Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 20

Mickey rode next to Rose in the back of the limousine that evening as they traveled to the Stark Tower. Lewis sat across from them and seem preoccupied.

"What's with you?" Mickey asked.

Lewis smiled back at him. "Nothing. Sorry. Just some things on my mind."

Mickey grinned back at Rose. "I tell Lewis that he doesn't need to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Rose giggled at him.

Mickey held her hand, "You look lovely. He's going to have to roll his tongue back up after he sees you."

She laughed, "I hope you're right."

"I know I'm right."

The car came to a stop. Lewis exited first and then turned to offer Rose his hand.

Mickey smiled at her. "Tell him I said he's a lucky guy."

She kissed his cheek and stepped out of the car.

She didn't even notice the freezing temps but did manage her steps carefully as to not slip on the ice.

Lewis escorted her into the building and was immediately met by four men in suits.

He stopped and introduced Rose to the men and then explained. "These are all our guys and they will be down here, creating a perimeter. You only have to shout if you need help, and they will already be there."

She nodded, "Alright."

"But, I'm not expecting any trouble. And neither should you." He smiled warmly at her. "Extend my greetings to our mutual friend, and have a good time."

She smiled. "Thank you, Lewis."

One of the men spoke, "Right this way, ma'am."

Lewis winked at her and watched her walk away with the four men.

As she turned the corner, he sighed. "John is going to kill me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose walked down the hallway of the lower floor. Before she was ready, they had arrived at a door. The guard who was with her, smiled and asked, "Ready?"

She inhaled deeply and nodded.

He opened the door and walked inside the large room.

She heard his voice before she saw him. "Hang on. Close your eyes."

She stopped and closed her eyes.

She heard Danny thank the guard. The door closed and she felt him take her hand. "Don't open your eyes."

She giggled. "Why not?"

He took her other hand in his and led her into the center of the room. "Hang on."

She felt him let go of her hands. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Lying his head on her shoulder, he whispered. "Alright. Go ahead."

She opened her eyes and found that she was standing in the center of a forest. At least that's what it looked like at first glance. The tall Christmas trees had been decorated in lovely, white twinkling lights. The floor appeared to have false snow on it. The lights danced across everything to give the illusion that it was snowing.

"Pretty, isn't it?" He asked.

"This is amazing."

He stepped next to her. "You are lovely tonight."

She smiled, "Thank you. What is this?"

"It's still decorated from the party. You made it in here before you passed out. Do you remember it?"

"No. And Lewis has told me to just keep it that way."

"Alright." He laughed and looked around the room with her.

She mumbled, "It looks like Christmas feels."

He met her eyes and smiled. "Then, let me be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas."

She smiled, "So American."

"What?"

"Happy Christmas." She corrected him.

He rolled his eyes. "So English."

She giggled.

He was wearing a nice dark suit, with a black oxford that the first button undone.

"Do you ever wear a tie?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I used to wear a noose around my neck. But then remember, I got a divorce."

She laughed.

He took her hand and lead her to a small gazebo that appeared to be made of ice, or glass. She wasn't certain which. A small table for two sat in the middle with two glasses and champagne on ice.

After Danny helped her off with her coat, and she sat down, he opened the champagne. "And we agree that this is a date?"

She smiled, "Yes. A date."

He popped the cork and poured them both a drink. Sitting down across from her, he rose his glass. "I'm already sorry."

She laughed, "For what?"

"I'm sure I'm going to really screw this up so…I'm sorry in advance. Please make a note."

She giggled and they clanged the glasses together.

"So, are you feeling better?"

"Gosh." She shook her head. "That was terrible. Have I thanked you for staying with me?"

He rose his eyebrows in surprise. "Twice. If I remember. Or am I hazy on a possible third last night?"

"Nearly. I still can't believe you were truly asleep."

"It was like a haze." He told her and sipped his champagne. "A haze with…tongues."

"But, you liked it."

"Oh, I did. All of it."

She giggled. "What's your number today?"

"Number?"

"On your stages?"

"Oh." Realizing that she was referring to his "Stages of Grief." "Maybe…I'd say a 5. Are there six or seven?"

"I thought there were eight."

"It has something to do with the International Exchange Rate."

She laughed and shook her head.

"Well, let's use a scale of 10. I'd say I'm a….7.6. Yeah. How about you?"

She sipped her champagne. "I'd say….between a 3 and…."

He made a face and poured himself some more, "3 is still pretty low."

She waved her hand, "Maybe a 4."

"I understand." He nodded, "And honestly….3 may be higher than you have been. Am I right?"

She smiled, "There have been a few times it was higher than that."

He chuckled, "Oh, yes there was."

She cleared her throat, "So, tell me Danny. How long has it been since you've been on a date?"

"Well, I've been off the market for a while." He grinned. "You?"

"Well. It was complicated."

"Complicated?"

"Yeah. I umm…"

"He's the one who did this to you." He pointed at her. "I'm right. Aren't I?"

She closed her eyes. "Umm. No."

"Why would you lie about that?"

"I'm not lying about that-"

"You are. You're making the face."

She groaned, "Maybe you could let me explain-"

"Be my guest…"

She looked up at him in surprise. "Why do you want to know about this?"

He leaned on the table, "You're defensive about him. Interesting. That means you still have your heart all wrapped up in his…evil clutches."

Rose laughed at the explanation. "Evil clutches. Yeah, he would appreciate you saying that about him."

He smiled at her. "I knew it. What was his name?"

"Ummm…. Maybe let's not do the names-"

"Two men?!"

She laughed as she thought about Jack. How he would have appreciated being counted among her heartache. She shook her head and realized it as she spoke, "Gosh. Yes. Honestly, that's really it. You remind me of him."

"What's his name?" He sipped his drink.

"Jack."

"Jack." He repeated. "I like that. Jack. Captain Jack."

She was stunned for a moment. "What?"

Could it be that he knew of him?

Danny smiled. "Well, that's what rank you gave me. Captain Morgan. Right?"

She shook her head. "That's because of what you were drinking that night."

"Really?" He asked. "What was I drinking?"

"How high were you?"

"You can't be high and drunk at the same time, Rosie."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I promise that I've done a great deal of study in this area of science."

"In science?" She asked seriously and then completely lost her composure and began to laugh. Covering her face she couldn't stop for a while.

Danny refilled her drink. "Champagne hits you hard, huh?"

"No!" Rose insisted. "I have just never in my life met anyone like you."

"Really?"

"Yes." She wiped her eyes. "Okay. Sorry. We were talking about-"

He pointed at her, "Your nightmare ex. Times two. Did you date them at the same time?"

She rolled her eyes, "One of them wished."

"Did you wake up with them one morning?"

Rose laughed, "One of them really wished."

Danny looked impressed, "Wow. So, you've only done that with me."

"You know. You're pretty good at this."

He celebrated by slapping the table. "Alright. I'm finally getting the story."

She shook her head. "You are mad."

"Two men!"

"Completely barking."

"Doing it doggy-style."

"No!" She insisted and laughed. "Danny, you are such an idiot."

He smiled, "But, I'm right. There were two."

She took a deep breath. "Yeah. I suppose there were."

"Hmm. So, dating them both at the same time."

"No, let me clear this up. There were two men."

"Okay."

"But, I wasn't dating either of them."

He looked confused for a moment. He held up his finger and took a drink of champagne.

She closed her eyes and shook her head as the thoughts of Jack and the Doctor had made that lump in her throat return again. She swallowed hard.

"So. Let me get this straight." Danny said. "There are two men. One wanted you, but you wanted the other guy."

She looked at him in surprise. "Danny, how do you know this stuff?"

He slapped the table in celebration again. "Touchdown! I wish there was a category like this on Jeopardy. I'd hand someone their ass."

"Danny." She began. "Who told you about this?"

"You did. Just now. See, I'm listening. Not only to the stuff you are telling me, but the stuff you don't want to tell anyone. The stuff that you are hiding inside yourself that wants to get out so badly, that it is beginning to cause you pain."

She sipped her drink and looked at him suspectly.

"I know, it's a cheezy line. I had to say it in a movie once, and it seemed to work here."

Rose laughed at his honestly. "No, you're right. One wanted me and the other one…."

She shook her head.

"You thought he did." He finished her sentence.

She sighed, "Yeah. I guess that's it."

"And that's the one who you don't want to even say his name because you can't even bear to hear it yourself."

She shook her head. "Well, not really. But, well….yes."

"I'm the same way with my ex. I don't want to hear her name." He leaned on the table again. "I really don't want to hear myself say it. It's like….I imagine that my soul would come crashing out of my chest if I did. It's just that bad of a pain."

"Exactly." Rose agreed. "Gosh, Danny. That's really it. It's like it just sits right here."

He mirrored as she pointed at her chest. "Yeah. Right there next to your heart."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "That's it, exactly."

He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Rose. That's hard to deal with."

She grinned and shook her head. "You too. We called him John. He was a Doctor."

He refilled her glass, "Mine was Carolyn. She was a…." He shook his head and refilled his glass.

She nodded.

He sipped his drink and smiled as he looked back up at her. "So, tell me about this Doctor John. Was he a good kisser?"

She closed her eyes tightly. "Yes."

"That's how they get you. So was she."

She wiped her eyes and looked back at him, "So are you. Should I be worried?"

He smiled proudly. "I've already apologized. But, yeah?"

She laughed and brought her glass back up to drink. She was already able to feel the effects of the alcohol, and she didn't mind it one bit. She felt completely at ease sitting there with him talking about this. He seemed to understand her pain exactly.

She sipped her drink and looked at his handsome face. Her mind suddenly was filled with the idea of grabbing him, throwing him on the table, and showing him how much she appreciated his attention. She gripped her champagne tightly in her hand as she heard her voice in her head, reason that she could even blame it on the drink if he was surprised.

He took another drink and winked at her. "Well, I owe this idiot thanks."

"What for?"

"Fucking up his chance so I have one."

She giggled and sipped her drink as she thought. Could she really tell him? Would it ruin everything? What would he think of her? He would probably think she was completely mental. Then again, she was sure of at least one thing.

She sat down her drink. "Danny."

"Rose." He leaned into the table.

"Danny. I want to be honest with you."

"Just let me watch your face and I'll tell you if you are-"

She took both of his hands and looked into his face from across the table. "Danny. I'm going to tell you what is completely the truth."

"Alright. I'm ready."

"My name is Rose Tyler. My parents are Jackie and Peter Tyler. My Dad, Pete Tyler, died when I was a baby. I grew up with a single Mum. I dropped out of high school, never took my exams, and was working in a shop when this man saved me."

Danny sat looking at her. "Saved you? From like a robbery?"

She shook her head. "No. From an alien invasion. See, this…I can't remember what it was even called now …..was sending radio signals out of its body to all of the mannequins on the planet, or something like that. So, he threw some anti-plastic into the…odd being and it killed the signal. Saved the entire planet."

Danny's expression didn't change. "Alright."

"Are you following so far? I did a terrible job explaining that-"

"No, go on, Rosie. Continue."

"Right. So, then…there was Mickey, oh I forgot to tell you that bit. They had kidnapped Mickey, but he didn't seem to care about that at all and see I had to….you know. Why didn't I realize that until now?"

"That he didn't notice that someone you care about had been kidnapped?"

"Yeah." She realized. "And when his head melted all over the panel, you know what?"

"No." He shook his head.

"He didn't even….." She shook her head as she looked away. "Why didn't I see that until now?"

"Sounds like a winner." Danny rose his eyebrow. "What else did he do?"

Rose wiped a tear from her eye and hated the lump that had grown in her throat again. Her anger swelled.

Danny took the opportunity to pour some more champagne in her glass and his.

Tears rolled into her eyes as she became furious. She began to cry. "You know. It's just such shit!"

Danny sat back and watched her. "Completely!"

"I mean, Danny. You don't know. I've seen this man figure out stuff you couldn't imagine."

"Stuff that was important to him. Yeah."

"That's just it. I'm not importa-" She stopped and grit her teeth.

"Rosie, you are very important," Danny reassured her.

"And that's another thing!"

"What's that?"

"When we crashed here, he insisted he could never get me back. But, if he could get a damn message through, why couldn't he have brought himself back here?"

"So, he sent a message?"

"Yes." She wiped her eyes. "And it was complete rubbish, I'm telling you."

"What did it say?"

She closed her eyes and continued, "He could get back here to get me if he wanted to. I mean, what is this rubbish about, 'I can't figure it out.'"

"Maybe he can't." Danny shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, bullshit. He can!" She stopped and looked surprised to see Danny sitting there. "Umm."

Danny smiled, "Wow. You are pissed at this guy."

Rose nodded, "I am. Wow. I didn't realize how much."

She brought her drink up and finished it in two gulps. Her head was already spinning, but she didn't care. It seemed to help numb how hurt she was feeling.

"Sounds like you've moved to another stage. Anger. I liked that stage. I remember I enjoyed…boxing a lot then. Russ had just made that movie about the underground boxing clubs, which we still can't talk about of course…."

"You're talking about Rusty Mitchell?"

"Now, that's just the most insulting thing I've ever heard in my life-"

"What?"

"You know Russ, and you don't know me?"

"Hang on. That Russ, is this Russ you talk about all of the time?"

"This is progress." Danny pointed out. "See, you are beginning to see you aren't the only person in the world."

"I think I'm insulted." She brought her napkin up to her eyes.

"I just mean, you wasn't allowing yourself to be angry with the one you needed to be angry with. I have to say I'm honored."

"Honored?"

"Yeah. Because if you're telling me this with anger, you know it's because I'm actually listening which is something you see now he never did."

"No. He never did."

"I mean, what would he say?"

"That…." She shook her head. "You're right. Wow. How did you do that?"

"Marriage consulting. At least someone can benefit from it."

Rose sat back and looked at him in surprise. "Hang on. You believe me?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, because it's the stupidest thing you've ever heard."

"Nah, it's not. Often times things can manifest in your mind as something else. It's a way our brain allows us to cope with our surroundings. A defense mechanism, if you will. Some children will tell you that they saw someone twist the neck of an animal, or have a head torn off of a stuffed teddy bear, only to wake up one day as an adult and realize it was a child that mystically died of a strange illness. It's the way humans cope. The brain is a crazy thing."

"So, you think I'm manifesting these as hallucinations?"

"No. I do not think that. This is real to you. As real as I'm sitting here."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because you didn't make the face. That was the truth."

She shook her head. "Danny."

He smiled, "What else do you need to tell me that you're so sure that I won't ever believe?"

She covered her face as she couldn't help but have tears gather in her eyes again. "Danny."

"What?" He quickly moved to her side of the table to embrace her.

She held onto him and cried.

XXXXXXXXXX