Out the corner of his eye he could see her sneaking glances at him over the top of her magazine. He didn't entirely blame her; he was still surprised when he walked past a mirror and caught sight of himself in it. The hair was the weirdest thing; he'd practically forgotten about brushing his hair in the morning.

Still, he wasn't about to let her get away with staring at him. He turned round when he saw her looking

"Do you like it?"

She hastily dived back into her magazine. "Like what?" she asked, more than a little flustered.

"The new me." When she didn't reply, he continued. "I saw you looking."

"I was just…" Rose tailed off and then gave up on faking it. "Don't you find it strange?" she asked. "Changing all the time I mean."

He shrugged. "It's normal for me. You get used to it."

"I wouldn't."
"You would. If you were a Time Lord."

Rose shook her head. "I don't think so."

She put her head on one side and regarded him critically. He pulled a cheesy grin, but she didn't seem to react to it. He let the smile fade and leaned against the console, folding his arms, before thinking better of it and shoving them in his pockets.

"Am I better or worse now?"

Rose shrugged. "Different. Very different."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Can't be helped though. Comes with the territory."

Rose nodded. "You could have warned me though."

"I didn't exactly expect to have to do it," he reminded her.

"No. I guess not." She smiled finally. "You're okay. You'll do."

"Great!" He beamed. "So, Barcelona?"

"If you like." There was a long pause. "What happened to Jack?"

The Doctor froze momentarily and then regained some of his composure. He knew it would come sooner or later, this question. He should have been prepared for it. He'd had long enough. But he still didn't know how he could tell her.

"Doctor?" she prompted him.

"Right. Yes. Jack." He nodded. "He…"

He what?"

He scratched his ear awkwardly. "He… he was so brave up on Satellite Five. Fought like a real soldier. Amazing."

"But then what? Why didn't we bring him home with us?" Rose's eyes darted across his face, searching for something. He wasn't sure what. Once upon a time he'd have known instantly what she was thinking, but some of that faded with the regeneration. It was like he could remember some of her traits, but they were all a bit vague, like looking at them through a light mist. This had happened before of course, he'd soon get back up to speed. Things were already more clear than they had been lately. But she was still something of a mystery to him. Then it hit him; she was looking for comfort and reassurance that the thoughts she had in her head were made up. She wanted him to tell her Jack was fine.

"Doctor?"

"He…" He hesitated. He could tell her a lie, tell her that Jack had hitched a lift off the space station with someone. That he'd gone to live with Lynda with a Y. It was fully believable, the two of them travelling together. It was the kind of thing Jack would have done. Or he could say he'd stayed behind to clear up some of the mess, to make sure that in another hundred years something worse wouldn't happen. There were millions of lies at his fingertips that would save her heart from breaking again. But he couldn't lie to her.

"He died, Rose." He was being as gentle as he could be, but that wasn't gentle enough. Her face fell. He bit his tongue hard as all his feelings for her chose that moment to come rushing back into his head and hearts, making him feel slightly sick for one second. Then he took on his role as comforter.

"What happened?" she asked softly, as she found her way into his arms and buried her head in his chest.

"Daleks."

"Figures." She hugged him closer. "Couldn't you have saved him?"

"I wasn't the saving kind of guy that day."

"No." Another long pause. "We should do something. He can't just… We should…"

"Dance?"

She lifted her head up and looked at him. He looked at her closely, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way, wouldn't think he'd changed into come insensitive, uncaring man who'd dance on other peoples' graves and-

"Yeah." She said finally.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, we should dance." She smiled suddenly, a flash of mischief in her eyes. "Let's see if you've still got those moves."