They raced along the many corridors, and as they neared Rose's room, they caught a stinking whiff of bad breath, which could only mean one thing.
And sure enough, there was Margaret, or rather Blon, standing over Rose's bed, clutching Mr Tedopoulos delicately in her undamaged claws. She was just standing there, watching Rose, which the Doctor found both curious and alarming. He wanted to shout, but that would only wake Rose, and then there would be real trouble.
"Blon!" he hissed from the doorway. "Get away from her! Leave her alone!"
"But I'm not doing her any harm. I'm just watching her," Blon cooed softly.
"Slitheen don't just watch people sleep! They usually kill them, or something equally as nasty!"
"Well perhaps I've changed Doctor..." Blon said as she started back for the door, so as not to wake Rose - Mr Tedopoulos still clutched in her huge claws.
"Oh don't think you're going to convince me to give you another chance!" the Doctor snapped as soon as Rose's door was closed behind them and they were out in the corridor. "I gave you another chance, and you blew it!"
"Oh please Doctor...please spare me! I never meant to hurt her in the office either. If I can get her to see my point of view and forgive me by the time we reach Raxacoricofallapatorius, will you spare me? Take me to my family instead?" Blon pleaded. She'd given up begging for her life after her failed attempts last time, but now Rose had given her a strange new hope.
The Doctor knew that this was just Blon's way of cheating death again, but then he also knew how stubborn and unforgiving Rose could be too. He had a sudden flashback to the time he and Rose had visited the 1800's and met creatures called the Gelths. Rose had certainly let rip at the undertaker called Mr Sneed then.
They were in a comfortable, wood-panelled parlor, and Rose was in a fine temper. She held a walking stick in her hand and was going right at Mr Sneed who was cowering in a chair. The Doctor stood by the fireplace, happy to just watch, Charles Dickens stood back, unwilling to join in and Gwyneth the maid was meekly handing round tea.
"First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me - and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man -" Rose was ranting at him.
"I won't be spoken to like this," Sneed tried to protest, but his complaints fell on deaf ears as Rose continued.
"And then you stack me in a room full of Zombies! And if that isn't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on! Talk!
That had certainly done the trick, and after that, Sneed had spilled everything.
At last he decided that as long as no harm came to Rose, then he didn't see any reason why Blon shouldn't try and earn her freedom. It didn't mean he actually had to grant her freedom, but if she was willing to work for it, perhaps he could put her to good use.
"Alright. On your own head, be it! But you wait until she's awake, you hear! I don't want you going and waking her up again after she's only just gone back to sleep. She needs her rest!"
"Oh thankyou Doctor, thankyou! You won't regret this, I promise you!" Blon exclaimed in delight, and if the Doctor hadn't pulled his hand out of her way, he suspected she would have kissed it.
"Now, give Rose her bear back and go back to your cell. There's a good little monster. I'll send Rose down when she wakes up," The Doctor said, and he was his usual bubbly self again.
"Of course, Doctor," Blon agreed willingly as she handed the bear back to the Doctor and allowed Jack to lead her away. As he did so, Jack gave the Doctor a look that said I hope you know what you're doing!
"So do I," the Doctor muttered as he took Rose's bear and set it gently on her pillow beside her. "Night Rose," he whispered as he backed out of the door again.
Rose just stirred a little, mumbled something and then buried her head in her pillow, hugging her bear to her as she did. It was at times like this that the Doctor realised how Rose was still just a child at heart.
oOo
Jack was in his room later, pulling off his boots. He let out a sigh of relief as his feet came free of the restrictive leather. He'd been wearing them all day and now his feet felt hot, swollen and sweaty. After letting them air a bit by taking off his socks and letting his feet dangle over the side of his bed, he decided he'd better go and grab the bathroom before the Doctor did, because the Doctor could spend hours at a time in there, doing God-knows-what.
However, as he came to the door he saw that there was a light on and the rays were shining under the door.
Typical! Jack thought. He glanced at his watch. Midnight. Well, it was either wait up for the Doctor to finish, or go and find one of the other bathrooms, which could take just as long to find as if he waited for the Doctor to finish.
At last he decided on the second choice, but then as he turned to go, he heard something that made him freeze. It was a wretching, gagging sound, as though someone were being sick. He pressed his ear to the door to find out who it was. It was a female...
"Rose? You alright?" he called through the door. There was silence for a moment, then there was the flush of the toilet, and the sound of running water.
"Rose? I said, are you alright?" he called again after there was still no answer. He was just getting ready to knock the door down when it opened to reveal Rose, looking seriously pale and unwell. Her face was wet, and over her shoulder, Jack could see water draining out of the sink. The shadows round her face were intensified by the poor lighting and her pale skin, making her look almost ghost-like.
"I'm fine Jack, honestly," she said with a forced smile that didn't convince him one bit.
"No your not. You're ill."
"I'm not. Look, I probably just ate something dodgy at Mum's. She never checks the dates on anything."
"Could it have been that packet of jaffa cakes you and the Doctor scoffed? I told you that if you ate the whole pack right after those three eclairs, and that victoria sponge it'd make you sick!"
This time Rose's grin was genuine. "Yeah. Serves me right, I s'pose. Shows I should listen to you more often then, don't it!"
"Well if you're sure your alright?" Jack was suddenly serious again, but he could see the colour slowly returning to Rose's cheeks.
"Yeah, I feel much better now. A good nights sleep and I should be back to normal," Rose assured him, resting a hand on his shoulder. He could feel the warmth flowing through her fingers, despite how icy cold her skin felt, so in the end he decided that there couldn't be much wrong with her. And after all, Rose wasn't one to keep something like that from them. If she was unwell, she'd usually be seeking their sympathy by making out she was ten times worse than she already was...or was that the Doctor? Either way, she never hid her feelings from them.
"Well, do you want me to take you back to your room?" he offered, but Rose shook her head.
"Honestly Jack, you're as bad as my mother! Fussing over nothing! I'm fine! It's not like I'm gonna keel over and die!" she grinned again and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Night Jack."
"Night Rose," Jack said in a kind of daze, as he raised two fingers to touch the spot where she had kissed him. Rose felt rather pleased with herself as she went back to her room. Her little distraction had caused him to forget about how she was feeling, allowing her to escape before he could ask any more.
"Oh," she turned on the spot to face him, a huge grin across her face again. "Next time I'm in there, don't you dare think about breaking that door down! Otherwise you'll get a slap!" She said it light heartedly, but Jack couldn't help feeling a little ashamed. What if he had broken down the door. That would have been so embarrasing!
Rose went back to her room and gently shut the door behind her, then sighed and flopped on her bed. She had to admit that she wasn't feeling better, despite what she'd told Jack. Infact she was feeling worse. But then she didn't want to worry the Doctor. It was just a cold that she'd picked up from spending too long in the snow. Nothing for him to worry about. He'd tell her she was just being silly.
Realising she was still fully dressed, she pulled her night clothes from under her pillow, dumped her old clothes at the bottom of her bed and snuggled back down under the warm covers. Before she drifted off to sleep again, she coudln't help wondering why there was a funny smell lingering in her room.
Down at the bottom of her bed, her trainers flashed a dull blue as they repaired the minor rip in the lining. At the same time, the same dull light flickered across the duvet that the trainers were sitting on and surrounded Rose's whole body for a moment, before dying down into darkness again.