Rose woke up, but kept her eyes closed and her head under her duvet, despite the humidity and severe lack of oxygen. She toyed with the idea of staying still under she passed out, but gave in after her alarm clock went off, pushing the covers aside and gasping for air. It was seven thirty a.m of day fourteen.

It had been two weeks, and Rose was regretting every second of The Conversation.

He hadn't touched her since. At all. Not just hugging and kissing; all the other little endearing affections like sneaking into her room occasionally to find her dirty washing, stroking her hair during movies, and giving her his coat when he thought, despite assurances otherwise, that she was too cold, were gone.

Admittedly they'd only been in one life-threatening situation since, but he hadn't even grabbed her hand whilst running. She'd shut her eyes and run faster than she ever had before.

He was reluctant to speak to her on her own, and he was spending more time in his room that he did 'fixing' the Tardis.

What scared her most was the change in his expressions; he was brooding again. She tried to put it into words, the lost, empty expression that she caught him staring into space with. 'Brooding' seemed an unworthy tag for an emotion born of so much experience, but it was the closest she could find. She'd always managed to talk him out of his grief before.
Now she didn't dare ask him to pass the salt, and as Jack put it, it was killing her.

According to Jack, it was killing the Doctor too, but she couldn't even get near him to find out. Rose took it to mean that he hadn't figured out what he wanted yet. She couldn't bear to think of an alternative solution.

She shut her eyes and rolled out of bed onto the floor, pulled herself up, and headed for the shower.

"It's really what I want. I should've done it years back, it's just with one thing and another, you kind of forget what your priorities should be…" Jack's voice floated out of the dining garden. Breakfast in there then.

"Ok. Well it's your blood." She pushed open the gate, to see them sprawled in deck chairs, eating breakfast off a glass table underneath a blossomed tree. The Doctor hurriedly got up, almost falling over his feet as he stood and grabbed his plate, walking out. She winced, and then regretted it as he noticed, and turned.

"Morning, Rose."

The formality stung.

"Morning, Doctor."

He focused his gaze, and for a split second, she was sure it softened into something beautifully familiar, and her heart rose in her throat. But then the moment was gone, as he looked at his feet, embarrassed, and then at Jack, impatient.

"Ready when you are, then."

"Sure."

He strode out of the garden, and Rose flopped down underneath the tree. Jack handed her a steaming cup, and she took a sip. It was hot chocolate, and she ran her tongue round her mouth. He'd added kahlua.

"It's eight in the morning!"

Jack smiled briefly." Looked like you needed it. Him as well."

"Don't start."

He pushed a bowl of frosties towards her, and she took it gratefully.

"Thanks."

"You should eat more," he said, spreading his toast with obscene amounts of peanut butter, "You didn't eat dinner last night."

"What's all this about blood?" she asked, hoping to waylay him before she got started on her eating habits. He ignored her, adding strawberry jam to his doorstep-sized slice.

"He didn't either. Lonely meal."

"Jack!" she complained, through a mouthful of frosties, "You're worrying me! Where are we going, and what has it got to do with your blood?"

"You worry me.." he took a big bite, and then rolled his eyes at her expression, "Ok, ok….we're going to Nicole."

She raised an eyebrow and took another gulp of chocolate.

"Ex-lover of yours? Honestly Jack…you have half the universe out for your blood…no, sorry, it was you balls last time, wasn't it?"

He gave her a brief smile.

"No…it's a planet. Not a very nice planet actually."

"So why are we going there?"

"I want to give the Doctors there some of my blood."

Rose's eyes widened, and she choked, coughing. Jack handed her a paper towel.

"Are you insane?"

He put his hands behind his head, and cockily leant back, eyes shining."Yeah?"

"We don't find enough trouble on our own without you offering- "

"I've got a good reason. It's an AID's planet. If you're HIV positive you get sent to Nicole. Named after the first woman there.'

Rose set down her spoon in her half empty bowl, interested. Jack grinned. He loved the way that she was so fascinated by everything. His face fell a little as he realised he had to knock away a little more of her innocence. He wondered wistfully how long it would take her to stop being surprised at all.

"We never found a cure for it. It nearly wiped out half the undeveloped world in the thirtieth century, and so people were just carted off. Terrible really, because it spread all the more. Families didn't want to be split, so infected each other on purpose."

She crinkled her forehead, and Jack crossed his arms.

"Nicole's still around in my time, although it's hardly populated. More open for research reasons, but AID's just keeps cropping up on earth. They think it might be some kind of genetic time bomb, because it ebbs and flows. They're still trying to find a cure. That's why I'm giving blood."

Rose's nodded slowly.

"Could I help? Would they want my blood as well?"

He brushed some blossom of her hair, smiling down. She flciked his hand off in mock irritation.

"Nope. I'm immune, Time Agent thing."

She sat straight up in her chair.

"The Time Agents had the answer and they didn't share it?"

"I didn't know, I swear. It was only within the last three years that I found out…bit of a sticky situation, got out of it, got tested, and found I was immune. It happened during the gap, immunisation." He added bitterly. Rose chewed her lip and sighed.

"We'll get them back. Your memories."

He nodded and frowned and reached for the peanut butter. Rose drank the last of her chocolate.

"So they made you immune, and what, they can manufacture a cure or an inoculation if they have your blood? You do know that's disgusting, right?"

Rose wrinkled her nose; he was digging around in the peanut butter with a teaspoon, eating it straight out of the jar.

"You eat marmite! And I don't know. Hopefully. It'll help."

Rose stood up, but Jack caught her hand.

"Be careful, though? Usual earth rules apply, no sharing needles, no sex, no blood transfusions…"

"Jack!"

She carefully wiped peanut butter off his nose with a napkin, and he laughed.

"If you're gonna have sex, do it with the Doctor. He's going to explode."

She turned red and hugged him suddenly, and he held her until she stepped back, vaguely embarrassed.

"It's just a matter of time Rose. You'll sort it out."

"Yeah. Okay. Thanks."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Doctor wiped Jack's arm with some antiseptic, and brought out a thin needle. Jack sat back unconcernedly.

"You sure you don't want me to numb it?"

Jack rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

"That takes ages. Just do it. Although I wouldn't mind a hand to hold," the Doctor smiled briefly. Jack cringed as he saw Rose's expression. Oops. Old habits die hard.

"You wish, flyboy."

Rose watched, morbidly curious as Jack's blood flowed through a small tube and into a plastic container. It looked a bit like a juice packet, but transparent. His blood was darker than she'd expected as well and she reached for his hand. Jack squeezed it quickly, but pushed it away the Doctor turned round.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, looking at the tiny bit of metal that had been pushed deep into his skin. It had a ridge.

"Nope. Well, a little. Way less that someone falling on me and breaking my leg though, " he said, turning to the Doctor.

"I fixed it within ten minutes! Hardly fractured, you wuss."

"Hurt like hell though."

They waited in silence as the bag expanded, and Jack lay back and looked at the metallic ceiling, Rose and the Doctor firmly avoided each others eyes. Rose watched the container fill with fluid, and the Doctor the arm and the needle.

He suddenly jerked the point out without warning, and Jack yelped. The Doctor chuckled.

"Doesn't hurt, huh?"

He rubbed Jack's arm with his thumb, and then a wipe, and Rose felt a momentary irrational flash of jealousy, at the care he took. It faded as Jack hopped off the bed.

"You're supposed to stay still for a while."

"No such luck I'm afraid. I'm off to find some sugar…ready to leave in fifteen minutes?"

"Sure."

Rose followed out of the door, but stopped as the Doctor called her name. Jack made a hasty bid for freedom, leaving them alone.

"Rose?"

It was ridiculous; she could hear her heart beating in her ears. It's just the Doctor.

"Yeah?"

He stayed seated, systematically putting away needles and trays.

"Are you going with him? To drop it off?"

"Think so."

He nodded slowly, as if hesitant at his next sentence. She wished he'd look at her in the eyes; she felt further away than ever.

"Careful then."

And he walked passed her, leaving her with a sinking mixture of emotions ranging from disbelief to despair, and including comfort. She sank down next to the wall and wondered if he's ever grab for her hand again..