Disclaimer: I don't own them. If anything, they own me.

Chapter Two – The Green-Eyed Monster

Jack ran into Rose in the bathroom a short while later. She was trying to keep her balance on her right foot while she washed her left foot in one of the sinks. He put an arm out to steady her and she smiled at him gratefully.

"Some form of bathroom yoga that I'm not aware of?" he teased.

"No," she laughed. "Got myself bitten somewhere along the way, just trying to get it cleaned up."

He looked at the foot in question, and there was indeed a small set of teeth marks right above the arch. He looked to the discarded pair of boots on the floor – the left one seemed to have born the brunt of the bite.

"Looks like a rat bite," he suggested.

"No, I've had one of those before. I lived in the dodgy end of London, ya know," she said by way of explanation. "Rats can't bite through boots, 's why I started wearing them."

"Huh," Jack remarked idly. "Broke the skin, though. You up to date on all your shots?" he joked. "Sit down, I'll wash it out. Let Papa Jack take care of you."

"You sure I don't need those shots to protect me from you?" she said, relaxing under his ministrations.

"I don't bite," Jack assured her. "Unless you want me to, that is." He winked at her.

They were both still laughing a few minutes later when the Doctor walked in to find Jack putting Rose's sock back on her foot. The Doctor's eyes narrowed at the picture before him.

"Going to ask him for an aspirin, were you?" the Doctor said, unable to keep the accusatory tone out of his voice.

Rose pulled her foot out of Jack's grasp and stood up. "It's not what it looks like," she protested. The Doctor put a hand up to stop her.

"Don't bother, you don't have to explain anything to me." He walked out.

Jack looked at the door swinging shut behind the Doctor, then at Rose. "Jealous much?" he asked. She shrugged, and Jack shook his head. The complex relationship between the Doctor and Rose was something he was still puzzling out. "So, you wanted some aspirin?" he asked.

"Love some," she replied.

"Well then, your wish is my command," he told her as he led her out of the room.

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A few hours later, the aspirin hadn't helped any more than the sonic screwdriver and Rose's head felt like it was splitting down the center. Still, she felt as if she had to explain herself to the Doctor. The interior of the TARDIS was huge, but that would still be too small for three if one of them was a jealous Doctor convinced that Rose and Jack were together. She made her way slowly to the Control Room, trying not to put too much weight on her left foot.

The Doctor was lying on the floor beneath the console, fiddling with some wires. She sat down on the floor beside him and gently touched his knee to let him know she was there.

"What do you want?" he growled. Rose put a hand to her head to stop the throbbing.

"Look, about Jack," she started.

"I told you," the Doctor interrupted, "there's no need to explain. We stop somewhere, you pick up another stray--"

"Wait just a minute!"

"—Adam, Jack, next stop there'll be another one," he continued.

"That's bollocks!"

He pulled himself out from under the console and sat up to glare at her, blue eyes blazing almost black in anger. "Is it Rose? Because let me tell you, you're setting a less-than-flattering precedent here. You don't watch out, you're gonna end up with a reputation as the universe's biggest tart."

She slapped him across the face. The sound seemed to echo in her head and she winced as much from that as from the sight of her red handprint still very much in evidence on his cheek. She looked at the floor as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Yeah," he answered in a tightly controlled voice. "I think you'd better go now."

"Right." Head down, Rose went off toward her room.