Hey guys sorry this chapter is so late, real life has been absolutely insane! I'm doing a recap because it's been so long you've probably forgotten what's just happened.

Previously: "Martha heard the heart-wrenching sound of loud crying… She was met with the sight of her two new friends huddled together on the floor, the Doctor cradling Rose in his arms. Rose was curled into the Doctor's chest, her back to Martha, clutching at his shirt and heaving with devastated sobs… The Doctor was rubbing Rose's back gently, completely focused on the girl in his arms. As Martha watched, debating internally as to whether she should leave them alone or see if they needed help, the Doctor closed his eyes and pressed a gentle kiss to Rose's hair. He tilted his head so that his cheek was resting lightly on the top of her head and opened his eyes, spotting Martha hovering uncertainly in the doorway. His intense brown eyes were impossibly melancholy, and Martha could almost feel herself shrinking under the weight of his tortured gaze. He gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head and she took the hint, backing out of the room and into the corridor.

...

"I'm only going to say this once, but I mean it. If I find out that you purposely did something to hurt Rose, I swear to God, I will get her out of here. I don't care who you are – alien, Time Lord, human, whatever – you won't ever see her again. Got it?"

The Doctor's eyes were wide with horror. "I wouldn't – I'd never…" he spluttered, and Martha relaxed slightly.

"I didn't think so, I was just making sure."

He nodded silently before running a hand through his already messy hair and letting out a resigned sigh.

"She's just said goodbye to the people she loves most in the world," he said quietly."

As soon as he was out of Martha's room, the Doctor made a beeline for his own. He walked swiftly along the halls until he reached it, door slightly ajar the way he'd left it so that he could keep an ear out should Rose need him.

He stepped into the room, careful not to make any noise, and observed the exhausted blonde in the middle of his bed. She was curled in on herself, asleep, and the Doctor doubted that anyone but Rose could look emotionally shattered and absolutely beautiful at the same time.

As he watched she squirmed uncomfortably, reaching out a hand as if seeking comfort. Her forehead was creased and she was muttering brokenly, unable to escape from her heartache even in sleep.

The Doctor toed off his shoes and jacket before lying beside her, the way he'd done every night since Rose's return. She automatically snuggled her face into his chest and draped an arm over his stomach, letting out a sigh. Normally he would get a few hours rest himself, but he decided against it tonight. He didn't really need it and there was a big chance that Rose would wake up in the middle of the night, so instead he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started tinkering with it as best he could without disturbing the woman asleep on his chest.

To the Doctor's surprise, Rose didn't wake up until the next morning. It was almost seven am when she stretched and gave a tremendous yawn.

"Morning," she mumbled. He had a feeling that she didn't yet remember what had happened – Rose was not a morning person.

"Morning," he greeted, somewhat cautiously.

It only took another minute before he felt her stiffen against him. Silence dragged out for so long the Doctor started to worry.

"Rose?"

"I'm going to take a shower," she announced loudly, sliding out of the bed and heading straight for the en suite door without meeting his eyes.

He sighed but let her go. Once the bathroom door shut behind her, he pulled off his rumpled white undershirt and grabbed a fresh one from his drawer. He buttoned it up and took the tie from the old shirt, his jacket, and shoes, from the chair he'd left them on last night before leaving the room to get breakfast.

He reached the kitchen, now fully dressed, and immediately began pulling out the ingredients for pancakes – Rose's favourite. He made enough for Martha too, in case she was up, but he wasn't sure what toppings she liked so he left them plain.

Rose walked in about half an hour later and he slid her plate across the bench as she sat down.

"Ta," she said, eagerly tucking in to the pile of chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. He picked up his own stack (banana with whipped cream) and took a seat next to her.

"Where are we headed today?" Rose asked casually, as if it were a normal morning in the TARDIS.

Taken aback and not quite sure how to handle the situation, the Doctor cleared his throat and replied, "We're going to drop Martha back home and then spend the day wherever you want."

Rose's knife and fork clattered to her plate.

"But we haven't taken her anywhere yet!"

"I know," he replied nervously, tugging on his ear. "But I thought after yesterday, you might not want to… you know. Go anywhere."

Rose bit her lip.

"Doctor…" she started, and he was instantly worried he'd made the wrong call. "That's really sweet, yeah? But… it's not fair to Martha. And besides, I don't want to mope around. I've said my goodbyes, and now I have to move on. I can't promise I'll be completely fine, but I can't stop living just because I miss 'em. I learnt that lesson a long time ago."

She gave him a sad smile and he felt as though his chest would burst with pride. That was his Rose. She never failed to amaze him with the amount of strength and wisdom she possessed.

"You're an incredible person, Rose Tyler," he said, slightly awed.

"Shut up," she laughed, slapping his arm playfully.

"I mean it!" He insisted. She rolled her eyes but he could've sworn her cheeks turned a shade pinker. Once again he was struck by just how beautiful she was. It almost surprised him how much he wanted to lean in and kiss her. She gazed up at him and his breathing hitched. What was stopping him again?

Martha choose that moment to stroll in, thankfully not appearing to notice the Doctor jerking away from Rose as though he'd been shocked, and exclaimed, "This place is huge! Why do you need three poolrooms? Took me forever to find my way here."

"Yes, well, you never know when you might need more than one," the Doctor informed her, avoiding Rose's eyes. "I made you some pancakes – they might be a bit cold now."

Martha gave a grateful smile and took her plate from the counter.

"So, there's been a slight change of plans," he announced as she started to eat. "Looks like you'll be getting your thank-you trip today after all!"

"Brilliant! But I thought…" She glanced uncertainly at Rose, who smiled reassuringly.

"Nah, couldn't deprive you of the chance to travel in time!"

Martha still seemed unsure and Rose added, "Really, it's okay."

Martha nodded, obviously deciding not to push the topic, and the Doctor heaved himself off his seat and began bouncing impatiently on his heels. "What are we waiting for? Allons-y!"

"Hang on, I haven't finished breakfast yet!" Martha protested, but followed him and Rose as they left the kitchen regardless.

"So how long have you two known each other?" Martha asked as the trio made their way to the console room.

"Ah, bit of tricky question," the Doctor answered. "Time travel tends to make things a bit complicated."

"Yeah, near as I can tell we've been travelling together for just over two years," Rose tried to clarify. "But I've known him for about five – although technically I met him in 2005, which is three years ago for you. And the Doctor's known me for almost three and half years, even though I've only travelled with this him for over a year."

"I'm sorry I asked!" Martha laughed.

They reached the console room and the Doctor started the dematerialisation sequence. Rose had been around long enough that she knew which buttons to press so she rushed to help.

"So you two can travel anywhere in time or space?" Martha confirmed, standing near the jump seat.

"Oh yes!" The Doctor cried enthusiastically, and with a jerk of one lever they took off bumpily.

"But how do you travel in time?" Martha wondered, "What makes in go?"

Rose thought it was a decent question – she'd never thought about it like that – but the Doctor, who was winding a lever on the side of the console, groaned in exasperation.

"Oh, let's take the fun and the mystery out of everything. Martha, you don't want to know, it just does. Rose drag the fragmentiser towards you."

Rose had no idea which was the fragmatiser so she took a random guess and looked up for confirmation.

"No, the one on your left," he indicated with a nod of his head, both of his hands in use.

She touched a lever to her left and he cried, "No, your other left!"

"My right?"

"Same difference, really."

She laughed and moved around until she was next to Martha, yanking down on the appropriate lever at the same time the Doctor pressed a button with his foot.

"Hold on tight!" He cried, switching a dial.

The three were thrown off balance as the TARDIS landed with a crash.

"Blimey!" Martha exclaimed. "Did you have to pass a test to fly this thing?"

"Yes, and I failed." He raced around the room, pulling on his overcoat.

"Not a word," he added to Rose, who had opened her mouth to tease him. She snapped it shut with a grin and mimed zipping her lips.

"Good. Now, make the most of it," he addressed Martha, picking up her jacket and shoving it into her hands before moving to the ship's entrance. "I promised you one trip, and one trip only. Outside these doors – 'Brave New World'."

Rose skipped to his side and they both turned to Martha wearing matching grins.

"Where are we?" The girl asked, glancing excitedly between the two of them.

"Take a look," the Doctor suggested, opening the door without looking outside.

"You first," Rose offered, remembering the way the Doctor had let her go ahead on her own first trip.

Martha made her way towards where they stood, moving past them to step outside.

"Oh, you're kidding me," Rose heard her say as the Doctor followed her out, taking Rose's hand and tugging her with him. "You're so… kidding me – Oh my God, we did it! We… travelled in time."

They were in a crowded street, somewhere on Earth. Probably London, Rose assumed. Judging by the style of clothes she guessed early 1600's, and the foetid smell all but confirmed it. She'd long since gotten used to being bombarded with strange sights and smells after stepping out of the TARDIS, but Martha was, understandably, astounded.

"Did you doubt us or something?" Rose grinned, nudging her new friend lightly.

Martha gave her a sheepish smile and all three of them laughed.

"Don't worry, I know what it's like. It's a lot to take in," Rose assured her.

"You can say that again!" Martha said. "Where are we? No, sorry, gotta get used to this – whole new language. When are we?"

"Mind out!" The Doctor cried in alarm, pulling the two girls backwards just as a barrage of what appeared to be brown liquid landed where they'd just been standing.

Rose heard a faint cry from above call, "Gardy loo!"

"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet," the Doctor stated in response to Martha's query, and Rose crinkled her nose as she realised how close they'd been to having human waste poured over them. She'd been covered in a variety of unpleasant substances during her years travelling with the Doctor, but that didn't make it any less disgusting.

"Sorry about that," the Doctor was apologising to Martha.

"I've seen worse," she assured them as the man above closed the window. "I've worked late night shift A&E."

"What was that he shouted, Doctor? 'Gardy loo?'" Rose asked curiously.

"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the 'p'. "It's borrowed from the French phrase 'Gardez l'eau' which means 'watch out for the water'. Mind you, it's not really water, but you get the message."

The pair started to move off, but Martha called out after them.

"But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?"

They turned to face her in confusion.

"Of course we can," the Doctor answered, bewildered. "Why do you ask?"

She stared at them as though they were missing something obvious.

"It's like in the films – you step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race!"

"Tell you what then, don't…" He nodded as if to say 'you know' "… step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?"

They all started walking down the street and Martha tried again. "What if, I dunno, what if I kill my grandfather?"

"Are you planning to?"

"No," she laughed, and Rose smiled, thoroughly amused.

"Well then…"

"And this is London?" Martha checked.

"Think so," the Doctor said. "Round about..?" He trailed off and raised his eyebrows expectantly at Rose.

"Hmm, early 1600's?" She ventured.

"Ohh, so close," he assured her. "I'd say 1599."

"Come on!" She protested good-naturedly , "One year off! I'm counting that as a win."

"Oh, but hold on," Martha interrupted suddenly. "Am I alright? I'm not going to get carted off as a slave, am I?"

Rose bit her lip anxiously – she hadn't thought about that. She glanced at the Doctor to see if he thought it'd be okay, but he was staring at Martha, perplexed.

"Why would they do that?" He asked in genuine concern.

Rose rolled her eyes but he didn't seem to see.

"I'm not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed," Martha pointed out.

The Doctor just shrugged. "I'm not even human. Just walk about like you own the place, it works for me. Besides, you'd be surprised – Elizabethan England, not so different from your time."

"Oh really?" Rose said sceptically.

"Really! Look, over there – " he pointed to man shovelling horse manure into a bucket, "they've got recycling."

They passed two men standing beside a barrel of water and the Doctor nodded in their direction. "Water-cooler moment."

"… and the Earth will be consumed by flame!" An older man cried, preaching to the passers-by.

The Doctor grinned and Rose instantly knew what was next. She bumped him lightly with her hip and they both exclaimed cheerfully, "Global warming!"

Martha was shaking her head with a small smile as she watched the pair of them giggle together.

"Oh, yes, and – " the Doctor remembered suddenly, "Entertainment! Popular entertainment, for the masses. If I'm right we're just down the river by Southwark, right next to…"

He took the girl's hands and the three sprinted down the lane, rounding the corner to see…

"Oh yes! The Globe Theatre!" The Doctor announced proudly, "Brand new, just opened. Though, strictly speaking, it's not a globe it's a tetradecagon, 14 sides, containing the man himself."

"Whoa!" Martha exclaimed, wide-eyed. "You don't mean… Shakespeare in there?"

Rose watched her new friend eagerly and decided that it was no wonder the Doctor always travelled with someone – Martha's excitement was infectious. Rose had never been a huge fan of Shakespeare, but just seeing the other woman's amazement made her glad that this was where they'd ended up.

"Oh, yes!" The Doctor grinned. "Miss Tyler, Miss Jones, will you accompany me to the theatre?" He proffered an arm to Martha and a hand to Rose.

Linking her hand with his, Rose bounced up and down in anticipation, more excited to see their new friend's reaction than the show itself.

"You're a bit keen," the Doctor noted. "I didn't know you were a Shakespeare fan."

"I'm not. I actually don't like his work that much."

"What?! But Shakespeare's a classic! He's one of the greats!" The Doctor argued, aghast.

"Yeah, well, not to me he's not. Could never stand his stuff in school – one of the reasons I dropped out," she joked.

Martha glanced up at her, surprised, before averting her gaze quickly. Rose knew she hadn't done it intentionally, but the fleeting look caused the blonde to regret mentioning the fact that she hadn't finished school.

Rose had long ago gotten over insecurities about her intelligence. Ever since she met the Doctor she'd learnt that there were other, equally important, qualities that she did possess. When she'd been stuck in Pete's world a lot of Torchwood employees had looked down on her for her lack of education, but she'd never let it get under her skin and had proven in field missions again and again that book smarts weren't everything.

Despite all of this, Martha's brief glance reminded her of just how inadequate she must seem compared to her two companions.

The Doctor was talking and she focused on his voice, ignoring the unsettling feelings gnawing at her.

"I can't believe it! The man's a genius, Rose. How can you not like his plays, at least?"

"I dunno," Rose answered, feeling extremely self-conscious now. "I just don't."

The Doctor seemed to pick up on her reserved mood and instantly stopped his incredulous remarks.

"More of a Dickens' enthusiast, then?" He smiled, knowing exactly what to say to cheer her up.

"You got me there," she beamed up at him, momentarily forgetting her concerns.

They were almost at the entrance when the Doctor turned to Martha and said, "Just think, when you go back home you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare."

"Then I could get sectioned!" Martha replied in mock sanguinity, causing Rose and the Doctor to laugh.

"Did you know we're not so far from the Rose theatre?" The Doctor mentioned casually.

"You're pulling my leg," Rose said, eyes narrowing in suspicion, at the same time Martha cried, "Get out of here! You're joshing us."

"I'm not!" He defended himself to the pair of them. "Seriously, it was the most popular theatre until this one opened up. Here we are!"

They reached the entry where a man was holding out a wooden box. As they watched, a couple walked up, dropped a few coins in the box and headed inside.

"I don't have any money," Martha worried, but the Doctor was already digging around in his pockets.

"Won't bother with the psychic paper," he murmured to Rose in an undertone. "It only costs a penny each to stand right in front of the stage."

"Wish the movies back home were that cheap," she grumbled. He grinned in response before dropping the three coins into the box, and the trio headed in.

"This is incredible," Martha gushed as they found a space to stand only a few rows from the front, with Rose squeezed in between her two friends.

"The Yard, this is called. Best seats in the house," the Doctor proclaimed smugly.

Rose refrained from commenting on the lack of literal seats, instead gazing around her.

"I love the theatre," she said aloud. Her two companions gave her equally confused looks, clearly remembering her earlier declaration of disdain for Shakespeare's work. Rose hastened to add, "I don't mean what's on, necessarily, I mean the atmosphere. Look how excited everyone is! Doesn't it make you want to jump around? I feel like I'm part of something really special, corny as that sounds."

"I don't think it sounds corny," Martha reassured her.

The Doctor nodded happily and picked up her hand. "As always, Rose Tyler, we are on the same page. My favourite part of theatre – the sense of community."

They stopped chatting as the play began, Love's Labour's Lost, and Rose's gaze soon wandered around the building admiringly instead of focusing on the show. The place was much larger than she imagined it would be, with three tiers of balconies overlooking the stage from the left, right, and centre. Large red and gold banners hang from the top level, complementing the colours of the torchlight and giving the atmosphere a warm, welcoming feel. People were packed into each section, although one woman caught Rose's eye. She was sitting alone, which was what made her stand out in the first place, and Rose got a funny feeling off her. The woman was watching the actors intensely and twirling something in her hands, but Rose was too far away to make out what it was. She considered pointing her out to the Doctor but he was so enraptured with the performance that she decided against it.

About halfway through she started paying more attention to the play, and she had to admit that it wasn't as boring as she thought it would be, although there were certainly times when jokes that made the audience (and the Doctor and Martha, for that matter) roar with laughter, flew straight over her head. But the actors were fascinating and she caught the basics of what it was about, plus the Doctor and Martha were having a ball so Rose didn't mind too much. She even surprised herself when at the end of the production she found that she wanted to know what happened next.

"Is there a sequel?" She asked the Doctor as the actors took their bows and the audience applauded.

"Mmmm, seems we might have converted you after all," he teased and she rolled her eyes.

"It'd be hard not to be converted, that was amazing, just amazing!" Martha enthused, "It's worth putting up with the smell!"

Rose sucked in a breath and jokingly added, "I dunno about that."

It was the Doctor's turn to roll his eyes, albeit with a smile, and Martha giggled.

"And those are men dressed as women, yeah?" She asked.

"London never changes," the Doctor answered mischievously, making Rose laugh.

"Where's Shakespeare? I wanna see Shakespeare!" Martha said impatiently. She pumped a fist in the air and started to chant "Author, author!" before stopping and checking, "Do people shout that? Do they shout 'author'?"

A man behind her took up the cry and soon the entire audience (including Rose, who had joined in straight away with a grin at the delighted Martha) was echoing the call.

"Well… they do now," the Doctor asserted.

A handsome man in his thirties soon leapt onto the stage, blowing kisses to the audience, inclining his head, and Rose assumed he had to be Shakespeare.

"Oh, he's a bit different to his portraits," Martha noted, and Rose whistled appreciatively.

The Doctor stiffened slightly beside her but only said, "Genius. He's a genius. THE genius. The most human human there's ever been, now we're gonna hear him speak! Always he chooses the best word; new, beautiful, brilliant words."

The man held up a hand to the crowd before crying "Ah, shut ya big fat mouths!", eliciting a loud laugh from the audience and a disappointed look from the Doctor.

"Oh well," he sighed.

"You should never meet your heroes," Martha advised sagely.

Up on stage Shakespeare was still speaking to the crowd. "You've got excellent taste, I'll give you that. Oh, that's a wig!" He pointed to a man in the audience, receiving another large laugh. "I know what you're all saying. Love's Labour's Lost, that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops. Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon."

The crowd erupted with shouts of glee and questions of when. "Yeah, yeah," Shakespeare placated. "All in good time. You don't rush a genius."

He took another bow before staggering back, suddenly off-balance.

"Is he drunk?" Rose whispered.

"I dunno," the Doctor frowned. "Maybe."

"When?" Shakespeare continued after a moment's pause, "Tomorrow night. The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it… Love's Labour's Won."

Smiling at the good news, Rose looked to the Doctor, expecting him to be even more keen than she was. To her surprise he was staring at Shakespeare with a blank stare that she knew meant something wasn't adding up. She squeezed his hand and he snapped out of it, twitching his lips up in what he clearly meant to be a reassuring smile. If anything it worried her more.

Once they the crowd began to disperse the three of them slowly meandered out of the theatre.

"I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of Love's Labour's Won," Martha commented as they made their way back into town.

"Exactly," the Doctor answered seriously. "The lost play. It doesn't exist, only in rumours. It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. And no one knows why."

"Does that mean we'll get to see the ending even though no one back home will?" Rose wondered eagerly.

"Maybe," the Doctor allowed. Rose wished she knew what he was thinking.

"Have you got a mini-disc or something?" Martha asked. "We can tape it. We can flog it! Sell it when we get home and make a mint."

"No." Rose and the Doctor said in unison.

"That would be bad," Martha concluded.

"Very," Rose warned. "We once travelled with an idiot who drilled a hole in his head just so he could make money back home."

"He was your boyfriend," the Doctor reminded her.

She squinted at him. So he was going to play dirty, huh?

"Well," she stage-whispered to Martha, hoping to cause a reaction from the Doctor, who had moved in front of them. "He might've been a moron but he wasn't half-bad to look at."

She was delighted when the Doctor practically growled in annoyance, although he didn't look back them.

Martha grinned at her and nodded at the Doctor's back, giving her a silent look that Rose had seen from her best mate growing up, Shareen, so many times she'd lost count. It meant 'you two are an item and you can't convince me otherwise'.

Rose shook her head half-heartedly, trying to deny it, but Martha just smirked at her.

Rose cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject.

"So, Love's Labour's Won?" She prompted.

Martha's smile said she knew exactly what Rose was doing, but thankfully she went along with it anyway.

"Yeah, how come it disappeared in the first place?"

"Well… I was just going to give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS, but I suppose we could stay a bit longer," the Doctor smiled over his shoulder at them. "Okay with you, Rose?"

"Absolutely!" She beamed. "Let's solve a mystery!"

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