Chapter Two

"Rose, it's me."

Rose staggered out of her seat as she stared at John in disbelief.

"John…" she murmured. "John…John…Smith?"

The one and only."

He rose from his seat and enveloped her in his arms as he noticed she was on the verge of fainting. Tenderly he lowered her back into her chair and brushed her hair away from her face.

"It can't be you. It can't be." Rose murmured over and over.

"Shhhh…"

He pulled up a chair beside her and put his hand on her back.

Rose gulped down the lump in her throat as she looked over at the Doctor.

"You….you've….regenerated again." She finally got out.

"Yup."

He gave her a worried look.

"How do I look?" he asked.

Rose stared at him for a moment and then a grin spread over her face.

"Not ginger." She said.

The Doctor laughed.

"Yeah, I was ticked off when Martha told me I had brown hair again."

"Martha?"

The Doctor pointed to her.

"Martha Jones." He said as Martha waved to Rose. "I met her about a year and a half ago and she's been traveling with me ever since. I…"

He turned his head around when he heard a sob, and noticed tears streaming down Rose's face.

"Rose, what's wrong?" he asked, alarmed.

"I knew it." Rose sobbed.

The Doctor frowned.

"Knew what?"

"You forgot about me."

The Doctor's eyes widened.

"No!" he said grabbing her hands. "Martha and I aren't together. We're just friends, honestly."

He cupped her face in his hands.

"Rose, there's nothing between us." He said. "I love you and only you. If I didn't, I wouldn't have risked everything to come back here to find you."

"Then why didn't you tell me who you were?"

The Doctor looked at the ground.

"I was afraid you'd forgotten about me." He said. "I saw you with Mickey and thought you might have gotten back together with him and I was afraid if I told you who I was outright you would…reject me."

"I would never reject you, Doctor." Rose sobbed. "I love you. I told you that didn't I?"

The Doctor smiled and nodded.

"And now at last I got to say it back." He said wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I'm so sorry it took this long for you to hear it."

Rose wept as she fell into the Doctor's arms. The Doctor held her close to him glancing around at the confused looks of the people around them.

"Rose, you're getting my fabulous leather coat wet and you're scaring the straights." He said.

He grinned when he heard Rose giggle.

"Shut up, ya git." She said slapping his shoulder.

She looked up at him, hesitated for a moment and then kissed him passionately on the lips. The Doctor gave a relieved sigh as he returned the kiss eagerly.

He smiled as they broke apart.

"Judging from that, I take it you wouldn't mind it if I asked you to travel with me again?"

"Oh God, you don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that!" Rose replied.

"And you don't mind the way I look now?"

Rose stared at him as she stroked his cheek.

"No, I can live with this." She said. "I just have to get used to ya in this new body like I did the first time you regenerated."

"Well, actually, that wasn't the first time. That was actually my ninth regeneration."

"I meant the first regeneration I actually saw, you wanker!" Rose said as the Doctor snickered.

She looked over at Martha.

"Will she mind if I come with ya?"

The Doctor looked back at her.

"Mind? I think Martha practically knows you now seeing as how I've kept going on and on about you."

"He has." Martha said. "You shoulda heard him. I hate to say I actually got sick of hearin' about how wonderful you are. You're a very lucky woman to have someone this devoted."

The Doctor looked back at her.

"So see, you can put all your fears to rest. I still want you in my life." He said. "And now that you are with me again, I can stop talking incessantly about you to Martha."

"Thank God for that." Martha said.

The Doctor grinned at her.

"Now you'll get to watch us as we make love around the TARDIS."

"Oh bloody Hell; you can leave me here then."

The Doctor giggled as Rose shook her head.

"I see you haven't changed much." She said.

"Actually, he has." Martha said. "He's stopped the whole oral fixation he had and he's calmed down a lot."

Rose looked at the Doctor.

"You have?" she said in disbelief.

"I guess so. I know I wasn't much fun to be around after I lost you. I know there were times when Martha wanted to pull her hair out but…"

He sighed.

"I just missed you so much. You became such a huge part of my life, Rose and without you I felt like a big chunk was missing."

He held her closer.

"But the moment I held you in my arms, I felt whole again." He sighed.

Rose held him tightly while he rained soft kisses on her cheek.

"Well, I guess when Mickey comes back out and sees us together; I'll have a good reason for why we're in each other's arms." Rose said.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. I have a little prank I want to play on Mickey boy."

Rose leaned up and looked at him.

"Oh God, now I'm scared."

He chuckled.

"Nah, it's nothing bad. I just want to mess with his mind. Get back at him for going off on me like that."

He looked back at Martha.

"And you, Miss Jones, are going to help us out." He said beckoning to her. "I figure if the three of us are going to be traveling together, we better get used to working as a team."

Martha walked over and leaned over his shoulder.

"Yeah?" she asked.

There was a twinkle in the Doctor's eyes as he huddled with them and quickly explained his plan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mickey's mouth dropped open as he came back outside. The guy was still sitting at their table and now the black lady from the other table had joined them as well. Fuming, he stomped towards the table.

"I thought I told you to piss off!" he said to the Doctor.

He stared at the black lady.

"And what are you doing here? Go back to your own table!" he added.

"Mickey. Let me explain!" Rose said.

"There's nothing to explain, Rose. These two gits need to clear off and leave us alone."

"No wait, Mickey. The Doctor's here."

Mickey paused and stared at her. He looked around at the surrounding tables.

"He is? Where?" he asked.

"Right here."

Mickey looked down at the black lady.

"What?"

"It's me, Mickey. It's the Doctor." Martha said.

Mickey's eyes nearly popped out of his skull and the Doctor and Rose quickly turned their heads to hide their grins."

"No, wait, you can't be."

"I am. I regenerated again."

Mickey looked her up and down.

"But…you're a woman."

He put his hands on his hips.

"Nah, you're havin' me on. Rose told you to say this and…"

He shut up when he saw Martha pull the sonic screwdriver from her jacket and show it to him.

"Oh no, wait a moment. This…this can't be real. How can you be a woman?"

"When I regenerate, I have the option of being either sex." Martha said. "I've been a man for ten of my lives; I thought it might be fun to see what it's like being a woman for a change."

Mickey looked at the Doctor.

"Well, who's this then?"

"This is the Doctor's companion, John." Rose said. "The Doctor wasn't sure how I would take the news of her sex change, so she sent John over here to break the news to me gently and prepare me for the shock."

"Sorry if I upset you earlier." The Doctor said. "I was only following the Doctor's orders."

Mickey slumped down in the remaining empty chair and stared at Martha. He caught himself staring at her breasts and looked away, embarrassed. The three of them shared a look.

"Were you looking at my breasts, Mickey Smith?" Martha said as the Doctor and Rose fought to keep from laughing.

"Um…no, no I wasn't." Mickey stuttered.

"I think you were." Martha purred. "It's okay, Mickey. I'm not offended. I am a woman, after all."

She put her hand on his.

"And, now that I am a woman, I kinda fancy you."

Mickey leapt up from his seat and backed away as the Doctor and Rose bit their lips to keep the laughter in.

"Whoa, I'm not into that kind of thing." He said holding up his hands.

"What do you mean?" Martha asked innocently. "I'm a woman. I have all the correct female parts."

"You're an alien."

"That never stopped Rose."

"Yeah, I never thought of the Doctor as an alien." Rose said. "And actually…"

She reached over and grabbed Martha's hand.

"I still have feelings for her." She said. "I guess I've always been a little bi-curious. It just took the Doctor to make me admit it."

Mickey's eyes bulged out of his head as Rose and Martha gave each other a look of longing. The Doctor had to turn his head so Mickey wouldn't see his silent laughter.

"Oh my love, I hoped and prayed for this moment." Martha said breathlessly. "I'm so glad that my sex change won't get in the way of our love."

"I will always love you, Doctor." Rose replied. "I would love you even if you regenerated into a horse."

"Oh bloody Hell; you don't regenerate into that as well, do you?" Mickey said, shocked.

Martha paused.

"I don't know. I've never tried." She said.

She looked at Rose.

"Would you be upset if I did change into a horse, my darling?"

"No, I'm a very open minded person. I would shag you no matter what you looked like, my love."

Mickey's mouth nearly fell to the ground. He glared at the Doctor who was now bent over in hysterics.

"It's not funny, John." He said angrily.

"The Hell it isn't. It's one of the funniest things I've ever heard in all my lives." The Doctor said. "Reminds me of the reason I chose them to accompany me in the first place."

Mickey stared at him.

"Accompany you? Wait…"

He folded his arms over his chest and glared at the Doctor as the three of them bent over laughing.

"Oh bravo, my lovelies." The Doctor said to Rose and Martha. "That was outstanding. Especially the whole bit about the horse. I wouldn't have dreamed that up in a million years."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Yup, I definitely think the three of us will get along quite nicely."

"So, you're the Doctor then?" Mickey said to him.

"Yup, I am."

"For real?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrow.

"No, Smith, I'm lying to you. I'm just an ordinary man in the street who happened to have a replica of a sonic screwdriver and I thought I'd come over to this table and mess with your mind for shits and giggles."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Still slow on the uptake, I see." He muttered.

"So, why are you here?"

The Doctor gave him a pointed look as he poked Rose repeatedly on the top of her head.

"Is that a clear enough answer for ya, Mickey boy?" he asked as he put his hand back on the table.

"So, are you gonna go with him?" Mickey asked Rose.

"What do you think?"

"You have to tell your mum."

"I know that, Mickey. I plan on telling everyone goodbye."

The Doctor looked at Martha.

"Great, you get to meet her family, Martha. Her mother has to be seen to be believed, trust me."

He gave Rose a look of innocence as she shot him a look.

"So that's where we're going next, yeah?" Martha asked.

The Doctor looked at Rose.

"Unless you have other people you want to say goodbye to?" he said to her.

"No, there's no one else. I never really became close to anyone here." She said. "I'd rather just go tell my mum about this and get it out of the way so we can go."

The Doctor grinned.

"In a hurry to get out of this universe?" he asked her.

"You better bloody believe it."

The Doctor laughed and kissed her on the cheek.

"Very well then, we'll go to your house after you finish your drinks. I can't wait to see old Jackie again. Should be fun!"