Don't Blink - 25/?
Title: Don't Blink - 25/?
Characters: Ten, Rose
Summary: AU. What if Rose had stayed through Doomsday and was the one to end up in 1969 with the Doctor? How would they get back to their proper time? Would they want to?
Rating: PG
Beta: nattieb
(ch 1) (ch 2) (ch 3) (ch 4) (ch 5) (ch 6) (ch 7) (ch 8) (ch 9) (ch 10) (ch 11) (ch 12) (ch 13) (ch 14) (ch 15) (ch 16) (ch 17) (ch 18)
(ch 19) (ch 20) (ch 21) (ch 22) (ch 23) (ch 24)
He was eager to take her to work and show off his lab, but Rose had other things in mind.
“Where’s Billy?” Rose easily and without compunction interrupted him in the middle of an enthusiastic description of Bunsen Burners. Or maybe it was beakers. She never could keep the two straight.
The Doctor looked hurt. “Don’t you care about where I’ll be working?”
“Of course I care. I absolutely do,” she assured him. “Totally. Completely.” She smiled up at him, and he smiled back, pleased. Her next words wiped the smile off his face and replaced it with a disgruntled expression. “Just not at dinner time. So where is he?”
“He’s sleeping,” the Doctor explained. “Amazing what a shower and new clothes can do. Seeing how 1969 looks helped his mind make the leap that this is reality. I think he’s over most of the shock.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“He’s not happy about the fashions of the day, though. He started laughing in the middle of Harrods and wouldn’t stop.” The Doctor sighed and shook his head.
“Oh, dear,” Rose said sympathetically.
“Oh, he eventually agreed to try some things on,” the Doctor assured her. “I predict that he’ll come to love the leisure suit.”
Rose couldn’t prevent a shudder. “Tell me you never wore one of those. They’re hideous.”
He coughed and looked around the shop furtively, and Rose resolved to never bring that up again. The image of him - in any form - wearing some of the current fashions was something she just couldn’t wrap her head around.
“Are you ready to go?” the Doctor asked hopefully, walking around and examining fabrics and various items of ladies’ clothing.
“It’s not time to close up yet. Not that it matters. Since the new construction started we’ve hardly had any customers.”
“Is that what all the noise is? New construction?” The Doctor stared at the wall, beyond which came the sounds of hammers, an occasional man’s voice, and a steady stream of Beatles songs.
“I told you about it.” Rose heard the annoyance in her voice. She knew darned well she had talked about the expansion to him several times. Would it kill him to listen to her once in a while? She listened to him when he was talking about something important.
“Yes,” he said vaguely. “Did you? What’s going on back there? What’s the point of it?” He moved to stand closer to the wall.
Well, to be fair, he tried to listen.
“We’re expanding. And you can’t see anything from there,” she added unnecessarily. “They haven’t knocked down the walls yet.”
“Clearly.” He tapped on the wall with an idle finger. Rose watched him to see if he would pull out the sonic screwdriver or lick the wall or something, but he only flung himself down on one of the chairs, staring at his reflection in the mirrors hung on the outside of the dressing room doors.
“So do men really sit here and wait for their wives to come out?” he asked, turning his head around to look at Rose.
“Sometimes. Sometimes it’s a boyfriend. Usually a girlfriend, though.”
“You never model clothes for me,” he said accusingly.
She smiled mysteriously, suddenly feeling rather daring. “That’s something you’ll have to earn.”
For once she had rendered him incapable of a comeback. She smiled in pleasure and turned around.
“I’ll let Iris know we’re leaving.”
She left him still sitting in the chair, struggling to find something to say, and went to the back office. Jim and Iris were standing across from each other over the desk, looking at blueprints.
“It really doesn’t matter,” Iris was saying. “If that’s what Mr. Troy wants, then fine. As long as you finish up soon and go away.”
“Iris,” Rose said in a shocked voice.
Iris looked mortified as she saw Rose standing in the doorway. Jim rolled up the blueprints, his jaw clenched tightly.
“I meant, I just want the noise and the mess gone,” Iris started, but Jim swept up his papers.
“Absolutely, mum. As soon as we can get ourselves off and out yer way, we’ll do so.” His accent had become broad and suddenly not his own, mocking Iris’ finishing-school voice. “Miss.” He touched a hand to his forehead and left the office.
Rose folded her arms and stared at Iris. “All right. Tell me.”
“Tell you what?” Iris clearly was trying to brazen it out, but Rose knew what it must have cost her to be so rude. Iris was never rude to anyone. It wasn’t in her nature.
“What is going on? Why are you so mean to him?”
“I wasn’t being mean! I just want everything back to normal.”
Rose stared at her boss for another moment, trying to figure her out. When it became clear that Iris was not going to confide in her, she sighed and reached for her things.
“I’m leaving now. Are you all right with balancing the till?”
“Of course,” Iris murmured. She still hadn’t looked up at Rose, and finally Rose gave up and went back to the Doctor.
“Who was that in the back with you?” he asked curiously when she came out. “Tall bloke, black leather jacket like I used to wear, papers under his arm? He looked furious.”
Rose let the Doctor take her bag while she took off her nametag. “He’s part of the crew next door. I think Iris made him mad.”
He had taken off her nametag and was turning it over in his hand, looking from its backing to her shirt.
“Is this magnetic? There are no holes in your blouse.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Is this unique to the store?”
“I dunno. Here’s Iris.” She took the tag from him and stuck it in her pocket.
“Rose.” Iris had come out from the back. “I’m sorry. Really I am.”
Rose smiled gently. “Iris, you didn’t do anything to me. Whatever it is, make it right, okay?”
“Okay.” Iris managed a shaky smile. “Hello, John. How are you?”
The Doctor beamed at her. “Just fine, thanks. Place looks lovely, Iris. Love what you’ve done with the, er...” The compliment got away from him as he looked around in an attempt to find something. “The lighting,” he finished lamely.
Iris smiled. “Thanks. Have a good night.”
Rose hesitated. “You sure you’re all right, Iris?”
“I’m fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”
After Iris had seen them to the door and locked it behind them, the Doctor handed Rose her bag back. She hooked it onto her arm and accepted the hand he held out to her. It felt like they were any other couple, heading home after work. It surprised her how much she wanted that feeling to last. She squeezed his hand more tightly, bringing his attention to her.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” Rose hugged his arm to her. “I’m okay.”
He moved his hand from hers and slipped it around her shoulder. “Good.”
Billy was awake when they got back to the flat. He was watching
television and eating from a sleeve of crackers. Crumbs fell all over his dark blue sweater and onto the floor. Rose looked at the carpet and sighed.
“It’s amazing!” he said to Rose. “They’re planning to walk on the moon next week. The moon!”
She grinned back at him. “It’s exciting to be right here, isn’t it?”
“It’s crazy,” Billy murmured. “I don’t think BBC1 has stopped talking about it.”
“They’ll be going on until the night of the actual space walk,” the Doctor put in helpfully. “You know. Neil Armstrong, one small step for man? That’ll be July 20, of course.”
“And I thought the media went crazy over Princess Diana,” Billy commented. Rose sat down next to him, her attention fixed on the screen.
The Doctor waited a full thirty minutes, but neither human showed signs of switching the blasted television off.
“All right,” he said briskly, drawing their attention over to him. “I have a job now. A quite proper job,” he added with a nod to Rose. She solemnly nodded back. “Who wants to see my place of employment?”
“Right now?” Billy didn’t look away from the news anchor.
“Oh, but I thought we’d go have dinner,” Rose protested. “I’m starving.”
“Me too! These crackers aren’t very filling.”
“You could have made a sandwich,” the Doctor said.
“I would have, if you hadn’t eaten all the bread and marmalade.”
“I was hungry.”
“So was I!”
“That settles it!” Rose said cheerfully. “Let me just go change and freshen up.”
The Doctor scowled. “Don’t you want to see where I’ll be working?”
Rose didn’t even look back at him. “Plenty of time for that!”
“It’s Cambridge, Rose! Cambridge! Have you no sense of...of history?”
“Of pompousness?” Billy suggested, sealing up his crackers. “How’d you get hired at Cambridge, anyway?”
“Have you forgotten all of our previous conversations? I’m very clever. My base of knowledge is far beyond any other human.”
“Yeah, but is that enough to get you into Cambridge?”
The Doctor fixed him with a death glare and spoke as though to a child. “Doctor. Time Lord. TARDIS.”
Billy was unimpressed. “Billy. Human. Cop.”
“That’s enough, boys,” Rose said hastily, seeing the murder in the Doctor’s eyes. “There’s enough testosterone on here to do some serious damage.”
Her light tone broke the mood. The Doctor huffed out his breath and sat down next to Billy. The springs in the old couch protested loudly and squeakily, and Billy was moved a few centimeters as things settled back into place.
“Love what you’ve done with the furniture,” Billy commented. “You could do with some stuff from IKEA.”
“Hand me a cracker,” the Doctor said, and used the sonic screwdriver to turn up the volume on the television.
With their attention taken by the upcoming moon landing, Rose hurried to her bedroom, eager to get out of her work clothes. She paused in the bath and quickly washed her face free of the heavy sixties makeup she’d put on that morning. The heavy foundation, blush, eye shadow and tons of liner and mascara were losing their appeal for her. What had started out as fun had quickly turned into a hassle. Plus, it made her face itch. She didn’t think makeup was as carefully formulated as it had been back in her proper time. Who knew how many bunnies had suffered in order for her mascara to come to market?
In her bedroom she pulled out clean clothing before going back in the bath. She started the water running in the tub, prompting the Doctor to shout down the hall.
“You said you’d be right back!”
Rose opened the bathroom door. “No, I didn’t!” she shouted back.
“But what about dinner?” he hollered back to her.
“It won’t kill the two of you to wait!” she yelled, and closed and locked the door and took a quick bath, repairing the damage done by a day of work and feminine hygiene products that weren’t as capable as those she was used to. She dressed in dark brown hiphuggers and a white t-shirt. She rather liked this style of trousers. The material was stretchy and comfortable, and they flattered her shape. It was almost as good as wearing jeans.
She pulled her charms out to hang outside her shirt, dried her hair into a smooth, straight style that didn’t require backcombing, and did her makeup the way she used to - heavy liner and mascara and little else. Rose unlocked the door and listened. The Doctor and Billy were discussing something space related. It sounded like they were getting along, and she figured she had a few more minutes. She scooped up the clothes she’d worn that day, turned off the bathroom light, and returned to her room.
She dropped the clothes in the small laundry basket she kept by the wardrobe. As she was standing in front of the small wooden bureau, looking in the mirror as she put her earrings in, her eyes fell on her mobile phone.
She didn’t carry it much these days - there was no one she needed to call and she didn’t want to draw attention to the unusual device. Usually it stayed on her dresser. But now she picked it up and sat on the bed, slowly scrolled through the list of contacts.
Heather. Janet. Keisha. Shireen. Friends she couldn’t call because how would she explain her voice after being listed among the dead at Canary Wharf? Mickey. Mum.
She missed her mum so much. She could keep it at bay most of the time - this time period was distracting, and the Doctor kept her busy. But seeing her grandmother and her mother as a small child had made her miss her family so much more. Slowly, Rose pushed her mother’s name in the contacts list and lifted the phone to her ear. It rang and rang and rang, and just when she was about to give up, she heard the line engage. She had to fight to get enough air in her lungs to speak, but her hopes were cruelly dashed. “This line is no longer in service.”
Rose ended the call, tears stinging her eyes. But the superphone still worked. She thought for a minute before taking a deep breath. She dialed a single number.
“Operator.”
“Can I have the number for Lionel Prentice, please? Southwark Road, London.”
“I’ll connect you.”
The line clicked on and rang again, and Rose heard the familiar voice she hadn’t heard since she was a little girl.
“Hello? Hello?”
“Gr- granddad?”
“Wrong number, sweetie. Ask your mummy to help you dial.” And the line went dead.
Rose turned the superphone off and dropped it on the bed beside her.
There was a knock on the door.
“Rose? Are you ready? Billy’s about to die of hunger, and I’m not far behind.”
Rose wiped at her face and stood up. “Yeah!” She shoved the mobile deep into a drawer and then opened the door. The Doctor was standing there, a slight look of concern on his face.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Feel like some pizza? I’m starving!”
He blocked the doorway when she would have walked past him into the hallway.
“Have you been crying?” There was surprise in his voice.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Rose.” He took her arm. “Look at me.”
She tried to do it but she couldn’t. Instead she began to cry, and the Doctor pulled her close against him and murmured soft words into her hair.
“I miss my mum,” she confessed into his shirt as he stroked her hair.
“I know. I know you do.”
Just hearing him say that, having her feelings validated and understood, was enough to make her feel better. Sniffing, she pulled away.
“I’m okay now.”
He searched her face. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“I am. Really. Are you ready?”
“You are not making any sort of sense here, Rose,” he complained.
That made her feel better than she had all day. “Call it a woman’s prerogative. It’s my right to make you crazy.”
He stared down at her, squinting a little in the dim light of the hallway. “Are you trying to make me crazy?”
“Maybe.” And she grinned at him, her tongue caught between her teeth. “Is it working?”
“Rose Tyler, you’ve been making me crazy since the day I met you.” He reached for her to hug her to him, but Billy appeared beside them before he could kiss her the way he meant to.
“Are you going to starve me now that I’ve reached this time era?” he demanded, and Rose stepped away from the Doctor.
“Pizza it is!” she said brightly, and went down the hallway to the door. Billy glanced curiously at the Doctor and followed her. The Doctor sighed and shook his head as he led up the rear. Humans.
Rose couldn’t help laughing to herself as she glanced back to look at the Doctor’s face. Who would have thought that she’d enjoy not kissing him more than kissing him? It was much more fun to flirt with him in 1969.
Twenty-Six
Characters: Ten, Rose
Summary: AU. What if Rose had stayed through Doomsday and was the one to end up in 1969 with the Doctor? How would they get back to their proper time? Would they want to?
Rating: PG
Beta: nattieb
(ch 1) (ch 2) (ch 3) (ch 4) (ch 5) (ch 6) (ch 7) (ch 8) (ch 9) (ch 10) (ch 11) (ch 12) (ch 13) (ch 14) (ch 15) (ch 16) (ch 17) (ch 18)
(ch 19) (ch 20) (ch 21) (ch 22) (ch 23) (ch 24)
He was eager to take her to work and show off his lab, but Rose had other things in mind.
“Where’s Billy?” Rose easily and without compunction interrupted him in the middle of an enthusiastic description of Bunsen Burners. Or maybe it was beakers. She never could keep the two straight.
The Doctor looked hurt. “Don’t you care about where I’ll be working?”
“Of course I care. I absolutely do,” she assured him. “Totally. Completely.” She smiled up at him, and he smiled back, pleased. Her next words wiped the smile off his face and replaced it with a disgruntled expression. “Just not at dinner time. So where is he?”
“He’s sleeping,” the Doctor explained. “Amazing what a shower and new clothes can do. Seeing how 1969 looks helped his mind make the leap that this is reality. I think he’s over most of the shock.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“He’s not happy about the fashions of the day, though. He started laughing in the middle of Harrods and wouldn’t stop.” The Doctor sighed and shook his head.
“Oh, dear,” Rose said sympathetically.
“Oh, he eventually agreed to try some things on,” the Doctor assured her. “I predict that he’ll come to love the leisure suit.”
Rose couldn’t prevent a shudder. “Tell me you never wore one of those. They’re hideous.”
He coughed and looked around the shop furtively, and Rose resolved to never bring that up again. The image of him - in any form - wearing some of the current fashions was something she just couldn’t wrap her head around.
“Are you ready to go?” the Doctor asked hopefully, walking around and examining fabrics and various items of ladies’ clothing.
“It’s not time to close up yet. Not that it matters. Since the new construction started we’ve hardly had any customers.”
“Is that what all the noise is? New construction?” The Doctor stared at the wall, beyond which came the sounds of hammers, an occasional man’s voice, and a steady stream of Beatles songs.
“I told you about it.” Rose heard the annoyance in her voice. She knew darned well she had talked about the expansion to him several times. Would it kill him to listen to her once in a while? She listened to him when he was talking about something important.
“Yes,” he said vaguely. “Did you? What’s going on back there? What’s the point of it?” He moved to stand closer to the wall.
Well, to be fair, he tried to listen.
“We’re expanding. And you can’t see anything from there,” she added unnecessarily. “They haven’t knocked down the walls yet.”
“Clearly.” He tapped on the wall with an idle finger. Rose watched him to see if he would pull out the sonic screwdriver or lick the wall or something, but he only flung himself down on one of the chairs, staring at his reflection in the mirrors hung on the outside of the dressing room doors.
“So do men really sit here and wait for their wives to come out?” he asked, turning his head around to look at Rose.
“Sometimes. Sometimes it’s a boyfriend. Usually a girlfriend, though.”
“You never model clothes for me,” he said accusingly.
She smiled mysteriously, suddenly feeling rather daring. “That’s something you’ll have to earn.”
For once she had rendered him incapable of a comeback. She smiled in pleasure and turned around.
“I’ll let Iris know we’re leaving.”
She left him still sitting in the chair, struggling to find something to say, and went to the back office. Jim and Iris were standing across from each other over the desk, looking at blueprints.
“It really doesn’t matter,” Iris was saying. “If that’s what Mr. Troy wants, then fine. As long as you finish up soon and go away.”
“Iris,” Rose said in a shocked voice.
Iris looked mortified as she saw Rose standing in the doorway. Jim rolled up the blueprints, his jaw clenched tightly.
“I meant, I just want the noise and the mess gone,” Iris started, but Jim swept up his papers.
“Absolutely, mum. As soon as we can get ourselves off and out yer way, we’ll do so.” His accent had become broad and suddenly not his own, mocking Iris’ finishing-school voice. “Miss.” He touched a hand to his forehead and left the office.
Rose folded her arms and stared at Iris. “All right. Tell me.”
“Tell you what?” Iris clearly was trying to brazen it out, but Rose knew what it must have cost her to be so rude. Iris was never rude to anyone. It wasn’t in her nature.
“What is going on? Why are you so mean to him?”
“I wasn’t being mean! I just want everything back to normal.”
Rose stared at her boss for another moment, trying to figure her out. When it became clear that Iris was not going to confide in her, she sighed and reached for her things.
“I’m leaving now. Are you all right with balancing the till?”
“Of course,” Iris murmured. She still hadn’t looked up at Rose, and finally Rose gave up and went back to the Doctor.
“Who was that in the back with you?” he asked curiously when she came out. “Tall bloke, black leather jacket like I used to wear, papers under his arm? He looked furious.”
Rose let the Doctor take her bag while she took off her nametag. “He’s part of the crew next door. I think Iris made him mad.”
He had taken off her nametag and was turning it over in his hand, looking from its backing to her shirt.
“Is this magnetic? There are no holes in your blouse.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Is this unique to the store?”
“I dunno. Here’s Iris.” She took the tag from him and stuck it in her pocket.
“Rose.” Iris had come out from the back. “I’m sorry. Really I am.”
Rose smiled gently. “Iris, you didn’t do anything to me. Whatever it is, make it right, okay?”
“Okay.” Iris managed a shaky smile. “Hello, John. How are you?”
The Doctor beamed at her. “Just fine, thanks. Place looks lovely, Iris. Love what you’ve done with the, er...” The compliment got away from him as he looked around in an attempt to find something. “The lighting,” he finished lamely.
Iris smiled. “Thanks. Have a good night.”
Rose hesitated. “You sure you’re all right, Iris?”
“I’m fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”
After Iris had seen them to the door and locked it behind them, the Doctor handed Rose her bag back. She hooked it onto her arm and accepted the hand he held out to her. It felt like they were any other couple, heading home after work. It surprised her how much she wanted that feeling to last. She squeezed his hand more tightly, bringing his attention to her.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” Rose hugged his arm to her. “I’m okay.”
He moved his hand from hers and slipped it around her shoulder. “Good.”
Billy was awake when they got back to the flat. He was watching
television and eating from a sleeve of crackers. Crumbs fell all over his dark blue sweater and onto the floor. Rose looked at the carpet and sighed.
“It’s amazing!” he said to Rose. “They’re planning to walk on the moon next week. The moon!”
She grinned back at him. “It’s exciting to be right here, isn’t it?”
“It’s crazy,” Billy murmured. “I don’t think BBC1 has stopped talking about it.”
“They’ll be going on until the night of the actual space walk,” the Doctor put in helpfully. “You know. Neil Armstrong, one small step for man? That’ll be July 20, of course.”
“And I thought the media went crazy over Princess Diana,” Billy commented. Rose sat down next to him, her attention fixed on the screen.
The Doctor waited a full thirty minutes, but neither human showed signs of switching the blasted television off.
“All right,” he said briskly, drawing their attention over to him. “I have a job now. A quite proper job,” he added with a nod to Rose. She solemnly nodded back. “Who wants to see my place of employment?”
“Right now?” Billy didn’t look away from the news anchor.
“Oh, but I thought we’d go have dinner,” Rose protested. “I’m starving.”
“Me too! These crackers aren’t very filling.”
“You could have made a sandwich,” the Doctor said.
“I would have, if you hadn’t eaten all the bread and marmalade.”
“I was hungry.”
“So was I!”
“That settles it!” Rose said cheerfully. “Let me just go change and freshen up.”
The Doctor scowled. “Don’t you want to see where I’ll be working?”
Rose didn’t even look back at him. “Plenty of time for that!”
“It’s Cambridge, Rose! Cambridge! Have you no sense of...of history?”
“Of pompousness?” Billy suggested, sealing up his crackers. “How’d you get hired at Cambridge, anyway?”
“Have you forgotten all of our previous conversations? I’m very clever. My base of knowledge is far beyond any other human.”
“Yeah, but is that enough to get you into Cambridge?”
The Doctor fixed him with a death glare and spoke as though to a child. “Doctor. Time Lord. TARDIS.”
Billy was unimpressed. “Billy. Human. Cop.”
“That’s enough, boys,” Rose said hastily, seeing the murder in the Doctor’s eyes. “There’s enough testosterone on here to do some serious damage.”
Her light tone broke the mood. The Doctor huffed out his breath and sat down next to Billy. The springs in the old couch protested loudly and squeakily, and Billy was moved a few centimeters as things settled back into place.
“Love what you’ve done with the furniture,” Billy commented. “You could do with some stuff from IKEA.”
“Hand me a cracker,” the Doctor said, and used the sonic screwdriver to turn up the volume on the television.
With their attention taken by the upcoming moon landing, Rose hurried to her bedroom, eager to get out of her work clothes. She paused in the bath and quickly washed her face free of the heavy sixties makeup she’d put on that morning. The heavy foundation, blush, eye shadow and tons of liner and mascara were losing their appeal for her. What had started out as fun had quickly turned into a hassle. Plus, it made her face itch. She didn’t think makeup was as carefully formulated as it had been back in her proper time. Who knew how many bunnies had suffered in order for her mascara to come to market?
In her bedroom she pulled out clean clothing before going back in the bath. She started the water running in the tub, prompting the Doctor to shout down the hall.
“You said you’d be right back!”
Rose opened the bathroom door. “No, I didn’t!” she shouted back.
“But what about dinner?” he hollered back to her.
“It won’t kill the two of you to wait!” she yelled, and closed and locked the door and took a quick bath, repairing the damage done by a day of work and feminine hygiene products that weren’t as capable as those she was used to. She dressed in dark brown hiphuggers and a white t-shirt. She rather liked this style of trousers. The material was stretchy and comfortable, and they flattered her shape. It was almost as good as wearing jeans.
She pulled her charms out to hang outside her shirt, dried her hair into a smooth, straight style that didn’t require backcombing, and did her makeup the way she used to - heavy liner and mascara and little else. Rose unlocked the door and listened. The Doctor and Billy were discussing something space related. It sounded like they were getting along, and she figured she had a few more minutes. She scooped up the clothes she’d worn that day, turned off the bathroom light, and returned to her room.
She dropped the clothes in the small laundry basket she kept by the wardrobe. As she was standing in front of the small wooden bureau, looking in the mirror as she put her earrings in, her eyes fell on her mobile phone.
She didn’t carry it much these days - there was no one she needed to call and she didn’t want to draw attention to the unusual device. Usually it stayed on her dresser. But now she picked it up and sat on the bed, slowly scrolled through the list of contacts.
Heather. Janet. Keisha. Shireen. Friends she couldn’t call because how would she explain her voice after being listed among the dead at Canary Wharf? Mickey. Mum.
She missed her mum so much. She could keep it at bay most of the time - this time period was distracting, and the Doctor kept her busy. But seeing her grandmother and her mother as a small child had made her miss her family so much more. Slowly, Rose pushed her mother’s name in the contacts list and lifted the phone to her ear. It rang and rang and rang, and just when she was about to give up, she heard the line engage. She had to fight to get enough air in her lungs to speak, but her hopes were cruelly dashed. “This line is no longer in service.”
Rose ended the call, tears stinging her eyes. But the superphone still worked. She thought for a minute before taking a deep breath. She dialed a single number.
“Operator.”
“Can I have the number for Lionel Prentice, please? Southwark Road, London.”
“I’ll connect you.”
The line clicked on and rang again, and Rose heard the familiar voice she hadn’t heard since she was a little girl.
“Hello? Hello?”
“Gr- granddad?”
“Wrong number, sweetie. Ask your mummy to help you dial.” And the line went dead.
Rose turned the superphone off and dropped it on the bed beside her.
There was a knock on the door.
“Rose? Are you ready? Billy’s about to die of hunger, and I’m not far behind.”
Rose wiped at her face and stood up. “Yeah!” She shoved the mobile deep into a drawer and then opened the door. The Doctor was standing there, a slight look of concern on his face.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Feel like some pizza? I’m starving!”
He blocked the doorway when she would have walked past him into the hallway.
“Have you been crying?” There was surprise in his voice.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Rose.” He took her arm. “Look at me.”
She tried to do it but she couldn’t. Instead she began to cry, and the Doctor pulled her close against him and murmured soft words into her hair.
“I miss my mum,” she confessed into his shirt as he stroked her hair.
“I know. I know you do.”
Just hearing him say that, having her feelings validated and understood, was enough to make her feel better. Sniffing, she pulled away.
“I’m okay now.”
He searched her face. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“I am. Really. Are you ready?”
“You are not making any sort of sense here, Rose,” he complained.
That made her feel better than she had all day. “Call it a woman’s prerogative. It’s my right to make you crazy.”
He stared down at her, squinting a little in the dim light of the hallway. “Are you trying to make me crazy?”
“Maybe.” And she grinned at him, her tongue caught between her teeth. “Is it working?”
“Rose Tyler, you’ve been making me crazy since the day I met you.” He reached for her to hug her to him, but Billy appeared beside them before he could kiss her the way he meant to.
“Are you going to starve me now that I’ve reached this time era?” he demanded, and Rose stepped away from the Doctor.
“Pizza it is!” she said brightly, and went down the hallway to the door. Billy glanced curiously at the Doctor and followed her. The Doctor sighed and shook his head as he led up the rear. Humans.
Rose couldn’t help laughing to herself as she glanced back to look at the Doctor’s face. Who would have thought that she’d enjoy not kissing him more than kissing him? It was much more fun to flirt with him in 1969.
Twenty-Six