It Could Be Worse

By Sonic Jules

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Previously, in chapter three...

"There's someone else here? On the TARDIS?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nope, no stowaways. Actually, I was right all along. It's you."

"I'm the anomaly?" Rose asked, clearly surprised. "It's really me? I thought you were just saying things off the top of your head before ... at least I was hopin'." She sat back down beside him.

"I reckon it's because of you touchin' the baby an' causin' the paradox, but I can't be certain just yet." He looked at Rose, a slight sadness in his eyes. "I'm sure I can get it straightened out."

"But what if you can't?" Rose asked, at first looking down, then meeting his eyes. "What if you can't travel with me in the ship anymore? What if the only way for you to move on is to leave me here, behind?"

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Chapter Four

Do As I Say

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"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor practically scolded. "The TARDIS wouldn't just leave you here," he said as he stood, walking toward the console. His words sounded confident enough...

"Yeah? Then why can't you look me in the eyes?"

He turned then, staring at her as he walked right back in front of her. "Rose Tyler. The TARDIS will not leave you behind. I will not leave you behind. Got it?"

She almost laughed at him, suddenly serious with eyes daring her not to believe him. She nodded. "All right. What do we do?"

"I think you should go outside for a bit; get some fresh air, though I suppose I couldn't trust you not to go to your mum and start changin' history all over again. Hmm - that might not be such a bad thing."

"What?"

"It may be a bit tricky, but I think we could fix things if you caused another paradox."

"You can't be serious," Rose tutted.

"Of course I can. And I am. Putting you in the middle of another paradox might just straighten things out. Come on, we'll go see Jackie and the baby and you can touch her again and -"

"No - I almost ruined everythin' doin' that before! I can't - I won't - do that again! I almost lost you," she whispered her last words.

"Rose, if you don't do as I say we may never be able to leave this place."

"If somethin' happens to you I won't be leavin' anyway. And if I'm gonna be stuck here I'd just assume you're here, too."

The Doctor grinned for only a moment at her sentiment, then suddenly looked serious again. "So, that's it then? You don't trust me?"

"Of course I trust you. I don't trust me."

"Rose, we need to go out there."

"If it's all the same to you I'd rather stay inside."

The Time Lord looked at her quizzically for a moment. "Yeah? Why's that?"

Rose looked away, not meeting his eyes. "What if I go out there and the ship doesn't let me back in? Then what?"

"It's not like we're goin' anywhere any time soon," he replied smartly.

"Fine," she huffed, his flippant tone spurring her on. Rose practically marched toward the doors, shoving herself outward. She then bounced backward, the exit not opening and her grand show of walking out thwarted unceremoniously.

Rose looked up at the Doctor as he ran toward her, obviously worried that she'd been hurt. What she didn't expect, however, was the wide smile that spread when he bent down beside her to help her back on her feet.

"It wasn't funny," she announced.

"I wasn't grinnin' over you slammin' into the door - I'm just pleased that I was right - never doubted myself, actually."

"Right? About what?"

"The TARDIS."

"Did I hit my head?" Rose asked sarcastically.

"Don't think so," the Time Lord replied, still smiling. "Watch this." He winked at Rose, then pushed on the ship's doors. They wouldn't budge.

"You knew? You knew the doors wouldn't open? Couldn't you just try openin' the doors yourself instead of gettin' me all riled up and runnin' into 'em like that?"

"Nope. I had to block my thoughts and let the TARDIS believe that you were goin' out there to touch the baby again. And she wouldn't've believed it if you didn't. Now me - she might've just let me go through those doors at first, but now she knows I know the problem, so neither of us are leavin' any time soon."

"I don't understand," Rose spoke with confusion.

"Maybe you did hit your head after all."

"No, I didn't - and you're still not makin' any sense."

"She's been settin' things into motion ever since we got back on the ship. Now she's keepin' us here till we get things resolved."

"But why? Why would she trap us in here like this? And what do you mean, 'get things resolved'?" Rose asked, completely dumbfounded by the Time Lord's revelation.

"It's simple, really. The TARDIS want's us to kiss and make up, so to speak. She knows our thoughts - in your head you know - and apparently she's unhappy that we haven't gotten over what happened out there," the Doctor pointed toward the doors. "Think about it. First she sparks things up a bit with that light show when I tried takin' us into the Vortex. Then she hides your room, makin' you come back here with me. Then she showed herself again, literally shockin' you off the console. Frankly it's more than a bit manipulative, tryin' to get me to worry over somethin' else and just forget all that's happened," he finished, talking more to the ship than his traveling companion.

"But we're not fightin'."

"Not literally, no."

"I suppose this is my fault?" Rose asked.

"Nope. Actually, it's mine," the Doctor acknowledged.

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To be continued...

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