Boing.

Boinngg.

"You're bored, aren't you?"

Booooinnggg.

"Yep, you're bored." the Doctor sighed, as the rubber bouncy ball ricocheted off his back for the fifth time in under a minute. Jack Harkness was sitting against the wall of the TARDIS, throwing the ball at anything that wouldn't break if it got hit. At the moment, the list of targets included the Doctor.

Frowning at the monitor he was currently trying to fix, the Time Lord sighed once more and turned around. A second later, the ball bounced off of his forehead. Startled by the sudden impact, the Doctor frowned again, listening as Jack howled with laughter. When the man was able to breath again, he chuckled, "Bull's-eye! Ten points for the Captain!"

"Very funny…" the Doctor muttered, rubbing the spot where the ball had hit. "Do that again, and I'll show you the real use for an elastic band."

"Does it hurt?" Jack asked, a impish smile on his face. The man tossed the ball up in the air a few times, his brown eyes locked on the Time Lord. Almost as if taunting him. The nerve.

Giving him an innocent smile in return, the Doctor said calmly, "That depends on how mad you want me to be. Drop the subject now, and I might be content with just flicking them at you, instead of tying you up and shoving them down your throat."

"Oh, but that's no fun! Besides, I'm sure I could come up with some alternate uses for this ball."

"Not if I get it first." a female voice stated firmly.

Surprised, both men looked towards the door of the time machine. Rose stood in the doorway, blue eyes scanning over the scene in front of her.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Jack asked her, standing up and walking towards her. "No offence, but I'm pretty sure that I can beat you in a fight." the man added.

"Yeah, but I think the Doctor would help me out, if you ever got up the courage to even attempt to hit me." the teen shot back, taking a few steps forwards to meet him. Blue eyes met brown as they stared at each other for a few seconds, both determined not to back down.

The Doctor finally broke the silence by stating firmly, "Who said that I would automatically help you anyway? Besides, I think you could handle him." Grinning at the pair, he leaned back against the central console, arms folded.

Rose broke away from the staring contest to smile kindly at the Doctor. Jack frowned, looking slightly put-out, but the Time Lord knew that he wasn't that upset. He would also never lay a hand on Rose, even in a rage.

Chuckling, the Doctor nodded once, assuming that their antics were done. Turning back to the broken monitor, he bent over to try and fix it, starting hard at the wiring. Behind his back, Jack grinned and bent down, picking up another bouncy ball that he had found earlier. Tossing it to Rose, he motioned once to the Doctor, then to the door behind the girl. Catching on, the blonde grinned back, and raised her arm.

The Doctor muttering something about "circling circuitry" and "crossed fuses", both simultaneously aimed their balls and tossed them at the distracted Time Lord. The twin rubber balls smacked into the Doctor's back, causing a loud yelp of "OUCH!"

Whirling around, all the man saw was the double doors of the TARDIS swinging shut as the two attackers dashed off to explore London.