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Chapter 16

He watched and waited for a few moments to see if the picture got any stronger but it didn't change. He frowned thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging it off. The TARDIS would make it clear in time. Sighing tiredly, he walked further into the TARDIS to check on his project.

Rose awoke slowly and stretched languidly, she was warm and content, but her skin felt dead scratchy. How long had she been wearing these clothes?

Too long! That's how long. What with one thing and another she realised that she hadn't showered in days! God, she must be honking!

Just as in her room there was an ensuite bathroom in this room too, although the products were definitely not what you'd find in Rose's bathroom, they looked like they'd be more at home in a chemistry lab than in a girl's bathroom! The surfaces were covered with glass beakers, some of which held the dried remnants of some concoction or other. Steering clear of anything unfamiliar, she selected a bottle of generic looking shower gel combined with shampoo. It was far from perfect but it would do.

Once she'd showered, and felt oh, so much better! She was at a loss as to what to wear. She could go find the TARDIS wardrobe but that would mean putting her dirty and slightly bloody clothes back on again for the trip down the corridor. Her skin cringed at the thought.

Hmmm... But this room had been occupied by a girl right?

She grinned at her discovery. Ace's wardrobe provided a plethora of skirts, tights and tops, all similarly styled. Although no jeans, Rose noted to her dismay.

Drawing the line at wearing some other girl's knickers, Rose decided to go commando, at least for now until she'd sorted something out for herself. She pulled on some black tights with a zigzag pattern down the sides, a black, mid-thigh skirt, which was a bit loose but so what? And a black and white striped crop top. She rounded off the outfit with a stout pair of Doctor Martin's boots. She could see no shoes or trainers in Ace's sparse wardrobe.

There was one thing that particularly caught her attention. A black bomber jacket, covered with badges. Some were sewn on and some were the old fashioned pin kind that you used to see a lot in the 1980s, well at least that's what Rose had heard, she was too young to remember. Some of them seemed to be spacey stuff, like NASA etc… but seriously, was that a Blue Peter Badge?

Rose chuckled. She realised now she'd seen the jacket in one of those photos, a youngish looking girl with a huge grin all over her face. So that was Ace…! Rose wondered what had become of her. She pondered the jacket for a second then shrugged it on, pulling her damp hair up in a pony tail.

She'd been heading for what she thought was the console room when she heard sounds coming from behind her. The unmistakable clatter and sigh of the Doctor tinkering with something. Assuming she'd erred in her direction, she turned back around and headed towards the noise.

The room she walked into wasn't the console room though.

It was a large, white, airy room with a large, white marble-looking column in the middle. The Doctor was sat, cross legged on the floor, tinkering with a small metal box with a nest of tangled wires jutting out the side.

He looked around as she entered the room. "ACE?!" his head snapped right round and he dropped the box with a clatter. "Rose! Blimey! What d'you dress like that for?"

She shrugged, secretly amused at his reaction. She'd had so little fun in the last few days. "Got nothing to wear, Doctor."

"Right, yeah… well there's always the TARDIS wardrobe."

"Didn't fancy that." She admitted. Partly acknowledging to herself that with the TARDIS as it was with her, she'd be lucky to come away with any clothes at all.

"Right." He was still a bit wild eyed.

"What'ya doin'?" she asked, joining him on the floor.

"I'm…" he looked down at the box he'd just dropped, picking it up thoughtfully. "I'm er… I'm growing another TARDIS."

"You're what?!" she was understandably stunned. "Why?"

"Because, well… and I'm not sure if this'll work, but the TARDIS thinks it might, it could help with the dual connection thing… you know, like I told you earlier? Two TARDISs for two connections… might work. I dunno, but I had to try."

"How on Earth do you grow another TARDIS?"

"Well…. Not on Earth for starters – wrong sort of energies, it would take too long."

"Doctor!"

"Oh, it's not that difficult. You just take a piece of the TARDIS and give it some energy, the right sort of energy, Time Lord energy, then you wait… it usually takes quite a lot of time, I've been trying to speed up the process."

"How d'you mean, 'Time Lord' energy?"

"I mean I've been giving her some of my… well, my life I guess. Twenty years so far..." He seemed to be avoiding looking at her.

"You've been giving away years of your life?" she demanded, incredulous.

"Yup. No other way you see."

Rose didn't know what to say, she fiddled with the zip on her jacket. "So does that mean, what…?" She giggled nervously, "you're gonna regenerate now or somethin'?" she bit her lip, dreading the answer.

"Nah! Look at me, do I look at Death's door to you?" he finally looked over to her, his eyes meeting with hers, his eyebrows wiggled.

She chuckled lightly, "No. Guess not… but how much more do you have to give?"

"Well… none, really. Like I said, I've been speeding it up, and I think it might even be starting to work, the TARDIS is… less er… uncomfortable now." He finished vaguely.

"You're gonna stop now though, yeah?" Rose asked, anxiously. She didn't want him giving away his whole bloody life to fix the mess that she'd made.

"Soon enough." He said, slightly impatiently. "Look Rose, why don't you go get some breakfast, I'll just be a…" that was when a loud shrilling echoed around the room.

"What's that?" Rose jumped to her feet, alert and ready for action.

"TARDIS telephone." The Doctor frowned jumping up with her. "Come on!"

Grinning broadly, she raced with him down the corridor, excitement and adrenaline coursing through her..

"Since when did the TARDIS take incoming calls?" she laughed, breathlessly as they both skidded into the console.

"It's a telephone box! Shush!" he picked up the old fashioned, plastic receiver. "Yes?"

"Jack!" He smiled widely.

"Yeah, she's fine. What's up?" he listened intently.

"Right, I'll be there in a minute. Where are you?" he nodded

"and… er… when are you?" Rose was almost bouncing as she listened to the Doctor's half of the conversation. It was Jack! Yay! They were going to see Jack again! Oh, she'd missed him!

"Okay, July 21st, 2014, oh… er… right." He put the phone down, rubbing the back of his neck, thoughtfully.

"I've never heard that ring before." She was shifting anxiously from foot to foot as she waited, poised and ready to go.

"No. Um, patched it into your mobile so Torchwood could contact us." He looked a bit sheepish.

"You've got my mobile? I thought I'd lost that!"

"Yeah, you dropped it when… um, when the Master took you."

"Oh… right, okay…" she shrugged it off. "So what's up then? Trouble?" She grinned widely.

"Uh, yeah, maybe… Jack thinks there's something that I need to see."

"2014, yeah?"

"Yup."

"Cool! I can't wait to see that!" she laughed, joyfully "Or should I say 'Ace!'" She joked, referring to her clothing.

"Yeah," He ignored her joke. "Except you're staying here."

"Yeah, right…" She grumbled, quietly "Yeah, we'll see…."