Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

If you've got as far as chapter 15, then thank you for sticking with it – you deserve a medal! More, real action to come in the following chapters, I promise - and assuming you haven't worked it out already (and I hope not) all will be revealed.

Chapter 15

Rose froze, wide eyed in shock as the Doctor pressed his body into hers. The edge of the console was biting into her lower back but she was less aware of that than of that fact that almost every inch of his lean frame was in contact with her. And then, if it were even possible, he pressed even closer, reaching around behind her and causing her heart to jolt alarmingly into her throat before he suddenly stepped away.

Blimey! Her body grieved for the sudden loss but her mind reeled with relief. That was too bloody close! Another second and she didn't think that she'd have been able to stop herself from snogging his face off.

She staggered a little as she stepped away from the console, the sudden spike of adrenaline slowly beginning to ebb and allowing her mind to clear. She managed to compose herself and looked at him warily while keeping the doors in her peripheral vision.

"They're locked." He stated, correctly interpreting her thoughts.

"but... I don't understand. Why would you keep me here if it hurts her?"

"You can't go outside." He said, firmly.

"But why not? 'specially if it's bad for the TARDIS to keep me here."

"I can't let you. Like I said before, you're not supposed to be in this universe. I can't protect you out there."

"Well, maybe it's not your job to protect me!" she protested, indignantly. "I can look after myself!"

He shook his head. "No."

She blew out her cheeks in exasperation. "So, what? I'm s'posed to just stay in here and keep safe while you go off an' do stuff without me?!"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"What about Donna?" she scowled.

"That was a one off! She landed in the TARDIS, what was I supposed to do? That's not going to happen again!"

"So you're jus' goin' to stay in here with me? Seriously? You're sayin' we both stay stuck in here forever, or until I die of old age….? That's you master plan?" she snorted and shook her head, knowing that the Doctor would never voluntarily imprison himself in the TARDIS.

He just shrugged.

"Doctor, we both know you could never do that. An' what abou' me? What about wha' I want?" she challenged.

"So, tell me Rose Tyler." He said, enunciating every word, his eyes flickering with irritation. "What would your plan be?"

"I dunno, jus' do what we were doin' before. Land somewhere, fight monsters, save planets… you know… the usual." She squared her shoulders to try to compensate for the fact that tears were beginning to fall onto her cheeks. "It's what I want, Doctor." She pleaded, trying and failing to keep her voice from breaking.

The Doctor didn't say anything for several moments. He just watched as she tried to pull herself together, his face expressionless. Then he sighed, his eyes softening. "You're tired, Rose." He shook his head sympathetically, "you're so tired. How long's it been since you've slept properly?"

She shrugged, sniffling. She was tired, she really was. "I don't want to sleep in the library again." Her voice was hoarse with unshed tears. "Reminds me too much of… him."

He grimaced and she realised that he was still a bit raw from that experience himself. "I'm sorry about that." He said, softly. "I'm sorry you woke up alone in the dark. I honestly thought you'd know where you were, I deliberately picked somewhere that would be familiar after… well, you saw your room."

She shrugged miserably. "It's okay. I get it."

"Come with me." He reached out a hand and she took it hesitantly, wondering where he was taking her.

"The thing is..." He said, leading her into the maze of corridors "I've had quite a few people travel with me on a semi-permanent basis."

"Yeah, tell me about it." She grumbled quietly, half to herself.

He looked round at her, frowning in puzzlement at what she'd just said. "What?"

"There was this room. Just before you found me. There were loads an' loads of photos of people. I didn't know what it was at first then I realised when I saw a picture of Sarah Jane, and of me, and Mickey an' Jack… I guess…" she took a deep breath to steady herself. "I mean, I knew you'd travelled with people before, I just didn't realise it was that many and… what I mean is, Doctor, did you leave all of 'em behind like you did Sarah Jane?"

Perhaps this wasn't the best time to ask but she had to know, and now the subject had come up she couldn't ignore the opportunity to talk about it.

The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I'd like to see that room!" And then he seemed to catch her expression. "No Rose." He said firmly, answering her question. "No, I didn't leave them all behind. Most of them left of their own accord and…" he broke off, clearly stopping himself saying what he'd been about to say.

"And?" she prompted.

"And here we are." He said, stopping by a door an opening it with a flourish.

She glanced quickly inside without taking it in, and then turned back to him. He wasn't deflecting her this time.

"That's not what you were about to say." She stated, holding her ground as he tried to lead her into the room. She folded her arms.

"Does it need saying?" he sighed loudly in exasperation. "Some of them died, Rose. They travelled with me and they died because of it, they died because of me." She could see the pain and guilt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry!" she apologised, unfolding her arms and reaching out, admonishing herself. If she'd thought about it for just a second she would've realised what he'd been about to say. And now she'd hurt him.

He shook his head, shrugging off her embrace but grasping her hands as though he didn't want to hurt her feelings. "It's okay. Maybe it'll help you understand why I'm being so cautious." He added, quietly.

"Go on." He nodded in the direction of the open door. "You'll be okay in there."

Rose entered the room tentatively while the Doctor hovered outside. The previous owner had been heavily into the colour red, she surmised, it blazed throughout the room. The dressing table was cluttered with deodorant cans that had the tops sawn off and she could see the top of a baseball bat sticking out of a large, black rucksack in the one corner.

"Whose room was this?" She turned back round to face the Doctor.

"Ace's." he said with a warm yet sad smile. "Before she left the first time round… I should probably advise you not to touch any of those cans though. That nitro-nine of hers wasn't stable at the best of times." He gave a reminiscent chuckle.

"Ace? Nitro nine?" she prompted.

"Later, Rose." He promised. "Just sleep for now." He smiled again and reached forwards to pull the door closed.

"Leave it." Rose said quickly. She caught his surprised expression and hastened to explain.

"I mean, just… could you leave it open? I dunno, it's like when I was a kid…" she started babbling "If something scared me I'd always want to sleep with the door open, it just made me feel safer… less trapped."

"Okay." He stepped back. "Well, night then."

"Yeah." She nodded. Waiting for him to walk away before she turned and flopped down onto the bed, fully clothed. She was exhausted, totally spent.

As her thoughts tumbled blissfully into sleep she wondered what had happened to Jack. Had he gone back to Torchwood? Or was he still at that hotel waiting for them? And where had the Master got to? Was he still looking for them?

dwdwdwdwdwdw

The Doctor stepped away from the door and headed deeper into the TARDIS, her cries were becoming more subdued now that he had a plan and had started to execute it, but before he checked on his newest project his curiosity led him to another room The room that Rose had mentioned.

It was like she said. He smiled broadly when he saw their faces, all of his former companions, his cherished friends. His smile faltered when his eyes caught the picture of Adric, so young – far too young to die, and that had all been the Doctor's fault. He sighed bitterly. He'd failed him. He should've stopped him, could've saved him.
He blushed slightly when he saw the picture of Leela, suddenly glad Rose wasn't here with him. Did she always dress so… undressed? He'd barely seemed to notice in his previous incarnation. Blimey! He wondered what people thought was going on when they'd turned up together...

And then there was Ace, grinning from ear to ear, her face so youthful, so full of joy, so innocent! That was before the Doctor had destroyed her life, broken her heart and killed all her faith in him, causing her to run off and join the Spacefleet. They'd reconciled eventually, but he still bitterly regretted not seeing how his own actions, his secrecy, his arrogant assumption that he knew what was best for her, had been affecting her until it was too late.

Why had the TARDIS put this room here? What was she trying to tell him? Or had the message been for Rose?

As he turned to leave the room he spotted something he hadn't noticed when he'd entered. There was an empty photo frame on the wall, except that it wasn't quite empty. The image was vague and unformed, a bit like a fresh photograph from a Polaroid camera. It was still developing…