Hey, everyone! Back with a new chapter. This one was harder than the last chapter, because it takes place during The Empty Child and I was trying to figure out a way to write it without drastically changing or cutting out the scenes too much. I have decided that young Rose will be referred to as Rosie while she is with Jack. And until the Doctor learns to trust her, he won't know her name, and the parts that are in his POV will reflect this. That said, this chapter has quite a bit of Rose/Jack brother-sister-best friend fluffiness in it that was really fun to write. Enjoy!

I do not own Doctor Who.

Chapter 4: Of Promises and Dances

The Doctor's patience with the girl was starting to wear thin. He had told her to stay in the TARDIS where it was safe. Several times, in fact. Though how safe, he couldn't really tell, since the ride to their current location was not what he called smooth. He had been following a mauve object, which he then had tethered to the TARDIS, when it suddenly decided to jump time tracks in an effort to get away. After landing in yet another alleyway, he began his usual investigation, making sure the TARDIS door was securely shut. And then he had been laughed out at some sort of underground club when he'd asked the patrons if they'd seen any fallen objects recently. Really, how was he supposed to know that he'd landed in 1941, smack dab in the middle of The London Blitz?

And if that wasn't bad enough, the dummy phone on the outside of the TARDIS had started ringing. A warning from a young woman had told him not to answer it, but the ringing was irritating him. Not to mention it was bad form all around to ignore a ringing phone. The repeated cry of "Mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy!" on the other end unnerved him though. And worse still, a quick run around the TARDIS told him that the girl had left. Which was why he was now running down the alleys and streets trying to find her, wondering when he'd meet someone who would grasp the concept of "don't wander off."

As soon as he saw her gripping the ropes of that barrage balloon, Jack knew it was her. Memories of a voided time-line came tumbling in. He snickered as he recalled what happened before. "Excellent bottom," he'd said. Well, that would definitely not be appropriate this time, seeing as she looked only about ten years old now. And while he knew she (or a part of her, at least) was a child, the fact remained that she was still Rose inside. Algy came over to him and started talking about something or other. Pretending to focus his binoculars on the barrage balloon but actually eying the small girl that was now swinging on it, he said , "Cute face."

"I say, Old Man. There's...there's a time and a place," said Algy, slightly flustered. "Look, we should really be off."

"Sorry, Old Man. I gotta go meet a girl. But you've got a pretty face, too," Jack said casually to Algy as he left for his ship.

He had only taken a few steps out of the room when he used his emergency teleport to get himself back to the ship. This wasn't much of an emergency, but the sooner he could rescue her from the barrage balloon, the better. Well that, and the fact that it really was very dangerous for a kid (or anybody) to be hanging onto a balloon in the sky like that in the middle of a German air raid. Sitting on the pilot's seat, he prepared the tractor beam. And just like before, she fell right into his arms. But it seemed like her younger body could handle the beam even less than her older self, because unlike last time, Rose was already unconscious. Sighing, Jack placed her onto his bed and sat with her.

The Doctor had to hand it to the young woman named Nancy. At first, he thought she was sneaking into the house to steal valuables when the air raid sirens sounded off. But after a few minutes, she came back outside, smiling; clearly, she was pleased about something. Fingers to her mouth, she had whistled three times, as if calling for something. He stayed put in his spot behind the brick wall, waiting to see what would happen. It wasn't long until he saw children coming from all directions and run into the house. Hmmm...this was interesting. What could a bunch of homeless (he assumed) kids want with a house during a raid? Didn't they know how dangerous it was? Why, even the family that lived in this house fled to their air raid shelter, and they didn't seem like the smartest of the bunch. The husband had actually been complaining about dinner when the wife was telling him to hurry up...The Doctor grinned. Dinner. To a bunch of homeless kids, food was definitely more valuable than, er, valuables. Quietly, he clambered over the wall, made his way around to the back door, and sneaked in.

Jack should have felt uncomfortable. Shortly after tucking the small girl into his bed, he had decided to stay with her. As in sit with his back slightly propped up while she snoozed next to him. Being in the same bed with a kid was highly frowned upon in most cultures, right? But she wasn't just a kid. She was Rose Tyler. A friend. No, closer than that. His best friend, perhaps? No, not quite right, either. She was more like his sister and his best friend and...something else that he couldn't name, all at once. Huh...was there a word for that?

Jack shook his head lightly, bemused, when he noticed she was staring at him with her wide eyes.

"Rosie, did you sleep well?" he asked, ruffling her hair.

She stared at him some more, before getting up and sliding off the bed. Jack followed suit, but he only had time to swing his legs over the side when Rose stood in front of him and took his hands into her small ones.

Yes, I did sleep well. I feel a lot better, actually.

A weaker man than Captain Jack Harkness probably would have done something unbelievably stupid that would have most likely resulted in being knocked unconscious. Or worse, hurting the girl. But Jack was proud to say that he was not so weak (quite strong, actually, because he worked out regularly, but that's besides the point). Still, he was fairly surprised when she spoke in his mind.

"Rosie? How are you doing that?" he asked her.

This is the only way I can communicate. For now, at least. Oh, and also when we sleep. Remember?

She smiled gaily at him, and he chuckled, ruffling her hair again.

"Of course I do. At first, I thought I drank too much. But that was you, wasn't it?" he said.

She looked directly into his face this time, her eyes boring into his. She let go of his hands and reached up to touch his temples with her fingertips.

"Rosie...what...?"

Jack's vision began to blur, almost immediately followed by drowsiness. He slumped backwards onto the bed again, not even noticing as Rosie (because that's how he always thought of her, now more than ever) curled up by his side.

Jack looked around him. He was in a bedroom, a girl's room, judging by the large pink bed occupying it. There were clothes messily folded up that were laying on a chair. A large mirror stood next to a small dresser. It was the pictures on the mirror that caught his attention, however, and his eyes widened as he realized where he was.

"That's right, Jack. You remember my room on the TARDIS, don't you?"

He looked around and saw Rosie- no, Rose (dammit, this was starting to get confusing)- laying on the bed on her stomach with her head propped up in her hands.

"How could I not? The amount of times the Doctor threatened me to stay out...not something I'd forget," he said, chuckling.

He joined her on the bed, laying on his side and supporting his head with an elbow.

"So, Rosie. What's with all this?" he asked, toying with a strand of her hair.

"Oh, I was just getting tired of thinking at you, that's all," she said teasingly. "And we've also got about an hour before we have to meet up with the Doctor, and since I can't exactly have champagne and dance with you in my current body, I figured another dream might be a good way to pass the time."

"Fair enough. But who says we can't have our dance? And where is the Doctor, anyway?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, come to think of it, there's probably no harm in dancing. I'm not really sure where he is. I didn't know last time either. I think he might be trying to get the location of that mauve object. You know, the uh, Chula Warship that was actually an ambulance that you had us chasing?"

Jack look a little sheepish as Rose shot him an exasperated look.

"Uh, yeah, sorry 'bout that, Rosie. Conman, remember? Or soon-to-be-ex-conman. Same difference," he mumbled.

Rose gave him a playful shove, laughing as it made him roll onto his back.

"Oh, c'mon. Before seeing me, you didn't really remember who I was, only that you had to find me. Which is really because what happened tonight back then has to play out more or less the same this time," she said, folding up her arms and resting her head on them. "I mean, if you did remember, you probably wouldn't have tossed that thing at us this time, and I can almost bet that we wouldn't have met and that this wouldn't be the night that everybody lives. That'd be horrible."

"Yeah, wouldn't want that. Meeting you was possibly the best thing that ever happened to me, Rosie," he said.

That earned him a kiss on the cheek as Rose nestled closer to him.

"You know, if you had told me that back then, I would've said that meeting you was the second best thing that happened. This time...I dunno. I mean, yeah, I'm with the Doctor again, but seeing as he still doesn't trust me yet...it's not the same," she said quietly.

"Oh, Rosie..."sighed Jack. "It's gotta hurt, huh? Him not trusting you, I mean. It took him awhile to trust me too. So don't worry. He'll get around to it. In the meantime, I'll be here for you, okay? So you won't be alone. I promised you, didn't I?"

"Yep, you did," she said, getting up off the bed. She reached her hand out toward Jack. "Now, how about we wake up and have our dance, hmmm? I think we still got about twenty minutes, give or take."

Jack gave her his roguish grin as he let her pull him up.

"Yeah, I think we could do that."

With a jolt, Jack sat up. Shaking his head to rid himself of the residual dizziness from their little brain meeting, he slowly stood. Rosie was already standing in front of him, pulling down her hood.

Jack smiled and aimed his sonic tool somewhere toward the front of the ship. "Moonlight Serenade" began to play, and he held out his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

Rosie nodded and returned his smile, taking his hand.

It would be my pleasure, Captain.

And they began to waltz. It was a little awkward, since she was almost three feet shorter than him. But still, they danced, letting their concerns about the Doctor and her life drift away with the tunes of Glenn Miller for awhile. Because although they knew what was to come (mostly), this moment was theirs alone: The Immortal Captain and the Wolf he swore to always protect.

I hope I didn't overdo it in the fluff department with them. I just went with the flow on this one and I couldn't stop. Next chapter should cover the rest of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances story. Although, I'm not too sure about the Doctor dancing with her since he's still suspicious of her. There may or may not be fluff between the Doctor and Rosie, since I don't wanna rush things. We'll see. Until next time!