AN: Post Dalek episode; First Dr Who fic, so I apologise if it's really bad. Please R & R! Oh, and btw – Chris Eccleston – he's lovely!

Fantastic!

Lights blurred and strange planets zoomed past as the TARDIS flew through time and space. Having left the underground lair far behind, the Doctor sighed; he couldn't put previous events out of his mind as easily. Only a few moments ago, he thought that Rose was… well, he didn't want to think about it. He knew that he couldn't forget it forever, but at the moment, that particular scar was still too raw to touch on. He knew that day would be forever etched into his memory – the day he had almost lost her… but no, he pinched himself, 'come on Doctor', he thought angrily, 'snap out of it!'. He shouldn't think of her as more than a companion – he could not allow himself to admit to such a weakness. Though he already knew, deep down, that he'd lost that battle a long time ago…

"Uh, Doctor?"

It was that boy. Adam. Glad of the interruption and of a target for his anger, he swivelled round to face the young man.

"What? Lost yer way?"

"Uh, yeah… I was just wondering – have you seen Rose around anywhere?"

The Doctor immediately flared up at this.

"Why? What do you want with her? She's resting."

"Oh nothing…"

This angered the Doctor even more. He couldn't believe the cheek of this human. But there was something else as well – could he be jealous of Adam? He was a good-looking kid, and Rose would have noticed this too. 'Stop it' his head said – he shouldn't even be considering Rose as anything more than… but his heart was telling him something else entirely: 'You love her'.

He used Adam as a distraction from these dangerous thoughts:

"Right then. Seeing as you obviously need something to do…fix this." He handed the kid an ordinary spanner and a box full of bits.

"Wha?"

"It's a model of the TARDIS. I meant top put it together at some point, but seeing as you're so eager, you can do it."

"Right… but …" He was just about to ask how he could make a model of something that was bigger on the inside then was physically possible. But the Doctor had disappeared.

With a wry grin, the Doctor quickly walked out of the control room. That model would puzzle even the most intelligent of beings – there was no was a human (albeit one with 6 A Levels) could ever figure it out. In fact, he grinned from ear to ear, it couldn't be done. He wondered how long it would take the Einstein-kid to work that one out. He smirked sourly as he went to his sleeping quarters for some much needed rest.

In a room not far away Rose was trying in vain to get some sleep. So much was running through her mind as she lay there in the purple darkness. 'The woman you love' – that was what the Dalek had called her. Did he?... No, it was stupid. How could he. Did she? She rolled over to try and rid herself of the overwhelming questions, but they just kept on coming. She sighed. And far away, in another bed-chamber, the Doctor did so too.