Calendar Girl

Chapter 6 - Picnics, Perils, and Prat Falls: Part 2

Rose wasn't sure what to think of Adam Mitchell. As a child he had been a troublemaker who thought it was funny to set an entire nation on alert for war just because he could. And maybe he really was a genius, but it was hard to find that impressive when your standard for intelligence was a nine hundred year old Time Lord. Besides, he lacked a bit of common sense when he didn't instantly flee from van Statten the minute he realized that the man wiped clean the memories of any employee who angered him. But he had been kind at least, and she could identify with the desire do something important with one's life. Certainly that was worth giving him a chance, even if the Doctor said it was on her own head if things did not go over well. She just wanted him to see the things she had seen and help broaden his horizons.

And, yes, Adam was handsome. She had lied somewhat when she told the Doctor she hadn't noticed he was (in the Doctor's words) "a bit pretty". What she had meant is that his looks didn't matter to her—or at least that they shouldn't. Looks only got you so far if your character didn't match, and the verdict was still out on that one. Still, he was nice to look at. He had a round face that gave him a boyish type of charm, and his grin was the cute kind that caused dimples on each side of his face. His eyes were as dark and as deep as the expanse of space that surrounded the Tardis, and his thick black hair was something Rose was quite tempted to run her fingers through—just once to see if it felt as good as it looked. But Rose attributed this desire to the fact that her last (current?) boyfriend didn't have the type of hair to make that possible. And the Doctor kept his hair cropped so short that even if she attempted to...

Rose felt her face flush in embarrassment even though neither man in the console room was paying attention to her or had any idea what she was thinking. The Doctor was going overboard spelling out rules of conduct for Adam that Rose had never been held to, and he hadn't let Adam walk further than the ramp that started at the doors of the Tardis. So neither of them had noticed when she visually surveyed the Tardis' newest passenger then let her eyes wander to its pilot. Nevertheless, with one partial thought, it was no longer Adam's features Rose was assessing, and she knew her cheeks were now a bright crimson.

Rose's breath caught in her throat. She swallowed as she tried to steady her breathing. Her heart was beating so rapidly that for one brief moment she imagined herself to be a hummingbird. It was probably good that she wasn't one, though, because her limbs felt too wobbly to use properly, and she feared her knees were about to buckle underneath her. She backed up slowly till the back of her legs hit the jump seat. Then steadying herself with her hands, she lifted herself up to sit down.

What on Earth—no—what in the whole bloody universe had come over her? This was the Doctor for heaven's sake! She had been traveling with him for about a month and nothing had changed—not a thing! Just about every day they saw something fantastic (did she just use the word "fantastic"?), just about every day they almost got killed or were otherwise put in danger, and just about every day they had to hold hands and run. So why in all of the great expanse of time and space, when there was a human bloke her age who clearly fit the profile of handsome right on board, did she find herself so overwhelmingly attracted to the Doctor of all people?

Rose scrunched up her face, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples. This helped her concentrate, but she did it because it had the added bonus of helping her resist the temptation to stare. There had to be some logical scientific explanation for this sudden change. Maybe there was something in the air akin to the praxis gas that had affected the Doctor on Astro Pandellus, except that it only affected human females. Or maybe her latest close call with death had caused her to develop some sort of short-term hero worship. (The problem with that theory is that other than opening up the bulkheads, the Doctor he really hadn't done much saving this time around.) The most likely explanation was that having another male aboard to compare him to had caused her to appreciate his appearance, which she had hitherto been too busy to notice.

But "appreciate" was the epitome of British understatement. Rose opened her eyes and dared to look toward the Tardis doors. She caught sight of the Doctor's profile and again found breathing normally to be a difficult task. Why had she never before noticed his chiseled jaw line and prominent cheekbones? His nose was prominent as well, but in a stately way. She would have called it a Roman nose if he had not been a Time Lord, and therefore not the slightest bit Roman. And Rose knew the Doctor was a bit self-conscious about his ears, but blimey if they didn't complete the look perfectly! The Doctor's features were magnificent: rugged, mature, and (dare she think it?) sexy. Rose's gaze drifted to the Doctor's broad shoulders and overall physique, but she had to look away. There was no doubt he was fit, but it was in her best interest if she didn't dwell upon that fact too long.

Rose returned to the previous posture of scrunched face and temple massage. She could hear the Doctor's authoritative voice lay down the law to Adam. That too caused quite a stir within her, and Rose realized that she was going to have find a way to sublimate her feelings. It would be more than a bit uncomfortable if the Doctor realized that Rose suddenly fancied him. But as Rose sat with her face in her hands, she realized that her feelings weren't sudden at all. Adam's contrasting appearance might have been a catalyst to bring her feelings to the surface, but she realized that her mother had astutely noticed her infatuation when they were in London battling the Slitheen. This was not good at all.

Rose felt a hand on her shoulder and she heard the Doctor's voice say, "You okay, Rose?" It made her jump, which in turn made her blush in embarrassment.

"I-I'm fine," she said with a noticeable waver in her voice. "I'm just..." She had think of a quick excuse for her strange behavior. Out the corner of her eye, she noticed the small picnic basket. "...hungry. That's all. Running for your life can make a person a bit peckish." She managed flash him a shaky smile before she had to look away again.

"Right. Missed lunch," the Doctor said. "Let's get you something to eat." Then he turned to the young man standing next to him. "Looks like the kitchen will be the first room on you grand tour."

"There are more rooms than this?" Adam asked. The amazement in his voice was hard to miss.

" 'Course there are," said the Doctor with a tone of offense. "You didn't think we ate and slept in here did you?"

"Didn't give it much thought actually," Adam said. "I was too busy trying to memorize the rules."

The Doctor didn't respond. Instead he turned his attention back to Rose and offered her a hand to help her up. But when she took his hand, the electricity that ran through her overwhelmed her. And since she didn't apply any counter pressure, she stumbled forward into his arms.

God, he even smelled good.

"Blood sugar must be low," commented the Doctor with a frown. "Oi, Adam. Come help steady Rose."

Adam put an arm around her and walked beside her as they made their way to the kitchen. She didn't want give Adam too much attention and send the wrong message about her intentions for inviting him along, but she found it much easier to think clearly with the Doctor a few paces in front of her. That is, until her eyes—which were still focused downward—accidently got a glimpse of his backside.

Rose's knees buckled, and she stumbled. Adam firmed his grip on her. "So is missing meals common?" Adam asked. Rose thought he sounded worried.

"Just depends," Rose said, glad to find that she was speaking normally. "Some trips can be a bit...crazy," she said, "but the Tardis is set to mimic Earth's daily cycle. So when we stay in the Vortex things are pretty predictable." Rose gave Adam a reassuring smile and continued. "We try to land close to the same time of day as Tardis time to try to keep things in order," she said, stretching the truth so as not to add to Adam's apprehension. She was basing this solely on the time the Doctor landed deliberately for an evening meal in Birmingham.

Rose felt her heartbeat quicken. Great—one fleeting thought about the Doctor and she was a mess again! She had to do her best to think about something else.

"What's the Vortex?" asked Adam. "I know what a vortex is in general, of course, but you're speaking of something specific." Rose rolled her eyes inwardly at his genius posturing, but was glad to have something to talk about.

"That's short for Time Vortex," she said, with a tone of authority worthy of a professor. "It is essentially the roadway by which we travel." Rose surprised herself with her syntax and word choice and smiled slightly at how intelligent she sounded.

"But how does it work?" Adam asked.

Bugger. That was more difficult to answer and she wasn't about to ask the...well, anyone...for specifics. She paused as if she were out of breath to give herself time to come up with an answer. "Well it's rather difficult to explain fully, but it's basically a dimension outside our timeline that connects all of time and space together. You have to be really accurate when you navigate or you can end up in the wrong place rather easily." It sounded good at least, but Rose hoped that the...that no one else was really paying attention.

"So basically it's a spiral-based transdimensional thoroughfare akin to a wormhole in which all chronological and spatial points intersect, conglomerate, and disperse," he said.

What? Rose was pretty sure that was English, but she couldn't follow it.

"Exactly," Rose said doing her best to continue displaying the confidence of a professor. "Well done."

Adam beamed liked a pupil who had received merit points.

After a few more paces, they stopped at a doorway. "Kitchen," said the Doctor gruffly, gesturing toward the door.

Rose and Adam entered and sat at the table. Rose noticed a third chair at the table that had not been there before. The Tardis never ceased to amaze her. Now that she was in the kitchen, she realized she actually was hungry and lightheaded. With elbows on the table, she rested her hands in her head to keep from feeling woozy. Hopefully she could milk the low-blood-sugar thing and someone would serve her, because she really didn't feel like getting up.

Rose heard the sound of a refrigerator door being opened and slammed shut. This same sound was repeated with the pantry doors of three separate pantries. Heavy boots plodded to the walk-in refrigerator. Heavy boots stomped out of the walk-in refrigerator. A bunch of bananas was set on the table.

"That's all there is in here," the Doctor said. "Be right back."

Rose remembered that they had been low on food the day before, but the Doctor had gone shopping. Apparently he only bought enough food for their lunch. She felt warmth rise to her cheeks, and she knew she was about to blush. Time for diversions again.

"Any other questions I can answer?" Rose asked as the Doctor left the room. She peeled a banana, broke a small piece off and put it in her mouth.

She did her best for the next fifteen minutes to sound like an authority as she answered Adam's questions about time travel, the Tardis, and aliens. It was a great distraction, but she was glad when the Doctor returned with the basket and placed an array of meats and cheeses, fruit, and French baguettes on the table in front of her.

"You know a lot about how things run around here," Adam said to Rose as he reached for a piece of bread, "but it's the Doctor's ship, right?" He looked at the Doctor who at just sat down in the empty chair to his right. "No offense, but it can't be yours. You're just a normal girl, and even extraordinary humans don't have this type of technology."

"Not in two thousand twelve," Rose said with a shrug. "How do you know I'm not from the future?" She stole a quick glance at the Doctor. She hoped she hadn't offended him by challenging Adam's assumption. She was relieved when she saw him raise his eyebrows then chuckle silently.

"I don't. It's just the way the Doctor was talking, I thought..." With a confused look, Adam pointed at the Doctor then let his hand drop as he shook his head.

Rose smiled then chuckled. "No you're right. I was just winding you up. Sorry." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Still. Things are a bit different when you travel with the Doctor. Things aren't always as you might suppose."

She was starving and her brain was beginning to hurt, so she let the Doctor take over the question-and-answer session while she ate. And though she interjected here and there, she avoided eye contact with the Doctor, looking instead at a fixed point slightly to his right or at Adam.

When the Doctor had returned with the picnic basket, Rose and Adam were talking and laughing like old friends. It was also clear by the way Adam kept touching her hand or shoulder and the amount of times he fluffed his hair that he was flirting with her. The Doctor was less clear if Rose was reciprocating or just being a good hostess. However, he was aware that while the three of them ate, she looked directly at Adam but never once made eye contact with him. He tried not to be hurt by this fact. Adam was the shiny new toy in the room, after all, and a human like she was. It was to be expected. If she decided to pursue something with the kid, he would not stand in the way. He would even help her. He wanted her to be happy, even if it hurt him.

As the meal went on, however, the Doctor considered reversing his original sentiment. Adam was a pompous git. The Doctor had heard Rose answer Adam's initial question. She answered very basically, but accurately, and the Doctor was rather proud of her understanding. But Adam came back with a show of synonyms that sounded more technical and intelligent. Sometimes larger technical words did offer a preciseness in explanation that was not possible with simpler words (and the Doctor would sometimes default to them out of habit) but Adam was doing it to show off.

At first they were both explaining things to him, then Rose focused on eating, which meant the Doctor was stuck answering his insufferable questions alone.

"So if you travel in time, can you go to the last day of your life and watch yourself die?" Adam asked.

"Now why would I want to go and do that?" asked the Doctor with annoyance.

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Just asking if it's possible. Maybe you could stop it from happening."

"Then it wouldn't be the day of my death, now would it?" the Doctor said, pointing with a banana.

"No, but..."

"It would be a paradox," the Doctor said. "Something we generally try to avoid."

"Wouldn't any time you mess with history be a paradox?" he asked as he took a handful of strawberries. They were wild strawberries from France that the Doctor had hand picked especially for Rose. Adam ate all of them and didn't even offer to share with her.

"Time is both fluid and fixed," answered the Doctor, barely hiding his irritation. "Not everything is a paradox."

Adam continued his questions until all the food in the basket was empty. The only thing that remained was a bottle of fifty-year-old Domaine de la Romanee-Conti brand Pinot Noir that the Doctor had bought directly from the winery in Burgandy, and there was no way he was wasting something so precious in the company of a prat like Adam. He supposed he could always sell it back.

"So can I see some of the other rooms you mentioned?" Adam asked, directing his question at Rose. "I'd love to try out the swimming pool." The Doctor watched as Adam leaned toward Rose and spoke in lower tone. "Of course, I didn't bring luggage, so I don't have any trunks..."

"We have a wardro—" began Rose.

"Pool's closed," the Doctor said abruptly, interrupting her. "Completely empty. And cracked right down the center. So sorry."

Rose furrowed her brow. "But two days ago, I—"

"Broke when we crash landed," the Doctor said.

"But we didn't cra—"

"So Adam," the Doctor said, cutting her off. "Let me show you the wardrobe and get you a few outfits." He stood, walked toward the doorway and waited for Adam to get up and follow him. "Then I'll show you to your sleeping quarters. Bit small, I'm afraid, but the mattress on the bunk is comfortable and there is a bathroom across the corridor."

"Rose said she has a four poster bed and an en suite bathroom," Adam said as they entered the corridor.

"Yes, but that one's already taken," said the Doctor. "You could use a camp bed and a sleeping bag in the console room if you prefer."

"The sleeping quarters will be fine," Adam said meekly.

"Good."

Breakfast was interesting. Rose usually had the kitchen to herself, though sometimes the Doctor would join her for a cuppa. At least Rose felt more herself after a good night's sleep. Though she couldn't deny the underlying attraction, she was able to interact with the Doctor normally. Today he sat at the table, leaning back with his arms folded, and watched Adam's every move. It was obvious the Doctor didn't trust him. She rolled her eyes at the Doctor and shook her head. Adam was a bit full of himself, but he was harmless. And there was no trouble he could get into in the kitchen anyway.

"So how does the hierarchy work around here," asked Adam as he sat down with a bowl of Wheatabix.

"What hierarchy?" asked the Doctor incredulously. "There's only two people."

"Three, Doctor," Rose said as she sipped her tea.

"Fine, then he's last," the Doctor said, pointing at Adam.

"So how'd you end up his assistant anyway?" Adam asked Rose.

Rose wasn't sure how to respond. Sure, it was the Doctor's ship. He was the one who knew how to pilot it and how all the time travel rules worked, but she never felt in any way subservient to him. She looked over at the Doctor, beseechingly, hoping he would respond.

"She's not an assistant, she's my friend," the Doctor said with a frown. "I saved her life and she saved mine. Seemed like a good reason to ask her to travel with me." The Doctor grinned at her with a closed mouth grin that stretched across his whole face. Rose didn't even attempt to hide the fact that she was blushing.

Not long after breakfast, the Doctor, Rose, and Adam stood in the center of the console room.

"Ok Adam," the Doctor said. "What is the first rule of travelling on the Tardis?"

"I'm not seven," Adam said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"First rule," the Doctor said with more force. The last thing he needed was some genius tinkering around and fouling up intricate systems.

"Don't touch anything in the console room," Adam said like a bored child.

"And when we leave the Tardis?"

"Don't wander off."

"Fantastic." The Doctor gestured to the jump seat, and Adam sat down. "Shall we go then?" The Doctor circled the console setting dials and flipping levers. He made a big show of asking Rose to keep an eye on the monitor while he performed these tasks. She gave him a quizzical look, but moved to where the monitor was and pretended to study the screen. The Doctor pushed a button on the side near Adam, then circled around to where Rose was.

"So where to?" he asked quietly. He pointed to the screen to make it appear they were consulting it. At the moment it was just displaying the interior temperature and relative Earth time in Gallifreyan.

"How about the place we almost went yesterday," suggested Rose.

"Some other time," he said. He hoped he could still take her there, even if it wasn't in the way he had planned. He pointed to another segment of the screen. Rose was fully aware of the playacting taking place and played along. She shook her head and pointed to yet a different point on the screen.

"What does this say anyway?" she said barely above a whisper.

The Doctor typed a command on the keyboard and the display changed to English. Rose giggled at the mundane information, and the Doctor felt something in his hearts dance at the sound.

"Anything on your calendar?" He looked at the wall calendar that was taped to the edge of the Time Rotor. After April Fool's Day there was nothing on the grid save a small dot on the twenty-seventh.

"Not for a few weeks, no," she said, sounding shy for some reason. She looked away and brushed the fringe of her hair out her face.

The Doctor looked over at Adam and wiggled his fingers in a wave. Adam responded with a confused look and flat handed single wave. The Doctor was fairly certain now that Rose had little interest in the young man and just tolerated the presence of annoying people better than he did. (After all, she found something redeemable in a Dalek that almost killed her.) Still, he had to make sure his observations were correct.

"Why don't we go somewhere to impress your boyfriend." He kept his face turned toward the screen, but looked out of the corner of his eye to catch her reaction.

"He's not my boyfriend," she said with teeth clenched.

"Might want to tell him that," he said. He looked down at the keyboard, but glanced in her direction. "Still might be fun to show the pretentious prat how smart you are."

"Be nice," she scolded. She made some more nonsensical indications to the screen then pretended to push something on the keyboard. "Besides he's a genius. I can't show off to him."

"He knows a lot and takes tests well." The Doctor said dismissively. He typed in a command which turned the screen back to Gallifreyan. "You think on your feet and ask the right questions. That's huge." The Doctor turned his head to look fully at Rose. He hadn't meant to make her blush, but it only made her look more beautiful.

The Doctor set some real coordinates and circled around the console once more, this time to do things that actually had a purpose. A few minutes later the Tardis had reached its destination. The Doctor gave Rose an almost imperceptible nod, which she returned, and they walked toward the doors.

"Okay, Adam. C'mon," Rose said. Adam left the jump seat and met them at the doors. "I'm gonna check things out first, then you can come. Doctor why don't you come with me."

Once they had left the Tardis and closed the doors, the Doctor told Rose what she needed to know to impress Adam. Either the bloke would show her the appreciation she deserved, or else he'd stand out as the prat the Doctor perceived him to be.

"So, it's two hundred thousand, and it's a spaceship," he said quietly as he looked around. "No, wait a minute—space station. And uh, go and try that gate over there." He pointed out in front of him. "Off you go." He leaned back against the Tardis, crossed his arms, raised his eyebrows, and waited with and a huge a sincere smile. Even if this ultimately worked against him, scheming with Rose was fun.

Rose opened one of the Tardis doors. "Adam?" she said. "Out you come."

"Where are we?" Adam asked in wonder.

And the show was on. "Good question. Let's see," she said as if she was just figuring it out. "Judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year two hundred thousand"

Nice ad lib, thought the Doctor as he did the best to hide his amusement.

"If you listen," she said, pausing (presumably for effect). "Engines. We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station." The Doctor smirked. The girl deserved a BAFTA award. "They could turn the heating down," she said tugging at her collar. Then she headed in the direction the Doctor had pointed out to her. "Tell you what—let's try that gate. Come on!"

The gate lead to a viewing platform overlooking the Earth. The Doctor stood next to Rose, with Adam just behind them.

"And this is…" Rose stalled because the Doctor didn't give her enough information. "I'll let the Doctor describe it."

The Doctor smiled at her quick thinking then described for both of them the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Beside him Rose stood transfixed as he spoke. Behind him he heard a crash. Adam had fainted.

"He's your boyfriend," the Doctor said in a deadpan voice, still looking straight ahead.

"Not anymore," said Rose.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows in amusement. The little prat who talked big had fallen from his pedestal. Quite literally.

Rose listened as the Doctor tried convince Adam to take it easy and enjoy himself. It seemed that now that the Doctor knew Rose wasn't interested in him, he was being much kinder to him. She was tempted to pour all sorts of meaning into that, but she knew it was best to let it go. As the Doctor talked, however, Rose noticed his description did not match what she saw. Instead of manners and fine dining, there were a food stalls that could have come from her time. The Doctor insisted his watch was right, but something was off.

"They're all human," said Adam as he watched the mass of people. "What about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?"

"Good question," the Doctor said. Rose thought she noted concern in his eyes. But as soon as she saw it, it was gone. He was trying to convince Adam he was hungry and not time sick, but it was a bit suspicious that he called him "me old mate" after the dislike he had expressed in the Tardis. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to obtain a long bar filled with credits from a cashpoint and encouraged Adam to go use it.

"Time travel's like visiting Paris" the Doctor said. "You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double, and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me?"

Rose couldn't help but laugh. Yesterday had been hard on both of them, and she appreciated seeing the fun side of the Doctor. She did wonder briefly if he really had kissed complete strangers, but those were the types of thoughts she had to learn to bring under her control.

"Off you go, then," the Doctor teased after Adam had walked out of earshot. "Your first date."

"You're going to get a smack, you are," Rose said with a laugh. Then she followed in the direction Adam had gone in. Date or not, someone had to keep an eye on him.

Something was up. There should have been more than just humans around and the culture should have been more refined. The Doctor needed to get more information without Adam in the way. So he acted like a mate and sent him off with Rose. She wasn't the only one on the space station worthy of a BAFTA award. By asking a simple question, he found two women who assumed he was a manager conducting a review that might get them promoted to the coveted Floor 500 where the walls were made of gold. They explained that Satelite 5 broadcasted the news and that they were the journalists. Using the management review as a cover he, Rose, and Adam entered a newsroom and watched as the journalist named Cathica sat in a chair surrounded by other people on the floor. A port in the front of her head opened. Information poured directly into her brain and was then transferred to the others with imbedded chips in their skin who dispersed it as news.

The technology was a sign of something very wrong. As he was pondering this, the other journalist he had spoken to was promoted to Floor 500, from which—according to Cathica—no one ever came back.

Rose was tired of baby-minding Adam. Lunch alone had set him on edge, and she had to lend him her time-altered mobile so he could call his family. Then he felt sick from seeing Cathica's head and decided to go to the observation deck.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Rose asked him. It was the right thing to ask, but she really hoped he'd say no.

"No, you stick with the Doctor," Adam told her.

She nodded as if to say, "Okay."

Adam looked down then met her eyes. "You'd rather be with him."

Though she tried not to show it, Adam's statement made her uncomfortable. If her attraction was that obvious to someone she'd known only twenty-four hours, did that mean the Doctor could tell as well? She felt the same feeling in the pit of her stomach as she did when she was in Year Eight and Gemma Atkins told Christopher Pearson in front of his whole football team that Rose fancied him. She avoided Christopher Pearson and his friends until she left secondary school.

"It's going to take a better man than me to get between you two," Adam said.

His first statement made Rose uncomfortable, but this one was confusing. It wouldn't be hard to find a man who'd be more worthy of her affection that Adam, but there was nothing going on between the Doctor and her for anyone to get between. At least she didn't think so. The Dalek's taunt from the day before had intruded her thoughts when she was trying to ignore her attraction to the Doctor, but Rose assumed they were empty words. Since Daleks usually only understood hate, it made sense that any positive emotion which that particular Dalek tried to understand would be mistaken to be love. Besides, she had used the same word to describe her affection for her mum, her friends, and Ben and Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie Ice Cream. The Doctor and Rose were friends—pretty much best friends—but she knew that is all they'd ever be.

Rose gave Adam her Tardis key in case he wanted to rest there instead of the observation deck. As he walked away she did her best to shake the last few statements from her mind, then went to find the Doctor. Finally she could help without Adam getting in the way. They learned from questioning Cathica that the progress the Doctor expected to see was prevented when Satelite 5 began running ninety-one years ago.

Rose helped the Doctor break into the mainframe to learn more, but the temperature on the floor was boiling. She asked why, but Cathica didn't know nor seem to care. The Doctor told Cathica that Rose was asking the right kind of questions, and after dealing with the wrong kind of questions from Adam, Rose felt this was very high praise. The plumbing schematics indicated that something on Floor 500 was generating a lot of heat

"Well, I don't know about you," Rose said to the Doctor, "but I feel like I'm missing out on a party. It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?"

She asked Cathica to come too, but Cathica feared for her job.

"That's her gone," the Doctor said brightly after they entered the lift. "Adam's given up." He turned slightly and looked directly at her with a bright smile. "Looks like it's just you and me."

"Yeah," Rose said with a mixture of nervousness and familiarity.

The Doctor still had his eyes fixed on her. "Good," he said.

"Yep," she met the Doctor's gaze with a contented grin and continued to look his direction as he turned to pushed the button for Floor 500. When he turned back, he took her hand. All other feelings aside, this was how it should be: holding hands with the Doctor as they faced the next challenge together.

When they reached Floor 500 the walls were not made of gold. It was freezing and dismal. The Doctor asked her to go back down, but she was not about to leave him. Last time they separated he had to face his worst enemy alone. She didn't care what the danger was, she was sticking by him.

After a few more steps, they were captured by a man who called himself the Editor. He controlled everything on behalf of a giant alien in the roof called the Mighty Jagrafess. Rose wondered why everything had some hidden secret. Then she remembered what she had told Adam. When you traveled with the Doctor things were rarely what they seemed.

And then it was Adam who wasn't what he seemed. The Editor showed Adam on a screen. He had installed a portal in his head and was downloading information the way Cathica had, and this allowed the Editor to read his mind. All those questions she and the Doctor had answered for him, everything they had told him, the Editor now knew and wanted to use to re-write human history. But without the Tardis, the information wouldn't be enough. The Doctor would die before he handed over the Tardis, and she would too.

But on the screen she saw her Tardis key being lifted out of Adam's pocket.

"You and your boyfriends!" the Doctor complained bitterly.

Given the stress of the situation and the fact that they were about to die, Rose decided to let the comment slide. Besides, Rose was furious at Adam too, and "prat" was the mildest word that came to her mind to describe him.

But then something changed. Cathica had followed them upstairs but remained hidden. She linked into the computer system and reversed everything. She overrided Adam's download in the newsroom and reversed the system that kept the Jagrafess cool. Rose managed to get the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's pocket and free him from his manacles, then he did the same for her. They made it downstairs with Cathica just as the giant Jagrafess creature blew up. The Doctor told Caprica that he and Rose were leaving but that things should change for the better now.

"What about your friend?" Cathica asked looking over at Adam.

"He's not my friend," the Doctor said, anger dripping off of every word.

Rose was not overly fond of the prat either, but as angry as the Doctor was, she was more than a bit concerned for Adam's safety. She followed after the Doctor in case she had to intervene.

"Now don't—" she started but she was interrupted by Adam as he tried to talk his way out of the trouble he was in.

"I'm all right now. Much better," he said as he saw the Doctor approaching. "And I've got the key. Look. It all worked out for the best, didn't it?" The Doctor took him by the back of the neck as Adam kept talking. "You know, it's not actually my fault, because you were in charge." Rose said nothing in protest as the Doctor shoved him in the Tardis and shut the door.

Nobody spoke as the Doctor set new coordinates with one hand still firmly on the back of Adam's neck. It stayed there till he shoved Adam out of the Tardis and into his own living room. Once there the Doctor destroyed the telephone answering machine. Adam had used Rose's phone to channel the archive of Satellite Five to his parents' phone, and that information could have changed all of history.

The Doctor prepared to leave with no further imposed consequences for Adam. Rose felt he was getting off easy. Adam begged for another chance, because he was stuck with the portal in his head. As demonstrated by the Doctor, a simple click of one's fingers would open it. And then Rose understood. He'd have to live an unassuming life from that point on. She told the Doctor to stop clicking, but couldn't resist the urge to click once herself.

"But I want to come with you," Adam begged the Doctor. But Adam the Prat had fallen permanently from his good graces. He was never welcome back. And no longer would the Doctor take in strays. As far as the Doctor was concerned, two was the occupancy limit for the Tardis.

The Doctor felt he could never disclose his feelings for Rose, but he needed to at least make it clear where she stood in his mind, if not his hearts. Being a genius didn't make Adam special. Despite great intelligence, he was a fool. But Rose, who thought she was noting special, outshined every human he had ever met. "I only take the best," he said. "I've got Rose."

"So is this actually Middle Earth?" Rose asked in wonder as the Tardis made its fifth stop of the day to different points on the same land. "Every view looks like it came from a different chapter in the books."

The Doctor smiled. He was glad his destination had the effect on her he had hoped for. "Middle Earth is fictional," the Doctor said. "Tolkien was a master storyteller who painted vivid pictures with his words."

"I know it's fiction," she said. "I just wondered if this was one of those times when Tolkien unknowingly borrowed a story from another world."

"Not this time," the Doctor said. He took her hand as they walked the edge of a river and gazed at cliffs that seemed like they belonged in Rivendell.

"So where are we?" she asked in a hushed tone. "I can't believe there is a world that really looks like this."

"You've actually seen this all before," he said.

"No," Rose said. "I'd have remembered if we'd ever been to a world so beautiful."

"Come with me," he said, leading her back to the Tardis. Moments later they were suspended in the sky on level with the clouds. The Doctor opened the door. "Everything we've seen today was on one island group."

"Wait!" Rose said. Her smile let the Doctor know that recognition was setting in. "I've seen that island. We're on Earth! That's New Zealand! I'd forgotten the films were made here. But when are we?"

"1700. Before European settlers took over," the Doctor answered. Then he shut the door and landed the Tardis on a grassy plain.

Rose smiled as she walked out. "The Shire," she said in an awed whisper.

"You don't always have to go to the end of the universe to find something beautiful," he said. Rose was too busy taking in her surroundings to notice that it wasn't the scenery the Doctor was looking at. "Sometimes we miss what's right in front of us."

"Thank you," Rose said as she walked back to where the Doctor stood.

"For what?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know…everything," she said. She stood next to him but kept looking forward. "For ever asking me to come with you. For taking me to such wonderful places. For saving my life and for not dying when I've tried to save yours." Rose said the last part with a whispered laugh. "For letting me make a bad decision and not saying I told you so when it all fell apart." Rose played with the ends of her hair that kept being tossed by the breeze. "For, for..." she stammered. She turned to look at him, and the Doctor realized she was near tears. "For believing in me, and never giving up on me, and for being my friend." Tears were now streaming down her face.

"Rose," started the Doctor, but he had no idea what to say next. It didn't matter. Rose had stepped closer and put her arms around him. He could feel her hot tears as she rested her head on his jumper. He closed his arms around her, and for the first time in his life, lost track of time.

His picnic had been ruined. The bottle of Pinot Noir was buried in a room with other artifacts and clutter. His "date" had never come to pass. Shortly they would have to leave the "Shire", and danger was sure to follow. But for that brief moment, Rose Tyler was in his arms, and nothing could have been more perfect.

Authors Notes: A prat fall is a deliberate fall for stage and screen. It is so named because one typically falls on their "prat" - an old word for the rear end. In British English a prat is also a fool, typically an egotistical one.

Rose's attraction to Adam's hair was a foreshadowing. After downplaying the baby face and dimples, I had to leave something redeemable for her to like in Ten. I mean Cassandra lets us know that she was looking and liked it, but he's a bit pretty, skinny, and young after Nine. Just Sayin'.

"Fit" in British English has the meaning of "hot."

BAFTA is the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Winning that award would be like winning an Oscar.

Domaine de la Romanee-Conti is one of the most prestigious (and most expensive) wines in the world. At auction one bottle went for about $220,000. I want to know where the Doctor hides his money. That would for sure pay Rose back for the chips!

Save your work frequently, even when editing, or you will find yourself like me, fixing mistakes you already fixed because you lost power. Learn from Auntie Blue Wolf.

Purple Guest: Thank you so much for following and reviewing.