Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ Rose and Ten The Inbetweens and backstories ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Jackie was hanging the last of her washing on the retractable washing line on the balcony of her flat. The sounds of the estate drifted up from the courtyard below, where some lads were playing football. The support pillars of the buildings made brilliant goal posts.

She smiled, as she remembered how Rose and Shareen used to join in when they were little, giving the lads a run for their money. And then she had a worried frown as she remembered the last time she had seen her daughter. It had been as a ghostly apparition in the cab of a truck, and she'd been disfigured with pearl like eyes, and a series of slits in her cheeks and neck.

She picked up the empty washing basket to take it inside, when she heard it, the sound of time and space being stretched and squashed out of shape. She leant over the balcony rail and looked down into the courtyard. `Rose!'

She dropped the basket on the dining table as she rushed past, hurrying out of the flat and down the steps to the courtyard below. She saw the TARDIS materialise as a football bounced off the door.

The door opened, and the Doctor's head popped out. `Oi you lot, mind where you're kicking that ball. I might be tempted to join in and show you how to really play the game.'

`Rose!' Jackie cried out, as she saw her step out of the TARDIS.

`Oof, here's trouble,' he said with a smirk.

`Hiya Mum.' Rose beamed her a smile. `We're back.'

`Of course y'are. Oh come `ere an' give yer mum a hug.' She pulled Rose into a long, rocking hug, and then took her face in her hands. `Oh Sweetheart, yer face is all right, them marks have gone like yer said.'

`Yeah, all cleared up like a bad case of acne,' she said with a laugh.

`Lookin' good Babe,' a voice said from behind her.

Rose turned around as Mickey approached. He'd heard the TARDIS land, and had been expecting them. They stood in front of each other, an awkward silence between them. `Hi,' Rose said quietly.

The Doctor looked between them. `Right, what's going on with you two then?' he asked like a parent talking to two naughty children.

`Er, nothin',' they said together.

He put his arms around both of their shoulders. `I thought you two were best friends.'

`'We were,' Rose said and then corrected herself. `Are! We are best friends . . . aren't we?'

`Yeah, we're best friends,' Mickey agreed.

The Doctor squeezed their shoulders. `And if best friends have a falling out, what do they do to make up?'

The two of them looked suitably embarrassed. Mickey had his hands in his pockets and shrugged, Rose picked at her fingernails. `Say sorry?' she ventured as she looked up at the Doctor.

`Not to me, to each other,' he chided.

A lopsided smile formed on Mickey's face and he rolled his eyes. `Sorry Rose, for bein' possessive an' not wantin' ya to leave. It's your life, and it's a fantastic opportunity. You'd be daft not to go.'

She smiled at him. `Sorry for runnin' off without talkin' it through with ya. I don't want us to fight.'

Mickey held out his arms for her. `Me neither.'

She accepted his invitation, and fell into a hug. `Friends?' he asked her.

`Always,' she replied. `I've missed ya.'

Jackie walked over to the Doctor and frowned at him with her arms crossed. This made him very nervous, because he was expecting another slap.

`Not bad,' she told him, happy that two friends had made up. `For an alien,' she finished with a smirk.

Relieved that he wasn't going to get a slap, he nodded and grinned at her. `Yeah, not bad at all,' he agreed.

They started to make their way back to the flat. `So how long are ya stayin' then you two? Long enough for a cup of tea?'

Rose laughed. `Of course Mum, I've got a load of washin' here,' she said, nodding at the rucksack over her shoulder.

Jackie rolled her eyes. `Typical. I've only just finished a wash.'

`And, Mickey boy said he had something to show me,' the Doctor said.

Mickey pulled a rolled up folder out of the inside of his jacket. `Yeah, I've got the print outs here. You can look them over while we have a cuppa.'

With mugs of tea on the dining table, Mickey spread out the printouts of his research and started his explanation.

`Well, since Rose took up with ya, I've been followin' the conspiracy websites, an' lookin' for anythin' out of the ordinary.'

The Doctor looked at him with a raised, questioning eyebrow.

`No offence or anythin', but yer gotta admit, weird shit happens around ya.'

Rose laughed. `He's gotya there.'

The Doctor laughed in agreement. `Yeah, I can't argue with that, so, what have you got?' he said as he picked up one of the printouts.

`Well, there's this school, Deffry Vale High School,' he started.

The Doctor was reading the headline on the printout. “Here we go again” it read, and had a photograph of unidentified lights in the night sky.

`Oh, and there was a load of UFO sightin's first.' The Doctor gave him the “dribbled down the shirt” look.

`Okay, so, anyway, the school got a new headmaster, new teachin' staff, an' the academic achievements went through the roof.'

`Oh, I saw that on the news,' said Jackie. `Handsome lookin' bloke he was.'

`So? He's a good headmaster,' the Doctor suggested, after giving her a look of exasperation.

`Ah, but the kids are postin' all sorts of complex stuff on the web sites, it's like they suddenly became professors or somethin'.' He rummaged through the papers and found an example of their work, handing it to the Doctor.

The Doctor frowned as he looked at the complex calculations and formulas. `They can't possibly know this stuff.' And then his frown turned into a smile. `Good work Mickey boy.'

Mickey puffed his chest out and had a proud smile on his face. The Doctor had praised him for once. He looked to Rose for recognition, and she squeezed his hand.

`Rose, I think we're going to be staying for a bit. Is that all right?' the Doctor said.

Rose matched his smile with one of her own. He'd found their next adventure. `Yeah, brilliant. Maybe I can catch up with my old mates this time. Didn't quite work out last time, did it?'

They'd be catching up with an old mate all right, but it wouldn't be hers.

`Right, I'm going to nip back to the TARDIS and see what I can dig up on this headmaster and the teaching staff.' He looked at Rose. `Why don't you stay here and have a bit of mother-daughter time? I'll be back later.'

`Okay,' Rose replied with a smile. As he headed for the door, she called after him. `Oi, an' no goin' off an' tryin' to do it on yer own.'

He looked back and gave her his winning smile. `Nah, we're a team you and me. Wouldn't dream of it.'

It was past midnight, when the Doctor posted an envelope through the letterbox of an ordinary looking house, in an ordinary looking street. Mickey was standing at the end of the drive, keeping watch in case anyone thought they were up to no good . . . which they weren't . . . well . . .

`So, that was a winnin' lottery ticket for tomorrow?' Mickey asked him in a stage whisper.

`Yep! That science teacher is going to hand in her notice on Monday, and I'll be appointed new physics teacher at Deffry Vale High School on Tuesday.

`Can ya get me one of those tickets?' Mickey asked him seriously.

`No!' was the simple reply.

`But it was my quid that bought that ticket,' Mickey reminded him.

`And the students of Deffry Vale High School will be very grateful to you. There's a higher purpose here, it's not just about personal gain.'

`But I could really use a lottery ticket.'

`Well go and buy one then.'

`No, I mean a winning one.'

`Well, go and buy one, and choose the winning numbers.'

`Which are?'

`You'll find that out tomorrow night, won't you?'

`Oh man, you're impossible.'

The Doctor gently patted his cheek and smiled. `Now you're getting it. In the morning, I need you to go to the employment exchange and pick up an application form for the position of dinner lady at the school.'

`You mean Job Centre . . . hang on, did you say dinner lady?' Mickey asked, knowing what was coming next.

`Yeah, I need Rose on the inside with me.'

Mickey had a lopsided grin. `Oh man, she's gonna love ya for that.'

`Nah, she'll be fine, go and get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning.'

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`You want me to do what?' Rose asked him incredulously, while Jackie was in fits of laughter; and Mickey had his `I told you so' smirk on his face.

`I need an agent on the inside; a dinner lady is a perfect cover.'

`What, while you swan around as a teacher?'

`I have to assess the student's academic level, and I need someone to watch the kitchens, if the children are having their brain power boosted, it's probably going to be an additive in the food or drinks.'

Rose `hmphed' at him.

`C'mon Rose,' he pleaded. `The children may be in danger here, and it'll only be a couple of hours a day, for a couple of days . . . and you do have experience of working in a kitchen.'

`What experience?' Jackie asked.

`Er, nothin' Mum, it was just an adventure we had a while ago.' She knew the Doctor was referring to Justica, where they'd been thrown in prison, and Rose had been put to work in the kitchens.

`And you get to stay home with your mum for a few days and catch up with your friends,' he said, trying to add enticements.

Rose thought about what he'd said, if the children were in danger, a couple of days working in the kitchens was the least she could do to keep them safe.

`Okay, for the kids, an' only for a couple of days, yeah?'

The Doctor pulled her into a hug. `That's my girl.'

Rose returned the hug. Yes, she thought, she was his girl.

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Over the weekend, the Doctor wanted Rose to show him HER London. The places she liked to go, the things she used to do, the people she knew. Saturday morning, she took him to Choumert Road market, and he was as happy as he was in any market on any alien planet, laughing and joking with the stall holders. In the evening, she met up with Shareen and her old crowd in the local pub near the estate.

'Keisha was right,' Shareen whispered, eyeing the Doctor appreciatively. 'Very foxy. You've done all right for yourself there girl.'

Although the Doctor was talking to a man called Ryan, who said he was Shareen's boyfriend, he was eavesdropping on Rose and Shareen's conversation, and turned to look at Rose.

'Shar! It's not like that,' Rose said, blushing as she saw the Doctor waggle his eyebrows and give her his "foxy" grin. 'We're just travellin' together.'

Shareen frowned. 'Not gay is he?' The Doctor spluttered into his beer and nearly choked.

'No, he's not gay! We're just friends,' Rose declared, trying to convince her friend . . . and herself.

Shareen then remembered what Keisha had told her about the incident on the Thames. 'Oh, an' is it right what Keisha said, that he's alien and you're a sort of Mulder an' Scully, investigatin' aliens?'

Rose saw the Doctor's face go serious. He wouldn't like that, people knowing who he really was. Rose snorted a laugh. 'Is that what she told you? She's a proper wind up merchant, ain't she. Nah, we just happened to be down the embankment when it all kicked off. The Doctor bumped into this scientist he knew and was able to help out.'

The Doctor raised his eyebrows and nodded appreciatively. That was a good cover story.

'Yeah, that's pretty much what Mickey said,' Shareen told her.

'Really?' Rose said in surprise, and then realised it backed up her story. 'Well of course he did, he was there with us.'

The Doctor smiled at her over his pint and winked. Nice recovery. 'Where is Keisha? I thought she'd be here tonight' he said.

'She's gone with Jay to see their mum. After all they went through, they thought it was time to try and mend some fences. Y'know, put the past behind them and move on.'

Rose smiled. 'Oh that's good. I think a lot of Keisha's problems stem from her anger at her mother.'

Shareen nodded. 'Yeah . . . Oh, and have ya heard about Jay? He's up for a promotion after the way he handled himself in the Thames incident.'

'Quite right too,' the Doctor agreed, and the evening passed very enjoyably as he heard tales from Rose's friends about her childhood.

The next morning, Rose awoke to the aroma of cooking bacon, and the associated sizzling sound coming from the kitchen. For a moment, she thought she was back in the TARDIS, as her room there was a near perfect match for the one in the flat.

She put on her fluffy slippers, and went to see who was cooking Sunday breakfast. As she went past her mum's door, it opened, and Jackie's head popped out.

''Ere, who's fryin' bacon then?' Which was a bit of a rhetorical question, as there was only one other person in the flat, who had been using the spare room.

The Doctor heard them come into the kitchen and turned from the cooker, holding a frying pan and spatula. 'Ah, morning,' he said cheerily. 'How's your head?' he asked Rose.

'Fine thanks . . . What's all this then?' she asked as he put the rashers of bacon on the plates, along with the fried eggs and bread he'd cooked earlier.

'Sunday fry up!' he said as though it was obvious. 'Shareen said you liked nothing better after a night out, how did she put it? "On the lash", than a nice fry up the next morning.'

Rose and Jackie looked at each other.

'Works for me,' Jackie said with a smile, and they all sat down to Sunday breakfast.

'So, what did you used to do on a Sunday then?' the Doctor asked as they ate.

'Well, before I met you, I used to have a lie in and chill out for the day. Y'know, before havin' to go back to work on the Monday,' said Rose.

'Well, you can chill out. I've got to do a bit of jiggery-pokery so that Deffry Vale High School will be expecting me as a science supply teacher.'

Jackie smiled. 'That'll be lovely. It's the most I've seen of ya since ya stayed over at Christmas.'

While the Doctor was away from the flat, doing his jiggery-pokery in the TARDIS, the phone rang, and Jackie answered it. She looked a bit puzzled as she held the handset out towards Rose. 'It's some woman for you Sweetheart.'

Rose took the phone off her mum. 'Hello?'

'Is that Rose Tyler?' a cultured female voice asked.

'Yeah,' Rose replied suspiciously.

'Oh good. My name is Kate Stewart, and although you don't know me, my father used to work with the Doctor. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, he may have mentioned him?'

Rose thought back to one of the bedtime stories he'd told her, and she remembered the name. 'Was he the one in charge of UNIT?'

'Yes, that's him. I'm glad he still talks about him. That's part of the reason I'm phoning, we have a sort of a secret club of people who have known and travelled with the Doctor,' Kate explained.

'What, a sort of "I met the Doctor and survived" club,' Rose said jokingly.

Kate laughed. 'Exactly, and I wondered if you had a couple of hours free, if you'd like to have a look at our archive and join the club?'

Rose thought about it for a while. 'How do I know this isn't some ploy to get at the Doctor?'

'I see he's still good at choosing the best for his companions,' Kate said with obvious admiration. 'Look me up and then give me a call back. You can come to my office at the Tower of London, or I can send a car for you. Bring someone with you if you'd feel safer, but please come, I'd love to meet you.'

'Okay, give me an hour and I'll call you back.' Rose thought that she could go over to Mickey's flat, and he could do a "proper" search for Kate Stewart. He could then go with her; after all, he'd also met the Doctor and survived.