I seem to be on a roll. From an updating point of view. Not from a quality of writing point of view, sadly. But I am so close to the end...
Mentions...
GinnyGin: I hope Rose stays in character for this chapter... And I'm not sure about letting you trade Ben for Jack. I'll have to think about that one...
Pharaoh Katt: Thanks. And this chapter will reveal the Doctor's reaction.
Dr Azaria: Hope you didn't injure yourself in any way after reading the last chapter. The last thing I want is to be sued by readers. And I wouldn't dream of leaving it at that, so here's some more...
spyrolizzy: Hehe, thanks. I hope this is quick enough for you...
Starlite1: Well, you'll have to read on to see how the Doctor takes it... She was brave, but I'm not sure if he'll see it that way, lol.
Laseri: I supposed having the hat around the crystal would work the same way as her having the hat on her head, as far as blocking out the rays is concerned. But we'll have to see how the Doctor deals with it all...
lizpen: I'm glad it's not angsty – I don't do that so well. Christopher Eccleston was fantastic. We really need to do something to get him to come back. If only for the Christmas special!
asimus: Well, Rose has always done things her way. And running would have meant that he probably would have found out about her stealing the crystal.
Becsy Lexi: Poor Doctor, indeed. Hope this has been updated soon enough, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Jessie Wings: Well, I think trusting your gut instinct is an important thing. I'm glad the story's still enjoyable. Hope you like this chapter and thanks for reviewing!
tulzdavampslayer: Well, maybe she wasn't thinking too clearly. And now we have to see how the Doctor reacts...
Vampirehelsing: Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :D
LilCosette: Thank you! And I wonder what the Doctor will say, as well...
eeveekitty85: Nice to see you back – hope you had a good holiday. And thank you so much for reviewing all the chapters. That was really nice of you. I'm glad you like the conversations between them all, as that's the most fun to write, lol. And I love the fact that the TARDIS is alive too. So I'll try and get more of that in. But I look forward to your hinted about fic, too. Hope you enjoy this!
Disclaimer: Yeah, BBC owns it all, I own nothing, I'm a worthless person who spends my time writing stories about other peoples' characters. Same old, same old.
When Rose drew back from Fridem and broke the kiss, the alien may, or may not have been staring at her with an enraptured expression on his face. He could have been looking down in confusion, wondering how he had managed to bring on an approach like that. It was also possible that he'd been staring at her in anger, surprised that she had taken such a liberty – although that was unlikely.
However, whatever Fridem's reaction had been, Rose was completely unaware of it. All her attention had been taken up by the hurt look in the Doctor's wide eyes - before he had turned and started hurrying back down the stairs, muttering, "Sorry to interrupt. I thought..."
For all Rose cared, Fridem might not have been there at all.
But she still had to make sure he didn't find out about the crystal. If he realised she'd taken it, there would have been no point in kissing him at all. And she would have hurt the Doctor for nothing...
"Quick," she said, taking hold of Fridem's hand, "Follow him!"
"Ok." answered Fridem, simply, a rather dazed expression on his face.
It seemed that he had obviously responded well to Rose's kiss. Too bad she hadn't meant anything by it.
As Rose hurried down the stairs, tugging on her dress and praying she didn't break an ankle in her heels, she kept replaying how the Doctor had looked. He couldn't honestly have thought that he'd interrupted a genuine kiss. Could he?
When they finally emerged into the entrance hall, completely out of breath, Rose could see the Doctor and Ben making their way outside.
She turned to Fridem and said, "Why not lock this last door? Just in case." Fridem nodded, clearly still dazed and went over to the door.
Not looking back, Rose ran over to the front door Ben and the Doctor had just disappeared out of.
"Doctor!" she called, pausing briefly at the top of the steps, "Oi! Doctor!"
He didn't even turn round, though. He simply continued striding on, his leather-jacket-clad back looking particularly cold and unfriendly.
"Ben?" implored Rose.
Ben responded by reaching out and grabbing hold of the back of the jacket, pulling the Doctor to a halt.
"Hey," he said to the alien, "Rose is calling you."
"Oh?" said the Doctor, in a carefully guarded voice, "I didn't hear her."
He looked up as Rose approached him and grinned rather alarmingly.
"Hello, Rose. Having fun?" he asked, in a cheerful voice.
"What do you think?" asked Rose, sarcastically and pulling a face.
"Well I don't know," said the Doctor, casually, "It looked to me like you were having a very good time, back up there. In fact, I'd say-"
Rose glared at him, before cutting him off and focussing on Ben.
"Listen, Ben," she said, turning to the human, "I don't know if you'll manage this at this time of night, but could you possibly go and find these people?" She quickly reeled off the names Fridem had given her, "Do you need me to write that down? No? Ok, so can you go find them and tell them... tell them they're invited on our road trip as well?"
Ben looked at her for a few minutes before saying, carefully, "You mean tell them that they're invited back to... back to Earth?"
Rose stared at him open-mouthed, before turning to the Doctor. "You told him!" she exclaimed, outraged. "I can't believe you told him!"
"Ok, so I told him!" said the Doctor, throwing his hands up in the air, "I don't see how much harm it could've done him, though. He had a right to know. And besides, he's handled it very well."
"Yeah, well if we were going to tell him him, I would have chosen a better time. And I would have told him gently."
"What? And you're saying I can't tell people stuff gently? Besides, when would this 'better time' have been? What were we supposed to do while you were off getting cosy with your boyfriend?"
Rose glared at him. "I think you're forgetting," she said, in a cold voice, "that the only reason I had dinner with him, is so you could get your 'special part'."
"Didn't look like such a huge sacrifice to me."
"Uh," interrupted Ben, timidly, "I'm just going to go... find these people. I won't mention the being-kidnapped-to-an-alien-planet-thing," he laughed, nervously; "I'll take them all back to the TARDUS. TORDIS?"
"TARDIS," snapped the Doctor. "I'll meet you there. And I'll see you there too, Rose," he said, turning back to her, "Unless, of course, you want to stay here."
"Of course I don't want to stay here," said Rose, quietly, horrified that she could feel tears in her eyes, "I want to come back with you."
He looked at her intensely before saying quietly, "Right. Well. I'll leave you to say your goodbyes, then."
And without another word, he strode back off to the TARDIS. Rose stared after him, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Rose?" came a curious voice from behind her, "Rose? What's going on?"
Rose carefully composed herself before turning back to Fridem.
"Nothing," she said, brightly, "It's just that I'm going to have to go. I have to go visit... family."
"Really?" Fridem looked crestfallen, "But you can't go. Not after... We had a good time tonight, didn't we?" He smiled smoothly at her, the charismatic man from earlier returning.
"We did," lied Rose, "But I really have to get back to see my family."
"I suppose," he mused, "But perhaps," he stepped forward and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "we could pick up where we left off another time?"
"Yeah, uh, that would be nice. But I'm not sure if that would possible. You see, there are lots of things I really have to-"
Fridem narrowed his eyes at her, "I'm sure the Doctor could give you one day – or night – off, couldn't he?"
"Oh, absolutely," said Rose, noticing the change of tone in Fridem's voice, "Yeah, I'm sure. Some time... you know. I'll come back. Definitely." She stopped, hoping she hadn't overdone it.
"I look forward to it," beamed Fridem, kissing her hand gently. "But for now, I'm afraid we'll have to part."
"Yeah. Listen, can I ask you a favour?"
"Of course," Fridem smiled attractively, in a way that Rose now knew not to trust. "Anything."
"Will you give the kidnapping a rest from now on?" Rose didn't think he'd agree, but it didn't really matter. Without the crystal, there would be no point in him kidnapping anyway. It would become too much trouble to get them to stay content. "You don't even need to kidnap them, really."
"I promise," he said, kissing her hand again.
"Thank you so much," smiled Rose, carefully extracting her hand from his grip, "Anyway, I better..."
"Of course. I can see that I would be a fool to give the Doctor what he wanted now."
"I'm sorry?" asked Rose, in confusion, "I thought you didn't know what he wanted."
"Oh, I didn't. Well, I don't. But I'm starting to suspect more and more that he wanted... a love potion." he paused dramatically and then continued when he noticed Rose's raised eyebrows, "I'm almost positive that he kept mentioning something about a Ballifregan item. And what are the Ballifregans famous for, if not their love drugs?"
With a huge amount of effort, Rose managed to contain her laughter.
"Well, I'm not sure that that would have been what he wanted, but, if you say so."
"Trust me, Rose," smiled Fridem, "I've seen a lot of this world. And I know that many unscrupulous characters would be tempted into drugging a woman like you for their own ends," he finished, delicately.
"Well, I'll be careful," Rose reassured him. "But I better be going."
"Goodbye, Rose," said Fridem, bowing and somehow managing to regain hold of her hand, "Until we meet again," he kissed her hand again.
"Yeah, can't wait," gabbled Rose, before taking her hand back and hurrying away. She didn't look back.
The walk back to the TARDIS was dark and surprisingly cold in comparison to the earlier heat. On any other planet, Rose would have been slightly concerned about walking alone so late at night – and the Doctor even more so. But she supposed that considering she was on a planet named Peaceandlove, there wasn't really anything to worry about. At least, she hoped that was why the Doctor had let her go alone.
In reality, he was sitting inside the Control Room, glancing anxiously at the door, wondering whether it would be a bit over the top to phone her. He was angry, yes, but he couldn't forget the way his heart had leapt into his mouth when he'd suggested she stay with Fridem. Or the way his stomach had swooped and he'd been filled with relief when she's said that she wanted to stay with him. He was also beginning to regret leaving her behind. Firstly, who knew what could happen to her on the way back? Admittedly, they were on perhaps one of the most peaceful planets, but someone could always decide to force her along to a late night rave. They could. And secondly – and perhaps more importantly – who knew what she could have been doing with Fridem while they said goodbye?
On approaching the TARDIS, Rose was met by the sight of ten hippies standing confusedly outside. They were a typical hippy assortment, the only way of telling the men from the woman was by looking at the skirts – the hair length was roughly the same on each person. With the exception of Ben - who had pretty short hair, in comparison to the others.
On seeing Rose, Ben walked up to meet her, evidently relieved.
"I managed to find everyone you asked for," He told her, "But we seem to have a little problem getting in. We've knocked, but the Doctor isn't opening up."
"Don't worry," said Rose, wearily, transferring the crystal to her other hand, "I've got a key."
Rose pushed her way through the small crowd, Ben following her closely behind. Just before she opened the door, she turned to Ben. "Wait here a second, will you? I'll just let the Doctor know you're here."
"Sure," he smiled, standing back to let her through the door.
The Doctor looked up quickly as soon as she walked through the door and smiled the same, alarming grin as before. It wasn't his normal, care-free and manic grin – this one seemed very forced.
"You're back," he said, with over the top cheerfulness. "Was the walk back ok?"
"Fine," answered Rose, unconcernedly, "There are a bunch of hippies outside, who have been knocking on the door for a while."
"Really?" asked the Doctor, feigning surprise, "Well I didn't hear them. I haven't been in the Control Room the whole time, you know."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Well, you might want to think of somewhere to put the ten of them," she said, disparagingly.
"I'm sure the TARDIS will work something out," he said, not moving.
But as Rose went to open the door, he jumped up and came and stood beside her.
"I really ought," he said through gritted teeth, as a mass of dirty hippies came rushing through the door, "to learn to say 'no' to you, Rose Tyler."
He paused long enough to receive the happy grin Rose flashed him, before jumping to the front of the crowd and shouting, "Ok, follow me and I'll show you to... uh... the party room!"
He led the group, ignoring the many cries of "Groovy!" and "Far-out!" down the corridor and to the first door the TARDIS presented him with. Throwing it open, he stepped back to allow them all to pile into the psychedelic room the TARDIS just happened to have. Then, he slammed the door behind them and locked it.
Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, he turned to walk back to the Control Room when he was stopped by a stern look from Rose.
"You can't just lock them in," she said, in disbelief.
"I can and I will," retorted the Doctor, firmly, "Besides, we can't have them wandering around the TARDIS, can we?"
"Yeah, but you can't just lock them in. I mean, what if someone needs to get out? And what about Ben? He knows it's an alien ship. Thanks to you," she added, quietly.
"Hey," said the Doctor angrily, "I'm just clearing up the mess your boyfriend back there made. So we'll do things my way, thank you very much."
Rose glared at him angrily and incredulously, before muttering, "Unbelievable!" and stalking off.
The Doctor watched her go, a funny feeling rising in his chest. When she had turned the corner and was out of sight- and hopefully out of earshot – he unlocked the door and poked his head inside.
"Ben?" He called, trying to find the man amongst the smoke and lazily reclining hippies, "Ben?"
"Yeah, Doctor?" said Ben, coming to stand in front of him.
"Uh, would you step out here for a few seconds?"
"Yeah, sure," Ben followed the Doctor out into the corridor, curiously.
"Right," began the Doctor, gruffly, "Here's the key to this door. You know this is an alien ship and obviously we can't have you guys wandering off everywhere. I want you to keep this in case of an emergency. So keep them in here and don't disturb us."
"Wow," said Ben, taking the key, "That's a lot of responsibility. But I'll be fine with it. How long will this thing take?"
"Not sure," answered the Doctor, vaguely, "Depends, really. Anyway, stay in here and don't let anyone out."
He patted Ben briefly on the back, and then motioned for him to go back inside the room. He watched Ben walk back through the door and stayed until he was satisfied that the door had been locked properly.
"Right," he muttered, "I just hope we don't lose this lot. You hear that?" he said up to the ceiling of the TARDIS, "No games, please."
Then he turned and followed the path Rose had taken.
He found her in the kitchen, fussing around with a kettle.
She looked up as he came in. "Tea?" she asked, agreeably.
"Yeah, alright," said the Doctor, looking pleased, but slightly wary.
"Good. Sit down," said Rose, firmly and bringing out another mug. "Because we need to talk."
Sorry it sucked.
Anyway, the next chapter could very well be the last ever one. So please review, and maybe I'll be really encouraged to update that little bit faster...