Are You Ready For Luurve?

i'm really, really, really sorry for my absence. My computer got Trogens. x100,000. LOL. But I got my own laptop for Christmas, wheyhey! So I don't have to rely on a computer who's favourite thing to do is shut down when you're in the middle of writing something. Good times. This is not the last chapter of the fic, btw.

"I really, really, really have a bad feeling about this. Can't we leave it? Please, Rosie, pretty please with a banana on top!"

Rose rolled her eyes at the nine hundred-year-old alien who was trying to worm his way out of visiting her mother. She did have to stifle a laugh, though, when he substituted 'cherry' for 'banana'. Bananas on the brain, that alien. She didn't want him knowing that she thought that was funny – he'd use big, long, complicated words to twist it and get out of visiting Jackie – so she kept a straight face.

"No for the final time, Doctor. We have to tell her what happened."

"Can't we just leave it? She'll never know."

"Oh, yeah, that's right; my own mother won't notice me not ageing," Rose said sarcastically. "You know, when I'm fifty, she'll ask me what aging cream I use because I still look like a twenty-year-old. I'm sure that'll happen."

"Might do," The Doctor argues, sticking his tongue out at his companion.

"My mother may sometimes be a bit slow," Rose said, as the Doctor snorted, "But she will notice I'm not aging. She notices everything with me; I'm her only child, for god's sake!" Rose threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and flopped down on the captain's chair.

The Doctor sighed deeply. He knew that she was right – Jackie would notice a hair out of place on Rose's head – and judging from the smirk on Rose's face, she did, too. "Fine. Whatever," He said, crossing his arms over his chest grumpily.

Rose laughed gleefully. "I'm so gonna enjoy watching you explain to her that her daughter isn't human ..."

The look on the Doctor's face was priceless – a mixture of horror, fear, and anxiety. Rose burst out laughing at the sight, especially when the Doctor unconsciously started rubbing his cheek. "I'm not explaining, you can," he said, pointing at Rose.

"Yeah, because I really understand what happened."

"You do! I explained it all."

"And used some pretty big, intelligent words in the process. Words of advice – don't do that when you're explaining to Mum, you'll just get a slap." Rose's attitude was nonchalant, which was something the Doctor certainly wasn't. "You gonna set these coordinates then, or shall I?"

"That would be a better threat, Tyler, if you could set the coordinates."

"That's your fault; you promised to teach me, and you never have."

"Don't worry, I will. Eventually. We have literally a few eternities anyway, and who knows how long they are? Don't go stressing, I'll do it. Now, Powell Estate, here we come!"

Rose giggled. She'd had a week and a bit to get used to being Half-human, half-Time Lord and a hundredth-Vortex. She could honestly say she had never been upset by this whole arrangement. More to the point, she was elated – she could stay with the Doctor forever, have this fantastic life, Partners in Crime fighting for universal justice for all. Now they were both recovered from the fighting on Felspoon – Rose's chest was still a little tight, but it only really bothered her when she ran for a long period of time. The Doctor had predicted that she'd be fully recovered within the week. The only lasting effect was the both Rose and the Doctor were both put off ever returning to Felspoon. Rose had been shocked at the little amount of time she needed to recover, and the Doctor had said that was the Vortex's work; the hundredth of Vortex in her blood would heal her extra fast. Simple cuts would take hours to heal instead of days.

"Rose! Grab on to the thingy-ma-jig and turn it left!" The Doctor's voice – and outrageous hand gestures – broke her train of thought.

"Gotcha."

"Not that left, this left!"

"How many lefts have you got?" Rose asked, amused, as she turned the glittery ball to the right that was the Doctor's 'other left'.

"A few," The Doctor joked, running around pulling levers and flicking switches, yelling instructions to Rose across the console.

The TARDIS landed jerkily, throwing both its occupants to the ground.

The Doctor managed to get to his feet first, and offered his hand to Rose, who took it gratefully. Rose smiled up at him; she could tell he was mentally bracing himself for the hell her mother was going to give him for making her alien.

"Come on, let's go. Allonsy! Go grab your washing – I don't know why you get your mother do to your washing, there is a washing machine on board you know – the quicker we get this over with the better."

Rose scowled. "She likes doing my washing."

"Why?" The Doctor was genuinely curious – why would anyone like doing washing?

"Makes her feel like she's still involved with my life, considering I've got you and the TARDIS now and I'm away eleven months out of the twelve on planets she can barely pronounce."

"Pah. You can hardly pronounce them either, Miss Raxacoricofallapatorius."

"I so can! I managed to pronounce Raxacoraco ... wait, I can do it! Raxicoricofally ... whatever. I'm away to get my washing."

The Doctor just laughed.

"Are you ready? Are you ready for luuurve?" The Doctor sang as he and Rose exited the TARDIS, a full bag of washing in Rose's hand. Her other hand was tightly clasped in the Doctor's.

"Now's not really the time, so why don't we just go to Mum's before the whole estate comes out to see who's killing the cat?" Rose asked, tugging on the Doctor's hand and determinedly dragged him towards her Mum's flat. Rose realised she hadn't called the Powell Estate home for a good while – home was the small blue box parked a few meters from the stairs to the flat.

"...and I won, Rose, me! I won The X Factor 2096! I couldn't believe it, really, I mean I sang that Elton John song – ooh, that rhymes – and I didn't think I did so well, but the judges and viewers did! I abandoned the recording contract though. All the girls throwing themselves at my feet was nice, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't really the glitz and glamour lifestyle I'd read in the 'what to expect if you win' brochure at my auditions. Too much remaining on one planet," The Doctor rambled – he had obviously started a conversation whilst Rose had been daydreaming.

"Sure, Doctor, sure you did," Rose said, amused, and rubbed his arm in a sympathetic way.

"I'm allowed to dream anything I like!" The Doctor argued, and Rose nodded, enlightened as to why the Doctor was suddenly chattering on about The X Factor 2096.

"You should tell Mum that, she'd get a good laugh out of it."

"Thanks, that's just what I need; I go on the most ruthless TV show until the Gamestation starts broadcasting and Jackie Tyler's a judge. I'd get booted off on the first week. Even if I sang well she'd rig the voting lines to make sure I don't get through."

Rose rolled her eyes, and was thankful that they'd reached Jackie's flat. Rose reached her hand up the ring the doorbell; but before she could, though, the door flung open and an entirely-too-joyous looking Jackie stood there, arms already open for her daughter. The Doctor silently reached an arm around Rose to relieve her of her washing bag, noting that Jackie had dyed her hair again. If it got any blonder he'd need sunglasses. The Doctor stifled a chuckle at that thought, noting that he probably shouldn't mention it in front of either Tyler.

"Come on in already, you'll catch your death standin' out there, it's November after all." Jackie's tone was warm as she pulled her daughter into the flat, leaving the Doctor standing there with Rose's washing bag. At least she'd had the decency to leave the door open and not slam it in his face.

"So, how are ya, love? You never told me you were comin', I would have put your favourite tea on ... hold on two minutes, sweetheart, I go make us some tea. Does nibs over there drink tea?"

"You know fine well he does, Mum," Rose said, as she settled himself beside the Doctor on the sofa. He was restlessly flicking through TV channels, something he only ever did when nervous, excited or anxious.

"Bloody thing doesn't have Sky+ ..." The Doctor mumbled, as Rose laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'll be over soon, okay? Just do it, yeah, and don't worry. I'll intervene before she kills you. Because then I'd die too, and she wouldn't like that," Rose said soothingly, pressing an encouraging kiss to his cheek.

"So she can torture me all she likes, but you'll stop her before she kills me, only because it'll mean you die as well?"

Rose laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right," she joked, but refrained from saying anything more as Jackie wandered back through to the sitting room, armed with three mugs of steaming tea and a plate of biscuits.

"So, how are ya then, darlin'?" Jackie asked Rose while switching off the TV, ignoring the Doctor's protests that he was getting into Deal or No Deal.

"Fine, Mum. Never been better," Rose said, looking at the Doctor. "How are you? Sorry we never phoned to say we were coming, it was all a bit spur-of-the-moment ..."

"No worries darlin', as long as your whole and well," Jackie said, as Rose blushed, "and don't get crumbs on my carpet, I've just done the hooverin'," Jackie added as a side point to the Doctor, who'd slyly picked up a biscuit, trying to remain out of sight.

"So, whatcha been doin'? Betcha got some stories for me!" Jackie laughed, but was stopped short as Rose and the Doctor paled, suddenly quiet and nervous, while (at least in Rose's case) they had been upbeat and chatty when they first came in. "What's happened?" Jackie asked, putting her cup down and looking at the Doctor. "What 'ave you done now?"

Rose took one look at the Doctor, who was ashen and rigid, and decided to start from him. "Mum, something happened, last place we went to."

"What happened? What did 'e do?"

"Mum, could you please not interrupt, just 'til we get this finished because it's hard for both of us," Rose said gently. Jackie looked shocked that Rose had basically told her to shut up, but did so anyway.

"Anyway, we went to this alien planet, only we didn't know it was in the middle of a war," Rose said, and Jackie's mouth vanished into thin line. "And the Doctor helped fight this war ..."

Jackie's face lost the remainder of its colour. "You left my daughter alone in the middle of a war? What were you thinkin' even takin' her there?" Jackie interrupted, as the Doctor leaned back towards Rose for some kind of protection but nevertheless remained in his seat, not saying a word.

"Mum, calm down. Right, okay, so the Doctor was away fighting, all I could hear was gunshots, it was horrible. Anyway," Rose continued, but sped it up as she could hear the Doctor's laboured breathing beside her – he was obviously getting more nervous the more she drew it out. "They shot me, Mum," Rose said bluntly, as Jackie registered what she'd just said.

"YOU GOT SHOT?" Jackie all but bellowed, jumping to her feet. "This is all 'is fault, ya shouldn't be goin' away with 'im," She pointed at the Doctor, who immediately turned in his seat to face her.

"She died for fifteen minutes, Jackie," He said, using the same soft voice he had put on when Rose had first woken up from the procedure.

"She DIED?" Jackie said, near hysterical. "Now could she 'ave died, she's sittin' in my front room for God's sake!" Jackie had grabbed a large brown bag – God knows where she got that from – and was breathing into it loudly.

"She died for fifteen minutes, Jackie. I managed to bring her back, but at a price."

Jackie stopped hyperventilating at the Doctor's voice. It was low and sad, and reminded her of his other body, before he'd changed, back when he was brooding and gloomy and 'emo' (as Mickey had called him).

"What do you mean, at a price?" Jackie asked, her eyes narrowed into little slits.

"I had to inject some Time Lord DNA into her heart. So it manifested itself and in the process of creating a new Time Lord it healed her," the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows at Jackie as if to say 'please believe me.' He didn't bother mentioning the Vortex – much more hassle than it's worth.

Jackie found it hard to. "So does that mean my daughter is an alien?"

The Doctor smiled; Jackie, like Rose, wasn't nearly as stupid as people first thought. "Kinda. She's half-human, half-Time Lord. Please don't kill me, Jackie. I thought you, like me, would rather see Rose half-Time Lord than dead."

For a moment, Jackie looked like she was going to throttle the Doctor personally, before hearing his last statement. She was silent for a minute, the only sound ion the room being the three occupants' breathing and the steady 'tick, tock' of the clock on the mantelpiece.

"So will she be like you, fountain of all knowledge an' that? Spurting random facts left right and centre? Changin' her face?" Jackie sobbed as Rose rushed to her mother, almost crying herself.

"Nothing will be different Mum, except I can't die," Rose said.

"You ... can't die?" Jackie stuttered through her tears, looking up at Rose, who was perched on the arm of her mother's chair, her arms around her.

Rose nodded. "Unless I like, contract an alien illness or get seriously, seriously injured, I can't die."

"But ... if you don't get ill or get seriously hurt, what will you look like in a million years? Oh, my god, you'll live for a million years?"

'At least,' Rose though, but nodded to her mother's statement. "I won't age. Like the Doctor. He stays exactly the same even though he's nine hundred years old."

"You're nine hundred years old?" Jackie said, her gaze shifting from Rose to the Doctor. The Doctor nodded.

"Thereabouts. Nine hundred and three, I think. I don't tend to have birthdays. They get old after you pass four hundred."

Jackie laughed tearfully. "You're older than me," She said.

"Yep," The Doctor said, popping the 'p'. Jackie was still crying, though, so he refrained from saying anything else while Rose talked to her mother quietly, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine.

"So you're still goin' to go away with 'im then?" Jackie asked Rose.

Rose nodded. "Yeah," she breathed, and looked at her mother. "I can live forever, Mum. There's so many things I wanna see, and now I have the time to. We don't have to cram everything in because I've only got so many years 'til I'm dribbling and knitting sweaters. I'm twenty years old, forever."

Jackie looked at Rose and found something she'd never thought she'd see. Pure elation. Rose looked alive when she talked about travelling, and now even Jackie could see the benefits of what the Doctor had done. They were tied together now, anyway. It was only a matter of time; those two were joined at the hip normally. Now, thought ... they could be together forever, and Jackie could plainly see how much that meant to them.

Jackie rose out of her chair and walked over to the Doctor, who cowered. "Please don't kill me, Jackie ..." He said, his hands coming up in front of his face.

Jackie wrenched his upright out of his seat and proceeded to squeeze the living daylights out of him. "I'm not goin' to kill ya, stupid alien. And yeah, I would rather my daughter was half-alien than dead," Jackie added in a whisper so Rose couldn't hear. The Doctor laughed quietly and returned to the hug, Rose looking on bemused. The Doctor raised her eyebrows at Rose and she giggled.

Jackie let him go and wiped her eyes. "Well, that is certainly somethin' I didn't expect to hear about!"

All three laughed, and Jackie bent down to pick up the three empty cups. "More tea, I think," she said, and walked through to the kitchen.

Rose immediately gave the Doctor a hug. "I think she took it okay," she said, resting her head on his chest contently.

"Apart from the hyperventilating and the shouting and bellowing, I think she took it okay, too," The Doctor replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, which was tucked under his chin.

The clock chimed seven. "I do hope you're ready, Doctor," Rose said, a smirk appearing on her face.

"Why?" The Doctor asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"It's Monday night. There's Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Eastenders, then Coronation Street again."

"Urgh," The Doctor groaned, before flopping down on the sofa, Rose snuggled into his side. Jackie came wandering through two seconds later.

"Oh, Emmerdale!" She exclaimed, turning on the TV.

"It's going to be a long night, isn't it?" The Doctor asked Rose.

"Yep. And you know what she's like – she'll want us to stay overnight as well."

The Doctor didn't have a reply to that, but groped inside his suit pocket, found his TARDIS key, and clutched onto it tightly.