As We Go

Chapter 6: Into the Night

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: As always thanks for reading. I do want to let everyone know I have not forgotten the kiss and it will be approached by the Dr and Rose in a conversation very soon... but I can't tell you when exactly. It'll be worth the wait though, at least I hope! lol Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'm not too proud of it. It just doesn't feel like I did a good job, but here it is.

SHOUTOUTS: to rosetylerrox (wave your comment rox lol), Tai (hi!), the Dr's 10th companion, insert witty name here, beth-taurichick, KatmuEllon, Oystiee, bookEnd (I like yours too!), storm-fox8, and Kate. You guys are awesome! I'll do my best!

"Error... What does it mean Error?"

"It means there was an error while scanning the chip... How do you know what it says? It's in Gallifreyan," the Doctor asked curiously. Rose shrugged. She was leant over his right shoulder reading the screen as he did and when he turned to look at her their faces were fretfully close. Memories of the night before flashed through their minds at light speed. Rose was sure that if Mickey hadn't been watching just now something would have happened.

"Well the stuff's all over the place... I just... figured that's what it said," she cowed.

"Rose Tyler, you are one of a kind," he informed and grinned adoringly at her. Every time he thought he had her figured out she did something like this to prove him wrong and leave him guessing. He fondly tapped the end of her nose with his finger before going back to the screen.

"But what does that mean? The Tardis can't scan it?" asked Mickey.

"The Tardis can scan anything, Rickey the Idiot," the Doctor snapped. He pressed a few more buttons, watching the screen intensely.

"If it can do it then why does it say Error?" Mickey shot back. The Doctor didn't respond immediately but Rose saw the muscles in his shoulders tense as he kept his control.

"I don't know. It's never said that before," replied the Doctor sharply. He pulled a lever.

"Do you think it's serious? Is something wrong with the Tardis?" asked Rose worriedly. He glanced up at her, his expression changing only slightly at the concern on her face.

"She was pretty banged up the last time I went off into space," he reminded, "but she got me here just fine... I don't understand..." Rose looked around at the Tardis once again. She was surprised he'd even made it back to her alive given the condition the ship was in. Any number of things could be going wrong to cause the malfunction. "This'll take some figuring out. There's no telling what's gone wrong," he finally sighed.

"How long do you think it'll take?" she asked. The Doctor turned around to lean against the console and crossed his arms as he considered it. This could be a great time to get some work done on the Tardis. He could patch up the walls, do some rewiring, think about Rose... Of course the Tardis was important, but he just couldn't seem to dislodge the questions Jackie had given him from his mind. He still had a lot of thinking to do on exactly how he felt and what to do about it. He couldn't keep going the way he had, fearing the future. He was a time lord and should know better. Plus with Mickey and Rose out of the way he could get a lot more work done with a lot less distraction.

"No clue," he grinned. "Why don't you two go ahead without me and get some breakfast, eh? Fill up your stomachs with some nice food?"

"What about you? Aren't you hungry?" wondered Mickey.

"No, I'm fine. The Tardis'll feed me if I get hungry and besides there's too much work to be done here for me to be taking a break," he assured. Rose fiddled with her fingers reluctantly.

"I'll stay and help. You can't do all this on your own," she smiled and Mickey's jaw dropped. The Doctor could tell that she had wanted him to go, to not single himself out like this, but he had to have the time alone. She would simply have to spend some time with her boyfriend, no matter how much he'd rather her not.

"Rose, I've been fixing the Tardis for over 300 hundred years without any help and I can do it again today... though it might take a while longer than usual," he admitted, looking about the room. "But that's not important! Just means there'll be plenty of work for you to do when you get back!" he cheered, pushing off the console and tossing an arm around Mickey and Rose. He guided them to the Tardis door with a bright smile. "Now off ya go! Breakfast for two! And you'd better not hurry back on my account young lady," he warned. Rose giggled as he shoved them out the door and she had to grip onto Mickey for balance.

"And Derrik's lookin at this car right, not even sure if it's the muffler or his ears!" Mickey chuckled and shoved a fork full of pancakes into his mouth. Rose giggled. She had ordered her favorite hash rounds (an early morning version of chips) with a side of eggs and bacon and orange juice to wash it down but it hadn't really been touched much. She was too distracted by the humorous story Mickey was telling and the atmosphere of her favorite breakfast place, Martin's. It'd been a long time since she and Mickey had had such a carefree conversation without worry. Part of her assumed that it was because the Doctor was near and if anything happened he'd grab her and go. "You want a to-go bag?" mumbled Mickey. She smiled as he scrutinized her plate suggestively. "You didn't already eat breakfast did you? Normally you're starvin'."

"No no, I'm good. Had a big dinner... Go on with the story," she assured. Mickey nodded, took a sip of his milk, and kept going. Meanwhile on the Tardis the lights flickered from dim to bright in an uneven pattern. Somewhere under the grates the Doctor cursed for the thousandth time and a familiar blue light flashed. His brown head crawled up from where he was hiding only to glance at the error message still reading on the Tardis screen. His shoulders slumped where he now sat, half in and half out of the console room. The Tardis lights went bright once again.

"What am I missing? I've rewired the console almost completely and checked for damaged wires... how can you not be working?" he moaned in frustration. Next to him lay several papers strewn every which way in a very Rose-like fashion but sadly, this mess was his. He had tried to arrange the read outs in a logical order so he could better understand the problem, but there wasn't any order to it. The hardware scans were intricate, the software scans were redundant and the error messages were getting more frequent. He lifted up another paper that had recently printed out and read over it. "There's just too much for me to do!" he finally cried out, dropping the paper and climbing out of the maintenance hole. He stormed over to the console. "I told Rose we'd be out of here in exactly a week and that my friend lands on tomorrow!" he berated the Tardis as though she could respond and in disagreement to his blame she thundered unhappily. "Sorry girl... I'm just a might bit irritated. I didn't want to send her off with him... never do, but she had to get out of my way or I couldn't think straight. Now I can't even think straight cause the issue makes no sense. The hardware blames the software, the errors blame each other and nothing I've done has fixed anything. I might be a time lord but I'm not a magician. At this rate you might not leave the ground for another five years and that means I'm grounded with Jackie Tyler and Mickey the Idiot for five years on this glum little planet full of stupid little apes..." He was sulking; he knew it and he had no intention of stopping it. Things had all just gone wrong since that damn Correll interfered! If he was a lesser man he'd go back in time and kill Correll the moment he caused a problem instead of waiting for him to threaten his life as incentive. Though actually it was Correll's plasma cannons and interspace missiles that had really caused the damage by bouncing him and the Tardis off the walls of time as a hello. "I'll do it though, I'll fix you or die trying!" he finally cheered. "Just too attached to ya to let you down now I guess... hold on... too attached... attached... attach - I got!" and with that he went barreling to the other side of the room with a brilliant grin. "It's evasive I know but if it works - zoom! We're off! Just gotta call Rose..." he thought aloud, dialing the numbers. Abruptly he hung up the phone and searched the room. "No, if I tell her she'll just come running back... I've got to keep her away for as long as possible..." He stood motionless, thinking as hard as his mind would allow whilst the lights continued to alternate in strength. Finally he sobered and turned back to the phone. "Only one choice then... heaven help me," he muttered, setting the receiver to his head.

Rose laughed insanely, her orange juice spilling into her half empty plate from the effort and making her laugh harder. Mickey made another ridiculous face, pouching his cheeks out and crossing his eyes. It was odd how the smallest thing amused her today and Mickey seemed to be taking advantage of it.

"Oh hold on, my cell's ringin," he chuckled. Rose nodded through her laughter and set down her juice before it all ended up on the table. Several other customers eyed her with smiles and she waved at them surreptitiously. "Hello? Rose don't wave," he whispered, grasping her hands to stop her.

"What's going on? Mickey? Who are you telling Rose not to wave at?"

"Oh Doctor, hello! It's for you Rose - " he began and started to hold out the phone.

"NO!" screamed the Doctor and Mickey brought the mobile back to his head. "If I wanted to talk to her then I'd have called her... who were you telling her not to wave at?" He added curiously. Mickey made a confused face, gesturing to Rose that the Doctor was crazy.

"No one, just some other customers who might not find her as funny as I am this morning," he replied. Rose's laughter could be heard through the phone as well as Mickey's chortling.

"Do I even want to know what you two are doing in a public eatery that could inspire so much amusement?" frowned the Doctor. Mickey shrugged, knowing the Doctor couldn't see it. He finally had Rose to himself and no amount of upset voice was going to change how much he liked it. "No I don't think I do... Anyway, I needed to ask a favor of you."

"Yeah? Fire away!" he piped. Rose had calmed enough to sop up the stray orange juice with a piece of toast and was more involved with that than their conversation. Mickey watched her as he listened.

"Good. I'm about to start some rather intricate work on the Tardis, don't bother asking you wouldn't understand if I explained it, so you and Rose take your time. Maybe even go see a movie or something? I need the quiet time to think... If Rose comes back and starts pushing buttons it could hurt her or me or the Tardis and that's not a risk I can afford. I have to be left alone for a while so just make sure you stay gone all day, all right?"

"Why?"

"You aren't supposed to question a favor, Rickey. Don't you trust me?"

"No, not really and its Mickey... ...okay sure I do, just not with certain things and this is one of em."

"Well trust me. I'm not going anywhere without Rose, so get over it," was the strong reply and then a dial tone rang in Mickey's ear. Rose looked up from her plate and into Mickey's eyes questioningly as a million thoughts ran through the boy's head.

"Who was that?" she asked quietly.

"Hm?" he answered. She raised an eyebrow at him to say she wasn't going to repeat it and all at once it seemed to register. "Oh. The Doctor."

"Why'd he call you? What did he want?" she wondered, her tone taking on a bit of offense and insult. Mickey did his best to ignore it. She was becoming more and more like him every time they stopped... or the other way round because he had started to like the Doctor slightly more than when they started.

"I don't know, he wasn't making much sense. Just started rambling on about me and you going to do something when we left here and telling me not to worry about getting you back anytime soon," he shrugged and took another bite of pancake. Rose watched him with a smile that hid her inner feelings of suspicion. She knew Mickey wanted her to himself but did he want her bad enough to keep her from leaving with the Doctor again? Had that call really and truly been an emergency? Was the Doctor trying to call her back so they could leave? Would Mickey lie about something that serious?

"Did he really say that?" she questioned. He looked up, innocent as ever only with syrup trailing off his lip. He wiped it away and swallowed.

"Yeah, why? Do you think I'm lying?" he accused.

"No," she assured, shaking her head as she lifted her fork again. "That just doesn't seem like him."

"Look, I'm not trying to keep you away from him, but that's what the Doctor said, "keep her away from the Tardis for a while"," he brushed off, taking another bite. Rose didn't bother to hide her dislike this time as she openly bit down on her tongue in thought. The Doctor couldn't have possibly said something as hurtful as that. He had just told her the night before that he liked her and she was his companion and companions don't say that sort of thing.

"Wh -" she hesitated, "why would he want that?" Mickey looked up to her, chewing his mouthful with difficulty. His eyes held indifference and uncaring as to why and suddenly the full content of his last statement landed on her. "Is that what you're really trying to do? Keep me away from him?" she demanded, her voice still quiet. She was in disbelief. Never would she have suspected such a thing but he had said it himself. He had given her the idea where it hadn't been before and judging by the look on his face now, he was realizing it.

"Rose, no, I would never - let me explain - "

"You know what, Mickey, no need. The Doctor may be alien and not good enough for you, but he's never lied to me about anything... well, recent events excluded... and he's never tried to keep me from doing something I want to do by manipulating me! You're just as bad as that - " without warning her anger drained the words from her lips while her hands gestured furiously to help her remember, "that chip! When you've grown up... come and find me. I'll be at the Tardis," she snapped and by yanked on her coat. He watched helplessly bewildered as she stood to leave.

"Rose wait! That's not it! Rose - " he choked, scrambling from the table and jarring the dishes loudly as she made it out the door. "Wait!" he yelled, his hand outstretched to stop her. Before he could even make it to the door however a large white man stepped in his way smelling of cooking grease and sweat.

"Your bill?" he asked politely, looking the boy down with a hard gaze. Mickey buckled under the look; nodding and muttering he hadn't forgot as he dug through his pockets and headed toward the cash register. He had to hurry. Rose didn't know the Doctor's warning and if anything happened to her, well he'd be dead meat three times over.

Rose ran the conversation over in her head as she grew ever closer to the Tardis, her anger still fuming. Maybe she had overreacted... maybe, but the Doctor wasn't a joke for her. The possibility of him leaving her was so very real and so very terrifying that she didn't even want to pretend it was coming anytime soon. Nothing compared to him, nothing... Her mind only slightly took in the renewed blue paint on the exterior of her beloved police box as she slid in her key. Mickey really should know her better than that. She pushed open the door, quickly stepping in out of the breeze and shivering as she closed it behind her. The console room was deathly quiet and dim. An eerie feeling took her over.

"Doctor? I'm back!" she called, the sound echoing gently. "Doctor?" She stood on the ramp near the door with her hands packed warmly away in her pockets. She scanned the empty room for a sign of his pinstripe pants. There were papers on the floor near the console and tools tossed carelessly about the room as though he had just been there, so his silence worried her. "Doctor? Its Rose... where are you?" she beckoned, now roaming around the room. Finding no visible indication that he was here she moved down the hallway to another room, calling his name as she went, hoping he might hear her. The Tardis responded slowly to the growing desperation in Rose's heart, almost delayed even as a brightly lit room appeared before her at the end of a short hall. She had never seen this room before. It was small and filled with large machinery that hummed in action and blinked with lighted buttons of all colors. The predominate hue of the room though was a crystal like blue that almost hurt her eyes as she inspected it for danger. Squinting she walked in, trusting that the Tardis would never intentionally guide her wrong. "Doctor?" she questioned and turned the corner to see the most heart stopping sight she'd ever seen. Her gasp filled the room and spilled out into the hallway. There he was, her Doctor, locked away in a glass chamber, naked... stuffed full of tubes and wires. Some tubes had liquid going into him and others had liquid coming out while his eyes, deep and hallow looking, were shut tight in a deep sleep. His hair was tossed about more than usual in what struck her as struggle born. There were buttons everywhere, covering a small control board to her right, dotting the metal strip that shielded any view of his privates, riding up the side of the containment booth and wires dangling from the ceiling and walls that extended into the man himself. He looked dead with all the wires attached to his skin and the paleness of his features. For an instant her heart stopped. Who did this? Who put her Doctor in that thing and ran tubes through him? Who had hurt him?

Without thinking she ran to the jutting control board and looked over the buttons panicked. There had to be something she could do! She couldn't leave him! She wouldn't leave him! Someone had gotten in a hurt him, had locked him away in that alien chamber to do experiments on him while she was gone and she would not leave him! She reached to press a button, any button just to open that damn cage when powerful arms wrapped her up and pulled her away.

"Rose don't!" Mickey barked. His voice was breathy from running but his grip was never stronger.

"No! Mickey let me go! I have to help him! He's dying!" she cried, fighting him urgently. Tears stung at her eyes as she admitted to the fear. It was like his regeneration all over again. She could watch him and yet never be able to touch him, to stop him. This was why he told her to stay away, he knew there was danger on the Tardis and he wanted to stop it, to save her! Mickey hauled her backward a few more inches, resisting her best efforts with sympathy to the devastation on her face.

"Rose Tyler! I swear, you damn apes just don't listen..." groaned a familiar voice and Rose froze at the sound. Her and Mickey's eyes fell heavily on the hologram projected in front of them, their fight no longer taking place. "I told Mickey to keep you away for as long as possible, I even told him that you'd get hurt if you came in pressing buttons, but what happens? You come in and start pressing buttons! Really! Can you not resist pressing an unknown button?" he berated comically. Rose grinned halfheartedly.

"Doctor?" The hologram didn't respond, though really she hadn't expected it to. The last time she'd even seen a hologram it had been of her other Doctor, informing her he was about to die. Fortunately this Doctor, still clad in his pinstripe suit and converse all stars, wasn't solemn and hadn't mentioned anything about dying. Her concern lightened at the radiant smile he cast on the room, just past her left shoulder.

"Now that's out of the way," he began again and his voice was distinctively deeper, "I know this frightens you. It looks like I'm being experimented on or dissected, but I'm not. What I'm doing is a very 'evasive' procedure to fix the Tardis and it was purely voluntary. I simply looked around and decided there was too much work to be done for the both of us, it could take me years to catch up on what was damaged and I might never fix everything what with the way we go on," he smirked. "As easy as I can put it, Rose, this procedure is never done. I've never done it before and I'll never do it again and my people rarely did it when they were alive. It's dangerous, to everyone involved... it's volatile and risky and it could shave another life off the end of my existence. I'll still be the same as when I started it, but I might die sooner in the future," he forced a laugh, shoving his hands into his pockets. The action was strangely comforting. "What I've done is join myself with the body of the Tardis. These tubes and wires you see, they have joined my system procedures with the Tardis' to help it fix itself. It's a way of - kind of - boosting what she can do for herself and advancing what I could've done for her. I can't explain it completely. I never really bothered learning the details when I was younger because I never expected to be using it. Essentially I'm giving the Tardis a restore point back to before it got damaged. Things will still be broken and certain problems can't be mended this way, but this is the fastest method and the best quality... annnd by fastest I mean the next 24 hours uninterrupted. The slightest trigger could kill the heart of the Tardis and me along with it. Or it could cause an electrical trauma and kill everyone involved with the trigger or it could... let's just say DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING and we'll all be fine!" he smiled, emphasizing it with a slight shake of his head. The hologram version of her Doctor looked down at its watch and then back up. "I started the whole thing at about fifteen minutes after you left the Tardis, nine-forty five I believe, so just sit tight until tomorrow at this time when I can get us out of here. And don't worry about me; I should be fine when this is through. I promise Rose, I'm sorry... I had to do it. She was too badly torn up. What good is a time lord without his ship eh? Oh and don't you dare think that I've forgotten about last night either," he winked. "You're not getting off so easily. Well then, see ya later!" and with that the hologram switched off, leaving a dazed and mildly confused Rose and Mickey in its wake. She blinked.

Engine humming filled the new silence as Mickey released Rose's waist and gaped at the Doctor. She swiveled round to meet his expression of awe, knowing that the same look was probably dancing upon her face as well. She had seen many things, learned thousands of facts, and been to hundreds of places so far in her journey with the Doctor but this was by far a new level of creepy. For goodness sake he was connected to the bloody Tardis... literally! His body and mind were interwoven with it's super-consciousness through all of those sickening wires and tubes that she had just tried to get ripped out of him! What had she been thinking? Well, obviously she hadn't been thinking at all based off the way she'd reacted when Mickey grabbed her. Nevertheless, she could've gotten them all three killed and that wasn't excusable. He was right, she knew better than to push strange buttons... that was his job. She smiled at Mickey as a wave of relief washed over her, the picture of it all sinking in. It really was pretty spectacular. He looked like a human battery and the Tardis was responding as though she had been drugged!

"What happened last night?" wondered a confused Mickey and Rose had to choke back a laugh. She knew very well what happened last night, too well, and apparently she knew the Doctor well enough to know he hadn't forgotten it. It wasn't everyday they got to smooch while under the influence, she thought dryly.

"N-nothin'. Mum and me watched this alien flick and the Doctor got scared... vowed revenge on me for spookin' him in the middle of the night," she lied, grinning despite herself. Mickey raised his eyebrows.

"An alien flick scared the Doctor?" he questioned. Rose fidgeted anxiously.

"Yeah, it - it really wasn't that big of a deal so -- How bout the Doctor hookin himself up like a bleedin battery?" she spat quickly, hoping to distract the topic away. Mickey chuckled.

"Lost his mind at last!" he teased. Rose nodded as she relived the kiss in her mind again for the second time that day and let her eyes wander without direction. She didn't really need to hear what Mickey was saying, probably some techno-geek drabble she'd heard before. "Ya know, I wonder if we can actually 'see' any of the changes taking... Rose look!" he squealed and spun her back around. Above them, just behind where she had been standing something was hardly moving enough to attract her attention. It was a tiny electrical panel door swinging off a solitary broken hinge about four feet over her head.

"It's moving... on its own... he really is fixing the Tardis in a faster way," she murmured and watched as it swung back up into place. A new hinge slowly began to grow as the older one melted away into a repaired one. She didn't notice Mickey had stopped watching until he spoke.

"So what now then? We can't go to the carnival, can't help out in here..." he glanced around. "What should we do?" She shrugged.

"Dunno. I didn't have any plans really, just sort of winging it," she sighed. "Can we- can we get out of here? Its still --"

"A little bit weird? Yeah. I think I'm going to be having nightmares of the Doctor looking like that!" he joked and both of them took one last glimpse before rushing out of the room. The hallway was still dark and the console room was still quiet. Nothing had change to suit their revelation except the peaceful way Rose was now able to absorb it all. Before she had been concerned, but now that she knew better it was quite comforting to be back 'home'. She stopped in the very place the Doctor had collapsed on her the night before and Mickey went around, headed for the door.

"Want to go to the mall or something? I think they're having a concert tonight?" he suggested. He stopped when he saw she wasn't going to follow and her face crinkled up in guilt. He knew what she was about to say but she still said it.

"I really would rather stay home tonight, Mick. If that's alright? I mean... he's vulnerable. I don't feel comfortable just running off and leaving him," she begged. Mickey groaned loudly, a fake show of exasperation he performed when he wanted her to know he didn't like it but he'd do it.

"But there's nothing you could do if he needed you anyway!" he reasoned.

"You don't know that... I don't know that. I shared a soul with the Tardis, Mickey... there's a lot of things about me now that none of you know," she shot back mischievously. He grinned.

"There are a lot of things about you I never knew to begin with," he replied and they both laughed. "All right then. But you owe me game time! I want you, the Tomb Raider and a bowl of munchies as payment! Tonight," he bargained. She moved forward, slipping her hands into her pockets with a smile.

"Deal," she nodded. He turned to head out the door without a second look. "But hey. Help me straighten up in here first? It's a total sty!"

"Rose, the Doctor said not to touch anything! You want the Tardis to blow up?"

"Aw c'mon Mickey. Non-lethal straightening. I mean look!" she gestured behind her. Since he'd been a companion on the Tardis for a while she was certain that he could help her clean up without being 'a stupid ape' and pressing things. His mouth dropped yet again that day.

"But we didn't even finish cleaning up your mum's place. Why on earth would I help him out?" he demanded.

"Because you looooove me," she goaded, running a teasing finger up his chest. He shot her a look of reproach that they both identified as half hearted and then surrendered. She sang with joy as he took off his jacket and dropped it over the railing.

"Fine, but you clean the flat on your own," he grumbled. In turn Rose pealed off her own coat.

"Nothing new," she shrugged.

Once they had managed to get the Tardis straight and tidy once again Rose and Mickey split up. He went home to gather some things to occupy them at the flat until tomorrow while Rose finished cleaning up the disastrous flat for her mum. She hadn't really acknowledged how filthy it was until she started to work on it alone. Now she was glad Mickey had gone the opposite direction and the Doctor was locked away in a veritable coma. No one needed to see how nasty she and her mum where... She had just finished washing a load of laundry, including the cushion covers from the couch that they had covered in popcorn from last night, when Mickey fumbled through the door.

"Rose, some help!" he squeaked, almost dropping one of his expensive game controllers. She dropped her load on the now clean dinner table and rushed to help him. "What's all that?" he asked when he could finally see past his junk. Rose took the controllers and games she'd freed from him to the floor in front of the television.

"Just some laundry. This place needed some freshening up," she said. He looked around the flat again in surprise. "What?"

"Well, you washed the curtain - I can tell cause now you don't see the spewed coke stain I made over new year's," he grinned, "and you've cleaned and polished the dinner table and chairs... you've washed the sofa covers I'm guessing since it looks like a skeleton without its clothes on... and you've vacuumed, twice cause I still see the tracks in the carpet." Rose stood and crossed her arms, grinning with her tongue between her teeth.

"My aren't you observant today?" she joked.

"No really! You've done an excellent job in the hour and a half it took me to get back here... s'like a whole new world. OOO look! You dusted!" he cheered, mocking her and her mum for never cleaning. "Can you do mine next?" Rose rolled her eyes and went back to her laundry.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she replied, lifting the cushion covers free and laying them over her shoulder. Mickey settled his Xbox and laptop on the floor with his games before taking a seat next to them. While she redressed the couch he began plugging in all the electronics.

"What's gotten into you today anyway?" he muttered flatly. She didn't bother looking his way; she knew he was distracted with barely visible input outlets.

"Nothin. Can't I just clean cause I feel like it? I mean there's no other way for me to relieve any stress around here. There's nothing ever going on," she grumbled, bouncing a cushion into its shell.

"Well why don't we do what we were gonna do yesterday before I got called in to work?" he said but his voice was muffled behind the tele. "There's a Saturday Night Live marathon coming on tonight." She set the last cushion back into place, thinking as she went back to the laundry she had left.

"Sure. Video games and tele. Sounds like a right good night of relaxation if you ask me and that's just what I need according to mum and the Doctor. Let's do it," she smiled. He pulled back with his own smile and she laughed.

"What?" he asked. She pointed to the dust bunny that had climbed into his hair and he pulled it out with an agitated smirk. "Would you cook then? Haven't had Rose cuisine for a long time."

"Sorry, but there's never any food in the kitchen for something like that," she responded, folding up her mother's clothes and intently assuring that everything made it from the dryer alive.

"Well I've got money," he said.

"Well I've got the talent," she chirped back and eagerly tossed a wad of socks at him.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Rose played Tomb Raider with Mickey for hours, obligingly supplying him with bowls of pretzels, popcorn, and black pepper Doritos whenever he requested. He had bought the Tylers an entire week's supply of food regardless of how Rose promised that she would not be home after tomorrow. He said that Jackie deserved it too after the way she looked after him in Rose's absence so she had let him do it. Somewhere around six o'clock Jackie had even popped by for dinner and a change of clothes. She told them both how Howard wanted her to meet the folks and swore to Rose that they weren't serious. She especially told her that she knew what it would do to Pete if she were to replace him and Rose accepted the change a little calmer than before. Somehow she had realized that she wouldn't be around for her mother forever and that the two people awaiting her here at home would have to move on with their lives. It was depressing but she didn't dwell on it. She had the Doctor for a while longer at least. Eventually she started cooking and an hour later they all sat down to chicken parmesan, garlic bread, salad, wine spritzers, and a big bowl of chunky almond ice cream that Rose steered clear of. She said it looked something like Jonick spew and refused it.

A couple hours later after Rose had checked her backed up email messages, Jackie went off on her date, and the couple had settled in for a marathon of Saturday Night Live gags, the depressing feeling came back to her. She now weighed the importance of her priorities as they stood and it wasn't a fair scale. On one side was her mother/home/Mickey/Earth and on the other, the Doctor. Everything he'd ever shown her/done for her/said to her... it meant more to her than everything else. It meant more to her to have that and not lose that then she'd even realized, but why? She couldn't understand it; it was a question she'd be battling with for years now... why? Why did she feel this attachment to him? Why had it only gotten worse when he changed bodies? Why did she feel that she knew every cell he had and every thought he could have? Why had she put him on a different level than everything else in the universe lately? She could be millions of miles from the Powell Estate 2006 and yet still at home as long as she could see that face... his face... He had left her, twice to be precise, and yet she still went to him, held his hand and made it all better...

"Rose?" It's Mickey and his sounds worried. She looks over to him, lightening up her features to give him a front of strength. She won't tell him the things running around in her head when he asks, she never does. She just sits and thinks on it until she has a solution. It's better than opening her mouth and revealing her stupidity Jack had once said in jest. "Something the matter?"

"No," she smiled like she meant it. "Just soaking it all in." He nodded in approval of her half lie and went back to watching the sketch while putting a dorito into his mouth. He seemed to be thinking his own thoughts though, a world of Mickey land where she was probably the queen. She turned back to the show. There was an easy way to toss off her feelings about the Doctor and her uncertainty so she did just that now, accepted that she would never understand. Mickey however she understood well. She understood his involuntary urgency to cling to her because she had accidentally caused it when she rescued her father from his intended death date. She understood his isolated feelings the same way she understood the Doctor's. He had no parents, no gran, and now no Rose, but things were looking up for him. He had gotten a promotion over the week and Jackie was taking her mothering duties to him since Rose wasn't home... She began biting at her nails nervously when the Doctor's words rang in her head again: do you think it's fair? Normally she was his conscious, not the other way round. It was like hearing his voice in the room. Honestly, she wasn't being fair. She was being selfish and tending to herself instead of others. It was something she realized when the Doctor had explained his reason for the procedure that now fixed the Tardis. That was why she had cleaned so diligently, to give her mum a fair place to live in her wake, and that was why she felt pained now. Mickey would always be important to her, she'd always love him and yet she couldn't bear to hurt him anymore than she already had.

"When are you going to give this stuff up?" he questioned timidly. Rose looked over at him again and this time his expression was stern and relentless. He wasn't asking about the way she was nibbling on her nails, he was asking about her life with the Doctor. "When are you going to stop? Because it's killing you. Everyday, more danger, more pain..."

"Mickey it's not killing me. I mean life with the Doctor is crazy, you know that, but it's not killing me. He wouldn't allow that. Whatever you think you see right now is just the chip. I'm still recovering you know," she reasoned.

"Oh come off it, Rose. There'll always be some chip threatening your life, it's the everyday stuff I'm talking about, stuff that doesn't go away when the chips are gone... you know you can't be with the Doctor forever anyway and he won't stick around forever either. When are you going to come back to the real world?" Rose's mouth dropped in shock. Real world? Had he just said real world?

"How much more real can you get? I'm fighting to save all of existence and literally seeing what you call reality be created everyday. And not just one, hundreds! You can't say that's not the real world Mickey, you can't!" she argued feverishly. She was willing to have this conversation, willing to set him at ease after everything she'd done to him, but not this way. Not when he was targeting everything she had grown to hold dear.

"But what about your reality, huh? What about the reality you were made for? Are you going to give it all up for the Doctor?" he spat. She held her tongue with her teeth to avoid speaking. She didn't know the answer to that never had and kept telling herself she never would but really part of her knew that it was true. She would give it all up and go with him no matter the consequence. A sudden thought occurred to her that she was made for the reality that she had chosen, that she was the Bad Wolf and had been fated to be with the Doctor, but she withheld it. She wasn't going to argue with him when she doubted herself. Mickey started again, dropping his tone to an apologetic and loving one. "Eventually you're going to have choose, love... and if you don't... we both know the Doctor will choose for you."

"Is that what this is all about Mickey? Do you want me to choose you or him? Because I'm not going to do it." There were tears in her eyes now, daring her to let them free. It was too much. The truth she was confronting, the knowledge she was gaining, the feelings she was meeting, the fear of losing him when she knew it was best... all of it was approaching and all of it was too much.

"No. No Rose, that's not what this is about. I'd love for you to choose, you know that, but I know you won't... I know you don't want to." Her tears slid down her cheeks in a hot line, dripping onto her shirt steadily. He was staring at her, seeing her. It was the first time in a long time she could remember actually being seen so every word she took for genuine. He meant what he was saying even if it wasn't the truth. He was holding her hand now, gazing into her eyes, and she felt no pressure of guilt. "I just want you to know that I want you safe and happy, Rose. It doesn't matter to me anymore if it's with me or with him because I know you love him..." She started to protest, but he kept going. "I love you, I always will and I'll always be here for you, even if it's just as your friend." Rose sniffed and rubbed at her nose with her thumb. She sucked back the sob she could feel at the brink of her throat.

"Are we breaking up?" she whispered, her eyes on him fixedly. She was trying so hard not to be sad over this. He deserved peace, he deserved answers and though she couldn't give them she knew he deserved them all the same. But Mickey also knew this and he only sighed. He leaned back against the arm of the sofa as he released her hand and she noticed his face wasn't torn up in sorrow. He wasn't overwhelmed with pain the way she was, just content and at peace. 'I want some of whatever it is he's smoking that helps stay that calm,' she thought miserably and once again stared into his eyes. He was prepared, fully prepared to accept anything that happened now.

"That's all up to you..." he finally answered. Silence fell between them the way time and space so often had... There was nothing left for him to say, nothing left that 'she' could say without it changing their lives. In fact she couldn't even think. His words just kept echoing in her head. "It doesn't matter to me anymore if it's with me or with him because I know you love him..." "Fancy a walk?" he offered softly, extending his hand and a small smile. She forced herself to give him the same courtesy, followed by a nod. Some fresh air would be great and a reason to allow some thought would be even better. She took his hand and he tugged her up off the sofa, tossing her coat haphazardly at her to provoke a smile.

-----------Within the Doctor's Mind------------
He didn't know how long he'd been under, it felt like an eternity. There was no noise, no sights... just dark and the whispered beating of his hearts. It was difficult to breathe now, but he assumed that was the Tardis taking breaths with him which meant he only got half. She would stop in a little while to let him catch up. After all his death right now meant hers too so he wasn't afraid. His only fear was for Rose and what thoughts were bumbling about in her head at that moment. Was she afraid? Was she happy? Was she with Mickey? Was she ill?

His time spent here so far had been mostly dedicated to her very memory. He relived most of their moments together and considered variable moments in the future. He thought about his conversation with Jackie and the warmth she'd given him in his deepest confusion to date. Mostly he dwelt on the one person in all of time and space who had been willing to turn the universe inside out to save his life. The compassion in her voice, the gold flecks of her hair, the tenderness of her touch, the seductive glint in her eye, the pouty curve of her mouth, the adorable way she bites her tongue when she's playing or embarrassed, even the horrid way she screams when she's angry...

In her name he had waged war on his emotions today. He sifted through the rubbish and the fear of his paranoia and looked at how he really felt when she was concerned. His conclusion wasn't astounding, but it had mildly surprised him. He was in love with her and not just in love with her (no, because he knew that much already), he was more in love with her than he could safely allow. She was in his blood now, she coursed through his very veins to the exact point that there were moments he could swear he heard her laugh in his head or heard her insults from across the room. She understood his every expression now, read his every gesture practically like an expert with a microscope and he loved it. He loved the fact that she was breathing itself for him now. Only he had come to realize that there wasn't a safe way for him to dislodge himself from her before it could hurt too much. If he left her now, if he left her later, if he watched her die... they would all possibly kill him or haunt him for the rest of his life. The battle then became what he should do and what he could handle doing. Could he handle the tears in her eyes when he left her? Could he handle watching her age and hearing that last breath leave her forever? Could he handle setting a date to leave her on Earth and then anxiously approach it? Could he handle NOT doing any of those things? Could he handle missing her smile, her wonderment, her hand on his shoulder, her reproachful tone when he mocked her mother? Could he live without those moments where she made his hearts trill at the sight of her? Each question had merit and provoked a thought at least.

Hours... he was sure it had taken hours of this silent meditation for him to deduct an answer. He had used the full power of his brain, had barely assisted the Tardis with repairs, and had forced himself to face the futures of each outcome. They were all dark and gloomy, for she was a human in the end, but the in between parts he had neglected before... they got brighter. Suddenly he arrived at the choice of choices. He would never look back now. He loved her, more than life and if it meant pain then he would endure. He would survive whatever it took to be with her, even if it meant being shot down by her. There was always the possibility she didn't love him back that her heart would never beat for his alien DNA but he no longer cared. She wouldn't leave him when she found out, no matter how negatively she thought on his emotions. She had told him that. So now just to be with her, to build those memories that would sustain his desire for her for the rest of his life... it was more than enough.

-------------On the streets of London---------------
"What time is it? There's people everywhere!" Rose smiled. She glanced at the woman walking with her little boy just ahead and at the elderly man on the park bench. Mickey pressed the glowing light on his watch.

"11:45? I think my watch's a bit off. Can we see big Ben from here?" he looked around.

"No, s'blocked by buildings," she replied. He mouth an 'oh' and rippled his eyebrows happily at her. She grinned again, trotting slowly beside him. They hadn't held hands since they started. She didn't feel it was fair to either one of them with the things they had been discussing. At least now they were looking at it less seriously, before she was feeling like the end of the world had pushed between them.

"So how long did it take the Doctor to figure out you had the chip?" asked Mickey light heartedly. Rose thought, her nose crinkling as she looked to the stars and snuggled into the neck of her coat.

"Two - three hours after he got back? I dunno. It kinda went into overdrive when I saw him," she laughed and looked back at him jovially. Mickey nodded, giving her a knowing smile. "What?"

"You're in love with him. I know you are... you won't admit it but you are," he said softly. "S'alright really!" he then added proudly, taking her hand from her pocket to hold. "If I'm going to lose you to someone I'd rather it be the Doctor than some jumpin Jack Flash!" Rose snorted.

"You haven't called him that in forever!" she cried, ignoring Mickey's proclamation of her love for the afore mentioned. He had already said that twice since they started their walk and once nearly convinced her of it. She just wasn't sure she believed that he was okay with something so big yet. Either that or she wasn't sure 'she' was okay with something so big yet.

"S'cause I haven't seen him in forev - hold on?" The sound of footsteps was beating excruciatingly slow behind them, almost in a spooky way.

"Do you hear that?" asked Rose worried. It was the very same sound she had been hearing behind her for a week now. The echo of someone approaching from behind or beside or in front of her and no one to be seen. He had never heard it too until now.

"Yeah," he looked behind them. "Was that him?" Rose turned to look at the rumpled man sidling along behind them in the shadows and they stopped. He was moving slowly, thoughtlessly, directionless.

"Yeah... I think... Is he drunk?" she asked quietly so as not to be overheard. Mickey shrugged.

"S'probably homeless... or both. HEY YOU! BUGGER OFF! WE DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY!" he yelled. The figure was getting closer and had made no inclination of stopping. Rose eyed him suspiciously. This wasn't normal behavior as far as she could tell. Most people acknowledge being spoken to unless something was wrong and something definitely felt wrong here. Out of nowhere another figure could be discerned through the shadows of an alley to their far right, on the other side of Mickey. Her heart skipped a beat as she put her hand on Mickey's arm.

"I don't think he's homeless, Mickey. Someone's coming up beside you," she said softly, unable to disguise the fright in her voice. Mickey didn't turn to the figure approaching him; his eyes were fixated behind her.

"Well," he replied, his voice shaking nervously, "not to alarm you, but there's one coming up near you too." It took little effort for Rose to gather the scenario. She had seen it several times before. They were alone, two young people, walking in the dead of night on a now seemingly deserted street away from downtown and there were strange people on three sides of them so far.

"I think we're surrounded," she gulped and dared to glimpse over her shoulder at the newly present figure bringing up the rear. Mickey gripped her hand tightly now, drawing her closer as the figures began to close in. What did they want? Hadn't he told them they had no money? He scanned the area desperately. Did they want Rose? Were they planning to rape her? Kill her? Kill him? It was just like watching a crime show on the tele now. They were surrounded by wordless, faceless thugs and their lives were inaudibly at risk. He had to do something, she was gripping his had back even tighter now. He had to think fast!

"RUN!" he belted and jerked her into a sprint for their lives.

A/N: Cliffhanger or what? lol