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Chapter Three: The Aftermath

Trying my hardest to stifle my laughter, I caught a look at the Doctor his face, was split between laughter and anger at what his TARDIS had done. He looked down at me before saying,

"She did bring it on herself though,"

"I know, it's never a good move to insult the TARDIS, and is it true that she never listens to you?'

"Yep. Look at all the times I've carefully put in the right dates and co-ordinates and ended up somewhere completely different!" We looked at each other, right in the eye, before we both burst into uncontrollable laughter, it was more a question of when the TARDIS brought us to the right places - they would have been easier to count. We were laughing so much that neither of us noticed that Reinette had finished admiring her new boils, and had finally come out of the bathroom to find both me and the Doctor laughing at each other so hard that we could barely breathe. Reinette obviously thought that we were laughing at her, as her face soon became a picture of pure rage and anger.

"How dare you!" she spat looking directly at me, "How dare you, you worthless, good for nothing peasant child with your strange uncouth accent, dare laugh at me? I, who am the mistress of King Louis the 15th!"

"Doesn't that just mean that you are a courtesan? And didn't your dear old King Louis have another fourteen or so mistresses?" I retorted.

"Reinette," the Doctor tried, looking at Reinette in vain, "Rose," he tried, now looking at me, I looked back at him, shocked to see a look of absolute loss etched upon his face and even more surprised to find how confused his eyes looked.

"Don't you dare child! At least Louis loves me and is not afraid to admit it, at least we have a chance of being happy together until one of us dies!" Reinette screamed, ignoring the Doctor's pleas for us to calm down.

This hit me, hard. Did the Doctor love me? Well if he did he most definitely was too afraid to admit it, he's said that he loved being with me, that he loved travelling with me and that he was so glad to have met me, but he's never said those three little words. The three little words that describe so much, that are so minute but that mean so much. Did we really have no chance of being happy together? We were happy travelling around the universe together, going to different places in different times to solve different problems with different aliens together. But it wasn't as if we'd ever get engaged, or be married or have children together, I didn't even know if we could have children together, with him being a Timelord, and me being just another stupid ape. In my heart of hearts it was what I wanted, since before I could remember, to find a man (or Timelord I wasn't fussy) settle down together, get married and have children. But I had to choose the one man in the universe who I couldn't do all that with. Why wouldn't he? Did he just not want to? Or maybe... maybe it's me, maybe he does want to get married, and have children. Just not with me. I could feel hot tears welling up in my eyes, blinking them away, I raised my head up and looked right into Reinette's eyes.

"Why do you hate me? What have I done wrong? Is it because the TARDIS likes me? Or because... because you're jealous?" I asked her, still staring her straight in the eye,

"I... I," she stammered, but before long she regained her pompous attitude, "Why would I be jealous of a silly little girl? You have nothing I could possibly want. Let alone feel jealous of,"

"Then, why do you hate me?" a simple question, only six words, but it's affect on Reinette was amazing, she positively fumed, it would have gone on for longer, if Mickey hadn't turned up,

"What's up?" he asked looking first at me then Reinette who were standing face to face, fists clenched, then to the Doctor who was still looking pleasantly bemused as if me and Reinette weren't having a bitch fight in the middle of the TARDIS.

"Mickey!" the Doctor said gleefully, coming out of his trance, "Why don't you and I, leave these girls to erm... fight out here... while we... go and...em... find something to... fix?" he stammered putting his arm around Mickey and forcibly leading him away.

"So, are you gonna tell me why you detest me so much?" I asked coolly as if I was no more than commenting on the weather.

"Because, child, you act as though you are an adult when you quiet clearly are not,"

"I think I left my childhood behind the day I watched the Earth die on Platform One, or the time I first met a Dalek, or the day I took the entire time vortex inside me to save the Doctor. And you know what? I'm not a little girl any more than the Doctor is, and he's 900 years old," and with that I turned around on my heel and headed off to where I'd seen Mickey and the Doctor go to 'fix something.'

o...O...o

A week later, after only a few more verbal fights with Reinette (her boils were still as bad, if not worse... funny how the treatment cream that I gave her just made them worse...) I was still being sick every morning, although I hadn't told the Doctor that, he'd fuss like crazy. I was to be found sitting rather happily in the TARDIS kitchen with Mickey, eating a delicacy off some planet, which we both decided tasted very much like chips and banana, but according to the Doctor it was "a very good source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and fibre" which was fine by me, if he wanted us to eat health foods he at least chose the ones that tasted good, rather than that cardboard breakfast cereal rubbish that my mum always ate.

"Hey Rose, it's still morning how come you're up?" the Doctor asked teasing me as he walked in through the door,

"She was sick again, that's why," answered Mickey

"Hey she has a name you know," I retorted, causing both of them to chuckle to themselves, but it wasn't long before a look of concern showed upon the Doctor's face.

"I thought you were only sick twice," the Doctor said his eyebrows furrowing,

"Erm..." I started

"She's been sick every morning for about a week now," Mickey informed him, I stopped looking at the doctor and started to stare at my feet.

"Rose, why didn't you tell me? Something could be seriously wrong with you!" the Doctor looked thoroughly exasperated with me.

Wait, I couldn't be, could I? I'd been tired every day for the past few weeks, and I'd been sick every morning for a week, so maybe. Oh hell. What would he say? No, I wasn't going to tell him, not yet at least, not with her here.

"Doctor?" I heard Reinette's simpering voice call out, inevitably she entered the kitchen. "Doctor darling, I thought we were going somewhere today?"

"The TARDIS is putting up a bit of a fight she won't take me where I want to go unless we go where she wants first,"

"Where's that?" Reinette asked

"Dunno, she won't tell me," the Doctor replied,

"Why don't we just go any way, she wouldn't take us somewhere too dangerous," I stated,

"Yeah, I guess so, I'll go tell her, meet you in the console room in about ten minutes," the Doctor reasoned walking off in the direction of the console room.

Looking Mickey right in the eye, I finished my breakfast, sorted out my pots and got ready for where ever the TARDIS wanted to take us. Within ten minutes (which I think is my personal best for getting ready) I left my bedroom heading for the console room, wearing a simple pair of jeans and a black T-shirt which read 'Rock Rebel Since 1985'. The Doctor smiled at me as I walked in, the TARDIS gave one of it's customary lurches causing all four of us to fall flat onto our faces, well apart from me, I fell onto the Doctor.

After the TARDIS had finished throwing us all around inside her, I managed to disentangle my arms and legs from the Doctor's and stood up. Then I bent down and reached out a hand to help him up, which he gratefully took, returning to his feet. Elsewhere I saw Reinette and Mickey get to their feet.

"So here we are then," stated the Doctor walking over to the doors, that would be leading to wherever and whenever the TARDIS wanted us to be.

"Wait, can't I go first?" asked Reinette, the Doctor nodded, so she walked over to the doors, the Doctor stepped aside. Reinette put both her hands on the door panel and pushed.