Chapter Twenty

"Oh, Rose, you're alright!" Jackie cried out, as she and the Doctor walked through the door.

The Doctor smiled when the two of them hugged one another tightly.

Jackie looked up at him and pulled him into the embrace.

"Oh, come here you!" she said hugging him tightly.

The Doctor hesitated and then hugged her lightly around the waist. Jackie broke out of the embrace and looked at him and Rose.

"So, is Ian taken care of?" she asked.

"Yup, Ian is no more. Rose is free."

Jackie squealed with delight and planted an enormous kiss on her cheek. The Doctor stiffened and resisted the urge to run while Rose giggled.

"I'll make you both some breakfast," she said heading towards the kitchen. "I bet you two are starving after all that happened last night."

"Famished," the Doctor said. "But I think I'll skip the bacon and eggs and just have a nip at your neck instead."

Jackie paused in mid-step. She turned and looked at him.

"What was that?"

"I said I wanted a go at your neck. Sorry, Jackie, but Ian bit me and I'm feeling a bit peckish for blood so can I have some of yours?"

"Oh, you had better be kidding, Doctor," Jackie said.

"I'm not actually. Ian did convert me, didn't he, Rose?"

"Yeah, he did, mum. He did it to save my life."

Jackie looked at them trying to decide if they were kidding or not.

"So, you're a vampire for real."

"Sure am and now, sadly, Rose is in my power. See, watch this."

He closed his eyes. He opened them slightly and stifled a laugh when Rose's face went blank and Jackie stared at her, panicked. He opened his eyes all the way and gestured to Rose.

"See? Under my thrall," he said casually.

"Well get her out from under your thrall then," Jackie said.

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know how. Ian made me do it in the first place. I have no idea how to undo it."

"I'll undo it then when I get my big frying pan and cause you permanent brain damage!" Jackie said starting towards the kitchen.

"Slave, stop Jackie!" the Doctor said pointing at her.

"Yes, master!" Rose said. "I hear and I obey!"

Jackie gasped as Rose seized her wrist.

"Sorry, Jackie, guess you're not getting that frying pan now," the Doctor said walking up to her.

Jackie raised her hand to slap the Doctor's face; she paused when she noticed Rose giggling.

"Wait a moment, you're not hypnotized," she said.

"Nope, just playing along with the Doctor," Rose said.

Jackie glared at the Doctor when they both started to laugh.

"Oh ha, ha, really funny," Jackie said as Rose let go of her wrist. "You're a laugh a minute, you are."

"Actually, Jackie, I was a vampire for a couple of hours. I wasn't kidding about that. But as soon as Ian died, I returned to normal."

"Yes, thankfully, he was gonna let Ian go and remain a vampire forever," Rose said.

"And that was a bad thing?" the Doctor said.

"Yes, I would have been traveling with a walking corpse," Rose said.

"Yeah, but think of the advantages of being the girlfriend of a walking corpse. I could have sped you around the mall and let you get the clothes you wanted before anyone else got to them. We could have had romantic moonlit flights and necking would have taken on a completely new meaning. The only drawbacks would have been me having to hide in the TARDIS doing the day and you cramming into a tight little coffin with me."

He paused.

"Actually, I would put that bit over into the plus column," he said. "The point is I would have been a better, stronger Doctor if Ian hadn't been so obstinate. We would have had to come back here more frequently so I could feed on your mother but isn't that worth it?"

He backed away when he saw Jackie giving him a look of death.

"Then again, maybe not," he said.

Jackie rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen, as the Doctor nudged Rose and grinned at her.

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"Oh, at last we can be on our way again," Rose said, as she sat on the captain's chair and watched the Doctor punched in the coordinates.

He grinned at her.

"Why, Rose Tyler, is my aversion to the Tyler flat rubbing off on you at last?"

"No, it's just that I wanna go somewhere where I won't run into any vampires. At least not for awhile."

She paused a moment.

"Doctor, do you think other vampires will get revenge for what you did to Ian?" she said.

The Doctor stared off into space.

"Who knows? I'm not sure how well connected the vampires are to one another and if they notice if one of their own go missing. I told you I was 98 percent vampire and I said that Time Lords can feel the presence of other Time Lords, so maybe the same is true for vampires."

"So, there's a possibility that the next time I go home, there could be other vampires lying in wait for us?" Rose asked.

"Well, if that's the case, there's a simple solution to that."

"And that is?"

The Doctor grinned at her.

"Never go home again."

Rose raised her eyebrow.

"I'm sure you're just waiting for me to say yes to that," she said.

The Doctor gave her a look of innocence.

"No, I enjoy my visits with your mum. I just love eating semi-burnt and inedible food while the smell of cheap perfume lingers in the air above me. I can't imagine how I ever survived 900 years without Jackie Tyler in my life."

He giggled when Rose slapped his back. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to her.

"Anyway, if there are vampires waiting for us when we get back, we'll take care of em like we did Ian."

"We?"

"Yes, Rose, we. You and I are a team even if you don't think that sometimes and I know that whenever I get in a bind."

He paused.

"Which isn't often, mind you," he said, his eyes twinkling with laughter. "I know I can rely on you to save my gorgeous butt."

Rose looked behind him.

"Mmmm, gorgeous butt. I agree with that," she said pinching it.

The Doctor laughed and kissed the top of her head.

"Now, my bride," he said imitating Dracula. "You vill accompany me to another planet vere ve vill save the universe again and then I vill suck your blood aftervards!"

"Nah, not my blood. You can suck other things though."

The Doctor's eyebrows rose almost to the top of his head.

"Well, let's hurry up and get to the next destination then and get that baddie dispatched."

Rose giggled and leaned against him. She let out a contented sigh as she laid her head against the Doctor's chest and listened to the quiet rhythmic beat of his two hearts.

THE END.

A/N: The story continues on in Endless Night.