timelines and saved the universe, yet again the Doctor smiled and said to Adam,

"That's it, then. See you." The Doctor had never so longed for departure or been happier to see a companion go. Not that he really was ever a companion, Adam never even passed his trial run. Adam was confused by the Doctor's words and asked what it was he meant by, 'see you'. The Doctor clarified that this was goodbye and walked to the TARDIS entrance.

"But what about me? You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip type two. My head opens." Pleaded Adam in an almost whining voice. The Doctor rolled his eyes, so what did Adam want him to do about it? 'You know what I've had it.' Thought the Doctor, then relishing what would come next the Doctor asked patronizingly,

"What, like this?" The Doctor then snapped his fingers together and Adam's forehead opened up. Adam snapped his fingers in response to the Doctor and in an annoyed voice told him not to do that.

"Don't do what?" Asked the Doctor snapping his fingers again and once more opening the man's forehead.

"Stop it!" Shouted Adam losing his cool and closed his head again with another snap.

"All right now, Doctor, that's enough. Stop it." Said Rose, wanting her turn in the argument. The Doctor backed off but he sensed that something was up with Rose. Adam thanked Rose and breathed a little sigh of relief, she must still be on his side. And why not he was smart and good looking. Rose was obviously holding back the Time Lord for his sake. The young man's thoughts were then interrupted when Rose looking quite cross snapped her fingers instead.

"Oi!" complained Adam but Rose laughed and flippantly replied,

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Rose had seen the look of relief and of finding shelter on Adam's face and she was more than please to wipe it off his mug. Rose was pissed off. She felt betrayed by the friend she had stuck her neck out for. She had extended her trust to this person and 'on her head' taken him under her wing against the Doctor's suggestion and Adam had violated her trust. He though that he was so much smarter than her that not only did he not have to listen to her, but Adam thought that he was smart enough to trick her without her ever knowing. And now thanks to this egotist, any trust or confidence that the Doctor had in her or her judgment had been shattered. What an absolute jerk!

Very tired of his head opening feature Adam snapped his fingers and it once more closed. The Doctor glared at the young man and growled,

"The whole of history could have changed because of you." Adam not giving up on salvaging what little creditability and nobility he could appear to have argued,

"I just wanted to help." The Doctor was not fooled by the weak excuse and roared,

"You were helping yourself." The Doctor couldn't stand it. Stupid little apes like him think their tiny brains are so big that they are above the rules of even time and space. How many times in history had he met humans with half that much ego, or understanding of the universe and watched the amount of destruction they could bring about for their own gain? And despite any lives they had destroyed those historic humans had only changed the history of their own planet. This one without even knowing or probably caring had been trying to destroy the whole of history for his own gain. And not only that, he had tried to dup Rose and had taken advantage of her trust. Adam had made the Time Lord say terrible things to Rose while they were under the pressure of the possible universal destruction of time too. 'No that was wrong', thought the Doctor. He couldn't blame Adam for his actions to Rose. Nor blame Rose for being Rose and wanting to see the best in everyone or anyone for that matter. That was one of the reasons why he needed her with him so much. She reminded him of the good still in the universe and that not everyone was out for themselves like Adam. He didn't have to say anything to Rose before, it wasn't like he had not been tricked by someone before. He had trusted the Gelth even thought Rose had advised against it. He had not listened to her and had even tried to make her feel inferior to her. And after all was done and the Gelth were revealed for what they were, she had not rubbed it in his face once. He had when Rose's trusts were proven misplaced and he was a terrible partner for it. Once again he was reminded why he didn't deserve Rose. His mind flashed to the defeated and sad look on Rose's face when he had said those hurtful words to Rose while they were captured. She had just taken his words without argument and that was odd for Rose not to defend herself. 'I must have made her feel like utter rubbish.' Thought the Doctor mournfully. He had to say something, to do something to show Rose that he was sorry for what he did. There had to be some way to make her see that he still held her in the highest regard. The Doctor then noticed that Adam was trying to defend himself again.

"And I'm sorry. I've said I'm sorry, and I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this." Declared Adam. 'Oh I bloody well can just leave you like this.' Thought the Doctor with satisfaction.

"Yes I can. 'Cause if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average, unseen. Good luck." Said the Doctor gravely before piping up, in false pleasantries, as he turned to go back into the TARDIS. As a last ditch effort Adam then begged,

"But I want to come with you." The Doctor had his chance to get two birds with one stone. One stone to humble Adam and another to praise his Rose.

"I only take the best. I've got Rose." Announced the Doctor, he then went into the TARDIS leaving the two to settle whatever was left. Rose, however, looked shocked by his statement. It was not what she was expecting. A part of her was even expecting to be left behind too or dumped off next at the Powell Estate with her Mum, not to be praised. Rose felt relief flush over her body. Was the Doctor not mad at her anymore or had he at least forgiven her screw up? She had to make sure. That statement might have just been meant to humble Adam. She looked back at the TARDIS and the door was still open so he wasn't leaving her behind from the looks of it, yet.

Suddenly the front door to the house opened and another voice could be heard. The young man indicated that it was his mother and Rose was just enjoying watching Adam squirm like the worm he was. Adam made a final plead to Rose for her to take him with her, but he didn't deserve to come along nor would she even think to risk bringing him again. Giving Adam a fake goodbye smile Rose turned around and slammed the TARDIS door in Adam's face as he continued calling out to her. Rose now safely in the time and spaceship, it dematerialized and it was once again just the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS.

Rose saw that the Doctor was leaning hard on the Console and there was a certain heavy atmosphere inside the TARDIS. Rose told herself again that she had to make sure that everything was still alright. With wavering courage Rose walked up to the Doctor to have a talk.

"I'm sorry Doctor, it's all my fault, Adam and all that. I'm a liability. If you want me to leave…I…" Apologized Rose in a voice that was barely a whisper. The Doctor looked up at Rose and moved towards her.

"Who said I wanted you to leave? Didn't you hear me, I only take the best and I've got you. I'm sorry if I've made you feel any less today. I've got a bit of a temper on me sometimes, forgive me?" Smiled the Doctor as he places his hand comfortingly under Rose's jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Rose closed her eyes and leaned into his touch and nodded her head. She could fall asleep right here standing up in the console room as long as he kept his hand there. He spoke and Rose opened her eyes as he said in a chipper voice,

"Now you go get your eight hours, we've all had a long day." Rose nodded again and placed her hand over his as it rested on her cheek. She found that she could not help herself after such a tender physical gesture from the Doctor and before pulling away she laid a soft kiss on his palm. Whether that was a friend thing to do or a wife thing to do, she didn't care. It was human and whatever the gesture meant to a Time Lord, was beyond her knowing without actually asking. It felt right and she made her way back to her room to sleep.

Rose was relieved that the Doctor still wanted her to stay, despite all her screw ups she had made in just one day. Rose had clearly not given up on staying with him so it was a good feeling that he wasn't ready to give up on her yet as his companion. The fact that she was here was proof of that. Which was good since Rose was still as determined as ever to stick to her vows. But she was starting to give up on them being together in a sense, well parts of them as a couple anyway. She had not given up on caring for him or his friendship, but she had given up on any hope of a romantic relationship. Time Lords apparently did not do that sort of thing or love like humans did physically or otherwise. She was for the moment content, for a lack of a better word, in what she felt was a loveless, well maybe not loveless. The Doctor clearly loved her as a friend, rather a one-sided marriage in which one was willing to do all that entailed marriage while the other was not. Time was the only thing that would tell her what would happen between the two of them and for now her mindset was the best defense.

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"Hello Jack, isn't it a lovely morning?" cheered John to his friend that he knew every day, without fail, was sweeping the halls outside his office at this time every morning.

"You seem happy. What's up, doc?" Asked the janitor slyly as he leaned against his broom stick. Jack figured that John had got a new 'Popular Science' magazine and wanted to share a new discovery or futuristic looking vehicle design with him. '21st century tech magazines were so quant,' thought Jack to himself as he planted his feet for another lecture from John about space travel. That's when Jack got the shock of his life.

"Well, Mister Jack, I just spent a lovely evening last night with the woman of my dreams."
Much to John's surprise his friend of now a few years appeared to be more shocked or scared than pleased for him. To get rid of the awkward moment John laughed and said,

"Ha ha, I know the shy guy finally opening up and finding a woman right? Well, I always told you that I was waiting for the right one and by God, I've found her! All I can think about is the next time I'll see her. She starts work in an hour and I'm going to be her first customer everyday if I can help it." Jack's mind was racing on all manners of damage control when John started talking again.

"She's smart and funny, so charming. Beautiful and she's all mine. She wants me, Jack! Ugly old git me! She came to me asking for a date yesterday, and it was the greatest night of my life. And she called me handsome. Can you believe it" Crowed John with male pride to his friend.

"Well, actually no Doc, I can't. Are you sure this isn't some chick just trying to leach off your money? I've seen it before." Answered Jack with a worried voice. John looked irritated but the remark was not unreasonable given the situation.

"No worry of that, Jack. I promise you. I appreciated your concern, but Rose Tyler is no leach or gold digger." Smiled John as he leaned back against the wall near his office smitten. Jack knew lovesick when he saw it and had to get the Doc's head screwed back on right before it floated away.

"They never do seem that way at first, John. And wait… Rose Tyler, you mean the shop girl at the campus store?" John let out a happy sigh at the thought of the lively shop that often contained his lady fair and said,

"The very same."

Jack knew Rose. He'd seen her a few times around campus and she seemed to be a nice girl. That was one relief. He knew Rose was not like the conniving or back-stabbing fem fatales that he had known in the past, but Rose was way too young for a 900 year old Time Lord and Jack was sure that the Doctor would have a problem with this if he were in his right mind. He had to try to put a stop to this before someone got hurt.

"But she is way too young for you, Doc, even if she's not a gold digger. What will the higher-ups say if you are seen together? It could be quite scandalous for your career." cautioned Jack, he hated to do this to poor John but, he had to save the Doctor from himself. John was now losing his patience with the naysayer and gruffed out,

"What's so scandalous, about it? She is a full-time employee of this university and so am I. We are coworkers. She's not a student, she is not an intern, or a teacher's assistant. It's perfectly acceptable for us to date. Now like it or not, I am taking that fantastic woman out tonight and I am going to do my very best to sweep her off her lovely feet." John's confidence would probably deflate right after saying this but at the moment he was a man defending his Lady's honor.

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The Doctor awoke under the TARDIS console. He must have nodded off for a little while. 'I swear I either spent too long as a human or my human companion's sleep patterns are rubbing off on me.' Thought the Doctor. After adjusting his neck, which was a bit stiff, he then remembered the dream that he had had and what a pleasant memory it was. He almost wanted to go back to sleep so that he could relive the rest of John's past. Part of him wished he could sleep again to re-watch that date John and Rose had gone on that night. John had been the type of man that Rose deserved and he was starting to wish more and more that he could be even a tenth of that man. 'I have to do something for Rose to make up for what I've done to her.' Thought the Doctor, well that was impossible, he had wronged her in so many ways. But maybe he could do something for her to show her more of what she meant to him. 'But what?!' Asked the Doctor of himself frustrated.

Unknown to the Doctor, in another part of the TARDIS, Rose had in fact had the same dream but her reaction to it was far from pleasant. She was not there to view such a conversation, so it had to be a figment of her love starved and desperate heart. Maybe John had talked about it to her and she had just forgotten, who knew? She sat up in her big lonely bed and grasped at her head with both hands.

"Stop torturing me, John! You're different now, I get it. Just let me forget so I can be with the Doctor part of you at least." Rose shouted at no one. She was reaching a breaking point with her dreams. A year was the probably the longest she could go like this. Especially with her dreams of the past haunting her every night. She didn't know what to think or how to feel. Well that was a lie, she knew what she wanted to feel but whether in the long run that was in her best interest was up in the air. And the man who was suppose to be her partner and husband, would not tell her definitively what he wanted out of them. She wished he'd just flat out say, 'I will never love you as a wife again' and be done with it. Then at least she could plan for the future instead of being stuck living moment by moment in limbo. Still, if the Doctor was given enough time and he didn't give her an answer, then she would ultimately have to make the decision herself. She just hoped that whatever it was that she could live with it for the rest of her life.

"I'm trying John…Doctor, but you're not making it easy for me. And I don't think you want me to be this unhappy… I can give us a bit longer but Doctor if I can't take it, I'm sorry." Whispered Rose under her breath.

Rose was a drift in a sea of 'not knowing what to do next'. She had been around men her whole life and she never came to fully understand them. What was she to do with a Time Lord male then? For some reason Rose felt a longing to have that conversation about boys with the one person she never was able to. Her father. That's when Rose realized that in theory she could actually see her father. She had a time machine. Well the Doctor did anyway and that presented problems. If she were to suggest such a venture, to what extent of interaction could the Doctor allow her to have? She did not know what was making her think of her father all of a sudden, a man she never really knew. Would the Doctor even be willing grant such a request for her?

Author's notes: Nobody cares about Adam so I left him out as much as possible and only put him in when he was absolutely needed. Obviously, the Doctor and Rose have even more issues to work out. "Father's day" is going to be a little bit of a turning point for their relationship, I'll leave your imaginations to fill in the blanks you want. Sorry about the delay in updates. I've been really busy with something else for a while now.