A DAY OUT

Chapter Four

"So…what's next?" Jack said when they walked out of the restaurant.

"Mum wants me to come and see her," Rose said.

"Well, Mum will just have to get used to disappointment then," the Doctor said with a shrug.

"She'll kill you if I don't come," Rose said.

"I got more lives, no worries," the Doctor said airily.

He frowned when Jack ran up to Rose, cupped his hands over her ear and whispered something to her.

"So…will you indulge me?" Jack said, taking his hands away when he finished whispering to her.

"What did he say?" Nine said when Rose began giggling.

Rose gave him a smug look. She took Jack's hand and suddenly the two of them skipped down the pavement, singing the Spice Girl's Wannabe at the top of their lungs while passerby stopped and stared at them. Mickey groaned while the Doctor shook his head in exasperation. They stopped after fifty feet and giggled as they walked back to the Doctor and Mickey.

"Don't come back here, I don't want people realizing you lot are with us," Mickey said to them.

"Yo! I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!" Jack crowed while Rose giggled. "Yes, I'm singing," he added to a stunned woman who had just stopped to watch him. "I pride myself on my singing. Ain't nothing wrong with carrying a tune."

"Nutter," the woman muttered as she walked away from him.

"And proud of it!" Jack yelled back to her while Rose laughed.

"Are you quite finished?" the Doctor said when Jack and Rose finally reached him.

"Um…no, I could do a jaunty sea chantey next," Jack said to him. "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum?"

"You're barking mad," Mickey said to him.

"Yes, I am. Took you this long to figure that out?" Jack said.

"This is the man who tried to sell us a space ambulance," Rose said to Mickey while she gestured to Jack.

"And I would have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for those meddling kids," Jack said to Mickey.

Mickey shook her head.

"I remember the good old days when everything was normal and you didn't have weird friends," he said to Rose.

"You mean the good old days when Rose worked at a boring job with no hope in sight?" the Doctor said.

"Exactly," Rose said, nodding. "Sod the good old days, I'm having a blast now!"

The Doctor beamed at that. He told everyone to follow him and he turned to go when suddenly he found himself face to face with a middle aged woman. The woman had blonde curly hair and she was staring at him with interest.

"Excuse me, I need to get by," the Doctor said to her.

"Sorry, sweetie," the woman said as she stepped aside.

Nine stared at her for a moment. There was a knowing smile on her face.

"Do I know you?" he said while everyone else gathered around her.

"No, not yet," she said before walking away.

Rose raised her eyebrow when the woman stopped a moment and blew him a kiss. Jack grinned and walked over to her.

"Hiya," he said to her.

"Hello," the woman purred.

"Jack Harkness, you?"

The woman hesitated a moment and the Doctor frowned when she looked directly at him.

"Gloria," she finally said.

"Gloria, very pretty," Jack said. "So…are you single?"

"No. I'm married," she said.

"Darn. Is it a solid marriage?" Jack said.

Once again, "Gloria" looked at the Doctor.

"Yes, very solid," she said to Jack while looking at the Doctor. "I need to go though, I need to meet my husband and…"

"River!"

She froze and everyone turned to see a man running towards them. He was young, wearing a tweed jacket with brown trousers, shirt and red bow tie. He froze when he saw Nine. His gaze then shifted to Rose and Nine frowned when he saw a momentary look of longing on his face before he went past them to Gloria.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her when he reached her side.

"I was saying hello," she said innocently to him.

The man looked at Jack.

"Oh no, you don't need to say hello to this one," the man said, taking Gloria's arm.

"Hey, you don't even know me, buddy," Jack said angrily to him.

"Oh, I know you all too well. Come along, River," the man said, tugging on her arm.

"Wait, you know me all too well? What the hell does that mean? Do I know you?" Jack said, stepping in front of them.

"Jack, let them go," Nine growled at him.

"Yeah, but this guy acts like he knows me," Jack said to Nine as he turned towards him.

Nine looked past him to the young man. His mind connected with his and he communicated with his older self.

What are you doing here? He thought to Eleven.

Accidental meeting. I'm just getting my companion and taking her away before she lands up in Jack's bed, Eleven thought back. Leaving now. Look after Rose for me.

I will, Nine thought back.

"What's going on? Why is everyone just staring at each other?" Mickey said.

"Everyone here is gorgeous and I can't get enough of looking at their faces," Eleven said to him. "Well, we're leaving now so have a good day."

He started to walk off with River but Rose stepped into his path and Eleven froze, a familiar longing for her rising in his hearts.

"Rose, step away," Nine said to her.

Eleven raised his eyebrow. The way she was looking at him, did she know who he really was? Could she see past his face and into his eyes and see his true identity. She was staring at him silently but Eleven swore she was on the verge of working out who he really was.

"Rose, step…away," Nine growled at her.

Rose hesitated a moment before backing up. But she kept her eyes on him, so much so that Eleven finally had to force himself to look away. River was giving him an odd look but he tugged on her arm and muttered at her to follow him. He muttered a good day to everyone and they walked past.

Nine watched his older self go before glancing at Rose. She was watching him walk away and he also sensed that somehow she knew who he really was. He took her hand and squeezed it and she finally looked at him. He smiled at her tenderly and Rose smiled back and with one last glance at Eleven, drew near to him.

"Come on, let's go find something else to do," Nine said to everyone.

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