Not sure I'm happy with this, but... Sorry if I'm a little off on the accents and terms. I've lived in Glasgow, been to London a couple times and was partly raised by my Scottish grandparents, but all that did was kill my accent to where no one can tell where in America I come from. shrugs So, please forgive in errors in that way and if you correct me or give me pointers on doing better, I'll be forever grateful!
I hope everyone enjoys! And I'm glad that you enjoyed the Prologue. Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much. Even if it does have some introspection...
Of course, as always, I adore constructive criticism. .
Rose poked her head out from her cocoon of blankets to glare at her alarm clock. It read that it was seven o'clock in the morning, but the sounds from the kitchen indicated that the Doctor had decided it was closer to nine o'clock. She'd made him promise to wait until at least then to do anything noisy in the kitchen. She was still healing from her encounter with the Tronch the week before and needed her sleep.
Groaning, Rose dug her way out from under her pink duvet and pushed herself to her feet. Her chest still burned slightly at the action, but it had improved to where it was barely noticeable now. She padded over to her robe and threw it on before continuing out the door.
The smell of cooking bacon and burning toast greeted Rose in the hallway. She followed the aroma to where the Doctor stood attempting to flip a pancake using only his skills with a frying pan. It didn't seem that he had much skill by the way he kept trying the same motion with his arm over and over again.
Rose shook her head. "Doctor, what are you doing? It's only seven!"
The Doctor started and the jump seemed to run right through his arm. The pancake finally left the pan still in his hand, flew into air and came back down to land on the Doctor's head. He turned and stared at Rose accusingly as the half-cooked pancake dribbled down his hair and face.
Rose stifled her laughter and lifted a hand to hide the smile that had managed to force its way out. The Doctor's frown deepened. Rose stepped forward and pulled off a large piece of the more solidified part of the pancake. "You know, you might wanna cook that a little better before trying to flip it next time."
"I had it all under control until you came barging in. Ruined everything! Couldn't you have warned me you were standing there?" The Doctor's look turned petulant.
Rose grinned and reached for a hand towel. She started wiping the dripping pancake off him. "I don't think it would have turned out any differently if I had. You're just a cocky cook."
The Doctor gave a slight growl and took the towel from her. "Fine then! You can finish making breakfast." He turned and started out of the kitchen.
Rose laughed and called after him, "It'll be safer that way!"
"Cheeky!" Rose heard a slap. "Ahh!"
"What's the meaning of making so much racket so early on a Saturday morning! Be quiet or go back to where you came from," Rose heard her mother's voice ring out from down the hall.
Rose shook her head and turned back to the stove. Grabbing the abandoned frying pan, she poured some more batter into it and reached for a spatula. She heard her mother shuffle into the room and sit down at the small table behind her.
"Morning, Rose. Did you cause the destruction of my kitchen or was that him?"
Rose looked around her and noticed for the first time that the counter was full of broken egg shells, covered in white power and had spots where the Doctor had obviously dropped some bacon grease. The floor near the counter was also coated with the white flour and she could make out hers and the Doctor's footsteps in the powder. Rose sighed and flipped the pancake.
"This was him. He imagines himself a better cook than he really is."
Jackie snorted, "Is there any hot water for tea at least?"
Rose looked over at the kettle and nodded. "Yeah, hold on." She flipped the pancake, tested it and then added it to a plate of three others the Doctor had managed to finish already. After spraying the pan and pouring more batter into it, Rose got down three tea cups. She threw a tea bag in each and added the hot water.
"Here. You'll have to add your own fixings," Rose told her mother as she slowly moved all three cups to the table.
"Ah, good! One for me too then." Rose looked up at the doorway to see the Doctor grinning at her, his eyes bright, his skin glistening and his hair still dripping slowly onto his already wet shirt.
Rose rolled her eyes and turned back to the stove. "That was fast."
"Was just a little batter. Though I think Jackie here's slap might have cooked it a bit more."
Rose had her back to the Doctor and her mother, but she could just see the glare her mother was shooting the probably grinning Time Lord. She got down some plates and checked her pancake.
"You really need a bigger frying pan, Mum. Just enough to cook two pancakes at a time anyway," Rose told her mother as she brought over first the plates, then the burnt bacon.
"Don't really need it, do I? With you off running around who knows where? Or when!"
"Not even for your boyfriend, Jackie? I seem to remember his dressing gown indicating he has a healthy appetite."
A long pause followed that. Unnerved at the silence, Rose turned to see Jackie glaring at the Doctor. She sighed and shook her head. Her mother was easy to annoy in the morning and it seemed the Doctor felt like playing with fire today.
"Well, Rose and I will have to go shopping after breakfast anyway. You two clean me out of food every time you come by for a visit. Who said you could join us for meals anyway?"
"Mum," Rose exclaimed, throwing an irritated look over her shoulder. The glance had been quick, but she had noticed her mother didn't seem particularly annoyed or angry. And the Doctor was still grinning.
'Leave it to those two,' Rose thought, 'to argue for fun first thing in the morning.'
"I'll come along to carry your bags to make up for it."
Now Rose thought she might have heard a faint growl come from her mother. "No, you won't. You're going to clean up my kitchen. It could be condemned for all you've done to it."
"It's not that bad…" Rose detected a hurt tone creeping into the Doctor's voice.
"Then you won't mind taking care of it," she told him, turning off the stove and bringing over the pancakes.
"You too, Rose?" He turned large brown eyes on her in what she considered to be his version of a puppy-dog look. It usually had the power to do her in, but Rose wasn't going to fall for it today.
"You did make the mess, Doctor." She got out the rest of their condiments and sat down to her own breakfast.
"You cooked the pancakes," he told her.
"You'd already made a mess mixing them. And cooking the bacon. How did you make such a mess cooking bacon?"
The Doctor swallowed his latest bite. "See if I ever cook for you again…"
"It's already a rare enough occasion I doubt I'll even notice."
"He cooks for you on the TARDIS," Jackie asked, her tone incredulous.
"Oi!" The Doctor threw Jackie a genuine hurt look. "You don't think I take care of her?"
"Judging by the bacon, no."
"Well, that's gratitude for you," the Doctor grumbled. "I save the world, you and your daughter how often, and this is the treatment I get."
"You still need to clean the kitchen," Rose told him, taking a bite of her pancakes.
"Fine, fine. You two go off and enjoy yourselves while I bond with the dishes."
"And don't forget the floors," Jackie told him.
"Or the counter! Don't want it getting jealous." Rose grinned as the Doctor gave an exaggerated sigh. She reached over to pat his hand. "Maybe if you're good, I'll bring you something back."
The Doctor frowned. "You're patronizing me…"
Rose laughed. She controlled an urge to kiss his forehead. His hair was bad enough without being sticky with whatever syrup had managed to cling to her mouth while she ate.
"Then again…" The Doctor leaned back in his chair, seemingly deep in thought about something. "Some Jelly Babies would be nice. My fourth self used to love them and I've been thinking about having some again lately."
Rose shifted in her seat. His fourth incarnation. Wasn't that about the time he'd known Sarah Jane? A shot of emotion, fear and sadness all rolled into one, surged through her. Rose finished up her pancake and hoped her feelings didn't show on her face.
"I'm going to get ready," Jackie announced, standing.
Rose looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I'd better go too."
"Hey," the Doctor exclaimed as she stood up. "Who's going to help me clean the table?"
"We already told you, that's your job." Rose smiled at him and turned to follow her mother.
"Rose." The Doctor's serious tone made her stop and look back at him. His sharp eyes seemed to search her face for the answers to unasked questions. She shook her head, he'd probably just noticed her reaction to the reference to his fourth incarnation.
"I'll be out in a few minutes!"
She thought she heard him grumble something to the effect of, "Few minutes, my foot," but she wasn't at all annoyed by it.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
"So what's happened between you two?"
The question came out of nowhere a couple hours later as Rose and her mother looked through the breads on their way to the milk. They'd actually just been discussing the merits of buying some doughnuts and Rose had wondered what type the Doctor would prefer, since the grocery didn't have his favorite.
Rose stopped and turned to stare at her mother. "What do you mean? The Doctor just thought I'd recover better at home where nothing bad would happen to interrupt."
Jackie shook her head and locked onto her daughter with a look that Rose knew. It meant that she wasn't going to escape without telling her mother everything she wanted to know.
"You know what I mean. You've fancied him almost from the start. And that was when he still looked much too old for you instead just too old. What's happened between you since then? You two are as close as I've seen anyone, and that includes married couples."
Rose sighed and tossed a pack of jelly doughnuts in her hand basket. "Nothing's happened. We're just…best friends I guess."
Jackie and Rose started walking towards the milk again. After a minute, Jackie commented, "You want to be more."
Rose shrugged, keeping her face averted from her mother's knowing eyes. "He doesn't."
Jackie snorted and Rose knew she was refraining from saying something.
"I'd think you'd be happy about that. After all, it means, one day, he'll take me home and leave me."
"Rose…"
Rose snuck a glance at her mother, surprised to see her mother staring sadly at her as they walked. They stopped at the milk and Rose grabbed a bottle before Jackie finally continued.
"Rose, I want you to be happy. Not miserable, even if you are home with me."
Rose took a deep breath and gave her mother a smile that only held a hint of the sorrow the thought of being left behind caused her. "I'm happy now, Mum. A lot of the people, women, I've met have told me, 'The Doctor's worth the monsters and the heartbreak.' And they're right."
"Women?"
"Sarah Jane, she used to travel with the Doctor too. But he had to leave her behind one day. And then later we met Madame du Pompadour. She said it too…"
"The uncrowned queen of France? What was she like?" Trust her mother to know about royalty, even French royalty.
"Rude, mainly."
"Hmm…"
It was silent for a few minutes as the two women wandered into the vegetable aisle. Rose gave the carrots as much attention as she could to distract herself from the conversation. She picked out a bunch held together by a tough rubber band and moved to examine the leeks.
"Now I know something's wrong. You hate leeks."
"But you love them. And I doubt the Doctor and I will be around much longer."
"Still planning on going off with him, then?" Jackie reached past her daughter and grabbed a bunch of the leeks seemingly at random.
Rose straightened, "Of course. Wouldn't give it up for anything."
"It'll hurt worse if you have to later," Jackie told her, steering her towards the registers.
"Hang on. I need to get the Doctor his Jelly Babies."
Rose pulled away from her mother and turned down the middle aisle. She hurried through, dodging the other customers, until she found the candy aisle. She bit her lip as she wandered down it a bit more slowly.
A moment later, her mother had caught up to her. "Find them?"
Rose shook her head. "No, I can never find anything in the candy aisle when I'm actually looking for it." She grabbed a bag of Cadbury Chocolate Dots and kept hunting for the fruitier, and chewier, items. Finally, she found them. "Ah hah! They couldn't hide from me forever."
Jackie rolled her eyes. "You're becoming more and more like him the longer you're away."
Rose grinned at her mother as she threw the Jelly Babies in her basket.
Jackie shook her head, sighing as she guided her daughter to a check out. She pulled over a separator and began emptying her basket. Occasionally, her hand bumped one of Rose's as the other woman also emptied out her basket.
"Here," Jackie said after a minute and handed Rose her basket. "Put this under for me."
Rose took the basket and put it inside her own before turning to drop them in their place below the end of the belt. Her turn took her face first into a warm, hard surface. Rose jumped back, narrowly missing her mother. She stared up into dark eyes framed by longish auburn hair that fell haphazardly around a pale face. The man smiled a large, crooked smile down at Rose. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize you were there!"
"It's alright. I must have been standing too close." His voice held an odd accent Rose had never heard before, but its velvety, deep tone instantly worked to put her at ease.
Rose smiled back at him, never noticing that her free hand had started smoothing down her shirt. She jumped as the baskets hit her thigh when her other hand moved to follow the first's example.
"Let me take those," the man said, reaching out for the baskets.
"Ta." Rose handed them to him, feeling her face flush slightly. She'd faced insane homicidal aliens and now she could barely face meeting one cute guy? Though he wasn't just cute, he was extremely cute, almost as cute as the Doctor.
"Come on, Rose," Jackie broke in suddenly. "Start putting the groceries in bags. We need to get back."
"Bye," Rose told the man. He gave a little wave and she moved to start bagging their groceries. Rose could feel the man's eyes on her as she moved to start bagging the food. She put the candy in with the bread last and straightened up.
"Finished," Rose said. Her mother finished putting away her wallet and grabbed a bag. Rose looked over to wave at the man, but he was gone now. She blinked and followed her mother. He'd probably just found another line that was open before theirs.
The walk back was nice. The clouds had cleared away, leaving a bit of sunshine to offset any chilliness of that might be lingering from the night before. There were more people out now than there had been on the way to the store, so they were a bit slower this time.
They were just passing the post office when Jackie stopped. Oh, I forgot I needed to mail a letter."
"A letter? To who?"
"There's a contest going on for a new talk show I've started watching. I'll just be a minute."
Rose turned to start in and a flash caught her eye. She looked through the glass at the convenience store section's counter. Trisha Delaney was working the register, handing a box of cigarettes to her customer.
"Um, I think I'll wait out here, Mum." Rose moved to stand next to the doorway where she would be hit by the door or, hopefully, noticed by Trisha.
Jackie shrugged and put her bags at Rose's feet. "I'll be right back."
Rose watched her enter the Post Office then placed her own bags on the ground next her mother's. She slumped back against the wall behind her and took several deep breaths.
Seeing Trisha again had reminded her of Mickey, and made her feel guilty. Mickey had dated Trisha, but still been in love with Rose. And she had played with his heart until he'd preferred living in another dimension without any version of herself. She hadn't meant to hurt him, but she couldn't help it. Rose wondered if Trisha felt the same way about Mickey that he had felt about her. If she was as heartbroken at Mickey's loss as Rose was. She hoped not. She may have taken Mickey for granted, but she really did miss him.
She twisted around just enough to catch a glimpse of her mother. She'd lost a version of her in that world as well and now couldn't help worrying about losing her or the Doctor like she had that Jackie and Mickey. She knew it was a nearly impossible to keep them around forever. The Doctor would leave her one day and her mother would die eventually. But none of it would be because she hadn't done everything she could to keep them safe and happy. She just hoped to avoid hurting more Trisha Delaney's in the process.
The line must have been short for once, because Jackie reappeared just then. Rose straightened up and smiled at her mother.
"Just a minute, Rose. I want to mail this and then we can go," Jackie said as she sailed past.
Rose sighed and bent over, reaching for the grocery bags. A hand grabbed her arm in a grip that was so tight, it was painful. Rose's head snapped up to see her attacker. It was the man from the grocery, only he wasn't smiling now. She opened her mouth to scream.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
The Doctor sat slumped on the sofa. The television was on. Some brainless and utterly stupid (in his opinion anyway) game show was on, but he was ignoring it. The news was supposed to be on soon. At least he thought it was supposed to be soon. He hadn't really paid that much attention and only wanted it for something semi-intelligent to listen to as he waited for Rose and Jackie to come back.
He stood and wandered back into the spotless kitchen. He stopped in the doorway and looked around at the practically sparkling room. He'd be proud of the job he'd done cleaning, but that'd be too domestic and he hated the thought of being domestic. Still, he couldn't help but grin as he imagined Jackie's face when she realized the kitchen was cleaner than it had been before he cooked breakfast. More organized too.
He crossed the room and made himself a cup of tea. That was what he needed to help him pass the time, a good cup of tea to help his thought processes distract him from the fact he was alone in an early 21st century flat.
Rose had said they would only be a minute, but it had been far more than a minute since she had left. More than half an hour had past in fact. But then, he hadn't expected them to be fast. A mother and daughter would undoubtedly be catching up as quickly as possible on all the gossip and bits of the other's life they had missed while separated. The same was true on Gallifrey as well as Earth and a multitude of other worlds.
The Doctor sat down at the table and studied his tea. He'd chosen a cup that was a little larger with a vine of large blue flowers running around its middle. He figured this was Jackie's newest boyfriend's normal cup. His lips curled up in a smile as he remembered finding the fruit after the battle for Earth the last Christmas. He sighed as he also remembered Rose's relatively easy acceptance of the new him afterwards.
She'd hardly missed a beat, his Rose. She'd been so upset while he was sleeping and regenerating, even believed him dead at one point he was sure, but she'd backed him without missing a beat as he fought. And the only concern about coming with him again was whether or not he'd want her still. That last one was what had stunned the Doctor the most. After all they'd been through, all she'd done and given for his sake, she was afraid he might not want her.
The Doctor took a sip of his tea and wondered if there were any biscuits for him to munch on. He stood and rummaged around in the cabinet before finding an open package of shortbread. Since he knew Jackie wasn't fond of them, he figured she wouldn't mind if he ate a few of them. He could always get her more if she did. He sat down and sank back into both his snack and his thoughts.
He'd wanted to shout that he'd always want Rose that day, but he didn't. He'd simply taken her hand and pulled her as close as he'd dared while planning their next destination. And now the Doctor wondered if he should have told her that he'd always want her, even if he couldn't always have her. When Rose met Sarah Jane, he'd told her. Or he'd tried to. He'd really only managed the reasons why they couldn't be a team forever, as she had obviously thought they could be. And Rose had been terrified of being left behind ever since.
Rose's fear had been what had started the whole fiasco with the Tronch in the first place. Well, she'd had a little help when he discovered their plans to mine a nearby inhabited system's suns, even though that would destroy the system itself.
Rose had, as usual, wandered into trouble with her usual want to help. The Doctor often wondered if he had encouraged her love for helping people a bit too much, but he figured she'd get it right in the end. Rose had met a young woman dressed in a black robe and headdress crying in the street. Rose had stopped to see if she was alright.
"My father was all I had had left. N-now he's d-d-dead. I've no one else," the woman had told Rose. "And I can't make my next rent payment. I had to pay for his cremation instead."
Rose hadn't been able to tell if the story was real or not by looking at the woman, whose species looked to have evolved from a furry reptile, but fathers had always been a blind spot for her. "Doesn't the government have anything to help you?"
The woman had nodded, "Yes… But I don't want to go alone."
So Rose had walked with her to the other side of town and into a building that had resembled a very tall and enclosed colosseum. It probably looked even more like the colosseum now, the Doctor thought. Those "borrowed" explosives had apparently had more punch than he'd realized.
Once in the colosseum, which was actually the Planet's capital City Hall, the woman had led Rose to a desk and Rose had found herself taken into custody. The Doctor still cursed himself for not telling Rose that on this world, women were revered and cared for to the point of insanity. There, women would dress in black robes and headdresses and wander the streets, odd beacons of hope and shelter for all women in need. No one had to ask for help, only accept it.
Except the only thing Rose had needed help from was herself. As soon as they'd discovered she traveled with him, they had wanted to hunt him down and bring him in for abusing a young girl. How he had abused her, the Doctor didn't know. And he hadn't wanted to find out. So he had materialized the TARDIS right inside the government building. That was the point it had all gone severely downhill. Nothing would ever be simple where Rose Tyler was concerned.
The Doctor smiled as he dunked a biscuit into his tea. He sucked the liquid out and bit a piece off. He took a quick sip of his tea and dropped the biscuit. This incarnation seemed to share Jackie's opinion of shortbread. He took another sip of the tea and swished it around his mouth before swallowing.
He'd known when he took Rose on that she would be trouble, but she'd impressed him with her ability to keep up and even surprise him occasionally. She'd managed to shine a little life back into his life and he hadn't realized until then how cold he'd been. He was still lonely and believed he probably always would be without the telepathic touch of his people in his mind, but Rose had slowly started to make him less lonely. She'd become very important to him since he'd first picked her up and he couldn't imagine life without her anymore.
And that was why he both should and couldn't leave her. She was light and life, adventure and laughter. And he was a selfish bastard who needed her. So when he had promised to let her leave him before he left her, he had meant it. He'd also meant his silent vow never to allow her to be hurt again, especially if it was because of him.
The Doctor jumped to his feet, nearly spilling his remaining tea, as the front door opened. He bounded out into the living room, ready to greet Rose and Jackie with one of his crooked grins.
"Wow," the Doctor told Jackie as he moved to collect a few of the bags from her. "You must have bought enough to feed the entire estate!"
Jackie gasped, her eyes shooting up to the Doctor's face. "What are you doing here?"
The Doctor stopped halfway and felt himself go cold. "What do you mean, what am I doing here? Waiting for you two."
"Where's Rose then? Didn't she come back here?"
The Doctor's eyes grew wide. "No, why would she? She was grocery shopping with you."
"But I stopped to mail a letter and when I turned around, she was gone! I thought you'd called her and she'd come running. Wouldn't be the first time, you know!"
The Doctor rushed to grab his coat, but stopped as he noticed the talk show that had come on while he was in the kitchen had been interrupted by a frightened looking woman reporter.
