Partners In Time

A Tenth Doctor and Rose story

Short Summary: The smallest action can have the largest consequence. When the Doctor becomes involved in a conspiracy, a chain of events is put into motion where sacrifice is his only option.

Long Summary: The smallest action can have the largest consequence. When the Doctor becomes involved in a conspiracy, a chain of events is put into motion where sacrifice is his only option. While struggling to work out the tricks and devices laid ahead of him before Rose becomes another on the death toll, he not only learns just how catastrophic little mistakes can be, but also the price he's willing to pay for the sake of meagre existence.

Doctor Who Original Characters: The Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Captain Jack Harkness, Jackie Tyler, Peter Tyler, Mickey Smith. Watch out for the Ninth Doctor too, and many thanks to him for haunting my imagination whilst I wrote this.

Author's Original Characters: Jennifer Gray, Marcus Gray, Tobias Finley, Alastair Finley, Charlotte Raine, Gregatio Thallery.

Disclaimer: I own none of the Doctor Who characters, the BBC owns them all. Believe me, it's something I cry about on a daily basis.

Story Rating: T, for mild swearing, possible romance and the general concept.

Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Thriller, Angst, Romance, Humour, Sci-fi.

Spoilers: Season One and Season Two of the New Series. Just expect to see pretty much anything.

Setting: In between The Age of Steel and Army of Ghosts. I'm not sure it really matters, except that Mickey isn't with them.

Author's Note: I can't even remember how this story began, but the idea has been growing in my mind for a while now. I was walking home at the time and was running a conversation through my head I could feel the Doctor and Rose having at some point. It was intense and, from it, branched this rather strange idea. So I sat down and actually thought about plot for a change and haven't uploaded until I am sure what's going to happen with it. It starts easily enough, with this chapter being more of a prologue (albeit, a very long prologue) rather than much to do with the storyline. It's a rather slow starting story, but I want to make sure I build it all up correctly. I'm still working on the odds and ends, so watch this space - it may all fall apart :)

General Note: The first few chapters are both slow starting and relatively fluffy - you'll just have to trust me when I say it's all part of the storyline.

Thank Yous: My wonderful betas, Briar Elwood, MontyPythonFan and LunaLovegood5, without whom you would not have this story. They have been my help and my inspiration throughout, offering advice and ideas occasionally along the way too and always keeping me on my toes. Particular thanks to Rach, who I know works hard to maintain her level of absorption in everything she does. And, of course, thanks to the BBC for letting me fiddle in their universe for a while. I've had great fun.

Dedication: To all the Doctor Who fans out there, particularly of the new series, and to those of us who are heart broken to see Rose leave. This one's for you, guys...

Chapter I - Touching Normality

There was nothing quite like watching cartoons at six o'clock in the morning with the sound turned down. A youthful man was slouched deep into the comfortable support of a faded pink sofa, the lumpy cushions adjusting to his lanky build and light weight. He shifted slightly, folding his arms over his broad chest and taking in a deep breath. The pictures of the loosely drawn cartoon reflected across his rectangular black-rimmed spectacles as he watched the shapes dance and move, creating a story in front of his eyes. The morning sun had risen slowly during the earlier hours, and now a faded yellow light bathed the room through half-closed blinds. There was a quiet serenity about the place and an odd stillness had settled over the course of the morning.

The man on the sofa sniffed and frowned slightly as he tried to make sense of the pictures on the television. He let out a small sigh through his nose, trying to pick up on the thread of plot without any sound to aid him. However, his concentration was soon broken by a smothered laugh to his right. He turned to see a bedraggled figure standing in the doorway of the sitting room, her pastel pink dressing gown draped over her like cloak and her frizzy blonde hair framing her smooth face with innocence. She had a hand in front of her mouth, hiding a wicked smile.

At the sight of her, the man's face couldn't help but crack into a huge, ecstatic grin, his brown eyes lighting up with all the wonder of the universe.

"Hello," he grinned, tipping his head to her. The cartoons were instantly forgotten. "What are you smiling at?"

He unfolded his arms and shifted up to the corner of the sofa, patting the cushions next to him as he did so. The woman grinned and stepped over to him, sitting down into the comforting feel of the fabric. He extended his arm and wrapped it around her, pulling her close to him and letting her head rest easily on his shoulder.

"I've never seen someone watch cartoons with so much concentration before," she sighed lightly, her vision flicking to the multi-coloured pictures on the screen. The man turned to her, a raised eyebrow playing on his delicate frown.

"You know, it's surprisingly difficult to follow the storyline with the sound off," he explained.

The woman in his arms gave him a dubious look.

"Doctor, it's Tom and Jerry. It doesn't really have a storyline."

He turned back to the television for a moment, watching a large, grey cat run straight into an ironing board.

"But you see? That just wouldn't happen. How would a mouse be able to outsmart a cat like that? Tests prove that felines are far more intelligent than – "

"Doctor," the girl laughed, interrupting him and shaking her head. He turned his head to look at her.

"Yes, Rose?"

"It's a cartoon. It doesn't have to make sense."

He considered this for a moment, before letting an accustomed grin fall back on his face. He let out a pleasant sigh and ran his hand warmly up Rose's upper arm.

"I suppose I can't ask for much from six o'clock TV," he said in a voice that sounded as wise and old as the Earth. "It's no wonder humans take such a long time to explore the galaxy; they've still got their thoughts on a cat and a mouse chasing each other around a house!"

"Oi," Rose laughed, giving him a friendly shove with her shoulder. "That's my lot you're talking about."

"Nah," the Doctor grinned, letting his head rest against the back of the couch. "You're outside of time and space now, Rose. Like me. You get to sit back and laugh as everyone else gets it wrong, and then watch as they learn from their mistakes and grow in to wonderful, amazing, exciting new people."

Rose blinked at him for a moment, her face knotting into a slight frown.

"What are you talking about?" she asked amusedly.

The Doctor cleared his throat and grinned.

"Haven't a clue," he chirped happily. Then, as if someone had flicked a switch in his brain, his face suddenly became serious. "What are you doing awake at this hour? I wasn't expecting any company until at least nine o'clock."

As if on cue, Rose found herself stifling a persistent yawn.

"Couldn't exactly let you sit down here with nothing but Tom and Jerry," she replied, and even though the Doctor smiled at her gently, he gave her a look which told her she still had to answer his question. "I just couldn't sleep, s'all. It all seems a bit... wrong, somehow."

"Wrong?" the Doctor questioned.

Rose heaved a sigh and relaxed back into his shoulder, her attention now firmly fixed back on the antics of the loveable cat and mouse. Or, perhaps not: the cartoon had surreptitiously changed whilst they had been talking.

"Yeah, like... the TARDIS has this noise, right, a kinda 'thump', and I've gotten used to it. And my bed here isn't what I'm used to. That and my sleeping pattern's all messed up. I'm used to sleeping when I'm tired, not when it's dark, or whatever."

The Doctor smiled to himself, all too pleased with the fact that his TARDIS was living up to expectations.

"You need to sleep, Rose," he replied gently. "You're not built the same way as me. You can't not sleep."

"Neither can you," Rose pointed out, a little stubbornly. "I don't think I've ever known you to sleep."

"There was Christmas!" the Doctor defended. Rose suppressed a snort of laughter.

"Yeah, and how long ago was that? You'd still be snoring if it wasn't for Mum's tea."

"Well, there you go then. I do sleep. And Jackie doesn't half make a good cup of tea."

The rest of their conversation was punctuated with a rather loud crash of a door slamming open and Jackie's voice wailing loudly down the hall.

"Will you two shut it? Some of us are trying to sleep! Honestly, it's like having a pair of kids in the house!"

The door slammed shut again and Rose cringed. The Doctor smirked and sank comfortably back into the sofa.

"Looks like the dragon's awake," he commented dryly, careful to keep his voice low.

"She's not a dragon!" Rose defended in a harsh whisper. "All right, I know she can be a bit hard to take sometimes, but dragon's a bit - "

"Rose," the Doctor interrupted with a wide smirk, his eyes on the television again.

"What?" she asked irritably. The Doctor looked at her, his grin hidden in his soft eyes, his mouth sincere.

"I was talking about the cartoon."

He was immediately thumped on the shoulder.

I-----------------------------------------------------I

"God! You didn't stay there all morning, did you?"

Rose jumped awake, the penetrating voice of Jackie echoing through her dreams. She went to rub away the sleep in her eyes, but found that she couldn't: one hand was tucked neatly underneath the Doctor's jacket, her arm across the breadth of his chest, and the other was currently being occupied by his, sandwiched between their thighs, their fingers linking in such a way that it was near impossible to tell whose were whose. She was curled up to his body protectively, her head leaning gently against his shoulder, their knees touching.

She blinked for a moment, then turned her head against the angle of her body to look at her Mum.

"Must've fallen asleep," she yawned, feeling quite bleary. Jackie raised an eyebrow dubiously.

"Rose, you sleep in your bed, not cuddled up in some alien's arms."

"Mum, I - "

"And what's the deal with 'im anyway? I thought he didn't sleep."

Rose frowned for a moment, then turned back to look at the Doctor and almost burst into affectionate laughter.

His head was slumped back against his neck, resting along the crook of the sofa. His eyes were closed serenely whilst his glasses lay lost in the tangled mess he liked to call hair. His mouth hung open as he slept, moving ever so slightly in time with the rise and fall of his slow breathing. He had his arm splayed down his side, coming to rest on his thigh. His other arm was laced with Rose's, their hands meeting at the end, sandwiched between their bodies. He looked so adorable that Rose felt she could watch him forever.

"Maybe he was tired," she reasoned, though she couldn't hide the smile in her voice. Jackie heaved a sigh, making Rose tear her eyes away from him and look to her mother.

"If you say so," Jackie muttered irritably, fiddling with the cord of her dressing gown. "Better wake sleeping beauty there and ask him what he wants for breakfast. I'll go put the kettle on."

She turned away to head for the kitchen, leaving Rose alone with the Doctor once again. Rose released her hand from the warmth of the Doctor's side to stretch, but did not make any attempt to uncurl her fingers on her other hand. She blinked at the muted television for a second, which for the moment had given up on the cartoons and was on to the nine o'clock news. Rose wondered how long she had been asleep. She remembered lying against the Doctor with her head touching his shoulder, comforted by the ongoing rise and fall of his chest. At some point in the crawling hours of the morning, his hand - wordlessly - had moved from her shoulder down the length of her arm and had found hers; he had held the top of her hand to his palm, his knuckles gently over hers, his fingers pushed through her own. There hadn't been any talking as they had sat and watched some Godawful cartoon with far too many bright, happy colours to make it believable.

But she must have fallen asleep quite early on, because the room was now a lot brighter and their sleeping positions had almost completely changed. They had switched hands, somehow, during the morning, and Rose wondered if the Doctor had moved on a conscious level, or if it was all just a reaction to how they slept together.

Rose smiled and reached up her spare hand to the Doctor's cheek, giving him light, affectionate slaps.

"Doctor," she whispered - why was she whispering? She wanted to wake him up - letting her hand fall against his skin. He hadn't shaved yet, and there was a new, coarse strain of stubble poking through his bare skin. Rose rather liked it. "Doctor, wake up. Mum's making tea, and you can't let me face her on my own."

The Doctor awoke with a jump and a snort and he sat up straight, his eyes blinking wide and his glasses slipping down his head to rest crookedly on his nose.

"Kill the Zimmer frame," he cried sleepily as he woke, making Rose jump. She then tried her very best to hide a smile as he took in a breath and turned to her, his face etched with an immense amount of seriousness. He reached up to adjust his glasses, the ends of which were poking him rather uncomfortably in the ear.

"Zimmer frame?" she questioned with a laugh.

The Doctor blinked hurriedly, then reached his hand to his eyes under his glasses, his fingers rubbing all trace of sleep away as he glided them heavily across his lids.

"You wanted to kill a Zimmer frame?" Rose pressed, her eyes on him. He looked to her, letting their gazes lock, and a huge grin spread over his face.

"In my defence, it was trying to eat me."

Rose felt laughter rise inside her as she watched him try his best to be serious. "Eat you?"

"Yeah, from the feet up. Not a nice thing to experience when you're shackled to a wall."

"Right," Rose snorted, shaking her head laughingly. Then the grinned and slapped his thigh. "C'mon, Mum's making breakfast. If we help, she might not ask about us."

The Doctor's face pulled into a frown. "Us?"

"Yeah. She kinda came in when we were asleep."

"What's so wrong with that?"

Rose blinked at him. "Nothing. I just don't think she was expecting to come down in the morning to find us..."

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow and watched as Rose glanced from him down between them. Confused, he followed her gaze until he saw their linking hands. Strange: when had that happened? He slipped his fingers out of hers and flexed his hand, examining it as if it had turned green and sprouted an extra thumb. That had been an unpleasant experience, he reflected idly. Then his gaze fell back to Rose, who had been watching him.

"Don't tell me your mother got the wrong idea," he almost pleaded. "I had enough trouble with her in my last incarnation."

To his relief, Rose shook her head. "Nah, she knows that nothing like that would ever happen between us. I think. She was just a bit shocked."

"Shocked?" he frowned.

"Well, yeah. I mean, how many aliens would you expect to find curled up asleep on the settee with the TV's sound off and your daughter in his arms?"

"No, I suppose you're right. All right, mental note: never fall asleep on Jackie's sofa early in the morning with your arms around her daughter."

"And with a muted TV," Rose added with a grin.

"And with a muted TV," the Doctor echoed, matching her smile with a larger one. But then his smile disappeared and he was thinking again. "It's a bit strange, though, don't you think? I shouldn't have fallen asleep. It wasn't my time."

"It's not death, Doctor," Rose snorted. "You were probably just a bit tired."

"But that's the thing. I wasn't. I was perfectly fine, fit as a fiddle, clean as a whistle, bright eyed and bushy tailed!"

Rose blinked at him.

"Got any other metaphors you want to throw in there?"

The Doctor cast her a mock scowl before getting to his feet and stretching. He turned and reached for the remote, which had slid down the side of the sofa, and turned off the television.

"Come on, then," he beamed down at Rose, chucking the remote on to the cushions. He held his hands out in front of him. "Let's see what your mother's up to."

Rose reached up to take his hands, letting him pull her to her feet. It took surprisingly little effort.

They walked through to the kitchen where they found Jackie stirring one of three mugs of tea. She turned to see them come in.

"Kitchen's a bit of a mess," she sighed, signalling to the washing up on the counter and the cluttered table. "I wasn't expecting company."

"S'alright," Rose murmured sleepily through a yawn, heading over to a seat and slumping over the wooden table. "TARDIS has been worse."

"The TARDIS has not been worse," the Doctor corrected indignantly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She works very hard to keep everything tidy."

Both of the woman turned to glare at him and the Doctor, feeling that the wrath of one Tyler was enough, let alone two, had the courtesy to look a little sheepish. Rose raised her eyebrows at him expectantly and he cleared his throat, then looked back to Jackie.

"Er... Don't worry about the kitchen, Jackie. It's no reflection on you."

Her mouth thinned and she began making her way towards him noiselessly, and a little predatorily. The Doctor gulped and took a slight step back.

"I mean, it looks lovely, honestly. Not that you don't look lovely, because obviously you do, but the kitchen is fine and a little washing up never hurt anyone. Actually, it's better than fine, it's wonderful. In fact, I'm sure it was really just a spontaneous gathering. Tell you what, why don't I just shut up and handle it while you and Rose relax?"

He was speaking hurriedly and desperately as Jackie advanced, looking for any excuse - hopefully the right one - to stop her from getting any closer to him. Getting slapped in the face was not something he wanted to repeat, and even though he thought Jackie's kitchen was fine - it was a kitchen; who cared? - he didn't want to go insulting it. Maybe it was breaking some unwritten rule that one shouldn't insult the kitchen of the mother of the girl you were travelling around the universe with. That made a certain sort of sense, didn't it? His head began to hurt with the thoughts bombarding his brain this early in the morning.

Jackie stopped dangerously close to him, her eyes narrowed; even though she was a good deal shorter than him, the Doctor had the sense to be intimidated and just a little bit scared. He was arched back a little, an apologetic expression all over his cowering face. He wondered if Rose would stop her mother from hitting him across the head. But judging by the amused expression on her face as she watched them, he assumed not.

"Listen," he reasoned quickly, looking down to the woman in front of him hopefully. "I could clean up, if you like. And make breakfast too. Then clean that up as well. You've probably got a lot to do today, and it's the least I can do for barging in on you like this."

Jackie leant in further towards him. God, this woman was relentless: what did she want, the shirt off his back? Mind you, if she asked, he wouldn't hesitate to give it to her. The Doctor hoped he would avoid a slap, at least. Be as polite as possible, that was his motto. That he had only just made up and applied now.

But Jackie's face spread into a large, patronising smile. She put her hands on her hips and stood back a little.

"Well, that's very kind of you Doctor. I dare say I could use to the help around here. But right now, could you scoot over a minute? You're standing in front of the fridge, and I need to get to the milk for the tea."

His entire face dropped about an inch, his mouth with it. He turned to look behind him where, sure enough, the large fridge stood. He gaped and blinked, moving out of the way over to Rose's side. Jackie received the milk from the fridge and shook her head with laughter as she headed back to the tea on the counter.

The Doctor leaned in to Rose, his back to her mother and his face crestfallen.

"Did I just offer to clean this kitchen and make breakfast all because I was standing in front of the fridge?" he muttered quietly, and there was desperate pleading tinged in his voice.

Rose flashed him a grin.

"Yup! From the look on your face, you'd have thought you thought she was gonna slap you one," Rose laughed.

"She's a very intimidating woman, your mother."

"Fear is a wonderful thing, Doctor," she smirked in reply.

"I wasn't scared."

"Oh, offer to make breakfast in every household, do you?"

"I have a healthy respect for people who might get violent, that's all," the Doctor defended. "I was just being polite."

"Yeah right," Rose snorted. "The day you do anything out of politeness is the day you let me fly the TARDIS."

"The TARDIS doesn't 'fly', Rose," the Doctor corrected, with mild irritation. "She glides effortlessly through the dimensions of time and space, whilst calculating our whereabouts, timeline, gravity patterns, breathing atmosphere, hostile inhabitants and practically everything else that keeps us safe."

"Safe? Oh, so that time where I practically suffocated to death when I stepped out of the doors, that was safe, was it?"

"It's not my fault you didn't stick around long enough to hear me say we were just passing through and that the air was toxic to humans."

"What about that place where I couldn't stop laughing?"

"I did tell you not to eat that stuff though, didn't I? Minor technical error."

"And that planet where we had to crawl on our hands and knees because standing on two feet was an insult to their emperor?"

"We were safe, though, weren't we? I was very careful not to land anywhere near that pit of rabid tourists."

"You missed our landing spot by about half a mile! It took me an absolute age to get that swampy smell out of my hair."

"Did I mention the TARDIS was not meant to be controlled with just one Time Lord?"

"Daily."

"In that case, I think I'm allowed - "

"Listen to you two, bickering like an old married couple," Jackie laughed bitterly from behind them; her tone was almost accusatory. They both jumped, having completely forgotten she was there; both turned to look at her, somewhat guiltily. She walked over with the mugs of tea and placed two of them cautiously on the table.

"It's not bickering," the Doctor countered, picking up one of the cups and taking a small sip. "It was just debating. Nice healthy bit of conversation to start the morning."

Jackie raised an eyebrow to him. "Yeah, well, speaking of starting the morning, it's about time I got up. Can't hang around in my dressing gown all day. Saucepans are in the cupboard, eggs, sausages and bacon are in the fridge; there's bread in the breadbin and cutlery in the drawers. You'd best not take too long with that cooking, either: Rose doesn't deal well with having to wait for her food." She beamed at him with the somewhat cheeky air he recognised in Rose. "See you later, Doctor."

And with that, she moved around them and left the kitchen. The Doctor's bewildered face was enough to send Rose in to peals of laughter, almost knocking her tea over in the process. He looked down at her pleadingly.

"She was really serious, wasn't she?"

"Well," Rose reasoned with a smile. "You did offer."

"In a last, desperate attempt to avoid getting a slap in the face, yes."

"I knew it!" Rose cackled, standing up and beginning to make for the door. The Doctor's face suddenly fell further and he put an arm out to stop her, blinking at her appealingly.

"You're staying here to help me, aren't you? You're not going off and leaving me to cook breakfast on my own in a strange environment with every risk of me burning the house down."

Rose screwed up her face in pretend thought. "Doctor, I have to get dressed. As Mum said, I can't exactly hang around in my dressing gown all day. You'll be fine! You've dealt with worse, haven'tcha?"

"Lord of Time, and your mother has me making breakfast on a Saturday morning. Where's the justice in that?"

She flashed him a mischievous grin.

"You'll get in her good books. She's easy enough to butter up with a nice fry-up. Besides, I think she likes you."

The Doctor couldn't help grinning. "Really?"

"Yeah. She doesn't usually let anyone near her kitchen," Rose laughed heading further to the door. "I'd hurry up if I were you, Doctor; breakfast won't cook itself!"

"You are getting seriously close to rubbery scrambled eggs, young lady," the Doctor scolded, raising an eyebrow and holding out a finger, "Go on then, go off and get dressed. Leave me here to fend for myself."

Rose laughed harder and didn't answer as she made her way up the stairs.

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes before turning back to the mess of the kitchen. He probably would have put up more of a fight if it hadn't been for the fact that he was trying to cheer Rose up. She was still upset about leaving Mickey behind, and he would do anything to keep her in a good mood, even face the wrath of Jackie Tyler if he had to. There were some things that Rose could only talk to her mother about, and her feelings in relation to Mickey were one of them.

So, if a little daunted at the thought of breakfast, he made his way to the fridge and pulled it open determinedly. Too late did he notice the precariously balanced dish of butter and he put a hand instinctively out to stop it. Catching the dish, he put it on the table before looking to his butter-covered hand with distaste.

"The equivalent of gone off milk," he muttered, his face twisted with unamused disgust at the yellow gunk smeared over his hand. "She is going to owe me."

I-----------------------------------------------------I

Breakfast hadn't been too bad; the Doctor had surprised Rose with his cooking talents, and the response had been admirable. The eggs were done to perfection, the sausages were tender and bursting with flavour, the bacon was crunchy and crisp yet not overdone, and the toast was fried so that it was moist yet crispy. Even Jackie had been impressed. The Doctor had reaped the praise gladly before ushering the two women into the living room with fresh cups of tea so that he could handle the washing up.

Jackie and Rose had had a real chat about Mickey and his travels in the TARDIS. She had spoken animatedly of Rose's friends and family and how much they missed her, and how everyone was keeping. Rose had avoided discussing what she and the Doctor would do next; it always brought up awkward questions and always left the unsaid point of whether Rose would be coming back, including whether or not her mum would see her again. It was never a situation either of them wanted to deal with.

Rose had, eventually, made the excuse of needing more tea and had found her way happily to the kitchen. She had had to pause in the doorframe smothering a laugh as she caught sight of the Doctor, observing him like a bird watcher to an eagle.

He was stood over the sink, bright pink marigolds and all, chucking water all over the floor as he scrubbed exaggeratedly at the dirty crockery. His jacket was hanging loosely over the back of one of the kitchen chairs and Rose swore he was humming, both loudly and badly, the theme to 'The Sound of Music'. He even gave a dramatic twirl to the music as it climaxed; however, at the sight of Rose in the doorway, he froze, mid-step, with his arms up in front of him and the rubber gloves dripping soapy water onto the floor and down his sleeves.

"It's not what it looks like," he said quickly, and Rose was surprised to see him actually blush. His face touched on the same colour as the gloves.

"Pink suits you," Rose replied cheekily through a grin. He gave her the sort of look a four year old gives their older sister when she's teasing him - tongue poking out of the mouth included - before turning back to the sink and plunging his hands into the warm water. He was very careful not to let any stray notes slip out of his mouth as Rose edged around him to reach for the kettle. She groaned to find that it was empty.

"I'll take that," the Doctor offered kindly, reaching over her and taking the kettle. He grinned at her while he did so and let their gazes lock as he fumbled with the tap, not precisely paying attention to what he was doing. As a result, the pressurised water that spurted out hit the kettle at an angle and sprayed the entire of the front of his shirt with cold water. He let out a shocked cry, turned the tap off and stared down at himself incredulously, feeling the water soak through to his chest.

Rose bit down on her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"Maybe I'd better do it," she sniggered, forcing the Doctor out of the way with her hip and filling up the kettle with ease. She placed it back on its holder and flicked the switch with an air of dramatised triumph; when she turned back to the Doctor, there was a grin on her face.

"I can't believe you did that," she laughed, her eyes darting to his chest with amusement.

He looked at her with mild annoyance before his face broke easily into a grin. Like a cheeky schoolboy, he flicked his gloved hands out towards Rose and she flinched as small droplets of water landed on her skin.

"Oi!" she protested, dipping her hand into the warm soapy water in the sink and firing a spurt of it towards him. He looked at her, his eyes holding hers in a flirtatious gaze, each hovering on the brink of mischief with hilarity in their eyes.

And then, before either of them knew it, they were wrestling with each other by the sink, water splashing everywhere and laughter filling the air. Rose put up a good fight against the Doctor and soaked him at least twice more before he managed to scoop up a mass in his hands and fire it all over the front of her shirt. She looked down, dripping, as her white top began to turn ever so slightly transparent: thank God she'd worn more than one layer. With a determined look in her eye she had shoved her hands to his lower chest and proceeded to find out if he was ticklish.

The laughter had soared up from the both of them and the Doctor gasped, squirming under her exquisitely accurate fingers, not expecting such an attack. His eyes narrowed with mock fury and he forced Rose back against the counter so she couldn't reach any more water – but her hand was still within reach of the sink and she fired a good lot of it right into his face. He blinked for a moment and grinned down at her stupidly, the entire right side of his face dripping with warm water. He then sandwiched her with his hips into the corner where two counters met, before extending a long arm across her and scooping up a quantity of soapy water in a large measuring jug. The both of them were in fits of hysterical giggles as Rose - rather half-heartedly - hit him in the chest to beat him away from her. She shrieked when she spotted the water jug, but this merely spurred him on. The Doctor's eyes gleamed mischievously as he teetered the jug threateningly above her head.

"Say I'm a good friend," he choked through laughter as Rose plunged her hands to his ticklish chest again. The measuring jug wobbled dangerously as he closed his eyes and bit down on his lip, fighting back the unbidden laughter creeping almost painfully through his chest. However, seemingly an expert at this sort of thing, he managed to keep her firmly wedged between the counter and himself nonetheless.

"No!" she giggled, her feet slipping on the soaked linoleum floor.

"Say –I'm – a – good – friend," the Doctor repeated with glee, his voice broken with penetrating laughter as Rose's hands scaled his soaked shirt. "Unless you want this over your head. Say, 'Doctor, you are the best friend I've ever had and you make the best breakfast in the world'. No, wait, make that the universe. It's really rather easy to beat you lot down here: you don't put any effort into – "

"ROSE MARION TYLER!" the voice of Jackie stormed angrily from the doorway. "What the hell have you done to my kitchen!"

The colour in the Doctor's face dropped like a waterfall and he leapt away from Rose as if he'd been stung. He hastily put the jug of water down innocently on the table before looking up into the face of a very annoyed mother. But, for the moment, she had eyes only for her daughter.

"I thought you came out here to make tea, not flirt with the kitchen staff!"

The Doctor put a hand out to protest that, first of all, it wasn't flirting and that second, he was not 'staff'. But the glowering look wavering from Jackie towards him was enough to send him recoiling and he shut his mouth hastily. Her eyes swung back to her daughter.

"Well? What have you got to say for yourself?" she demanded testily.

A somewhat guilty silence hung in the air like a thundercloud as Rose and the Doctor exchanged a pained look. In the silence that followed, a deep, rumbling sound filled the room, shortly followed by a hollow 'click'.

"Kettle's boiled," Rose said hopefully, casting a glance back to her mother with a pleading look. However, her mother was having none of it.

"I'll give you kettle's boiled," Jackie hissed, her eyes narrowing. "What's goin' on? Look at you; you're soaked!"

"He started it," Rose mumbled sulkily, peeling herself away from the sopping surface. The Doctor turned to look at her incredulously, in sheer disbelief that Rose had just landed him in it.

"I did no such thing!" he defended hotly. Rose made to protest, but was cut off by her mother.

"I don't care who started it, I'm finishing it!" Jackie cried loudly, letting her hands rest back to the their familiar position on her hips. "Look at this mess! It'll take me a lifetime to clear up all that water. And as for the racket you two were making; half the bloody street could hear you! And you!"

She rounded on the Doctor waving a finger ferociously at him. Her expression was livid and he flinched.

"You should know better than to go running around with girls her age. Lord knows I don't want to hear what you get up in that ship of yours - it's none of my business. But under my roof, it's my rules, and we'll have none of that, thank you very much! The neighbours will talk!"

The Doctor gaped at her, not quite being able to believe what Jackie had just said (or, at the very least, implied). He put out a hand calmingly towards her.

"Look, Jackie, if you'll just let me explain - "

"That's Mrs Tyler to you," she hissed with venom.

At this, Rose finally found her voice again and stepped bravely towards her mother.

"Mum, it's all right. The Doctor didn't mean anything by it, honestly. That's not the kind of friendship we have."

"Or will ever have," he added earnestly, and his eyebrows rose meaningfully.

He blinked slowly at Rose's mother and when he spoke, his voice had lost all the laughter that had stolen it before.

"Rose is right. We don't have that kind of a relationship, and I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say it. Any intentions I have towards your daughter are entirely honourable, Ja- er, Mrs Tyler. You have no need to worry about us overstepping the boundaries: we just don't care about each other like that."

At a look from the Doctor, Rose nodded earnestly; but it faded rather quickly when he turned back to her Mum.

"Could have fooled me," Jackie snapped huffily, her eyes narrowing further. "And just what am I supposed to do about my kitchen?"

The Doctor looked around and could see what she meant; he had only managed to wash up half of the cookery things. The rest was still sprawled messily around the various surfaces. There was water absolutely everywhere, on both the floor and counters and the Doctor, with some embarrassment, realised he was still wearing the bright pink fuchsia rubber gloves. He must look quite ridiculous, even for his standards.

"I'll sort this out," he offered a little weakly, wondering how long he could possibly spend in one person's kitchen before going insane.

"No you won't," Jackie corrected with an exasperated sigh, her hands on her hips. "You've been in here enough already. I don't think my kitchen could take another second of your 'help'. Go on; push off outta here, the both of you. I know there's places you'd rather be than stuck here with your old Mum."

This last comment was directed to Rose and there was a fondness in her voice that showed she both understood they needed to leave and that she was upset - but not heart broken – at the idea of Rose going.

The Doctor cleared his throat and pulled the gloves off, putting them back by the sink. He then picked up his coat and draped it loosely over his arms, giving Jackie an appreciative nod.

"Thanks for everything, Mrs Tyler," he smiled before edging out of the room. "And sorry about the mess."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't expect a huge welcome with open arms when you come back. And that's Jackie, by the way," she called after him with a smile. Then she turned her gaze back to her daughter as he disappeared into the living room.

"C'm'ere sweetheart," she said fondly, holding her arms wide.

Rose smiled and stepped forward to hug her mother, feeling a fresh wave of tears dawn on her. She never really liked saying goodbye, because there was always the tiniest of chances that it may be the last time. Just like Mickey; that had been really sudden and even though she had got to say goodbye, the thought of him would always pull on the strings of her heart.

"That Doctor, he's treating you right, isn't he?" Jackie asked with slight worry, tucking her daughter's hair fondly behind her ear.

"Yeah, Mum," Rose half-laughed, half-sniffed. "He's the best."

"And he's not... pressuring you in to anything you don't want to do? An' I'm not just talking about the planets and that." Jackie raised a knowing eyebrow to her daughter as she spoke.

"No, Mum," Rose almost laughed. "He isn't like that. He's very worried that I'm happy and comfortable and not feeling too homesick. He's good like that."

"Good," Jackie purred happily. But then she considered her daughter in her arms for a moment, and the smile subsided. "You don't seem too happy 'bout that?"

"Nah, it's nothing," Rose shrugged a little sadly. "I mean, he says he doesn't want anything like that. And that's fine. It's just... I don't mind all this hopping about between worlds and time. Love it, really. But with the Doctor, you kind of have to take what you can get, because once he decides you're out of there, that's it, y'know? So it's just sort of... sad... knowing that he'll never..."

She trailed off, feeling that she had probably said too much already. She couldn't even begin to voice her fears surrounding the Doctor, least of all to her mother.

Jackie sighed and looked at her daughter with all the care of a mother in the world.

"He likes you, Rose," she said wisely. "He thinks the world of you: even your batty old Mum can see that. Don't give up on him, love."

Rose gave a weak smile.

"Couldn't give up on him if I wanted to," she replied, and knew that her mother understood she was talking about loving him too much to be able to give him up.

"All right then, sweetheart."

They shared a last hug, and then Rose disappeared around the corner into the living room. The Doctor was standing with his back to the room, gazing out of the front window. Even though she made no noise, he still knew she was there and turned to see her walk in.

"All set?" he asked casually, though the question was heavily weighted. He would not be telling Rose any time soon that his finely tuned ears had heard every word of her and her mother's conversation. He rather wanted to keep his limbs in tact - they could be quite useful at times.

"Yeah," Rose nodded and stuck her head briefly out of the living room door. "We're heading off now, Mum!"

The two of them walked down the hall towards the front door, the Doctor resting his hand lightly on the small of Rose's back with reassurance rather than pressure.

Jackie gave her daughter a quick peck on the cheek, and then pulled her in to another hug.

"Goodbye love," she whispered warmly. "And don't you be waiting too long until your next visit."

"I won't," Rose promised, though how she could guarantee it she didn't know. Absolutely anything could happen once you stepped into the TARDIS, and the Doctor wasn't famous for his amazing timing.

"See you then, Jackie," the Doctor chirped happily, flicking the latch back on the front door and pulling it open. "Are you sure you won't walk with us to the TARDIS?"

"Well, that's very kind of you Doctor, but no, I don't think so. I'm in the middle of a really good goss book at the moment; you wouldn't believe some of the stuff that Robbie gets up to! And anyway, the pages won't read themselves."

The Doctor's face broke in to an expansive grin. "You've just given me a great idea for our next visit!" he said brightly, before looking to Rose. "You just wait; you'll love it there, I promise. The views are fantastic."

She smiled up to him and the Doctor pretended not to notice that it didn't reach her eyes.

"Just bring her back in one piece," Jackie warned with severity. "You know I can put you through hell if you hurt her."

"It isn't possible. I'd sooner eat the globulous ooze of a carnivorous Whorr than hurt your daughter."

Jackie, though thoroughly disgusted - and, frankly, a little disturbed - by the thought, was touched by the sentiment.

"You'd best be off," she laughed. "Otherwise I'll never get rid of you, and that kitchen won't get done 'til tomorrow."

Last farewells out of the way, the Doctor and Rose left the flat, the door clicking shut quietly behind them. They walked down the few steps to the ground floor and pavement outside, before treading their way to the TARDIS. The Doctor had had the sense to shift it from their original landing spot at the beginning of their stay, stating quite sensibly that it could hardly stay in Jackie's living room for its duration.

"I think she's a bit sad at not seeing Mickey again," Rose said quietly after a while, breaking into the Doctor's pensive thoughts. The Doctor, before he answered, sneezed.

"Bless you," Rose laughed. "You must be hay-feverish. Imagine that: never thought you were really affected by that sort of stuff."

"Shows I spend too much time here," the Doctor teased, falling into a steady rhythm with his feet. "And I'm sure your Mum will miss Mickey. We all will."

"Yeah," Rose said quietly. They hadn't had much of a chance to talk about it with each other, but somehow now didn't seem the right time. He turned to look at her carefully as they rounded a corner.

"I will too, you know."

"What?"

"Miss him. Probably not as much as you, but he was certainly useful to have around. And he could make me laugh. Sometimes."

Rose smiled, touched by the Doctor's effort. She carefully slid her hand into his, their fingers intertwining like the roots of a flower. They walked on in silence for a while, each surrounded by their own thoughts but perfectly content to exist by each other's side.

"I never said it, y'know," Rose sighed at length as they walked into the large alley where the TARDIS was parked.

"Said what?" the Doctor questioned idly. She stopped walking, and consequently, the Doctor did too. He looked down to her, his rakish grin spelling 'trouble' all over his face.

Rose hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Doctor. You are the best friend I've ever had and you make the best breakfast in the world."

His grin widened, becoming more intense, and he let his hand tighten softly around hers.

"Universe," he corrected good-naturedly.

"All right," Rose laughed in agreement. "Best breakfast in the universe."

"Well, that's only because I haven't taken you to the restaurant at the end of the universe," the Doctor beamed cheerfully, continuing their walk to the TARDIS. "They have the best food you will ever eat out there. Your taste buds will love you forever. Though, the head chef did learn most of what he knows from me. Nice fellow. Bit dim, though. Could do with a haircut."

"What are you talking about?" Rose laughed as he leant against the frame of the blue police box, making no attempt go in.

"You'll see. Maybe I'll take you there some time."

"Oh... got somewhere else in mind, have you Doctor?"

He grinned down at the young, inquisitive woman by his side.

"Rose Tyler: what do you say to the best adventure of your life?"

She looked up to him, his smile reflected pleasantly across her face.

"That depends," she smirked. "Are you gonna have a shower first? You stink of bacon and fried bread."

She barely even felt the hand that pushed her laughingly into the TARDIS as a response.

Next Chapter...

Chapter II - Language and Literature

"Anyway..." he chirped brightly, bouncing on his feet and shoving his hands in his pocket again. Then he looked at Rose in a slightly flirtatious way, his brown eyes blinking at her appealingly. "You sure that's the one you want? Sure you're sure? Surey McSure-sure?"

"Doctor!" Rose snapped irritably, shutting the book. But then she smiled at him calmly. "I'm sure."

"Good!" he beamed, snatching her hand and pulling her away from the library with surprising strength. His eyes adopted a darkened excitement about them and he didn't turn back to look at her when he next spoke. "Because it's now when the fun really starts."