amythest_n_ice | New Beginnings (Chapter 15) (Reply)

Mickey caught up with Rose as she left the side entrance of the hospital, hurrying out into beautiful sunlit gardens. He caught her arm, making her stop and forcing her to turn to face him.

“I can't believe you just acted like that, Rose,” he hissed, the tone of his voice making it clear he wasn’t going to be backing down any time soon.

“Mickey, what else are they keeping from us, if they could keep quiet about something so big, so important?” she demanded, glaring at him.

“And I thought you were meant to be their friend. It was none of our business Rose; it was up to them if they said anything or not.”

“I am their friend, that’s why they should have said something,” she protested hotly.

“You know what this is, Rose? You are so used to being their little favorite, in on everything, the center of attention, that you can't stand that they have something that is just theirs, without you. I knew you had it in you to be a bit of a cow sometimes, but I didn’t realize just what a selfish bitch you could be,” he spat.

“You…you don’t mean that,” she quavered, her eyes filling with wounded tears.

“Right now, Rose, yes I do. I may never be Captain Flash’s biggest fan, but I would never act like you just did, he’s been injured, he could have lost his baby, and you stood there acting like you are the only one whose feelings matter,” he sighed, some of the anger melting away to be replaced by resignation.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered in a tiny voice.

“It isn’t me you need to say that to, is it? You must have really hurt him up there, and the Doctor was furious at you,” Mickey pointed out.

“Jack was asleep, he doesn’t know what a cow I was,” she said.

“Rose, there is no way he slept through your little tantrum, he may not have heard every word, but you’re dreaming if you think he didn’t catch enough to be hurt,” Mickey told her.

“I…I guess I’m going to be owing them an apology,” she sighed, turning to walk back in the direction of the hospital.

He pulled her to a stop again, shaking his head at her.

“I think that you should leave it a while, give the dust a chance to settle,” he told her, tugging her deeper into the gardens.

/x/

The Doctor looked at her with raised eyebrows and stormy eyes when she walked quietly back into the hospital room a couple of hours later, and Jack wouldn’t look her in the eye, focusing instead on where the Doctor’s hand was folded around his on top of the covers.

“I want to apologize,” she said quietly, looking down at the floor between her boots.

“We’re listening,” the Doctor told her coldly.

“I never meant to say such hurtful things, I was angry that you hadn’t told us about the baby, but I had no right to be, it wasn’t our business. I was being selfish, Mickey said that I was too used to being the center of attention, and he was right, I was more upset by the idea that you had left me out, when everything had pretty much always been about me before. I am so sorry,” she told them, still not looking up.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t set course for Earth the minute they let Jack out of here, and shove you out of the door on the Powell estates,” the Doctor growled at her.

“I can’t, I would deserve it if you did,” she whispered, feeling tears pricking her eyes. She had ruined it, ruined everything with her tantrum.

“Doctor, enough,” Jack interceded quietly.

“Jack…”

“No, this has been a hell of a day for all of us, our nerves are all wound tighter than a bowstring, and something was going to flare up sooner or later, and this, hearing about the baby from some total stranger who probably acted like they thought she knew… that’s going to be a hell of a shock. Can we please just enjoy the rest of our time here when they let me out of here, and put this incident behind us?” he asked.

“Is that what you really want, Jack?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes, that is what I really want,” he told his lover firmly.

“All right then, this time,” he said with a warning glower in Rose’s direction.

“Jack…I really am sorry,” she told him.

He sighed, closing his eyes, and leaning his head back against the pillows. His voice was soft, distant and a little tired when he spoke again.

”Rose, I’m not ready to talk about it yet, at all, but I promise I will tell you what I can, when I can. I can tell you now that it isn’t going to be everything, but soon, we’ll talk.”

“You don’t have to tell me a damn thing, Jack, it really isn’t any of my business at all, this is personal, between you and the Doctor,” she said resolutely.

“Rose, in six months or so, this kid is going to be a real entity inside the TARDIS, so unless you actually are planning on going back to Earth that soon, then it is going to be your business, and Rickey’s too,” Jack snorted wryly.

“Jack, go back to sleep, you’re tired,” the Doctor ordered him, hearing the exhaustion in his voice.

Jack snorted again; fixing the Doctor with a narrow look for a long moment, then shook his head and allowed himself to just drift. The Doctor shooed Rose out of the room as soon as he was sure Jack was out again, fixing her once more with his arctic gaze.

“Listen to me, Rose Tyler, and listen well. If you upset Jack again, the way you did today, being taken back to Earth will be the least of your worries. Is that clear?” he demanded, the ‘oncoming storm’ note clear in his voice.

“Yes, very clear. I won’t let my temper get the better of me again,” she swore.

“See that you don’t,” he warned.

He sighed, and shook his head to chase away the storm clouds from his mind, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment.

“Rose, you and Mickey go back to the residential zone, get a hotel for us all, preferably the one where we left the TARDIS, if you can. The doctors should hopefully let Jack go, some time tonight, so we will see you then,” he told her tiredly, putting a couple of credit chips in her hand and walking back into the room without another word, closing the door firmly, shutting her out.

Rose stood there staring at the door for a long moment, and then headed off to look for the canteen, where Mickey had said he would wait to give her a chance to make her apologies.

“Sorted?” he asked her when she dropped into the chair across the table from him.

“Yeah, kind of,” she sighed.

“Kind of?”

“I apologized, the Doctor is still a bit mad at me, but I think we’re going to be ok,” she told him, standing one of the credit chips on its end on the table in front of her.

“And Jack?”

“You were right, I did hurt him, he seemed kind of sad, but he stopped the Doctor from throwing me off the TARDIS, so I think we’ll be ok too,” she whispered.

“So, what now?” Mickey asked.

“The Doctor wants us to go back to the residential zone, and get us all a hotel; he thinks they’re going to let Jack out tonight.”

“Does that mean we have to get on one of those transport things again?”

“Yeah, but we should be ok, I don’t get the impression that what happened today is something that happens a lot,” she said, shrugging.

“Great, very reassuring,” he snorted.

“Come on, lets get it over with,” Rose said with a faint smile.

/x/

The Doctor sat quietly beside Jack’s bed, watching his lover sleep, one hand resting lightly over Jack’s stomach, feeling the very slight swell that was their baby growing inside him.

“I swear to you, my Jack, I will destroy anyone who hurts you,” he whispered, meaning it. No one got to hurt his family, no one.

tbc