"Papua New Guinea?" Rose was still in complete disbelief. "Papua New Guinea? When did they get so good?"

"Hey, a lot happens in six years!" The Doctor shrugged. "While all you lot are running round worrying about bird 'flu and school dinners, they're getting their heads down and working hard." He managed to let a grin escape. "And of course a spaceship crashed there in 2009."

It took a few seconds for Rose to realise what he was saying. Her jaw dropped. "You mean…? They're…"

"Yep."

"But that's cheating!" Rose exclaimed. "They can't field aliens against a team of humans, that's just not fair!"

"There's no rules about it!"

"Well they probably didn't think they'd need to!" Rose pointed out. "It's not exactly a common occurrence."

"You'd be surprised." The Doctor scratched his ear. "You've seen for yourself, Rose, people tend not to see what's right under their noses. Until they start accepting what's there, I say fair play to Papua New Guinea."

Rose grinned. "You would." She shook her head in wonderment. "So all in all, that was a pretty alien affair. What with you and the athletes and the whole thing nearly being destroyed by one…" She grinned again. "And then it was all saved by a human."

"Alright, no need to boast." The Doctor grinned back and teasingly pinched her cheek. "Didn't we do well today?" he said in a patronising voice.

"I kicked arse!" Rose wrestled out of his grip and rubbed her cheek, wincing. "Go on, admit it, I saved you, back there. I was-"

"Fantastic." He finished the sentence for her. She looked a bit startled at his quick response. He supposed his choice of words was having an effect on her too. She turned away, a pink colour coming into her cheeks. But he wasn't letting her get away from it this easily.

Catching her arm he said, "No, really, you were."

"It was nothing."

"Rose, I've saved a lot of people," he said gently. "It's never nothing."

Rose met his eyes. "You never make a big deal of it."

"No, I know. But maybe I should." He smiled, holding onto her hand so tightly he nearly cut the blood supply off. "You were fantastic back there. You always are."

Rose smiled shyly. "So are you. I learnt from the best."

"Well, you know, I do try…" He dodged a slap from her. "Hey, watch it! Now, go and get your stuff together and I suppose we better drop in on your mother." He tried to sound more cheerful than he felt.

Rose's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Well, seeing as we've both been so fantastic lately, I was thinking maybe we could take a quick trip first."

"Oh yeah?" He liked the sound of this.

"Yeah. You know, just a quick stop off somewhere, take in the sights…"

He raised his eyebrows. "And where would this quick trip be to?"

"Barcelona."

Of course.