Rose Tyler wanted more than anything to spend Christmas with her mother, especially after being missing for a year due to The Doctor's bad timing. When he comes back, he's changed and Rose thinks he and Jack are playing a joke on her. Will she finally accept that he's changed just for her?
Rose Tyler wanted more than anything to spend Christmas with her mother, especially after being missing for a year due to The Doctor's bad timing. When he comes back, he's changed and Rose thinks he and Jack are playing a joke on her. Will she finally accept that he's changed just for her?
He drops her off and says he'll see her later but not being able to resist, he goes off with Jack but they are transmatted to the Games Station and are forced to take part in live game shows.
Chapter 1
Rose, Jack and The Doctor were just returning from dropping off Margaret Slitheen, who had been reduced to an egg, Rose saying she was looking forward to spending Christmas as home this year, since she'd been done out of it last time.
"I made it up to you," The Doctor was insisting as he was checking some switches, Rose dying to smack his hands away and telling him to leave them alone.
"Every time ya flip those switches, something goes wrong," she chastised him instead, Jack grinning at the two of them.
"Not every time," The Doctor sulked.
"Aw, do you two want to be alone?" Jack grinned as he was leaning on one of the struts.
"Shut up," both Rose and The Doctor told him. "Fine, you want to go home then?" he asked her.
"It would be nice," Rose replied. "You two don't have to come if ya don't want."
"I expect your mother will be serving nut cutlet?" The Doctor asked.
Rose would have thrown something, had an object been in easy reach of where she was sitting.
"Don't worry about us Rosie," Jack assured her. "You go off and enjoy your traditions."
"I'll be thinking about ya both," Rose grinned from the pilot's seat. "I'll go pack then, shame this ship doesn't have a laundry."
"It does, when she doesn't hide it somewhere," The Doctor replied. "Ask her nicely next time."
"It would have come in useful, my mum thinks that's all I do go home for," Rose told him as she got up. "So, come back on the 27th then?"
"Sure, if I'm still around," Jack replied.
"Why, where are ya going?" Rose wanted to know.
"Here and there," Jack grinned then saw the look of concern on her face. "Okay, I'll stay and say goodbye."
"Good and as for you Doctor," Rose started to warn him. "The 27th, on the dot."
"This isn't a taxi service you can just reserve you know?" he insisted.
"He's just messing with you," Jack assured her. "I'll make sure he comes back."
Rose went off and the Doctor turned to Jack.
"I would have come back for her," he insisted, feeling a bit put out.
"Sure Doc," Jack laughed as The Doctor let go of a lever.
He hated being called that and Jack knew it. Suddenly, the ship jerked as they landed outside Rose's block of flats. Rose knew that was her cue to depart, before she changed her mind. She knew she couldn't just desert her mother again, not that her mother now remembered her actually being missing, it had suddenly faded away.
She put her rucksack on her shoulder, picked up a smaller bag and made her way to the console room.
"Bye Jack, see ya later," Rose went to give him a hug.
"Have a good time," Jack told her.
"Hey, what about me?" The Doctor felt left out.
Rose was sure he didn't go in for hugging all that much but went towards him anyway. He held his hand out instead.
"See ya later Doctor," Rose still tried to hug him.
Deep down, she was sure he didn't think he was good enough for her but he was. They hadn't travelled together all that long but she trusted him. She picked up her things and both of them followed her to the door.
"Hey. We've landed in the right place and time?" Rose joked.
"I thought you trusted me?" the Doctor asked indignantly.
Jack opened the door for her and she stepped out, disappointed it wasn't snowing but she wasn't even certain it was the right time of year yet. She let herself into the block of flats, hearing the sound of the Tardis behind her. She just caught the last swirls of dust as the ship disappeared, knowing the two men wouldn't have been able to resist going off somewhere while they waited for her to return.
Jack was sat watching, The Doctor trying to ignore him.
"Admit it, you'll miss her," Jack teased him.
"I might do, so what?" The Doctor replied.
"She grows on you," Jack laughed. "So, where are we going?"
"I'll put the ship on 'Random' shall I?" he suggested.
He reached for a lever but the ship suddenly pitched and Jack was trying to hold on.
"Hey, what did you do?" he wanted to know.
"Nothing to do with me," The Doctor objected as he checked some switches.
"Rose was right, something always happens when you touch those," Jack told him.
The next thing he remembered was waking up on an examination couch with two droids looking over him.
"Hey, where am I? I was with The Doctor," Jack called out as he sat up and he saw two slightly familiar other androids.
"Where did you get those clothes?" one of them asked him.
"What? These old things?" Jack grinned as he got up. "A little shop in Cardiff."
"They're so old fashioned," the other android told him, standing in front of a machine. "Let's use the defabricator on him."
"What does that thing do?" Jack looked worried.
He soon found out as the clothes he was wearing started to disintegrate. Then he noticed the TV cameras.
"Are we live on TV?" he grinned. "How many channels? Ladies, your viewing figures are about to go up."
The Doctor woke up, lying on a red sofa, a young woman looking over him.
"Steady," she advised him. "It's the transmat, I was sick for days."
"That's not fair, bringing someone in where there's going to be an eviction," another voice spoke up.
"Where am I?" The Doctor asked. "No, don't tell me, I'm not on that stupid programme?"
"Don't call it that or you'll be the one to be evicted," the young woman warned him. "I'm Lynda, with a 'Y'."
"Nice to meet you, Lynda with a 'Y', I'm The Doctor, I think," he grinned as he got up slowly.
"Will all the contestants gather on the sofa," a familiar voice ordered them.
He was pulled back down as the others crammed in the small space. He watched with interest as the loser was announced and they got ready for her departure.
"What's the fuss?" he then asked, picking up a magazine. "She'll be even more famous on the outside."
"Stop it," he was told. "You know what happens when someone leaves."
He tried to ignore what was going on but something didn't seem right to him. Where had Jack got to and how had he got into this setting? He knew the programme, Rose had kept going on about it but why had he been deposited here?
He was horrified as the contestant disappeared in front of him and he was on his feet in no time, feeling for his sonic screwdriver, which was thankfully still in his jacket pocket.
"What's that thing?" he was asked as he was scanning his surroundings.
"There must be a way out," he told the others as the door failed to open.
"It's all be deadlocked sealed, since the contestants tried to escape a while back," Lynda told him.
"I'm here for a reason," The Doctor insisted. "Why do you all just stand there and disintegrate?"
He didn't wait for an answer as he picked something up to get attention.
"Don't do that," he was warned.
"Oh, someone wants me alive, trust me," he insisted and the door suddenly opened. "Who's coming with me?"
"We can't, they'll be trouble," he was told by the young man and woman clinging to each other and Lynda was debating.
"I can save you all," The Doctor insisted.
"I'll go, might as well," Lynda agreed.
Before they knew it, they were standing in a large space and he knew exactly where he was.
"Satellite Five," he declared as large numbers were painted on the walls.
"No-one's called it that for a hundred years," Lynda told him.
Suddenly, The Doctor saw a familiar figure.
"Doctor! You won't believe where I've just been!" Jack told him. "Two droids just tried to carve me up."
"They must have had a reason," The Doctor told him. "This is Lynda."
"Well hello there Lynda," Jack put on his best smile and took her hand.
The Doctor just raised his eyebrows and tried to open the lift doors.
"Stop flirting," he told Jack.
"I don't mind," Lynda insisted.
"Jack, go see how many more are on this floor and get them out," The Doctor suggested.
"Where are you going?" Jack asked him.
"To find out who's in charge here," he looked directly at a camera.
So much was going on at one time but Jack got on with what he was doing then went to find The Doctor.
"Thought I left you in charge down there?" he asked Jack as he held two bits of wire together in one hand and his sonic screwdriver in the other.
"Are you actually doing something?" Jack questioned him. "So have you figured out where the Daleks will enter?"
"So they're really in charge here?" Lynda asked from where she was sitting on a box. "Can I help Doctor?"
She was obviously still freaked out after Jack had used her for his little demonstration, The Doctor thought. Rose would probably have been more suitable for it, at least she knew about the Daleks but Rose was back on Earth, the present day.
"Is it important?" Lynda asked as she agreed to what he'd asked her to do.
"I need to know where they are," The Doctor told her, checking some more wires. "Jack's going to be busy fending them off and I have to make sure my plan will work."
He knew he had no chance whatsoever of getting everything ready before the place was overrun with Daleks but he had to at least try. Why had he gone off and promised Rose they'd both be back for her? Now, she would think they'd both deserted her and she wouldn't even wait to see if they did come back.
"Doctor!" a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Tell them the truth, that your plan will not work."
"Yes it will," The Doctor bluffed. "Take no notice," he urged Lynda and Jack.
Then, he heard the most awful sound of gunfire and Dalek weaponry from below, followed by the sound of screaming and he knew whoever Jack had encouraged to fight back had failed.
"What was that?" Lynda sounded worried.
"Nothing, concentrate," she was encouraged.
"Tell her the truth, Doctor," the emperor of the Daleks told him.
"You're safe down there, it's heavily shielded," The Doctor assured her.
"I hope so," Lynda replied as she watched the screen of where the Daleks currently were.
Then, she looked away and came face to face with a lone Dalek looking through the glass at her.
"They found me," she stated calmly.
"Don't worry, that glass will hold," she was promised.
He didn't see the look of horror on her face as the Dalek aimed at the glass and it shattered. He did hear her scream though. So did Jack. He thanked all that he knew that Rose was safe back in her own time.
Meanwhile, things were going to plan as Rose and her mother prepared Christmas dinner for the following day.
"Call Mickey and remind him what time to get himself here," Jackie was telling Rose. "Or are ya going out with him later?"
Rose had been glad to discover it was Christmas Eve when she had got home and they had done some last minute shopping and decorated the tree.
"I can't face going out with him Mum," Rose admitted as she pulled the leaves off the sprouts.
Why was she doing it when she didn't even like them, she asked herself as she put another one in a pan of water.
"Well come down the pub with me then?" Jackie suggested, wiping her hands. "We can't do much else tonight, I'll put the turkey in the oven when we get back, then put the trimmings in with it."
"I wonder what Jack and the Doctor are doing?" Rose mused. "Probably sneaked off somewhere else where it's Christmas."
"Forget about them sweetheart," Jackie urged her. "They chose to go off and although I don't like that man, he brought you back for the holidays, at the right time as well."
"I suppose so Mum?" Rose had to admit. "I'll go get changed then we'll walk down to the pub. I expect everyone will be rowdy by now."
Jackie let it go as Rose insulted her friends.
"Someone might be sober enough to give us a ride home," she laughed.
"Not a repeat of last New Year's Eve I hope?" Rose replied. "Did I tell ya about that weird bloke in the shadows?"
"Yeah, ya should be more careful who ya talk to," Jackie just laughed. "Well I suppose it was just someone on their way home who fell down and was too embarrassed when they woke up?"
"You're probably right Mum," Rose had to agree now she thought about it but what had made her remember all of a sudden?
"We should have got a new tree Rose," Jackie then remarked, messing with some red baubles.
"Why? Do ya want one that spins or something?" Rose laughed.
"Very funny," Jackie replied as she let go. "It might chase us or something."
"Now who's being funny?" Rose asked. "Hurry up Mum or we won't get a seat and I'm not standing up all night while the blokes sit there drinking and not offering to let us sit down."
"They're all the same," Jackie agreed. "I hope it don't snow while we're in there."
"We walked home in the snow last new year," Rose recalled. "What's the weather forecast anyway?"
"I never took any notice, they were going on about this satellite on it's way to Mars or somewhere so I turned it off," Jackie admitted.
"Another one?" Rose asked her. "Hey that was Harriet Jones talking about it."
"Yeah, she's the new prime minister ya know?" Jackie asked her. "No-one believes me that ya know her."
"Best leave that Mum," Rose suggested. "It's just another probe and a waste of money, The Doctor told me no-one lives on Mars any more so I don't know what they expect to find. Hey, they'd better not attract attention and we get invaded!" she laughed.
"As long as himself's left the planet, we'll probably be safe enough," Jackie replied as she went off.
"It's not fair, blamin' him for everything," Rose told her.
"He's like a magnet Rose," Jackie remarked. "I still blame him for that green thing exploding in Mickey's kitchen, I bet he still can't get that stuff off the walls."
"Mum, it won't make any difference to the mess in his kitchen," Rose replied dryly. "Well hurry up and get changed then."
"You have some room to talk," her mother laughed.
A few hours later, they were laughing and joking with their friends and relatives, Rose stopping to think about Jack and The Doctor now and then but trying to enjoy herself. Jackie noticed she looked distant from time to time. She had to admit that now Rose had got the taste for time travelling, there wouldn't be much to keep her at home.
"Wondering what they're doin'?" she asked Rose when they went to the ladies room.
"I can't help it Mum," Rose admitted. "He'd just better come back for me."
"He wouldn't dare forget ya," her mother joked.
Rose hoped she was right. As usual, they ended up walking home but at least it remained dry but cold. Rose wearily climbed into bed, wishing she'd heard the sound of the Tardis returning but it remained quiet. She thought maybe they'd change their minds and turn up at some point tomorrow.
The Doctor was holding the last of the wires together just as his enemy was taunting him again, this time in front of him.
"I mean it," The Doctor warned the emperor of the Daleks.
"Are you killer or coward?" he was asked, hoping Jack would turn up and whisk him away in the Tardis but unless Jack crept in without being seen, he doubted it.
Jack had run out of ammunition and was using a handgun, then remembered he was wearing his Vortex Manipulator so he ducked around a corner and quickly adjusted the co-ordinates to lock onto the Tardis, which he'd been working on.
He landed inside and rushed to the door.
"Doctor!" he called out. "Do it now, I got you covered," Jack shouted.
"You are a coward," the emperor told him.
"No, I'm a survivor," The Doctor replied, hoping the wires were long enough to reach the ship as he stepped backwards, Jack ready to grab him.
Before he knew it, there was a flash in front of him, then he was lying on the ship's grating and Jack had put the Tardis in flight.
"Still with me then?" Jack laughed, stepping away from the console. "I set the flight plan for Earth, when we left Rose. You're glowing by the way."
"Not surprising, considering," The Doctor grinned, feeling something was happening. "No, step back," he urged Jack as he tried to help him up. "I'm about to regenerate."
"Yeah, I gathered that Doc," Jack replied. "I heard Timelords do that, a way of cheating death. The question is, what are you regenerating in to?"
The Doctor was now stumbling towards the centre console, then held out his arms as the force took hold.
"Tell Rose," he started to tell Jack. "Tell her she was great."
"You can tell her yourself, stop talking like that," Jack shrugged his shoulders.
"So were you," The Doctor added as he burst into a bright light.
Jack wasn't quite prepared for what emerged when things settled down.
"Well, that's weird," the new Doctor declared as he stood in the same clothes as the previous version of himself. "New teeth," he then stated, rolling his tongue over them.
Then he noticed his clothes were two sizes too big for him.
"Oh. I'm smaller as well," he admitted. "Something happened?"
"You don't remember?" Jack managed to ask him.
"Not really, no. My voice changed as well," the new Doctor realised.
"Have you finished making a list?" Jack then wanted to know. "You need to land this thing."
"Things are a bit fuzzy," he was told as the new Doctor took stock of himself, which amused Jack.
"Well, what do we do, crash land?" Jack asked him. "You had better start remembering who you are."
The new Doctor tightened the belt he was wearing.
"What am I?" he dared asked "Oh, wait a minute."
Jack saw they were running out of time as the Tardis gave a warning sound and a big red circle around an area on the screen.
"Get over here – now!" he shouted to the still confused new Doctor. "It had better come back to you and soon.
The new Doctor stood for a moment and suddenly snapped out of it, bounding up to join Jack.
"No need to shout," The Doctor then grinned as he pulled some switches and pushed a lever, making the ship bounce off a nearby corner of a wall, narrowly missing a post box and skidded into a corner by some large bins.
"Great landing Doc," Jack remarked as he got up off the floor.
"You wanted a landing, don't complain," he was told as The Doctor put the handbrake on.
Upstairs in the Tyler flat, Rose heard a familiar noise and threw down a tea cloth on the kitchen counter.
"Rose, where are ya goin'?" her mother asked her as she dashed out of the kitchen.
"Didn't ya hear it?" Rose asked her. "He's back," she added as she ran to the door.
"Just what I needed," Jackie muttered as she followed. "Why am I interested?"
"Because that didn't sound like the Tardis landing normally, that's why," Rose shouted behind her.
She leaned over the balcony, seeing the ship by some loose bin bags in a corner and a chunk of brickwork missing from a wall.
"Well his drivin's a bit off," Jackie had to agree. "So, where is he then? Is that Jack still with him?"
"Stop it Mum," Rose chortled. "Are ya coming?"
"He'll be out and just as annoying as he was before he went off," Jackie scoffed.
"Well no-one's come out yet and that landing was a bit over the top even for him," Rose replied. "Stay here then."
"Well as long as there's no more of those green bog monsters," Jackie agreed as she closed the door after making sure she had her key.
Rose shook her head and went off to the stairs, her mother behind her. Jack had picked himself up and was watching the monitor.
"So who's gonna explain this to Rose?" he wanted to know.
"Rose? What about her?" The Doctor asked him.
"Rose, young, blonde?" Jack reminded him.
"Wasn't she with us?"
"We dropped her off, remember? She wanted to stay for Christmas," Jack grinned as he headed for the door after seeing Rose and her mother come out of the block of flats. "She wasn't with us back on the games station."
"Oh. Now I remember. I didn't blow it up did I?" The Doctor asked.
"I was too busy rescuing you," Jack told him. "Are you staying there?"
The Doctor stayed where he was, just in case Rose objected to him changing his appearance. He'd still not looked yet to see how it had turned out. Sometimes, well most times, he was disagreeable, especially his sixth and his last one but he felt different this time.
He knew Rose had to choose if she wanted to stay with him or not, he couldn't force her to go. Jack had opened the door and Rose had approached it, just as Mickey joined them.
"You heard it as well?" Rose asked him.
"Who could miss it?" Mickey wanted to know.
"Well if it isn't Mickey Mouse?" Jack's voice came from inside as one door creaked open.
"Jack!" Rose greeted him. "You two are a bit early, it's still Christmas Day here."
"Yeah, well. You'd better prepare yourself Rosie," Jack warned her. "There's been a few things going on while we were gone."
"Whatcha mean?" Rose was puzzled. "Where is he?"
She pushed past him and peered inside, seeing the giveaway leather jacket sleeve behind the centre column.
"Doctor?" she asked quietly, wondering why he was hiding.
He thought it was now or never. She would either ask questions or run back home when she saw him. So he popped his head around the large column and hoped for the best.
"There you are," he greeted her.
"Who the hell are you?" she wanted to know as she stepped backwards and almost collided with Mickey.
"Tell Rose I'll see her around," Jack was talking to Jackie, who refused to go inside the alien ship.
"Why, where are ya going?" Jackie asked him.
"No idea, she'll find me, if she wants," Jack replied.
"What did ya mean by a few changes?"
Before she could stop him, he went off so she just stared after him, hoping Rose didn't ask too many questions.
"Where's The Doctor? Are you one of Jack's friends playin' tricks on me?" Rose challenged him.
"No Rose, it's me, The Doctor," he tried to assure her as he stepped out, after tightening the belt as far as it would go.
"You nicked his clothes as well," Rose told him. "Mickey, do somethin'."
"Like what?" Mickey replied. "Like she said, who are ya?"
"I might have known Mickey the idiot would come with you," The Doctor told Rose. "It's me, honestly. Had a bit of a run-in with some Daleks, then I changed, I regenerated. It's this trick that Timelords have, a way of cheating death."
"I don't believe you, bring the other Doctor out, wherever ya have him stashed," Rose replied, standing her ground.
"Rose, I am literally him, why don't you believe me?" he asked her. "Okay, in that department store basement, what did I say to you?"
"You're supposed to be him, you tell me," Rose challenged him.
"Fine. I asked your name and told you to run," he replied, hoping he'd convinced her.
Rose clasped her hands over her mouth.
"He could've told Jack that, to tell you," she still wasn't convinced.
"Blimey, what do I have to do to convince you?" The Doctor wanted to know, rubbing his hands over his face. "Have I got two heads or something?"
"She's right, Captain Cheesecake could've put you up to this," Mickey agreed.
"Where's Jackie? She'll believe me," The Doctor decided.
"Huh, you're joking," Rose replied more confidently. "Okay, I'll go for it, if ya answer another question 'cos it's almost time to eat and mum left pans on the stove and Jack won't know the answer to this."
"Fine, anything you want," The Doctor agreed, thinking he must look a mess.
He was also dying to find out how he looked this time. Last time, he hadn't really known until he'd looked in Rose's mirror.
"Right, if you're The Doctor, why did you come back for me when I said no to going with ya?"
"Do I have to answer in front of Mickey?" the Doctor asked. He saw the look on Rose's face that said what did he think? "I never go back for anyone, well not until I met you."
He went up to her, making Rose flinch as he whispered in her ear.
"Doctor," was all she could think of saying.
"It really is me Rose," he finally convinced her.
"Yeah, sorry. I get that now," she apologised. "Don't know about convincing my mum out there though."
"Ah, yes," the new Doctor agreed as Mickey just stared at them.
"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" a puzzled Mickey asked.
"Not now Mickey," they both told him at once after they hugged.
Mickey thought he might have known. The Doctor had indeed changed and then some. Now, he'd never get Rose back.
"Come on Doctor, ya have to face my mum yet," Rose reminded him.
Mickey went out first as Rose took The Doctor's hand.
"Where's Rose?" Jackie asked him as he emerged. "What's going on?"
"Where's Jack?" Mickey asked her before she could say anything else.
"He went off, he never said where," Jackie replied. "What was he goin' on about changes?"
"You'd better ask Rose," Mickey told her.
The Doctor had stopped in the doorway.
"I think I'd best get changed first, don't you?" he grinned at Rose.
"Well yeah, ya do look a bit odd," Rose admitted. "So this regeneration, how does it work then?"
"Like I said, it's a way of cheating death, we regenerate instead but we never know how we're going to end up looking. What do I look like then? Am I ginger?"
"No, just brown," Rose revealed, reaching up to his hair. "Ya've got more of it though."
"Well that's good to know. I'll join you later then?"
"You'd better," Rose told him.
"What the hell is going on?" Jackie wanted to know when they emerged. "Who's this?"
"Mum, it's the Doctor, he's changed," Rose began to explain.
"The Doctor?" Jackie gasped. "Doctor who?"
"It's me Jackie," he tried to convince her. "Rose, I'll catch up with you."
"You two have some explaining to do," Jackie warned them. "Don't think either of you'll get out of it."
"Leave him Mum, he convinced me it was him, something happened to him."
The Doctor had gone off to the Tardis wardrobe and was going through the rails. He smiled to himself as he remembered several questionable outfits but something made him pick up a brown pinstripe suit, a white shirt and a brown patterned tie. To finish off, he chose a pair of off-white Converse shoes and got dressed, staring at himself in the mirror. He felt quite pleased that however this look had surfaced, Rose seemed to like it.
Up in the Tyler flat, Christmas dinner was finally ready and they were busy carrying everything into the living room. They had laid an extra place for their unexpected guest and Mickey had gone off to get changed.
"We should've got a new tree Rose," Jackie declared as she started at the one in the corner.
"Mum, it's fine," Rose assured her as she placed some Christmas crackers by each place setting on the table. "What do ya want, one that spins around and plays Jingle Bells?"
"Don't be daft," Jackie replied as the doorbell went and Mickey walked in. "How many times do I have to tell ya about walkin' in?" she reminded him.
Mickey just huffed and went to sit at the table, Rose tapping his hand as he tried to take a piece of turkey already cut.
"We wait for The Doctor," she chastised him.
"Since when did he have to turn into a pretty boy?" Mickey complained. "That's it, you won't stay now, will you?"
She stood behind him and put her arms around him.
"I have to go Mickey," she told him. "You should see it out there."
Jackie had joined them so Rose had no choice but to start serving the food but she had just started when the door suddenly opened and everyone turned towards it.
"Did you miss me?" The Doctor grinned.
They tucked into their food as Rose piled everything onto his plate, since he looked like he'd lost a lot of weight. When they had finished, Rose picked up the Christmas cracker from in front of her and offered the other end to him. He won and offered the pink paper hat to her.
"Pink, aw, it should have been yours Mum," Rose laughed as she put it on.
Just then, the phone rang and Jackie got up.
"You lot, it's snowing, get your coats," she called over her shoulder.
Once downstairs, people were scooping up the little snow there was on the ground and throwing it at each other, Rose getting caught with some of it. The Doctor was watching her carefully, she would surely want to stay now and be normal.
Mickey was talking to Jackie about Rose going off again.
"I'm telling you Jackie, she won't stay now," he was saying.
"Yeah? I don't know Mickey, maybe now he's changed?" she wondered.
"Are you kidding?" Mickey asked her.
The Doctor was debating how to ask Rose if she was going with him or not.
"So, what now Doctor?" Rose broke the silence.
"Oh, you know, same old life," he grinned.
"On your own?" Rose wanted to know.
"Well, don't you want to come with me?" he asked her.
"Well, I thought 'cos you'd changed, ya wouldn't want me to?" she asked nervously.
"I'd love you to come," he assured her. "Only I thought because I'd changed, you wouldn't want to?"
"Then where are we going first?" she wanted to know, taking the hand he was offering her.
"Well I think you're both daft," Jackie told them.
"Ah but it's all out there Jackie," The Doctor told her. "I've not seen it with these eyes."
"Well, where are we going?" Rose asked him again.
Still holding her hand, he pointed to a group of stars.
"How about there?" he replied, glancing at her with a smile. "No, wait. How about there?" he decided, pointing in the other direction.
"Why not both?" Rose replied, touching his arm.
"Well, that depends – Rose Tyler. How long are you going to stay with me?"
The End!
