Back again with a short and sweet chapter. Ok, as you can see from the title, maybe not so sweet...Let me know thoughts!

The French Mistress

The next day seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. The Doctor, with the surprising help of a random student who for some reason had not fallen prey to the Krillitanes, and Mickey, was able to defeat the bat-like creatures. There had been a few moments of tension when the Doctor realized they were using the children to answer the Skasis Paradigm, which would allow them to rewrite the universe as they pleased. However, Sarah Jane had been able to knock sense into the Doctor's head. Eventually it was her dog, K-9, that saved the day.

"You've redecorated," Sarah Jane murmured as she walked into the TARDIS for the first time in years.

Rose sat down on the jump seat, thankful that her freak out earlier on that day had been seemingly forgotten. She now was sure it was a dream and wasn't all that concerned. In fact, she would be a little upset to see Sarah Jane go. They had bonded over how truly alike they were and she knew the Doctor wouldn't go back to visit her again.

"Do you like it?" the Doctor asked, acting like an excited little kid as he observed Sarah Jane.

"Oh, I – I do," she answered, a silly smile stuck to her face. "Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do," Sarah Jane turned to look at Rose for a moment. "You take care of yourself Rose."

"Doctor?" Rose exclaimed, looking up at the Time Lord with raised eyebrows, clearly urging him to do something.

Swallowing, the Doctor spoke up. "Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us." Rose nodded hopefully in agreement.

"No," she responded, causing Rose's face to fall a bit. I can't do this anymore," she explained, clearly having thought about this is the past. "Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own."

"Can I come?" Mickey asked, finally making his presence known in the TARDIS. "Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there."

"Oh, go on, Doctor," Sarah Jane exclaimed, not noticing the way Rose's face completely fell. "Sarah Jane Smith, and Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board."

"Okay then," the Doctor answered, clearly relieved to have another distraction from Rose. He obviously saw Rose's pleading look, but did not acknowledge it in the slightest, must to her chagrin. She had thought last night would've been some sort of turning point, a way for him to get over the growing need to ostracize her, but obviously, this was not the case

Sarah Jane turned before she spoke again. "Well, I'd better go," she murmured, going over to Rose and pulling her in for a hug again.

Knowing she needed this woman's advice, Rose spoke up. "What do I do?" she asked, feeling like a little kid. "I can't leave…I need him right now."

"I wish I had advice for you, Rose," Sarah Jane murmured to the blonde. Although she scarcely had any idea of what Rose was really talking about, their new bond allowed her to emphasize.

Rose bit her lip, trying hard not to cry. "I just hope," Rose stopped, not even being able to put in into words. "I just want everything to work out," she finished lamely.

With a kind smile, Sarah Jane stepped back, putting her hands on Rose's shoulders as she looked at her. "Some things are going to break your heart, but you have to do them anyway," she explained, wishing she could help Rose more. "If something happens," she mentioned. "Come fine me, if you need to, okay?" she asked, continuing when Rose nodded.

Nodding, Rose's eyes met the Doctor's for a split second before he and Sarah Jane left the TARDIS to have their final goodbye. While that was taking place, Rose rolled her eyes and turned towards Mickey, exclaiming that she was going to give him the grand tour of the TARDIS, trying to ignore the pain she was feeling at the Doctor's distance.

"Where's Rose?" the Doctor immediately asked when he entered the TARDIS after Reinette had showed him that she had saved the fireplace time window.

"Why do you want to know?" Mickey, who was sitting on the jump seat with a foul look on his face.

"I need to talk to her," he explained, glancing behind him for a moment as if expecting someone behind him. "Now," he finished with a harsh look in Mickey's direction. "Please, Mickey," he softened just a bit.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Mickey got up and made his way halfway out of the room before he spoke up. "She's in her bedroom," he said. "But I really don't think she is too pleased with you right now after you went off to shag that French prostitute."

"She isn't a prostitute," the Doctor interrupted, turning around to look at Mickey again.

"Look, I really don't give a shit what she is or isn't. All I know is, she used sex to get a political standing, and you ran off to save her without a single thought for the girl who deserves more than you, but loves you anyway. I know I should be mad at her, given what she's put me through, but to be honest, putting aside ditching me for you, Rose is the most fantastic girl in the universe. The old you knew that. What about this one? You keep saying you're the same man. If you really were, you wouldn't be avoiding her like you are now. Get over yourself and treat that girl with some dignity. God knows she deserves it, what with all you put her through." Mickey finished before he left the room, leaving the Doctor standing there by himself in the console room.

Shaking his head, the Doctor ran off in the direction of Rose's room, pausing at the door, unsure to knock or to just walk in. Deciding on the former, he knocked and, upon hearing no response, opened up the door.

"Rose?" he asked, walking into the room.

The shape that was Rose under the covers shifted before her muffled reply answered. "Go away."

"Listen, I know you are upset that I left," he said, cautiously walking over and sitting down on the very edge of her bed. "But it was the only option and I couldn't let the entire course of history change," he explained, feeling rather silly with his explanation. "And I knew I could get back here."

Sniffing, Rose finally set up, ignoring the sudden dizziness that came with sudden movements ever since she realized she was pregnant. "Did you though?" she asked, raising an eyebrow over her red-rimmed eyes. "What if you couldn't? What would have happened to me?"

"Does it matter?" he asked, his eyes widening at her questions. "I'm back now and it is fine, so it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," Rose hissed out, running a hand through her messy hair. "And if you weren't running around partying and doing god knows what in France you would have noticed that," she paused, squinting down at the floor.

"How long was I gone anyway?" he asked, realizing he hadn't thought of that before.

Rose sighed, rolling her eyes as she sat up fully in bed. "Five and a half hours."

"Oh," the Doctor whispered, unsure how to respond. It wasn't as long as he had been dreading, but he wished it hadn't been such a long time period of not knowing if he was going to come back for his companions.

"Can you just go away?" Rose asked, closing her eyes as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Please? I need to be alone right now."

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, okay?" the Doctor answered, knowing that arguing with Rose was not a good idea right now. "And I think Mickey found the gaming room."

With that the Doctor turned and left the room, leaving Rose to herself once again to think about all that had happened.

An hour or so later, Rose got up out of the bed, deciding that she did in fact want something to eat, even if that did make her even more unattractive compared to the French elite. Plus, she did need to talk to the Doctor about important matters and now that they both had time to process what had happened that day, she wanted to get it over with.

The entire way to the kitchen she felt odd. First of all the TARDIS kept on rerouting the corridors so it took her twice as long to navigate her way to the kitchen. Also, it was as if a presence in her mind was telling her to turn around.

Ignoring it, she smiled a bit when she heard the Doctor presumably talking to himself in the kitchen. However, she let out an audible gasp when she saw a wide skirt sweeping the floor of the kitchen when she turned the corner.

"What?" she exclaimed, her eyes taking in the unbelievable kitchen. There was the French woman herself walking around the TARDIS kitchen in period dress.

Without even waiting for the Doctor's explanation or even to meet his eyes, she turned and ran out of the room, tears gathering in her eyes once more. All the things she expected to see in that room, and that was certainly not on the list. She was gasping for air, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Her chest was aching, and she was pretty sure she could feel her fragile heart cracking into bits and turning to shards of pain behind her breasts. She collapsed in the corridor outside her room, sobs wracking her body as she tried to pull herself together.

Oh no! Things are changing for the angst. I apologize for the short chapter, but needed a way to transition to the main problem at hand...

Gabrielle