Chapter 13

Alex woke with a headache and feeling anxious, despite having taken his medicine as he had promised Rose. While the feeling wasn't overwhelming, it was, to him, a foreshadowing of things to come if he didn't act immediately. He groaned from the pain that shot through his head as he slowly sat up.

"Rose?" he called out as he blinked against the natural light that filled the room. He frowned slightly as he located the clock on his night stand and read that it was almost 9:30 in the morning. Propped up on the lamp on the same night stand was a piece of paper with familiar handwriting on it.

Sorry. Had to leave early for work. See you later. Stay out of trouble. Rose

He groaned again as he read the note. "Not even a month in this universe and it's already overly domestic."

Rubbing his face with a sigh, he slowly stood up, closing his eyes against the pain in his head the action caused. Then gradually he made his way into his bathroom, pulling off his shirt as he went, noting that he had fallen asleep fully clothed rather than in his pajamas. He regarded himself in the mirror with a glower. His face was pale and there were distinctive circles under his eyes that reflected how ill he felt at that moment.

Opening the medicine cupboard, he was pleased to see that not only was his prescription for his bipolar disorder in plain sight but so was a bottle of paracetamol. Grabbing the latter, he shook out three pills and swallowed them dry before picking up his prescription. The instructions on the label were very clear: one pill every twenty-four hours.

Ignoring the directions despite having had a previous dose less than ten hours before, he retrieved one of the prescription pills, giving it the same treatment he had given the painkillers. His immediate needs met, he finished undressing and stepped into the shower, letting the water run over him a good ten minutes before actually starting to wash himself. By the time he stepped out of the bathroom to dress, the headache had gone and he was feeling much more relaxed.

Gathering his clothes from the floor as he left the bathroom, he tossed them in his hamper and then dressed in a pair of jeans and a light long-sleeved shirt. Going to the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of strawberry banana orange juice – one of the items he had insisted on buying while grocery shopping with Rose – and went to the dining table where Rose had left the packet of papers they were going through the night before.

He grimaced slightly at the memory. He hadn't meant to get so upset with her on the issue of life insurance but, for some reason, it had really offended him at the time. Her explanation for the need for it had made complete sense but all he had on the matter were paranoid thoughts. Now, with his mind much more calm, he appreciated the need for such precautions.

Going through the paperwork, he carefully read everything, filling out the necessary areas and insuring that all was in proper order with his new signature, which by the time he was done with all the insurance papers he had perfected quite nicely. The work, however, had grown tedious quickly and he found himself wanting to be anywhere other than sitting at Rose's dining table, reading and signing documents.

He was in the process of making some decisions on what Rose had referred to as keepsakes – he really didn't need anything but he understood how it might look to the average human if he owned absolutely nothing of his past – when he looked up and noticed that it was nearly noon and his stomach was rumbling, reminding him that he needed to have more than just juice for the day. Once again going through his papers, he gathered the cash and credit cards Pete had given him and slipped them in with his psychic paper which was still in the water-damaged leather wallet. Then after returning to his room to put on a pair of trainers, he went out the front door.

Down in the lobby of the building, he had the doorman – he remembered Rose had called him Reggie - call a taxi for him and, within minutes, he was riding in the back of the vehicle, heading into downtown London. Once at Trafalgar Square, he stepped out, paid the driver, and looked around at his surroundings with a smile before heading for the nearest restaurant.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The first time Rose had called the condominium to check on the Doctor, it was nearly nine o'clock in the morning. Not receiving an answer, she correctly assumed that the hybrid had not yet woken up, which didn't really surprise her considering how the previous night went. Shortly after that call she had gotten caught up in investigating a credible alien sighting just outside of London's city limits, which took several hours to handle. By the time she got back to her office, it was past two o'clock, a fact which prompted her to call her flat again. When the Doctor still didn't answer, she shrugged it off as him being the bathroom and tried again a few minutes later. Still no answer. After a half hour of trying to contact him, she started to get worried.

Since she hadn't actually taken a meal break as yet, she decided to use hers to go back to the condominium to find out in person why the half-Time Lord hadn't answered the phone. Informing her father of her intentions and that she may be late in returning, she left Torchwood and made her way through London traffic to arrive back home.

"Doctor?" she called out as she walked in. She immediately went to his bedroom and found it as well as the bathroom empty. She then proceeded to search the whole condominium, which took less than a minute, leaving herself on the verge of panic and asking herself repeatedly where he could be.

A thousand answers came to her, none of them pleasant. Someone discovered he was half-alien and kidnapped him to run experiments on him. Someone found out about their relationship and kidnapped him to ransom him. He went out for something and got lost in London. He couldn't handle living the life of a human and he left her. He was still in a depressive mood and he was right then on the roof, contemplating jumping. He was elsewhere in the city, thinking about killing himself. He had already done so.

"Oh, gawd," she cried, her whole body shaking from the fear that filled her. Pulling out her mobile, she hastily dialed her father's office number. "Dad, the Doctor's gone," she started in rapid fire words. "I don't know where he is. He was down last night and I shouldn't have left him alone this morning but… Oh, gawd, what if he's hurt?"

"Honey, slow down," Pete told her gently. "I'm sure he's fine."

"But what if he isn't?" she exclaimed. "What if something's happened? He tried to kill himself once. What if he's tried again? What if he's been kidnapped? What if…"

"Calm down," came a firm order. "We'll find him. You check your building in case he's still there somewhere and then let me know what you find. And if he isn't there, I'll have Jake and his team go and search for him. No matter what, though, stay there. The last thing we need is for you to go running off when he could show up at any minute. If he has been kidnapped, you need to be available for any demands."

Rose was about to protest against his suggestion but stopped. While she prayed that her worry for the half-alien was nothing but paranoia, she had to be prepared for the worst.

"You're right," she conceded. "I'll see what I can find out around here and give you a call back." Ending the call, she gave another look around her condominium as if he could miraculously appear out of thin air (not a completely unlikely event if he had somehow found a teleport). Then, taking a breath, she left the flat to start her investigation.

Now that she had her father's words had given her focus, she thought about the real possibilities of what happened rather than her initial panicked thoughts. The first and least likely one was that Alex went up to the roof and jumped. She didn't actually think the Doctor was capable of committing suicide now that he was far more stable. Aside from that, not only would he have had to find a way of unlocking the door to the roof but, if he had gone up there and then jumped, his suicide would have brought the police on the scene. Since the police weren't swarming all over the building, that particular possibility was more like an improbability, which eased her mind immensely.

That meant that Alex had to have left the building by more conventional means, namely via either the back fire exit, which had an alarm on it in the event of being opened, or the front door, which was manned by the building attendant on duty. Either way, it was a simple matter of bringing up the security records of the building for the day to determine not only whether the Doctor left on his own but also when.

She was pleased to see Reggie Torkinson was on duty. Not only was Reggie a nice guy, he also had an obvious crush on Rose, which she knew would make it easy for her to get what she wanted without having to go through security, if she were lucky. Going up to him, she gave him a smile.

"Good evening, Miss Tyler!" he greeted.

"Hi, Reggie. You didn't happen to see Dr. Smith today, did you?"

"Your male friend from the other day?"

"Yeah. He's rooming with me right now. Did you see him?"

"He left at about 12:30. I summoned a taxi for him."

"Did he say where he was going? Was he with anyone?"

Reggie shook his head. "He was alone. But I think he told the driver to take him into the city." He gave a slight grin. "Quite a character, isn't he. Never met anyone so talkative."

Rose forced a laugh. "Yeah, that's Alex for you. Thanks, Reggie. Let me know if you see him, okay?" she entreated as she located and pulled out a business card. "My number's on the card." Turning, she quickly headed towards the elevator. Despite what her father had told her, she couldn't just wait around the condominium for the Doctor to show up, especially now that she knew he had left in good spirits and on his own, ruling out suicidal tendencies and kidnapping.

As she waited for the elevator, she called Pete back and told him what she had learned from Reggie while omitting her intent to look for Alex as well. The conversation continued even after she stepped into the cab and exited on the parking garage level where her SUV sat. With one last assurance to her stepfather that she was fine, she pressed the end button on her cell phone and went to her car, determined to join the search.

She started downtown, figuring that was the likely place that Alex would be. However, hours of checking every place she thought he might go only resulted in her becoming more worried about him. A call from her stepfather revealed that Jake and his team also had no success in finding the half-alien. Pete, having discovered that his daughter had disregarded his words, ordered her to return home to wait for news. Too frazzled to continue, she obeyed, getting back to her building just after nine o'clock at night.

She had just stepped out of the car when a black motorcycle blocked the vehicle in its space. The rider, clad completely in black leather and a helmet, dismounted from the bike and turned towards her. Suddenly, the paranoid thoughts concerning the fate of her best friend came rushing back.

"Rose Tyler," the figure said, its masculine voice muffled by the helmet. He approached her, causing her to take a step back in trepidation.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

The figure seemed to pause before taking a step towards her. "Rose, what's wrong?"

She blinked slightly at the question before she realized with whom she was speaking. "Doctor?"

The figure took off its helmet to reveal the concerned face of the man she'd been fretting over. "Rose, what is it?"

A second later, the half-Gallifreyan received a hard slap on his left cheek.

"Oi! What was that for?" he complained, rubbing the sting from his face.

"Do you have any idea what you've put me through? What do you think you're doing running off without letting me know where you are, making me think something happened to you? Where the hell have you been?"

"I went to lunch."

"And it took all day?"

"Well, it does on some planets."

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Nine hours, Doctor! You've been out for nine hours and not once did you call to let me know where you were!"

"And that's too long," he supposed.

"Damn right, it's too long! Here I'm thinking you've been kidnapped or hurt or killed and you've been… been…" She looked over him from head to toe. "What the hell have you been doing? And what's with the motorcycle? And the leather?" her voice tapered slightly as she regarded him again. "Not that I'm… objecting to the… leather…"

The hybrid gave her a teasing smile. "You like the leather?"

She considered her response for a long moment. She had to admit to herself that the Doctor did look great in the protective riding gear. Sexy even. She got a picture in her mind of them riding for miles in the open country on the motorcycle, stopping only when they felt like taking in the sights or to rest. It was definitely an alluring thought. However, it didn't detract from the here and now and the fact that the half-alien had run off for hours without telling anyone of his whereabouts.

"Park that thing properly and then come up where we can discuss your actions today," she said, refusing to let her current attraction to him delay handling the immediate problem. "Where'd you get a motorcycle anyway?"

"I thought you wanted to discuss my activities up in the flat."

Frustrated by the whole situation set before her, Rose huffed. "Just park," she ordered. "I'll meet you at the lift."

Sniffing slightly, Alex returned to his motorcycle and moved it to a more appropriate area. After retrieving a small cloth bag and then locking his helmet and gloves in the carrier attached to the back, he went to the garage exit where Rose was waiting for him. Neither said a word as they went up to the flat. However, the moment the door was closed, Rose was the first to speak.

"So, where were you?" she demanded as she moved to the living room.

"I told you. I went out for lunch," Alex responded, following her and then sitting on the couch, leaving his bag by the door. "The only places I knew were in the city so I took a cab there. When I paid for the meal, I realized that I needed a wallet – a proper wallet, not a damaged one with only enough room for psychic paper and a few bills – especially with all these little cards you humans seem to rely on." He ignored the glare she gave him at his choice of words. "So I took another cab to that shop you took me to the other day, the one with those really nice ties. And after I bought the wallet and a new sleeve for my psychic paper – a passport cover works really nice for that – I realized that I really couldn't rely on public transportation or taxis to get around or I would run out of money very quickly. I went to go buy a car but they wouldn't sell it to me without a driver's license. I would've been able to in the other universe but there's a law here, apparently. Anyway, I went to the DMV and got a license. Well, all of the ones available for domestic transportation actually since I wasn't sure what type of vehicle I wanted to own. Went back to the dealership to buy a car and then I saw the motorcycle and… well, it's a beautiful machine, isn't it? So I bought that. Of course, if you own a motorcycle, it's only being responsible to ensure that you have the proper safety equipment which I purchased. After that, I went for a ride until I decided to come back and surprise you."

"And you couldn't call me and let me know what you were doing?" she berated. "How did you buy all this? You don't have any money."

"Thanks to your father, I do. Two hundred pounds cash, down to a hundred sixty now thanks to lunch and the wallet, a thousand pounds in the bank, two credit cards each with a twenty thousand pound limit, and excellent credit which made it possible to get the financing I needed to purchase the motorcycle." He gave her a glare, seeing that she was still upset by his actions. "I am not a child, Rose. I don't need your permission to utilize the resources that your father provided for me and I don't need you to tell me what I may do with those resources. I am well-aware that I will have to repay the loan that I took out for the motorcycle as well as the charges that I made on my credit cards. I would have thought you'd be happy that I'm at least making an effort to fit in. I don't have to stay here, you know. I can leave at any time I want and you'd never be able to find me and you know it. I choose to stay here because of you. I'm going to be working for Torchwood because of you. I'm living in this flat, buying groceries, filling out paperwork, carrying a wallet because of you. I want to be here because of you, Rose. But if you are going to order me around and treat me as if I am incapable of taking care of myself, then I'm going out that door and you will never see me again. Is that understood?"

The two stared at each other for a long moment, Rose weighing what Alex had told her, Alex wondering how she was going to react to his words. When she responded, it was in the same quiet tone he had used with her.

"Understood," she told him. "But now you need to understand things from my point of view. My family is rich and famous in this universe which means that we're under the public scrutiny. You remember that paparazzi in the dessert bar? Because you were photographed with me, you're now in the public spotlight as well and you have to be careful what you do out in public just in case some photographer snaps your picture. The tabloids are already speculating on who you are and what your relationship with me is. They're already saying that you're my boyfriend…"

"I am your boyfriend," he pointed out. "At least, that was my understanding."

"You are," she agreed. "But that also means that you might be of interest to people who don't like my family or who would try to take advantage of your new position. And believe me, they're out there. So when you ran off like that and no one could find you, the only thing I could think of was that you were kidnapped or even killed. Do you have any idea how terrifying that was to me? I kept imagining you were lying dead in some back alley."

"I can defend myself…"

"That's not the point! What if something had happened to you? How is anyone supposed to find you if we don't have at least a reference point to start?"

"So basically you can wander off but I can't?" he countered, not wanting to relent his own argument. "How many times have you wandered off without me having a clue where you were?"

"I was a teenager. I'm twenty-five now and a lot more experienced. I'm not going to go anywhere without telling someone where I'm going. I left you a note this morning, didn't I? You knew how to get a hold of me if you needed to. But I couldn't get a hold of you when you left the flat. And nine hours is a very long time to be out of contact from the people you care about without some sort of prior warning." Seeing him roll his eyes in exasperation, she tried a different tactic, one she was sure would make him understand the importance of what she was saying. "What if it something had happened to me while you were out on your little escapade?"

He sat up at her words, concern on his face. "Did something happen?"

"No, but what if something had? No one would have been able to find you and tell you because nobody knew where you were. You see this goes both ways, don't you?" He slumped back on the couch at her question, looking very much like a dog who wanted to attack but who understood the futility of it when on a grounded chain. "I'm not trying to limit you, Doctor," Rose continued. "I don't mind that you went out and did everything that you did. In fact, I love that you went and had a great time, especially with what happened last night. I just want to you be more aware of your actions as the paparazzi will ruin not only your reputation but also mine, Mum's and Dad's if you did something even the slightest bit what they consider abnormal. But most importantly, I want to be able to contact you if I need to, just like you can contact me if you need to."

"Well if that's the case, I should get a mobile." He paused. "No… wait… I have one somewhere. Well, actually it's Martha's but I doubt she'll come across the Void to collect it. It's out of power, though. What I need is a charger."

"We'll get it tomorrow. What you need to do right now is to cook that chicken that you manhandled yesterday." Seeing the blank stare he gave her, she reminded, "You were going to make dinner today."

Alex glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's nearly ten at night."

"Yeah, and I haven't had a bite to eat since breakfast, thanks to work and worrying about you."

Alex's eyes grew dark at her words. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Telling me what to do," he growled at her. "Everything is about you. You needed to know where I was. You have a reputation to uphold. You want dinner." He stood up abruptly and started for the door. "Make your own damn dinner."

Stunned by his words, Rose quickly followed in a desperate attempt to stop him. "Where are you going?"

He turned towards her, anger clear on his face. "I'm leaving. I warned you, Rose. Now you'll have to deal with the consequences."

"Don't go," she told him, grabbing his hand to keep him from leaving.

"Ordering me again?" he demanded.

She looked into his eyes, allowing him to see her fear. "No. Asking. I'm sorry for treating you so poorly. I promise I'll try to do better. Just please don't go. I couldn't bear going through that again, not knowing if you were safe." She watched him for a long moment, trying to gauge what his next action would be based on his expression.

Alex regarded the woman before him before finally speaking. "You promise?" he asked, just so that she would reiterate her statement. Seeing her nod softly, he gently pulled her to him and held her. "Then I'm staying. I didn't really want to go anyway. It was a gut reaction and I'm sorry." He took a slow steady breath, allowing the moment of anger between them to pass. "As for the chicken, I'm afraid I've messed it up."

Rose chuckled slightly. "Thought so."

He pulled away and gave her a teasing glower. "Not with my choice of marinade. By letting it sit in the marinade for too long. I should have cooked it four hours ago. Now it's… well… sort of disgusting. But the bet is still on. I just have to think of something else, that's all. Not tonight, though. It's getting late and I don't think either of us want to be awake past midnight. My cooking is a work of art that takes time and precision."

"Does it now?" she gently teased back. "Not going to make BLTs again?" He shook his head. "So what do you think we should do?"

He considered her question for a moment. "Chinese?"

She grinned at his answer. "And you say I live on take-out." He shrugged slightly, not quite conceding the point but not denying it either. "Chinese it is, then," she agreed. "But how about we do our competition tomorrow? You do my meal, I'll do yours."

"Agreed." He kissed her forehead gently before going into the kitchen to locate the take-out menu he knew Rose had. "So, what do you want? We better order immediately as they close in fifteen minutes."

"Hunan chicken," she told him. "I'm buying. You're running out of cash and don't start work until next week. Just don't buy out the restaurant."

Alex gave her a small smile as he dialed the number and proceeded to make their order in fluent Mandarin, gaining a surprised look from Rose.

"You speak Chinese?" she questioned after he hung up.

"I speak every language."

"How come I never heard you speaking anything other than English, then? I mean, all those planets we've been to and you only spoke English." She paused. "You did speak English, didn't you?"

"Not always. Sometimes I spoke the native tongue and the TARDIS' translation circuits tapped into my head, translated it, and then put it in your head. She did have a bit of trouble properly translating some languages though. Like Latin. You speak Latin and, for some reason, the person you're talking to hears Gaelic."

"So you were basically what? The TARDIS' language dictionary?"

"Sort of."

"That explains why we only heard Sycoraxic when we were on the Sycorax ship. Because the TARDIS couldn't get into your head to translate it for us until you were better."

"Bingo," he told her, a broad grin on his face.

"What about Norway? You didn't say a word of Norwegian in Norway."

"I didn't have a reason to." He grimaced as he suddenly fidgeted. "Do you mind if I take off my leather. It's very comfortable, mind you, but I am getting a bit warm with my clothes underneath."

She gestured towards his bedroom. "Your home too. Help yourself."

With a nod, he grabbed his bag and went into the bedroom before carefully removing his outfit, making sure to hang it up safely in his closet. Leaving the bag on the bed, he walked back out sock-footed just as there was a knock on the door.

"Wow, that was fast," Rose commented as she answered the door. She paid for their order and gave a large tip before closing the door and carrying their meal into the kitchen. "I noticed the bag. Something to carry a change of clothes in?"

"Safety first," he responded as he helped her dish out their meal. "Not exactly safe to ride a motorcycle wearing trainers and a suit."

She paused thoughtfully. "What if it rains?"

"All the more reason to not to wear a suit riding a motorcycle. You'd get soaked."

"I was talking about visibility," she countered, pouring each of them a glass of water as he carried the plates to the table. "I mean, motorcycle helmets aren't equipped with wipers."

"No, but the one that I bought is weather resistant as long as it's not too rainy. Besides, it's only for when I need to go somewhere without you. With us both working for Torchwood, we'll likely carpool. And if I need to be somewhere when the weather doesn't permit my motorcycle, I'll either borrow yours or Pete's."

"Makes sense, I suppose," she responded non-committal, bringing their drinks to the table and taking a seat.

The two ate in agreeable companionship as they talked about their day. Rose went into details about the alien sighting and how she and her team had determined that the alien in question wasn't dangerous, just a tourist who had gotten separated from his group.

"You get alien tourists?" Alex questioned before tilting his head in concession immediately. "Well, not surprising really. Those starliners visiting exotic worlds. I suppose a Level Five planet like Earth would be on that list. Was for the Titanic. Then again, that was more of a deliberate attempt to take vengeance on a Board of Directors."

Rose blinked in confusion. "Sorry?"

Seeing that she had no idea what he was talking about, he explained his comment, telling her about his adventure aboard the starliner Titanic and his meeting Astrid Peth. The story prompted a whole conversation about their adventures during their separation from each other as they finished their dinner and migrated to the couch.

It was reaching two o'clock in the morning when Rose showed both of them how late it was with a loud and wide yawn.

"Have to be at work early?" Alex questioned.

She nodded slightly.

"Want me to wake you?"

She blinked. "You think you'll be awake in six hours?"

"Probably won't even have gone to sleep, based on how I feel right now." Seeing her yawn again, he helped her to her feet. "Come on. Bed time."

Rose didn't argue the point, allowing the Doctor to guide her into her bedroom. Kissing her cheek, he wished her good night before leaving, allowing her the privacy she needed. Despite what he had told her, after watching television with the volume low for two hours, he found himself drifting to sleep.