Author's Note: A quick thanks to all those who've reviewed and enjoyed this. There still is one more chapter to come after this then I'll probably end up writing post PoTW stuff!
Part Seven
Dread settled in the deepest part of Rose's stomach as the Doctor walked purposefully towards Jimmy. She didn't want to have to intervene in this, she wanted to just forget about it. To sit back and let the Doctor sort it out for her. She'd had enough for today; dulled by exhaustion, pain and cold she was more than willing to hand matters over to him. She wanted to be looked after, notto have to concern herself over anyone else.
But she was worried about what he was capable of. About the darkness in his eyes. The slight, determined frown on his face made her apprehensive. She couldn't read him when he was like this, couldn't guess what he was thinking or what he was going to do. This Doctor would always be a stranger to her, the little part of himself he kept as a secret.
She knew he was angry though. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach and the back of her throat. When he was angry with Cassandra he'd thought she'd deserved to die. When he was angry with Adam he thought he'd deserved to live.
So what did Jimmy deserve? Where did kidnapping his other half and trying to hold her to ransom come on the Doctor's scale of punishable deeds? Did she really have the strength to stop him whatever he decided?
As she continued to confuse herself over the matter, a thought struggled its way through the clutter in her mind. One that had been screaming for attention ever since the Doctor had arrived, one that made her forget all about Jimmy.
"Oh God!" she exclaimed in horror, standing up on uncertain legs, realising that in her relief at being rescued there was something she had entirely forgotten, "Mickey!"
She felt that sick dread settle on her stomach once more. A few minutes, that was all she had delayed by. A few minutes wasn't much right? Surely not the difference between life and death.
"Mum, give me your phone," she insisted in a rush, with hands that were trembling violently despite her best efforts to stay calm and in control, "We've got to call an ambulance."
Jackie frowned, "Why?"
"Mickey was hurt," Rose explained hurriedly, babbling in panic, "Jimmy made me go in his flat, he wanted he car keys. Mickey came back and there was a fight and he was stabbed. He made me just leave him there, he was bleeding and-"
Jackie grabbed her daughter firmly by the shoulders, steadying her panicked sways.
"Rose, love," she soothed, "It's alright. We found him, yeah? We called an ambulance. The Doctor said he'll be alright."
Rose blinked a few times, taking that in during a few grateful breaths before she visibly sagged. Mickey was okay. Everything was all right. The drama was over and she could finally give in to how drained she felt.
She looked up at the sudden sound of the Doctor's voice.
"Jackie," he said without looking at them, standing over the still form of Jimmy, "Take Rose back to the TARDIS. We'll be there in a minute."
Rose watched him for a long as she could before her mum steered her away to the door.
'Don't do it', she thought, hoping he somehow understood what her look meant, 'Don't stoop to his level. You're better than that.'
Outside, the rain was finally slowing. Not that it made much difference to Rose. She was already soaked through and chilled to the bone.
They reached the TARDIS and stepped inside. Needing to break the silence, she turned to her mum, "See? Bet you're glad I met the Doctor now. He's pretty hand in situations like this."
Her voice sounded high and strained, even to her.
"If it wasn't for him you wouldn't get in so many situations like this," Jackie pointed out bluntly, clearly not impressed.
"This was nothing to do with him, mum," Rose reminded her.
"No," other woman muttered, shaking her head, "This is my fault. I should've told you about, Jimmy."
"S'alright," Rose said with a small smile, discovering that the movement made her face hurt even more, "You didn't know this was gonna happen, did you?"
"Still, love," she said, rubbing her hand up and down her arm affectionately, "When I think about what he could have done to you…"
"Mum," Rose scolded, "Just stop it alright. Everything's okay."
She grinned again.
"Thanks to the Doctor."
Jackie looked slightly sceptical, "Well he does look after you, I'll give you that."
"You wanna watch it," Rose teased, "You'll start giving people the impression you actually like him."
"It's not him I don't like, Rose," she explained softly, "It's the fact he keeps taking you away from me. And one of these days he ain't gonna bring you back."
Rose held her mum's pained gaze for a moment before she shoved her hands in her pockets and looked down awkwardly at her feet. What she supposed to do? Deny it? Make her mum promises she knew she might not be able to keep?
"Besides," Jackie said, sounding much more like her normal, brash self again, "I don't know how much he did. From what I could gather this machine did most of it by itself."
Rose grinned, patting fondly at the TARDIS console, speaking more to it her mum, "Yeah. I don't know what he'd do without her."
The door opened once more and both Tyler women turned around to see the Doctor shove Jimmy inside, holding the completely placid young man by the scruff of his t-shirt.
He looked so small in comparison to the Doctor. How had this boy ever been her whole world?
Jimmy looked around the TARDIS interior in open mouthed, dumb shock.
"You," the Doctor said to him gruffly as he shoved him to the floor at the base of the console, "Stay there and shut up."
Jimmy's mouth immediately clamped close.
Rose stepped up beside the Doctor, placing a hand on his arm, as he stood at the controls.
"What are you going to do?"
He recoiled at her touch, his eyes fixed on the console in front of him, his voice hard.
"Go and sit down, Rose," he ordered.
She could see the conflict in him, could feel the tension coming from his whole being and knew straight away it was not wise to ask him a second time. Instead she did as she was asked, sitting herself in the seat next to the console and hoping she could trust the Doctor to do the right thing. Jimmy wasn't really a bad person, just stupid and something inside Rose rebelled against the idea of taking revenge on him.
Did that make her a good person? Or just a weak one?
Moments later the TARDIS was juddering and swaying, vanishing from in front of the Oast house, flying through space and time and only slowing to a stop when it landed where the Doctor had asked it to go.
"Wait here," he instructed, addressing Rose and Jackie as he crossed over to Jimmy and dragged him brutally to his feet by another handful of t-shirt.
"No," Rose said, in blunt refusal, standing up and looking at him challengingly. Even his stern gaze wasn't going to put her off this time, "Don't you think I have a right to be there?"
After a long moment he nodded shortly in agreement, knowing she needed her closure to this ordeal.
"Be there for what?" Jimmy asked in panicked tones, finally finding his voice again, "Rose, what's he gonna do to me?"
"Oi!" the Doctor said sharply, yanking the young man's collar, momentarily choking him, "You don't talk to her, alright?"
Jimmy nodded, wide eyed and the Doctor dragged him towards the door.
Rose patted her mum's arm reassuringly as she walked after them.
"Stay here. We'll be back in a minute."
"Rose-" Jackie warned uncomfortably, glancing after the two men.
"It's okay, yeah?" Rose interrupted, knowing what she was going to say, "He won't hurt him."
"How do you know that?" she asked, "You didn't see how angry he was when he found out. He's dangerous, Rose."
"Mum, it's the Doctor," she explained, "That's not how he does things."
With that she followed the other two out of the door.
She had to say, it wasn't the nicest planet he had ever taken her to. The words 'harsh, barren, desolate hell hole' sprang immediately to mind.
A hundred paces or so from the TARDIS the Doctor had dumped Jimmy to the floor and he was standing over him in an intimidating manner, his face set in stone. Rose walked over until she was about eight feet away and then stopped, folding her arms across her chest, showing Jimmy she was here to watch, not intervene.
Tugging his trousers up a little, the Doctor crouched down beside him talking almost into the young man's ear.
"Do you know were we are, Jimmy?"
He rapidly shook his head.
"Klopetoria Decan," the Doctor explained, "It's a planet in the Agrubin system. Millions of years before you were born it was teaming with life. Now look at it."
The Doctor's hand reached down and scooped up a handful of rocks. The moment he squeezed them in his palm they crumbled into a dust that was picked up and swept away by the light breeze spinning around them.
"Everything here just falls apart," he said quietly, "Nothing lives here anymore. Do you know what I'd like to do?"
Jimmy shook his head again.
"I'd like to leave you here," he replied simply, "I'd like to turn around, walk away and never come back. Then you might have some idea of what it's like to be truly alone. And you'll know how I felt when you took Rose from me."
Jimmy looked at the Doctor steadily, wilting under the other man's powerful gaze.
"I'm sorry," he whispered eventually in a small, trembling voice, "I didn't know, I didn't…Please, take me home. You're not going to leave me here, are you?"
"Of course I'm not," the Doctor said, screwing up his face at the ridiculousness of idea, "I'm going to take you to the police and they're going to take you to prison."
He pulled Jimmy to his feet again, marching him back to the TARDIS, Rose following a couple of paces behind.
"I want you to remember this place," the Doctor said quietly, "Remember what it was like here. Because I'm going to be watching you and if you do anything as stupid as this again, I will bring you back and leave you here. Sort your life out Jimmy Stones or I'll do it for you."
Rose wearily watched as her mum opened the door to her flat and ushered her inside. The Doctor was going to take Jimmy back to the police but he had dropped Jackie and Rose off at the flat first, saying Rose should take a shower and get some rest. He'd be back as soon as possible.
She had mentioned that she wanted to go to the hospital and see if Mickey was all right but the Doctor had insisted he would go as long as she concentrated on sorting herself out.
As they entered the hall Jackie said something about making tea and toast and Rose agreed, if only so she'd go away and leave her to her own devices for a while. Popping into her bedroom she fished out a soft pair of trousers and a plain t-shirt. Her eyes caught the time on the clock radio.
Had it really only been three hours since she had gone down to the TARDIS to put her stuff away? It didn't seem possible.
She bundled her clothes into a ball and headed straight for the bathroom.
There was already a set of her own fluffy white towels laid out for her to use, in a clear indication that her mum hoped she had intended to stay, along with her favourite shampoo and conditioner. Wrong shower gel though. Rose smiled slightly to herself. She thought her mum would know by now she didn't like that pine scented stuff. It just smelt like toilet cleaner.
She turned to get something different from the cabinet but froze when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror there.
Now she saw what her mum and the Doctor had seen when they looked at her, why the expressions on their faces had been so grim.
She stepped closer to the mirror, gingerly prodding at the swollen and angry looking flesh around her eye. She hadn't had a black eye this mean looking since she'd been hit in the face with a tennis ball in PE. It ached like anything. There was still dried blood around her nose and if she swept her hair out of the way she could follow the red beginnings of a bruise all the way up her cheek bone.
She stared at herself a moment longer, barely recognising her own reflection. This wasn't her. The one thing she would never be was a victim.
Reaching decisively for some toilet paper, she wet it and wiped the blood from her nose, mentally reminding herself to ask her mum to get a packet of frozen peas or something out so she could put it on her eye and try to take some of the swelling down. To be honest it looked a lot worse than it felt. She didn't like the feeling she got from people when they saw it though.
Pity. Pity for poor Rose, beaten about by her convict ex-boyfriend. Poor Rose who'd been kidnapped and had to wait helplessly to be rescued.
The thought made her stomach twist in disgust.
She turned the shower on and let it warm up whilst she undressed, studiously avoiding looking at the random red bruises scattered over her body, evidence of where she'd been tugged, pulled, hit, manhandled, dragged and barrelled into over the last few hours.
Stepping under the slightly too hot water she began to go through the same shower rituals as she always did.
As she wet her hair there were tears in her eyes, and she was trying to blink them away.
As she massaged in the shampoo they started rolling down her face, burning at her skin.
As she rinsed her hair clean again she was freely crying, hating herself for doing so.
As she scrubbed at her legs, trying to get rid of the blue colouration her wet jeans had left there, her eyes were so blurred she couldn't tell what were actually bruises, undoubtedly making them worse in her attempts to rub them away.
By the time she was using conditioner she was openly sobbing.
But she didn't stop, she just carried on as normal. Continued the familiar rituals. Got on with her life. What else could she do?
Rose bolted from her seat as soon as she heard the front door open. Her mum had suggested sitting down and watching TV to take her mind off of things; 'Sex and the City' was on, she liked that. Rose had agreed only to appease Jackie who had been fussing over her ever since she had managed just a nibble or two of her toast before pushing it aside and saying she couldn't eat anymore.
The Doctor had stopped in the hallway, as though he was waiting for her. Without thinking, Rose flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, ignoring the many complaints of her body. To her relief, the Doctor hugged her back after a moment's hesitation, his arms around her waist, his head briefly burying into her hair.
Too soon he pulled away, shooting an explanatory glance towards the living room where Jackie was still sitting. Rose nodded in a disappointed but accepting manner. Instead she reached out and grabbed his hand, holding it firmly in hers, standing so she was shielding the action from her mum in case she should decide to join them.
"How's Mickey?" she asked, ignoring the slightly odd way the Doctor was looking at the hand holding his.
"He'll be fine," he reassured, "Lost a lot of blood but no serious damage. He'll be out of hospital in a few days."
"And Jimmy?"
"Back in prison I should imagine," he replied a little too lightly, "He'll probably get at least another year or two on his sentence for this."
"Good," Rose said firmly, and then off of his look added, "Maybe he can sort himself out a bit."
The Doctor nodded vaguely, "Maybe…"
That was one of the things that delighted and yet frightened him about Rose. She always believed people could redeem themselves. That they had it in them to change for the better. He knew that wasn't the case, he'd seen plenty of good people go bad and only get worse with time. She was going to have to learn that there wasn't always a happy ending. That some people just couldn't be helped.
"Do you wanna come and watch telly?" she asked hopefully, expecting to get some excuse about needing to fix the TARDIS. And who could blame him? He'd probably spent more than enough time today with her mum for his liking.
To her great surprise he nodded.
"Yeah, alright."
Not giving him a chance to change his mind she led him into the living room, dropping his hand as soon as they were through the door. They sat next to each other, Rose hearing her mum's almost constant nattering but took in nothing except the slight press of his flesh against her own and the movement of his body as he gently breathed.
But something was up with this. Something didn't feel right and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
All she did know was that seeing the Doctor sitting in her living room, quietly watching TV without complaint or attempt to leave was beginning to look very wrong.
In the dark silence of her bedroom, Rose pulled the t-shirt over her head and reached out for the vest top the Doctor was holding out for her, only to find him frozen and stern. His gaze was fixed on her bruise mottled skin, his expression holding too many emotions to count.
He'd been a bit off with her all evening. Yeah, he was relieved she was okay, but he'd been so quiet, so distance. She could really do without his odd moods right now.
"It's alright," she reassured wearily, carefully loosening his grasp so she could retrieve her top, "They're just bruises. They'll be gone in a couple of days."
"I'm sorry," he muttered, shaking his head.
Rose's eyes flared with an anger that surprised her.
"Don't you start as well," she snapped irritably, feeling a little bad about taking it out on him but almost too tired to care, "I've had enough of that from my mum all night, okay? I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me."
"It's my fault," he continued darkly, almost ignoring her, "I'm supposed to keep you safe."
"I don't need keeping safe," she insisted in a firm tone, "Now will you shut up about it. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep."
She threw herself down onto the bed, yanking the duvet over her body and turning her back on him. Inside she was seething, not because he blamed himself for something that wasn't his fault, not because he felt like she needed protecting, but because he felt sorry for her. He pitied her. She liked to think she'd earned the Doctor's respect over the time she was travelling with him, even if on occasion he still called her a silly little ape. How could you respect someone if you felt sorry for them?
Moments later she felt the small bed shift with his weight, and his body press into hers, one of his arms slipping around her waist. After a moment's hesitation she snuggled back into him, feeling him relax as though a massive knot of tension had just left him.
She was being unfair on him really. He'd been scared tonight. She knew she would have been had the situation been reversed and he was the one in trouble. The only place in the universe he seemed to belong was with her and in the TARDIS. Maybe tonight had been a stark reminder of that. And what he would have left without her.
"What about my mum?" she said distractedly as his fingers traced light patterns across her stomach, her hand slipping back and resting on his thigh, "Don't you think she'll be a bit suspicious if she comes in and finds you in my bed?"
"On your bed," he corrected with a small smile, his breath tickling the back of her neck as he spoke, "And don't worry. I'll be where I should by morning. Go to sleep."
He pressed a kiss into her neck and Rose sighed, closed her eyes and did as she was told. Just this once.
