Part Three
Now the Doctor knew Jackie was talking but he was simply trying very hard not to listen. Her mouth was open, words were coming out of it, but since it was her, he assumed it wasn't anything he wanted to hear and so instead he focused his attention firmly on the TV.
Jackie Tyler was the embodiment of many of the things he disliked about the human race; which was ironic considering that her daughter had a lot of their best qualities. Jackie flapped and squawked at things she didn't understand. She shouted her mouth off even though she didn't know how ridiculous she sounded, even when she had no clue what she was talking about. She was always talking but never stopped to listen. She never saw anything outside her own limited little world, never seemed liked she even wanted to. She appeared happy to live in a world of take aways, soap operas, cutting out coupons and spending nights gossiping and drinking wine.
The Doctor just couldn't understand that. Even though she was trapped on this little world there was still so much to explore here, so much she could see and do. How could a member of any species with their natural curiosity be happy to stand still for so long?
Maybe that was why he disliked her so much; he couldn't understand her. That and the fact she was constantly on his back about him stealing her daughter. There was only so much nagging he could take.
He sighed in frustration at the contestant on the quiz show. How could anyone not know that the vena cava took blood to the heart, not from it? They all had a heart, shouldn't they know how it works? Seemed like a good idea to him. But, he had to remind himself, they were very young in this time. Just finding their feet and taking stumbling steps towards something much greater. He had to give them a little leeway. Even Jackie.
One thing he had to admire about Rose's mum, albeit grudgingly, was her tenacity. She wasn't the type to drop a point easily. Despite his best attempts to ignore her, she insisted on carrying on twittering away, either oblivious to his distain for her or choosing to disregard it. It didn't help when she stepped into the living room and crossed over to the window to peer outside, blocking his view of the TV in doing so.
"What's she doing down there?" she muttered irritably, drying her hands on a dishcloth, "This lasagne is burning. If she doesn't get up here soon it'll be ruined and she can bloody well go out and get something to eat, because I'm not cooking anything else."
The Doctor frowned, checking the time on his watch. Rose had been down there about half an hour now, much longer than he would have expected. He had gotten the feeling that something was bothering her from her slightly odd behaviour since they'd arrived here, although he had no clue what it was. It was obvious that she didn't enjoy the tension between himself and her mother though. She'd probably stayed down there to get away from the pair of them for a bit. Which was all very well, but leaving them alone together certainly wasn't going to help matters.
"I'll go and get her," he said, standing up and heading straight for the door.
"And make sure you bring her back," Jackie warned, following him into the hall, wagging her finger after him, "I don't want you just whisking her off in that blue box of yours again without so much of a goodbye, alright?"
"The thought hadn't crossed my mind," he said honestly.
Although now she mentioned it…
"Rose?" Jackie called from the kitchen as she heard the front door open once more a few minutes later, "Honestly, you know I'm cooking dinner, next time-"
She stopped, seeing only the Doctor in the hallway.
"Oh, well that's just lovely" she scowled, "If she didn't want to stay she could've come and told me herself. What did you say to turn her against me this time, Doctor?"
"She's not here?" he asked as though he hadn't heard a word she'd said, his tone betraying his concern.
Jackie seemed to immediately pick up on his mood and she paused, more still than he could ever remember seeing her.
"No," she said quietly.
"She wasn't down there," he continued a little absently, shaking his head as a thoughtful frown tainted his face, "She wasn't in the TARDIS."
He saw a glimmer of worry flicker across Jackie's still features. Then she did what humans were good at in situations like this; she tried to think of a nice, safe explanation.
"Maybe she's at Mickey's," she reasoned, soothing herself as much as him, saying it as though it was fact rather than speculation, "You can see your box from where his flat is. He probably saw her there and they got talking. Maybe she went back to his for a cup of tea."
The Doctor bristled slightly at that idea, not sure if he wanted that to be true or not. Yes, Rose would be safe, but she'd be with Mickey. Her ex-boyfriend. The thought made him surprisingly uncomfortable.
He immediately swallowed that emotion, realising how stupid that was. Clearly he had spent too much time immersed in human culture today because he was starting to think like one. If Rose had wanted to be with Mickey she would have stayed with him in the first place, not taken up his own offer to travel in the TARDIS. If Rose wanted Mickey she would have asked to come home, not ended up in the Doctor's bed.
Still, it didn't mean that he had to like the idea that she was apparently having a cosy little chat with her ex, not considering that they might be worried when she didn't come back. For such emotionally based beings they could be very thoughtless at times.
Turning back to the door again he opened it and walked straight back outside.
"Oi!" he heard Jackie call from behind him, "Where'd you think you're going?"
"Mickey's," he said shortly.
To his dismay, Jackie picked up a denim jacket, shrugging it on and closing the door behind her.
"Don't you have food to see to?" he pointed out.
She shook her head, "I turned it out or it's going to be ruined. Besides, do you even know where Mickey lives?"
She had him there.
The longer the Doctor spent with Jackie Tyler, the more he realised why he insisted so firmly that he did not do domestic. Too much game playing. Too easy to become totally narrow minded.
All the way over to Mickey's flat, Jackie whittled on about what a great young man Mickey was and how nice he'd been to Rose. Conveniently forgetting the fact that she had spent a year telling everyone who'd listen that he'd obviously killed her daughter. That he was a dangerous criminal with a violent temper who had murdered her lovely young girl in a fit of rage.
He smiled to himself. Her ability to shamelessly and blatantly change her mind if and when it suited her was quite remarkable really.
"I'm surprised they didn't get married, to be honest," she said, for his benefit he assumed, "They always seemed so…comfortable together. Like it was just meant to be, I s'pose."
She smiled with dewy eyed fondness, "It was the same way when I met Rose's dad, Pete. He swept me off my feet. He was such a charmer. I hope she can be as happy as me and him were."
The Doctor snorted a laugh.
"What's funny about that?" Jackie asked, defensively.
"Nothing, don't worry," he lied.
He'd seen Pete and Jackie together. So had Rose. He thought she rather wished she'd be happier than that with the man she married.
As they exited the stairwell and rounded the corner he spotted something a few doors down and instantly stopped, frowning.
"Is that Mickey's flat?" he asked, nodding forward.
"Yeah," Jackie said, glancing up, "How did you know?"
"He's the only idiot who's left his front door wide open."
Before he knew it, Jackie had shoved past him and was heading hurriedly towards the flat, an innate human instinct clearly telling her that something was wrong. The Doctor didn't know why but he suddenly felt that she had been keeping something from them. That she was unnaturally worried about Mickey's door being open.
He quickened his strides but he was still a couple of paces from the door when he heard Jackie's sharp cry.
"Oh God! Doctor!"
Then he ran, both his hearts suddenly thumping, too many terribly possibilities racing through his head. When he reached the flat he saw Jackie kneeling down next to something on the floor in the kitchen doorway and he could smell blood in the air. He hurried over to them, not feeling too little bad about his relief when he saw the injured party was Mickey and not Rose.
Where was she then? His eyes scanned the room for clues or hints, but he found nothing apart from the obvious signs of a struggle, the result of which was laid out at his feet. Clearly something had happened here, some kind of confrontation. Her former boyfriend had been stabbed and Rose was missing. It was too coincidental to not be related. Perhaps she had been taken by Mickey's assailant. Which meant that he only had one viable source of information as to her whereabouts.
He shoved Jackie aside none too gently and knelt down next to the unconscious young man. Carefully removing the tea towel that was covering the wound he quickly scanned it with the sonic screwdriver. It wasn't exactly the best tool for the job but it would do.
"It's alright," he muttered in a dark, businesslike manner, "Looks like it missed anything serious."
He noted Mickey's sickly, drained look.
"But he's lost a bit of blood," he glanced up, scanning around the kitchen before his eyes settled on something useful.
"Jackie, phone for an ambulance," he ordered nodding at the telephone, taking charge whilst she stood dead still, apparently unable to do anything but stare in horror. To her credit, she fumbled across and did as she was told, even though she couldn't take her eyes off of the scene in front of her.
The Doctor balled the tea towel up again, pressing it firmly to the wound. It appeared to have been made by a small blade that was nowhere to be seen. Obviously the attacker had taken it with him or her. He assumed it wasn't some kind of accident. Even Mickey wasn't that dumb.
He tried hard to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that kept telling him that they still didn't know where Rose was. They'd just found her ex-boyfriend stabbed on the floor of his flat and she was missing. He had to prioritise here, had to think about this sensibly. Mickey was injured and was in need of help. The Doctor needed to fix Mickey and that would lead him to finding Rose.
Rose who was missing. Seemingly taken by someone who had gotten into a violent confrontation with her ex, stabbed him and left him on the kitchen floor to die. She wasn't safe with someone who would do that. She was in danger and he was helpless.
He quickly shook that thought away, telling himself to concentrate. He wasn't helping anyone by thinking like that. He had to be strategic about this, had to keep calm. Everyone expected him to be in charge and know what to do. That was what he did.
Just as the Doctor thought this, Mickey's eyes flew open in an instant panic. For a moment he seemed scared and confused, not really knowing who he was or what had happened to him. Then his eyes locked on the Doctor's and he suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Rose!" he said in an alarmed manner, as though things were coming back to them.
He reached up and gripped the Doctor's arm tightly.
The Doctor knew he should tell Mickey to rest and try to keep him calm. He could only make himself worse by getting worked up. Shock could set in and then he would really be in trouble. But the Doctor couldn't do it. He was more than willing to risk Mickey's life if it meant finding out what had happened to Rose.
"What?" he asked, trying to remain calm and hoping it would transfer to the young man, "Mickey, what happened?"
"He wanted my car," he stammered, shaking as he looked wildly around, "He wanted my car but he couldn't take, Rose. I wouldn't let him."
Clearly though whoever 'he' was had taken Rose because there was no sign of her here. The Doctor imagined Mickey had gotten in the assailant's way and it hadn't gone well.
"Who's 'he'?" the Doctor pressed, putting a hand on the one Mickey was still using to grip his arm like a vice.
"Jimmy. Jimmy Stones," the other man explained, swallowing hard, trying to control his breathing, "He was here. He should be in prison."
The Doctor heard Jackie's gasp and his head whipped round to see her standing there, staring at them open mouthed, the phone hanging limply in her hand.
"They said he wasn't dangerous," she whispered, utterly horrified, "They said they didn't even think he'd come here. That he'd be long gone by now but they just wanted to check he hadn't been in touch."
"Who?" the Doctor snapped, increasingly irritated at the feeling that he was missing something here. That he had been kept out of the loop.
"The police," Jackie explained, her face going sheet white, "They came round this morning to say Jimmy had escaped from the young offenders place he was in."
"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked, genuinely angry now. If he'd known a convict ex-boyfriend of hers was on the loose he never would have let Rose go out on her own.
She shook her head, clearly bewildered at this turn of events, "I didn't want to worry her. They said we didn't need to worry."
"Well clearly they were wrong," he barked back, entirely unsympathetic.
"Oh God…" Jackie mumbled, distraught, "Rose….He's got her, hasn't he?"
He felt like turning around and shouting at her, telling her that it was all her fault and if Rose was injured it was because of her. Stupid, stupid little human. A potentially dangerous former boyfriend of her daughter was loose from prison and she hadn't mentioned it because she didn't want to worry her? What kind of ridiculous reasoning was that? How was he supposed to look after Rose if he didn't even know she was in danger?
The Doctor balled his fists in frustration, feeling a little out of his depth, like he had stepped in on some family drama, only had half the facts and was expected to save the day. He didn't know who this Jimmy was or what kind of person he was but he had Rose and Jackie was scared about it. And that scared him too. Her tone was the same one she had had when she thought her daughter was going to die in Downing Street. When she had begged the Doctor to keep her Rose safe.
And he had kept her safe. All this time, through all they had been through, even when it didn't seem possible. She'd been hurt, yes. Badly once or twice. But he had always brought her back safely in the end. He was a Time Lord, and he wasn't about to lose his greatest companion to some stupid little kid who meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. This wasn't going to be it for Rose. If she had to go, she deserved better than that. She was better than that.
How dare he take her from him? Didn't he know that with Gallifrey gone that the Doctor had nothing left but Rose and the TARDIS? She was his home now. She was his life. He wasn't going to lose her like he had lost everything else.
He couldn't.
A cold anger swept through him and he turned briefly back to Mickey.
"An ambulance is on its way," he reassured, although his voice was hard, "You'll be alright."
Then he stood up and headed out of the door.
