THE LEADER OF THE PACK
Chapter Four After the Doctor landed, it wasn't thirty seconds later when he heard furious ponding on his front door. The Doctor sighed and walked over to it. "Alright, Jackie, don't knock my door down!" he yelled when he reached it. The pounding stopped and he unlocked the door. He opened it and Jackie was standing there with red eyes and tear stained cheeks. The Doctor invited her inside and Jackie shook her head. "I don't trust this thing. Come inside the flat," she said. "I'd trust being inside the TARDIS before I'd trust being inside your flat," the Doctor mumbled before he stepped outside and closed the door. He followed her across the car park to the entrance. She led him upstairs and when he was inside her flat, she closed the door behind him and went to get him a cup of tea. "I've rang several of the train stations," she said to him from the kitchen while she got him his tea. "She left Liverpool Street Station and headed for Norwich." "Jackie, has it occurred to you that Rose just wanted to be alone and left her mobile behind so no one would bother her?" the Doctor said as he sat down on the sofa. "She wouldn't leave her mobile behind, Doctor. She's a responsible, young woman, you know that." The Doctor nodded. Jackie came to him with a mug of tea and he thanked her while he took it. "She could've taken her mobile and just turned it off if she didn't want to be disturbed. She'd never go off and leave me no way of contacting her. This isn't like her." "I agree. Leaving me out of the blue isn't like her, either." "She told me that she couldn't get used to your regeneration and she left." "Yes, she told me that as well but…I never saw any sign of it. We were getting along great until now and suddenly she wants nothing more to do with me." "Well, what's the last thing you did before she left?" Jackie said. "Does it have anything to do with her leaving ya?" "Went to Scotland in 1879 and met Queen Victoria. This cult had an alien werewolf and they wanted the werewolf to bite her because they worshiped the wolf and wanted a werewolf on the throne. We destroyed the werewolf and then we were knighted by Queen Victorian before I was banished from England forever." Jackie sat there in a stunned silence when he finished. "Okay, suddenly, Rose needing a holiday makes a hell of a lot more sense to me," she said, shaking her head. "But, we got along great," the Doctor said, ignoring her comment. "She never showed any sign that she was upset or repulsed by my appearance." "Maybe she was too busy running from a bloody great wolf to think about your appearance," Jackie said. "No, because we went to New Earth before that and she never showed any sign she was uncomfortable being around me." "And what was on New Earth? Giant man-eating voles?" "No, cat nuns." Jackie gave him a long, hard stare before shaking her head. "Like I said, the whole chucking it all in to take a holiday in Norwich is making sense to me now," she said. "Norwich, eh?" the Doctor mused before taking a sip of tea. "Yeah but she told me she wanted to go into the countryside for awhile so she could think and recover from being with you. After battling cat nuns and werewolves, I'm willing to bet she'll need a long recovery." The Doctor ignored her while he sipped her tea. "So…are you going after her?" Jackie said when the Doctor said nothing for a couple of minutes. "I think so. I respect Rose and I respect her privacy but I think something is wrong. I think she left too abruptly and to be honest, the reason she gave for not being comfortable with me is far too flimsy. Like you said, even if she never want to see you again, she wouldn't swan off and not leave you a way to get in touch. I think I will go to Norwich and see if I can find her. At the very least, if we are overreacting and she is alright, I at least want her to hear me out before she leaves for good." "Could you do me a favor then? Take her mobile and ring me when you find her, let me speak to her as well." The Doctor nodded. He sipped his tea while Jackie went to get Rose's mobile. Meanwhile, Rose stepped out of the train station and looked around. It was late afternoon and the air was warm with a slight breeze. She put her blowing hair behind her ear while she sat her rucksack down at her feet. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a red coin purse. She checked to see how much money she had before putting the coin purse back in her pocket. She picked up the rucksack, shrugged it on and headed off in search of somewhere to spend the night. While she walked, she saw a small book shop and headed towards it. She went inside and bought an ordinance survey map of Norwich. Once it was paid for, she walked outside and walked to a nearby coffee shop. She paid for a coffee and then headed back outside. She took the map and coffee and walked over to a nearby bench. Sitting down, she unfolded the map, found Norwich on the map and sipped her coffee while she studied it. She found a forest in Felthorpe that looked promising and decided after spending the night somewhere that she would head for it. She took a sip of coffee and suddenly had the feeling she was being watched. She lifted her eyes and saw a young man was standing across the street, his eyes on her while he leaned against a brick building. He was in his mid-twenties with a muscular build, long brown hair that was tied up in the back with a ponytail and green eyes. He had a rugged face with a slight growth of beard. He smiled at her and winked when she caught his eye. Then he crossed the street. "Good day," he said with a Welsh accent. "Traveling?" he added, pointing to her rucksack. "Yeah, I'm planning one of those walking tours of the English countryside," she said. "Really? You've done this before then?" "Um…not the English countryside but I have been on hikes before." "By yourself?" he asked. "Um…yeah," Rose said. "Pretty girl like you shouldn't be wandering the countryside alone, might be a bit dangerous," he said, sitting down beside her. "I can handle myself, trust me." "Oh, aye? You're a tough one then?" he said with a twinkle in his eyes. Rose nodded and smiled when he chuckled at that. "Funny, I thought all blondes were s'posed to be idiots, at least that's what all the jokes say." "Well, I'm the exception to the rule," Rose said. "Aye, you are," he said with a wink. "Name's Maxen but everyone calls me Max." "Rose." "And you have a beautiful name to go with your beautiful face, just perfect." He grinned when Rose blushed at that. "So, would you like some lunch? It's on me," he said to her. Rose thought it over. She looked at Max and admired his handsome looks for a moment before deciding that it wouldn't hurt to have lunch with him. She nodded and Max beamed. "Brilliant! Follow me; I know a little chippie not far from here." Rose folded up the map and put it in her rucksack. Max took the rucksack and put it on his back while Rose took her coffee and followed him to the chippie.
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